Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer Part 3

Heidi managed to move to the side enough that the knife barely caught her shoulder, and she grit her teeth as she pulled it out, putting it inside her spear so the figure couldn't use it again. She started moving towards the door while she had a chance, continuing to face the figure.

Again the figure moved and disappeared into the darkness before reappearing at Heidi's side and barrelling into her.

"Not very honourable... leaving your friend's dead body there to rot."

Heidi grunted as she was knocked against the wall, stabbing downward so she'd at least hit the girl before she got away. "Pft, Nathan's not a friend. More like a temporary ally."

The girl let out a yelp as she was stabbed but still aimed a punch at Heidi.

"You don't treat your allies well... do you?"

Heidi grunted as the fist connected with her stomach, kicking at the girl as she recovered her breath. "Long story short, he's a douche bag. Couldn't you hear us arguing outside?"

The girl shrugged. "You're both as bad as each other from what I heard." She again disappeared into the darkness and reappeared with another knife in hand ready to strike Heidi.

Heidi started rapidly quickening the girl's pulse, her spear shifting into a shield with the knife sticking out the front. As the second blade connected with it, it was engulfed into the shield as well. "Are you a contestant here?"

Simon looked straight at Eithne in the eye. "You could've protected us fine if you came with us."

"I needed Shima for something first." The Scottish adult responded to Simon. He sighed and got to his feet. "He told me an' English a few things and after we heard we decided that in order to protect certain people we would have to stay where we were."

"Five years is a long time kiddo... we've been protecting the lot of you more than you know."

Behind him a pregnant woman with long orange hair that framed her face stepped forward. Her stormy grey eyes surveyed the scene and she frowned. Anyone who was good with faces would recognise her as the former doctor from the Acer Tournament who Nathan and Eithne had forced to come with them when they left with Shima.

Sensing her, Eithne sighed. "Amelia you should be resting, English would-"

"Get a punch in the face for telling me what to do what when I'm hormonal..." The woman interrupted. Her normally chipper demeanour gone into the depths of pregnancy. "Anyway, I can see you're in the middle of something, don't let me be the interruption." She added her hands on her stomach.

---

"I was." The woman responded. "Now I'm just one of the ones in charge of guarding against the Illuminati." She swung herself into the darkness again and appeared next to Heidi, her foot kicking out despite her pulse dropping.

Simon's eyes widened at Amelia, switching his gaze back and forth between her and Eithne.

Erika was blinking. This... I didn't expect this.

Eithne was oblivious to the glances. Amelia however wasn't.

"Oh Eithne here isn't the child's father." She addressed Erika. "That honour belongs to another one of your former Acer Contestants."

"Uh... if it's not too much... which one?" Erika asked.

Sage look at te woman, she obviously did not remember her.

"This is...surprising considering none of us really know about pregnancy...or at least I don't." Sage said aloud.

"You should already know the answer to that." The former doctor replied. "He thinks of you as quite the princess."

"..." No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO! Was all Erika could think of as she suddenly felt very dizzy...

Sage took a moment to take this all in... "Who?"

Simon looked a bit confused, not knowing the exact meaning of being pregnant (Heidi had tried to give him "The Talk" a year or so ago and that didn't really end well).

"Erika... y'sure you should be getting that expression?" Eithne asked with a dry smirk. "You're married, what should it matter that Nate knocked up Amelia?"

Joey's eyebrows rose. "So Nathan is having a kid..." Joey said. "I wish you luck with raising it, Amelia."

"Thank you." Amelia said graciously. Emma had joined her and the twelve year old girl surveyed the group. Making sure to stick close to the former doctor the young girl let her hair fall over her face to hide her shyness.

Nathan had rescued the girl from a travelling group who used her abilities to their own end and treated her like a slave. Since then she'd taken a shine to him and with Amelia acting as the mother figure of near enough the entire group it was only natural that Emma saw her as a parent figure.

Sage looked at the young girl with a tilted head. What was she doing with them?

Luke looked out the window at what was going on outside his window.

They've gotten their kid, why the fuck are they holding a fucking housewarming?

-----------

Tom sat outside, getting used to the presence of tower and humming to himself.

Heidi blocked the kick with the shield, the blood allowing the girl's foot to pass through it to her ankle, before hardening. "Then I believe we have a misunderstanding here. Nate is Illuminati. I'm not. The only reason I came in here with him was because he said he could cure my friend's...illness, but he needed something from here. I no longer have a reason to hang around."

---

Kira noticed Luke looking out the window, and quickly spotted the Illuminati's village. She patted his back awkwardly in a sign of comfort, wishing she could get him to stop dwelling on the past so much.

---

Elena looked curiously at the new girl, marching boldly up to her and frowning. "You shouldn't look so scared! We aren't scary!" she told her.

"You were in the Acer Tournament though. Right?" The girl asked drawing another knife and slashing at Heidi's face.

---

Emma looked at Elena and let out a slight start. "S-Sorry." She said, hiding behind her hair, which covered one eye.

Heidi yanked the shield upward, along with the girl's foot to block the knife. "At one point. I've done my fair share of traveling between sides in the Shima versus the Big Five conflict."

---

Elena frowned, hesitantly reaching a hand towards the girl, before drawing it back. "Nothing bad's gonna happen if what I touch you, right? You act like Simon used to."