Chapter Text
"You only get me into trouble..."Olive grumbled, her voice weary and sounding a little frightened.
"A knight never gets a treasure without passing a dragon! Look, we're almost there!"Maps exclaimed loudly, her words filled with excitement as she ventured deeper into the graveyard.
It was past midnight, and the two girls, uniformed in Gotham Academy uniforms, walked cautiously among the ancient stone tombstones, the cold wind making their skin crawl.
Her dark eyes observed the lines drawn on the yellowed paper in her hands, a circle marked in red around an image of a weeping angel statue, and a smile widened on her lips.
"We're close! Olive, can you smell victory?"Maps asked excitedly, her voice sounding a little louder than usual.
A sigh escaped Olive's lips. The white-haired girl hugged her body against the cold and nodded hurriedly, wondering about her sanity for agreeing to leave the dorm at night for a map.
She already knew the answer: Maps.
There was no more resistance when it came to her best friend's interests; making her happy by accompanying her on a nighttime treasure hunt was worthwhile in her eyes, even if her body was exhausted after a whole day of studying.
Well, at least Pom will have an interesting birthday present, Olive consoled herself with a sleepy yawn, wishing she could go back to her bed.
Normal people would buy a blouse or lipstick as a birthday present for a friend.
But Maps was always known for being the complete opposite of other people; Pomeline loved the occult in an exaggerated way at her core.
The girl's curious eyes captured this interest with vigor, envisioning the perfect gift for the older girl with sparkling eyes.
In recent weeks, Maps had dedicated herself to mapping out all the objects that could be given to the grumpy teenager, even venturing off the grounds of Gotham Academy to snoop around esoteric shops in the city.
As always, Olive made sure Maps didn't wander into the wrong alleys, steering her away from a strange salesman trying to sell her a clearly fake crystal ball.
Two days before Pom's birthday, Olive tried gentle conversations to convince the excited girl that a simple gift could bring the same joy as an elaborate one; the intention was what mattered.
But Maps disagreed every time, dragging her on a treasure hunt after curfew, much to Olive's despair.
"I see the statue! Olive, we're close to giving Pomline the best gift she's ever received!" Maps exclaimed in a low voice, anxiously fidgeting with the paper map, crumpling it.
The wind whipped against the girl's white hair, the cold air carrying a metallic scent, making her stop in her tracks.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, her scarlet eyes narrowed as she surveyed the surroundings of the old graveyard.
"Maps! Stop!"Olive shouted, recognizing the metallic smell, her high-pitched voice heightened by emotion.
Turning to the older girl, her brown eyes wide with shock at hearing her loud voice echo in her ears, a spark of hesitation ignited.
For a moment, they both fell into a tense silence, the smell intensifying with each passing minute, another shiver running down the nape of the white-haired girl's neck.
Taking slow steps on tiptoe, Olive reached out to grasp Maps' wrist.
"Maps, please, let's go."Nervously, Olive whispered, anxiety evident in her trembling eyes.
The girl's mouth opened to protest her friend's request, but a sound silenced her.
The metallic sound of scraping across the cobblestones made them both freeze in sudden terror; Olive's blood boiled.
It was quick, a matter of moments, milliseconds.
However, those seconds would remain etched in Silverlock's long, agonizing memories.
A large axe was thrown through the air towards the two students; the map was dropped by the young girl, and propelled by her friend's hands, Olive fell to the ground.
The axe, with its sharp blade, passed over where the two had been standing; if it weren't for the younger girl's quick movements, their heads would have rolled on the cold floor.
Lying on top of her best friend, Maps watched with her still trembling, wide chocolate eyes as a strange, deformed creature crawled across the ground with one withered leg.
Its purple skin, its long, snake-like body, and its two scrawny, skeletal legs gave her an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach as she watched such a horrendous creature struggling to move.
Its head was bizarre, resembling the severed head of a horse glued to a human neck, similar to the circus freak show acts where they display stuffed animals glued together to squeeze money from tourists.
Another detail that immediately caught her attention amidst its irregular appearance was the mouth, located from the beginning of its abdomen to near its heart; its teeth, resembling the fangs of felines and canines of various sizes, chattered against each other, grinding.
"Holy crap!" Maps exclaimed, her voice filled with terror, her eyes analyzing the creature in stupor and horror, paralyzed like a doe watching the headlights of an oncoming car.
Silverlock's heart pounded against her ribs in an exacerbated, sudden, pulsating rhythm as she watched the creature drawing closer with each passing second, sweat dripping from her brown skin.
A loud laugh was heard in the distance among the tombstones; a thin, small figure approached with steps through the night air, its eyes gleaming scarlet in the shadows.
Persuaded by terror, the girl's consciousness and body felt a great impulse coming from her core, burning her insides.
God, please, no!
A scream escaped her lips, clutching her wrist close to her chest, her eyes brimming with tears, the burned and inflamed skin of her forearm clearly visible through the burnt sleeve of her uniform.
Flames danced in a circle around the older girl's body, a shadow forming among the high flames that slowly engulfed the nearby tombstones.
Calamity had returned, sensing the threat to its host's body.
The creature screamed near Maps, alarmed by the flames and the tall figure forming within them, growling.
With tears in her eyes, Maps jumped up from the ground, running towards a section of tombstones, pulling her yellow backpack from her back.
This is bad, very bad, Maps whimpered in her panicked thoughts.
Kneeling behind a tombstone, the girl watched as Calamity's skeletal hands unleashed their wild flames upon the creature, which attempted to attack the entity.
"Olive!" Maps's cry was filled with terror, calling out to her possessed best friend.
God, it wasn't supposed to be like this; overcome with panic, her hands rummaged inside her backpack, her eyes focused on the struggle.
With a strangled scream, the creature tried to dodge through the flames to get closer to the entity, only to be struck by the flames.
The tattered pieces of Calamity's clothing lashed against the creature like whips, striking the burns inflicted earlier on its purple skin.
It was quick, to the girl's horror; the child felt her heart pound as she watched the creature's belly teeth grip Calamity's side.
An agonizing scream escaped the entity's dry lips, thick tears blurring Maps' vision as she watched her friend being wounded.
In a swift movement, a batarang was pulled from the backpack and thrown forcefully toward the creature, the blade of one of its points piercing one of its eyes.
A roar echoed through the cemetery, causing her to release Calamity's back and giving her a chance to move away from the creature, black blood trickling from her wound.
"Dellas!" a male voice called out, exasperated, from afar.
The creature seemed not to hear the call; its single intact eye was focused on Maps' small figure hiding among the tombstones, its movements directed toward the girl.
Injured, Calamity rested against a tombstone, increasing the flames around her, trying to protect herself.
From the creature's stomach, a light slowly begins to form, crimson rays frying in a frenzy.
Maps' hands gripped the backpack as she stood up, running until the soles of her feet in her sneakers burned from the brutal impact of each hurried step, sweat mingling with her salty tears.
Her body was hit, thrown forward like an explosion from the action movies she used to watch as a child.
The smell of burning, the thick smoke, and the screams disappeared; her ears ached agonizingly as she fell to the ground.
Her back burned as if on fire, her head throbbed torturously, her breath hitched as she felt someone touch her shoulder.
Her body was turned over on the floor, her eyes were closed due to the headache, her body curled up.
God, make this shit stop! Maps exclaimed desperately in her thoughts.
"Wally, watch out!" a female voice warned, close to the girl's body.
A groan of pain escaped Maps' lips as she felt herself being moved from the floor, the painful sensation intensified as a hand gripped her back, tears of pain began to stream down her face again.
"Call for help, she's burning with fever!" a male voice near her ear pleaded, sounding distraught by her condition.
Due to exhaustion, or perhaps the pain, the girl's eyelids began to feel heavy, the metallic smell haunting her until she lost consciousness.