Heartthrob

Purity was up on her feet as quickly as she could manage without falling over, the soft-soled shoes provided by the convent giving her just enough stability to practically leap to a stand. In the distant past, when they still held the Olympic Games, race walking was one of the most consistently-held - and consistently ignored - events. Purity could have put some contestants to shame with her motions through those barren hallways, too afraid to run but too anxious to not hurry.

A few ideas popped into her brain, flashing like notifications on a heads up display (something she, ironically, had - but hadn't received new updates for a month at least). First and foremost? She needed to get back to Esper James and Esthrielle. She needed to be back to them as quickly as she possibly could, regardless of the consequences. What she had just seen was more than a mere confirmation of her suspicions.

It had been the final nail in that sad pine box she had been ready to put this whole convent experience in. Now, all that remained was to provide the eulogy and toss it into an unmarked pit in the ground. Sure, the mother abbess hadn't said anything about Purity, or EJ, or Est... but the implication was clear. Zofia had been 'corrupted by heretical influences', or something to that degree, right? That was them. That was the three women, and Vitus itself - they represented the heresy, even if they weren't actively shunning the Knights' ways.

First, they would come for Zofia - and if Purity said nothing or did nothing because it didn't apply to her, then it soon would be her neck upon the chopping block. There was no way the pinkette could allow that to happen.

The second idea was that she needed to talk to Kell. She'd sent Kell some texts, of course... a handful, in fact. Seemingly innocuous, good-natured, even saccharine; Purity had asked so casually and sweetly what Kell was up to, how things were in the city. She had yet to receive a reply, as far as Purity had seen - the one-time queen bee had left her phone in the room so that an untimely notification didn't give away her presence. She'd call Kell if she had to, she'd figure something out... Purity always figured something out. A grim sort of satisfaction came over her, then, twisting her lips upward into a smile that could only be described as cruel. Cruel towards who, though? Herself?

Purity had always figured something out, always made do. She had found a place to live when she had no roof over her head, she had found food when her stomach felt like a knot from starvation, she had kept warm when the winter's chill threatened her tender flesh. Last time she'd needed to 'make it work', to 'figure something out', she'd been picked up by Tsang - but now, what choice did she really have? To give up? To lay down and die, to accept whatever fate the Knights saw fit to deliver unto her and her lovers?

No. No way, no fucking way, fuck that. She felt the skin of her heart grow hard as steel even as the interior withered away, the aftershocks of the resolution. She would do whatever it took, regardless of personal suffering, to keep the three of them safe. They trusted her; they loved her. What would it all be for, if she were to just falter so near the finish line? To collapse when they needed her so badly? To fumble it all?

In truth, Purity had no idea if Hell was real, or if there was any sort of afterlife - but she knew in her heart of hearts that, if she simply let herself curl inward and be weak, and put up no fight, Hell is surely where she deserved to be. A grim thought came to mind, melancholy with a tinge of gallows humor she couldn't help but wince at: maybe if she went to Hell in life, she would keep the three of them from such a fate once the curtains closed. Just a cheerful little thing to consider.

The third and final idea, the last thought she had the mental bandwidth to even allow to rattle about her brainpan, was thus: they needed to find Zofia. It was regrettable, but pragmatic - if it came down to it, Zofia would be the first sacrifice Purity would be willing to make. If it truly, truly came to it? She would leave Zofia to die, or be tortured, or whatever Angelien would figure out for her. She would allow the Knights' kindness to become cruelty in the face of dissent, and watch from the sidelines as Zofia was taken as a casualty and swallowed up by the internal politics of an institution she herself had no fondness for.

It would suck. Of course it would suck. God, it would fucking suck - but everything seemed to suck in this horrible world mankind had made for itself, didn't it? Purity had slacked in history classes all her academic career, but she could still remember humanity's predisposition for cruelty alongside its great many comforts. There never existed a period within human history where conflict was absent, and adversity was suppressed.

Here, then? In Vitus? It was as cutthroat as it had ever been, if not more so. It was a man-made habitat where the deciding factor was selfishness and ambition - and if you didn't have either, and the willingness to put them into action, you'd be trampled underfoot and snapped up like fresh meat.

Ugh.

She refocused herself upon seeing the door to their shared bedroom - and a chill ran down her spine as she saw it was open a sliver. Barely enough to be notable, it could've easily been the wind... if wind existed in an underground bunker-complex. But Purity knew she hadn't left the door open when she left to go spy on the mother abbess. She had made a specific effort to ensure it was closed, that her lovers were undisturbed... and now here it was, open just enough that a fly could have slipped through with good aim. But it was enough.

Purity's blood ran cold. She abandoned the deceptive measure of the race walking, instead going straight to a jog; she reached the door and threw it open, readying herself as best she could to find some unspeakable, unthinkable atrocity. What she found took the wind from her sails with the power of a gut punch, and set her so deeply into sudden weakness she nearly toppled like a block tower.

Lulu was there, sat on the bed beside EJ, speaking gently and emphatically. Esper James and Esthrielle were awake, now - still tucked in beneath the covers, but now sat up against the headboard and pillows. Their upper bodies were revealed of bedsheets and left to lay bare, though no one seemed to mind; their laps, however, were covered yet by the comforter and an upscale-looking metal tray. Three ramekins sat atop the tray, along with a bowl of sugar, a trio of spoons, and troupe of cloth napkins.

Fuck. Purity's head swam as relief flooded in and pressure flooded out, the sudden wave of anxiety that had crashed into her brain now being released like water from a ballast tank. Her vision grew hazy as she dropped to her knees, a stupid smile slapping itself together upon her cherry blossom lips as the three women at the bed turned to address her. She didn't even hear what they said - it came to her through the fog, but only as a dull, deafened mumble. She could tell there was sound, but the hammer of stress had fractured her senses as it came and left, and now she was barely even holding on to consciousness. Even that, too, began to slip through her fingers.

Suddenly she was falling even further, leaning back without thinking of it - her eyes seemed to move on their own, looking now to the ceiling as something tapped her on the back of the head. The air sure was soft in the bedroom... and supportive, too. She leaned against the air at her back while her vision grew even more distorted, until it felt like a good plan to just close her eyes. Just for a moment. Just a quick rest.

-

When Esper James had heard a knock on the door, she had first grumbled and looked for Est to get it - and, seeing Est had also been asleep, she had then sought Purity. Purity turned out to be fucking nowhere... and it was still dark in the room, like they had been taking a full sleep. How had they fallen asleep? What had happened?

All she could remember was a sudden lust overtaking her - she had been nearly feral, something about Esthrielle's needfulness lighting a fire in the ghoulette's chest that refused to be quenched. Now, once more returned to wakefulness, she had been drawn out of dreamless sleep into post-coital exhaustion. The only answer, then, to the knock at the door? A yell that came out more akin to an indignant yowl, the sound of a street cat raised up and out of rut by a passing person.

The door had opened, and Lucretia had stepped in - holding a rectangular platter with handles on either side, dressed with a doily and three leftover desserts from dinner. The Knight infiltrator had given a single nod before stepping in and nudging the door closed with a single foot - the way her bob bounced and swayed made Esper James think of a black-and-purple capped mushroom brought to life. It was cute, she thought.

Lucretia had explained that she was thankful for how nice the three ladies had been to her tonight, and to everyone else in the convent thus far - and they had had some creme brulees left over from women who didn't want theirs. It would have been a shame to let such delicious desserts go to waste, Lulu said, giving Esper James a wink; EJ was hardly in the mood to refute her. To the blonde, this seemed like the ideal evening, honestly: passionate, primal intimacy with one of her partners in such a cushy, comforting bed, and then to be brought bonus dessert in bed by a cute girl who was nice to her?

Fuck, the little meat-eater needed to pinch herself about the back of the bicep to make sure she wasn't asleep.

Est had been roused by the infiltrator's approach, and they had gotten to talking - about anything and everything, in truth, but Lulu had gone straight for the throat after a bit. The words 'I know you're leaving soon' put a railroad spike through Esper James' heart, and she had leapt to rebuke the accusation. Lulu had been too confident, too assured, though; there had been no shaking the foundations of her beliefs.

EJ had conceded, and Est had brooked no quarrel with the decision. And so, they had started to discuss the reasons for their exodus - tentatively at first, unsure of just how much they could get away with saying to Lulu about their thoughts on the mother abbess. It became far more candid, however, after the mushroom girl openly called the abbess a 'domineering bitch' who 'uses her position to oppress vulnerable girls' and further venomous rhetoric.

The conversation had progressed little past that point by the time Purity burst through the door, looking at the trio of women for a mere moment before she fucking collapsed where she stood. Esper James nearly knocked the tray to the ground when Purity's head hit the floor, desserts only saved by Lulu's quick reflexes. Est was right behind EJ as she vaulted the foot of the bed, hurrying to Puri's heap as quickly as her body would allow.

Slender arms went about Purity's fallen form, going to whisk her up with a strength belied by their lean appearance. Esper James and Esthrielle worked as one, wordlessly agreeing to hoist their lover and carry her to the bed - and once there, they laid her down without daring to adjust her habit. Purity's breathing was normal, her pulse was fine, her flesh felt warm in that normal humanesque way... Or at least, so EJ figured. Esthrielle probably had thermometers in her fingers or something, so she trusted the Wayward woman more than her own intuition.

Est drew in a long, deep breath, and heaved it out in a rush of concern. "Phe-e-ew. What the fuck. Puri... I just assumed she was in the bathroom, y'know? But... Hey, Lulu, do you-" Est didn't even get the chance to finish that sentence before Lulu was drawing up the hem of her habit, revealing supple, bared legs of fair complexion. EJ was confused instantly - what the fuck was she doing - but it was good practice for a person to shut their yap and pay attention when they were so far out of the loop. And, as far as the loop was currently concerned? Esper James was in a different zip code entirely.

Once the deceiver's thigh was revealed, temptingly close to revealing something better left concealed, Esper James learned the intent. There was a nigh-upon subaural click that came from what should have been the woman's thigh meat - then, the tender flesh was moved away as a medical kit was revealed within her prosthetic leg. Holding the hem of her habit with one hand, she used the other to select a small vial of indeterminate white substance. The vial was offered to Esthrielle, who then unscrewed the metal cap.

One whiff of the salts in the glass tube sent Esper James to a coughing, sniffling fit, her nostrils and lungs sting-burning as she staggered towards the door to make herself useful. She wasn't close to the vial, but she figured it must be smelling salts - she'd never partaken in her own life or unlife, but it was all she could imagine it may be. Even from this distance, to have such an effect? The ghoulette shivered as she shut the heavy wooden door.

There was a moment of tense silence from behind her, towards the bed - and then a gasp, further sniffling, and a few coughs. EJ turned about just in time to see Esthrielle screw the cap back onto the vial and tuck it back into Lulu's thigh. Lulu shut her thigh, dropped her habit hem back down, and Est sighed in relief as Purity's eyes snapped open.

"Oh, f-f-fuck, where...?! What-? Oh! Oh, haha, oh, fuck, hahahahaha! Oh, wow... Hi, girlies! I... Wow, I... I'm good! I'm good, I promise!" Purity shut her eyes as a wide smile painted itself from corner to corner across her lips, shuffling about on her elbows to prop her back up to a sitting position. Est put a hand on either one of Purity's shoulders to steady her, ensuring she wasn't unstable - and when Purity proved that she was, in fact, good? Est flopped back on the bed in utter relief.

Esper James was struck by the sight: Purity dressed like a nun and laid up in bed, Est flopped beside her as bare as the day she was born, and Lulu sat patiently with a tray of creme brulee across her lap. There was an absurdity to it that, paired with the relief of seeing Purity have such a quick recovery, drew a single barking laugh up out of the ghoulette's chest.

Then another. And another, and another, and another - each chuckle a single stone rattling down the hillside of her emotions, a prelude to the landslide of true, spontaneous mirth. She was joined in by the other women after mere moments, and soon all four of them were falling about themselves as the anxiety and concern that had held them rapt were stripped free and cast away. The laughter went on and on, minutes passing without scrutiny - that is, until Purity drew in a sharp breath.

Oh, fuck. That was right. The reason she ran here in the first place.

Purity grit her teeth and drew in another breath, longer and heartier but without such immediacy. It gave her the time she needed to steel herself for what she had to say, and the decisions she had to make. She waited, then, until the other women were well and truly finished laughing; Puri briefly considered if it was okay to say this around Lulu, but something told her that Lulu wasn't a threat. Lulu wouldn't fuck them over.

And if she would? Well, that was a risk they'd have to take. There was only so much leeway Purity had with how she could go about this, and time was limited. Lucretia was already here, and so... fuck it. Maybe she'd even help.

"EJ, Est? We... We need to speed up our plans. Like. Now. Now-now. The mother abbess, she... Ah... Zofia's in danger, and if she's in danger, then-" Purity had more to say but she wasn't sure what it was, little more than a jumble of thoughts wherein she dipped her hand and drew out whatever was to be found within the murk. Est interrupted her in an instant, eyes wide for a split second before narrowing down to furtive, concern-riddled slits.

"Purity? Tell us later. It doesn't matter. If you think we... If you think we need to go now, then we go now. Explaining might waste time - we trust you. Lulu knows, too, so don't worry about her." Est had propped herself up on a single arm, but at the revelation that they needed to fucking leave and do it ASAP, she scrambled to a stand.

Standing beside the bed, she dropped down to the floor and reached beneath the curtain of the comforter - and started to pull out the clothes the three had arrived in. Esper James, still reeling from this revelation that they had to fucking get into motion, could have cried at Esthrielle's foresight to have their clothes stowed away. The ex-secretary hurried over to where Est was tossing the clothes, beginning to don her own garments as quickly as she could - what was left of them, at least. She hadn't exactly been dressed for the weather when they'd arrived here...

Lulu cleared her throat, expression dropping and mood going solemn. Her lips still smiled, though it was sad - sad, and regretful. "Ladies... I think I can help. Let me... Let me go get Zofia, and I'll... Guh. I'll find a way for the girl manning the door tonight to let us out - cabin fever, or field research, or training, or fucking something. I'll..." She reinforced her smile for a moment before its crystalline surface shattered into a million fractured pieces, the kindness found within relating more with that of a veterinarian putting down an animal in pain than genuine happiness. She was sorry it had come to this - but was happy she could help out, in some way.

With her hoodie and pants on, Esper James crossed the distance between herself and Lucretia in an instant - her arms were thrown out and about the nightshade-haired girl, squeezing her so tightly she seemed liable to break the nun in half. EJ's heart was lodged within her throat, but she found the strength to force words past it - only two, but their weight was more than enough.

"Thank you."