Rue: The Hunt for Harmony - Part 2

Harmony's memory of events after she stepped through the barrier is foggy. She remembers a flickering light, an almighty pressure, and then nothing. Soon enough though, she feels a voice emanating from within her own head, "Wake up, Allyson..."

Her senses finally begin to return to her, but they're different, numb. Her vision slowly comes back into focus, and she can see her face, twisted into a wicked grin and deathly pale, with a single horn growing from her forehead and her eyes glowing a devilish red.

"Welcome back to the waking realm, Allyson," the demon now calling itself Discord speaks through her own lips, her own voice tainted by the corruption burning through her every pore, "I just had to say how much I appreciate you accepting my offer like this."

"Fuck you," Allyson rasps with as much venom as she can muster.

"Such foul language, Allyson," Zaebos taunts, "Is that really how you want this little cohabitation of ours to begin? Masie and I were such good friends. We could be such good friends too, Allyson."

"Fuck. You." Harmony reiterates as she tries to subtly see if she has any control of what is now a glorified meat suit.

"I can feel you in there, Allyson, clawing at the door. But I'm afraid it's not exactly that easy," she rolls their eyes at Harmony's continued defiance, "You don't know a lot about me, Allyson, do you? That's okay, I didn't expect you to. Just know that your little attempts are gonna need a lot more before they have any effect.... out here," she says, waving their arms around the bathroom that the two find themselves in, "Now, do you want to know why I woke you up or what?"

"Did you release them?" Harmony ignores the demon's pandering and asks the question still fresh on her mental lips.

"Well, it's funny you should mention that," she says, taking a moment to turn around and look around the oddly-familiar room, "Do you recognise it, Allyson?"

Allyson screams inside her head making a mental noise akin to the wail of a banshee as she realises that they're stood in what is recognisably the bathroom of her family apartment, "WE HAD A DEAL! YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE"

"The deal was never to leave them alone, Harmony," she says as she slowly paces into the hallway. It's dark, obviously the middle of the night, and she walks gracefully into the nearest bedroom; Jacob's. She moves without a sound over to where the boy sleeps, his soft breaths the only sound that permeates the silence. Discord kneels down over the child, her hand lightly caressing against his slumbering cheek, "Anything more to say, Allyson?"

Allyson's screams fall to whimpers, "Please..."

Discord chuckles softly, "Now then, that's much nicer," she says as her hand hovers in place over the boy's head, an orange energy, similar to that which emerged from Harmony herself during their last battle, starts to seep out of his mouth, rising up into the air and being absorbed into her, "I told you, I'm a demon of my word."

Rue slowly walks through the streets, their limbs feeling heavier than usual, until they get to a familiar apartment complex. They stop across the street from it, remembering their Rue and Harmony - Null Prologue first visit[/history]  to the Green home. Not knowing if Jocelyn has made her way home yet, Rue is reluctant to actually head up the steps towards the home and knock on the door. They wouldn't know what to tell Harmony's siblings, and they're not sure if it's their place to deliver the news to them.

With that in mind, but still needing to see Jacob and Millie safe, they choose to use their powers instead, looking up at the apartment to look through the walls and check up on the children. They feel a little creepy doing so, but the need to confirm their wellbeing far outweighs their discomfort.

As Rue peers through the walls of the old apartment building from the street outside, they're forced to squint to see into the right home. It is pitch black in most of the rooms, but there's definitely a presence there. Someone knelt over the sleeping form of Jacob Green and, in lieu of a better view, Rue felt safe in the knowledge that Jocelyn had made it home safely.

They watch as the woman wreathed in darkness slowly made their way from the child's room and into that of the older sister, Millie. It's a tender scene, and Rue can't help but feel the sadness welling in their heart as they consider the hole in their lives that the family will now have to contend with thanks to the team's inability to save Harmony.

Light streams into the living room, catching Rue's attention as the front door opens, revealing the haggard and puffy-eyed form of Jocelyn Green, back from her shift and still clutching Harmony's lab coat close to her chest. Rue's eyes widen in horror as they contemplate just who they've just watched leering over the Green siblings.

The moment they realise something is off, Rue bolts across the street, using small blasts to launch themself up the flights of stairs, grabbing the railings at the top of each to spin themself around for the next set of steps. They remember Jocelyn mentioning a neighbour looking after the kids in her absence, but their instincts are screaming at them. Making it to the right floor in record time, Rue pushes past the breathlessness, instead training their senses on the apartment as they sprint towards the door.

As they approach, they watch through the walls as the figure that quickly comes to resemble Harmony raises a hand to the quivering form of Jocelyn. A horrible whisp of demonic energy emanates from the woman and floats into Harmony's hand. As Rue bursts through the door to the flat, they see as the demonic being now calling itself Discord pushes Jocelyn onto the nearby couch, her form falling limp upon the cushions.

"Oh," the demon mutters at Rue's dramatic entrance, "Well, hello again, Rue. What, are you stalking these guys?"

''Just making sure they're safe, like I promised,'' Rue growls angrily. ''What are you doing here?''

"And a fine job you're doing too," she says, grinning with malevolent glee, "I'm sure that door will never hurt anyone again. And, me? I'm just doing what I promised. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

"Please don't hurt them" Allyson begs, her pleas lacking any of her previous strength.

"Aww, Allyson. You really are no fun," Discord replies internally.

Rue grinds their teeth as the demon starts to move, their hands twitching and small sparks flying off their palms. They know that there's no way to stop the Archdemon on their own, especially not in their current state, and it enrages them to feel so powerless, ''I swear I will make you regret ever stepping foot out of your Hellscape...'' They say coldly, their voice laced with venom.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt my family. Rue is.... They're family," Allyson continues from within.

"That is... adorable," the demon chuckles, though Rue can't be certain if it's actually at them, or whether there's more going on here, "I'm sure you'll try to get your revenge, Little Rue, but once the dust settles and the cosmic balance is restored, I'll retake my throne in Hell, and your soul will be little more than an appetiser. Now, step aside."

There's a flicker of something in Rue's eyes at the nickname, but it disappears as quickly as it showed. They continue to glare at the demon as they reluctantly step aside, watching them pass as they take a step into the apartment and towards the unconscious form of Jocelyn.

Discord smiles victoriously as she steps past, trying and failing to maintain eye-contact, much to her own amusement, "Well then, I suppose I'll be seeing you real soon, Rue. And don't think I've forgotten about you, Jasmine," There's a subtle venom in her voice with that last remark, "I'll keep the Hellfires burning until we meet again."

Allyson waits until the situation is over and meekly adds "Thank you," words she does not wish to say but fears the alternative.

"See?" She says, "Didn't I say we could be friends?" Allyson's consciousness slumps, defeated, and wills the world to be merciful.

With another flicker of the lights, Discord disappears and Rue can't help but wonder if she actually needed them to step aside or was just asserting herself. They push the thought aside and move over to Jocelyn, checking for a pulse as the woman starts to stir.

"Wh-what happened?" Jocelyn asks as she comes back to consciousness.

''You're okay, take it easy,'' Rue says reassuringly, gently placing a hand on the matriarch's shoulder to steady her. ''I'll be right back.''

Moving away from the sofa, they anxiously hold their breath as they approach Jacob's bedroom first, their heartbeat thumping in their ears as they open the door. Light streams into the room, just short of the sleeping boy in his bed. Rue is immediately relieved to hear the distinct sound of sleepy breathing on the air and slightly surprised that Jacob hadn't woken up. Their eyes scan the room looking for any signs of trouble but don't see any, just a normal kid in bed, clutching a stuffed beaver to his chest that seems to be wearing a clearly homemade t-shirt with the words "Chaos Minion" scrawled upon it in sloppy handwriting with a permanent marker. Whatever may happen, it appears that at least Jacob is protected.

Rue heaves a sigh of relief, quietly closing the door again to let the boy sleep peacefully, leaving him blissfully oblivious to the day's events a while longer. They turn towards the bedroom of the older sibling, the tension still present in their movements as they open the second door, praying to find Millie similarly unaware of what's transpired.

The scene in the other bedroom is much like the first. Millie's bedroom is differently arranged than her brother's but regardless, Rue sees nothing in there to make them worry about the slumbering teenager.

After silently closing the door again, Rue takes a moment to lean their forehead against the door, closing their eyes as they feel the adrenaline fading. They move back to the sofa, crouching down beside it to be at eye level with Jocelyn.

''Jacob and Millie are asleep,'' They say softly, taking off their jacket and pulling their phone from their pocket. ''They're fine. How are you feeling?''

"What happened? What are you doing here?" Jocelyn questions, fear and confusion prominently displayed on her face.

''I was going to check on Jacob and Millie to make sure they were safe...'' Rue starts to explain calmly. ''Turns out she was here. I guess that Zaebos needed to get close to you to honour the deal and remove the demonic taint from you...''

Jocelyn stares at her for a second before lowering her gaze, "Rue..." her voice quakes, "You need to leave," Jocelyn keeps looking down, ashamed of the words she has to say, "I know you mean well, but I need you to stay away from my family."

Rue looks like they've been struck across the face, but they give a small nod as they stand up, ''Of course,'' They say flatly, walking towards the door, ''I'm sorry.''

As they leave the apartment, they stop in the staircase, sending a text to Rachel to request a protective detail for the Green family (as well as someone to fix the front door). With the adrenaline completely faded, Rue feels the exhaustion in their bones, their vision swimming a little as they slowly descend down the steps. They pull their hood back up over their head, finding a spot in the shadows from which they can continue to keep vigil over the family upstairs until the protective detail arrives.