how deserted lies the city, 
once so full of people!
how like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
she who was a queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.
- ʟᴀᴍᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ 1:1

Iphigenia woke up to heavy, unadulterated silence. She glanced around, examining her body, running a hand over smooth brown flesh and soft curves. She was wearing heavy sienna-orange pants, made of thick cloth, and a cream camisole. Around her shoulders was an asymmetrical shawl wrap, in soft dark brown wool.

All of it was crusted in dried blood.

Iphigenia hardly flinched, just touched her body, scanning for wounds. When she was certain that the blood was not her own, she rose, scanning her surroundings with an imperial chin lifted high.

A room full of computers, black screens, and smoking technology. Jagged, sparking cuts scarred most of the hardware, but a few screens flickered weakly, struggling to stay alight. Bullet holes sprayed the sides and floor. In the shadows, dead bodies slumped together, dark pools of blood drying beneath them. Iphigenia turned away, swallowing her bile as the stench of putrid bodies filled her nostrils.

Iphigenia touched one of the screens, pressing a hand to where a flashing box had been punctured all the way through. Her hand bore scrapes along the knuckles and fingers, as if she had punched her way through a wall. Or had taken a fist to the screens.

Why? Why, why, why? Where had her memories gone? Why was there nothing when she looked inside? Who had eaten her?

She stared at herself in the reflection of the television. Regal nose, liquid eyes, thin lips. So familiar, but so strange. She could hardly recognise herself under the sifting void of memories gone.

An eerie, hair-raising howl sounded, sending Ipheginia scattering to a crouch. She turned, bracing her back against the wall, her fists flying up, ready to fight. She had learned combat on her own, pure desperation and hunger driving her drills alone in her room, but they were brought to accuracy by Toré.

A single, lone creature scuttled forward from the shadows. At first, Ipheginia thought it was a child, crawling on all fours.

But the limbs were equal in size, goat limbs, the joints at each shoulder and hip strung between ragged sinew with metal that gleamed in the darkness. The neck was long, shaggy, with matted bloody fur.

The face. Iphigenia screamed, kicking out. The face was human. A little girl's.

She panicked, every battle and fight leaving her limbs with a watery tremble as she ran, sprinting away from the little thing that scurried after her on human hands. Iphigenia felt her pulse behind her eyes, stumbling as she yanked open the door to the tech room, sliding outside.

The walls around her were a horror of blood, red streaks dripping down the walls, bodies laying on the ground like kids at a sleepover. Iphigenia didn't have time to process, she just ran, sprinting at full speed away from the thing that was following her with a soft chuckle.

Holy fucking shit, her terror was palpable, her skin crawling with unease. Her breath was caught perpetually in her throat, the wind tearing past her sucking the air from her lungs. Tears were building at the corner of her eyes as she screamed, panic getting the better of her.

The sound of the monster laughing followed her, a high-pitched giggle, children skipping rope. Underneath the glee was a grating, bone-grating sound, the sound of records screeching to a halt, again and again and again. Iphigenia ran faster.

She kept slipping on blood, guts, her feet tangling in slimy intestines and glistening vomit. Her own bile rose in her throat, threatening to flood her nostrils.

Skidding on something soft and mushy, which she refused to think about, Iphigenia whirled the corner, her chest heaving in panicked, strangled gasps. Glancing back, snot and tears running down her face, she held her breath, listening.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

And then—

Voices. Soft voices, coming from the sliding door before her.

"—weird, I can't explain it," a sweet but low voice said.

"It was creepy," another male voice agreed, higher.

"The poor dogs," a soft, female voice rasped, the sound of her thick with grief.

A little giggle filled the hallway. Skrrtch skrrrtch skrrtch.

Iphigenia's relief left her, terror flooding into her limbs, sending her bones to rubber. She flew forward, catching on her own feet, clumsy with panic. Her toe caught on her heel, dragging a wet line of gore up her shin, as she plummeted forwards. She slammed against the door, her head aching, voice coming out raspy and panicked.

"Help! Please, help!" she screamed, banging on the door. "Let me in!"

"Nixie, don't—" a cry sounded, but the door was already hissing open.

Iphigenia toppled through, landing hard on the carpeted rug, her elbow skidding with a searing heat.

"Close the door," she choked, scrambling away. "Close it right now close it right now!"

The girl who had pressed the button —Nixie— froze. Another girl flew, slamming her to the side, and punching her fist into the panel.

The doors began to close just as the monster rounded the corner, its child's face twisted with rage, a tongue lolling from between its lips.

The doors sealed shut just as the monster leapt. A sickening crunch sounded from the other side, followed with a demonic howl, equal parts animal and human.

A boy shouted, jerking backwards on instinct. The dark-haired one flinched forward, reaching for the sad girl by the door.

Iphigenia's panting filled the room. She could hardly hear anything over her own heartbeat. She gulped, trying to swallow her fear, forcing herself to study whoever these new strangers were.

All four of them turned, away from the door, staring at each other.

"What the fuck was that," one girl demanded in English. The sad girl clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking, looking as green as Iphigenia felt.

"Ou mine Gott," the smaller of the two boys panicked. Common tongue, Iphigenia recognised. "Ou mine Gott, I'm ga vomm."

"It's okay, Cullen," the larger boy promised, putting a wide hand on his back, soothing him. "It's fine. It can't break in."

A wet, heavy squelch slammed against the door in response. They all jumped.

"It can still try," the angry girl hissed.

The girl who had opened the door, Nixie, crouched to Iphigenia and offered her a trembling hand. "Need help? Brauchst aud?"

Iphigenia pushed herself up, clearing her thoughts, wiping the terror from her brain. Compartmentalise. Focus on the girl, on her sad eyes. On the room, stacked full of shelves and rows of books. Not on the fear. She could deal with it later.

She didn't know common tongue, not well, so she responded instead in English. "I'm good, thank you."

"I'm Nixie," she said softly, backing up, giving her space. Iphigenia could tell she was trying her best to smile, despite the tremor in her voice. "This is Alex," —the muscular blond boy waved— "Sumin," —a smile from the angry girl— "Cullen," —the dark-haired boy nodded at her— "and Spellmeyer is somewhere in the back."

Iphigenia took them all in, focusing on their faces, not her rapidly beating heart. There were no signs of familiarity between any of them. Relatively new to each other, she assumed, they stood a wary distance apart. Cullen's shoulders were twisted to Nixie, trying to catch her gaze. Vaguely, she was reminded of Toré. Sumin stood with the most space between all of them, distanced, though she jerked to attention whenever Cullen spoke. Alex seemed open to all of them, equidistant, the receptor.

They looked at her, clearly no sign of recognition in any of their eyes. Any of their eyes except... She waited for it...

"You're Princess Iphigenia," Cullen blurted. As soon as he said it, Alex's face widened in shock and recognition, turning toward her. So did Sumin.

Nixie remained blank, polite but unrecognising.

"Yes, Princess Iphigenia Mahajna, heir to the throne of Taeris," she said, somewhat uncomfortably. For some reason, stating her title to this vagabond group felt like rubbing in some dirt she didn't know existed.

"And future Queen of Olympus," Cullen finished quietly.

The vote had been decided in the days at the Institution. Ballots were cast by the others, who used their breaks between their classes to vote, filing in line in the cafeteria and sliding in slips of paper. There had been campaigns, yes, but Iphigenia hadn't felt the need to petition and beg the crowds to vote her. She didn't want to. It was another kingdom to worry about, more people to sacrifice herself for. She was loyal to Taeris, she didn't want to sell her soul for more.

But she had been voted. Something about Iphigenia's smile, her warmth, her genuine but distant empathy, drew people in. Before she knew it, she was voted the monarch of Olympus.

Monarch was a loose term, the UN representatives had explained to her. Everything would be run by a vote, but Iphigenia was more of a figurehead. The power she held was to propose laws for the people to vote on. Whether they were passed or not was up to the people.

But how would they know what Iphigenia did, fifty light years away from Olympus? And how could they stop her? The entire military had voted for her, and privately the captain, Lily Mong, had sworn the entire company to her.

"Did you vote for me?" she joked, smiling with false amusement, willing her soured heart to play nice. It would do no good to get off track, not now.

Sumin, the pretty girl dressed in ragged, sparkly white, snorted. "No, I voted for Chen Jiyu. But you would've been a close second."

"Chen was a little too obsessed with campaigning," Cullen remarked. "Historically that can mean a self-absorbed politician."

"Chen also stood for immigrant rights and equality bills back on Earth. Progressive, for his background," Sumin argued back, eyebrow raising. "I wouldn't call that self-absorbed, would you?"

"I suppose so," Cullen shrugged, offering her a smile. "He was pretty charismatic."

"You know who's charismatic? Harvey Jones," Alex spoke up. "He's so friendly. Met him once, at a gala with my dad. He was super nice, offered us tickets to these international idol concerts and stuff."

Sumin abruptly turned, walking towards the back of the library. "I'm going to find Spellmeyer."

Alex nodded at her as he talked, hands tucked in his pockets. "I voted for Harvey. He was your runner-up."

"People love a charismatic tyrant," Nixie murmured, almost soundlessly. Only Iphigenia heard.

Composed, she nodded with a smile. "Yes, he was my biggest competition. Jones was a serious contender. Unfortunately, he was a little too vigorous to be in power."

Alex smiled, distantly, but amicably. The epitome of well-versed. "Well, politicians can be hungry. No offence, of course."

"None taken," she smiled.

"Hey, if you're the princess, then you must be the missing dog," Cullen said suddenly, turning away from Nixie to Alex. "The crest. It's her, isn't it?"

Alex's eyes dropped to his feet, intaking the information. His expressions were transparent, easily seen. Iphigenia liked being able to read him, his transparency. So different from herself, closed-off and concealed. "You're right, Cull. You're the missing dog."

"You mean the freaky voodoo mutts you and Cullen found?" Sumin asked, emerging from the depths of library shelves and books. Behind her, a man followed, tall but ordinary. "This is Spellmeyer," she added. "Spellmeyer, that's Princess Iphigenia."

"Spellmeyer," Iphigenia recognised him. Harvey's assistant. It took a second, Spellmeyer's face had mostly been cast in shadow as he lingered behind Harvey Jones' shoulder, but Iphigenia was good at faces. "I know you. Please, call me Iphigenia."

"Iphigenia. We met at the UN conference, back at the Institution," Spellmeyer nodded, giving her a smile. "It's good to see you survived all...this."

"Is Harvey—" she let the question hang, realising the implications of the answer.

Sumin cut over her. "Enough politics, we don't need to worry about a government when there's nobody to govern. What were you saying about the dogs?"

Spellmeyer looked strangled, caught up in some moral distress. Iphigenia narrowed her eyes imperceptibly.

Ah, so he was dead, then. Her eyes slid to Nixie, who stood next to her, looking lost. She hadn't heard, apparently, still trembling from the monster before. Iphigenia glanced back at Spellmeyer.

He shook his head. So she didn't know. Iphigenia nodded. Let the assistant keep his secrets. Nixie was his problem now, and there was no reason to distress a girl who was so clearly fragmented.

As if to prove her point, Nixie let out a strangled choke, tucking herself into her own arms.

"—found them in the Fauna bay," Alex was saying. Iphigenia refocused, filling in the gaps of his words with assumptions, like a puzzle. "They died in an... unnatural position. Five of them biting into a sixth. They were placed there purposefully, we think. And each dog had a little thing on them."

"A symbol," Cullen confirmed, his hand curling in the pocket of his bomber jacket. "We think they represent one of us each."

Iphigenia froze, stomach sinking. Her heart kicked up again. "You're saying... somebody intended for us to be the ones alive?"

The temperature in the library seemed to drop twenty degrees as the others digested the thought.

"Somebody knew," Sumin realised as well, a beat later. "Somebody knew it would be us."

Nixie let out another soft little whimper, clapping a hand over her mouth. Cullen's jaw clenched.

"I want to see the dogs," Spellmeyer said, briskly, a little weakly. "I said it before, and I know it's dangerous, but I really need to confirm. Plus, you said that one of them had nothing."

"Yeah, the one being...bit. It's smaller, too, basically a puppy. But if Iphigenia is the one with the crest, then..." Cullen faltered, "then it's Nixie."

Unconsciously, they all turned to look at Nixie. She flinched under their gaze, shrinking in on herself, giving them a helpless shrug.

"What does it mean?" Sumin whispered, her laser-sharp eyes burning a hole in Nixie's own. Nixie couldn't seem to look away, as much as she shook. "What does it all mean?"

Another loud thump from the other side. They jumped, turning to look at the door, where the monster had rammed itself against the metal doors again. Blood seeped through underneath, a slowly growing puddle. Sumin let out a disgusted sniff.

Iphigenia inhaled, steeling herself. Face it, face the fear, look it in the eyes and take. It. Down. She exhaled. "We'll go see the dogs. But first we have to kill that thing."

She glanced around at them, spine straight, eyes set. The others met her gaze, and she could see them hardening under her gaze, their resolve stiffening.

Iphigenia gave them a little daring smile. "Does anyone have a weapon?" 

author's note

it's becoming tradition that i do the first author's note on the second chapter, and i don't know why but now i feel like i have to keep it up XD

okay, anyway, i'm so sorry if this scares you (but you kinda asked for it) but also i'm extra terrified because i edited this at midnight and now i'm in cold sweat. 

lol anyyywaaaayyyyyy

thoughts? theories? hate comments for your nightmares? 

do tell :) 

also does anyone have a weapon?? :0