oo1 ➜ grave robbery

[draugen]

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.

The unfamiliar sound of a heartbeat stirs Squigly from her slumber (if death could be called a slumber). Her red eyes blink open, and she's greeted with darkness. The inside of her coffin is cozy and moving at all means pushing at the walls. While it might be claustrophobic to some, she's come to find it genuinely comforting. Still, reawakening is disorienting, and unlike the last time, she doesn't feel the tug of the Skull Heart.

"Leviathan?"

She feels the parasite wiggle around her, slithering through her head as he answers, "Good morning, milady."

"Do you hear that?" she asks. "Is it the Skull Heart? We only just destroyed..." Well, it feels recent. She realizes she isn't quite sure how much time has passed since the battle with Marie and Double. It could be anywhere from yesterday to years; she'd have no real way of knowing.

"No." He sounds dubious, and his tone is all Squigly needs to know that he's just as clueless as her.

Confused as she is, she's still upbeat when she says, "Well, then, I guess we'll have to go find answers!" It takes both hands to push the lid of her coffin off, disturbing the dirt as it falls on top of her. With the help of Leviathan, she's able to dig herself out quickly enough. Once free, she frowns, "We're covered in dirt," and immediately begins to brush off what she can. She may be a zombie, but that's no excuse to look completely disheveled.

Comments

[buzzcut]

Filia didn't have much to do with her days, lately. She went to school. She looked for work. She tried to keep an eye out for Carol. Those were the only things that occupied her mind of late. The Skullgirl was gone, the Heart destroyed. There hadn't been any resurface in a good long while. Even if there had, even Samson had conceeded that the heart wasn't the way to go about things. They didn't have that to search for.

And who they had to thank for that lay under the earth in her own coffin, Leviathan curled around her in protective slumber.

Filia's only other daily ritual was to go to the grave of Sienna 'Squigly' Contiello. She didn't bring flowers every day, but today was one of those ones. The big white lillies spilled out over her arms, pollen dusting in the wind as she walked. Hopefully, Squigly had liked lillies - she hadn't precisely had enough time to ask her before she sank back into her rest.

As she crested the rise of the hill, she never imagined she'd have had a chance to ask her.

The skeletal hand burst through the earth, followed by a head and shoulders. Two heads, actually - Leviathan peeked out too. Filia's eyes widened and she felt Samson's jaw drop.

The lillies fell to the earth with a muffled rustle of paper. While Squigly dusted herself off, Filia's feet were already pounding across the ground to the disturbed grave.

"Squigly!"

She wanted to say a lot - ask a lot - but she couldn't form anything. Even Samson seemed to be struck dumb for once.

[draugen]

Suitably satisfied with the state of her attire, Squigly was caught off guard by the immediate sound of her name. Looking up, her eyes met Filia's and her lips, despite the thread binding them together, curved into a smile.

"Filia! You're here?"

She was surprised -- very surprised -- and grateful. The lilies now scattered on the ground and Filia's speechlessness said it all. Though they'd known each other briefly, Filia had become a friend. To realize that she'd been visiting Squigly even after her death was touching. Heart-wrenching (ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum).

With a hop, she got close enough to wrap her arms around Filia, pulling her into the first real hug that Squigly had had in decades. "I'm so..." The words fell from her, so she took a moment to regather her composure. Even though they hadn't reached her arms (or her grave), she finally settled on saying, "The flowers are lovely."

[buzzcut]

Normally, Samson would lash out if anyone dared to touch his host. He may not have the same plans for Filia as he had when they first started out together, but he was still possessive. Even Squigly would have been told to back off. However, Filia didn't care about that. Before he could say anything, she had her arms around the other girl and was squeezing her tight.

Squigly might only have been a friend for a few moments, but those were moments that bound them together. The denial of Filia's lack of worth as a Medici. The acceptance of her assistance against that horrible creature that'd been pretending to be a sister at the church. Destroying the Skull Heart.

Filia's head snapped back at that thought. Still holding Squigly, but stepping back so that her arms were extended out to touch her, she blinks at her. "You're back. Does that mean -?"

But no. There had been something else. Something different... Filia moved her fingers to take Squigly's hand, and as her fingers slide across the warm skin, she released what it had been.

"Squigly - you're alive?"

[draugen]

The Skull Heart returning had, of course, been both Squigly and Leviathan's first fear. Her sense of duty to destroying the Heart was still in tact. No matter what attachments she formed in the living world, stopping the Heart anytime it appeared would be the first goal.

Her disdain for the Medicis still stood, but only for those involved in the massacre. It was clear now that the events of that night were orchestrated by whatever the monster at the church had been, the reason of which still puzzled her. The death of her family, the transformation of her mother into a Skullgirl... She'd gotten answers, but it only left her with more questions.

"I don't feel the Heart at all," she assured Filia, and she squeezed the girl's hand. It was warm, but not shockingly so.

Alive.

"No, that can't be possible," Squigly replied, staring down at their hands. Her other hand was still nothing but bone, and it didn't hurt. Wouldn't she have felt pain again? Her eyes narrowed in confusion. "But that sound..."

"Your own heartbeat." Leviathan finished her sentence, coming to the same conclusion she had been dancing around.

"I'm alive?" She never imagined she'd say those words again, and while her skepticism remained, her crimson eyes lit up as she looked back up at Filia. "I'm alive!"

[buzzcut]

The smooth bone was cool to touch, true, but her other hand was only as chill as another living hand subjected to cool air and soil would be. Filia's eyes widen and even Samson's jaw drops as Leviathan says what they were all thinking - she could feel that pulse against her own skin.

Squigly's smile lights up the world and Filia finds her own shock melting into happiness for her friend. She pulls her into another hug, this one tight and almost trembling. She's shaking with happiness, after all.

"You're alive, you're really alive!" She exclaims. Delight bubbles through her and even seems to affect grouchy old Samson. He, in turn, salutes Leviathan with a lock of hair made to look like a hand.

"Not bad. You're a lucky worm." However, he fixes him with a Look. What caused this, Leviathan? Were you awake? Maybe he wouldn't get the full meaning, but they'd fought together enough to be able to communicate without words.

[draugen]

Squigly returns Filia's embrace just as tightly. While her one hand is soft, without the buffer of skin, the bone of the other digs painfully into Filia's back. Tears well up in her eyes (just one more sensation she never thought she'd feel again), and she tries to shake them away.

"I'm so..." There isn't a word that properly fits, she realizes. She's shocked, elated, and scared all at once. What does this mean? How did this happen?

She knows Leviathan shares her concern, but instead of raining on her parade, he gives her an encouraging nod -- it's okay to be happy about this. His expression turns serious when he looks back at Samson. He doesn't shake his head -- he doesn't want Squigly to worry right now -- but his eyes arrow. He doesn't know either. It's a cause for concern; the dead don't just come back to life without a reason.

[buzzcut]

The bite of bone through the thin fabric of her school shirt was sore, but Filia couldn't bring herself to care at that moment. It was Squigly. Squigly, alive and well. It was a miracle - a genuine, bona-fide miracle. She could deal with a prickle of discomfort or two in the face of that.

She never thought that she'd see Squigly without the danger of the Skull Heart hanging over their heads. To have her here and not to have that dangling like a damoclesian sword was wonderful beyond words.

Unbeknownst to her, Samson's lips, for lack of a better term, thinned in response to Leviathan's narrowed eyes. That was a cause for concern. The old worm should have been awakened if anyone had tried to make Squigly their shambling, corpsey automaton. That meant that something had happened to bring a dead girl back to life and completely under her own control.

... Or someone. But who? This wasn't Sehkmet's style - nor Eliza's, though they were one in the same. The Medicis didn't have that sort of power and even if they did, why use it on a Contiello?

It didn't make sense. They'd need to all get their heads together to talk about it. He cleared his throat, making Filia wince a bit as she had a semi-burp because of the resulting air vacumn in her throat. She stepped back from Squigly, covering her mouth and looking a little embarrassed.

"This is cute 'n' all, but it can't be comfortable standing around in grave dirt. You two'll need a place to crash -"

"Come and stay with us."

... Samson sighed. That wasn't where he'd been going with that, even if he had been about to invite them over.

[draugen]

The subtle burp didn't catch Squigly's attention, although she wouldn't have judged for it even if it had. After all, there were few things more disgusting than having a worm living inside your decaying body, and Filia was clearly willing to overlook that.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up in a way they hadn't been able to in a long time, full of warmth and life. "I don't want to trouble you, but it's much appreciated." She was pretty sure she had no where else to go. Her mansion had probably been resold; it sickened her to think of where the money might have gone. The Medicis had put an end to her family. She wouldn't put it above them to make off with their fortune, too, not that they would have needed it.

It was incredibly good fortune that Filia had found them when she did. As much as he would rather not, Leviathan agreed. Trusting Samson and Filia wasn't an easy feat, but at the same time, he could think of no one better to try and figure this out with. Samson had run in the same circles for a while, and both Filia and he had been there for Squigly's first resurrection. If anyone would have a clue, it would most likely be them.

[buzzcut]

"It's really no trouble!" The words came out in a rush. Filia felt giddy - like a kid who'd just been told she could have a sleepover. She couldn't stop smiling. Not only was her friend back, but she'd be staying with her for the time being. They could really begin to get to know each other! "Samson's got a lot of contacts. It's a pretty out of the way place in Little Innsmouth."

Samson sighed, but as there was no one around to have overheard other than those two, he decided not to reprimand Filia. She could be one hell of an idiot sometimes. "Yeah, I'm pretty great.

"Lead the way, Filia."

No point in nodding - Samson was on her head, after all. Filia reluctantly let go of Squigly properly for the first time since their embrace, and gestures for her to follow. "We shouldn't do too bad getting there. I know Leviathan can hide, and I've got a hat for Samson, so..."

[draugen]

Even with Leviathan hiding, Squigly sort of stuck out. She tugged the arm of her sleeve to better conceal her bony arm. Still, her smile didn't fade. "I bet it's lovely," Squigly commented as she followed Filia, though she had no idea what the other girl's place would look like.

"I wonder how much has changed," she mused, voice quiet. "I didn't really have the time to explore before." It was sort of intimidating how much she might missed. A lot could change in a decade. In a way, she'd be learning about the world from scratch. Without the Skull Heart to destroy, she could focus on her original goal of revenge against the Medicis...

... and yet, being around Filia made her feel guilty about that. As oblivious as Filia seemed to be to the Medici situation, it wouldn't remain that way forever. Would they have to become rivals eventually? The thought was the first thing that made her frown since they'd been reunited.

[buzzcut]

Filia is, fortunately for Squigly, currently blissfully unaware of her thoughts. Samson, meanwhile, meets her gaze steadily until the hat is lowered over him. If Squigly decides to turn on Filia for her connection to the Medicis, he would be the first in her way. That was his host, and he'd not let anyone or anything get to her before him.

Even for him, though, that was only speculation. Filia continued to just chatter on to Squigly, her brain to mouth filter even less in place now that her friend was back. She still couldn't believe it, or her good fortune. No matter what mysterious things could be in place to have made Squigly come back, the important thing was that she was.

"If there's anything you want to know, you can just ask me, okay? I know a few of our neighbours. Mr Yu Wan does great food at the restaurant, and his daughter's really nice. If we could get you gloves and maybe some make up, you could hang around no problem there. Dagonians don't really care what you look like so long as you aren't being horrible to them..."

Okay so maybe that wasn't entirely true, but Filia had always had good experiences with them. Maybe because she wasn't a massive jerk, but...