You're mingling with a human child! You're breaking the rules. You may as well commit treason.

He yelled at her again. "I said get out! Now! Violette? Oh God Lilly, what have you done?!" He growled and visibly shook, an energy tornado swirling around the ankles of the boy he occupied. He started to levitate off the floor. Onyx circled him like a cyclone to keep him standing, but expelled his anger at the same time. All the light bulbs were swinging on their electrical wires. All at once they popped, sounding like a shotgun. As he spun faster, his torso emerged from the top of the tornado he’d spawned, arms outstretched towards Lilly, eyes burning red. This was the meanest she had ever seen him, in any situation.

"Onyx! Stop, please! I'm getting out, I’m trying!" She held up her hands in defense, realizing he was preparing to pull her out himself. This would not only hurt her, but the girl too. That idea gave her an advantage.

"Wait! I’m almost out."

"I don't care. You’re taking too long, out!"

"What about Violette!?" This was her last attempt at rationalizing with him. After this, she would fight back, and lose. The sound of the girl's name gave him pause, and his eyes shifted to a cooler orange.

Lilly had said the right thing. Onyx still stood there, half man, half whirlwind, his host suspended in waiting, unconscious. "Why!?" he yelled at her. "Why did you do this? Stupid, stupid!" As he threw insults at her in a harsh booming voice, she worked on gently retracting from the girls’ synapses and nerves. She ignored him so she could concentrate on not hurting this stupid slip of child.

His arms flailed, he cursed her again, giving her no time to explain that she had been worried about him.

When she was untangled, she remained inside long enough to lay Violette down; then she rose out of her limp body.

He was back in the boy in a split second and sitting next to Violette, her head in his lap. No acknowledgment of Lilly, no apology, nothing. He simply ignored her while he cuddled Violette’s head.

"She's breathing," he said to no one, with a sigh of relief. His fear laid to rest, he looked up at Lilly. The human's eyes were suddenly tinged with the maroon murkiness of his anger. It took a lot of pressure to push a Gemini’s characteristics through a human’s facade, especially the eye color; sometimes Onyx’s strength amazed her.

"Why are you here? Why did you do this? Who sent you?" He fired off questions at her as if she were a spy, not a relative. She should be asking him these questions.

"What am I doing here? What am I doing here!?" She asked the question twice to show how ridiculous it sounded. He was the one trying to resuscitate a human being. "You are not the one who should be asking that question right now."

He looked away from her, a flicker of regret evident in his statuesque features. "I told you to let me handle this, Lilly. It was very stupid of you to come here. You have risked blowing the whole operation."

She ignored the truth of his words. "What operation? You didn't answer my question. What is wrong with you? Does the host you are in have some kind of power over you? Why are you so upset with me for entering her? What do you care?”

"Violette?" he whispered to the girl, hopeful. Lilly was exasperated. She huffed and flew around to the other side of him, trying to draw his attention.

"Did you hear a word I just said, Onyx? What are you doing?" He still didn't answer her; he was simply shutting her out, all of his was focus on the girl.

"She'll wake up. I didn't kill her." She couldn't believe she was actually consoling him.

“Onyx?" The way she said his name snapped him out of the trance. Her voice cracked with worry. He looked up at her floating form and set his jaw stubbornly.

“I know you don't think it's me, but it is, Lilly. I want you to leave now. Let me be and let me handle this."

"What's happening to you?" She had to try and make sense of this before she left. He might be incapable of seeing this through.

He shot her a look of piercing hatred. "I am perfectly capable of doing this. Get out of here! Don't tell the others, you keep quiet until this all blows over." He gestured around himself at the hallway and the ceiling. He had clearly read her mind.

"And what exactly is this?" She repeated his motion more dramatically. "How do you expect me to hide this, Onyx? You're mingling with a human! A child! You're breaking the rules. You may as well commit treason." Her voice had become shrill and she realized she was pacing in the air, leaving puffs of smoke behind her every time she changed directions.

"You have to keep quiet. I tried to talk to you about this. You stopped me, remember?" He shifted his weight and pulled the girl in closer to his chest. "I don't know what this is Lilly, but I can't stop it." Now she was cradled in his lap, her head lolling gently on his shoulder, like a sleeping baby.

"This is not good at all, Onyx; you need to leave her alone and finish this.” she paused for effect, "There is no other option."