Nocturna League- Season One Box Set

by Kell Inkston

  Eyes trained on Colette, she shifts through the various jars of drugs in the cabinet, and picks out one labeled “Muscle relaxant.” Grancis narrows and focuses her gaze as she silently equips the jar in her other hand from behind her back. “I trust him, Colette. We don’t know anything about this.”

  “Know anything about what?!” Colette brandishes her gun.

  “You have like… a thing… in your head! I was there!” Grancis exclaims as she fights down her tremors and readies herself.

  Colette loosens up a bit. “What th-” Grancis swipes forward with the vessel slightly ajar, slinging a few drops of the drug at Colette’s face. “Grancis, what the hell?! What the ffff-” she drops to her knees, but has enough nerve in a single second to fire her gun. Her shot bounces against the deck and into Grancis’ foot. “Ffff…” Colette falls over, conscious, but unable to move. “Gran… You piece of-” Colette says all sorts of things that would be rather naughty to repeat as an agony-stricken Grancis stumbles forward, pushes Colette’s defending hands away, and poises the needle right above her best friend’s eye.

  “Take a deep breath, Colette,” she says with an empty tone.

  “Please, Gran. Don’t do it- there’s nnnn…nothing in my h-head. You’ll make me ha-ha-half blind. I ccc…can’t lose an eye. Please, please!” Colette begs on as Grancis takes a deep breath and lowers the needle towards Colette’s pupil. Colette vibrates, forcing every ounce of strength she has to defy Grancis, but nothing stops her. The needle, only a centimeter from Colette, hovers a moment and then plunges into her eye, centered almost-perfectly in the center. Colette begins screaming as the needle digs all the way through her eye on its own accord, taking a life of its own while it inserts itself. Grancis takes a deep breath, watching it go in and then looks to her foot—it’s bleeding heavily. Grancis limps back to the cabinet, crudely bandages her foot and lays back next to the suffering Colette, eyes wide and body convulsing in agony.

  Finally, she feels she can rest. Grancis holds Colette’s hand as she lays herself down, and she closes her eyes, dreaming of a time before Colette wanted revenge, and a time when she could just help carry her fish from the stream.

  Grancis is Made Aware of a Particularly Precarious Situation Concerning Herself and her Friend, Colette Ketiere

  Grancis draws waking air into herself minutes later. A concerned-looking Colette is looming over, her features alert, but friendly. “Eh, hey there, Gran,” Colette says, squinting a hazel eye as she inspects the waking Grancis, just as Grancis looks back: there’s a notable hole in her eye in which the needle was inserted, causing the eye to run over with a bloodied tint.

  The Cook’s Apprentice gains the singly most charmed look she’s made this past month. “Oh~ Colette! Are you okay now?”

  “Yeah… yeah I’m pretty sure it’s good. Not sure if I’ll see out this eye again, but living is more important. Listen, Gran, I’m sorry,” Colette says with a look of complete resignation.

  Grancis giggles in response. “You kinda shot me in the foot, nothing to apologize for,” she says with a facetious grin—it still hurts terribly.

  Colette shakes her head. “No… No, that was crazy… it was,” she takes a breath, “like, something Ol’ Salt would do.”

  Grancis’ smile is more genuine now. This is the best thing her ears have heard all day. To think Colette’s actually aware that she’s changing, perhaps she can be helped in time. “You know he wouldn’t shoot someone in the foot unless they really needed it,” she says, not sure if she really believes it herself.

  Colette turns her head away. “Then maybe I’m worse.”

  Grancis buries her head into Colette’s chest. “No, you’re fine. I’m sorry I had to do that with the needle…” Grancis looks up in alarm. “Wait, the thing… the thingie! Where is it?!”

  Colette furrows her brow in coy humor. “What the hell do you mean, the thingi-” she inhales sharply through her teeth. How could she have forgotten. “Yeah… right, about that... It sort of ran off.”

  “Wha-… Ran off?!” Grancis mutters. Colette nods in response as Grancis continues. “Well, we gotta find it! Who knows what it’ll do!?”

  Colette nods again. “You’re right… Oh, and Gran.”

  “Yeah?”

  “This is going to be sorta complicated. I wanted to stick around so you wouldn’t get confused.”

  “I’m already confused, Colette. What’s going on?”

  Colette averts her gaze. “The Eldritch looked exactly like me.”

  Grancis squints an eye. Yeah, that’s pretty weird, alright. “…So we just find the fake and throw it off? That’s not hard at all!” She says with a reassuring tone.

  A look of relief washes over Colette. “Heh, well if you think it’s simple, then it is. Let’s go get us a monster.”

  Grancis nods and she takes steadily to her feet. “Gimmie just a second,” she says as she limps over to a medicine cabinet. She takes a few minutes to put to use her knowledge of medicine to bring down the pain, remove the bullet and properly disinfect her injury. Upon close inspection she finds that the bullet only went through the side of her foot, meaning most of the muscles and bones are still intact. She assumes that, so long as she can keep down the bleeding and bare the weight of the pain, she can walk relatively unhindered—she relays this to Colette, who only nods again. It’s strange though, Grancis remembers her father’s lessons. This much force from a gun of that caliber should have shattered her bones, but they’re fine—she chalks it up to dumb luck.

  Colette rubs the side of her face thoughtfully. “Damn, Gran. You know a thing or two.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t know that much in comparison to a real doctor. My daddy was the best.” Grancis stands back up, taps her foot down a bit and nods in assurance. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s get ‘em.” She looks confidant.

  Colette nods and they exit through the now-unlocked infirmary door to the second-level deck. It’s still as dark as the void of the sea, with the exception of the deck light’s electronic salvation shining down upon them from above. Colette shifts her gaze about cautiously as she draws her revolver. Colette gestures for Grancis to follow along and they begin the search. They both keep quiet as they look through all of the upper deck with the exception of the always-locked Captain’s Quarters and never-opened Enforcement Closet. The duo takes a quick minute to go to the top deck, look through the helm, The Captain’s Secret Coffee and Alcohol Corner, and his stash of questionable fishing and sailing magazines that he thinks no one on the ship knows about. They then descend to the broad first deck, lined with ropes, netting, gun emplacements and signs warning against various degenerate activities, as mandated by The Captain.

  “Okay, Gran,” Colette starts.

  “Yeah?” They get back to back, scanning for any movement.

  “If it went to bed in place of me it might be a problem.”

  Grancis furrows her brow in thought and nods. “Right, if we went in it would cause a ruckus.”

  “Yeah. People would wake up; make things difficult. So let’s look around the other rooms first. Maybe check the bar for The Captain.”

  “Got it,” Grancis says, squinting an eye. Somehow Grancis isn’t sure about all of this, it seems to her that waking up everyone would help them find the creature, but perhaps Colette knows best.

  The two go clockwise through the ship’s rooms, first the kitchen, complete with a gurgling, snoring Boris, and then to the recreation room, connected by a small window to the kitchen and bar rooms. They move on to the bar, and Colette turns to The Captain’s usual seat—at the very end of the room; nothing.

  “Huh, doesn’t The Captain usually sit here?”

  Grancis shrugs. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Really?”

  “Well yeah. I don’t spend any time in here. I’m too young to dri-” Grancis jolts in realization and nudges Colette crossly.

  “Wh-what’s up, Gran?”

  “Have you been drinking?”


  Colette immediately gains a sheepish expression and begins skidding with her hands. “Well, you know. It’s just. I spend a lot of time with him, you know? I just thought it’d be… Well, he did offer me some drinks. He is The Cap after all, couldn’t rightly refuse something like-” Colette stops once Grancis turns away back to the search. “Look, I’m sorry! I just thought it would make me a saltier sailor! You know, just something to pass the time with between traini-”

  Grancis releases the snootiest, most princessly “hmph!” Colette has heard from her. “I thought I smelled something on you! No wonder you’ve been acting so weird. It wasn’t coffee at all!”

  Colette raises her hands. “N-no, look, Gran! 90% has been coffee. But I wanted to know what that stuff tasted li-”

  “My dad told you that alcohol was no good for the young— it’s meant to take away pain, not cause it, i-idiot! Your liver couldn’t possibly-” Both shut up the second they hear a glass clink from behind the bar. Colette and Grancis exchange nervous, focused glances and they start sneaking to it. Both are quite accomplished sneakers, so it’s not hard for them to get up to the side of the bar without startling whatever’s on the other side. Now close, they can both hear labored, pain-racked breathing at the other side. Colette turns to Gran and they both nod. In a split second, they both hurdle to the top of the bar and Colette aims her gun down to a tipsy, angry, bitter-as-hell Colette. The second Colette was ready, and smashes a mostly-empty bottle of vodka into the aiming Colette’s face, botching her aim and causing her to fire into the booze shelf. The second Colette bolts out from the bar and in the same movement, takes up a bottle of Dugal’s Scotch and hurls it again at the face of the first Colette—her aim is absolutely perfect, smashing it again in her face and blinding her long enough before she could get a shot off.

  Grancis takes up a cloth from the bar and cleans up Colette’s face. “It’s fast.”

  Colette nods, crimson trailing down three different lacerations on her face. “Son of a bitch—good aim!... guess that’s normal for something like that, though,” she says, cleaning herself and taking a moment to check her gun. “We can’t let it get away next time. If I’m down, chase it, alright?” Colette says, presenting Grancis with a sharp, glinting tactical knife.

  Grancis looks at the knife with awe and takes it into her hand, a look up purpose on her features. “Okay. Let’s go.” The two creep, Grancis up front, out from the bar and forward to the maintenance room, finding nothing, and then to the showers. Just as Grancis eases the door open, the second Colette strikes. She’s right at the edge of the door inside, she pulls Grancis in and bolts to the side before the first Colette can fire. In a blink, Second Colette smashes the door closed with her weight and locks it just as Grancis regains her balance and slashes forward with the knife, slicing into Second Colette’s back. Second Colette hits the lights and the dismal gray shower room is illuminated.

  “Gran! You dumbass!” Second Colette says, her face curved intensely in disgust. First Colette smashes on the door to get in, yelling something imperceptible.

  Grancis draws back a moment. “Wha… Wait, you talk?”

  “Of fucking course I talk! Dumbass! Shit! How dumb are you?!”

  Grancis looks over Second Colette thoughtfully—precisely the same as the first, but with different injuries, and no hole in the eye. “Nice try, creature. I won’t be fooled by your trick.”

  “You idiot!” Colette extends her hand and displays a small, black, glintless needle.

  Grancis jolts at the sight and takes a deep breath. “The needle.”

  “That’s right! The Colette you’ve been helping is the fake! But obviously my best fucking friend couldn’t even see that!” Colette yells as she approaches Grancis indignantly. Colette stops as Grancis raises the knife, just the way she saw Colette do days ago. Colette scoffs. “Really? Really? You don’t believe me?”

  “No!” Grancis responds.

  Colette takes long, deep breaths. “Fine. Why?”

  “Where’s your gun?”

  Colette freezes, realizing Grancis noticed. “Look… Gran. The thing stole it from me. I couldn’t deal with all that pain, I guess, but once that thing jumped out of my eye, it grabbed my gun and then went somewhere, I think.”

  “You think?” Grancis aims the knife right at Second Colette’s neck, only a meter away.

  “Y-yeah! It was just waiting for me to get up and leave… I got up and was looking for The Captain. Then it dropped down or something… and woke you up? That’s how you met it first instead of me,” Colette almost smiles.

  “Sure, but the real Colette would have cared enough to wake me up, would have known where The Captain was, would have forgiven me for trying to help her!” Grancis says, a drop of spite falling from her words.

  Colette raises her hands and steps back. “No, Gran. This is me. I’m Colette. Come on… That thing’s just buttering you up… I … I’m not a good enough person to…” Colette looks to the side in shame. “Gods, I’m sorry, Grancis. I’ve been a shit friend recently. All the fake had to do was act better and you’d believe her.”

  Grancis smirks, a look of violence glinting in her eye—something Colette’s never seen in her. Frankly, it’s horrifying. “Yeah?” Grancis steps forward, and Colette steps back.

  “Y-yeah! Grancis, come on! There’s no way you actually believe that thing is me!”

  “Colette would never treat me like you did.” Another step forward.

  “What?! Hell yeah I would! I shot you in the foot! I-I’m sorry about that, by the way.” Another step back.

  Grancis continues forward, backing Second Colette into a corner. “Sure you a-” Grancis thinks on it for a moment. “Well, okay, yeah, Colette would shoot me in the foot, but at least she didn’t try to kill me!”

  Colette squints as Grancis closes in. “I didn’t try to kill you, idiot!”

  The First Colette, still outside, is making headway in breaking open the door. She bends it slightly ajar with a crow bar and yells “Don’t believe it!” inside.

  Grancis pauses again. “Well…” She steps back. “That’s because you were going to trick The Captain and get real Colette killed!”

  Second Colette draws into the wall, squishing herself as Grancis pushes back in. “Don’t be an idiot, Gran. Don’t you think The Captain would be able to tell a real from a fake?”

  “You saying he knows Colette better than I do?” Grancis asks.

  Second Colette smirks and makes a shot for the knife. She reaches forward, but Grancis slices across, cutting her hands and sending her back to the wall. Colette takes a deep breath, and nods. “Apparently he does,” she says with a mixture of surprised of disappointment.

  Grancis stares deep into Colette’s eyes. “I know a fake when I see it.”

  Second Colette’s cold sweat picks up and her body tenses for immediate, life-saving movement. “Yeah?”

  “I shoved a needle in your left eye—but it’s obvious that you’re just fine. I’ll fix that,” Grancis says a second before she thrusts forward at Colette’s eye.

  Second Colette throws herself out of harm’s way just in time to evade Grancis’ knife, barely scratching the side of her ear.

  “Are you nuts?!”

  “No, I’ve never been clearer!” Grancis yells as she leaps for Colette with her knife at the ready. Colette dodges swiftly, and as Grancis restarts to her feet she makes her move. Just as she’s learned, Colette grasps Grancis’ knife hand with her arm and smacks into the back of it with her other hand. The knife flies out of Grancis’ grasp and Colette tosses her aside to get it. She’s successful and takes up the blade. With a dash, second Colette poises the knife at Grancis, but pauses.

  “Tell me, if I was the eldritch, would I stop myself?” Colette asks, holding the knife high over the struggling Grancis.

  Grancis tries to justify it in her mind, but from the door comes the first Colette. The notch she made is just wide enough to point her gun straight for the sec
ond Colette. “Get your hands off her!” First Colette yells. Second Colette spares no time to respond, but leaps aside out of the opening’s pitch and runs along the wall to the door. Second Colette unlocks the door, kicks it in, and strikes for the first Colette. The first’s aim is true, and shoots the second in the shoulder just as she stabs into the first’s right arm. The first drops the gun and the second slashes forward again to get at the first, but Grancis tackles the second aside to the railing.

  “Gran! You’ve ruined this!” The second Colette says, leaning back into the railing and kicking Grancis square in the face. Just as the first Colette retrieves her gun and takes aim, the second slips around the side of the deck to the back.

  “I can’t…” First Colette takes a deep breath. “I can’t believe it. It’s way faster than I expected,” she says, holding her arm to cease the bleeding. Just as she starts forward to chase the second Colette, Grancis pulls her back.

  “Chill out. You’re way too hurt to keep going—come on.”

  “No,” Colette pulls at Grancis’ grip. “I can do it, we gotta finish it now.”

  “Don’t be an idiot!”

  “You’re an idiot, Grancis. If it finds The Captain before we do, we’re done for!”

  Grancis tugs Colette on. “You’re… you’re right, but I’d rather risk that than lose you here,” Grancis says, pulling the bloody Colette up to the infirmary. Grancis patches her up and lays her down. This time, Grancis takes up the gun with a fresh set of ammunition lifted off the injured Colette. She turns to the door, and nods. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Colette sighs and nods. “Y-you too, Gran- be safe.”

  “I will.” Grancis stops a moment at the door. “So, I’m worried.”

  “About?” Colette asks, staring up to the ceiling.

  “How do I really know you’re the real Colette?”