((OK guys, I'm about to do something super-dramatic. Prepare yourselves. Because I am unconfident. And Dagger's about to go through a ton of guano.))
In the pits of hell, many voices mingled together. Calling, weeping, screaming. But one voice managed to reach a particular redhead's ears, even though it was the quietest of all.
"Dagger..."
Dagger's head shot up at the painfully familiar voice calling his name, his eyes darting around suspiciously. Had he just heard what he thought he'd just heard? Who he thought he'd just heard? Was that really...
"Dagger..."
"Madi?" He almost whispered, unable to believe it, but wanting to so much more than he'd ever admit. He stopped and turned to the direction the voice seemed to come from, not even noticing whether his allies noticed him stop or not. "Madi, is that you?" He called a bit louder, the heartbroken hope growing in his voice.
"Dagger!"
He smiled, truly smiled, for the first time in... a long time. It really was her! It really was Madi! He ran toward the voice, needing to see his little sister again. Without him even consciously realizing it, he had started to think how he had when he was a kid again. Madi was what was important. Madi was what mattered. Madi was his first and only priority. He needed to take care of Madi at all costs. Nothing else even mattered.
Madi kept calling to him, but her voice was getting farther away. He ran harder, calling back to her every time she spoke, desperate beyond measure to reach her.
((And it has begun. Posting now before I lose my courage!))