Done in Google Docs
It was time.
Hopeite had been waiting and planning and wondering if this moment would ever come but here she was… making her way to the spot they had determined to be this week’s check in spot, where her companion waited for her. She ran over her script again in her mind, the words practiced, each emotional cue fresh in her mind from practicing in front of the mirror of her home. She knew when to let her voice break. When to tear up. When to move. When to be still. She paused at the precipice of an office building and took a moment to gather herself. Nerves caused her hands to shake and a cold sweat to break out over her forehead. She would never be able to take on the character that she needed if she was this nervous. She needed to be calm. She needed a moment. A moment to reflect… about what all of this meant. She gazed down into Destiny City far below her. The city sprawled out, an endless nervous system of light and lives, busy firing like synapses. Brief interactions of light and sensation interspersed by long interludes of internal monologuing…
It all seemed so…
Pointless…
Hopeite would never find meaning there. Not now when someone bigger than herself had seeped into seeds that she didn’t even know had been planted and had sprouted something within her. The insatiable lust for life, crystalline and perfect, glittering in her hands meant eons more than cellphone messages and facebook updates. The light of consciousness slipping through her fingers and out of someone’s eyes… that held so much more meaning than a day job. More meaning even than Storytime… something she had never expected to feel.
And this was the beginning of a new era for her. The moment when she coalesced that meaning into true purpose. Corrupted senshi were one thing, but they were easily sensed. If they could amass an army within the ranks of the enemy… order aligned senshi who had been systematically twisted, broken, and molded to meet their ends. If they could inject their cancer into the heart of the Order… Hopeite took a long drag on her cigarette and muttered, “now that would be something else.”
With her nerves now settled into something resembling calm, Hopeite jumped down from the office building and made her way over to the meeting spot where she could already sense Harmonia waiting. Now. Start now. Hopeite conjured tears to her eyes as she moved, slowing her pace from a job to a walk. For this to work she needed to be on point from moment one. Now was not the time to make mistakes. By the time she reached Harmonia, she was wiping a steady stream of tears away.
---
Harmonia has been antsy each week for her meeting with Hopeite. Ever since their encounter with the half-youma Harmonia had feared that she’d arrive at their meeting spot and never have Hopeite show up. That scared her to the point that each meeting night she arrived her and fretted herself into a pacing maneuver. She constantly kept alert for the weak signature of her friend while periodically gazing out in search of her. At this rate she’s going to get herself killed. I wish she’d just purify so we can keep her safe.
An instant wave of relief washed over Harmonia when she felt her friends signature. “Thank goodness.” She heaved in relief as a smile lighted upon her face.
It fell fast as Hopeite came into view. The glistening trails of tears could be seen on her cheeks despite the older woman’s attempt to hide them. Worry lined her young face as she dashed up to Hopeite. Hands grabbed the woman’s shoulders as she peered at her, brows furrowed. “What happened? What’s wrong? They didn’t hurt you did they?” Immediately she looked at her friend from arm distance away, trying to see if there were any visible injuries.
---
Hopeite smiled easily when Harmonia came to greet her, impressed with her acting skills as warmth rose in her chest. She was so good that she was beginning to convince herself. There was no way that Harmonia wasn’t going to lap this up at the rate they were going. She’s been staving off purification for so long, Harmonia was practically chomping at the bit to get her on the Order’s roster. She always had an excuse. Matters to get in line, people to please, fears of the negaverse. This and that and the other thing, one and one, but she was running out of time. This wouldn’t last for much longer, not now that she could feel the girl’s desire to save her cresting quickly.
She leaned into the touch on her shoulders and laughed off Harmonia’s concerns.
“No, no, god no. They haven’t hurt me. This is actually the first time I’ve powered up since the last time we met. I’ve been… well I’ve been busy…” she cast her gaze around nervously, suddenly uncertain about how to continue. Her pause was less for effect and more for grounding. She looked Harmonia in the eyes, up and up and up god she was tall… or was Hopeite simply… so much smaller? She needed to sell this less. Hopeite was beginning to feel like the nerves she was feeling were truly her own…
“I’ve been putting things in order… I’m…” Her voice stuck in her throat. Why? She’d fallen too far into her character. She was shaking with the dedication she had devoted to this front. Suddenly, Hopeite felt like she was fracturing. Splintering under the weight of this moment. On the rooftop looking down, the future swept out before her in endless possibilities and now… now its importance threatened to crush her. But why? She knew what she was doing. She had a goal. A strategy.
In a brief moment of improvisation, Hopeite folding herself, trembling with anticipation, into Harmonia and whispered against her shoulder, “I’m ready…” as the first purple orb of her energy lifted from her back and vanished to serve the negaverse.
---
“Oh thank goodness.” She said with a smile, relief that the woman wasn’t being mistreated. Somehow nothing was revealed to superior commanders. Hopeite was safe for yet another week. How their luck was holding out she wasn’t sure, but Harmonia wasn’t dumb enough either to think it would forever stay a secret. If one Captain found out then others certainly will. “I...I mean, they know you’re unpowered identity too so I wasn’t sure if that would keep you safe or not.”
Blue brows furrowed in question. “Into order? For what?” Was she leaving the city? Was this it? A farewell as she fled in hopes of avoiding the war all together? As much as it would keep the woman safe it made Harmonia feel like she was going to be loosing something precious if that was the case.
And then, the smaller woman folded into her. Arms wrapped around Harmonia’s shoulder and the senshi was stunned for a moment. Never, not once, had the woman showed any sort of physical affection. In fact, every time Harmonia gave Hopeite a hug the woman seemed to tense. But...here she was giving her a hug.
Two precious words left the Lieutenant’s mouth. ”I am ready…”
A swell of excitement bubbled inside the senshi. Could it be? Did she mean purifying?
In a fleeting moment her joy turned to confusion as she felt the pull of energy. She couldn’t see the purple orb as it churned in Hopeite’s hand behind her back, but she knew it was there. Knew it was her own. “Hopeite?” Her voice held a note of confusion, curiosity and a slight undertone of disbelief as she stood there with the woman wrapped around her.
--
Hopeite ignored the shaking of her limbs as she worked, siphoning as much of harmonia’s energy as she could out of her body. True, she was a child and Hopeite an adult woman, but here, on this playing field, Harmonia had the advantage of rank. A lieutenant held no hope in a fight against third stage soldier of any kind. The only chance she would have would be to take away as much of her energy as possible before she acted.
“It’s alright sweetness,” she purred, the violet chain of pearls streaming from Harmonia’s back and into space endlessly, “I’ve got you, now. I’ve got you.” Gently, almost lovingly, Hopeite stroked Harmonia’s hair. It was so soft. How had she not noticed that before? She supposed that she’d never let Harmonia get this close… for good reason too. The cotton candy mane tickled her nose and sent flickers of irritation straight to the pit of her stomach. Was she wearing perfume? She must have been… Hopeite was getting nauseous. She knew exactly how long this would take and that energy draining alone would not do the trick. She would need something else. Something… stronger.
After a long moment, Hopeite released Harmonia’s shoulders and pressed her hand to the back of her head. With her now free hand, she dug into her pocket from which she pulled a rag soaked through with some kind of fluid. She pressed this to Harmonia’s nose and mouth and held her head fast between both hands. She would be trapped here, weak from loss of energy and unable to escape so long as Hopeite cradled her head there at her breast. She nuzzled her nose into the crown of her head, maneuvering it to bend low against her shoulder.
“Shh, honey just… take a deep breath. Relax. I’ve got you.
---
The Eternal was so confused. Several orbs of energy had been pulled from her in various degrees of strength. Each one left a noticeable difference. “Wait. No...what are you doing?” She said in a near helpless tone. “Why?” The petting of her hair and cooing in her ear was almost soothing, but the Eternal knew that what was happening was wrong. Hopeite had never attempted to pull energy from her before. Why now? What changed? Was she being forced to? Had a superior found out and they’re forcing Hopeite to drain her?
It took her several moments to even begin at an attempt to pull away from the woman’s grasp. By the time she managed to pull away, tired, confused, unsure...betrayed, Hopeite had fished out whatever it was she was in search of within her uniform. A rag, soaked in something covered her nose and mouth. An odd sweet taste filled her mouth as an ether-like odor flooded her nose.
Weakly she tried to shake her head. To pull away from whatever it was that was pushed to her face, but Hopeite’s grip was firm, Harmonia was tired, and the rag was doing its job. Tears welled in Harmonia’s eyes but barely had a chance to fall before the teen slumped forward into Hopeite.
---
“Atta girl. Atta girl.” Hopeite patted Harmonia’s head when she slumped over. She didn’t want her out, but she wanted her under. Hopeite stood with Harmonia heavy in her arms for a long moment, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and feeling the weight of her against her chest. She finally cast away the rag and smiled. The shaking in her limbs had stopped. Her nerves had settled. Her smile twisted into something vile and familiar. She shifted Harmonia’s weight to one should and braced her footing before signalling a Captain of a similar ilk and his guardian cat. Without uttering a word, they worked, the cat to hide the three of them and the other agent helping to carry Harmonia’s weight.
With a wave of the Captain’s hand, they stepped through a doorway to a warehouse across town, settling Harmonia into a chair bolted to the floor in the middle of the room. The Captain thrust the eternal away, causing the body to bump against the metal frame of the ******** careful,” Hopeite hissed. The Captain raised an eyebrow and held up her hands. Hopeite rolled her eyes at the elder’s carelessness and arranged Harmonia’s limbs, zip tying her legs and arms to the frame before she stood back up, admiring her work. One last detail… she reached down and gently brushed a lock of hair from Harmonia’s face. There. Now Hopeite could see her face, softly illuminated until the dirty lightbulb above them. Everything was falling into place perfectly. Months of work and planning and waiting and this was it.
This was it.
“Leave us,” she instructed, kicking open a cardboard box off to the side and pulling out a spray bottle and clean rag. “I’ll call you if I need… and bring my car around.” The last instruction called over her shoulder as the Captain left and the cat stationed himself by the door, grooming his paws as he dampened their signal.
Hopeite dampened the rag with cool clean water and began to clean the rest of the chloroform from Harmonia’s face with nearly maternal tenderness.
---
It was a hazy, unsettling experience as she was carted around by Hopeite and the Captain to wherever it was they were taking her. It was impossible for the teen to keep track of where they were as she just barely clung on to conciousness. The sweet taste didn’t leave her mouth and she began to feel ill from the taste and lingering scent in her nose. Her body though, didn’t react. She couldn’t react.
There was no way for Harmonia to tell when they left the openess of the night to the bowls of a warehouse. The air was still cool and the light was dim enough to make zero difference in her perception. Where were they taking her? Why was this...wait...what?
A rough toss and she felt herself thrown into something. A chair? Her vision was so terribly blurry she couldn’t tell what was going on. Her arms and legs were manuvered against her will as if she were some over-sized doll. Something bit into her skin on her wrists and arms and...wait...was someone brushing her hair? No. It was too fast.
How much time had gone by? Was she even noticing everything that was being done.
She thought she had fallen asleep. Everything got quiet after a sharp command was given by Hopeite. The silence seemed to elongate in her drugged state and it wasn’t until she felt the cold wet rag applied to her face again did she involuntarily flinch away out of fear of more of the vile stuff. She realized, belatedly, that this new rag had no smell to it. In fact, it felt as if she were being carefully cleaned like a baby having just finished its meal. “Neee…” It was a slurred attempt at a word but if one listened well enough they may have caught the single word, ‘no’.
Eyes tried to focus on Hopeite when she opened them again. Squinting with worried brows she tried to make out exactly what was going on. “Wh…..why?” She questioned as a bit more of her motor skills came back to her.
---
As Harmonia came to, Hopeite began to smile again. She cooed at her as Harmonia tried to form speech, mimicking the sounds she made with her own voice. Once her face was clean, she rested the rag on the ground beside her and began to readjust Harmonia’s fuku while awareness slipped back into her mind. When it finally did, and the questions began to come, Hopeite thought for a moment. If she gave away the nuances of the plan, then all of the fun would be gone. More than that, however, the beauty of it all would be lost in the fog of her brain.
That and she promised herself she wouldn’t monologue.
She she stood and circled around behind Harmonia, pulling the hair from over her shoulder to let it spill over her back. She ran her fingers through the pastel locks for a few seconds, turning the question over in her mouth as she repeated it back to her.
“Why…” she mused, working the knots from her hair, staring off into space as she thought. Now that was an interesting question. Again, there were two possible options. Reveal it all or savor it. The answer seemed obvious, but there was still something to be said for telling everything to her now only to have it never ever stick. Hopeite would get to have her cake and eat it too. She could go and spill all of the beans and then have Harmonia pick them all up for her. There was something to be said about having Harmonia slowly recall what she said now, and repeat it back to her as she kept her here. As she tormented her. As she domesticated her.
“Well, for one thing,” she sighed as she worked a particularly nasty knot from Harmonia’s hair, “because… it was fun. It was fun to learn how you worked, how you ticked. What you valued and mimic those values. To be a perfect reflection of what you wanted.” She finished her work on Harmonia’s hair and moved around to her front. She knelt before her and stroked the back of her hand reverently and continued, “for another… corrupted senshi are… obsolete. You are going to become a new breed, my love.” She smiled up at Harmonia, but it was an expression that she had never shown the other girl. The twisted, vile smile that curled on her lips but never reached her eyes.
---
Focus. Focus. I need to. She kept repeating the small mantra in her mind as she forced her vision to hone in on the woman in front of her. Like her own mother would have done when she was a small child, the older woman finished with her personal need to clean Harmonia’s face before turnning to fuss with her fuku. Each pat, pull, poke and touch slowly brought armonia back around to awareness but a distant fog still clung to her mind no matter what she did. Everything still felt like a faraway dream. Like it wasn’t real.
Moving from the position in front of her, Harmonia felt more than watched Hopeite circle around her. The teen was beginning to feel as if all of this was a nightmare that she would awake from at any moment. Surely she was asleep in her room, curled up in her bed just dreaming this entire thing? After all, Hopeite wouldn’t do this. Not to her.
A snag. A pull on her hair. A distant pain, one she normally would not be bothered by flooded her senses. A sharp intake of breath.
This wasn’t a dream.
Words. Hopeite was saying….something -- values, mimicking something. Closing her eyes she tried to concentrate Come on. You need to listen.
A faint breeze on her face.
Opening her eyes Harmonia jumped at the sight of Hopeite just in front of her. The zip ties acting as restraints bit harder into her skin at the sudden movement. “New...breed?” The words were slow and still slurred but understandable enough. She was trying to grasp her mind around it all just as tears began to form in her eyes and trickle down her face.
“What did..” she paused a moment to collect her words. “They do to you?” She said, green eyes doing their best to focus in on Hopeite. On that terrible, terrifying look that was now painted across the woman’s face. “This...no...it’s not you.”
---
This is not you.
Her smile faltered. For just a second. She wasn’t even sure why, it just did. Her expression flickered away from her for just a second, like a flame in a strong wind. It irritated her. Both the loss of her smile and Harmonia’s relentless belief in the character that she had crafted for her. This wasn’t a stupid girl, she had proven that time and time again. Naive, yes, but not stupid. In the face of facts, naivete had a way of fading to cold cynicism. This was the fact that Hopeite had presented to Harmonia. That she was the exact monster that she had convinced her the negaverse bred. That she was chaos embodied. That she was evil.
And Harmonia spat it back at her.
Rage boiled in her veins and she shot up suddenly and her body reacted without her permission, striking out with an open palm against Harmonia’s face. Her expression was twisted with that same rage for just a moment as she slapped her and it took her some quiet effort to return her expression to something neutral. She huffed and straightened her uniform, adjusted her hair, and fixed her gloves.
“No, my dear,” she chided, voice suddenly decidedly less soft, taking on the tone of an aggravated teacher., “I’m afraid this is me. And this is you. And this is where we will be spending some very. Very. Quality time together.” She took a deep breath and her gentle smile returned to her lips.
“So get comfy my love. I have lots of plans for the two of us.”
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