The one she had been simply talking to had been no stronger than she was, but the second...He had come out of nowhere, almost as if he had been nothing more than a bystander simply watching their interaction, biding time waiting for an opportunity where she was too distracted to notice his approach before... He struck fast and with a power that had knocked the wind out of her completely to the point she would have sore she felt a rib crack.
Without having the ability to teleport, there was no hope for escape as she soon found herself thrown to the ground as if she were nothing more than a rag doll being tossed across a room by an arrant child throwing a tantrum. He had been yelling something at her, unintelligible words that she simply could not understand with the ringing in her ears.
He could have simply left her, curled up in the fetal position to freeze to death but no, fate was not that kind… he was not that kind.
Why...?
Another sudden pain shot up the side of her leg forcing Meridiana paused in her retreat momentarily.
Up until now she had been playing it safe, sticking to public places if only to avoid actual fighting. But today she had saw an opportunity to ask questions from someone she thought was willing to talk and had allowed herself to be lured to a more private place.
How could I have been so stupid. The corrupt senshi let out a bitter laugh, instantly regretting the action as she soon found herself holding her breath until the sharp pain in her side subsided enough so she could resume her shallow breathing. A harsh wave of dizziness rolled over her senses before she could completely regain her sense causing her vision to blur around the edges and body to sway. Instinctively Meridiana brought her hand up to her forehead to try and make the throbbing stop and only then did she realize how badly she had hit her head.
In disbelief she withdrew her hand which now had a line of blood that ran down her index finger towards her wrist. Oh god…when... It felt like her mind was slipping, thoughts became fragmented as the sequence of events began to shuffle, contorting her memories into something that no longer made sense.
Slowly she turned her head to look over her shoulder in the direction she had fled. No aura could be sensed but that didn’t matter when footprints and droplets of blood followed in the wake of her retreat. They didn’t even need to be powered if they wanted to finish her off “I will not be your bait.” The declaration was barely above a whisper and was the last coherent thought she had before powering down. God forbid they learn of who she was but she would be damned if another of her own fell into their trap as she did.
The bag she had normally carried had been left in the trunk of her car back at the parking garage and with it her cell phone; not that she would have had the sense to call anyone especially since she had no idea where she was. Which was odd because she had been in this park a hundred times over and yet in the dead of night with unconsciousness threatening to overtake her nothing looked familiar. The trees themselves resembled towering monsters with long gnarled claws threatening to devour her once she finally succumbed to the blissful darkness that promised to take the pain away.
“Not here-” Phedre staggered forward a few steps only to draw in a sharp breath when the clothes on her back shifted against the gash she had sustained. I can’t.. I ca- Hot tears blurred her vision making it near impossible to see despite her attempts at wiping them away.
Her body hurt in ways she could never imagine, the simple act of breathing felt like an impossible feat, and yet she still tried to push herself just a few more steps.
Six feet was all the strength she had left to take when what little strength she had finally left her and, the sheer gravity of her situation fell heavily upon her weary shoulders forcing Phedre to her knees.
Time itself seemed to slow as the coldness seeped into her very core. Shivers wracked her body for some time until she simply... lost the ability to feel.
In what felt like would be her final moments Phedre felt her body go completely lax, a feeling she did not fight or struggle against but rather embraced as she leaned her head back to look up and watch as snowflakes fell slowly around her like tiny crystalized tears. At least it felt like she had been enveloped in a peaceful atmosphere before the strength to remain upright failed her completely.
~~~
“Hey… HEY!” Abby’s voice was an insistent nag as she pawed as roughly as a small feline could at the fallen senshi. Well… civilian at this point.
“HEYYY that’s supposed to be on the INSIDE, stop that, stop it!” She fussed. Small paws tripping over the fallen Phedre.
“You're Not listening!! I claimed you, so you listen! You’re one of my kids this is how it works, I’m quite sure of it.”
The results were no more spectacular than her initial attempts to roust the fallen senshi, and eventually, even the small cat, for all that she was slightly loose in her ideas of what defined how the world worked, realized that she was going to need assistance.
It was then that she reached out to the General King, they both knew him after all, and he took in strays. Things and people laying in alley ways counted as strays!! It was, as far as Abby was concerned, very sound logic.
~~~
Phedre knew that she was not alone. Tiny paws pressing against her side frantically but she could not react to the bob tailed mauvians desperate demands. “Abby…” she said, or at least she thought she did just a moment before unconsciousness overcame her completely.
Endejester
