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 Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:41 am
Obsidian's name never failed to bring a frown to Tanzanite's face, though the emotion behind it was never clear. Sometimes it seemed like hate, other times sadness, even occasionally pity.
“That's not your fault,” Tanzanite said, and her monotone voice seemed almost comforting, “That is the Queen.” She said this as though it was a fact. A fact which she knew very, very, very well. “We're here to serve her, not the other way around. Queen Beryl hands out favors only when it suits her.” Surprisingly, there was no anger or resentment in her tone, only acceptance of how things were. Beryl was Beryl, and that was all there was to it. She was their Red Queen, bloodthirsty and hungry for power, and none of them would ever speak a word against her for fear of losing their heads.
It took her a long time, several moments of staring at the pale concrete in the center of the dark stains, before she could answer the question.
“It will come to that.” There was no doubt in her tone. “Castor isn't going to stop until he can make sure that every innocent person in Destiny City is safe. If that means killing every single one of us, he'll do it. Including me,” her grey eyes rolled down towards Lina, and there was a shocking amount of sadness to be found in them, “Including you.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:17 pm
There was a cave, deep inside the twisting labyrinth of Linarite's mind, where pure truth lived. It was the most despondent, tragic place that you could ever imagine, where the sun of her intellect never shone filled with all the things that she had willingly ignored. In fact, it could even be said that abandoning this place was her best talent. Not many had the willpower to lie to themselves so absolutely.
There was rejoicing in this place now, however, as one of those incredibly ugly truths slipped free from its captivity and ran into the sunlight of her mind. Outwardly, her eyes were drawn down to the rusty stains on the pavement, and a light shudder ran through that tiny body pressed against Tanzanite's. They sat like that for a moment, in silence, sad grey eyes regarding lightly panicked brown ones while Lina contemplated the motives behind this. He wouldn't hurt her, he loved her! But didn't she all but love him? And still with that feeling, though she would regret it for the rest of her life, she would tear his life from his chest to save the Negaverse. To save Tanz. To save herself.
The curls moved again when her head moved lightly to either side in a negative gesture. Then, the silence broke. "Including me....no. No, none of us will die." Looking over, white-gloved hands wrapped around the dark claw and her expression was fierce and fervent. "I promise, I won't let it happen again! I should have gone with you the first time, and it never would have happened. I won't do it again!" Guilt was always potent motivator. Linarite had it in spades.
But it was, interestingly enough, not guilt that had risen when her impassioned speech sprung from her lips. It had been...something else. What was it that roiled inside, that was intolerable about Tanz ever being hurt like that again? The girl was unsure, but adamant to protect her friend - was it too late?
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:14 pm
“Lina,” Tanzanite began, that clawed hand lifting to grasp the bluenette's chin between thumb and forefinger with surprising gentleness, “There's nothing you could have done.
It should have registered earlier that Lina would blame herself. Of course Lina would blame herself. Lina would blame herself before blaming anybody that she called a friend, just as she would have gone under the knife in Tanzanite's place had she been given the option. That was just Linarite for you. If it had been Obsidian who had lost his arm, Linarite still would have said 'It should have been me,' no matter how much of an insufferable jackass he was.
“It was Kunzite,” her mouth formed the name with a look of distaste, possibly even the slightest bit of fear, “If you had been there, she likely would have killed us both. I couldn't have that, could I?” At that, she smiled. It was small, perhaps even forced, but it was there. That arm wrapped back around Lina's shoulders and pulled her in close. Tanzanite looked slightly uncomfortable, but said nothing to suggest it. She just kept that forced smile and looked down at Lina.
“We'll all die someday. However, I don't intend it to be of exposure. My uniform didn't come with a jacket,” or pants, or sleeves, “Come on. My place isn't far. I have The Notebook on DVD.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:33 pm
It was somewhat disconcerting, to be held so lightly by a force that you knew could change its mind at any minute and crush your skull into a thousand tiny fragments. But the smile, however forced and painful it looked, eased the guilt back some and had her smiling and giving Tanz a quick hug again. "That would be mildly sad, and I would probably be blamed for real this time. It's all a part of my nefarious plan, you realize." Reluctant to detach from any comfort, no matter how uncomfortable it was, Linarite stood and released herself from the arm and stretched to look up at the sky before offering a hand down to her companion.
"The Notebook? Isn't that one incredibly sad and mushy? Sounds right up my alley tonight, do you have popcorn? I would really hate to have to knock over a convenience store when I'm in a good mood." It was one of her developed skills, the ability to smile when all she wanted to do was scream and rage and break things. Without control, you were nothing. Nobody. Besides, she'd missed her friend and could use a night that wasn't marred by yet another lifeless body to dispose of, yet one more person in the endless cycle of being in the Negaverse.
Pulling the taller women to her feet, Lina turned in a half circle. "That way, right?" Without waiting for an answer, the captain started to run into the night, confident she'd be followed. Sometimes, things just didn't have to be hard.
Sometimes, miracles happened.
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