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 Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:09 pm
"I have the perfect partner, but thanks for the offer."
For a senshi who had begun her career in the Negaverse too squeamish to even stick her hand inside another person's chest, Dia was fairly proud of how far she'd come on her journey. Granted, Aluminite probably did not share in her delight, but that wasn't her problem, now was it?
The scream was loud - much louder than she'd have expected to come from a grown man. Then again, she'd also never gone out of her way to torture anyone before. Huh. It was kind of exhilarating, truth be told. She might actually have found a fun new hobby to look into!
“Hold still, dear,” she cooed in a sing-song voice, pausing in her literal carving project, “You don't want me to mess this up, do you?”
As much fun as it would be to carve his entire Negaverse name into his chest, there was neither enough room on his naked chest for the name nor did she have the time. Cutting through flesh might have been easy with a scythe but with a candy shard? Not so much.
“Looks like we'll have to cut things short, sweetheart.” Disappointment was evident in her tone as she shook her pretty little pink head. The first line down was poised directly over his heart - fitting. Maybe a letter would make for a pleasant substitute, especially considering how much pesky blood was getting everywhere. Each time she tugged on the shard, another bubble seemed to swell up from within the cut and stream its way out. At this rate, her stockings and skirt would get soaked and that simply wouldn't do. “What do you say about a letter, hm? Like a scarlet letter - get it? Because there's blood everywhere?”
Thinking quickly, she debated on her choice. D for Dia could be cute - A was probably too difficult, with the zigzags. T for Tourma would be a nice respect towards her bestie but...no. No, someone else needed to get the honors for this one.
Another tug down and she created a curve, meeting the straight line directly in its center. With a happy smile, she wiped away the fresh wave of blood for a better view of her workspace. “Let's go with….R. For the Reaper who's coming to get youuuuu~”
The final tear downwards was made with a triumphant, “Ha!” before the blood-spattered senshi giggled and tossed the shard aside. Her communicator resurfaced and she dangled it in front of the Squire. “What do you say we show him my new masterpiece then, sweetie?”
The crystal began to glow and Sailor Dia addressed it with a very delighted tone. “General Labyrinthite? Are you there, handsome?”
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Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:19 pm
Pain contorted his face.
Teeth gnashed together as he tried to keep the screams lodged in his throat instead of letting them escape into the air. His arms strained against his bonds, eyes squeezed shut and sweat soaking his brow. It hurt, it hurt so badly that he thought he might go unconscious from the sharp pains that sliced into his nerves like the candy cut into his skin. Were his fingers free they surely would have been grasping at the concrete beneath them or shoving her off of him.
Aggression was not something that the squire turned to readily. But, when he was pushed too far, he reacted accordingly.
"S-stop--" He managed to hiss between his teeth, head lifting barely off the ground and eyes opened into slits because he couldn't see clearly anyway. She was a shifting mess of images above him, his head spinning from his inability to breathe and he thought then this is it, this is how I die for one brief and terrifying minute. Hearing the name that threatened to make his blood run cold did not help matters and his head fell back as she finished her letter.
He had been branded, a traitor to Metallia's cause and marked as a servant to the man he had watched basically crawl back out of the ground with teeth and claws. A monster that wore the skin of a handsome man. Reaper. The general who walked like death was his duty and who seemed to thrive best when the odds were against him.
Why couldn't he be like that? He had suffered surely and he ached to over come it as surely as his throbbing chest did.
Stand for yourself. His ancestor had told him.
He thought of Fiona in that moment and her gentle kindness. The heart she wore on her sleeve as readily as she could who's convictions were as strong and as solid as the Reaper-General's own.
Why couldn't he be like that?
Charlie flashed into his mind, her bright smile and endless optimism. The sun would forever rise in her world. Things might get dark and gloomy but...the sun would come out as surely as her determination to see the best of people.
Why couldn't he be like that?
Midgard ached for the gentle reassurance of Danny, the man who smiled tentatively and softly at him like he thought that maybe the world would end but it would be okay if he was with his friends.
Why couldn't he --
He felt as if he was bathed in a bright light, something warm and soothing spreading from his chest and outward to the rest of him. There would be no whys.
Midgard would stand for himself as surely as the people in his life would have stood for him. As surely as panicked and wild eyed Labyrinthite had stood in the wake of his punishment when he looked at him and pleaded keep them safe because I will be unable. If he had been strong enough to refuse them, the gathered who had clung to a man who had brought an unsightly family together...he was strong enough to refuse them now.
The goo cracked beneath the strength of this pulling arm. Her magic could no longer keep him in place he was stronger than that. "No," he rasped. One strong hand grasped at the wrist holding her communicator and he jerked it painfully. "I am not your plaything." He snarled, voice darker than one would have thought imaginable.
When he shoved her off and got to his feet, boots shuffling until his weight rested on her wrist. He swayed in place, green eyes dark like a forest tree, looking different. Stronger and new.
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Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:35 am
Her mirth was short lived and Dia immediately regretted disposing of her makeshift weapon so shortly after her carving session. The senshi's guard had remained down; after all, the Squire was pale and hardly even squirming at that point. Clearly too weak to bother moving, even when she was calling out for the General. Then the light - that stupid light of whatever it was - nearly blinded her and suddenly he wasn't so pale, wasn't so weak.
The communicator was knocked clean out of her hand as she let out a startled squeak as the purple crystal's glow faded back into darkness. Wide eyes stared down at the traitor for a brief moment before she was tossed off, the strength of the man much stronger than she'd expected for someone in his position. Blood stained fabric and hair padded her landing, tangling her up at the same time.
Dia struggled to rise from the ground, but Aluminite was quicker. His foot found the same wrist that had lost the communicator and as he pushed his weight into her, panic began to sit in as the pain grew sharper. She tugged, almost frantically, as rose colored eyes stared up at the man who looked a little too polished for just having a new chest tattoo carved into him.
It wasn't fair!
"I don't... I don't understand - what did you ---??"
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Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 2:50 pm
Perhaps it was the adrenaline that made him lean his weight further into her wrist. Maybe it was the anger that he sought so hard to bury and be above that that had him wishing to hurt her as she'd been hurting him. Or it could have been the way his chest still bled and red stained the front of his newly acquired coat and how the pain reminded him that she had sought to brand him.
And then she had sought to turn him over to the man who had been twisted nearly beyond recognition into a creature made up of fear. Or maybe it was that he was a creature that subsisted off of the fear that he brought alive with in people.
Midgard had hoped, almost desperately so, to bring Dia into the light with him and he had truly, for one idiotic minute, thought she had wanted it too. Of course she didn't. None of them did. None of them understood what being with the Negaverse was costing them. Or, if they did, they didn't care and he couldn't save someone who didn't want to be saved.
"I wanted to help you," he said in a quiet, angry manner. "Is this what you do to the people who try to help or protect you? What kind of life is that?" Beneath his foot he might have heard a crack and immediately he was backing up, new shield tonfas summoned to his hands as he looked down at her.
"All I did was level the playing field." How, he had no idea, but at least now they were on equal footing. "Where is your confidence Dia?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:51 pm
She was too tired, her energy was drained to summon another candy. How many had she done? The mines, the shrapnels, gluing his hand... ugh, she'd been so wasteful and now she was exhausted and he wa---
Crack.
Eyes expanded in size as she let out a small shriek. The adrenaline from earlier surged and her other fist balled up and started hitting on the leg that was still pressing his weight into her. The sharp pain lasted for a moment but the growing ache continued to intensify the longer he pressed his weight into the injury. Oh god, oh god, oh god - had he broken her wrist?
He pulled away and she immediately drew her arm up, cradling it against her chest as if it were a child. It was already swelling as she ripped her glove off, tossing the bloody fabric aside.
Level the playing field? What sort of....
An angry glare is the only thing he received as she remained a crumpled pile of lace and blood, shoes and curls scattered around where she sat. Her feet curled beneath her as her other hand guarded the injury protectively. Wanted to help her - ha - the only way he was going to help her was by generating her credit with her superiors once she managed to turn a traitor into the proper authorities.
......Though it did seem a bit difficult to do any traitor capturing with only one hand. Her confidence? Her confidence now lay in either this new and improved Aluminite having a new and improved version of pity or the good General hearing her earlier call for him.
"You're a big help, alright," she quipped sarcastically, her tone sulky as eyes dropped to look for her communicator. Had he not heard her? Was he not going to come? Panic lines creased her forehead as she did her best to pretend she wasn't growing more alarmed as the minutes ticked on, "I'm sure you'll fit right in with all the other bullies the Moonies have."
Nevermind that she'd deserved every bit of the pain he'd inflicted on her, but that didn't count. He still hurt her - a lady!
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:08 am
He wanted to laugh at her but he also felt, well, sorry for her as she sat on the ground and could do nothing but glare at him. Adrenaline was starting to ebb and he could feel the full force of the pain in his chest the longer he stood there. Each breath he took was shallow and it too more energy than he'd admit to stay upright and looking strong.
Midgard wouldn't let Dia see that he was not as recovered as he was presenting.
"It doesn't have to be like this Dia," he said, voice readapting his naturally softer tone. "We could have a fresh start if you just ---"
There was a crackling in the air, a blanket of darkness that draped over the area that was heavy enough to smother any light that tried to shine too brightly. Fear immediately constricted around his heart because he knew who it was and he was stepping back automatically when pink spats stepped into view and the cloak shimmered into existence.
His heart had leaped into his throat and he thought that it being paralyzed from sheer terror before death was a thing, he would be experiencing it now. Still, somehow he was able to keep breathing, to stand as strong as possible in the wake of his personal boogeyman.
Recognition didn't pass over Labyrinthite's face when he regarded him but Midgard saw the twitch of fingers. Here it came, surely the scythe would ---
The weapon did not burst into existence and instead Labyrinthite turned his back on him to scoop the injured senshi into his arms. When he turned to look back at him there was something that flashed in his eyes. A warning perhaps?
"Understand," the reaper-general said in his gravely voice, "this is not over knight." Had Dia's wrist not been so injured or her uniform soaked in blood, he might have stayed but instead he left, teleporting out as quickly as he'd come back.
Midgard felt all of the air rush out of his lungs immediately and he fled the area as quickly as he could, determined to get somewhere safer before he lost all of his energy.
And blood.
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