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 Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 2:18 am
And the hardest part of all of this...
I know my way back
I don't want to go
And let you see
All that has become of meOne of the benefits to being on the winning side was she could get away with being by herself. General Andronicus shoved the unconscious lieutenant over and sighed. She spent most nights patrolling for out of bed civilians... not. The General patrolled for vicious upstarts and stupid newbies trying to murder innocents. She yelled at them, pulled rank, and then knocked them out for the rest of the evening. She'd then give a small smile to the poor civilian and let them go. She could corrupt them, or kill them, but what was the point.
There wasn't one. Not for her.
The lieutenant drooled on the ground as Andronicus walked down the alleys. She used to be terrified of these alleys, worried she was going to get jumped. She'd awoke in one of these alleys, she'd tangoed with a Captain in one. It was in one of these alleys that she met her fate and entered her damnation. Alleys didn't scare her so much anymore.
The buildings thinned and she was pulled out of her thoughts. The buildings became sparse houses, mostly empty and abandoned. Beyond that she could barely make out the forest, the edge of Destiny City territory. Huh, she'd walked quite aways out of her normal area. Green eyes glanced up at the night's sky, clear and covered in stars.
She wondered what the condition of the Andronicus was. She wondered if it stood, or if her corrupt had brought the tower down to it's foundations. There was so many things in that place probably still left to be discovered. The Code had asked her to bring balance and all she'd brought was... destruction.
Andronicus' fingers tightened around a small object. She glanced down at it, hood falling forward on her head and her bangs spilling out from behind her ears. The small compass in her hand glinted in the street lights. The compass didn't work, it never had, but it was the inscription on the back that was important. It was the one thing that hadn't gotten destroyed by Chaos, simply because she hadn't had it on her at the time. It had gotten thrown off when she was ambushed and bound, thought to be forgotten. But her eyes had fallen on it and she knew what it was when it was all over.
It was a memento of a oath long since broken, and a life long since lost. She pocketed the small compass bearing the insignia of the Compact back in her pack and turned to return to the city.
She didn't notice the figure ambush her until it was too late. xKaefaux Commence the Sis'manceship!
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 7:32 pm
Walking through the streets she once called home required stealth. It was a strange, dubious sensation, and a concept that was--all truth be told--largely foreign to the ever brash woman. But she'd been there to collect some information from one of the Watchers, along with her own... personal, reasons. Danika Teresi might have been, for all intents and purposes of the new government, dead alongside her mother, but she never could cease to try to slip back into the city, try to keep an eye on some of the people who used to... be in her life. Extended family--those she couldn't track down before, or those who refused to turn against the Negaverse--were still under her eye, even if they'd turned from her years ago. Friends, co-workers... she couldn't leave it behind. She couldn't leave the city behind. Twenty-one years in that city. For what? Branded a terrorist and a traitor by the leeches of the Earth?
It was a wound that never healed--one of many.
Danika wasn't a fool in how she traveled. She alternated powered and unpowered, taking "sniffs" of the energy signatures around her before powering back down, slipping away. When she came across a body--still breathing, unconscious--she'd powered up once to try and catch the aura of whomever might be in the area, and slipped back into the signature-less Danika to pursue. She didn't sense any Order signatures in the area.
That a Chaos agent might have turned on the lieutenant was as troubling as it was curious.
The moment the twenty-six year-old spotted the figure ahead of her, it didn't take long to set herself up into a position in one of the abandoned houses. It was all about timing, all about using that extra speed and strength given to her by her rank. The sparse lighting of the area caught on something in the agent's hands, and Danika was only too happy to make use of their distraction.
They'd paused, put it away, and begun to turn.
Danika vanished into the embrace of surging adrenaline, magic, red and metal. Themiscyra's chain whip in her hand before she'd even left her perch ducked behind one of the broken house walls. In less than a breath, she was behind the agent--a General, ******** lovely--and she did what she did best. Her fist caught the General high in the back, with all the intent on knocking as much out of them as she could, before her chain whip was wrapped around their throat. Both hands held tight to the cold metal as she hissed, "By all means, fight me. I'll crush your ******** windpipe, General."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware she'd yell at Kairatos for similar behavior. Somewhere, she was aware of how the red markings across her skin glowed almost brighter than usual in the night around them. Somewhere, she was aware she'd not even caught a glimpse of her target's face. None of that was where Themiscyra was in that moment though, at the back of one of the agents that had pushed her from her home.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 8:01 pm
The fist forced air out of her chest and she gasped in shock. Her back arched, giving her attacker a perfect opportunity to hold the chain tight to her throat. The general resisted the urge to fight, tensing her muscles. She wasn't stupid; dying here wasn't going to help anyway at all. Her attacker knew what she was doing and clearly, clearly had it out for the Negaverse. Sickingly sweet energy pooled behind her; a Transcendant then. So it was a kill or be killed situation then. A quick jab to the stomach would loosen the grip enough for Andronicus to throw her attacker off over her shoulder. She'd summon her weapon and make it a clean kill before the Transcendant could get up. Killing them wasn't ideal, but they'd kill her first.
Andronicus was nothing if not intent on staying alive.
Then they spoke.Her green eyes widened in shock. Themiscrya. Her old friend, her old comrade. The one hurt the most from her corruption. Her hood fell from her head, spilling purple and black hair over the woman's shoulder. Of course, her luck she'd run into her again. She wondered if she tried to get her to purify again. Why she kept trying to save someone who didn't deserve it, Andronicus didn't know. She was the least worthy person for purification. Death was the better option, but funny thing about being alive. You try to stay that way as hard as possible. A breath of a moment passed and the General contemplated her options. Her heart pounded and she went limp in the Knight's hold.
"You caught me," she said quietly, the only amount she could make out with little air. Her vision started to go dark. Either she was passing out already, or closing her eyes to let it happen. She didn't know.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 8:22 pm
Of all the voices she thought she'd hear... the one that came out on limited breath was the last one she'd expected.
The blood drained from her face and her stomach took a free fall hundred of stories down. The dots were easy to connect--the voice, the hair, the height, hell even the figure's form once she stopped to really see who was in front of her. "....Alex..." Her own voice was barely above a whisper, breaking even over that one ******** name. She knew Andronicus wouldn't remember it. Wouldn't connect it to herself--assuming she even heard her. Half the reason Danika couldn't say the name herself was that burning fact.
Themiscyra released her hold on the chain whip, grabbing hold of her shoulders instead to try and turn Andronicus towards her--and make sure she didn't fall, make sure she hadn't cut off her air too long. Her hands trembled, but that could have been as easily from the fear that constricted her throat as it was from her trying to restrain her strength to not hurt the woman. Her old companion. Her friend. "I didn't know.... I didn't realize..." She was babbling, trying to catch those green eyes, trying to make sure she was ok. "You don't... I mean.... you're not..." You don't look like you, you're not the Alex I knew. The words wouldn't come out. They were things she'd never been able to accept before.
This was the first time they'd ever played a role behind Themiscyra's actions.
"....Andronicus," she breathed instead, expression forlorn, voice gentle. The energy signature that came from the person before her grated her every sense, conflicted with everything she knew. Mocked her. How many times had she dragged the others into ambushes with her, or arranged meetings over the years? All attempts to bring back their old friend, one of the Compact's own. And each attempt a failure. She saw each purification after with a double-edged sword of her own.
Why them and not her? Why can they be saved but she can't? The ******** do they have that she doesn't?
Kairatos hunted the Youma-King for the failed purifications of his own. Themiscyra felt she was more haunted by her inability to help Andronicus than hunting her.
Royal Knights could still try to use their swords to rip the Chaos from the lost knights. The ******** could a Transcended Knight do, but lay there helpless as a friend was ripped away into Chaos?
"I... I'm really not good luck for you, am I?" She tried to laugh, put a smile on her face. Even Themiscyra was aware of how that smile broke and trembled.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 9:05 pm
She coughed heavily and rubbed her throat, turning to look at Themiscrya. There was a tired look in her eyes and she glanced around. She'd heard the whispered name, but it held no meaning to her. It meant something to Themi though, and so she wasn't going to tell her it was wrong. She gave a shrug once she could breath again.
"I wear a cloak, hard to know who you're attackin' from behind," she waved her stuttering off, and looked around again. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to remain powered up here together for too long. Andronicus didn't know if she could risk powering down without repercussions. On the flip side... she could damn the Negaverse to hell. The General gave a somber smile. She hated the pain on Themi's face, hated that she was cause. It stabbed a portion of her heart she didn't know, a hole she couldn't fill.
She never wanted to bring pain to her best friend. She never wanted to see that expression on her friend's face. She never wanted to not be the one who Themi wanted. She had, at some point, loved her in her own way. That much Andronicus could remember.
It was all wrong. It was all wrong.
"You really aren't. Not that... you can help it. What I..." she swallowed, "What I am has destroyed all you hold dear." Including your companion and friend. She's nothing but a shell now Themiscrya, can't you see? You try and you try but you can't save this one. She's not worthy of your kindness, of saving. Why do you keep trying... She rubbed her wrists idly, an awkward stillness falling between them.
"Not that... I'm defecting. So you have one less general to really worry 'bout. I... hate what they've done to this city. I hate what they did to me. I don't have much, but doing what I can to help you guys is something I can. So... yeah." Andronicus trailed off awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. The last mistake, the choice I made
Staring in the mirror with myself to blame
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Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:06 am
That Andronicus actually made an excuse for her made Themiscyra laugh. It wasn't a deep, or even a long laugh, but it was something. For a moment, she wasn't sure which was worse. That she'd attacked her friend, or that said friend was just.... literally waving it off. Sort of. It was a surreal experience. Shoulders slumping slightly, she barely noticed how the other woman glanced around. She was trying to ignore the dark aura, her eyes intent on the other's face. Ignore the dark blue. Ignore the lack of symbols of Uranus.
It was surprisingly easy, for a moment. The tightness in her chest eased, and for that moment she could pretend. Pretend pretty ******** well.
But they kept talking, and Themiscyra had to fight to hold onto her make-believe image. Even as Andronicus continued, confirmed what they both already knew. Yet she continued to try and forget. There were words she could say, she knew. Sever ties. Burn bridges. Kairatos wasn't the only stubborn Martian. Destroyed all she held dear? Themiscyra's lips turned in the faintest of smiles. Stayed quiet, listening as the other continued to speak. She still... sounded like Alex. Was that so odd? A part of her wondered if she could still laugh the same.
Taking a step back, she looked down to the pavement, and grabbing hold of her chain whip once more, used the metal handle to carefully scrape a pale circle into the surface of the pavement. One that would brush away easily enough. An exaggerated S came next over it, crossed by a short, downward pointed arch towards the bottom of the circle.
The same symbol, simplified, that Andronicus had been peering at before, unknown to Themiscyra. Replacing her weapon at her side, she drew forth the slender golden chain. Before she looked up to Andronicus with gentle eyes, reaching up to her friend. "I know... we can't stay long. But humor me. For a moment?" Destroyed all she held dear?
Difficult to achieve, when people she loved still lived.
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:25 pm
The symbol was not lost on Andronicus. The Compact. Long forgotten oaths of a long forgotten time. She remembered those times, things that didn't get lost in the corruption. Alexia had been the shelter of the Compact, of that final battle. She'd been there in the time of need, and she'd been there in 'present day' when the Compact needed her again.
The Compact needed her again and this time... she couldn't help the way Themiscyra wanted.
A small smile of genuine happiness crossed her face and she held out her hand. In truth, she missed her friend, she missed where she used to be, who she used to be. It wasn't possible but maybe. Maybe for this moment. It could be like old times.
"For you," she said with that same smile. For a moment, a hint of the old Alex shined through. For just a moment, her old friend was standing in front of her. Maybe it would give Themi hope.
Hope that her old friend was still savable.
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 9:31 pm
It was a time long past even before Diana had drawn her first newborn breath when the Compact had first stood. It was generations that took up the mantels again and again. Danika still wondered how many times Themiscyra and Andronicus stood side by side, companions in life and on the battlefield. Surely enough times, repetitive, reconfirmed, that this one blip, this one mistake... wouldn't end the cycle. A never ending cycle. The concept that a life, an existence, could be snuffed out forever was foreign to her. She remembered her death as Diana. She lived her life again as Danika. Who was to say more lives had not continued, and would continue, in this fashion? Even those whose starseeds were shattered.
She refused to believe they would never again reform, regain themselves. Return to them.
Themiscyra smiled a bit wider, taking the offered hand. A blip. An error, a minor error. That's all this was. In the grand scheme, in all the returns and reformations and returns... this was only a small setback. She was lost, but not forgotten. She could still come home.
Between their hands rested the golden chain of Themiscyra's own Artifact. The burning chain, weakened over so many centuries left to nothing within the abandoned city, could still distinguish truth from lies. She'd used it too often in the recent years. Too many times pressing it to the flesh of a civilian to determine whom they supported. A Negaverse agent to tell if they spoke the truth about ambush plans. Anyone who stood against the Resistance and their ******** own family. Her friends. Dominic had even been forced to deal with a hysterical Themiscyra at one point, chains pressed against him as she begged for answers she knew none could give her.
Yet now they were pressed gently against Andronicus' hand, not rough or vengeful but an offering. A prayer. A lifeline the Knight of Mars clung to. The genuine smile from Andronicus drew one from Themiscyra, and her pretend image of her old friend faded into place, fit snug and tight over the sight of the Negaverse General. She only had one question, one so simple and so fragile it could shatter everything with but a single word. Yet she spoke it, in a voice as light and playful as she'd ever spoken when they were younger.
"Do you remember our oath?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 10:32 pm
Did she remember the oath? Of course she did. Andronicus remembered everything from her life as the Knight of Uranus (though some memories of Alexia were fuzzy and hard to remember). Her eyes welled up and she swallowed thickly.
Of course she remembered their oath.
She closed her fingers around the chain. Their oath had bound them in the past, had lingered through the present and been rebuilt. It had endured death, Chaos, and now a corruption. It sustained them and bound them together in a way the Cauldron understood. Companions and battle partners until the end of time, or the destruction of their souls.
An oath long since held, transcending time and space and lifetimes.
The General spoke then, her voice low but clear in the still air. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but her voice did not waver. "Blood calls to blood upon these objects we hence name Artifact. I swear my strength, wit, and skill to the blood we have spilled in the name of our People and Pride. My oath binds me, and we stand beneath the banner of this Compact, strongest for it."
There was something else, something else she had to say. The words would not come from her mouth, would not be given life by lungs that had decided to disobey their keeper. Themi had to know, had to understand but would it only bring more pain to her? To them? She closed her eyes, swallowed, and forced herself to speak.
"Themiscyra I..." her voice cracked and she tried again. "I am sorry that I... caused you pain, that I abandoned you, the Compact. My Sentinels... they, they died. The Negaverse tore them from out from under me, murdering the ones loyal to me, and corrupting those they could. My whole." Tears started then. "I got so many people killed, just by trying to protect the city. By mixing the factions. I was scared. I.
"I. I..." The General sucked in air and dug the nails of her free hand into her palm. The pain cleared her mind, gave her the boost to say what Themiscyra deserved to hear.
"I was so scared that night. I... I panicked. I didn't want to die. So I panicked and... chose corruption over death. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I caused so much pain. I just..." I didn't want to die. I can't purify because I... I feel guilty that I chose it. The last words wouldn't come, as she at Themiscyra with eyes that begged forgiveness. The General quivered, half wanting to teleport out then and there. Yet she stayed, wanting her to understand. She was of the Compact, and Themiscyra deserved as much.
Blood to blood, I summon thee
Blood to blood, return to me
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:25 pm
Not once did the chain begin to glow or warm, the tell-tale signs of the lingering ancient magic of the chains held so dearly by every knight of Themiscyra she'd found record of. The Artifact of that first fight that brought forth the Compact. Would they have ever guessed, the long-lasting impact of their choices? Of the connections made over so long? Of the importance and weight of those words?
Her smile tightened, relief storming her systems. She remembered. Chaos had taken her name, taken her wonder from her, her magic... yet the oath of all things remained. Themiscyra wasn't sure if she should cry or laugh, so she settled for simply smiling and clinging to the moment. Andronicus was still there. Stuck, for reasons she couldn't fathom, but she was there.
Her cheered thoughts paused, brought back to the reality of their present as Andronicus forced words through a cracking voice. Words that Themiscyra, that Danika, didn't want to hear. She remained silent though, expression soft--not without her own grief, but unwilling to let herself crack more than she had already. She'd known of the Sentinels' fates. Allies of hers, some good friends. She'd known of the loss. They'd lost members of the Compact--she knew the pain and sensation of loss, of failure. She knew the ability for the Negaverse to use their connections against them. Andronicus' own losses were something she could comprehend quite well, though she at least could cling to the fact some still remained, alive and uncorrupted. Yet. It was something else far more significant that Andronicus said then. Words that didn't register in Themiscyra's mind at first. Words that held no meaning until her own recollection of that final moment, that horrifying moment, came into crystal clarity again.
Andronicus had been ....scared?
Themiscyra laughed. It was horrible timing. Perhaps the worst of her life. There was Andronicus, crying, apologizing, explaining herself--her pain, her fear, her sorrow. And what did she do? Laugh.
It was a wet laugh, her eyes rimmed red as her own facade, her own smiles, began to crack. Scared? She remembered too clearly how she'd been knocked to the ground by another agent, unable to get to her friend. To save her. To help her. To rip the b*****d away from her and tare open his flesh with her own hands. Her lip trembled, and her laughter continued. Breaking. Cracking. Her grip on Andronicus' hand, the chain still locked between them, she finally spoke.
"You're alive." She had to fight to keep her eyes open through the tears that warped her vision. "I couldn't move. I couldn't get to you. I failed you. You're alive. You're alive. You're alive." Her mother was dead, cut down by the Negaverse. Many of her other friends hadn't been lucky in the war, and family? She'd severed ties for their safety, watched them die, or hid them away with the Resistance in a prayer they'd not face the same fate. She'd watched the Negaverse agents so close to Andronicus and the ripping fear had been the concept of losing her. Of watching her die. Of being unable to save her.
She'd seen Andronicus standing alive a span of time later. Alive. Whole. The weight of the Knight bearing the energy signature of a Negaverse General had been insignificant against the weight of the reality she was still alive.
Themiscyra broke. She threw her arms around the other woman and clung to her, face pressed to her shoulder in an attempt to stop the ******** tears. "I thought I'd lost you. I t-tried to take comfort in... the fact we'll meet again. ********, ******** I tried. I tried. But you weren't there. I'd ******** up, I ******** up and I failed you and I ******** wanted you back." She pulled herself back, enough to put a hand to the other woman's face, trying to get her to look her in the eye. "And you are still my sister. Nothing will change that. Not Chaos, not death. But... ********. Andro. You're alive. You chose to live. How the ******** could I blame you for that when it's the only ******** thing I wanted?"
Things used to be so black and white. Chaos and Order. Good and bad.
They could never go back to that. War had trudged up too much mud, too much muck and grime and blood and ripped apart bodies and families and flesh. They could never go back to the pristine lines.
Lines that perhaps only existed in Danika's mind.
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 4:29 pm
She... she thought... It was at that moment, as Themiscyra was crying and telling her she chose life, not corruption, over death that the General of the Negaverse realized just how stupid she'd been. She'd been so worried and so hung up that she chose corruption over death, that she hadn't even considered the possibility she was choosing life.
Her face broke into a wide smile, a smile of thanks, of love. She nuzzled the hand on her cheek. Her friend, her sister, her comrade, was just happy she was alive. She didn't care that Andronicus was corrupted; she wanted to purify her, yes, but what mattered was that she lived. The relief that washed over her was almost palatable. She hiccuped a little, a odd sort of laugh bubbling out of her chest.
"I was so... stupid, Cauldron was I stupid," she muttered. Andronicus moved then, forward back into the embrace. Without really intending to, she kissed the Knight briefly. It was just a peck, more of a show of simple affection than anything else. She was so relieved that Themiscyra didn't hate her, still saw her as a sister, that she could have done so much more. Just out of happiness. The ex-Knight smiled a little sheepishly and hugged her again.
"Thank you, Themi, thank you," she said simply into the knight's neck.
Time passed before Andronicus pulled back and glanced around. Blips of aura came up on her radar, and she knew they'd reached the end of their time. The General wiped her eyes. "We should go. I can sense a fair number of auras around. If you need me, I'm never far." The General gave one last smile a she flipped her hood back over her head.
"Stay safe, Themiscyra." As she turned, the General popped out of existence feeling more alive and happy than she had in a very, very long time.
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