|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:21 pm
Returning was chancy, he knew that all too well, but there was only one way to get to where he was determined to be. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t teleport there directly.
Sitting down with his notes, his information, though scored by Beryl was soothing. It let him think, seeing it spread out before him in a location so safe, so locked away from the prying eyes of senshi was calming.
He had come such a very long way since ‘the cork board’. Her words still chased around in his head, fail her again and… He pushed away the thought before the ghost of her and her vivid over passionate eyes could complete the threat. Kill them if they were captured… the words rose again despite his need to concentrate on other things. He cursed the thoughts under his breath and changed the direction of his steps ever so slightly. He moved for a moment, not towards the rift but returned to the crystalline casket that swallowed their former leaders whole.
Tanzanite had put a hand on his shoulder and said he made the right choice. The Queen had touched his face like a mother and then promised to kill him for that same choice. The world had fallen through the looking glass. All that they needed was for Hiro or Dahlia to declare that they were all mad here. Perhaps they were.
He slowed his steps when he saw someone there before him; he knew her well, for she had been the one to raise him from Captain to General. She had seen something in him once, promise if nothing else. What would she see in him now?
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:08 pm
Laurelite's silhouette was small against the form of their former General-King, suspended for eternity in that craggy glass casket. Over the months, many had probably lamented that Queen Beryl hadn't made it opaque... but over the same course of time the officers of the Negaverse became desensitized to it. Now it was just a lone museum display, a casual conversation piece, an occasional hazing method to spook the new recruits. And yet there the European General-Queen stood, staring at it as if it was brand new.
Her opinion of the outcome of Zinkenite's latest operation was a mystery. As a matter of fact, opinions in general from her were always difficult to determine. She never spoke them and very rarely showed them, always the delicate doll with a subtle smile pouring out almost-whispered facts and mission statements.
Zinkenite's reflection against the crystal as he approached was hard to miss.
"It's always easy to stray from the right path, General," she started, her demure form still facing away from him. "Sometimes we forget where it is, and take a misstep... but some others will choose to abandon it completely..."
She turned around, and clasped her hand to her front. "And other times it takes an unexpected turn, and people will lose faith that it's taking them in the right direction." The dim light of the room, refracted and amplified by the pillar of crystal, made her look shrouded in shadow by comparison. "But there's no shame in stopping once in a while for the sake of knowing where you walk. I've noticed that some of us come here to think about these things..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:48 am
He stepped forward again cautiously. She did not seem to have been casting him out, and there was a sort of ‘kinship’ he felt with her. They were two souls of a quiet demeanor and a whispering intent in a world of strong, bold and fearsome greats.
“How can one be sure if one is on the right path though? Is the act of contemplating it sufficient or even enough to find your way back?” It was perhaps impudent, over familiar of him to address her so, even with the respectful dip of his head and the curious watching of her face.
Had she been here for herself? Or had she been waiting for his return at the behest of the Queen? Of all the Negaverse she was one of the few he would not have been surprised to see assessing the probability of him returning.
He let his gaze slip from her shadowed features to the face of the one time General King within, the man who had brought him into the Dark Kingdom at Scheelite’s recommendation. He wondered at least in part what he would have made of everything that had happened since he was trapped in that stone. He pulled his gaze back to meet her eyes for a moment before dipping his chin again respectfully. “I’m sorry General Queen, if I am interrupting.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:05 pm
"I've always thought the best way to minimize interruptions was not to acknowledge them in the first place," answered Laurelite. She offered a small smile, that looked a little closer to genuine than the ones she normally gave. "So you can safely guess that you're not interrupting anything."
The delayed acknowledgment of her title gave her no pause. It never was a priority for her for people to know their sirs and madams and other bothersome formalities. So long as they were aware of their place, acted accordingly and got their jobs done, it made no difference in the long run. Zinkenite had always been carefully observant of his own place, and that had been one of the things that allowed him to rise to a higher one. However, his questions were revealing doubts he suddenly had about where he stood now.
This was troublesome.
"But those are interesting questions, Zinkenite," she continued. "It sounds to me like you're having doubts... but about what? Are they doubts about yourself... or the Negaverse?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:18 pm
His eyes darted away for a moment, more introspective than avoiding the subject. How to phrase it, he didn’t feel traitorous, he felt… well.
“A, difference of opinions I’m afraid between courses of action between the Queen and Myself… I fear I must then question it being a matter of experience lest it be considered traitorous.” He said as politely as he could muster though his gaze drifted for another moment towards the dark face and purple ‘dreads’ before returning to her own.
“My last mission went very…poorly. I took a course of action she does not condone and she recommended one that…” He stopped himself and then merely nodded afraid to continue further. “I would not have thought of.” He finished diplomatically. “I’m afraid it’s left me in rather a tight spot as far as proving myself.” He finished quite sure, in this place that she would absolutely understand. No doubt she had faced much greater tasks than this in her time to reach the position she now occupied. He had to believe it could be done; there must be something about Beryl that people such as Laurelite would serve her.
But she was… unhinged. The thought rose unbidden again at the recollection of her laughter. He realized that he wasn’t sure, even now what treason –exactly- that the two locked together in the pillar had committed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:34 pm
At the explanation of the Queen and Zinkenite's dispute with her, the General could have almost seen the color drain from his superior's face -- that is, if she had more than her delicate paleness to remove from it. Regardless, her demeanor did indeed shift a bit, taking on a palpable air of blood running cold, at the discussion and the short period of silence that followed. Almost like she had been caught off guard. Almost as if she was at a loss for what to say.
Her gaze cooly shifted to the air behind him. Slowly, she took a few steps away from the crystal and around the General, never quite looking at him but always keeping him in her sights.
"You're growing very close to straying off the right path, Zachary." Laurelite's voice had taken on a sterner quality, carrying far enough across the room that a passerby could hear it easily. "Treasonous thoughts... even ones that can be interpreted as such... are not taken lightly in the Negaverse." With a click of her heel she was suddenly facing him fully again, an inhuman iciness to her eyes. "There are dire consequences to entertaining such ideas here. Do you understand?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:43 pm
The color washing from her face made his own eyes widen, Where her eyes never quite met his as she moved, announcing loudly that he was dangerously close to the wrong path he nearly dissected her own. Each intonation and each pause in her speech, to the icy look in her eyes that could be taken as ‘distancing’.
“Of course Madam General Queen.” He said bowing at the waist. “I meant nothing ill, only to explain my confusion and inexperience.” The words were carefully chosen and the tone submissive, at least it seemed to be. “I will prove myself loyal to the Dark Kingdom…beyond a doubt.” He said choosing his sworn loyalty as carefully as he chose his tone.
His heart beat faster and his shoulders tightened though to know that anyone passing would have heard such an admonishment. Foolish of him to say anything perhaps, but was it? “The queen has made me well aware of the price of failure.” He added. They were all aware on one level or another. True no one had recently been struck down, but he had been thrown bodily from the room with nearly a promise that next time he would be.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 3:58 pm
"Merely stating intent is not good enough this time," said Laurelite, her eyes ever narrowing. "You'll have to prove yourself through your actions as well... and I'll personally see to cleaning up your act, General... come with me."
Then, with a small pop! the scenery of the subspace was gone, replaced by harsh summer sunlight and the bustle of human activity around them. She'd taken them away from the Negaverse, and... to some busy street downtown?
"Power down," she continued. "And follow me."
Laurelite's demure form would prove difficult to follow without her power signature leading the way to her general direction. They both were short individuals, easily lost in the crowd, and the woman's pace was direct and determined. There was no dilly-dallying here, the situation with Zac was obviously pretty serious to her. Eventually she led him through a doorway, a little bell tinkling away to announce their presence. As soon as the rush was started, it had finished.
It was a tea shop. A very nice tea shop.
Vasilisa was smoothing out her top and adjusting her hair while they waited to be seated. "The Queen's ears are all over that palace of hers," she was saying. "Thankfully, she doesn't poke her nose so much into business on the surface."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:11 pm
He made a small strangled sound of protest at the idea that he had so disappointed even her, that she’d think that he needed such watching. Carried away for a moment in the admonishment so hot on the heels of the last one. It was a brief ‘codfish’ moment at the least before they ‘popped’ into ‘reality’.
He blinked to clear his eyes from the sharp summer sun that replaced the dim hallways and quickly replaced his General Uniform with his civilian garb. He counted the small blessing that he was not wearing something so embarrassingly personal as his Panda Hoodie when he did. After that the rush to keep up with her took place. She had a sort of presence, just enough to let her sweep through the crowds as though, unconsciously they parted for her. He slid between them like an after thought, chasing an ideal, an objective.
He stood for a heartbeat as she entered the door, the bell giving a merry chime that made the brass wink and the odor of brewed leaves drifted out, faint but soothing into the street to beckon him onward. He caught the door before it even finished closing and followed her. He swept a gaze over the people within, the cups and the chairs to the small tables and staff before he carefully sat down across from her half expecting an admonishment still despite their civilian clothes.
He nodded carefully at the information imparted, it was good to know though he wished he had some idea what he was looking for…perhaps who. “Seeking to curry her favor for as long as it will last?” He asked. The tone was not judging simply…curious. People often thought to stroke and flatter and whisper to those whom they thought could in some way grant them favor, power or shelter. He’d done something not so dissimilar when he flattered the queen to save his own life not long before.
“If I spoke too brashly… or put you in a poor position.” He started carefully.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 7:51 am
"Say what you will of me, Zachary," replied Vasilisa, "but I always speak the truth. Treason is never taken lightly, and in our line of work it can get you killed... or worse..." Her hands folded lightly over the table, and the conversation paused for a moment as someone on staff arrived to take their order. Along with Zinkenite's choice the young waitress scribbled down an Earl Grey, and with a confused tone explained that they didn't serve biscuits here -- which made Vasilisa give a short, civilian sigh and explain back that she meant cookies. It was all very mundane, up to the point where their server was out of earshot.
"I was expecting your eyes might be keen enough to... pick up on the cracks in our foundations..." she continued, unfolding her napkin and smoothing it out over the table. "However, bring to much attention to them and the whole structure falls apart."
The waitress brought them their tea and cookies a moment later. Vasilisa dumped a meager amount of sugar into hers, just enough to enhance the bitterness by contrast instead of mask it, and stared cooly over her cup at her companion. This was the first time she'd ever gotten a glimpse of the lower half of his face. It was quite a dramatic change, with his emotions and the subtleties of his expressions no longer cast in shadow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:38 pm
“Worse…” he murmured thoughtfully, what could be worse? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, except. Realization crawled up his spine and he shivered slightly and turned to his tea for ‘comfort’. He added no sugar but took a long sip of orange zest and other spicy flavors mingling in the bitter black tea.
“Realizing that intent has nothing to with perception, I do not mean to sound traitorous, I am absolutely concerned with the well being of the Dark Kingdom, I want us to WIN…I want a decisive victory for us not some, bartering over lost soldiers and sailors.” He squeezed his teacup and frowned into the depths like he could read a future in the leaves.
“But I don’t think I can be the only one to see these, cracks. It’s not so much a keen eye as a matter of TIME.” He waved his hand and looked up to meet her in the eyes. “If she ever said to one of the more…vocal Captains or Lieutenants what she said to me the results would be.” He paused a moment “Disastrous. I know that Linarite spoke of similar threats shortly before she…” He paused his lips thinning to a fine line of consideration. Carefully picking the words that could mark him as not just potentially traitorous but…foolish as well.
“Before she was swayed by the senshi, promises of safety and some distance between herself and the looming threat placed on her head.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:21 pm
Without the power signatures enhancing their presence, they were both very small, unthreatening, unobtrusive beings. Vasilisa looked like a little china doll dressed up for display. Zac looked, unfortunately, like the older woman's date, especially so with the calculating attention they paid to each other's movements and shifts: himself intense and hungry for answers, herself cooly holding them an arm's length away and just waiting for him to strike.
She took a long draft of tea, but in her case it was more for the sake of facade, a vain attempt in enjoying an indulgence long-abandoned. No look of enjoyment or satisfaction filtered past her eyes. It made her look all the more like a porcelain construct pretending to be human. "You should consider those threats more carefully," she said, "because in her case they are very real, and she won't hesitate to act on them."
In the middle of the table, a buttery-looking cookie broke between her fingers. Her left arm was still splotched and mottled with burn scars -- a botched paint job on an otherwise flawless figurine.
"We just departed from an example of this. Or did you forget why that was there?" Now a cookie half was being dipped into her tea, a corner lazily swirling into the contents of the cup. "She's demonstrated the cost of treason on someone much more powerful than you." There was a flash of her glare from earlier, icy and pointed. Zinkenite was a General. Charonite had been a General-King, and thus Laurelite's equal. There were implications, frightening ones, left unspoken but still clearly communicated.
"A simple uprising would lead only to the collapse of the entire army... and at no one's effort but our own."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 4:26 am
“It’s not simply the threats to my person I have to consider though…” He said speaking almost into his teacup as he sank into thought.
He took a sip of his tea and almost idly snapped a corner off his own ‘biscuit’ though he did not eat it yet, simply tapped the edge of it on his plate and moved it in some curious pattern that seemed to hold meaning to him. He weighed the words used… hard to tell when speaking to such a careful woman if he could put any weight behind the words ‘but OUR own.” Of if he should consider it a simple repeated warning to put away such treasonous thoughts and march in lock step with no hope of ever whispering something saner in the queen’s ear.
If not her ear though then…
He nipped the edge off the cookie and was silent for a long moment before changing tack slight. “Forgive me madam, it’s undoubtedly my lack of experience. We know so little of the history of this great organization and it’s done well in other places. Can you tell me more of it? How many came before you?”
He added looking introspective. “There was that…woman who took Tanzanite’s arm. Should we worry that more like her will ever appear? Did she truly once serve us and not the senshi?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:33 pm
"There were four Shittenou before us," she began, after a moment's pause to wipe her fingers. "Kunzite, Jadeite, Zoicite and Nephrite. They were the Knights of the four corners of the Earth... and known as Cavaliers, because they answered directly to the royal family..." The remaining tea in her cup rippled under her lips as it was brought up to them, and she took another long sip. "I'm sure you can piece together what happened there. Beryl convinced the royal guard of the threats looming over society, but unfortunately the family was harder to persuade."
The cup was half empty now. Vasilisa returned her gaze to Zac, her face glazed over with its familiar placidity as she smoothly and simply laid out the facts he was so interested to hear. When she led him deeper into the story, however, that composure began to crumble a little, eyes narrowing and a palpable tinge of bitterness entering her voice.
"The Negaverse chose to oppose royalty... not just of the Solar System's senshi, but the Earth's royalty as well. It was always a problem... always the oppressor, or the obstacle. And then Beryl took the mantle of royalty... fancied herself a Queen, made schemes to seduce the Prince..."
Her left hand, the one riddled with burn scars, clenched into a fist and crumpled her napkin. Minty green eyes glowered at her companion, deathly cold and open windows to the abyss within.
"She's obsessed with the throne, Zac... when the goal was to dismantle it altogether."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:50 pm
“The same Prince who appeared at Elysion?” He said with a furrow forming between his brows, deep and troubled at the thought. Bad enough the queen of her own accord but the behaviors of ‘that man’ had set more than the Senshi teeth to edge.
He squeezed the teacup thinking, but never letting his eyes drift from that open rage that showed in her eyes. Deep and terrible like falling to the ageless depths of the sea, the weak would drown there, ground to pieces by strange and terrible things that might make their home there. The monsters that lay in everyman made to kneel before this woman, who kept such a perfect hold on her emotions till this very moment.
“…Does she think she will lose it?” He asked carefully. He wanted to ask if these Shittenou were her teachers. Wanted to ask so very many questions till he had a whole secret life spread before him but now was not the time for that. Not with the cold fury burning in those eyes. More important, did she think that the current General Queens might take it? How had Beryl herself grown stronger than their highest rank? What was she?
Yet there was another thought, a dangerous one, real, honest to god treason that hovered just at the edges of his thoughts, that lit a dangerous fire in his eyes. The goal was to dismantle the throne.
Was it too late to try?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
