♂═━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━═♂
To the leader the pariah
{ Solo }
xxxx{ Wavering Judgement }
xxxx{ Word Count . . . 1,877 }
↠xxx《 Confronting the Code┊Early December 》
The call was unmistakable. Even after months of her... absence. That call. That presence. That pull... it was unmistakable. She hadn't... transformed. Since February. Since that General Queen shoved her hand in Ashur's chest, since Kairatos and Valhalla, and that Royal Knight had to... help her wrestle him away from that b***h's grasp.
Danika was long bitter about the experience. Almost numb at this point. He no longer looked at her like he used to. That smile wasn't the same. He wasn't her Dominic. And it was a constant burn in her chest, a constant tightening of her throat.
A chain noose around her neck.
How much had changed since she last took up the mantel, she wondered? Why was her city, her world... calling to her now?
She'd had a hell of a mind to just ignore it. To just go back to her work on an assignment for school and ignore all of it. It was a world that brought nothing but pain. The ******** would be different now?
Throughout the following hours, as she tried to focus on... anything else, it kept coming back to her. A sense that something was... wrong. Her hands itched to hold a chain, her body tense and willing for armor to cover it, for warm red sand to be underfoot instead of apartment carpeting. Danika pushed it all away, willing it all away. Or tried to. Her head kept turning. Her eyes kept moving to the window. To where... ********. To where she could feel the pulsations of Mars. Where Themiscyra, that city of stone, stood waiting. Calling.
The will to return. That sense. That unspeaking voice that called. It was stronger than her own will. For a moment. That split moment between when Danika registered she stood in her Squire uniform, as her eyes settled on her own reflection, and when her mouth moved to form the words of binding oath to call her to that city--in that split moment. She could have sworn it was Diana that stood in the mirror, looking back at her with waiting eyes.
It was a hell of a crash of sensations. The power that flowed through her body again after such a long, long time; the scent of the red dust and sand; the heat of the sun, weaker than on Earth yet... so warm against her skin. Themiscyra trembled, unused to the impact of the mantel and the reality of where she was standing. And... frightened. She'd admit it. She was afraid of how good it felt to be back. Red eyes took in the city she'd not seen in months, not since she'd taken the golden chain from the chamber at the deepest point of the prisons. Now her fingers brushed against it, strapped to her hip, while she took in the view. The highest point of the city, an immensely elaborate and lavish palace stood at the peak of the mountain within the heart of the city.
She'd been there before, briefly in memories. Her... Diana's rooms where there. Somewhere. Echoes pulsated. Something crept through the shadows of her city.
Themiscyra frowned slowly, the euphoria of her return diminishing as she took stock of the situation. A sense of unease drifted through the winds. The streets far below her seemed cast in more shadow than usual. Something within the city hunkered down behind its walls. Waiting. Watching. Invisible eyes turned to the palace. Her sandaled feet turned towards the large doors of the palace. They were slow to open, hinges creaking and stone grinding against stone. It took a great deal of the Squire's strength to wrench them open enough for her to enter, panting a bit at the effort before she collected herself to venture further.
Empty halls, grand staircases, arches and pillars carved with chains, women of prowess and elegance, flames... books, stars, scrolls... Knowledge, strength, justice. All aspects of the women of Themiscyra honored and praised. Themiscyra felt... humbled by their presence, this glimpse into a people she'd not seen with her own eyes. At least... not in this life.
Such thoughts filled her head, swirling like a mist as she wandered through the halls. Following the echoes that made the shadows tremble and creep. Made her hand tighten around the slender golden chain at her hip. The main halls, stone worn by countless millennia of travel--guards, politicians, scholars, diplomats... even knights and senshi of other worlds, all traveled here to meet and greet those of importance. How many times had she come and gone, seeking her own bed? The main halls broke into smaller corridors and veins along the sides, and she... had a sense that at least one would lead to stairs from which she could access her rooms.
Still she moved forward. Under grand archways, past where guards once stood. Where politicians gossiped and word from the courts and other wonders reached higher ears. The Squire of Themiscyra strolled onward, chin high, shoulders square.
More doors, these only slightly easier to push open. Gold glistened across the carvings and scenes displayed across these doors. More of the precious metal met her eyes as she entered a grand room. The floor was inlaid with precious metals, ornate marble and crystal, precious stones. A throne room. Untouched by time it felt like. Even a large dais stood at the front of the room, a throne for the Maiden of Themiscyra. Yet it was... the chamber behind the elegant, masterfully crafted throne, that drew Themiscyra.
Or rather. The sense of one. Her hand came to rest on a symbol of the Compact, one she found only after scanning the wall for a long period. The stone shook and moved, sliding back as the wall opened. The young woman was... startled by this innate knowledge, yet she followed it. Echoes pulsated from deeper. Stairs lead downward. Much like with the prisons. The stone here changed. Around her, growing rougher, older. Untouched, unshaped. Natural. Images flickered in her mind, before her eyes...
A natural cave renovated to serve as a council chamber and war room. Knights of Themiscyra were written to have come and sought council from the Code about plans, or even guidance in their paths. Guards and soldiers stood at the war table, discussing plans whilst the knight intervened or looked to the Code for reassurances. She--Diana--knelt before the Code countless times. She knew the writings. The past knights of Themiscyra were extremely loyal to the Code and its teachings. They saw the importance of its work, of its words. Though it was their duty to comprehend it, to translate it, to understand what work they must complete. She was reverent in her followings of her understanding of its teachings. Knighthood was her passion of life. It encompassed so much of herself. Her time and efforts before and within the Compact stood as her self-image in many ways. She was a knight. Beyond her core, beyond her very being. Her soul, her all. She was a knight.
The Code
A pulsating orb of energy, about the size of a baseball, was housed inside the throne room below palace. The light flickered lazily. It seemed to have a presence—like it was more than just a light. While it did not share the same mist-like appearance as the Code Piece on Olympus, there was no denying that this orb of light was one in the same. Although smaller, it still seemed powerful.
Danika stood there. Gazing at the light. A slow pulsation, a glowing orb. She knew, without words, without markings or tools. It was the Code. A piece of it, perhaps, but still. She stood in awe, in reverence... yet in unease. That creeping sensation. The eyes from the shadows. It was focused there in that room. It took... a while before her vocal cords would work. Her lips kept moving, forming soundless words, before finally her voice entered the scene.
"You say... you say we're supposed to maintain balance--but how?" Her hand rested on the chain at her hip, drawing strength from its warm gold. Licking her dry lips, she pressed on. She'd... she'd never been this close to the Code before. To... to have the chance to speak to it... Unease grated into her system. It seeped into her muscles, cracked her bones and made her pulse increase. Unease that had lingered there since Ashur... "How is balance supposed to protect our families and friends? How is balance supposed to make us feel welcomed in these skeletons of old cities and ruins in places that used to be vibrant homes? Why do memories haunt us here? The ******** even the point of--of trying to remember a past where everything failed in the first place? Is repeating the past... is it even worth it?"
The Compact. The city. The worlds. The courts, the... the everything. Everything that once was. The words tumbled from her, desperate for answers she prayed the Code would possess.
The Code
"You are selfish, little Knight, and you think such very simple thoughts. Balance is more than just you. Balance keeps the whole universe together. There will be losses—on all sides. Death is inevitable. Destruction is inevitable. What, then, do you hope to protect them from? Fate? Destiny? The memories you have are the failed attempts of those before you to guide you on a better path. You will repeat the past if you don't at least try to learn from them. There are always other options, with other outcomes. Though…"
The Code swirled around lazily. "…If you are so afraid of losing those you care for, perhaps you should join the Negaverse. They seem more inclined to protect those affiliated with their own agents."
The Code swirled around lazily. "…If you are so afraid of losing those you care for, perhaps you should join the Negaverse. They seem more inclined to protect those affiliated with their own agents."
Its words struck her. Hard. Taking a step back, the Squire stared with mouth agape as the being of ancient power spoke. Death was inevitable, she knew that. It was the cold, sad reality of life. "J-just because people die, will die... that doesn't mean we can't try to keep them from early graves," she sputtered, taken aback by its cold words. Yes, ok, she could understand also that the memories were supposed to help guide her but...
Wouldn't it... wouldn't it then mean it's best to abandon the cities? The Compact? If none of it worked before... How could that be? It didn't... it didn't make sense to her.
It didn't feel right to her.
"How do... how do I even start to find those outcomes, I don't--" Her words trailed off. Cut off. By its lazy movements. It's lazy words. It's words that sent magma through her veins, made a roar rip from her lips as her weapon crackled into existence in her hands. The heavy crystal cracked into the stone floor, sending shards of stone skittering across the room. "What did you say?"
Her teeth grit, eyes aflame as she stepped towards the ball of light. Rage poured through her. Join the Negaverse? Join it? Join those murderous, thieving bastards? Images of that night. Of Ashur... of Dominic... that woman...
Themiscyra roared, her chain slicing through the air. It met nothing but the rock behind the Code, shattering the stone behind it as her crystal continued through its arc. she spat, snarling as her knuckles went white around the chain. "How ******** dare you. I'll never join those ******** bastards. I don't need them, their weakness that let them fall to Chaos in the first place. I'll drag them out of the darkness. Hard for the Negaverse to protect their own, if their own are gone."
Trembling with fury--one far beyond even Danika's, one far beyond Diana's. Fury of countless knights of Themiscyra heated her body and set her aflame. "You say there's other outcomes. Fine. I'll find them. And I'll rip apart any ******** Negaverse agent that tries to take another knight in front of me. Even if it means having to chain myself to all of them first."
If the Code spoke again, it spoke only to empty air.
Danika returned to her apartment in a rage. Still as the Squire, she... could feel a letter fall from subspace and drift onto her bed. But she ignored it. Even seeing the mark of Andronicus on it. She ignored it. Themiscyra hit the city streets.
She needed to vent. She needed to release her rage.
She needed youma to kill.
♂═━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━═♂
