Cruithne was trapped within a walking nightmare. The dreams that had plagued her so consistently for so long had now become her entire world waking and sleeping. She’d finally fled from her home when her parents had carefully broached the idea of sending her somewhere else to get better. For the last week, she’d stumbled and staggered through the Park and the indoor gardens, trying to find peace. The increasingly small part of her mind that had remained sane could no longer hold off the dreams and nightmarish visions they brought. And in her desire and need to distance herself from them, she’d only managed to make the problem worse.
As she curled deeper into the shelter of a snowbank, icy tears trailed down her face as she clutched at her Cordial and tried to find solace in the idea that the Lady wouldn’t leave her like this forever. There had to be a way to become what she was before. Just a simple girl. No more senshi nonsense, no more dreams. She just had to find the LAdy and everything would be better. She could go home then. A little hiccup-y giggle escaped her as the snow numbed her body. And against her senses grated a power that she couldn’t distinguish as anything beyond Power. Blinking dozily, she raised her eyes to see a severe, regal-looking white haired woman approaching her. Gasping a little, Cruithne tried to roll to her feet, only to stumble and remain kneeling in the snow. This woman didn’t burn and twist horribly like the people in her dreams. Hardly daring to hope, Cruithne’s broken soul leapt to the conclusion that she’d been good enough and the Lady had finally come to make everything better. Wild blue eyes met the dark brown of the other woman’s and Cruithne scrambled in the snow, desperate to touch her savior and bawl into the hem of her coat.
“You came! You came! You’ll take the dreams away, won’t you? Please don’t let the dreams hurt me anymore!”
Any expectations Mithrilite had had for this encounter were swiftly blown out of the water by the sight of a senshi flinging herself at the general’s mercy. A quick glance at the girl’s face showed fractured, blue eyes and a twisted rictus of a smile blurred by tears turning to ice against the girl’s pale skin. Taken aback by how the girl greeted her, Mithrilite rrealized that there was a serious case of mistaken identity going on here. And in spite of her distaste for senshi, this one’s frantic welcome and obvious distress triggered a need in the general to know exactly what the girl was talking about. Ignoring a little stab of pain, she took the girl’s hands in her own and gently hauled her to her feet. Then, schooling her expression into one of gentle inquiry, she questioned the girl.
“Easy there, little one. I’m here. What dreams are you talking about, exactly? Why do you want them taken away?”
Hadn’t she overheard random colleagues talking about odd dreams at some point? It seemed like she had. But the senshi’s broken sobs distracted her and she found herself awkwardly patting the girl’s shoulder.
“The dreams about the other time. The awful future. I don’t want to keep seeing fire and death everywhere. Please, I don’tt want to keep seeing my friends dying. I just want to be normal again. I’ve been praying to you so hard and you’re here. Please, Lady. I just want to be a normal kid again…”
As if the words had been supporting her, Cruithne collapsed against the tall, older woman and alternated between sobs and giggles. Something kept tickling against her senses, telling her that something wasn’t right, but in the face of getting what she’d so desperately craved, she ignored it.
Blinking stupidly, Mithrilite worked to keep her jaw from dropping. This child had prayed to her? She was so far gone into the depths of her mind that she thought a general of the Dark Kingdom was a god? Well, this would make for an interesting conversation around the water cooler later. And in the senshi’s blind and frantic trust, Mithrilite saw a way to, perhaps, improve her own standing in the hierarchy of the Dark Kingdom. Wouldn’t it be lovely to return with a pretty little corrupted senshi? Then, perhaps, little miss Queen Laurelite would see that she was worthwhile and destined for greater things. With a smile that was more like the baring of teeth, Mithrilite supported the senshi and kept her voice at a low, soothing hum.
“Of course, how silly of me. I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting, little one. You’ve been so good and patient in dealing with this. I’ll make sure the dreams can’t hurt you ever again.”
Adjusting the senshi in her arms, she smiled again down into those trusting, fractured eyes and placed her free hand against the girl’s chest, taking a moment to savor how easy this was.
“I’ll take the dreams away, pretty girl, it’s going to hurt, but then, you can simply pray the pain away, can you not?”
The hand against her chest twitched and Cruithne felt a stabbing of uncertainty. There was something wrong. And the Lady’s words followed by an odd, ugly laugh as her hand plunged into Cruithne’s chest brought the world into stark focus. Her Lady was no Lady, but an officer of the Negaverse! That’s what had felt wrong, but she’d been too stupid to realize. A scream tore itself from her throat as the hands within her chest began to pump pure Chaos into her starseed. Flailing against the older woman, she tried in vain to free herself.
“Quiet, brat! I’m only giving you what you wanted! For the nasty dreams to go away, right? Hold still, damn you!”
Calling up more Chaos and funneling it into the girl’s starseed, Mithrilite’s vision blurred for a moment as her body crumpled to the snow. Still, she ignored it, dismissed it as unimportant compared to corrupting a senshi. And as the girl screamed and flailed, she pumped more and more Chaos into the girl. Strange though, how much more difficult this was compared to simply recruiting a human.
Cruithne’s screams took on a new pitch as she felt something deep inside of her crack and then, moment’s later, irreparably shatter. She could still dimly feel the pure Chaos being forced into her starseed, even as she crumbled and cracked and broke around it. As her vision went dark, she was oddly aware of a drop of blood falling from the officer’s nose and staining the snow.
Mithrilite called on more Chaos energy, ignoring the sharp and insistant pain within her chest. She was so close! Who cared if blood was pouring liberally from her nose and staining snow and senshi. She could feel the Chaos remaking the girl.
She was flung back as Chaos wrapped itself around the girl. Laughing gleefully, Mithrilite’s vision was blood tinged and the blood she coughed up as the Chaos receeded from the girl was unimportant. Except, what lay in the snow was no corrupt senshi. Moaning a little in disappointment, Mithrilite’s own vision was growing dark. And it was so cold all the sudden. The ambitious (and now ex) general slumped down in the snow, her last thought one of resignation. Perhaps, she should have gone to the doctor after all. And as consciousness left all together, a bloodied shell with a burst heart was left behind, a testament to how bad of an idea it was to attempt corruption when one’s health was exceedingly poor.
The youma shivered, opening bright, blue eyes as she shook her head and tried to process the world around her. The strange body with it’s red eyes and bloodied clothing was an oddity and somehow distressing. Was this who had called her here? No way to know. Mewling softly, she forced her to her feet and considered. This was not home. Home was… elsewhere. As she relaxed and let herself feel, the youma that had once been a senshi felt the pull that meant home and let herself follow it, retreating to deep within the Rift.
** Use of disposable approved by Kyu for plot purposes **
