Follow up to Setting the Stage
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The place where it all begin.

It was hard to imagine that almost exactly three years and seven months ago Hatsya stood in this very spot for the first time, not as a student closing up shop after practice, but as a senshi with magic that rivaled the terrorists that plagued their city. Or so she had been lead to believe.

Looking back on it, Hatsay had been a fool to believe such promises. What business did she have fighting a war that was not her own? Sword fighting was one thing, no true injuries came from fencing outside of maybe a sprained ankle if she lunged wrong and lost her balance. But this war she was expected to fight in had consequences she was not prepared to endure.

“No more…” Hatsya rose from the stack of wooden pallets, in her left hand she held onto the sharpened rapier.

This place use to be so familiar, yet now it felt so foreign. Behind that blue painted door use to be the store room for extra equipment; helmets, swords and protective gear for those who couldn’t afford their own sets quite yet or who were testing out fencing as a potential hobby. However, since the owner’s passing about a year ago, with no children of his own to pass the studio on it, the place had been sold and turned into a candy shop.

Señor Galeano had been such a kind man; strict when necessary but not without reason, usually when a persons safety was concerned. His passing had hit her hard. After what had happened in the rift, while she was undergoing physical therapy, he had been helping her re-train. Through his efforts she had learned to become ambidextrous, while still right hand dominant, Hatsya could effectively wield the sword with her left as well. Something she highly doubted Benitoite was privy to.

With the stage now set, Hatsya summoned her communication crystal. “General Benitoite?” she spoke his name into the purple gem in a calming tone. “If you’re there, I need to speak with you.” The goal was to not alarm him in any way, in hopes of having him arrive without his weapon drawn otherwise she would have to find a way to disarm him first.

Lucky for her, and unknowingly unlucky for him, he was out on a short patrol. His plan for the night was simple, he didn’t much care for the cold tonight, as he planned to just patrol a few blocks and gather whatever energy he could before returning home. The only reason he was even out was to gather a bit of energy as he liked to be ahead of his quota incase he ever found himself unable to gather for a fair amount of time.

Stopping where he was, standing stock still on a rooftop, he heard the call come in and summoned his own communications device. “I’m here...where are you. I’ll teleport as close as I can.” Hatsya….that was odd. She never really talked to him - didn’t like him at all. It was a wonder she hadn’t ranked up to eternal just so she could kick his a**, or try to anyway. He knew she disliked him and he understood why....he really did.

He’d wanted to talk to her, for a long time now, but after the amount of time it had taken to recover, both physically and to piece back his pride, he’d found himself unsure how to approach her. It seemed like not approaching him had just turned her dislike of him into something more...something deeper.

Normally he was good with words, blunt and honest as ever, but he just hadn’t been able to find it within himself to talk to her after his recovery, and hers, and now he had sort of given up on talking to her. He figured bringing up the past would make it all worse. So why did she need to talk to him? They had nothing in common and didn’t have any sort of relationship, at least not a positive one, whatever it was he would arrive for - he owed her that much.

“Do you remember where Katya first found me? Where my old fencing studio use to be?” Hatsya swung her sword to the side, smiling at the whistling sound it made as it cut cleanly through the air. “You might be more familiar with what it is now; Sweet Symphony, the candy shoppe.”

Everyone had gone home for the evening and as far as she could tell nobody had bothered to set up cameras out back, not that it mattered to her if someone saw what was about to transpire this evening.

“A candy shop...I’ve never been inside it. But I know where it is.” He could get there easy enough having driven by on a few occasions and could teleport nearby, it was easy thankfully. It wasn’t that he knew the exact location where the candy shop was if someone mentioned it to him by name, but he knew where he had first met her, where he’d made her into what she was now.

“I’ll be right there.” And he would, teleporting was rather instantaneous after all. As he let the communications device vanish he did so as well - appearing where she had requested him. “Hatsya.” Greeting her lightly, not aware of what her plans were for the night, he just figured she wanted to talk about something...likely the latest thing to transpire in the rift.

Had she not of been prepared for his arrival she would have found his sudden appearance, and intimidating aura, rather startling. But this is what she had prepared for, at least it was only his signature he felt and not a second one belonging to that little mauvian that clung close by him the few times they had met face to face.

“Benitoite…” Hatsya regarded him almost coldly. Her back remained facing him as she tried to judge the distance between them; how many steps she would have to take in order to strike him with her magic. Too far away… she quickly determined after having spent a good hour memorizing the alleyway and all it’s obstacles. He needs to be closer. Anything more than two steps and this would be over before she could finally end it all. “I promise I won’t keep you long.”

“It’s fine if you do, I’ve got all night if need be.” They may not get along, to put it mildly, but he had brought her into this war and he would make time. It just meant it would be longer before he could return home and curl up in bed with Aiden, if that’s what it came to tonight. He still wondered, rather often, how he managed to get away with this double life and not have Aiden asking him questions or doubting him and their relationship. He was lucky - very lucky. He knew it.

“What can I help you with?” Approaching slowly, he was in no real rush, he expected she had something perhaps in her hand or on the ground. He wasn’t sure what he was here for but there was a reason her back was to him - right? He had to come around and see, which is what he was planning to do as he drew closer to her.

Hatsya turned her head to look in Benitoite’s direction as he cautiously closed the distance between them. With her long hair and coat, it was not difficult to hide the rapier she held onto so long as she didn’t turn to face him completely. “This is where it all began, right here in this very alley.” Motioning with her free hand she tried to divert his attention to anything but her, at least for a moment.

“I know - I remember where it began for you. It feels like it’s been forever...though I suppose that tends to happen when you live this sort of life.” Small things became precious things, took on bigger meaning, and time moved in a different way. Things seem to go on longer, to take longer, and yet at other times things happened so fast it was almost impossible to keep up with. It was life changing to say the least, that was the best way to put it.

“I’ll be honest, I was naive back then to think that what you were offering me was a gift…” Hatsya looked down at her hand for a second in silence before allowing her arm to fall to her side. “Perhaps it is because you came from a position of power that I thought I could trust you. Laurelite did; and it was through her that you were able to bring me into the Negaverse.” It was her power but his hand that had awoke the power within her. Interestingly enough she had only seen the General Queen once since that day, it was nothing more than a brief glance since she had been otherwise preoccupied with shielding herself from sharp hailstones at the time.

However, as she had later learned, sometimes it was a good thing to not have the attention of a Sovereign; or anyone for that matter.

To some it would be a gift, Benitoite wanted to say it, but he knew that to others the power was a nightmare. It came with so many things attached to it, both unseen and seen, some things happen and some didn’t. Sometimes it ruined a person's life and other times it gave a person life - gave them a cause and something to fight for and believe in. For him it had given him something, something other than the easy life he’d lived. He had hoped it would help her, that she would help the cause, like he did with everyone he brought in. It didn’t always work though - sadly. Hatsya was an example of the nightmare side of things, of the loss, and he had seen and experienced some of what she had himself. He’d experienced other things as well, more than most in some ways.

He didn’t say anything, none of what he was thinking, instead he let her talk. She needed to, it was perhaps time to clear to air between them. It had for so long been heavy, almost to the point of choking, all due to that one night...that on incident. He still wondered when the Negaverse would put the other side in line and punish them for that. So far they had done nothing in that area and he wished they would...the other side needed to be taught a lesson and put in place - again.

“Perhaps you saw more potential in me than I did in myself, maybe that’s why you tried pushing me so much at the beginning.” To the point it almost felt like Big Brother was always watching or that he was puppeting her with the way he kept teleporting her all over the place without the courtesy of warning her first. “But I guess you saw the flaw in that mentality when I failed to strike the prince hmm?” Hatsya leveled her sunset colored eyes in his direction once more.

“That’s why you left isn’t it?” Why you abandoned me? Because my usefulness had ended… she wanted to add but clenched her jaw shut instead. Discarded like a defected toy. One minute she had been on patrol the next Benitoite had pulled her into Negaspace where a slew of senshi had invaded the Dark Kingdom. What happened after the Generals plan had failed was nothing more than murmured sounds and muffled screams. Five days later she awoke in an empty hospital room; not even her parents were there when she regained consciousness. It was sad really, but that was in the past; no use dwelling on what couldn’t be changed.

“I-.” Taking a moment to collect his words, to think how he wished to word himself, he finally spoke again. There was so much he wanted to say, he was afraid it would all come out in a jumbled mess. Normally so eloquent with words it was difficult now as he spoke. “I didn’t wish to push you but yes- yes - I did see potential in you. I do in everyone...perhaps it is naive of me to see potential in people I hardly know, if at all, but I’d like to think our cause a good one and one worth fighting for. I don’t think of it as a failure - that night. He is a prince for a reason...it was a chance I was taking - a dangerous one. It was something that needed to be risked though...to protect the most amount of people. I thought together we were the best chance to stop him...he had to be stopped. I thought we could do it.” He really had. Her magic and his ability to bring them in close.

How foolish...but he had seen people being hurt and seen the chaos going on. He was filled with such rage at their safe haven, their home, being breached by the enemy. He’d seen a General Queen kill their own before dying to her own hunger. He had wanted to try and stop it...to take out the biggest cheese piece the other side had.

Reaching out, but not touching, he stood so close to her and yet it felt like a gorge separated them. No bridge could be built which could bring the two sides together but he was trying, he would try, but he knew she would burn it all down. Her anger, her temper, was hot like the sun and he knew it. He knew she was being nice right now and he knew it would soon end and she would be at him again with that temper of hers, all powered by her hate for him and what he had done. At least for now he could speak, like he hadn’t done so long ago.

Her reaction was near immediate in the way Hatsya pulled away. Almost as if she was scared his touch alone would have burned her if he got close enough to try. Benitoite understood and instead allowed his arm to fall back to his side.

"Hatsya, I never left you, not completely anyway. I just didn't know how to approach you after..." His voice trailed off since he knew she was well aware of what incident he was referring to. "So I made the choice to give you space and time to heal." Both mentally and physically without him interfering in the processes. “I had failed that night...I failed in such a catastrophic way - I let my own emotions get the best of me and I brought you into things in order to try and help. I brought you into a fight, that under normal circumstances, I never would have thought you ready for. I almost killed us both...and I cost you a lot - I know it.” He knew it more than she thought he did. He hadn’t just abandoned her, it wasn’t something he would do to one of his own.

As she listened to him speak, Hatsya could feel the anger swelling up inside her. “Stop it-” she spoke so quietly she wasn’t sure that anything had actually been said. There was no way he knew exactly how much she had in fact lost because of his rash decisions.

“I was there...at your the first tournament you entered after that night.” He had been proud to see the recovery she had made...proud, and happy, to see her back to fencing. He knew it meant so much to her, he didn’t know what would have happened if she never could fence again.

“Liar!” Hatsya lashed out. There was no way he had seen that disgrace of a match.

Having finally reached her breaking point, “Sword of Silencing!” she spoke the name of her attack summoning the familiar golden hilt in front of her. Without even needing to look, the Senshi of Swordplay grabbed ahold of the object to which the ethereal blade appeared.

“Why couldn’t you just stay away?”There was a burning fire in Hatsya’s sunset colored eyes as she spun around swiftly. Her magic struck him first, passing through Benitoite torso with such speed that had the blade been real, the General was sure that he would have been dead. However, the lethality of the situation quickly dawned on him when her motions did not slow as the summoned weapon disappeared.

In her other hand had been an actual weapon, which explained why she refused to turn around and face him once he arrived. Unlike his spear it was not from the Dark Kingdom; nonetheless the sharp edge was just as real as it followed in a similar path as the magical sword..

Benitoite would have responded, proven himself not to be a liar, but he didn’t get the time to do so before she spoke those familiar words; she was...attacking him with her magic...but why?

He knew what her magic did, it would keep him locked down, unable to teleport or do or summon his spear. But why? He wasn’t going to teleport away from her. Those thoughts went through his head fast enough that by the time they had finished he was being met with another sort of blade - one that was very real.

In her hand was a blade unlike her fencing sword, he didn’t know the difference between the blades, but he knew it was real and sharp for it did not bend or give when it made contact with his forearm as he brought his arm up to shield himself the only way he could given his lack of resources.

“Hatsya….” Benitoite hissed her name through the pain as he staggered backwards; his arm was bleeding but he could at least still move his hand. This wasn’t good...this was bad. He couldn’t move and now he knew why she’d used her magic on him. It wasn’t so he couldn’t escape this conversation it was to finally pay a debt she felt was owed for what he had unintentionally nearly done to her. “Listen, pl-”

“No!” she bit out. “I’m done listening to you Benitoite... I refuse to be your puppet anymore!”

The only benefit that came from the incident was that it forced her to learn how to become ambidextrous, to learn how to duel with both hands effectively. Even so, she still favored her right and so in a fluid motion she transferred the sword to her dominant hand and lunged forward. The tip of her sword aimed for what she intended to be a killing blow. “No more lies.”

He managed, by just sheer luck, to move himself to avoid the lethal blow she intended to deal him. Benitoite knew it would be lethal, the thought ran through his head while a coldness swept through his body. This wasn’t a game...she was out for his life and he was without any magic to aid him.

Benitoite had, in large part, been what brought her to this point and this was, as he’d later figure it, the closest he’d come to death in a very long time. He had become accustomed to the power granted to him as a General, as well as years of experience, which kept him from alive for so long. However, here he was at a huge disadvantage as he was without his weapon or magic to support and aid him.

At the moment though he felt the sharp sting which came from the tip of the blade blade piercing through the fabric of his coat and shirt, embedding itself in his side. Benitoite staggered backwards, dislodging the weapon and adding distance between the two of them. Blood stained his shirt a dark red as he applied pressure as best as he could; the pain however is what brought him down to one knee as his own body moved to compensate for the injury. He knew he was in a vulnerable position, and it wasn’t something he liked one bit, as he stared up at his own creation. This was his monster, in a sense, a second one but one that didn’t look or seem it. This one was at least still human...and someone could help her...but that was for later - once this was over.

When her weapon swept towards him again Benitoite moved to avoid it, using his position in his favor, he dodged backwards earning him a cut across his thigh rather than a severed limb. However, she had been the one to have brought him here, this was her terrain, not a place he was familiar with which is why he was unaware of the object behind him which caused him to fall right onto his back. For once he was fortuitous in the sense that her next lunge went over his now laying down position. “Hatsya!” The order, the command, in his voice was useless he knew it. He knew how little she cared right now...and he knew how much she wanted him dead.

With his balance thrown off and blood now running down his leg, into his boot, he could feel a bit of lightheadedness creeping in. He needed to finish this, to stop her, and quickly. He wasn’t in a position to drag this out as he tended to do in fights, it was perhaps a bad habit of his, here he couldn’t afford time to her or this fight.

“Why couldn’t you have just stayed away?” Blood coated the edge of her weapon, a gift that was never meant to actually be used. Never in her life could she have imagined things could have ever gotten this far, that she would give in to the desire to just end it all.

Using the back of her cloth bracer Hatsya wiped away the sweat from her brow and the unshed tears that burned her eyes, clouding her vision. “I had finally got my life back.” She watched as he struggled to rise and in that moment contemplated running him through once more but something stilled her had.

Fear.

Not her own, not entirely anyway, but the fear in his eyes when he locked gazes with her is what caused her to pause. She had already resigned herself to the sin she was about to commit but as the sunset met with the darkening night sky Hatsya felt unsure in her conviction. “For the first time in years I was finally happy. But then you showed up in my life again to drag me back to the place that has done nothing but plagued my dreams to a war that takes everything and give nothing back in return.” There was no support in the aftermath of that battle. Not even her parents could help with the medical bills.

Again, Hatsya’s grip on the hilt tight end. “Enough is enough!” Like before she closed the distance between them, refusing to look him in the eye the Senshi of Swordplay lunged to make the final strike.

He had seen the pause, had hoped that somehow he had reached her, but it was proven to be fruitless as she spoke and he was sure her anger was, again, mounting. She really did hate him...he had hurt her more than he’d thought he had. She hadn’t known, or seen, why he’d kept his own distance from her.

“I did what I thought was right. You needed to learn and I did not think it so dangerous - not when others would be there.” The youma were dangerous but he had not thought they would encounter what they had. He knew other corrupted senshi would be around and, perhaps, foolishly, he’d thought he should bring her around her own.

As the blade again came towards him, perhaps intent upon ending his life, he moved enough, again, to evade a killing blow. It didn’t mean that when he grasped the blade he hadn’t been struck by it. He was too slow, pain and lightheadedness slowing him. His hands stung something fierce while he felt a trail of fire down his side from where he’d no doubt been sliced again. “Enough of this…” His words were harsh but a whisper, he needn’t raise his voice to get the point across. His hold on the blade while painful, the insides of his hands ached and stung as it cut through his glove, he applied pressure to the blade intent on ending this. He would take her weapon away so he could save them both from this madness.

“Enough.”

The force applied to her blade was immense, every bit he could apply, even though he felt the blade bite into his gloved hands. He felt, more than heard, the blade give way as he sought an end to this. Whether the blade broke, shattered, or bent he didn’t care. Either way it would be ruined when he withdrew his hands.

Unlike the weapons bestowed upon agents as they rose in rank, her rapier would not regenerate. There was no dismissing it and resummoning it as they did. No, her Grandfather's gift was broken, as was she. At this point there was no going back , no begging for forgiveness for she felt no remorse for her actions.

One of them would die tonight, and at this point Hatsya didn’t care which of them went first so long as it ended here and now. Letting go of the hilt, the bloodied rapier clamored to the ground. Hatsya took a step back and held her hand out in front of her. “Sword of Silence-” She called her attack out once more, grabbing the ethereal hilt she wasted no time in a fancy salute.

Unlike before, this time Benitoite was prepared. She was desperate and he saw it coming, how could he not? This time, knowing he needed to avoid her magic at all costs, he focused himself to the best of his ability and teleported. It wasn’t easy, not in his state, but he’d done it before and he did it again now.

Benitoite had no intention to flee, no, if he left this would just conclude at another time. He couldn’t let this continue - it needed to stop and it needed to be now.

When he re-appeared he was, thankfully, on his feet and one of his bloodied hands shot out and grabbed ahold of Hatsya’ wrist to relinquish her hold on the ethereal blade before she had a chance to cut him with it again. Turning, he slammed into the others chest as he pressed her to the nearby wall. Still weak, undeniably so, he leaned in close perhaps for support or perhaps for what he said next. “I’m sorry - for all of this.” His words a whisper, strained perhaps a bit, before his free hand did as it had done to her years ago. This time no one hand moved with his, as their now Queen’s hand had done back then.

Benitoite’s apologies fell upon deaf ears, not that she didn’t hear him but rather Hatsya refused to acknowledge what he had said.

He went, like he had then, for her starseed but this time there was no energy pumped into it. He took hold of it just as he rested his chin on the other. “I’m sorry. So sorry.” He had failed and he knew it. But it would be ok after this - he’d see to it. But he needed to help them both right now, especially himself, that was why he pulled her starseed.

With the wind knocked out of her from the forceful impact with the wall, there was nothing left in Hatsya’s lungs to even let out a whimper let alone scream when Benitoite took hold of her starseed. Instead her head fell forward and body became lax; the only thing keeping her upright was the General’s strength and even that was quicky waning.

The acute pain she felt exactly as she remembered. However, this time it did not last as long as Benitoite held her starseed in his bloodied hand. This is it… Darkness feathered the edge of her vision as she waited for him to finally end it. To crush her starseed for her treacherous insubordinate act to finally be done with her and allow her the freedom she so desperately sought.

“I hate you…” She whispered. Knowing the General well enough that he would not show her that kind of kindness.

Hatsya closed her eyes causing tears to slide down her cheeks and onto his uniform. She had went into this knowing that Benitoite wouldn’t have the heart to actually kill her nor would he let her leave if she had simply asked. It was why she tried so desperately to force his hand in case she failed to take his life so there would at least be some finale.

Within seconds the darkness that had creeped upon her had at last swept over her senses completely Funny, they always say that a person life tends to flash before their eyes before they die. For Hatsya, there was nothing, no happy memories or people she regretted not making amends with. Just darkness that rivaled the rift that terrified her so.

As she had rightfully assumed, Benitoite wasn’t going to kill her. No, she wasn’t something to be killed off and disposed, swept under the rug sort to speak, she was someone he’d brought into this mess and he had made her into this. Hatsya was his responsibility and he’d handle it, somehow, but right now he had to get them someplace safe, somewhere that she couldn’t try and kill him again.

He also needed to bind her up but he really wasn’t able to do so himself at the moment, he rather lacked the energy and his hands were hurting to just move. The simple act of flexing his fingers hurt like hell and holding her as he was, gripping her starseed, it all hurt.

When he was sure she had slipped into an unconscious state, Benitoite finally put her starseed back inside her chest and withdrew his hand. As he took hold of her motionless body he fell backward due to the dead weight and his own injuries landing on his tailbone sending a small spike of pain up his back.

Benitoite could have teleported them to his office, it was a safe place, but instead he brought them to the prison cells in the palace. Dragging himself, almost literally, and Hatsya he dumped her unconscious body into the cell rather ungracefully. It wasn’t that he meant to drop her but rather holding her up was rather difficult at this point. Had he no care for her he’d have left her there, alone, where youma could come across her and devour her. Instead he stayed and had a passing youma go find him Zinkenite if he was around - and he hoped he was.

This was another mistake, another strike against him as far as he was concerned, and he couldn’t let this get out. Zinkenite he hoped would keep this silent and between them. He needed the others help though. Sliding down to the ground he sat there as he fiddled with his pockets looking for spare energy orbs he tended to keep on his person.