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 Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:46 pm
Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty.
Faustite exhaled a smoke breath that fell in slow spirals toward the floor. He pinched the bridge of his nose for all the thoughts that raced through him, thoughts about how he should delivery this story, what it was for, why it would matter when Lysithea would have lost it all, according to Nembus. Would she believe him? What if the story that Fafnir helped him cook up wasn't sound enough?
He had to trust that he had a good mix of fabricated evidence and emotional rapport. Perhaps not latent in her memory of him, but in his memory of her. She was always so glad to see him, after all.
Faustite knocked twice, then pushed through the metal door. He paused at the threshold, took in the room. Bare space with little more than a bench and a couple of chairs. A holding place for interrogations and inductions alike. And Lysithea -- he felt that familiar twist of nerves in his burning core. Tightened his jaw. Pushed himself forward.
In a couple paces, he'd crossed the room, took up her hands, gave them a squeeze. It was easy to do with the cincher on, smothering his heat to a fever pitch. "Never thought I'd see you again."
At least, he thought, the tightness in his throat should help sell it.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:47 pm
The past few days had been a blur. A strange blur that Lysithea didn’t quite understand. She had been treated, and her wounds were well on their way to healing, Thankfully there hadn’t been bad ones, they said. She was mostly there for observation, they said.
She had no idea who they were but thanked them with a smile each time that she was checked on. When she tried to remember what she had been doing when she got hurt, all she was ever met with was a blank wall and a small pain in her head, which honestly made her wonder if perhaps she had a head wound and that was why she was there for observation. That would make sense, since nothing else really seemed to.
When they had brought her to this room though, she started to wonder. This wasn’t...something comfortable. It wasn’t someplace that looked like a person with head trauma should be left in, but that was what happened, and when the door opened and a few moments later her hands were held in two very warm ones, she blinked and broke into a smile again. He…felt familiar, and when she stared at him, trying to conjure up a name, she was pleased to find that one did come to mind.
“Hello Faustite!” Now, she knew nothing about him...and hoped that the name was the right one but. It was something. The first something she had found since she had awoken.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:48 pm
To hear her call his name was both relieving and nauseating. She remembered him, but how much did she remember? Would it be enough to untell this tale? Fafnir explained that the lie would become more comfortable the longer he kept up with it, the more he believed it for himself, but Faustite reminded himself that only one discrepancy would cast doubt.
And she remembered him. So what else did she remember? And how much of that would the Negaverse demand that he extract from her?
Setting those worries aside, he reminded himself to focus on her. Let himself breathe a relieving sigh, let the smoke ravel out from the corners of his mouth. "You remember me. Was worried; it's been so long." Shifted his glance down at her hands. He'd never spent much time on them before, never reached for them before. He remembered them from when he was a Captain, before it was dangerous for him to touch anyone, and they were more delicate than his own. Still were, the way they fit into his piano fingers. Under his claws.
Like her, he reminded himself.
"How much do you remember?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:49 pm
“How much do I remember?” Lysithea’s smile didn’t drop, but she looked thoughtful, lightly swinging their hands as she pondered the question. “Well…I mean. I think I must have a head wound or something. I’m not quite sure that I remember anything! But I saw you and ‘Faustite’ came to mind…was I right? Is that your name?”
Hope practically oozed from her voice and she watched the half youma with an eager expectation.
“What happened to me…and am I in trouble? This room kind of has the feeling that I’m in trouble…please tell me that isn’t the case?” Lysithea’s grin grew a little brittle at the question, and her eyes darted around the room for a moment before landing back on Faustite’s face. “…We are friends, right? I mean…”
Goodness, it felt like she was bouncing from topic to topic…and she was, but there were so many things she wanted to know now that she had someone who obviously knew her and who was willing to talk to actually hold a conversation.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:50 pm
Faustite nodded, knowing that this was the barest truth he would be telling her. Crestfallen for that, but he knew the necessity behind what he was doing. Ashanite impressed upon him — one had to care for the Negaverse senshi forcibly turned to their side. One had to be sure they knew no reason to turn back to the White Moon.
And he cared about Lysithea in a way he didn't like to verbalize, though framing it this way left him worried. Left him thinking of Cybele again.
"Not in trouble, this —" Faustite winced, then sighed as he let her swing their arms around. "Is the only room I could book for talking with you privately. Normally it's an interrogation chamber. Could've taken you to my office, but I didn't want this to be about rank.
"What happened to you — you'd been taken long ago. Years ago, now. Taken from here, taken to the other side, taken from me. You're part of a war that's dredged on for centuries. Idealistic bullshit worth wasting lives. Tears apart families like it tore ours apart. You were stolen away by a boy who was once a youma, a monster. That was years ago, and only a few days ago could we rescue you. All the other times," he paused, huffed at himself, clicked his tongue. Shook his head. "Doesn't matter.
"Took the Sovereigns to pry them off of you. Restore your starseed to the way it was. Now they'll hunt for you, for the power you hold, but I won't let them take you twice."
He drew a breath, then added, "we're not just friends — you're my sister."
Faustite drew on dark energy, wrapped himself in a magical skin that reduced him from the Negaverse's torch to the nondescript boy who called himself Eion, with black eyes and black hair to match Lysithea's.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:51 pm
Lysithea listened to his words, the smile finally faltering and turning into a slight frown. When Faustite changed into a normal looking boy and said that she was his sister, she swallowed hard. “Oh!”
It...felt right. The idea that this was her brother. He looked like it, didn’t he? At least, a little bit.
It was strange, how one simple realization could make her feel so much less alone in the world and her eyes began to burn with sudden hot tears. “...Oh. I’m...how could I ever have forgotten that? I’m so sorry, Faustite!” And her arms went around him then, hugging him fiercely.
Obviously she was the older sister, and obviously he had worked so hard to bring her back home...now that she was back well. “It’s going to be okay. I’m so glad that they helped me…”
Though she didn’t have much of an idea of what he was talking about...Sovereigns...starseeds...they were just words which held no meaning...but sister.
She clung to that, just as she clung to him. “I’m so sorry I ever left you!”
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:52 pm
"Wasn't your fault." Eion muttered into her hair as he returned the hug. Wrapped thin arms around her and pressed his wrists against her back, his hands balled into fists and biting lunar shapes into his palms. "You couldn't remember me then." And she remembered only enough to call him Faustite, for now.
"They said the memory damage is permanent. Everything's gone." And he hoped, for the sake of the story, for their sake, the evaluators were right.
"Call me Eion when I'm like this." Enough working memory of the war must have stayed to prevent her blanching at his appearance, however fiery and merciless. He hoped that meant the intricacies of the war, of senshi combat, of home worlds and instantaneous travel and quiet combat and protected identities would not need reexplaining, but they had a handbook in the instance that it was. Given Ashanite's advice, he would need to read it with her. Read it to her, if it came to that.
The nerves hadn't abated. He doubted they would.
Released her from the hug long enough to hold her shoulders, to look her in the eyes. Searched the coal black he saw looking back at them -- she was and wasn't the same, and assigning words to that seemed insignificant -- and brushed some stray unruly hair back over her shoulder. "Brought some of your old things." He released a shoulder long enough to hold his hand out for subspace --
Right, subspace didn't answer Eion. His mouth flattened into a line.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:53 pm
He looked so unhappy, and the fact made Lysithea’s chest absolutely ache. “Eion...yeah, I can do that…and, don’t worry about the memories...If the memory loss is permanent, that just means we get to make new memories together, Eion!” She could do that too, couldn’t she? Go and make herself look different.
After a moment she let go of her power and stood there with him, a nameless girl with no past, but an unlimited future. “What about me? What was my name before this? I’m sure...it wasn’t just Lysithea?” Though it might have been. That name provided the same warmth in her chest that Faustite’s did. It just felt right...and she knew it for hers.
At the mention of some of her old things, the girl’s eyes brightened. “What do you bring me? Presents?” She loved presents. And surprises...honestly…
She wasn’t sure if there was anything that she didn’t love.
After a moment, the nameless girl wrinkled her nose. “I am the older sister, right? I feel like I must have been.” She wanted to spoil this boy in front of her. Spoil him and keep him safe.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:53 pm
Her positivity was tragic; it hurt in a manner he didn't expect. Felt blindsided by it, desperate for it if he could store it under a bell jar, return to it in all the terrible tribulations waiting for him. Eyes glassy and bright, he assented. "Yeah."
Had to turn away from her for a moment, and so started to pace slowly. He rubbed his eyes. "Your name was Ana Risk, before they got ahold of you." Fafnir was careful to emphasize nicknames over full names; it was more believable that they kicked the formality of full names when they were with each other. It felt right, for how much he didn't want to reflect on his own experiences.
"Lysithea's your senshi name." About faced toward her, clapped his hands together to try to prevent himself from gesticulating so much. "We'll get to that later.
"And the presents --" Eion paused, smiled sardonically at himself. "Sorry, I'm not --" Sighed, rolled eyes toward the dreary, crystalline ceiling. Back it up, Faustite. "You don't remember, but I was turned part youma -- part monster -- years ago. Can look normal, but only for a few hours. So much I can't do like this, like get your things." Didn't want to press and see if she'd remember these things; the nurses already warned that she might suffer headaches for days to come, especially if she strained to recall anything.
Snorted at her comment. It was terribly innocent. "You are.
Now hold on." And that skin raveled away, burnt to ash that then disintegrated, and he was Faustite again. Opened his hand supine to the air, expectant, and into existence popped a manila folder with paperwork written governmentally concise, which he trusted to the table before he started burning holes in it. Then came a well-loved unicorn plushie that had come with him after draining a household, and he'd washed it at Yuuri's before stuffing it away for a prop. The same could be said for the lavender knit sweater that followed it. He left both on the table for her.
Gaze shifted down to the floor. "Might've burnt them a little. Sorry."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:54 pm
Ana...Ana...that...didn’t sound quite right, but if Eion said that had been her name, well...obviously she believed him. “Ana like...just Anna? Or Ana like short for Anette? Uh...Anastasia? Oh...Eion, I hope it was Anastasia! That sounds so…regal. Obviously.”
She was grinning, but again it faded. He was so unhappy again...was it so bad to have her home? Was she so different than she had been that it caused him to be like this? Obviously...he had been waiting so long for her but…
The grin faded as she watched him pace, as he spoke of becoming a half youma. Half a monster. And then again he let the visage of her brother fade, and once again the flaming entity that was Faustite stood in his place. He seemed more comfortable like this...and that was fine. She would love him no matter what he looked like...as a good sister should.
Ana’s smile came back after the presents began to be pulled out of thin air, though the first looked boring, a folder with papers...nothing exciting, but the plus and the sweater made the girl exclaim in joy. She drew the plush into her arm and put the sweater on without complaint. Obviously they were hers, Faustite had saved them, kept them tucked away for the time she could come home. “You didn’t burn anything, Faustite. You’re perfect and I love you. Thank you for keeping these safe...I don’t...remember them but I love them all the same!”
Reaching down she opened up the folder, humming as she began to flip through the papers. “...Were our parents upset? Did they think I was dead? What will we do...I mean…” She looked back up at him, worry and trepidation in her eyes now. “...What do you do if you can only be Eion for a few hours…? They must be worried about you too…is there a way to not have you be a youma?” Their parents deserved to have both of their children home and whole...didn’t they?
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:54 pm
"Anastasia," Faustite quickly agreed. "Probably why it appeals to you."
Managed a lukewarm smile when she said he was perfect, though he felt far from it. Wondered, then, if she took this easily to everyone. She had to have, right? Who would accept a youmafied officer so readily if one didn't accept everyone in similar fashion? Which meant, who knew how many people were on the other side with deep connections to her? Which meant, how long did they have before this saccharine lie spun out and dissolved like so much cotton candy? He didn't want to think about that.
He didn't want to think about his parents, either. Their parents. Swallowed something thick and rotten, opened his mouth to speak, but his brows furrowed and something uncanny surged in him. What could he say about their parents? What was he able to say?
There was no further need of Faustite's appearance, not when trying to emotionally connect with another human. So he traded that guise for Eion's once again, frowned a little. Ran fingers over his forearm before he took her up into a hug again. This time, he chose it for himself.
"They —" Eion swallowed, but there was no stifling it. "They're dead." Soft sob for that, finally hearing it aloud. For all the thoughts and dreams of his brother, his dad, how he was starting to lose clarity for their faces. For how he thought about reaching out to the girl who would've been his sister-in-law, but couldn't steel himself to do it.
Curled his fingers against her back as he pressed his face to her shoulder. "White Moon did it."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:55 pm
Ana swallowed, pulling him close when he initiated the hug. Their parents were dead...dead by the hands of the White Moon...and that was who had taken her too? If she was understanding right. “Oh Eion…” She pressed a kiss to the top of his head and held him as close as she could, hand rubbing up and down his back.
It felt familiar. Comforting someone like this...comforting her brother like this...She hated that he was crying. Hated that he was so utterly upset but…
“I’m here, E. I’m here and I’m not going to go away again, okay? I love you...I…” Ana drew in a quick breath and had to swallow a few times. “...I….wasn’t involved with it...was I…?” It was the only question she would allow herself to ask about their parents...at least for now. Obviously the whole thing still tore her brother up more than he wanted to admit...but…
God, if she had assisted in their deaths…
But...no. That just couldn’t be possible. He wouldn’t be so forgiving if she had been. She was a victim just as they were. “...We’re together again...and we will be forever. I promise. I’m here. I’ll always be here…”
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:55 pm
He only allowed himself to answer when he was sure he could keep himself composed. Hated the feeling of crying, hated the headache that followed, hated how puffy his face felt afterward. Held onto his bitter jealousy that the word love was so easy for her to say, when she didn't know the truth, when she bought what he told her so quickly and at such a terrible price.
This was why, he supposed, he would never make it in Infiltration.
"No," he answered at last. He'd ask Fafnir how to work with that later. For now, he was tired, and had little patience for more tricks. Information about the Risks would have to be fabricated, and blame assigned to White Moon sources. Who, he couldn't say, though he could probably blame some legendary figures. Castor came to mind. Ganymede came to mind.
He finally let go, rubbed his eyes. "Should get you out of here. Got some contacts to arrange a place for you to stay." Sniffled, snorted back some of the tears that tried to escape through his nose. "Some money, too. To get you started." Eion felt through the pockets of his jacket before he found the debit card -- sleek black metal thing, belonging to one of the bank branches that shared affiliation with the Negaverse. ANASTASIA RISK was printed on it in silver, and above it was the embossed 16-digit number. "Here." Tucked between two fingers, he offered it to her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:56 pm
No.
Something that had been coiled tightly in mounting horror relaxed inside of Ana and she swallowed hard. “Thank goodness…” At least that meant that she wasn’t a monster. That she hadn’t…
When Eion let go, Ana made a small noise of protest, but took a half step backwards...obviously this must be a lot for him to deal with...but.
With one hand, she took the offered card, slipping it into her own pocket without comment, though the other she placed against his cheek, looking at her brother with some worry. “...You know...You don’t have to act so strong all the time, Eion. I know you are, I can see that, but...You can let go when you’re with me...I…”
She didn’t remember being his sister, but she desperately wanted to. Wanted to be able to provide him all of the comfort that he deserved.
“I’m your big sister. And if you need to cry, I’ll never judge you. Emotions are healthy.” Weren’t they?
It sounded right at the very least.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 3:09 pm
"Yeah," he muttered, looking down. "Need to get used to that again." Hard to let his guard down around anyone since Schörl had gotten to him, but he hadn't given that story to Fafnir, so he hadn't any idea how to work that into their fiction. Didn't know if he wanted Lysithea knowing her name. Didn't know what would happen to the whole tenuous tale if Schörl walked in those doors and grinned down at him like an insect.
Almost felt worse for that than for the dull ache for his family. He always tried to push it from his mind, remind himself that he had more tasks that demanded attention, more people to lead, more bottom-feeders to report on quietly.
"Used to putting them away. Had to do it for years." Supposed he shouldn't, anymore. Rubbed the long bone of his clavicle to its acromion process with his opposite hand, mapped the smooth deltoid muscle that came down by the bony protrusion. Felt like a lie that he had a shoulder again; the perfect, obedient replica of his arm might vanish again in another hour, or day, or month. He couldn't guess the timeline for his life; that had to be reason enough to stop holding onto all these 'should's and 'better's that everyone else fed him before.
"Try to get back to feeling again." It was the least he could do, since she asked it of him.
Shut his eyes and sighed for it, rubbed the tears from his face. A couple strays found their way down, but it wasn't so difficult to reel himself back. "Do you… want to know anything else? Ah —" Pointed at nothing, then curled his hand into a fist as his hands wound his frustrations with himself into gesticulations.
"Should get you something to eat."
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