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 Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:02 pm
Ilse had not been able to bring herself to go back to that nice little house, the night after they lured Faustite away. She should have, perhaps, but it had been easier to sleep on her planet, even with it being sad, and dead--it was quiet, and beautiful in its own way, and she hadn't come back until she realized she was actually quite hungry.
By the time she arrive don Earth, it was late evening, and she swung by a fast food place that was still open to grab a bite to eat. At least she still had a wallet full of cash--one of many precautions she'd taken as part of preparing to leave the Negaverse. So she could get herself a cheap hamburger to take the edge off, before she got home to see about some of Evan's cooking.
She was almost there when she stopped, because the person she saw in front of her--radiant, in white--was familiar, but different.
"L-Lysithea?" Her voice trembled. There were no wings on her hips, not like she'd had before she was taken--but the fuku looked similar, and she was...she was in white.
"Lysi, is that you? Really you?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:42 pm
Lysithea paused at the sound of her name and blinked, looking at the senshi in front of her for a long moment, and finally, a small smile crossed her face. “Um…yeah. It’s me. You…assuming you’re Ilse, wow, you look really different! I love it!” She was beautiful. It was no wonder the note had said that they were dating…but.
“I thought…you were staying um…at the…house? I looked for you this morning but you weren’t there. I just got in last night. Are you doing okay? You got out okay? You…they’ve been taking care of you, yeah? You…um.”
It was such a disconnect. Trying to talk to the other senshi under the lens of them being a couple, when she didn’t…remember anything.
She still cared for her, of course but…
“I got out too…obviously…I’m glad you’re safe.” This felt so…awkward and honestly, she wished that her past self had never written that information in her letter. Maybe it would have been easier to greet Ilse with more enthusiasm but…
“Did we…I mean. What do you remember about um. About us?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:52 pm
Ilse nodded, and she paused. Oh, this felt...strange. Bad, a little bit. They seemed to be off to a terribly awkard start, no matter how happy she was to see Lysithea again.
"Um, yes! I am! Ilse, that is. So you....remember me? This version of me--or, the powered version?" That was good! That meant that at least they had matched sets of memories. Possibly. Maybe.
Ilse had no idea what Lysithea had taken from their interactions, and there were certainly things that she knew that Lysithea didn't.
"I'm glad you're safe too," she said, and she took a few shy, nervous steps froward. "I, um. I was supposed ot help you get out, but it looks like you did on your own--I'm really happy for you."
Oh, no. That meant--Michel, and Faustite--she would have to find a way to reach him somehow, to tell him that it was okay, Lysithea was home, he could let Faustite go.
Her final question, though, made Ilse's heart jump into her throat.
"I remember that we were...friends, and that you were very important to me. I, um. I care for you, very deeply." It wasn't the big L word, but it was close. It was all Ilse could manage, right then.
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2022 4:03 pm
“But…I mean, yes. I know you as Ilse…I don’t…remember spending much…time with you, but…I guess that I…did? I wrote myself a letter and you were mentioned so…I had been hoping that you would know more than I did. I suppose not though…”
That was fine. This was fine! Lysithea had muddled through with no memories at all when she was dragged from this life to begin with…so now…she would muddle through again.
“Friends, just friends? Do you remember if there was..ah. Anything else other than that? My um. Letter to me said that we were dating, but I can’t…figure out why unless I missed a lot of things that we did. The only thing I remember about you is when you came to talk to me right after…after I got brought in. You had said that my br–ah. Faustite had allowed you to see me. And…we hugged! And you had told me we had been close…”
She trailed off and sighed. “I wonder if that’s what I met…but…there had to have been more that happened that…just…doesn’t exist anymore? Unless you know more than I do?”
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 4:53 pm
Ilse's heart jumped into her throat. Lysithea had written herself a letter--and there were things in it that, it seemed, Ilse herself had forgotten. Why hadn't she done that? She couldn't remember much leading up to her purification, but she did remember feeling scared, and rushed--so maybe that was why...?
But what LYsithea said--that her letter had mentioned them dating--
"I..." Ilse swallowed. "I was. I am. In love with you, but I don't...." Oh, this was stupid, this was dangerous, this was--this was probably the best thing. If they'd been together before, but Lysithea didn't feel the same way anymore....then maybe it was for the best that those memories were gone? Ilse wasn't sure she would be able to handle remembering having her feelings reciprocate,d only for Lysithea's to have changed.
"I don't remember us being together. I know how I feel, and I know I would have wanted that--I still do, actually--but that's my problem, not yours, and if you just want to be friends, that's okay! I know I remember some things you probably don't anyway, from...from before you were corrupted by the Negaverse. You helped me. Saved my life, actually." She wrung her hands together, nervously. "If you left that note for yourself, maybe...maybe there are things we both forgot, when we purified? And we have to figure it out all over again."
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 5:00 pm
Lysithea stared for a minute and felt her cheeks heating up slightly. “Oh, well if you don’t remember it either…there's no pressure for anything…” She swallowed and gave a small smile, fidgeting with her pigtail for a moment, unable to meet Ilse’s eyes, and finally looked at her, just a little startled. “...You’re in love with me? How…What did I do? I saved your life?”
She looked confused, but a little interested. “...I seem to be told that quite often, honestly. I hope I live up to everyone’s memories of the old, old me…”
It would be nice…figuring things out. Ilse was nice. Sweet, and very pretty, that was for sure…but.
“I’d like to figure things out, if you’d be up for it…? Maybe try being friends and see what happens…?”
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:32 pm
"You helped me," Ilse said, and she smiled, soft and warm and fond. "You tried to help me get out of the Negaverse, at great risdk to yourself--and it didn't work the first time, but I never would have had the courage to leave for real if it weren't for you."
And if they had to start over, then that was fine. This time, they could do it without lies between them, without Ilse pretending to be something to Lysithea that she had never been, without leveraging a lack of memories to her advantage.
And if Lysithea decided that Ilse wasn't what she wanted? That would just have to be okay. Happily ever afters were much harder in real life than in books, after all.
"I'd like that very much," Ilse said. "We can take it as slowly as we want to."
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 8:13 pm
Lysithea nodded and gave another smile, reaching out and taking Ilse’s hand in her own, squeezing it gently. “...Okay then. That…sounds really good, actually…um. I’ll help you again, if you ever need it.I’ll do my best to always help you…I know…”
She swallowed, smile fading slightly, though she squeezed Ilse’s hand a little tighter. “...I know that Faustite is going to be an issue when he finds out that I’ve left…and that you’ve left. I…I hope it’s not the case, but…I’m going to be prepared for the worst…he…was very upset when we spoke last…”
…But then he had a meeting. And he left…so…perhaps he wasn’t so upset.
“...I’m still hoping he’ll come be with us too. I won’t stop fighting for him…even if he’s not my brother.”
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 8:25 pm
Oh. Oh, this was....this was the bad part. Ilse winced, when Lysithea brought up Faustite, not a little guiltily.
"He, um. He is. Very angry," she said, and she wring her hands together again. "I went back to the address on my driver's license," she lied, because she didn't want to admit to setting a trap for someone Lysithea cared about, "and I found him there, and he tried to. To turn me into a youma."
The violation of Faustite's hand in her chest, wrapped around her starseed, forcing Chaos into it--it was still fresh. It brought back waves of pain, of fear, of distress.
"A Knight friend of mine, Michel--he saved me. But I um. I think it is very true. That Faustite will be a hard person to help. Not that I don't think it's worth it! It is!" She said, quickly. "Sometimes the people who want help the least need it the most! But I do, um. I do think that maybe you sohuld be careful, if you run into him again, because he might try to hurt you."
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 8:33 pm
She blinked, squeezing Ilse’s hand once again. “Oh my god…are you okay? Why…what?” There was disappointment in her voice. Disappointment in her brother. The fact that he had going right to violence. Right to rage and revenge.
“...I thought he would have known me better than that…he. He knows I don’t condone violence. Knows I don’t understand when he lets his temper…” Lysithea drew in a breath, her free hand closing into a fist. “Damnit. I don’t.” She didn’t want to think he’d hurt her…but. She honestly didn’t know…and that fact alone hurt.
“...I didn’t power up since I last talked to him…but I never told him that I was leaving. Obviously he knew it was a possibility but…why would he want to push me away by hurting you? What a stupid move…”
Lysithea rubbed the bridge of her nose and hesitated. “...Was Faustite okay? He wasn’t hurt…was he? I mean, if you know…”
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 8:54 pm
Ilse nodded. "I'm okay. It's why I wasn't home last night---I went up to my planet to rest and recover," she said. "It was....nice there. Quiet."
She wanted to return, as soon as she could. Gardening wasn't her forte, but she would learn to do it, if it meant restoring that rose garden to what it had been. If it meant making her planet somewhere she could share with the people she loved.
"I don't know if he was thinking," Ilse admitted. "I think he was just...angry. He accused me of being the reason you were leaving. So I guess he wanted to make someone else hurt like he was hurting." That made sense, she thought.
"I don't know a lot of what happened," she admitted. "When Michel pulled him off me, my starseed..." She gestured with her free hand, from her chest forward. "But I think Michel had to hurt him to make him back down. I--I'm sorry."
She would have to contact him as soon as she could. Tell him Lysithea was home, and he could let Faustite go.
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:07 am
“Well…as long as you both got away safely. That’s all that matters to me…he…I still love him, obviously. I can’t turn my feelings off…no matter if I might want to…” Lysithea looked rather heartbroken and sighed. “...I hope I get to see him again soon. I want to apologize…I want him to know that I still love him…I want him to know that…he’s still important to me…”
She didn’t know who this ‘Michel’ was, but damn if he hurt her…Faustite. She would break his nose.
“Thank you for letting me know, Ilse…I know that you know how much I still care about him…he told me that he didn’t want me to feel lonely…and he…he did do a really good job with that…but.” Lysithea shrugged. “I don’t know…I miss him. I want to protect him…always.”
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:22 pm
Ilse wanted to squirm. She felt guilt rising in her chest, for her part in helping Michel do something that, if she were honest, she knew completely would involve hurting Faustite. Michel was jsut so full of anger, and pain, and--
And Ilse felt like she owed him, but all she'd done was set someone Lysithea cared about up to be hurt.
What was wrong with her? How could she pretend that she loved Lysi, when all she ever did was get her hurt?
"Hearts don't work like that," she agreed, quietly. It wasn't possible to just...stop caring about someone. "I...that's sweet," she said. "He never told me why he was lying. I wish I'd known, that....really is a very kind motivation."
She had been so stupid. Assumed he was selfish and cruel, because she was scared of the Negaverse and what it represented.
"I, um. We should go home, I think?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:29 pm
“He…he’s just. He doesn’t have anyone…He’s so lonely. And keeps pulling away from people. He pulled away from me too…and that really hurt our relationship…” Lysithea swallowed and her shoulders slumped slightly. “It is kind motivation…it…he…” She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm herself as best she could, though…it was proving to be much more difficult than she would have thought.
“Oh…um. Yeah.” Home. It didn’t feel like a home, but it was all that she had and Lysithea sighed, running a hand over her always tearing eyes and nodded. “...Home. Sounds…good.”
Or at least. It sounded like something to do.
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