Topic: End of the Line

Fiona ONeill

Date: 2015-12-31 02:29 EST
The Nexial energies warped and twisted to the point that even Bristle Crios's wards were no match for her arrival. The long red dressed Queen of destruction snapped into reality before Eternal House, her eyes narrowed, though her smile slight as memories poured into her mind of times long since past; happy moments of her life that she recalled under the name Rosa, to which....well. They lied about. Most of them, anyway. A hand lifted to push aside hair from her crimson, azure flecked gaze, before she disappeared again. This time, however, she appeared before the door to Eternal House and beyond it she could smell her target. She lifted a hand, and knocked gently.

Fiona was moving around Eternal House in her usual white long cotton gown. Turning to head towards her office, she instead heard a knock at the door. She though it was somewhat unusual. The residents of the coven were welcome to come and go to any of the houses as they pleased, and they usually did. Not knowing what to expect, she went to the door and slowly opened it.

As the door opened, she took a step back. She tried her best to look calm, but instead, she looked aside with a smile. The last time they spoke alone was when they were before Eternal House. The last time they had interacted was when she was nothing more than a lost child in the grand scheme of The Betrayer's legacy....now she owned it all; followed her path right into damnation and she left Bristle Crios behind....for what? "Hello, Fiona."

"Renna?" Fiona gasped softly, staring at the woman a moment, not believing that she could possibly be here. Here. Here was the perfect place for her to be. On both sides of the door were still the same roses she planted in the large clay pots she bought what seemed like too long ago. Fiona had tried to maintain them as best she could, but she knew her skilled paled in comparison to a master's.

Feeling silly after she spoke only her name, Fiona added softly, "Renna, please, come in." She took a step into the door, holding it open for her. Fiona didn't mind if she only wanted to stand in the entryway, or if she would walk with her to the nearby sitting room to chat, but she hoped she would come inside. To her, Renna belonged inside, belonged there, and would always be welcomed there. Her smile probably revealed that sentiment.

She smiled gently to Fiona. "Thank you."

Fiona ONeill

Date: 2015-12-31 02:33 EST
One entered as per indicated, though paused to look around once inside. Her smile left her. "It is nice to see this place again....even if it is filled with memories I want forgotten."

Fiona took note as Renna's smile faded and couldn't help but feel pain in her words. She, too, remembered the pain they shared the last time they had spoken. She wouldn't try to trivialize it. "I think you brave for coming here and facing them." Fiona stepped away from the door and closed it. "Would you like something to drink, or to sit in the sitting room with me for awhile?" She motioned with an open upturned palm to the open doorway near them.

"I don't need water." She announced coldly....before she looked to her with a smile. "Thank you. To be honest....this is the last place I would come. The last place I think of. But, despite the connections of those I know, from Renna's past, you are the only one I care about."

One beamed to her. "Lead on if you wish."

Fiona stared at her wide eyed for a moment. She had overlooked the sudden snap refusing a drink, but Renna's compliment took her aback. It meant more to her than she knew. In a stupor, she walked to the sitting room. She would have been embarrassed if she had realized she didn't even respond to the kind words. At least she had the decency to wait to sit until Renna would come in.

She entered soon after, though barely sat as she absorbed the interior for all its worth. Then, she looked to Fiona. "Your reaction seems stunned."

Fiona sat on one of the red velvet sofas, the room filled with creams, reds, gold, and accented with mahogany wood stains. "Oh," she said, once again startled by Renna's words, "I am sorry. Thank you for the compliment. I was just surprised. Honestly, I did not think I was worthy of such praise." She always regarded Renna so highly, but she did not know Renna held her in such esteem. Taking a moment to realize that Renna spoke of "Renna's past' in the third person, she wondered if she was still calling herself "One" or some other name as she had done in the past. Just in case, Fiona decided not to call her as the name she knew her, for the sole fact that she did not wish to offend someone she considered a friend. "I had been curious as to how you were doing. I had heard things, rumors....probably not rumors..."

"Such as?" One tilted her head, curious.

"I heard some good things, like you were married and that you were with child. I heard things that sounded like times from your past, like you had taken a different name and that you were taking lives. Though, I know word around here seems to go to great efforts to sensationalize events, and honestly, none of which are anyone's business, let alone my own." She hoped Renna understood that she wasn't asking if any of those events were fact or fiction, though she also hoped that if there were events, good or bad, that she wanted to share, Fiona was happy to listen. "I had only hoped that things were going well for you.?

Fiona ONeill

Date: 2015-12-31 02:38 EST
"What you heard is never far from the truth of the matter....but yes. I gave birth recently. Twins. Boys." One smiled.

Fiona's eyes shot wide with enthusiasm, as did her smile. "Oh, I am so overjoyed to her that. Congratulations! Tell me their names." She was too excited to realize her request could have sounded more like a demand, but her tone was far from that.

Her smile left her face. "I would rather not speak about them." She changed the subject swiftly. "The walls have ears and all. Despite the wards in place here would I'd trust nothing at this point."

Fiona nodded. Though the smile faded from her lips, the delighted shine remained in her eyes. "I completely understand," she said softly. It only made her respect Renna that much more, to be willing to protect her children's privacy. She had so many other questions about them, but she didn't want to chance any harm coming to them. She continued the topic change. "You said this is the last place you would come because of your past here. Though I am so happy you did, may I ask why you have come here today?"

"It's irony. It is because of that exact reason I am here..." She paused. "I....have no friends." She smirked sourly. "I have people I call lovers and allies but, friends" I had one friend once. She was close. She was there for me no matter what....I killed her." She looked to the ceiling, her smile widening. "I murdered her in the Red Dragon Inn and the worst part is I loved her like nothing else. She supported me through thick and thin and the worst part is....I feel the same sensation I did for her, for you." Her crimsons looked upon Fiona coldly. "Your personality. The fact you accepted me for what I was....and am. I've done....terrible things." Tears crept into the corners of her eyes. "I've done the right thing and I ended the bloodline of the Betrayer but I started my own."

If Fiona was surprised by the compliment before, it was a good thing she was sitting now. She would have again been shocked to silence, but seeing the tears beginning to form in her eyes, she became less focused on herself, and only wanted to comfort her....friend. Not typically one to touch people so directly, Fiona couldn't help but place a hand gently over one of Renna's as she said, "There is nothing you could have ever done in your past, now, or in the future, that could ever threaten how much I care about you." Beginning to take her hand back slowly, as not to linger or overly invade her space, Fiona continued, "I have always thought you were the bravest person I have ever met. No matter in what situations you find yourself, you continue to overcome. I am so proud of you, not only in hearing that you've ended the Betrayer bloodline, but because you've chosen to start one of your own. That is the most amazing gift one can give - one's love to their child."

Fiona paused, for just a moment, then continued, "I will always respect you, honor you, and care for you, as well as your children.?

Fiona ONeill

Date: 2015-12-31 02:47 EST
"Is it good, Fiona?" She glanced downwards for a moment. "Ending the Betrayer bloodline....it's nothing I would never consider something to be proud of." One's face contorted into an expression of pain. "Ironic. Despite what I did I still feel regret..." She next closed her eyes as she considered her words carefully. "I want to ask something of you and I know it will be imposing of myself, considering how much we....well....despite our feelings for each other in regards to our mutual understanding..." She paused. She couldn't quite make it sound clinical. "You....know what I mean, right' I trust you." She opened her eyes and narrowed her eyes down at her lap. "If something happens to me I want you to support Kruger and my boys. Take care of them in my stead."

Fiona stared at her blankly, not really knowing what she was talking about, until the request came. "Renna, I would be honored to look after your children," she said sincerely. "That is regardless of your status. It would not take something happening to you, for me to lend my aid." Out of her love and respect for Renna, she would oblige. "I would be happy to help and support your family."

She smirked. "Providing of course I kick the bucket. I don't plan on going anywhere, of course."

Fiona smiled. "I should hope not. I do not have many friends myself, and would hate to lose one." Though she was pretty sure her circumstances were different from Renna's, there were only a few that she respected and trusted enough to even want to be close to; Renna was one of those few. "As I said, regardless of something happening to you, I would still love to be involved in your life. I would love to see you more often, if I may, and meet your children one day, whenever you feel as though it is safe to do so." She did not want to push, or invade the protective boundaries Renna had put up for her children.

One nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "I would love that too, but, I fear your involvement with me would only serve to bring....bad luck, I suppose, upon you. This face and this name is still not well respected; mostly hated and feared, despite my attempts to correct that....however, granted, my recent actions have not helped such matters." She glanced aside. "I have been building a facility recently at the Docks. A rather large subterranean complex." She regarded Fiona with a smile. "One of the reasons why I would want you to look after my family if something were to happen to me."

This Dark One

Date: 2016-01-18 12:01 EST
Fiona nodded. "I make that promise to you." She didn't want to ask too much. If she did need to protect her children, she shouldn't know too much. "But I do hope that....if you think I might be able to help you before any harm should come to you, that you will call to me. I would help you in any way that I can, not just after..." She trailed off.

She shook her head. "Fiona....the very nature to which I was born from, creates chaos. I....am self destructive to a fault. I would hate to bring you down with me, even though your suggestion has already made me consider various ways I could....use, you..." She smiled softly. "But I would never want that....I would hate to loose you the same way I lost Lore."

Nodding, Fiona said softly, "I understand." It was hard to want to help her friend, but not be able to at the same time. She knew Renna only wanted to protect her. If the only way she could help her would be to help her family after the fact, she would do so without question.

Several long moments left her gazing at Fiona in quite the odd way. She wasn't sure if she felt numbing sadness or a genuine pain at the other woman's response. She closed her eyes eventually, finding herself lost in the simplicity of just having someone near she....wasn't genuinely afraid to interact with. "I....have so much to say. I don't know how to begin."

As Renna looked at her, Fiona felt embarrassed by her words. She didn't mean to imply she understood everything that she was going through, just that she simply meant she understood, and trusted, Renna was trying to do the best thing in the best way she knew how, and that she respected her decisions in all of it. But she was surprised by her statement. She didn't want to push, but she was happy to hear anything that she wanted to share. "Sometimes it is easier to just begin wherever is most important to you, and fill in the beginning and end as you go."

She smirked a little to herself, her eyes still closed. "Despite the birth of my sons and the relationship I share with Kruger I find myself....is it, not ironic that despite the life I have tried to start I still lead one of that of a monster and a tyrant' Ruling over a kingdom and subjects that I....cruelly, reshaped for my own warped ideals of peace and prosperity' To take away their individuality and to force their very lives to lead that of mere drones for my war-machine?"

This Dark One

Date: 2016-01-18 12:02 EST
One opened her eyes, staring at her knees. "I even reshaped my progeny. They're not who they were. They're....me. All of them. I made them into me or into pieces of my extended will....people I should care about. People I say I care about....I find it funny that despite that I say I love Kruger....and loved others, including my sons....do I actually care" The answer even for This One is simple." She looked to Fiona. "I don't. I care about nothing but the continued purpose....to achieve perfection." Her smile left her lips. "Just as easily as I could use everyone I say I love, I could easily just abandon them....and although that scares me" A part of me does not care....this, thing, that I am....that Renna and Edward Batten created in their mistake....I'm worse than Renna. Far worse."

Fiona just stared for a minute, trying to process, like she was talking to a different type of being completely. But that was probably Renna's....This One's point. Fiona sighed, and said more of a place of self contemplation than one of trying to console a friend, "Sometimes life would be easier if we could easily get up and leave, abandoning the things from a past life like changing our clothes. It would be nice to not live with regret. But you at least know your purpose - seeking perfection. So many others live and die without ever finding theirs."

"I have even an ability to negate my emotions, to easier deal with what I have to do to accomplish any given task, no matter how horrific....it's just as easy as flipping a switch....I can forget to regret. But, that's not normal, is it?" She stood up slowly her once emotional eyes falling suddenly very flat. Very dead. Glassy eyed and hallow. Her voice became void of all inflection. There was nothing but the coldness of a killer that simply felt nothing.

She looked upon Fiona with abyssal eyes, taking slow steps towards her and lifting a hand up to cup the woman's cheek. "The Subject: Fiona, designated friend, can become easily transferred to a differing state while in this mode. Friend can become enemy. The enemy, a target and the target..." Unblinking she stared into Fiona's eyes as she drew her face inches from her own. "Silenced." She remained there staring, her posture neither threatening nor friendly. "This One's purpose is....lonely."

Although she allowed This One to touch her face, she tilted her head away slightly once she began talking of targets. Fiona leaned back against her seat once she was just a few inches from This One's face. Her general look of concern deepened, and became a concern for herself as well. Although still looking uncomfortable, she said in the same unwavering tone, "Yes, it will always be lonely when seeking perfection. No one is perfect. And no one can be made perfect. Life....is flawed. One has to accept other's flaws to accept them." This One may be incapable of that, she thought. "But perfection....is subjective."

One's hand drew away as she took a step back, straightening her posture. In that same movement, her lips released a smile. "Of course." She mused, emotion bleeding through the facade she wore so well. "That's the problem I face. There is only one simple solution to that flaw." She took in a deep breath, glancing away for a second.

This Dark One

Date: 2016-01-18 12:03 EST
"I did not mean to scare you. I was merely giving an example of....I am not sure what of. Me" The other me. The one that destroys." She lowered her head. "I apologize....but talking it seems will only....cause problems." She smiled as sweetly as she could. But her eyes never did stop its voided gaze. It just kept on staring past Fiona, as if she wasn't there. "I best leave. I don't want to intrude upon your day any further."

She wanted to say a lot of things - that there was no need to apologize; that it was never an intrusion when she was there; that she was happy to have her; that she was welcome anytime....but Fiona didn't really know what to say. She stood with her, wishing she could see her friend inside her vacant stare. "I am glad you came," she began, which she felt like was a pathetic attempt to say everything she really meant, but at least it got her talking. "I will hold to my promise." She felt like that was the only important thing to say.

One nodded, smiling. "Me too....I don't get to speak my mind, often. Or....rather, what is really on my mind....I'm happy you said yes. I don't think there is anyone else in this existence I trust more than you. You allowed me to grow. You didn't try to change me. You gave me something. Something important." She did what was normal in situations like these, she stepped forward and opened up her arms, inviting Fiona for an embrace between friends.

Fiona smiled as her thanks, and laughed lightly as she opened her arms for a hug. She didn't mean for the laugh to be taken in an offensive way. She was just taken aback by the sudden offer of affection. She opened her arms to her and went forward to hug her. Though, in the back of her mind, there was always the concern about a hug - you could never see the face of the person you hug; never see the intention in their eyes. Though, there was little left in her friend's eyes.

The embrace was warm and inviting. "The next time I come and visit I will bring the boys." She withdrew from the embrace and turned about on the spot, heading for the door. "And maybe next time I won't bring such heavy conversation, either.?

Opening the door, One was met with no the very same entrance she had used when she had entered. Instead, the wooden portal opened up into a world not quite like this one. A brief glimpse into Negzarcurgis itself, she had used her magic to open up a portal, revealing the scorched wasteland that extended out into the distance, howling thunder, bright flashes of pink thunder and billowing wind spilling forth into the room, momentarily throwing the debris of broken white petals while in the distance, the dark shapes of sky-towering monoliths spewing smog and blue flames into the air. The moment she stepped through, the door slammed shut behind her, simply becoming a door once again.