No One Expects...

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:15 pm

"Balance. Right."

The rack (and chains!) disappeared, and Harbinger jumped up, and landed, standing, on Atropha's back (which did not, oddly, push her closer to the fire).

"Balance is important to you, is it?"

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:20 pm

"It's necessary..." she says, wincing as Harbinger jumps followed by a sigh of relief.

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:30 pm

"Why?"

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:34 pm

"You can't play one side against itself. Worked out great, didn't it?" she laughs, though that quickly dissolves into a coughing fit.

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:38 pm

"It could have, but you thought you were so damn smart," she said, lying down on top of Atropha. "You thought you could just do your own thing, with no regards for....the order of things," she continued, playing with Atropha's tail.

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:43 pm

"It could have worked... Could have worked..."

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:45 pm

"But when you play with fire..." she said...and she dipped Atropha's tail into the flames!

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:51 pm

Which causes her to buck against Harbinger, her tail twitching and twisting as most of the hair making up the tip curls up and smolders away. At least it doesn't hurt all that much as long as there is hair left to burn.

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:56 pm

"Yuck, burning fur," she said, crinkling her nose, and blowing out the tail. "You stink. Like an animal."

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:58 pm

"What do you expect from 'kitty'." She's not stupid enough to be sarcastic, but the fact that she got some respite is definitely noticeable.

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:03 pm

"A fair point. I thought you might be above the level of the maggots that infest this little world, but you're just like them, aren't you. Well, at least your form is appealing, and you weren't half bad."

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:07 pm

"Glad to hear I was good for something..."

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:07 pm

"You weren't the worst. You've had practice, haven't you?" she said, floating off Atropha's back, and getting into her face.

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:13 pm

"Does that really come as a surprise?"

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:18 pm

"You weren't the best, either. So THAT won't be a thing.

But maybe you like to watch? I could cut you open, stem to stern, and fill you with nice soft cotton, and spread that fur out...leave you on the couch. Your fur is soft, you'd make a great pillow, and you'd get to see the parade of people coming in and out. I could even show you how you could have been better, up close and personal. You like watching?"

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:29 pm

Oh goddess...

"Please, no..." she begs, trying to fight the growing dread of a fate worth than death. "I failed. Myself... You..." Her...

"Punish me if you must but not that..."

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:33 pm

"Then a statue, perhaps? Intimidating Sphinx guarding the gates. We could run a tube up your ass and have you be a nice fountain. Birds perching, fresh air, sunshine..."

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:43 pm

Atropha doesn't say anything, though her terrified expression probably says enough, her body physically trembling at the thought.

And this was the moment she began looking around the room for something, anything to end things and escape the scenarios Harbinger was describing.

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:46 pm

Harbinger notices this.

"No. No, you've lost that right. You've lost the ability to make your own decisions about anything. You're going to be with me for a long, long time. Long after this planet has been turned into rubble, you will be with me. Long after everything you've ever known, or wanted, or cared about has been ground into a fine paste, you will be with me. Long after you forget where you came from, or why you're with me, or even who you are...you will be with me."

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:59 pm

On some level she may have given up, maybe even convinced herself that she deserved to be punished over some unspoken guilt, but not this! She lets out an almost primal scream, her hands beginning to glow as she fights against the invisible bonds holding her until they snap in a bright flash as magic clashes with cosmic force. She doesn't care about the fire she falls into as she stumbles to her feet, falling down again as she scrambles for a rusty object floating in the room. She doesn't care what it is, all she sees is a jagged piece of metal...

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 7:00 pm

Harbinger just watched her go.

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 7:12 pm

Atropha's fingers close around the piece of metal and only hesitates for a split-second before plunging it into her neck.

At least she'll never know... is the last thought that goes through her head as she sinks to the floor in a growing pool of blood.

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 7:41 pm

Or, at least, it should have been.

Atropha would find herself surprisingly NOT dead--or even unconscious--as Harbinger walked over to her.

"Have you been listening at all?"

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 7:48 pm

"I had to try..." she says weakly, the piece of metal tumbling from her fingers into the pool of her own blood.

by **Harbinger** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 7:51 pm

"No, you didn't. You had to trust me. You've failed twice.

Let me prove to you my power," she said, picking up the piece of metal...

((FTStuff that shouldn't be on the board, or thought of too hard, really.))

by **Atropha** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:14 pm

Atropha doesn't know how much time has passed but does it really matter? Her throat is raw and at some point she had stopped begging and screaming. Not because Harbinger was done but simply because her voice was barely even a whisper anymore. There was no part of her that didn't still hurt, including ones she hadn't really been aware of before and she has long since given up hope that she'll even pass out. She's vaguely aware that she's lieing in a pool of blood a couple inches deep but she's too disconnected from what is going on around her to care.

Goddess, why won't you just let me die? Haven't I suffered enough? she begs for the millionth time.

Because you failed enough already. comes the answer, just as it did before. On some level she knows it's just her own voice but part of her wants it to be the voice of her Goddess so that is what it became.

And I paid for it. I can't do it myself. I'm begging you!

You're weak. That's what lead you here in the first place, wallowing in your own blood, begging to die.

It's all I have left! And even that choice has been taken from me!

Is that it? I thought you knew better than this! Fate...

What can I do! I'm too broken to even crawl...

Tell me!

Please...

by **Harbinger** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:06 pm

--_----__-___----______--___-__-____-___-___-_-_-

Harbinger licked a last bit of blood from her finger.

"Now then, are we feeling better?" she said down at Atropha, still lying in an alarmingly deep pool of blood. "You've stained my room here."

by **Atropha** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:13 pm

Atropha is just looking past her, staring into nothing. After a moment it seems to register that Harbinger said something and that ignoring her would be a terrible idea.

"Worse..."

by **Harbinger** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:19 pm

"Well, you seem to have gotten it all out of your system, pretty much," she said, cheerfully.

by **Atropha** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:22 pm

Laugh, chuckle, do something so she doesn't get angry!

And so she does, though her attempt at laughing at Harbinger's joke quickly devolves into a pained cough.

by **Harbinger** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:39 pm

"Do you see what you get, now? Do you see what you get for going against My will? Your phony Egyptian gods will not save you. I am the only one who controls your fate now."

by **Atropha** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:44 pm

"Yes, you are..." she rasps, still staring off into nothing.

by **Harbinger** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:46 pm

Harbinger grabbed Atropha's hair and pulled her to her feet. "Look at you. Look how pathetic you are right now. If I let go, you'll just fall right over, won't you?"

by **Atropha** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:55 pm

That got at least some reaction out of her, even if it's just weak and uncontrolled flailing at the sudden shift of position.

Stand, just lock your legs. You can at least do that. Don't even need balance, she's still holding you.

Somehow her paws manage to stop slipping around in the blood and she at least looks like she's standing. Of course if Harbinger was to let her go there's no way she'd be able to keep herself up.

by **Harbinger** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:17 pm

And then Harbinger let go.

by **Atropha** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:20 pm

For just a moment she looks like she'd manage, if a bit wobbly, but it's too much and her legs buckle. She doesn't even make much of a noise when she hits the floor.

by **Harbinger** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:29 pm

"Pathetic," she says, dragging Atropha over by the fire for warmth.

by **Atropha** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:31 pm

"S-sorry... she whimpers, managing to curl up by the fire.

by **Harbinger** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:39 pm

"That's right, you are."

by **Atropha** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:42 pm

With nothing she has to immediately respond to she quickly goes almost-catatonic again. To say she was comfortable would be an enormous exaggeration, but that's what she wants to think she is, lieing next to the warmth of the fire.

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