Bella!
The sun burns around Vesper's head like a halo. You can only see the black silhouette of her head on the inside of it. It feels like the light is emerging from inside her, that the electrochemistry of her brain has become this corona of molten fire. Thoughts trace like thunderstrikes through the patterns of brilliant light, letters and glyphs shining brightly.
"H-hey sis," she grins, sweat dripping from her brow. It sizzles against the metal floor. "That was amazing. I feel like an idiot. Everything makes sense in retrospect, but... I didn't see it coming. You know?"
She laughs and closes her eyes, and it's like two lanterns going out. "You're right. It hurts. It hurt even watching you. You know, I've never been shot? Or stabbed? Never - haaa - broke a bone? I just wanted to be comfortable, I guess. Sit in my chair and make a bunch of guesses and then watch as everyone else does what I predict. I don't know what it is to suffer, I don't even know what it is when people are suffering for me. But..."
More sizzling drops on the floor. These ones are tears.
"It keeps happening," she said. "People trust me. People put their faith in me. They look to me to guide them into a golden future and I lead them to their graves. I get so caught up in burning bright that I don't realize that I also burn hot, and then I look back with a smile expecting them to throw me a parade for all of my hard work and see them turning their backs on me. I want to tell them that it wasn't all pointless, that I was building up to something even better, that - that it'll all fit in the end. I want them to see that I didn't waste their lives. That I appreciated them, even if all they were doing was standing and watching while I solved everything. I didn't need them to contribute, I just needed them to be close without getting burned, but they always are."
The light burns brighter. It feels like she might step out of the shell of her body, a being of pure light and energy.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," she choked. "I didn't mean to - I thought they were stronger. I thought I had more time."
Ember and Dolce!
"Ah well," said Taurus, skulling her tea. "It was worth a shot."
Then she leapt over the table at Vasilia, armed with a cake knife.
"Oh, you brute!" said Gemini at her partner. "Bother this, then! And bother you!"
The feeling of Gemini withdrawing her mind control is like the moment of waking up after a broken fever. Suddenly the air is clear and all the little things that were being filtered out become present. You are aware of your sweat, your tiredness, the fact that you can breathe clearly, that the little 1/10 headache is gone - a mixture of sensation, good and bad, freed from the hazy buzz of being Good. It's enough to let you really appreciate the crunching sound as Taurus is slammed into the rooftop.
"I am quite done with all of this," Gemini declared as Taurus gets the Grav-Rail lesson she's long been looking for. "If Vesper wants you all under her thumb she shall simply have to do so herself."
And then she sat down in a huff and tried the cake.
Dyssia!
Iskarot, devotee of Ares, Master Biomancer, considers your request for peace and sanity with all of the thoughtfulness that eight cups of wine allow.
Three seconds later the bar fight is in full swing, with the mad Hermetic rising above the fray on tripod stilts, death rays blasting extremely poorly aimed shots through walls, ceilings and casks. A molotov cocktail hits him and burns with bright green flames but does not otherwise slow him down. Caught up in the general spirit of the moment, the fight has turned into a grand melee of all against all. Here a Ceronian is stuffed inside a keg by four noncombat servitors working together, there one of the rare Alcedi still aboard is holding a Pix in each hand and screaming a battlecry, there a fascinated Summerkind is sitting attentively at her table taking detailed notes on everything she is observing. Now and then squads of Coherent burst onto the scene like riot cops, and like riot cops at a bar fight they are immediately set upon by every side and have their teeth sprayed across the floor.
The sun burns around Vesper's head like a halo. You can only see the black silhouette of her head on the inside of it. It feels like the light is emerging from inside her, that the electrochemistry of her brain has become this corona of molten fire. Thoughts trace like thunderstrikes through the patterns of brilliant light, letters and glyphs shining brightly.
"H-hey sis," she grins, sweat dripping from her brow. It sizzles against the metal floor. "That was amazing. I feel like an idiot. Everything makes sense in retrospect, but... I didn't see it coming. You know?"
She laughs and closes her eyes, and it's like two lanterns going out. "You're right. It hurts. It hurt even watching you. You know, I've never been shot? Or stabbed? Never - haaa - broke a bone? I just wanted to be comfortable, I guess. Sit in my chair and make a bunch of guesses and then watch as everyone else does what I predict. I don't know what it is to suffer, I don't even know what it is when people are suffering for me. But..."
More sizzling drops on the floor. These ones are tears.
"It keeps happening," she said. "People trust me. People put their faith in me. They look to me to guide them into a golden future and I lead them to their graves. I get so caught up in burning bright that I don't realize that I also burn hot, and then I look back with a smile expecting them to throw me a parade for all of my hard work and see them turning their backs on me. I want to tell them that it wasn't all pointless, that I was building up to something even better, that - that it'll all fit in the end. I want them to see that I didn't waste their lives. That I appreciated them, even if all they were doing was standing and watching while I solved everything. I didn't need them to contribute, I just needed them to be close without getting burned, but they always are."
The light burns brighter. It feels like she might step out of the shell of her body, a being of pure light and energy.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," she choked. "I didn't mean to - I thought they were stronger. I thought I had more time."
Ember and Dolce!
"Ah well," said Taurus, skulling her tea. "It was worth a shot."
Then she leapt over the table at Vasilia, armed with a cake knife.
"Oh, you brute!" said Gemini at her partner. "Bother this, then! And bother you!"
The feeling of Gemini withdrawing her mind control is like the moment of waking up after a broken fever. Suddenly the air is clear and all the little things that were being filtered out become present. You are aware of your sweat, your tiredness, the fact that you can breathe clearly, that the little 1/10 headache is gone - a mixture of sensation, good and bad, freed from the hazy buzz of being Good. It's enough to let you really appreciate the crunching sound as Taurus is slammed into the rooftop.
"I am quite done with all of this," Gemini declared as Taurus gets the Grav-Rail lesson she's long been looking for. "If Vesper wants you all under her thumb she shall simply have to do so herself."
And then she sat down in a huff and tried the cake.
Dyssia!
Iskarot, devotee of Ares, Master Biomancer, considers your request for peace and sanity with all of the thoughtfulness that eight cups of wine allow.
Three seconds later the bar fight is in full swing, with the mad Hermetic rising above the fray on tripod stilts, death rays blasting extremely poorly aimed shots through walls, ceilings and casks. A molotov cocktail hits him and burns with bright green flames but does not otherwise slow him down. Caught up in the general spirit of the moment, the fight has turned into a grand melee of all against all. Here a Ceronian is stuffed inside a keg by four noncombat servitors working together, there one of the rare Alcedi still aboard is holding a Pix in each hand and screaming a battlecry, there a fascinated Summerkind is sitting attentively at her table taking detailed notes on everything she is observing. Now and then squads of Coherent burst onto the scene like riot cops, and like riot cops at a bar fight they are immediately set upon by every side and have their teeth sprayed across the floor.