Turning Point: Lady Spartan
Theo Callahan & Cassandra Voss
Collab between
@beyond visions and
@Heretic
Lolo - Weapon For Saturday "I am nothing but your dearest friend, I will keep your secrets locked up. I'm the one who can defend,
and I'm taking what's mine. I won't go down without a fight. You can try to tie my hands, I will break the knots around them. I got my sword and my shield. And I can see the battlefield..."
"Just a second!" Theo's reply sounded sharply as he finished adjusting the leather straps of his spiked gauntlets. The man in his nature was a giant, though fully dressed in his armor, Theo was a tank. As each fist fit firmly into the gauntlets, Theo studied the spikes that protruded from the gauntlet's knuckles, recalling that it is the end of these knuckles that carve in the difference between life and death. His hand moved towards the knob of the door as his feet now adorn in metal boots brought him there. After unlocking it, Theo cast his blue eyes down at Cassandra Voss. Though perhaps it was his leather jacket that drew her eye, specifically the metal hawk pinned to his chest.
"Have you gone absolutely mad?" Cassie accused him after noticing the pin he had for display on his leather jacket. She pushed her way past him, decidedly not waiting for a response. "Tell me, Theodore, what the hell was going through your tiny little head when you killed Captain Thrax?" she continued, turning on her heel to face him before she closed the distance between the both of them. Cassie then pulled the pin off of his jacket. "Is this worth killing us over?" she shouted, throwing the pin against the wall with all her might.
As soon as the pin hit the wood floorboards, Theo tilted his head over to where it landed. Taking off his Spartan helmet and resting it in his arms, Theo turned back to Cass. "It would have happened... eventually..." the volume of his voice was low, yet grim and gruff, as if the only thing moving was his tongue and not his lips. Usually when speaking in this way Theo acts disdainfully bitter, yet his posture did not seem so. His eyes even, they were downcasted, reflecting his despondent behavior. "Cassandra, he's done terrible things... If I let that kind of man go without an execution, I would have been overthrown by not just us vanguards, but all of Churchill-- strung together in a riot." Tiberius Thrax was no blameless man, the cruelest among all past captains of the colony. In fact, Thrax conspired a riot to murder the last captain, Robert McGarth, for his leniency towards the convicts. Fifteen of Theo's soldiers fell under Thrax's influence to spark the riot. Indeed, it was the choice of the soldiers to help conspire in such, though they did not believe that they were helping Thrax, but that he was foolish enough to give them the chance to riot, the chance to let the riot backfire on him and escape the colony facade that is their incarnation. He played with their hearts and gave them false hope.
"But the gloating Theo, that was not necessary...I would have preferred you poisoned the man or something, you know, to avoid drawing any more negative attention to ourselves." Cassie sighed, ashamed as she realized that maybe she had overreacted given that Theo kept calm, oddly enough. She walked over to where the pin lay on the floor and picked it up, inspecting it for a moment before walking back to Theo. "Sorry, the day is not going as planned," she said, grabbing Theo's hand to open it palm up and place the pin on it, "I talked to Isabel, then I ran into Reno and I told him I was leaving...but hey, it's a new adventure."
With the pin now against the center of his armored palm, Theo lifted it up to his eyes, giving it one more glance before shoving the metal away into the pocket of his leather jacket. For Churchill, the pin was confirmation for all fellow citizens, though where he was he is going, he must be a man and let confirmation come from his own lips first. "Cass... I've decided that it be best...," he began, though paused midway through his sentence to let his right hand fall against her shoulder, to clarify the gravity and significance of his proceeding words. "That you stay and I go..." Theo felt this decision would benefit the entire faction and colony as a whole, it would not only relieve pressure off of the union between the Spartan and the Renaissance, but Theo could also rally support from the three other outer factions to eliminate the rising hoard of Outsiders. Recently, he has spent hours studying strategy in order to stabilize vanguard outposts that ultimately protect Churchill. "I must fight, and you must rule. So, here... I want you to have my helmet," He raised up the helmet, crowning her with it. "In my absence, you will be Churchill's Spartan."
Cassie was at a loss for words. She simply looked at Theo, stunned, as multiple thoughts danced around in her head.
"That's the reason you're wearing that armor, right?" she asked in a low voice, finally speaking after what seemed like an eternity of silence. Her breathing slowly picked up. Was she ready for such responsibility? How would people feel about Theo stepping down and giving her the reigns? She wouldn't have to leave Churchill, but she still had to deal with its problems, like telling Vanderbilt that his precious captain was dead. "I just have one question...if I'm the new Spartan, who's going to take my place? Who's going to become my second-in-command?"
"A second command? Let me tell you about your second command," Theo leaned in with his grasp on her shoulder tightened and his forehead now pressed against the Spartan helmet that she wore. "Don't let them... don't let them go. The sun may gleam gloriously and you may feel like a goddess, but the wax of your wings will surely melt," Theo never spoke like that, in such a poetic fashion that alluded to a mythic tale. Complex metaphors and flowery language are such things that always seemingly go over his head, yet now, it was as if he has been studying. "This is the tale of Daedalus and Icarus... and before it becomes the tale of Cassandra Voss and Theo Callahan, I will glide to the sun no more, lest you watch me plummet and drown because of my own ambitions." With the hand that did not rest against her shoulder, he curled his fingers around her palm. And with the bags under his eyes swelling with water, Theo gave a saddened chuckle, "Ha, I sound like a damn poet, heh ha, like it? Is it Isabel approved?"
"Isabel would absolutely love it," Cassie whispered sympathetically, giving his hand a light squeeze simply for reassurance. She'd never seen Theo so emotionally-driven before, yet somehow it frightened her. But then again, change had that effect on her a lot of the time. "But you don't have to worry about a thing here, with the vanguards that is," she changed the subject, taking a few steps back to take off the helmet. It weighed more than she expected, and it was growing more uncomfortable by the moment. "I'll take good care of them here, and I promise I'll do my best to not let you down." Cassie eased the helmet onto her hip, using her arm to keep it in place. She then smiled, one of those that indicated she was up to no good. "It'll be as if you'd never left..."
As an immediate reaction, a smile eased onto his chiseled face as he began walking towards the door. "Wear that title too well and I might not want to come back...," Theo laughed while suddenly facing back at her. With his hand resting against the door frame he did not just leave her with flattery, he left her with what he believed was the truth, "In the face of danger, you've got the valor, and I swear to you, there's danger in the politics of this place. But you've served under two Spartans, so I do not doubt that you know your way around it. Though, it is wise advice to say that both the muses and the masterminds are not as honest nor direct as us. You'll have to find your own way to read the Renaissance and the Victorian. Oh, and speaking of which-- Cass, try not to go for Carmen's throat while I'm gone. She's really not as... bad as she seems."
"Yeah, well, I'll believe it when I see it. But don't worry about the other two, we'll deal with them... Actually, Reno went to talk to Isabel a little while ago. He and I—we're seeing each other." Cassie sighed with relief. Theo would be the only person to know about their relationship, and for good reason. Given her newfound position, Cassie ran the risk of someone using Reno against her if they found out their status, and she simply wouldn't allow that. "Obviously this stays between us three. No one needs to be concerned with our personal lives, and that's the way it's going to be."
It is not often that Theo sees eye-to-eye with Reno, and perhaps never will, but if it was through that man that Cass found happiness, then Theo was not going to stand in their way. He had no right to. Upon hearing this news, Theo stepped back towards Cass to lay a hand upon her shoulder, leaning in to whisper, "I swear it on my head, your secret is safe with me. Though, you will know as you take this title, that personal never means private... This is a lesson that I will soon learn."
Vashonn