Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): Nexus Earth - Chapter 9.3d Captive

[Justin OOC]

Skye and Lily awoke with a start, they were clothed, but they bore no weapons. Their hands were chained, and The golden collar on Lily's neck hummed with impossible power. The room they were in was well lit, and sterile. There were no doors, no windows no walls they could see.

There with them was an old familiar face, to Lily at least. It was Naien, the Fox hiroga she'd fought at the school. The one who died, and had been brought back.

"So you're finally awake. Good." She drew back and punched Lily in the stomach, then Skye.

"You've brought nothing but trouble and pain, both of you. You're going to pay for it."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

"Well scheisse," Skye sighed with feeling, wincing as her already bruised stomach took more battering. Her eyes flicked over the Hiroga then dismissed her. Skye glanced up at the chains holding her hands over her head, trying to see a weakness. Not seeing any immediately, she looked at Lily.

"Hey, lemme guess. That collar thing is blocking your power, right?" Skye guessed. "I don't suppose you still have access to enough power to break out of here, do you?"

She asked without much hope. Skye had seen who had grabbed them and she knew the odds they faced. Hadn't she said to Kazuo that next time, these arschloch would kill her? Things were not looking favorable right now and Skye choked back fear. She needed to stay calm and focus on getting out; she could have a nervous breakdown later.

At the very least, she'd been correct to worry about round two. I really hate always being right.

[SalmonMax]

"Naien?!" Lily blurted, startled. The next noise was an even more startled "OOF!" as she was punched. Her eyebrows knitted in consternation as she put a hand over her belly. "Hey! That...that HURT!"

On sudden, panicked impulse, she twisted around to punch the hard metal of the wall...then yanked her fist back with a yelp of pain, shaking it wildly.

"Naien," she said after a worried glance at Skye, "what are you doing here? What are you talking about? Why did you punch us?!"

[Justin OOC]

"If you weren't needed alive, I'd have ripped your pureblood heart out just like I did that traitor Yua."

She smiled savagely. "Or have you forgotten how your first guardian died saving you?"

She looked to Skye. "You know her second Guardian died too?"

"You've met him, Lawrence it was." She looked to Lily. "He died fighting against you, because you forced it."

She punched them both again. "You have to live, but the condition is solely my discretion."

She speared Skye with a glare. "You know how they are, and yet you fight with them. You claim to be a priestess of Tsunami, yet you are no Dalaraan." She slapped her hard across the face.

"Call upon your Goddess now, see how she does NOTHING!"

She looks to Lily. "Just as her people did to mine, they enslaved us, use us, and hold annihilation of our home over us to keep us in line."

She snarled. "Not anymore. My people have a voice now, and we will be heard, and you will watch as we sunder your empire and scatter the ashes to the stellar winds."

[SalmonMax]

Lily doubled over on the second punch and for a second she stayed that way, breathing hard, then she looked up.

"I haven't forgotten," she said. "What I don't get is how you're the one who killed Yua, but you're acting like it's my fault. The same with this revolt. The Hiroga have never been slaves. No one in the Empire is. It goes against everything we stand for. Naien, what happened to you? What made you so hateful?"

[Justin OOC]

"HE opened my eyes."

She looked at her with baleful yellow eyes. "Lord Takashi gathered the pieces of my soul, shattered by a foe you LET LIVE!"

"He bargained and brought me back."

"I had to kill my sister, because you were too weak. That blow was meant for you, but she jumped in to save you."

Her disgust was obvious. "That's how it's been since we were subjugated though hasn't it? Send in the Hiroga shock troops to save Purebloods. Every battle that's how it would go. WE NEVER got credit, or even acknowledgement. You purebloods saw it as our duty to defend you." She punched her again.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to watch friends and family die, because they have no choice?"

She looked at her. "That's why when He asked for this system, I gave it to him, and since then we've brought war to the Imperial forces, joining with those who are similar minded."

She smiled. "What greater proof of the failure of the monarchy, than your death, a public execution sent across the entirety of space."

She looked to Skye. "And you...You're far less than even the princess." She punched Skye. "No threat yourself, you're just bait, to lure the bastard that hurt Lord Satoshi here. Without your weapons you are a helpless child."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye was trying to think. Fortunately, this Naien chick had diarrhea of the mouth, and she was giving Skye plenty to work with right now. The news that Skye was bait for Kazuo made her sick with fear while feeling a little jolt of joy. Sick because she was afraid that he’d take the bait; happy because she knew he’d be willing to come. She just didn’t want him to save her. If Kazuo died – really died – saving her… well, Skye simply hoped she was dead first.

Skye let the insults roll over her; Skye liked being seen as weaker and inferior. It had served her well in the past. She considered what Naien was saying as she watched the other two talk. Seduction was the art of convincing someone you were the one they were looking for, and Skye was an expert in the matter. She shoved those thoughts down and focused on one thing: her own anger.

“Hey, I think you’re right!” Skye yelped, doing what she could to roll with the incoming punch. “Satoshi is little better than slavers. I’ve seen how they turn children into living robots and send them out to fight. It’s wrong! As for Lily and Kai, I heard what they did to Lawrence – not only did they kill him, they left him heartbroken and bereft.” She glared at Lily. “When he resurrected, he found that you’d destroyed Asia’s soul. You could have wished her back, but he couldn’t raise her. He was your friend; he loved her. They were both forced to fight against you. And you thanked him for his friendship and services by killing them and then making it impossible to bring her back. He lives in loss and pain every day!”

This was no act; Lord Lawrence, Keeper of BoneGate, was her friend. She remembered the last time she’d seen him: she’d been haggard, bloody and still covered in the soot from burning her own house. The cuts and bruises from the doppelganger weren’t yet healed and the image of her husband dying at her own hands was still raw in her mind. Lawrence had hugged her, ignoring that she was dirty and soiling his fine clothing, and whispered, “I’m sorry you have to know my pain, Skye. But you can love again.”

She turned to Naien. “I’ve seen how they treat their friends and I can’t say that their habits have improved at all. Kazuo and I didn’t know how bad they could be; I have been compelled to fight by Tsunami. Had we known, I don’t think we would have fought. They need us to win but I’m not in a charitable mood. I think I can talk Kazou into standing aside.”

All thoughts of betrayal were buried. All thoughts of escape focused on one angle: making friends and being released. They had to buy this. They had to; Skye didn’t want to see Kazuo die and she certainly didn’t want to die herself. Clever, Skye heard in her head, ringing in the tones of divinity. Hope it works. And then the blue aura faded from her, leaving Skye without Tsunami’s Blessing – without any divine blessing for the first time in years.

Skye snorted and swallowed her fear. “Wow. That was fast. Their goddess shows Her true colors even faster than they do.”

[SalmonMax]

Reeling from Naien's pummeling, Lily looked at Skye and her mouth dropped open.

"What are you talking about?!" she demanded. "I never destroyed any souls! I don't have anything like the kind of power to do that, and even if I DID I never would! We were forced to fight Asia, but I wouldn't have done something like that to her!"

The princess looked back at Naien, "And you! The Hiroga have never been forced to serve as soldiers! They have the same rights as any other citizen, to choose whatever path they want! Not only that, but the Academy and the Memorial Halls are FULL of honors and accolades given to Hiroga who chose to fight on behalf of the Empire! Naien, you're not making any sense! Do you honestly believe the things you're saying?!"

She took a deep breath. "If you hate me because I was weak...because I haven't always fought perfectly, or sometimes made mistakes, then fine. I can accept those things, because those are all true. And I know me saying I didn't mean to hurt you, or your sister won't take your pain away. So if you decide to kill me for that reason, at least I understand it. How that made you betray the Empire, I don't understand. By doing that, you've hurt and killed so many people, Naien. Even your OWN people. And for what? What do you think will happen on Dalaraan if you win?"

[Justin OOC]

Naien laid into Lily again hitting her three times in succession. She could never recall hits so hard, with so much rage behind them. "You were Royalty, of course you believe the lies. Only the privelaged few the lapdogs were allowed near you Princess. They sold their souls to the empire, pledging service to an opressor to gain favor."

"The Empire betrayed the Hiroga, and now we will watch it burn."

She looked to Skye and drew back her hand.

She pistoned her fist into her stomach again with incredible force. "Maybe so. I'll speak to Takashi-sama, and he can decide."

She put her golden eyes inches from Skye's. "If you betray us, I will feast on your heart, and your soul will never know rest." She backed away and looked to be about to leave.

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye nodded seriously after she was done wincing from the blow. She might have tried to hide her reaction a bit, but it probably made Naien feel better. Though it was hard to get worked up about this woman when Skye knew how bad her masters were. 'Takashi-sama'? That dumm Fotze is a fanatic. Awesome.

"Thank you for passing on the message," she said respectfully. She didn't want to lay it on too thick, so she stopped there. She was quiet as Naien left, counting to thirty just to be safe once she had shut the door behind her. Then she sighed and turned to the princess.

"Lily, you shouldn't give them anything to punish you for," Skye said, her voice soft. The princess snapped her head around, prepared to snap at Skye, but the priestess was looking at her somberly, her eyes full of sympathy and a terrible knowledge. "They're going to hurt you. If you give them things to punish you for, too, they're just going to hurt you more." She shrugged at Lily's glare. "I was captive of some demons for a while. They're about as bad as these people are. Play along with them a little, and they'll beat you less. You don't have to take my advice; I'm just saying." She shrugged again, as if it didn't matter to her whether Lily listened to her or not.

Skye paused and then asked, "So, you really didn't know that the Ragna Blade doesn't just kill, but destroys the soul, too?" There was a mix of sorrow and sympathy in those cerulean eyes.

Click to reveal.. (Cussing)

dumm Fotze = stupid cunt

[SalmonMax]

Lily shook her head, unable to speak for a second. She finally managed to cough, and flop over on her back.

"A soul can't be destroyed...or created..." she gasped. "Not by mortal power. It's one of...one of the things that separates us from gods. A spell that could destroy souls..." she trailed off, troubled. Then shook her head. "No, the ragna blade wasn't even the strongest magic we learned. Valerie can cast Dragon-slave, and it's far more powerful."

She's quiet for a moment, but just as Skye's about to press the point, she says, "Naien's wrong. About the Hiroga. About me. I was third daughter, and I used to leave the palace grounds all the time. My older sister was the one who liked parades and...and that kind of thing. Still. I suppose you're right. I can't reason with them."

Lily closed her eyes and slowly, painfully sat up. "You're from Ikaris?" she asked after a second.

[z-Skye the Fallen]

"Sorta," Skye said, opting to start with the easier topic. "I was born on a world much like Earth. When I was sixteen, I was given magical fans and told that I was chosen to fight the demons that were trying to take over the world. Then I was told I was the Lunar Priestess and then people started dying and disappearing. My mother was one of them. The demon who became my first sexual encounter raped and killed her. We pushed them back, but I got sucked into Bazaroth, same as Kazuo. I was a prisoner there for a while and when I got free I found my way to Ikaris. I made friends, got married to ano- well, actually, I guess he was a native Ikarian... And I got titled Lady. I left it all when I killed the thing pretending to be my husband and went looking for Kazuo.

"So was I born on Ikaris? No. But... it was the closest thing I had to a place that I was happy since I was sixteen. That made it home, until I found out that home was a lie." Skye's voice was soft as she spoke, her voice and face almost completely calm. But when she spoke of her husband or her home, her eyes became misty with tears - tears she didn't allow to fall.

"But while I was there, I learned many things - about the realms, about Satoshi and about magic. Lily..." Skye's voice trailed off, and she sounded almost sympathetic, again. "Haven't you listened to the words you say when you call forth the blade? 'Together, let us walk the path of destruction/ And smash even the souls of the Gods.' That's not poetic. That's... You're making your will manifest on the world through the incantation.

"Though now I wonder how two women who know nothing about magic can cast spells that only archmagi should be able to handle."

[SalmonMax]

Lily seemed to sink in on herself and become smaller, though it was just a trick of her posture. Skye might not be a native, but her credential were depressingly good.

"We were taught by a archmage," she replied woodenly. "The 'good' one, we believed. But what does that mean? He taught us these spells, but he didn't really explain them."

The princess rubbed her stomach, not because of the throbbing pain of Naien's abuse, but from the growing sickness she felt. "It was all just hocus-pocus to me...the incantation was just part of the act. I should have known better than to use something that I knew I didn't understand, but I thought I could trust him. And they were so strong, I thought I needed its power to win...and if I hadn't won, I'd have lost Kai, I'd have lost everything."

Abruptly aware that she was babbling, Lily covered her mouth with a hand as tears started dripping from the corners of her eyes.

"I guess that explains why you hate me at least." She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Maybe it's a kind of justice that I'm here after all."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

“Oh, verdammt,” Skye sighed, gracefully folding her borrowed kimono around her and sitting cross-legged on the floor. She made sure to not sit too close to Lily, just for appearance’s sake. “Yeah, it was hate… but now I think you honestly didn’t know. You should have but… we all make mistakes. I married a doppelganger. No one’s perfect.” Skye shrugged as if the two things were equal in her mind, her expression pensive. “Holle, I did some really stupid things the years I was looking for Kazuo.”

It was hard to think without the warm glow of divinity surrounding her. Skye swallowed nervously but tried to hide her other tells of unease. It was easier to do this when Lily was a callous, hateful princess rather than a shivering, crying captive. “I should tell Lawrence,” Skye added. “It won’t bring Asia back, but he might not feel so betrayed.” The thought of going back to Ikaris was pleasant; the thought of bringing Kazuo make her wince. After Cathedral, Ikaris was going to seem so mundane. Skye wasn’t sure she’d enjoy Kazuo’s take on her life there, either. If he made fun of it…

Then there was the matter of him being a Harbinger of Doom. Could she take him to Ikaris and bring war to her adopted home? She’d thought that everything she’d loved about Ikaris had died with the doppelganger, but now that she was distanced from the grief of that day, she realized she’d really loved Ikaris. She’d been happy even before meeting the doppelganger, if a bit guilty about it. Ikaris had been good to her and she loved it for that.

Time for a distraction. “What about you? What’s it like to be a Daralaan princess?”

[SalmonMax]

"No," Lily replied softly, "I'll tell him. When this is all over, Kai can open the way back. I'll go and tell him. Then he can do whatever he needs to."

She sighed and looked up, but it seemed her decision had lifted some of the weight that had settled on her, or perhaps she was just getting used to carrying it.

"As for being a princess..." Lily shrugged. "At first I was the youngest of three, so I was the baby, and far from the ascension, so I could do more or less what I wanted." She smiled wistfully and pulled on a lock of her blue hair where it dangled in front of her eyes. "I was wild and undisciplined, and I hated the palace with all its rules and everyone being all formal all the time, so I'd go flying around to different places. No matter where I went, or how far, my brother would always find me though. Just when I'd think I had the day free and clear, I'd turn around and there he'd be. At least, until he went to the Academy and got his commission."

She paused and added, "I know royalty has a bad name on Earth. Your history shows the nobility gradually eliminating all their responsibilities, and becoming parasites to their people. That hasn't happened in the Empire. I mean, some Houses are 'better' than others, in my opinion, but none fail their people entirely. That's why what Naien was saying...why it shocked me so much. There are rules...codes. Safeguards. More than that, there's tradition and honor. The Empire is old, compared to Earth history...Dalaraan generations are much longer than human. The idea of a noble abusing his or her subjects is on par with..." she groped for a moment, looking for an equivalent. "Child abuse, I guess. And for the Emperor to be guilty of that, across all of the Empire, like she's saying...you may as well accuse Earth's Secretary General of the UN of being a serial rapist. The crime is not just political, it's personal. Just being accused is a defamation."

Lily took a deep breath and gave Skye a shaky, guilty grin. "Sorry. Getting wound up again."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye shrugged. "Not a big deal," she said, eager to get Lily off the subject. If Skye could help keep her calm, maybe Lily would not get drawn into another fight with Naien. "I was just wondering what it was like, having siblings. It was just me and my mom, until the demon-hunting thing. We - us demon-hunters - were a kind of a family, but I was so wrapped up and centered on my own problems that I didn't really get to feel what that was like. I was pretty selfish and bitchy. Though I was sixteen and going through a really awful time, so I try to cut myself some latitude." She grinned. "Don't really have that excuse anymore when I'm bitchy, do I?"

"Not really," Lily replied wryly. "What about your father?"

Skye snorted. "He was gone before I was born. Mutter said he had family obligations or something, and that'd he'd come back later. Yeah right. I guess he may have meant to come back... there was a picture he left me, and he'd written on the back 'To my little prince or princess - I'll give you a star of your own to make up for not being there while you grew up'. I dreamed of him coming back when I was little. I threw a huge fit when Mutter said we were moving to Japan because I was afraid he couldn't find us if we left our house. But when I was twelve, I decided that if he didn't care enough to miss over a decade of my life, he wasn't worth worrying about anymore. I honestly haven't thought of him since I was trying to figure out who was going to give me away at my wedding." She chuckled. "Though I doubt any father would have approved of my fiancée."

She leaned back against the wall a little more. "Didn't you have a school or anything like that?" She grinned, her tone a little teasing as she added, "Or do Daralaan children run around like little blue-haired ferals?"

[SalmonMax]

Relaxing a bit, despite the surroundings, Lily shook her head with a short laugh. "No, just me. There are schools. You get your basic general instruction, then branch off into career education. Each species runs their own schools their own way. Because I'm pureblood, most of my post-general schooling was in military academies and with tutors."

She twirled a finger in the air in a gesture borrowed from humanity.

"Sorry to hear about your dad. You learned to deal with it, but it's still harder growing up without a parent." She paused, then added, "For me, it was my mother. And, you know, my dad's the Emperor so he was busy a lot, though he made time for us whenever he could. Mostly it was just me and my brother and sister though...and whoever they found to try to keep an eye on us." Lily chuckled at that. "Fat chance of that."

Her amber eyes focused on Skye again. "So you hunted demons at only sixteen? And you've already been married. Earth humans are so fast."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye laughed a little. "That's only part of my list of accomplishments. And this was nothing I'd planned on doing," she added with a bemused smirk. "At fifteen, I was going to break into modeling as soon as I turned eighteen or my mother let me do it, whichever came first. I was going to be married to a rich count or some other European noble by the time I was twenty-five - I had somehow decided that seven years was the magical number of years for a modeling career - then I'd have a couple of perfect children and enjoy my perfect life. Then the Old Man intervened and at an age when I should have been falling in love for the first time, I was fighting demons and losing my only family.

"The marriage wasn't planned either," Skye added with a bittersweet smile. "He wasn't a royal anything, except maybe a royal pain in the arsch." Her smile said that no matter how much of a pain he'd been, she'd still enjoyed his company. "I met him on the road in Ikaris while I was returning a baby dragon to her family. We traveled together for a long time, years, and then dragons attacked Lawrence's keep, BoneGate. We slipped out and found the dragons we'd helped and brought them to aid us. I nearly died, and he admitted he loved me as more than a friend. I felt the same and we were married six weeks later."

Her smile fled and she added, "It was later before I found out he was a doppelganger who was eating pieces of my soul and pretending to be a real a- a real person." Skye shook herself and shrugged. "To put that all in reference, I'm twenty-two or twenty-three. I don't know which because I'm not sure how long I was in Bazaroth for the first time."

She paused for a second and then said, "Alright, I may be offending by asking this, but... You've mentioned a brother and a sister. I've heard that the royal family was with our fleet, including some twins, but it sounded like they were younger than you. So now I'm a little confused. Mind me being nosy and asking for the Royal Family Rolecall?"

[SalmonMax]

Lily sobered and shook her head. "Not offensive, but... All right. My father had two wives. He had three children by the first, of which I am the youngest. My full brother was the oldest, and my full sister the middle. I never knew my mother though, she was gone before I grew enough. I don't know exactly what happened either...no one would tell me, not even dad."

She took a breath and tilted her head to her left. "Hayato and Sasami are the two children he had by his second wife, and they're both MUCH younger than me. So technically they're my half-brother and sister, but it doesn't really mean anything. In here," she tapped her heart, "they're just brother and sister."

Lily hesitated, then pre-emptively answered the obvious question. "My older siblings are both dead now. They were assassinated, before this whole civil war thing started." She was silent after that admisson, fighting for control as she relieved hearing that news agai.

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye was quietly glad that Lily had answered that question before she'd asked it. The past tense for her brother has given Skye a pretty good idea of the answer anyway. She wasn't expecting her to say it was an assassination, but on reflection assessed that it probably wasn't unusual for a royal family in the midst of a civil war. And Skye could understand that kind of loss; her mother had been killed to for emotional reasons while Lily's family was killed for political ones. It was still the fact that their family had been taken from them for stupid, hurtful reasons.

"Civil war?" Skye asked. "You gave us bits and pieces but I could use the full briefing." She waved at the innards of their cell. "'Specially since I'm now being forced to choose sides in this. So is this what Takashi and Hizashi are fightin' us for? The right to rule Satoshi and the Daralaan Empire?"

[SalmonMax]

Lily shook her head. "I don't -know- exactly," she sighed. "I've been on Earth through most of this, securing it against the Confederation. When I left there was no war...it started after I got there. Then we got a message asking for help, and Earth was finally safe, so...we came out here to find the rebels on the edge of winning."

"I don't think this was the original plan," Lily clarified. "We basically beat Takeshi here on Earth. We won Japan from them in a duel of honor, and then they saw the Federation colonization fleet coming, panicked and fled...leaving the planet to us. We beat the Federation, but by that time they'd already come out to Dalaraan and joined forces. And Hizashi..." Lily shook her head. "I have no idea what he's after. He mentioned Tsunami at one point, but I don't see what that has to do with anything."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye was quiet, thinking. "Hizashi is really strong," Skye said, her frown increasing as she couldn't deny her certainty that they had fought Death. "Maybe he thinks he can somehow take power from Tsunami. That would explain why even the gods were worked up about this. The last time they were so active in my life was when Tokyo was about to be overrun by demons."

Skye was quiet for a moment. "You need to learn more about these guys." That seemed to be stating the obvious, so she shut up. The women were silent as they each considered their own unsettling thoughts.

"Lily, would you do me a favor?" Skye asked.

"What?" Lily asked without committing to it.

"If the worse happens and I don't get out of this, would you tell Kazuo that finding him was the best thing since Bistro 35." She smirked and added, "Naturally, he'll know what that means." It was more than a statement of happiness at finding him. It was a tacit acknowledgement that the night that had changed their relationship had been a good thing, despite her reaction to the morning after.

[SalmonMax]

Lily nods, but adds, "If you don't make it, I probably won't either...but sure. I'll tell him if I can."

For some reason, talking about dying made her feel a renewed desire to live, and she cautiously lifted her hands to feel the collar around her neck.

"I didn't get a good look at this thing before he put it on me," she tells Skye. "Would you describe it for me?"

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye licked her lips and glanced at the door, then risked leaning closer for a moment. "Turn it around," Skye said and Lily turned it on her neck. Skye watched for a bit before she sat back straight.

"It make of what looks like gold, but it has red and blue glowing runes in it," Skye reported. "I don't see a clasp or latch. I don't see that it has an external effect on you but its clearly stifling your powers." She paused to let Lily think, then asked, "Got any ideas?"

[SalmonMax]

Lily shook her head dolefully. "Not at the moment," she admitted. "I never expected this kind of thing. I mean...if Takeshi can teleport onto our most defended flagship and abduct us before we can react, what's to stop him from coming on board with an atomic bomb? Or assassinating our captains in their sleep?"

She shook her head. "What I don't understand is why he didn't. It still would have killed us both, as well as destroying one of our best ships and pretty much crippling our war effort. Why bother capturing us?"

On sudden impulse, Lily reached up to grab her collar and pulled at it with as much strength as she could muster.

[Justin OOC]

Lily got a nasty shock when she touched the collar, as if most every nerve in her body fired at once. The faint smell of Ozone permeated the room, and a door slid open. Takashi walked in, in all his one handed fury. Naien was there with him. "Touched the collar didn't you princess? I wouldn't do that. It might kill you if you do it too many times."

He kicked her and sent her flying into the metal wall. He looked to Skye. "Forsaken by your patron, by your lover, by everyone, and now you want to join me?" The way he leered at her made her feel as if she were in Bazaroth again, like the demons that sized her up before conquest.

"I might have a place for you, provided you are willing to work for it."

Naien kept a watchful eye on both women, should one of them try something.

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye hid a wince at the kick at Lily, instead grinning at the sight. While their attention was taken with the princess, Skye quickly adjusted her kimono, baring an ankle and revealing more cleavage. When they turned their gaze to her, Skye was leaning against the wall, her legs folded demurely under her.

"Kazuo's not a lover, he's a friend," Skye corrected simply and without rancor. She kept her voice even and calm, as if they were talking about nothing important. "I know that most people have trouble with that concept, but a guy and a girl can just be friends."

As Naien sneered at her, Skye ignored the fox-girl and put all of her focus on Takashi. "I'm not afraid of hard work," she said softly, allowing a suggestive twist to come to her lips. Just hints, just suggestions: you couldn't push someone like Takashi into trusting or liking you. He had to think it was his idea. "But as Naien and Lily have pointed out, I don't have much to offer as a former priestess." The words hurt to say. "What did you have in mind?"

[Justin OOC]

Takashi reached out with his good hand, cupping her chin with it, and smiled. "You have more than you realize, I can feel it. Arrangements can be made for you to prove as much.."

He looked to Naien. "Take her, get her cleaned up, and then bring her to my quarters. I will test her myself."

He looked to the prisoners. "Unless you object and wish to remain here with the powerless princess?"

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Get her cleaned up and to my quarters. I will test her myself. Oh, Skye knew what that meant, usually. She’d heard dozens of variations on that in the past. Of course, she could be pleasantly surprised, but she wasn’t really counting on that. In her experience all surprises were eventually unpleasant, even if it wasn’t immediately apparent how.

Skye snort delicately in reply to his question. “Yeah right, get stuck here any longer with that stuck-up bitch?” she sneered. “Do you know how many times I’ve heard ‘you won’t get away with this, you betraying bitch’ since Naien left? I’m pretty sick of her now. I am so ready to be out of here.” She gave Takashi a warm smile and reached up to put two fingers on his wrist. His pulse jumped under her sedate touch; even with the silk of his formal kimono between them, Skye could feel his mounting heart rate. Though her eyes were on him, she heard Naien’s angry gasp. That tell from the fox-woman was noted and hidden away for later. “Give a lady a hand up?” she murmured, her voice warmer than her smile and husky with apparent desire.

Takashi slid his hand off her chin and under her hand, steadying her while she modestly rose to her feet. Every tiny denial here only made him want more from her later. Skye tried not to think about that, but she was slipping into the role. Just like on Bazaroth, she had to make it somewhat real, and that meant pretending she wanted this. She let her fingers caress his as she stepped back from him, though her eyes were still on his face.

[Justin OOC]

He smiled. "Yes, yes I think I have ideas for you." Naien coughed and smiled. "Yes of Course Naien, please take her as I said." The young Hiroga took skye's hand abit forcefully and led her from the room, through a maze of corridors to a secure room, with a large bath. "Strip and bathe."

------------------

In the room Takashi looked down to Lily. "Played with the collar did you?"

He smiled wickedly. "I wouldn't do that. It will bring Hizashi or me right to you, if the shock doesn't kill you. If you do manage to remove it, it takes at least an hour for your powers to resurface. But you won't see it, because it contains enough pentaglycerine to vaporize you. Don't think it will affect my ship. I made this little prison dimension just for you. There's no escape except through me."

He kicked her. "I want you to know something."

He kicked her again. "You could have prevented all of this, had you chosen me instead. Instead you hid, and went after that little pretender. Now your entire empire burns. I could extinguish the flames with ease, but I won't."

[SalmonMax]

Lily was silent during Skye's actions...partly because she wasn't sure what to think, and didn't trust herself to make the right call...and partly because the kick against the wall had hurt, really hurt, and she didn't want them to hear pain in her voice.

Once Skye was led out, Lily managed to sit up again and look up at Takeshi.

"So here we are, just the two of us," she said. "Only I've got a suppression collar on. You do me honor, Takeshi, to fear facing me at full strength."

[Justin OOC]

"You have a collar, primarily because I don't want you teleporting around. I don't think you can escape, but I'm not willing to gamble."

He smiled to her, slapping her across the face. "You're bait after all. They'll come for you, and they'll die, just like Masane did."

He smiled. "Do you know what it's like to feel part of your soul die? Kai does. All Masters do, that's why most take only a few champions."

He looked down at her. "This way, here and now, you can finally know what it's like to suffer."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

“Strip and bathe.” Naien crossed her arms and leaned back, staring at the priestess.

Skye nodded and started to shed the kimono. She didn’t let it fall all the way off as she turned to the tub and began to fill it with water. Instead, it draped down her arms and bared her shoulders and much of her back. “So what’s Lord Takashi like?” she asked suddenly, glancing at Naien.

“You’ve seen him,” Naien spat. “You want to join him, don’t you?”

“Well,” Skye drawled out the word, “join with him, certainly.” Naien’s jaw clenched and Skye turned so that Naien wouldn’t see her smirk. The warm water trailed over her fingers as Skye tested the temperature coming out of the faucet. “I want to know what he’s like in bed.”

Naien turned her nose up at her. “I don’t serve Lord Takashi that way.”

“Really? All this time and with the way you’re devoted to him?” Skye asked, blinking at her and looking a bit surprised. “I would have thought he would have seen your feelings… but maybe you’re not his type.” Skye favored Naien with a cruel smile disguised as friendship. “You know… you might want to wax your upper lip. He might not be into fur.”

[Justin OOC]

There was almost no sound as Skye felt impossibly strong fingers wrap around the back of her neck an instant before her head impacted the wall of the shower. "I will be watching you. What he is into or not isn't relevant. He's happy with my service, and I owe him my life. That's all that matters to me."

She pulled back. "You only have value for your beauty and value as bait for your friends. He will use you and discard you."

"I knew Tsunami's grace once, then I began to question, and she left me. I watched as my race was used by the empire to fight their battles, We died in pointless battle with Satoshi, while the Federation made its own way into the system. I was sent in to recon, and try to negotiate peace, then the princess got involved, and I died defending those I was watching, including the princess."

"They didn't spare any thought to me, and my soul was nearly extinguished. Only my Guardian kept me alive, and Takashi found me. He revived me, and since then I have served him in his rightful pursuit of what's been denied to him."

[SalmonMax]

"Finally?" Lily repeated, dumbstruck. "Do you really think THIS is the first time I've suffered? Or even the worst? Takeshi, this is nothing compared to the burdens in my heart."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, sitting up with her back against the wall.

"You may go," she said to him graciously, drawing on half-remembered courtly instruction. "Enjoy your time with your pet traitor."

[Justin OOC]

Takashi took hold of Lily and held her aloft. "Perhaps that is so, little princess, but it will not be the last. If your father survived the destruction of the Flagship, he will never recover. Your friends will die, and you remaining siblings will be my slaves, if i let them live at all."

He punched her twice and then tossed her to the floor. "Consider how horribly you have failed them."

He left her there in the room and the door closed, leaving her surrounded by endless white.

[z-Skye the Fallen]

“Actually,” Skye said, rubbing her forehead and checking her fingers, “I’d say it matters a lot.” She showed Naien the red smear on her hand and turning so that the Hiroga could see the welling cut on her forehead. “You can talk big, Naien, but its bothering you that I have a shot at being more than just another lackey to him.

“As for being discarded… well, let’s just say it hasn’t happened yet,” Skye said. She let the robe slide down her body, showing off her beauty. “I’ve always left men and women wanting more – more love, more sex or just one more attempt to defeat me once and for all. And they’ve all failed. Demon, man, woman – all took what I had to offer and couldn’t get enough.”

“My master defeated you,” Naien sneered.

“I didn’t mean on the field of battle,” Skye replied with an arrogant smile. She stepped into the tub and sank into the warm water, each movement a taunt to come and claim her. “To you, you think the only victory is to see your enemy lying in a pool of their blood. But I know that true victory is to have an enemy stand at your side, to look at you with desire and to come to trust you. Then you are safe.

“I know that after a while, all problems look like nails and all solutions like hammers. Maybe if you understood that, you’d be in this tub, bathing for the pleasure of Lord Takashi, and I’d still be in the cell.” Skye splashed water over her shoulders and back before picking up the soap and washcloth. “Poor Naien. Such a good little lackey, doing everything right, and still not loved. I pity you.”

[Justin OOC]

Flashing Yellow eyes narrowed, and Naien looked at her. "At least I have power, little priestess. "Without your patron, or your toys, you have nothing but your body."

She leaned in close to her. "If you hurt him, I will come for you, and The last thing you see before the light fades from your eyes will be my fangs around your heart."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

"Oh, Naien, you really are a clueless little fuzzbucket, ain't ya?" Skye said with a grin. "No wonder you're only a lackey. You can't envision being more; to you, there is only one kind of power. So you slavishly try to be better at biting things with your precious little fangs, and in the end, what you do for Takashi is no more and no better than what your people do for Lily's family.

"No wonder the Hiroga are slaves to the Empire. You guys just love to find someone else to serve, kind of like a big, dumb Labador."

[Justin OOC]

The young Hiroga snarled. "The day will come Skye, when sharp words fail you, when your soul recognizes the truth, and you are stripped of all protection."

"I will enjoy watching it. Now finish up, He won't like to be kept waiting long."