Post by The Madness Menagerie on Mar 13, 2021 12:13:29 GMT -5
OOC Reminder: Anything in italics are in Zephyr's head and the world around her can not hear them. Any of Mia's speech inside her head are in italics and right hand aligned.
“So this is where you want to start things off? With her?”
Belle wrinkles her nose disapprovingly as Zephyr enters the room, freshly showered and done with her workout. “Yes. Mia is the key that they’re holding over my head. If I’m going to make ANY headway in this battle against The Institute, on any kind of level, Mia needs her body back.”
Belle shakes her head again. “Ok, I get that. However, what about everything else you’re putting at risk?” Belle gestures around her home office Zephyr had insisted they put into Mac’s house for her. Granted it wasn’t anything more than an office chair, desk, and fancy computer with a filing cabinet on the side, but it was Belle’s. It made her feel professional. Truth be told Belle enjoyed the feeling of being home. A feeling made complete by Zephyr, who was trying to pick a fight with an evil and probably deadly cult, all in the name of her sister, Mia, who was half voice in Zephyr’s head and half physical being named “Cheshire.” A sister who has attacked Belle on more than one occasion. Belle huffs, her emotion getting the better of her. “Need I remind you that whenever Mia is around one of us is attacked? The last time she came around you almost didn’t come back to me. The time before that?! She attacked me. Zeph, can you REALLY blame me for being jumpy around her?”
Zephyr shakes her head, tired of the same argument and now with the bonus of having Mia inside of her head to witness everything.
”I’ve apologized! Not only that but I took a boom boom for you. If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t be having this conversation and would probably still be in mourning over your loss.”
Zephyr blinks. “Woah, harsh.”
”But true. And you know it.”
Belle’s eyes narrow dangerously. “WHAT did she just say to you Zephyr? I know that look! Don’t think I haven’t been able to figure out when the two of you are having one of your conversations in your head! Do you KNOW how difficult it is to talk to people about our relationship? ‘HI! My girlfriend has her older sister stuck in her head and is a professional wrestler. No worries though! She’s going to fix one of those issues by firing blindly at a FUCKING CULT. People have died from less Zephyr, I’ll make you watch the documentary again.” The last words are spoken in a low and dangerous growl, a sure-fire sign to Zephyr that Belle was not in the mood.
“You do know she saved me the last time you saw her right?!” Zephyr’s voice raised an octave. At this point, she was practiced at keeping her temper in check around Belle but some of the effects were almost comical. If Belle hadn’t already clocked Zephyr’s anger at a high level. She wasn’t going to back down though and Zephyr knew that. “THAT’S what she said. She wanted me to remind you of that because if it wasn’t for her?! WE…” Zephyr gestures wildly between the two of them. “Wouldn’t be having this conversation right now and you would still be mourning over my body. Now…” Zephyr stops herself, suddenly very much aware of what she just said. She chances a look at Belle. Her lip quaked as the tears started flowing down her face.
“How DARE you…”
Zephyr holds her hands up suddenly wishing she was anywhere else but right here, right now. “Belle, I… It was what Mia said. I…”
Belle holds up her hand. “Save it Zephyr. I’ll be sleeping at my parents until you figure out what’s more important YOUR life or your sisters’. Don’t pretend that you want to see Su again. I see it in your eyes…” She meets Zephyr’s gaze and Zeph quickly breaks the stare. Truth be told, the business between the twins was far from over in Zephyr’s eyes.
”She doesn’t get that though…”
Zephyr shakes her head unwilling to have two conversations at once. “Right, that’s what I thought.” Zephyr watches helplessly as Belle gathers up some of her belongings and stuffs them haphazardly in her suitcase. She pulls out the handle and stomps over to Zephyr before her gaze softens and she caresses Zephyr’s check. Zephyr falls into the embrace and smiles before Belle removes her hand, the look in her eyes expressing a sense of deep sadness.
“I get it. You want closure from them. It’s just…” She pauses as she closes her eyes and then looks back up in Zephyr’s eyes. “You’re borderline obsessed when it comes to them. You think that you’re the only one in this battle when in reality, you could probably sit back and watch someone else take them out. You have a history though, I get that. But Zephyr, I…” Belle pauses and then takes Zephyr’s hand and places it on her chest, just over her heart. “Think about what you have right here, with me. For the first time in several years, I feel home as I enter here because that’s where YOU are. Think about the possibility of our future what things might come to us… Think about that and then form a plan. Maybe Silvio can help out, I don’t know. But Zephyr, remember that you have a family if you just accept us. Please don't lose us.” She casts a pleading look at Zephyr, who remains stoic and stone-faced. Sadly, Belle takes a step back, letting Zephyr’s hand fall back to her side. The two meet each other’s gaze one last time before Belle grabs her suitcase by the handle again and proceeds out of the house she calls “home.” Closing the door behind her, Belle’s body shudders as she gives in to the heaving weight of sorrow, her sobs only masked by the howls of anguish inside the house behind her.
Later...
“This whole thing feels weird, I have to be honest with you.”
Zephyr Quinn stands in her trademark hoodie on the Baltimore boardwalk, the horizon behind her on fire by the sunset. Nothing fancy, her back is to the horizon as she addresses the camera. Because of the waning hours of the daylight, the boardwalk was next to empty, so people gathering to listen to Zephyr were minimal.
“When The Institute debuted in Carnage I was ready. SO ready to take them on. Some things have happened and it’s only NOW that I finally have a chance to get my hands on one of them. I dreamt of this moment, lost sleep over it, planned, changed the plans, and then planned some more. I obsessed to the point that I lost track of what was going on in the world around me. I was put in a coma and when I came back?” She smirks.
“I came back with a vengeance. I formed a kinship with Trent Steel through violence. I kept my word to a King and if I were a betting person? I’d say that particular road hasn’t been traveled far enough. I want you again King if you’re listening. One on one. No distractions, no excuses. I picked the stipulation the last time so let’s see what YOU have in mind for our next dance.” Her eyes come alight with monstrous energy, the kind you only feel from a predator excited for the prospect of a fresh hunt. Losing herself to the image of a future battle Zephyr falls silent until one of her onlookers coughs. She blinks and snickers.
“But that isn’t for right now. The here, the now, is SuccSucc. Hereby deemed SuccSucc because I don’t respect you enough to name you. I grew up around you SuccSucc. We were the closest thing to what The Institute could call ‘friendship’ if they even knew the definition of the word. I don’t say this to make you remember all those happy times SuccSucc, we’ve both made our choices and I know damn well, just like you do, that neither of us is switching sides. No… The final chapter of my war against The Institute doesn’t end with you. It ends with Cassandra, it ends with your complete and total eradication from the fabric of humanity itself. You are the first rung on the ladder at the top sits your destruction. I WILL get there SuccSucc. Bring Inky with you and we’ll make it a party. I don’t care.”
She looks pointedly at the camera lens.
“I care about making you turn tail and run from Carnage. I care about making sure that you are not the cause of any more pain and suffering, especially when it comes to my near and dears. SuccSucc, from here out, I don’t give a damn about the past. I give every damn about my future. As Carnage’s conscience, I’ve learned to care about its survival. You are cancer that needs to be excised before you’re allowed to spread further. Consider this your eviction notice. This match? Your appointment to be cast out. At Chaos, you're not just stepping into the ring against a former experiment from your bosses. You're stepping into MY ultraviolent domain. I've stood toe to toe with the best this company and I've walked out the other side. When you're looking at me from across the ring, you need to remember a few things. One, I have no respect for you. Two, I don't treat things I don't respect nicely. Three, I am making it my goal to take your entire operation out one by one.”
Zephyr winks at the camera and feels a sob rising in her throat like bile. She gives the signal and the cameramen stop rolling. Listening to the waves behind her, Zephyr watches the crew gather their things before departing, some of them bidding her a good night. She knew most of them had families to get home to and thinking about that, led her to think of the cold and empty house that the house Mac had left her had become. A place that she felt hopeful ages ago now only holds reminders of Zephyr’s mistakes. The number of walls she had to put up after Belle left her to keep Mia from intruding on her thoughts astounded Zephyr. She managed though and now she was just enjoying the sounds of the boardwalk.
“Belle…”
Her voice trembles and she turns to the ocean, watching as her tears depart and join the massive body of water beneath her. Zephyr wanted Mia out of her head, desperately at this point. She’d do anything and the times she had had with Belle while Mia was in her head were all spent trying to keep Mia from intruding. Belle could tell Zephyr was under a lot of stress, they talked about it enough for them to both know where the other stood. But…
Zephyr sighs, a shaking breath trying to regain its strength. She opens her mouth to say something to no one but stops herself. Belle’s voice echoes in her head, each word stabbing at Zephyr’s heart.
”Nothing to do, but to do.”
It was Belle’s favorite saying to tell Zephyr when they were trying something new and Zephyr hadn’t been able to find a reasonable way out of it. It was Belle that pressured Zephyr to try karaoke for the first time and found that Zephyr has an amazing singing voice. It had been Belle to teach Zephyr that sometimes, it was ok to let your guard down.
And it was Belle that taught Zephyr what it meant to mean something to someone.
“Nothing to do, but to do…”
Zephyr smiles sadly, shaking her head. “Of course that’s our takeaway…” She sighs. “Fine… I’ll focus on SuccSucc and then figure out what to do after that once I get there… Please wait for me, Belle…”
Her plea goes forth out onto the water before, lost to the winds blowing off the water. With a quivering sigh, she raises her hood to obscure her face and walks away with her hands deep in her pockets; a trail of tears following her all the way home.