Fantasy DIFFERENT BODIES ⋮ SAME SOUL | ( *starboob && syntra )

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

'Of course. Of fucking course,' she thinks as she cranes her neck upwards to watch the two godswords duke it out because of a stupid broken orb. Liora definitely does not comprehend the importance of the Myaensa to the swords, but clearly Declan is upset about it with how she screeches at Haenel. The woman may have tried to do something to reign in the owl from destroying this place, but with all the clones of her past self and Inna's past self materializing out of the chaos, she has other things that are competing for her attention.

Like watching this weird scene where Ivy betrays Vie? Liora can't tell whether this is real or not, but if it is, she wonders if this is the reason that Vie had gone so far as to kill her best friend, the woman she deeply loved. So desperate to cling to the idea that Vie, and by extension herself, are not wicked cold blooded killers, she allows herself to believe that perhaps this is the very reason that the stupid idiot lost her life. 'Serves her goddamn right.' (Of course, being killed over some hallucination you had over soup seems ridiculous, but if it truy fucked up their mission she can understand why Vie would have acted in such a way. At the same time, she does have some awareness that she is trying to grasp smoke with the delusion presented to her––after all, she does know that when Vie had killed Ivy there had been no warning or confrontation.)

Vie merely looks at Ivy with a gaze of indifference, clearly having shut off her heart to the one who has betrayed her trust. "Fame? Glory? Is that truly all that is on your mind? I care not for what tales are told of our deeds––you have threatened the very nature of our quest and that, I cannot forgive," the woman says, her voice carrying all the weight of a storm ready to sink even the greatest city. "You know what happens to those who cross me," and with that, yet another fight breaks out in the collapsing labyrinth with Vie drawing her blade and summoning an army of the undead to unleash on her friend. "This can end in peace or destruction. As a former friend, I give you that privilege of choice."

Now the drama happening right in front of her is enough to hold her attention––so much so, Liora doesn't really want to tear her eyes away from it at all; after all, she wants to see how this ends, but at the same time it's difficult to focus on the scene before her when all those other Ivys start circling around her. As they start addressing her as Vie, pretending as if they are all... well, not okay with the incident, but they do not unleash hellfire on her like she may have expected; in fact, they act as if what Vie had done was a mere inconvenience. Yet that's exactly what drives the knife into Liora as she realizes, or she thinks she realizes, exactly what happened following Vie's betrayal. "I––get off of me! Don't fucking touch me," she shouts as the Ivys start to tug on her sleeve and guide her to somewhere. She yanks her arms away, but her struggle is mostly futile because whatever location they are trying to drag her to emerges right in front of her. The image of the tombstone only feels worse, because she knows she hadn't even given Ivy that––not the real Ivy, anyway. "That... I didn't... I didn't fucking bury you at all!" she says, kicking her foot through the illusion. (How is that admission supposed to make anything better? This is not a truth she can shield herself with.)

(Water starts to fill her lungs, then; the feeling of drowning as she descends into the ocean creeps through her body even though she can still see all the Ivys in front of her and she knows she is nowhere near the bottom of the ocean.) "I-I tried to find you so that I could––" she sputters, salt water starting to spill from her mouth. (Liora hardly knows what she is saying or what is happening, but this mixture of fact and fiction blend together in the most confusing cocktail imaginable.) "You deserved better," she coughs, "I'm trying to give you better now, why can't you see that, Ivy?" (Where is this place she's speaking from? She doesn't know, but it's fighting for control of her damn body!) She wretches up more salt water, choking as it spills out of her lungs in a seemingly endless supply.

Meanwhile, several Vies start to circle Inna with a glint of curiosity in those ruby eyes.

"My oh my, look at how you have grown, Ivy. I truly never thought you had this in you," one says, admiring her transformation and going so far as to stroke those horns protruding out of her skull. "I thought I was the wicked one between the two of us, but I suppose this transformation was only inevitable. My predictions are never wrong."

"Shall we thank you for that nasty little injury you have given us?"

"May it be a reminder of everything you severed. Of everything you destroyed."

"Does the thought of knowing you have marred us excite you?"

"You know, we wanted to believe in you, Ivy. We really did. For you always believed in us, but now I am not so sure. Your soul seems too far gone," another says from behind Inna, whispering into her ear. "How is it being in Eysjalanatshael's service? She is a cruel mistress, as I recall."

 

[Syntra]

'Former friend?' Ivy repeated, hurt shining through her voice. 'What do you mean, Vie? I still love you. Besides, friends forgive each other, don't they?' ...yeah, maybe friends who didn't have the emotional depth of a goddamn rock! Not wanting to witness the conclusion of this clusterfuck, Inna turned away. (Like, why should she watch another iteration of 'Ivy Gets Killed For Bullshit Reasons'? The shtick was getting old awfully fast, and a story whose ending you could see coming from a mile away could not hold her attention. Obviously, Ivy had only ever existed as a cheap plot device-- a footnote in Vie's fucking CV, probably described as 'my source of angst/shitty character development.' She had never fucking mattered at all, aside from managing to die in the most dramatic way ever! Hollywood would have loved that shit, really, except they would have retconned them into gal pals because the general audience's single fucking brain cell couldn't comprehend two women possibly being anything else.) 'Vie!' Ivy cried out, her voice pained. 'Vie... we... didn't get to do so many things... I wanted to get you a puppy, remember?'

The Ivys surrounding Liora, one the other hand? One by one, they burst out in laughter-- each in a different moment, however, so it sounded downright surreal, with their voices bleeding into one another. 'Oh. So that's how it went down, huh?' the Ivy in the middle managed to say. 'That explains a lot, I suppose. It's why I never managed to find peace. Don't you know, Vie? Graves are anchors. They show you the way, when you're dead and lost, and help you remember who you were-- help you remember where you are meant to be heading, too. But, oh, silly me! Of course that you are aware. You were the one who taught me all of this, after all. Still,' she smiled, 'I do appreciate the gesture. Ah, that's my Vie! Knowing how much I loved the Earth, you found a way to let me stay. Even if... even if I didn't deserve to live, apparently.'

'Yeah, sounds much more comfy than hell,' a different Ivy rolled her eyes. 'I mean, did you have to do that? I guess I understand, and I don't mean to complain, but it does seem a bit unfair. I'm sure you had your reasons, though. My Vie always knows best!' All the Ivys agreed with the conclusion, or at least it looked like that-- they grabbed each other's hands, you see, and formed a human circle around Liora. 'Vie knows best, Vie knows best, best, best, best!' they danced and sang, somehow managing to miss every single note. (The cacophony bore into her brain, with all the subtlety of an electric drill, which... oh. What was that? This chill that ran down her spine, along with the sensation of something materializing behind her, just outside her field of vision, and-- yep, it was a knife! A sharp, sharp knife pressed to her neck, by an entity with glowing hands. 'Trying to give me better,' a different Ivy mocked, her voice wrapped in false sweetness. 'Better how, exactly? By making me self-destruct this time around? Poor, poor future me! Oh, I don't envy her at all, Vie. I, at the very least, got to die like myself. Like human. What about her, though? Stripped of her principles, stripped of everything that made her her, and, in the end, slaughtered like a pig by some noble demon hunter. That's the fate I foresee for her, my dear Vie. Are you proud of yourself for managing to keep your hands clean? For staying out of this? Well, newsflash-- you still pushed her there. You aren't pure, and never will be. So, pray tell, why shouldn't I slit your throat right here and there? Give me one good reason.'

Inna, meanwhile, watched with wide eyes as countless Vies straight up infested the area-- like a swarm of mosquitoes, really, determined to drink her fucking blood. "W-what," she stammered, retreating by a few steps. "You fucking started it, Liora. You, and nobody else! I was just..." What, defending herself? How? Via slicing her face apart during their brief entente? Inna knew that to be a lie, lie, lie-- it wasn't like there were any redemption points to be won for mutilating her, or something silly like that. E-keysmash hadn't offered her any extra reward for it, either. No, the demon had done it because she had wanted to! ...because, deep within, Inna had reveled in her pain. 'You hurt me,' something in her roared, 'so suffer now, too. Till the bitter end.' And Liora's face, oh shit, her stupidly pretty face-- "Don't fucking lie to me," Inna shrieked, covering her own face in her hands. (When she'd been a kid, this had been enough. Cover you eyes, the blonde had thought, and they wouldn't see you, either. Silly, right? ...in a way, she guessed she'd never stopped believing it. Why else would she keep running, running and running, to the point her feet were covered in blisters? From her past, from Liora, and now from herself, too. From all the things she had and hadn't done, really.)

"You never believed in me. Fucking never, so don't even dare to use that stupid word!" (Because, if they had, then this was, indeed, her fault-- hers, as opposed to Liora's, and that... shit, that would crush her. No, no, no, no! Inna had fucking pledged herself to that demonic bitch because she had had no other options, and anyone claiming otherwise was a filthy liar. Liora had chased her onto her arms, in cause you hadn't realized! Basically forced her to embrace her back, too, and then condemned her for the """choice""".) "You're just trying to get into my fucking head," the demon shouted. "But, guess what? It's occupied, bitch, because I'm already there. So, why don't you try to kill me, as you always have? That's what you're here for, right?" Tears were shining in her eyes as well, but through her rage, Inna didn't see them. (What did she see? Nothing at all, in fact.) "Fucking do it, then. At least you'll have a damn good reason this time! Spill my fucking blood, and choke on it for all I care."

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

The Ivys, whether they are fake or real, continue to all torment Liora who has reduced herself to a ball on the ground with her hands pressed tightly over her ears. Not that that does anything to stop the words from worming into her head and echoing so loudly inside of herself she cannot hear herself think. She cannot focus on the guilt bubbling up from her stomach, the guilt that tastes like salt water that she continues to wretch out of herself in intermittent spurts. It never actually causes her to drown or lose her breath, but the feeling is so jarring she struggles to remember that this is all an illusion of some kind. Some sick and twisted illusion that has everything about their situation wrong! (Well, not entirely. Ivy is right about so many things, but the way she twists the narrative does not feel right. It does not feel like Vie's actual reasons and somewhere she can ground herself in that.)

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she cries out, not daring to let any tears sting her eyes. She won't cry over nothing. She won't cry at all. This is not the truth. This is not the end of the story and she fucking knows it! She doesn't know where the end to this story is or even what it is, but she knows that these Ivys are lying to her. (Maybe because they don't know any better or maybe because each one is the manifestation of her own guilt that has fermented over centuries and unleashed only when Vie was reborn as Liora.) "That's not true! I had to––I had to––" she continues to sputter, the words to the story getting lost. (Before, the words had come to her easily, she knew with clarity what she was saying but now that is all gone. She doesn't know where they are or why Vie has left her hanging once more to despair over her own guilt.) "I'm not Vie! So stop fucking taunting me with this shit, because it's not my fucking burden to bear!" She stands up then and swipes her hand through one of the dancing Ivys in front of her and she watches as the illusion only glitches before going back to her original form. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, fuck!'

Then when this new Ivy––one that feels full of hate and rage and everything that Vie deserves––emerges from behind her, she stills. Everything she says feels like acid against her psyche and she knows with certain clarity that these may be illusions but what they are feeling is incredibly real. Whether from this universe or another, they all have something to gain by attacking her present self like this. Perhaps they are looking for peace? With the way the knife is pressed to her throat, she certainly believes that that is what they are seeking, since Vie didn't even have the fucking decency to bury them and give their souls a proper home to rest. "I–I didn't mean to, Ivy. I'm trying to fucking save her stupid fucking demonic ass," she blurts out, before she can even think about these words––which only proves their veracity. (She only swore off the demon earlier in anger; deep, deep down within herself she knows her soul is dedicated to Ivy, now Inna. She knows that she will not give up on her no matter how many times that demon tests her––she never meant it when she said she didn't give a shit about Inna. But what does that regret matter now with this knife pressed to her neck and digging into her skin?) "I know it's my fucking fault, okay? I shouldn't've of fucking killed you––I should have told the truth about it too, I know this my fucking fuck-up, okay? What the fuck else do you want from me you stupid fucking bitch?!" she shrieks, grabbing the blade with her hands, not caring that it digs into her palms, slicing them open, as she forces it away from her neck and then scrambles from the circle of Ivys.

"Leave me alone," she says, swiping her hand through the air as she backs away and then turns around only to see that this dimension is rapidly crumbling. More holes are opening up in the ground below them that it looks more like fucking swiss cheese than anything else. Declan, even, confirms the state of this place when she calls out to her wielder, 'Run, Liora.'

And Liora needs no other invitation than that, but when her eyes lift again she spots Inna in distress surrounded by all of those Vies. She doesn't know what they are saying but the blonde looks fucking pathetic, if she's being honest.

"Oh, Ivy, how could we ever not believe in you? You are the one thing we ever had to believe in in this rotten world," one Vie coos.

"What ever would we have to gain by killing you? Is that all you believe we are here for? Hm, the fault is not your own, but––"

Whatever this next Vie is going to say is cut short by her present self. In that moment Liora bursts through the apparition and shouts at the others, "Go away!" And surprisingly, they do. They all disappear in smoke and the woman looks at Inna. With her face split, throbbing, and caked in a mixture of fresh and dried blood she has no reason to save the demon. This can end with her disappearing, but she knows that is not the choice she is going to make. Upset as she is at Inna for using their temporary truce to cut her down, she is not allowed to die again. Not while Liora is around to prevent that outcome. So she touches the demon's shoulder and before the blonde can even protest, they're taken from the labyrinth back to... the mansion? Well, the front yard.

Liora doesn't take more than a minute to stare at her former friend. She only stays long enough to mutter, "Bye, I guess," before she disappears to head back to the safety of the villa and the Mistress.

 

[Syntra]

The one thing the Vies and Liora had in common? Being in love with their own fucking voice, apparently, because they just wouldn't shut up! Like, what did Inna have to do to earn a few seconds of blessed, blessed silence? Pierce her own eardrums? A small price for escaping her guilt, perhaps, except the blonde knew it wouldn't work-- like some disgusting fucking parasite, it had crawled into her, and laid eggs in her stomach, and shit, they'd hatched in no time! Worms were writhing inside of her now, burrowing deeper and deeper into her flesh, and biting, biting, biting their way through. So, how to get them out? The answer, as always, was delightfully easy. You fucking couldn't, duh! Not without killing the host, at least, which actually happened to coincide with her interests pretty well. Scorched earth tactics, bitch! ...or scorched Inna tactics? Eh, it wasn't like stupid word games had any bearing on literally anything at all. "Shut up!" she wailed. "I don't fucking want to listen to you. Just do what you've come to do! I'm fine with it, bitch, so you can save the cheesy villain speech for someone who fucking cares. I'm a believer already, trust me. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" And, frankly? Inna expected this to work out. Yeah, yeah, Fate usually did do everything in its power to sabotage any and all wishes the demon had ever had, but she figured that it could make an exception here-- since, you know, it related to her self-destruction. Wasn't that what it had been trying to push her towards, step by step? Well, congratz, bastard! Take your goddamn high score and fucking go.

It turned out, however, that Fate was an indecisive bitch. The Vies disappeared in a puff of smoke, just like Inna's hopes of ever leading a normal fucking life, and instead of them-- oh, shit. Oh, fuck. Liora herself! (Well, she thought, at least I'm still getting what I want, I guess. It's just accompanied by a goddamn plot twist. After everything she had done to her ex, after all, what else could she be planning? Somehow, the blonde sorely doubted that she was about to hand her one of those 'best friend in the world' mugs. ...okay, then. Why not? It was sorta fair, Inna could recognize that, and besides, those Vies had already fulfilled their Ivy-killing quotas. Liora hadn't had the chance to take care of hers just yet, though, so her getting her turn only seemed fitting!) Shuddering, with tears still streaming down her cheeks, Inna closed her eyes. (This wasn't how she had imagined their epic showdown, but eh! At least she'd be lucky enough not to die in some embarrassingly pedestrian way, such as being killed in a car crash, or via her own poor dietary choices, or through getting an English literature degree and fucking starving as a result. Oh no, no, no. Turning into a demon and then being murdered by someone who had murdered you already sure was, uh, fresh. Stuff of fucking legends, indeed!)

For some reason, though, Liora joined the ranks of people who refused to grant her wishes. Instead of the steel Inna was awaiting, there was a light touch on her shoulder, almost as gentle as a kiss, and... uh. What the fuck, mate? If there were to be any teleportation shenanigans involved, the blonde would have guessed that Liora would yeet her into an active volcano, or perhaps into a bottomless pit, or... or anywhere, really, that was synonymous with 'death sentence'. The place she found herself in, though? It was perfectly fucking safe! (Why? Just, why? The woman had offered her countless olive branches, and she had used every single one of them as a stake to drive into her heart, and, and, and!!! It just made no fucking sense, kinda like it made no sense to say that 1 + 1 = green.) Utterly baffled, Inna stared at Liora-- with such intensity, really, as if she was some kind of code she was trying to crack. An enigma, not a target to destroy. (The wound had split her face apart, yes, but she'd never looked more beautiful before, which... shit. How the fuck did this attraction thing work, even?! Who had pushed that goddamn button? It wasn't supposed to exist anymore! The power should have been cut off, the light bulb fucking smashed, and the whole room should have been drowning in darkness. Still, still the electricity sizzled, though! To the point it almost blinded her.) "Liora, I..." Her former friend didn't seem all too interested in what she had to say, though-- at least judging by the speed with which she high tailed it out of there. "...thank you," Inna whispered to the trees swaying in the wind.

***

The park was Anette's idea. Anette was tall, blonde, and apparently used to getting exactly what she wanted-- which, at the moment, entailed feeding ducks. (Feeding ducks, yes, but also Liora. Why else would she have invited her out, after all? She'd been rather enthusiastic about it as well, sending her roses and shit. An old school romantic, one might say.) "Oh, look, Liora! Aren't they adorable?" the woman grinned as she threw a few pieces of bread into the pond, and watched the animals engage in what seemed to be a duck version of WWIII. "Can be pretty vicious, though. I think, however, that that's what I like about them. It gives them some... hidden depths." The blonde smiled at her, in this mysterious way, before shoving her hands in her pockets.

"So, what's her name?" she asked, oh so casually. "The one who has stolen your heart, I mean. No need to lie to me, Liora. I have eyes, you see, and I am good at using them. Clearly, I don't have your full attention." Theatrically, Anette sighed and patted Liora on her shoulder. "Let me guess. Did she leave you for someone else? If you wish, we can talk about it. Sometimes, it helps to share your worries with a complete stranger! I may offer... hmm, a perspective you wouldn't consider on your own. What do you think?"

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

Arriving back to the villa had been a shitshow in and of itself. Liora knew it was going to be that way, but she really had no other place to turn to following the disaster with the Myaensa. She doesn't actually remember much about her first night back because after the Mistress had met her outside the estate and seen the injury slashed across her face, the entire place went up in dramatics. Liora had quickly been swept into the infirmary while the Mistress's healers did their best to mend the wound. Of course, "healers" being a relative fucking term and what they really should have been called were "advanced first-aid certified bozos." Because none of them used fucking magic to heal her; apparently gifts like that are not common (so that Inna and Liora can heal each other (or could) is a big fucking deal). Instead, they just did what they could to take away the pain, clean the injury, and dress it. The Mistress then had tried to give her some lecture on Inna's corruption and how this all was further proof that she cannot handle her powers, but honestly? Liora hardly listened. Though she did appreciate the Mistress's understanding when she revealed what happened to the Myaensa; especially since she had not blamed her or even told her that she should have tried harder. So she supposes that was a nice change of pace, but overall her arrival back hardly meant anything. About three days later she told the Mistress she was leaving and there was nothing she could do to convince her otherwise. Surprisingly, the masked woman let her leave, despite the disappointed look that shone through that flimsy cover.

Since, Liora has been keeping herself busy with other things having decided that her life as a young adult novel protagonist is over. She hasn't even really practiced her magic or paid any attention to what is going on in the magical world. The Mistress sends her updates, of course, but those have been left unread. That's just not her life and it must have been a fucking mistake that it ever had been. So instead of saving the world, instead of trying to live by her mother and gain that approval, she's been burying her head in books. Test prep books, actually. She's decided to pursue her dream of becoming an architect, because, hey, if the world is going to fucking end in four years, tops? Might as well pursue the last shreds of her dreams and maybe try living for herself for fucking once.

Studying is actually how she met Annette. The blonde had offered her a seat at her table at some crowded coffee shop near Liora's new apartment and then later offered to buy her another coffee. Though Liora had not planned on the interaction going beyond that exchange, much to her own annoyance, she had not gotten much studying done that particular day. But the conversation ended up being nice and when Annette asked for her number? Well, she had felt slightly about guilty giving it away––despite being single and definitely not dating a certain demon––but entered it into the woman's phone anyway with the hope she wouldn't actually text her. But she did. And continued to do so, sending her sweet goodmorning and goodnight messages and slowly Liora could sort of start to see some potential in her––even if she doesn't know Annette's last name or family background.

So, somehow, with a fresh and healed scar across her face, she finds herself at a duck pond––having only agreed to meet her here because she had finished her studying for the day. She takes a hunk of the bread and tosses some into the crowd of ducks and watches as they all fight as though their lives depend on it, but judging by the size of these things? Liora hardly doubts they're starving. "They're alright, I guess," she says not really looking at the blonde. This sort of reminds of when her and Inna had shared a picnic by a lake once; and how Liora had to save that stupid idiot from drowning. ...She wonders if feeding ducks is something Inna would be into and if she'd have more fun were that blonde here instead of this imposter.

Annette seems to pick up on that line of thought and in that moment calls her out, which causes Liora to blush as she tears off more pieces of bread. "I––what? There's no one, I promise," she says, meeting the other in the eye this time. How can she even explain her three minute relationship that is also about three or so centuries long to a stranger? To someone who is normal. "I just, um... My brain's just fucking fried from trying to cram random fucking words into my head for the entrance exam. I mean, who the fuck needs to know the definition of the lachrymose?" she rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Besides, I told you I wasn't really in the mood to go out. If you're not happy, you can fucking find someone else to feed ducks with," she says, none too kindly either. She doesn't really care what Annette thinks about her... or she does? She isn't really sure and she also isn't sure of what she's doing with her or where this is even supposed to head. Like, if she takes whatever this is too serious what if they end up at a fucking chapel tomorrow? Okay, that's a little dramatic, Liora knows this, and while she knows she should probably put herself out there since it's been only God knows how long since she's had any romantic action (sans the three minutes with Inna), she just doesn't even know how to do that. (Even if Annette is all but offering her an opening.) "Ugh, crap, sorry––I suck at this shit, okay? I just... It's complicated and do you really want to fucking talk about that? Like, that's not exactly what you're supposed to talk about, right?" Because Liora sort of interpreted this as a casual date what with all the roses and all, and from her online research, while talking about exes is a lesbian tradition, most articles still recommended to avoid the topic if possible.

 

[Syntra]

A shadow crossed Anette's face then, and for a second, her gaze felt downright searing-- embers in a hearth, really, or perhaps flames from a dragon's mouth. The moment came and went, though. "Oh, Liora," she smiled, so sweetly it could give fucking cottoncandy a run for its money. "You don't need to be doing this, you know. This whole 'pretending to be strong' shtick is unnecessary, I think. We've all had our hearts broken! When I was in high school, for example," the woman tossed more pieces of bread to the ducks before sighing wistfully, "I believed I was dating the love of my life. Yes, yes, I know! Silly dreams of a silly girl. Still, for me, that didn't make it any less real. I did her homework for her, and practiced writing her name in the prettiest of fonts, and one day, I even planned our wedding. Doves and rainbows were involved! How cliche, right? But then," Anette's smile widened, which gave it this sharp edge, "it turned out I actually killed her in her past life. Whoopsie daisy, indeed. I guess you could say she was my Inna?" Tendrils of dark smoke rose from her hands then, wrapping themselves around Liora-- their touch felt like nothing at all, and yet she might as well have have attached a goddamn boulder to her wrists! (How come that she couldn't move? Even blinking was an ordeal, and, uh... oookay. More importantly, why the fuck did her teleportation work about as well as the Soviet promises to command the weather? That was, not at all!) "The difference between you and me, Liora," Anette flashed her another charming smile, "is that my story is made up. I'm not into crazy shit like that. Well, that, and I don't believe I can escape my fate. Did you you really think you could just forget it all, sweetling? Too bad, though, that your life didn't forget about you. There are those who would like to meet you, you know. I'll take you there, alright? I hope you like interdimensional trips."

Anette raised her arm, and snapped her fingers, and the darkness sank its claws into Liora-- deeper and deeper they went, straight into her soul, and when it got there? It yanked her downward, with all the gentleness of a bulldozer. The earth beneath her feet rippled, too, as if it was nothing but a surface of a pond, and allowed her to descend. ('Welcome home, Liora,' a tiny voice whispered. 'Home, home, home! When will you shed this ugly shell, though? You won't make any friends like this, wearing a mask of a stranger.' 'Vie! Vie, do you still like sunflowers?' 'Blood is everything, child. Don't you dare to forget!' '...over and over again, foolish one. You cannot escape the pattern. Do you think such a thing is possible? It was drawn long before you crawled out of your mother's womb, drawn with your shadow, and you cannot cut it, just like you can't cut your own bone. That is the truth you've been seeking. Now, what shall you do with it?' 'Vie! Vie! Vie! What is it like, being Vie? Always, I've wanted to know!' The cacophony grew stronger, strong enough to push Liora out of her own head, almost, but before that happened? The curtain fell, and she did, too.

...the ground felt sharp, as if it was covered in glass shards. The air tasted sharp as well, like thousands of needles stuck into her nose, and the light, oh, the light! It burned, brighter than any fire she had ever seen. Slowly, as her eyes got used to the high contrast, they finally began to discern shapes-- shapes that resembled... bars in a cage, probably. Duh. (It could never be a comfy fucking library, could it? Oh no, the ~doom vibes~ just weren't intense enough.)

"Sorry, Liora," Anette shrugged. (Naturally, she was standing on the other side of the bars, which made her apology appear much less genuine. And her smirk? Yeah, that wasn't fucking helping anything, either.) "It was nothing personal. I mean, I just didn't want to get devoured. Surely, that is a relatable enough motivation, isn't it? Plus, I didn't even lie to you. I truly do adore ducks! Just, a tiny pro tip: next time you're on a date, try not to look as if... hmm, as if the girl you're trying to woo reminds you of moldy bread. I'm not that well-versed in the human culture, but these things seem like a certified Bad IdeaTM!"

"Ah!" Someone clapped, and, sure enough, it just had to be E-keysmash. Wonderful, really. "Liora, my dear. You have no idea how happy I am that you decided to visit me! After the Myaensa fiasco, I have to admit I was... unhappy, but since then, I've seen the light. There is no point in blaming a worm for not being able to appreciate the radiance of the sun, after all! It isn't your fault that you were born without eyes. Actually," the queen licked her lips seductively, "you wouldn't be able to use them, anyway. The Creator gave you exactly the skillset you need, and that, my darling, is dying in a fairly useful way. What do you say, Liora? Will you grant me some of your blood? It's not like you're good for anything else! And, with your blood as fuel, I shall be able to open the most wonderful of portals."

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

This isn't the worst date that Liora's ever been on, which is saying something given that the sparks between these two seem to be mostly formed out their own ire rather than out of mutual interesting and pining. But there is nothing better for Liora to do with her time so she supposes this is not a complete waste, especially if it does help her check off that "Married by 35" goal she's had. It's just hard putting herself out there after Inna. Like call her a loser all you want, but those really were the best three minutes of her life and the weeks leading up to it had been something out of a romance novel... Sort of. If anything they at least made Liora feel like she were living those over exaggerated experiences. (Like, holy shit, she really had not known that kisses could be so enjoyable and breathtaking. She half wonders if this Annette chick could get that reaction out of her––)

'Wait, what the fuck did she just say?' and before Liora can review the obviously fake story based on her own goddamn lives, tendrils of the night itself are wrapped around her wrists, snaking up her arms so that she cannot move. What's worse is that she cannot access any of her abilities and she has the half hope that it's just because she's out of practice, but she knows that is not the case. This feeling that her powers have been sealed off is an all too familiar feeling, one she wishes she knew how to hack but according to Declan that's, "Advanced magic, Liora. You still haven't mastered the basics. Until you're a basic bitch, no advanced spells!" She is going to strangle that owl if she makes it out of this fuckshit alive. "Jesus fucking Christ," she manages to say, exerting probably more effort than she should just to say those three little words as she pulled straight through the earth.

This kind of travel is not her fucking favorite. At least with her teleportation it doesn't feel nearly as disconcerting. She doesn't have the exact words to describe it, but it's hard for her to pinpoint whether she's falling down or up or left or right, it just feels like she's passing through something. What's more is that she cannot see in front of her––either her eyesight has gone from her or this fucking channel is darker than that stupid shade of black that that stupid fucking artist patented for himself! The voices too also throw her off-kilter and cause her to feel misplaced as she struggles to even struggle against their words or the bonds that are pulling towards some exit point. She wants to yell at them to shut up, but at certain point they're so loud in her ears she cannot even concentrate enough to open her goddamn mouth.

Thud. The woman groans as she lands on the glass earth, moaning in pain not only from the impact but from the sharpness of... well, just about everything around her. "What the fuck," she mutters, trying to sit herself upright at least and failing to do so on her first attempt. At first, she's convinced she really has lost her vision with how bright everything looks; it's all but fucking stabbing her in the goddamn eye. When she recognizes the cage and that stupid fucking woman on the outside of it, she wants to launch herself at her and tear her fucking throat out, but that little trip seems to have taken a lot out of her––not to mention her powers are still fucking sealed off. (She hadn't realized how much stronger they had made her up until now and maybe she would have felt good about how much she has grown in that regard had the realization come under different fucking circumstances.)

"Fuck you, Annette," she spits, somewhat in disbelief that this bullshit had managed to find her when she clearly sent in her goddamn resignation papers like a fucking week ago! "I'm going to shove fucking nails in your eyes the minute I fucking get out of here, I fucking swear to god!" Yeah, apparently being betrayed by a potential romantic interest that you actually had about -12 degrees of attraction to still fucking hurts!

To make matters worse, of course, the queen bitch herself arrives with all her faux-pleasantness that makes Liora want to throw up all over her. She glares at the queen, arms crossed over her chest as the other's words sear into her. (Vaguely, she wonders where the fuck her loyal fucking lap dog (Inna) is, because usually the two are together, no? And if she's not here... Then where is she? It's not like Liora still cares about the woman who mutilated her face––saving her life at the end of their last meeting was just... Just what any hero would do, not that Liora considers herself a hero per se. And not that Liora can really say her sole reason for saving the demon had anything to do with morals, but everything to do with still caring for her... still deeply wanting to believe in her even if it ultimately gets herself killed. Ugh, she does not need to be thinking about this right now. What is E-keysmash saying?)

'Right. Just the usual useless fucking worm speech.'

"Don't you ever get tired of hearing yourself fucking speak! It's like nails on a goddamn chalkboard, you fucking twat," she hisses, not at all cowering from what will be her fucking death. Like she's going to die, she made this realization about 42 seconds after landing in this cage and realizing she is back in what Haenel called "Hell." So what's the point in groveling? Pfft, Liora isn't that fucking pathetic and if she's going to go out then she'll go out in all her bitchy glory. (Now she wishes she had worn something better. Like, yeah she is dressed up a little bit since she was presumably on a date and it's definitely better than being caught in pajamas, but still... Maybe she should have gone with her Valentinos instead of her Pradas? A weird thing to consider, but, hey, when on death row don't fucking judge!) "Seems like if you're so fucking great the creator or whatever should have made you more special. Or maybe she knows you're a little bitch who can't even open a stupid portal! It's not that fucking hard."

 

[Syntra]

It hadn't seemed possible before, but somehow, the queen's grin only widened. "Hmm, hmm. Still haven't picked up basic manners, have you? But I suppose that, considering your circumstances, I should be happy that you are speaking at all. Rats driven into the corner are known to bite, after all!" In the background, Anette laughed hysterically, as if E-keysmash had just dropped the best fucking joke in the entire world-- it was hard to tell, really, whether her sense of humor was this abysmal or her fear or the queen this great. (Could she be, like, dreading the possibility of being beheaded for not kissing her ass passionately enough? Perhaps. If you googled the phrase 'picture of stability,' you didn't generally find E-keysmash's portrait within the first fifty results, and with crazies like her, you could never be careful enough.) "Still, Liora, I have to applaud you. It must take such a great strength of character to struggle when you just know you are about to die! And in such a shameful way, too. Like, imagine having to die solely to further your enemy's goal-- except that, whoops, you don't actually have to imagine anything. For you, that will be your reality. Just, wow. Couldn't be me! Pray tell, Liora, what is it like? Forgive me for being this inquisitive, but rarely do I get the opportunity to speak to such a stupid, useless bitch. Therefore, I feel like I have to ask all the important questions while I still can!" With her brain flowing out of her ears, you see, the human would be much, much less... hmmm, communicative. Yes, that was the right word.

"Worry not, though. I won't sacrifice you immediately. The stars need to be in the right position, and the moon as well, so you have five to ten days left, give or take. For that, you can thank Anette-- she was a little too to eager kidnap you, it seems." With the arrows of fake sweetness now directed at her, the demon visibly jolted.

"A-ah, I can explain, most revered queen," she bowed her head. "The bitch is basically a nun. Like, it's so hard to get her attention! I spoke to other mortal worms while gathering info about her, and I have heard so many horror stories. Legends, even. You wouldn't believe how many nicknames they have for her! 'The One Whose Phone Number Cannot Be Received,' or 'The Great Rejector.' She's not even studying there yet, so this is especially excessive. Taking that into account, I, uh... started building our relationship in advance. I didn't expect her to fall for me so soon," the demon combed her hair with her hand briefly, "but what can I say? I'm just too fucking good. Anyway, with her being so slippery, I figured it would be better to secure her now, rather than later."

"Oh, I am not chastising you," the demon queen smiled. "Good job, Anette. For today only, you shall be entitled to my most loving ministrations. Even so," she continued and her gaze landed back on Liora, "this leaves both in an unpleasant predicament. Simply put: what should I do with you now, my darling? I cannot damage you too much, but I do think you deserve a little something in exchange for being this rude to your one true queen. Besides, just allowing you to rot here would be such a terrible, terrible waste! We don't have captives often, you know," she pursed her full, flawless lips. "Usually, we are too direct for petty games like that. There are so many options, though! Would you like to serve your sisters, Liora? Last time, you seemed to be getting along so well! But, oh my, you have such pretty skin. Perhaps I may take some of it instead? I don't think your corpse will be using it, and it's always better to take it off a living woman. Fresher, anyway. Do you have a preference between the two? I'm not a tyrant, despite what you might think. Always, I take the subject's will into consideration!" Carefully, the queen surveyed her face-- what was she looking for, though? Fear? Desperation? Whatever it was, E-keysmash didn't feel like sharing the truth of it with Liora, and whether she found it or not remained a mystery as well. "Although," she said, her eyes shining with triumph, "there's a different option as well, now that I think of it. Something much sweeter. Innushka? Innushka, my princess!"

...did Liora expect Inna to emerge from behind the queen, and bury her in insults? If so, then she was wrong. Quite wrong, in fact. In the cell in front of her, something rattled-- the glass shards sang as they were being moved around, almost like a wind chime, except that sharper, and... oh. Oh, there she was! Covered in thousands of tiny cuts, Inna rose from her glassy grave. (She was pale, translucent, almost, but that wasn't the most worrying aspect of it. No, not by a long shot. What was worse was that something was moving beneath her skin-- many of little somethings, actually, as they traveled god knows where. And when the blonde finally opened her eyes? They were gone, with two small mirrors shining in their stead.)

"Yes, yes, that's my Inna," the demon queen cooed. "You see, Liora, discipline is important. Without it, you get unruly bitches like yourself! And I can't have that, now can I? Which is why I'm punishing Inna here for her last fiasco with the Myaensa. Still, I'm thinking that perhaps I went too far," E-keysmash rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "She's a little too drained, my poor little half-breed. Alas, her human side is still too strong! I thought that it would be eradicated by now, but, indeed, your kind has been blessed with the endurance of roaches. Disgusting. Would you like to feed her, then? I shall allow it, if you find some purpose in the act. As I said, I'm not a tyrant."

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

Yeah, Liora has the idea that E-keysmash really does love to hear the sound of her own putrid voice. (Actually, it's not that bad. It's entirely pleasant but when everything that comes out of her mouth is an insult that she doesn't even bother to hide? Hard to find any pleasure in getting lost in that particular sea of song.) It really surprises Liora that this monarch doesn't understand that to have any meaningful power over your subjects, they have to believe they're your subjects in the first place. Half-demon or not, Liora does not recognize the demon queen as her own so she doesn't really think she needs to be respectful to the bitch. (Now, is that to say that if Liora did recognize E-keysmash as her queen that she would swear fealty and be an obedient subject? Undoubtedly! But, in Liora's world, she is more human than demon so she abides more closely to human rules than demon ones and thus is more loyal to the human rulers.) "A stupid, useless bitch that you still fucking need so really how fucking useless can I be, hm?" she growls, glaring at the queen with such intensity she can see it making Anette uncomfortable in the background. 'For a not tyrant she sure as fuck acts like one.'

For the most part, Liora ignores a lot of the queen's questions if only because they seem more rhetorical than anything else. She doesn't really think she is going to get much of a choice in this matter even if she were to share her opinion on what is to happen to her for the next five to ten days. "That's a real fucked timeline, do you not know how to fucking read the stars?" Not that Liora does, but her stupid astrology-brained sister used to babble on and on about different upcoming transits and the exact dates and times at which they would be conjuncting with her own chart, blah, blah, blah. Useless bullshit really, but from that she at least know the stars have a pretty fucking stable trajectory. "With how many idiots I've run into and killed, I'm not fucking surprised that you all are stuck in this shitty fucking dimension. Maybe you should try getting a fucking education." Because if the queen is going to insult her for being stupid then she may as well do it right back! That's never failed or backfired. But, like, she didn't graduate summa cum laude from Yale for nothing. Like, how many stupid people manage that! Check fucking mate, bitch!

That faux-bravado, however, disappears entirely from the woman's face when the demon bitch mentions Inna. Her heartbeat echoes in her ears reflexively and she even takes a half step away from the bars to her cell. Maybe frightened that Inna will be pissed off at her for saving her life (once again) the last time that they had met. (It's not like Liora could help it though––yes, it absolutely crossed her mind to leave the bitch in that crumbling dimension, but when she saw the look on the demon's face? She swore she saw Inna through all of those tears and she just couldn't bring herself to leave her behind. It didn't feel right. She still stands by her decision, but since then she has been avoiding her magic prophecy responsibilities in fear of running into the blonde again and facing her wrath. Totally uncharacteristic of the woman, but Inna tends to be a loophole in a lot of her structures and rules. Besides, having her face sliced open had been and remains a powerful fucking message that she is nothing to the demon––because apparently the blonde hadn't thought severing their link was enough. To see her again, to face that all over again, she just doesn't think she's strong enough to take that. She won't admit it, but she is broken and waiting for this world to sweep her away. It seems that it about to happen soon, too.)

Nothing, unfortunately, prepares Liora to see the shell of the demon sitting in the cage across from her. Inna was already fucking pale to begin with so seeing her so ghostly, is a shock and catching those... things crawling beneath her skin? That also concerns the woman––not to mention her eyes, eyes she kind of wishes she had appreciated more when they were still hers to look into, are fucking gone. Her hand goes to cover her mouth as she gasps, "Inna..." and then, a few seconds later, "Inna!" She presses herself to the bars of her cell, ignoring how they dig uncomfortably into her skin––she doesn't care if the demon wants her dead anymore, because she looks fucking dead herself and that overturns the rest of Liora's logic. Despite her powers being sealed away, she can feel the demon inside of herself stirring as rage fills her belly and threatens to spill over. Even so, it's not like the demon can break free without being able to feed on her power, so E-keysmash and Anette are spared her wrath. Somewhat.

She looks over at E-keysmash, trying to burn a hole in the queen with her gaze alone. "What have you done to her?!" she barks, once more ignoring the question that E-keysmash has posed. Though she's knows it's futile, Liora shakes the bars of the cage trying to get closer to her former friend, even if she isn't certain that that's a particularly good idea. "What the fuck are those things under her skin..." The longer she stares at the demon, the more her resolve seems to break. Seemingly defeated, she meets the demon queen's gaze and her previous fire seems to have gone out, replaced by pathetic desperation. "What does she need?"

 

[Syntra]

At the beginning, it had kinda hurt. Yep, just kinda! As someone who had had her fucking heart shattered, over and over again, Inna happened something of an expert at judging pain, and this was, like, 6 out of 10. Nothing to get too excited over, really. (Blah blah blah, body horror this, blah blah blah, losing one's immortal soul that-- only edgy Lovecraft fanboys thought that this was a big fucking deal. Like??? Technically speaking, surgery was body horror as well, and yet nobody but crazies got too pressed about some rando rearranging your fucking organs. Hmm, hmm! The anti-demon bias was a powerful drug, truly, and also one that made your brain rot faster than fucking tomatoes in the sun. And as for your soul? The worthless trinket had never done literally anything for her! One would have said you'd get a discount in, like, churches and shit, except that they didn't really sell anything there. So, once again, Inna had to ask: what was the goddamn point? Losing it was like losing a coupon that couldn't be redeemed, which, wow. How would she ever recover from such a blow, hmmm? Surely, the blonde would spend her nights crying into her fucking pillow!) Anyway, it was okay now-- okay-ish, at least. (The issue, as it turned out, was in drawing these unnecessary boundaries. Like, who cared where they ended and where Inna began? Pfft, how childish. How anti-communist, too! When you stopped insisting on these artificial fucking differences, you see, you had an eureka moment-- several of them in a row, to be precise. If you shifted your mindset a little bit and considered yourself a part of one big, glorious organism? In that case, this counted as a win. Inna, for one, welcomed her new demonic overlords! ...or was she the demonic overlord? With her providing the housing and whatnot, and them engaging in... worker bee shit, the blonde guessed. Yeah, that narrative suit her just fine! ...just gotta make a few tiny adjustments here and there, and she'd be good to fucking go. Not having eyes, for example, could be seen as a drag, but in time, Inna would invent about 3844733 different reasons as for why this was a fucking improvement, actually. Perhaps the aliens could read your mind via your eyes? Oooh, that would make it a great defensive measure!)

...hmmm. Did someone call her by her name? Like, someone other than her beloved queen. (The concept of 'her' was quickly becoming less and less relevant, much like actual printed newspapers in the age of the fucking internet, but vaguely, Inna still remembered-- it meant that, at some point, she'd been alone. Not Inna and co., but just... Inna. Wow. How come she had managed to exist like this? A girl vs. the world was such a tired fucking trope, and rarely did it lead to a happy ending. Like, there was a fucking reason fighters were separated by their weight, you know? And a girl who weighed like 56kg vs. a planet which weighed... uhh, a lot more kg.... clearly wasn't fair!!! No, Inna Orlovskaya was way happier with her... her new friends. Yes, friends! So what if they demanded a lot from her? All relationships were transactional in nature, dammit-- some people wanted to be paid in time, others in validation, and others in one's very essence. In other words, nothing unusual to be seen here!)

"Oooh," E-keysmash chuckled before turning to Anette, "look at the poor little dear. She appears upset! Like, I am not great at reading humans, but these signals appear to be rather easy to decipher. What do you think? As my leading expert on human-related things."

"Ah. Um. She... certainly appears upset, my queen," Anette said as she studied Liora's face, with the same kind of emotional involvement that you'd expect while appraising an old renaissance painting and not when, you know, talking to a fucking person. Like, she was right there! "Look at her eyes. Do you see how much they widened? Her nostrils did, too, and that usually speaks of great distress."

"Why, though? Isn't it kind of pathetic to worry for someone who obviously doesn't care about you? Although..." the queen smirked, "I suppose that would be on brand for her. Yes, I imagine worms don't generally have a lot of friends. Was losing Inna such a big deal to you, my dear? Why, you could have joined my organization as well! Before you outed yourself as a useless bitch. Anyway, what I've been doing to your former partner here... is obviously personal. I am under no obligation to share, for you don't need to know. Luckily for you, however? I am merciful! Way more than you deserve, in fact. I suppose I can spare some information." E-keysmash smiled, and revealed a row of perfect teeth. "Inna here, thanks to her connection to Ivy, has lots and lots of energy reserves that she cannot really access. Such a waste, isn't it? I decided that using them to feed her sisters would be the most beneficial strategy, for everyone involved. It seems they're linked to her sense of self, but pfft! Who even needs that when you have me to serve. Right, Inna?"

Mechanically, as if a string was attached to her neck, the blonde nodded. Why not, after all? The queen asked something of her, and everyone knew that the queen's word was the law.

"A little boring to be sure, but at least I don't need to suffer through her remarks," she waved her hand dismissively, as if chasing away a mosquito. "I don't know about you, Liora, but I very much prefer Inna when she's silent. There are way better uses for her lips, I think! But, again," E-keysmash sighed, "my fatal flaw is that I am far too kind. I can recognize when I've gone overboard. To prevent permanent damage, she could use... energy transfusion, basically. Ideally from someone as similar to her in disposition as you are. I can unblock your powers selectively, for that reason alone. Don't even try to do anything else, because it won't work. So? Would you like to give up a piece of yourself to get nothing in return? Surely, you won't be able to reject such a... hmmm... tempting offer." Something new flashed through her eyes then-- something that wasn't amusement, contempt, or outright malice. (Could it be fascination, perhaps?)

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

The two demons may be talking about her as if she were a mere science experiment that requires careful observation and study, but Liora isn't paying attention to that. Even if she were fixating on their criticisms or observations, she's not exactly new to the whole talking about her when she's right fucking there ordeal. For Liora, that would be just another day spending time with her mother and her catty friends. Her focus is obviously on none other than the blonde. Even if she's not moving or saying much, the woman cannot help but to stare at the demon. She doesn't even need to wonder how this happened, because she knows how this happened. It started with a cold blooded murder in their past life and truly fucking launched when Inna had figured out Liora had lied about said cold blooded murder never being a thing. In that respect, this is her fault. All those Ivys in the labyrinth had confirmed it too. They were right to be angry with her. Inna may have made some fucking poor decisions, but that's just who the blonde is––her entire life is probably made up of them, and even if Liora can acknowledge that it doesn't mean her hand didn't change the nature of the blonde's path.

If she had just apologized instead of getting defensive...
If she had never lied to Inna in the first place...
If she had never murdered Ivy all those centuries ago...

This never would have happened to Inna. She hasn't even said a word and Liora can already tell that she's so far from herself a mirror wouldn't even be able to show her reflection. The worst part? (As if this entire situation isn't the worst part.) Liora can't even do anything to stop it. She knows what it's like to never be enough, she knows what it's like to be powerless––those experiences she is intimately familiar with, but when it comes to not being able to do anything to aide her former companion, she's never felt lower. Like she's sunk straight through the Earth and is now on her way to finding the bottom of the universe. The realization alone is almost enough to bring her to her knees, but leaning against the bars to her cell prevents that. Still, it's obvious that she is slack against them.

Her hollow eyes meet with the demon queen's own as she catches only the important snippets of what she is saying. Though it's not easy for her to concentrate and to be honest E-keysmash sounds like she's speaking through a body of water. Liora tightens her fists around the bars of the cage and straightens herself a bit; she bites her lip, too, which helps her bring her attention more to these important details than following the outlines of all those things crawling under Inna's skin. When she does process what the queen is saying, she almost wishes she hadn't listened at all, because she cannot stand the thought of knowing that Inna is being taken away. All the things that make her Inna are being devoured and all Liora can do is watch––then it hits her that her last days in this stupid existence are going to be spent without the Inna she has come around to enjoy and cherish. (Yeah, maybe six months ago this development where Inna finally shuts the fuck up would have been cause for major celebration, but that Liora had never been forced to give Inna a fair chance and this Liora, the one trapped in "Hell," has so she really isn't pleased. No, she's devastated and the weight of it might kill her before E-keysmash does.)

"You've ruined her," she mumbles, not even bothering to add a classic you bitch. That fact has already been established and Liora just doesn't have it in her to snap. "She's more than what she can do for you and you've completely... ruined that." Ugh, it's like she doesn't care that the more she says the more pathetic she becomes. 'My little light,' she thinks, knowing Vie had called Ivy that long ago and she gets it; the term of endearment, she thought, had been disgustingly over the top but she gets it now that the light seems to be gone entirely from Inna. Like just looking at the demon makes her feel hopeless.

It's without question that she'll give a piece of herself to Inna. She doesn't know that it will restore her at all, she doesn't even expect it to, in all honesty. But that doesn't even matter to her. It's not even to pay back what Ivy had given Vie, because nothing can ever repay all the debts that Vie owes to Ivy, it's just out of pure principle. If she can do something, she will. Inna is her responsibility, in a way, and she's been shit at taking care of her so if this is the last thing she can do to care for her, she will. A thousand times over, plus more. "Just... yes, let me transfer some of my energy to her." She'd honestly give it all to Inna if it meant she could return to her old self. Maybe she will, one last fuck you to the demon queen and her stupid plans... If only she could ensure that wouldn't cause Inna more grief later on. (Who would have thought the notoriously shut-off Liora Trihn would ever care about another person; and so much so that she would sacrifice a piece of herself for this person.)

 

[Syntra]

"Ruined her? More than what she can do for me? What is this, some strange soap opera that you human worms adore so much?" E-keysmash raised her eyebrow, not even trying to hide her amusement. "Pffft. Let me share a secret with you, Liora. It's not like you'll actually get to use that wisdom in practice, granted, but perhaps you'll at least realize the foolishness of your ways. You know, so that I can feel like I've contributed to something meaningful! Opening people's eyes happens to be a hobby of mine, in a way." As she spoke, the queen's gaze never left Liora's face-- it bore deeper and deeper, in fact, just like those things writhing under Inna's skin. (Was she hoping to read something from her expression? Some hidden nuance, perhaps, that the half-demon wouldn't share on her own? Many things were written in one's face, after all, and Liora was turning out to be much, much more interesting that she had anticipated.) "The truth is, my darling, that nobody matters beyond what they can do for you. Nobody. Inna knows this, too! Do you think that she joined me because she agrees with my political views? Don't be stupid. No, your little friend here desired revenge, and knew that I would be able to grant her that gift. She also knew it wouldn't happen for free, mind you, and accepted the price. Do you think that she ever liked you for a more complex reason?" ...because, oh, wouldn't that be interesting! (Such a poor, poor little soul. For all the profanity that stained those exquisite lips of hers, she was actually... a little bit naive, wasn't she? A dove more than a serpent. Like, who even believed in relationships unironically these days? From her brief studies of humanity, the queen had concluded long ago that they were terribly fickle creatures-- in one moment, they were swearing you fealty, and in the other, they were brandishing a knife. Promises of love, oh so sweet, turned to poison in their mouths! Everyone knew it, too. Why, then, did Liora of all people suffer from such a severe case of sentimentality? ...hmmm, hmmm. Most interesting, indeed. As long as it worked in her favor, however, she wouldn't complain. Oh no, no, no. If the woman wished to be used, than that was exactly what she'd get!)

"No, my dear. Inna, too, was only ever faithful to you because you gave her what she needed, at that point in time. Do you want a proof? Why, then look no further than into her eyes! What happened the second the bad outweighed the good, hmm?" E-keysmash asked, oh so innocently, as if she didn't know the answer already. "She discarded you. Easily, in the same way you'd discard shoes whose soles have become too thin. Does it not upset you at all, knowing that your friend doesn't seem to reciprocate this strange loyalty of yours?" E-keysmash smiled then, and perhaps it was the only genuine smile she had ever shown to Liora-- it was all edges, razor-sharp, even, with no sweetness in sight.

"But, very well. It is your life, and also your essence. I shall not criticize your choices, stupid as they are. Innushka?"

Inna, too, only heard the queen's voice faintly-- she spoke directly to her fucking heart, though, and so there was no need for her to understand her actual words. Deep within, the demon knew what her mistress wished already! ...and, of course, her wish was her command. So, seemingly unprompted, Inna rose from her pile of glass. (Every single movement of hers looked scripted-- fake, somehow, as if an alien who had no idea how people actually walked had seized the control over her body. Even those poorly programmed Bethesda NPCs seemed more alive than Inna in the moment, really.)

"Innushka," E-keysmash smirked, "come out. I will not punish you if you do. In fact, I command you to leave your cell! I have a gift for you-- or rather, Liora does. Do you remember Liora?" With her vacant eyes, she looked at the woman, and... nothing. There was no flash of recognition, no quiet gasp, no hint that this name, among the sea of others, had once meant anything to her. (Could she really have forgotten...?)

"No," Inna confirmed, her voice carefully neutral. (For all the emotion in her tone, she might as well have been talking about weather, or perhaps her favorite color. ...actually, the name sorta reminded her of it? Her favorite color, that was. Her favorite things in general, the blonde suspected, except she wasn't sure what those were. Not anymore, anyway.)

"Eh," E-keysmash waved her hand, "it's better for you that way, I think. No, really. Certain things just aren't worth remembering, are they, Liora? And it will be... hmmm, more pleasant for her to exist without that knowledge. Anyway, Innushka, would you be so kind as to approach your colleague here? Just get close enough to the bars."

(Surprisingly, it turned out that Inna's cell wasn't locked-- it couldn't have been, for the door responded to the slightest nudge of hers easily. Something much more sophisticated than a mere lock must have kept her there, then! ...her own mind, probably. Or rather, the lack of it.)

"There, a little closer! She needs to be able to touch you, you know. Now, that's enough, my dear. Good job. You may stop here. Liora will take care of the rest, won't she?"

If Inna thought anything of it at all, it didn't show on her face. No, it remained completely expressionless-- almost like a photo, frozen in time. (An irl screenshot, as the blonde might have said, when she had still been capable of coming up with such phrases.)

"Alright, Liora. What you need to do is to kiss her," E-keysmash explained, so sweet that it would straight up kill the average diabetes patient. "I believe you can do that? I mean, you proved that the prospect doesn't seem disgusting to you in the past."

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

In all honesty, what the queen says is nothing new to Liora. After all, she used to view dating as a means to climb the social ladder; even the shallow friendships she had maintained during her school years involved only keeping the crème de la crème in her inner circle. Being a bitch may have driven people off on its own, but when you had a name like hers and, more importantly, a mother like hers, she learned early on that people are pawns and thus you should only keep those you are willing to sacrifice. So the queen isn't imparting new wisdom onto her like she may be thinking, but applying this tried and true wisdom to Inna specifically? Inna, who defies all of Liora's strict rules and beliefs? She cannot accept that Inna is just a thing to be used––in Liora's eyes, she's an actual person deserving of consideration and care. (And she's probably the only person that Liora really regards as deserving such things. Her own sister couldn't and can't even draw out such thoughtfulness from the woman. Inna is different. In every aspect.)

Though as the lecture continues and the queen offers Inna as an example of how people only use people, the lights seem to leave her eyes. The last threads of hope she had been holding onto snap, even though logically, she knows, she shouldn't've prayed on threads to keep her safe when she'd already been hanging over a 100 foot cliff. Somewhere she already knew what E-keysmash is saying to be true; somewhere she knew that Inna despised her so much that she was willing to sell herself to this bitch for a chance at revenge; which means, to a certain degree or all of them, Inna consented to all of this. Just to make sure Liora perished. Well, it's working and hearing it said aloud only makes it real. Liora's face falls and her chest tightens, making her breaths shallow and causing tears to sting at her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. If she can just make it through the end of this interaction, she can at least save some of her dignity, right? Well, she has to, because she doesn't want to be remembered as the useless bitch who cried over a demon that doesn't even care about her.

Who doesn't even remember her, apparently. Which means she probably doesn't remember any of the good times they shared together––granted, the moments were still few, but they meant the world to Liora at the time and they still do. But she's the only one who remembers them and that just feels lonesome. She supposes she knew that one of them would die without this ever being resolved––she just sort of planned for that to happen later. But life is a bitch who doesn't wait for when you're ready, so... yeah, her last days existing are going to suck, she imagines dying by the queen's hand is going to be just peachy, and none of that will hurt more than knowing Inna hates her fucking guts and did until the very bitter end.

Watching Inna move so mechanically, like she really is a thing to command, is torture in itself and yet Liora, perhaps a masochist, cannot tear her eyes away. It's not lost on her either that Inna had only remained in her cell because E-keysmash had ordered her to and that is just so unlike the fierce blonde she knows that it really is like looking at an empty shell. A husk. And she knows, without a shadow of doubt, that Inna wouldn't have wanted to watch Liora suffer as a mere bystander in her own fucking body––so she's not even going to get her end of the bargain she made. Liora doesn't even have the energy to think that this serves her right, because she's too damn caught up in remembering how to fucking breath. Each step that Inna takes closer to her feels like a punch in the gut and she's so close to flat out hyperventilating––again, the only thing keeping her together is her stubborn desire to not crumble in front of an audience.

"Inna," she whispers, once the blonde is stopped in front of her. There are so many things that she wants to share, that she wants to spill––apologies, promises, reminiscing––but none of those speeches can be said to a walking corpse. Not if she wants them to have power and she does, so she'll have to make peace with all the things she never got to say to Inna (her Inna). It's her own fucking fault too. "Inna..." she repeats, reaching her hand out to stroke her cheek, careful to not put too much pressure on all the cuts that cover her skin, even if she knows the action is meaningless. Her hand rests at the nape of the demon's neck and she takes her time studying her former friend's features that really don't represent her former friend at all.

The thought that she'll have to kiss her in order to help fills her entire body with an ocean that threatens to spill out of her eyes once again. And just as before, Liora closes her eyes and bites her lip to prevent that outcome. She just nods and pulls the shell of Inna closer to her. Just as their lips are about to touch, she mumbles, "I'm so sorry this happened to you––I hope you're still in there," and then closes the distance. This kiss doesn't feel like any of the others they've shared.

 

[Syntra]

She seems so sad, Inna thought, distantly. Why does she seem so sad? This Liora, or whatever her name was, reminded her of those people in the mental health awareness posters-- you know, the ones who looked as if they were about to crumble, and only shelling out 1000 dollars per fucking minute just to be able to say 'I have the Big Sad' to another person would save them. A fucking miracle of the modern medicine, truly! (...hmm, hmm. Had it been her who had called her by her name before? She seemed to know it, and since there weren't many other people stuck in the dark cells, it was a safe guess to take. Once again, though: Why? Why would literally anyone use her name? The queen liked it, the blonde knew, 'cause it rolled easily off her tongue, but other than that, it was fucking pointless. An old version of a shitty operating system that was no longer supported, really. Inna Orlovskaya, you see, had been just a tiny drop in the ocean-- a single fucking tear that had thought it could extinguish the sun. And, surprise, motherfucker! It couldn't, since that wasn't how this shit worked. Now, however? She wasn't alone, and there was fucking strength in numbers, and... and the Pokémon evolved, too. It had been a cause for celebration, back when Inna had still played those games, so it only made sense for her to be fucking proud of herself for leveling up as well! ...it wasn't like there was anything to be missed about her old fucking existence, anyway. Most of it was shrouded in mist now, but the stuff she did remember? Yeah, not something she'd describe to her potential biographer as 'the good old days.' Nope, 'my nightmare inspo' would be way more accurate!)

The woman then proceeded to touch her. Yes, her! It honestly came off as a shock, mostly because everyone knew better than to do that. The queen was... hmm, territorial, for a lack of a better word, so the blonde was ~off limits~ for anyone else. A few dumbasses had found out the hard way, and since then? Why, E-keysmash enjoyed the luxury of her exclusive fucking access! ...not that Inna minded, of course. Being chosen by the queen herself was an honor greater than someone like her deserved, especially with that pesky human heritage still attached to her name. How gracious of her, indeed, that she was willing to see past her tainted blood! ...like taking in a stray kitten, really. For that alone, E-keysmash could do whatever she wanted to her-- for that, and for giving her a home as well. (So what if it was sharp and cold and not fucking comfy at all? That only made it better, since in Inna's mind, it was a part of the package. Would you complain about getting free ketchup to go with your fries, for example? No? Well, then you should probably know that suffering was kinda like ketchup! The contrast made you appreciate the good parts properly, you see, and besides, if they hurt you at home first, you'd be better equipped to deal with heartbreak later. Practice made perfect, as everyone fucking knew. Who were you to argue with science, huh?)

Anyway, moving the fuck on.

The hand felt cold and soothing against her cheek, not at all like the queen's fiery touch-- always, always she set her ablaze, in myriads of different ways, and so this was... new. Comforting, like a lullaby she'd forgotten ages ago. Chasing after the sensation, wanting to hold it for just a little while longer, the blonde leaned into it. (She was allowed to do that, right? The queen had commanded her to approach the woman, so presumably, she could also do whatever she wanted to her. It hadn't been said explicitly, but everything was happening with her mistress' blessing. If a boundary was crossed, Inna knew, she would snap Liora's neck! ...for some reason, however, the blonde didn't want her to do that. No, not at all. The woman seemed like a good person to her, and she didn't deserve to suffer. In her heart, she also knew it to be true, even if the source of that information was somewhat suspect, and that was because... because...)

Except that then, then her brain just straight up shut down. Liora's face was getting closer and closer, and fuck, her lips especially, which... didn't really make sense? Like, her lips were part of her face! Of course they were getting closer, duh-- that was like saying you liked apples, especially the edible parts. Concentrated fucking nonsense, really. Anyway, her eyes did dart to Liora's lips for ~some~ reason, as if guided by magnetism, by anticipation of sorts, perhaps, and yet, yet nothing could have prepared her for what was to come! For their lips crashing together the way they did, or her breath being stolen away. (For the spark that gave color to her cheeks again, too. Something exploded in her mind as well, and the places it touched? Flowers bloomed in its wake, forming this cheesy trail a Disney princess could have left behind. ...a trail that, despite being a living cliche, made it easy for her to find her way back. Easy for her to find herself, really.)

...reluctantly, Inna opened her eyes. (Yes, her eyes! They were back, brown depths instead of expressionless mirrors. The tiny cuts hadn't closed, oh no, they hadn't, but the worst damage, at least, had been repaired. Probably.) "Li?" she exhaled, sounding confused more than anything else. "What are we doi-- shit. What the fuck happened to your face? I mean, it looks cool, but damn, that must have been painful. Who did that to you? Tell me and I'll cut the fucking bitch."

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

For Liora, she isn't able to enjoy the kiss as she knew she would have were these the good old days––or, rather, the good old week that they had shared. It's too painful for her to get caught up in whatever feelings are threatening to spill out of her eyes and therefore it also feels dangerous. (Somewhere, she has reason to believe that this is also part of E-keysmash's torture––forcing her to kiss the woman she is hopeless for, when said woman cannot even remember her... When said woman isn't a woman at all, but a demon. All to save whatever is left of her.) It's not really like kissing Inna, but still the hand at the back of the other's neck tightens and her free hand makes a fist around her hip, seeming to pull her closer to the bars. Liora figures the reaction is automatic, something to help keep her steady as her own life force is transmitted into the demon. Beads of sweat form above her lip and over her brow, but other than the exhaustion that follows, it's not a painful process.

When they part, Liora's hands don't leave the demon, perhaps wanting to savor the closeness of their bodies because she figures this is probably the last time she'll ever get to have the blonde this close to her ever again. She also knows that this is probably the last kiss they'll ever share and she can't even be sad that she didn't enjoy it, because she's already started to numb herself out to whatever is happening to her and whatever is going to happen to her. It's fine, she assumes. It's not like she's going to spend the rest of her life numbing herself out––well, she is, but it's only for a week and that's not so bad when she thinks about it logically. It's sort of like the week before Christmas and knowing there are presents under the tree to be unwrapped... but, um, a way shittier version of the holiday. Whatever. It's not like she really cares or can afford to care about such trivial things like her fate.

Too bad numbing herself out doesn't really work when Inna seems to remember her again. Her widen once more in shock hearing the nickname that she'll only let Inna call her––which causes her heart to soar before it makes a magnificent and fiery crash landing when it becomes apparent that while, yes, Inna remembers her, there still seems to be so much more missing. 'Does this mean she only remembers up to the café?' she wonders, knowing that it couldn't be any later than that since she isn't regarding her with their old disdain. However, the nickname... the nickname would place her closer towards when they had met with Sol which was right before all of this happened. (Not that Liora is the expert on memories and memory recovery, but going through this chronologically makes sense to her and so she holds onto that.) "Inna––you remember me," she blurts out, unable to hide the smile that bursts across her face even if there is sadness mixed in there too; even if she isn't sure whether this is good or bad. She just can't help it, really, against all logic. "And your eyes," she whispers, moving her hand so that she can trace the outline of those eyes that make her feel like she could honestly melt in their warm depths.

She still doesn't really know how to answer Inna's question, however. Before she started to see Inna as an actual human person, she would not have hesitated with delivering the truth. Like, why should she care how this knowledge would affect the blonde? Inna made that decision to slice her fucking face open after she decided she didn't need anything else from Liora. It should be a no brainer to tell her that it was her, and yet somehow it feels cruel to tell her. At least, under these circumstances it does, because she doesn't even seem to remember that she's angry with Liora. (Selfishly, Liora might want to hold onto this momentary lapse of happy––but, hey, doesn't she get to a be a little selfish? She's on death fucking row for Christ's sake!) So instead of saying anything at all, she pulls the demon closer to the bars of the cell and wraps her into a hug, the best she can at least. "Don't worry about it––it did hurt, but I'm fine now. It healed and, um, I think the person who did it already paid a steep price," she says, wishing she could get closer and bury her face into Inna's neck.

When she pulls back from the embrace, she studies Inna's face again as if she is trying to memorize what she looks like or maybe she is searching for something. (She forgets entirely that there is an audience watching her, but for now, that doesn't even matter. She doesn't really get to be too choosy with how many more moments she has with Inna, given her current circumstances.) Then, without prompting, she pulls Inna closer to the bars once more and kisses the tip of her nose and then her forehead. "For luck, I guess... and I wanted to," not that she knows why, but again, she is just trying to savor this moment for as long as it can last.

 

[Syntra]

"Well, duh? Like, not to feed your ego, but you're pretty damn memorable." Forgetting her out of all people seemed like an entirely alien concept-- you know, kinda like failing to remember what your favorite color was, or that you fucking had to eat to survive. The bitch lived in her heart rent-free, and you couldn't evict such a tenant! (...maybe if you tore your own chest open, Inna supposed, though that seemed like way more trouble than it was worth. 'Hurrr durrr, let me mutilate myself just to prove how fucking metal I am! Give me some of that sweet, sweet attention so that I can feed it to my Self-Doubt monster. Please, it's fucking starving! Won't you help me with being a responsible pet owner?' Nah, the blonde had grown out of performative badassery. Just... too much effort for nothing, you know? And, besides, Inna liked having Liora there, thank you very much. With her, her heart much felt less empty-- less like a placeholder and more like a home, straight out of these cheesy family movies she'd always laughed at.) "And, yeah, my eyes, I guess. I have them. What about it?" the blonde tilted her head aside. "Also, I think this approach is real unhealthy, Li. Like, do you think someone else is going to claim your vengeance for you? It won't fall into your lap, that's for fucking sure. Plus, what kind of message will you be sending by not gouging their eyes out? Oooh, look at me, I'm Liora Trihn," Inna waved her hands dramatically, "and I will be your free fucking billboard. Do you see how much unmarred skin I have left? Don't hesitate, and reserve the most lucrative spot before some other fucker takes it!' Not even joking. That's literally what's gonna happen if you don't hunt the bitch down right now." ...dramatic, maybe, but not untrue! If you ignored the definition of the word 'literally,' that was, except that most of the world seemed to be doing exactly that, so the blonde felt justified in... uh, adjusting the narrative a little bit. "Also, also, why are you behind fucking bars? Or am I behind fucking bars?" Stupid perspective, man. It should be illegal, really, considering how easily it could fuck with you! The same thing shouldn't be allowed to be interpreted in different ways depending on where you stood, dammit. Inna didn't remember agreeing with such ridiculousness before being born into this shit world-- it certainly hadn't been in her fucking contract. "Anyway, we should probably... get out of here, I think..."

"Innushka," someone cooed then, and Inna froze. (That voice... ah, shit. Ah, fuck. Memories flooded her mind, shards of events that filled her with this vague sense of dread, and then-- then they fucking solidified. And the shape that they assumed? Oh, Inna didn't enjoy it. Not even a little bit.) "Liora," she whispered, recognition lighting up in her eyes now. (Liora, who had hurt her. Liora, who had fucking killed her. Hating her should be an automatic thing now, right? As automatic as your heart beating faster when you were running, or blaming capitalism for literally anything even remotely wrong with your life. The problem with that, though, was that this was also Liora who had gotten her out of that motherfucking maze. Liora, with her cyborg-ass bullshit that made her laugh. Liora, who had kissed her so sweetly, and to whom she had once mattered, and, and, and! She'd given her something, hadn't she? Inna didn't know what it was, but the thing kept her warm, kinda like a mug of hot cocoa in her hands, but... well. It wasn't in her hands, quite distinctly. Nah, it was in her fucking core! It would never grow cold, either, which was what made this cocoa so very precious, and hey, maybe this metaphor was overstaying its welcome, but Inna enjoyed it. So, suck it up, buttercup!)

"Liora, what did you do?" she asked, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. (Deep inside, however, the demon did know. Well, okay, 'knowing,' may have been a strong word to use here, but the suspicion she had had been vowen out of familiar threads-- the ones Ivy had used, back in that memory that wasn't hers. Back when she had... But, no. No, that made no sense. Inna had been the one to cut her, the one to spit on their bond, and yet, yet!) "Fuck, I just... I don't understand! Why? Why would you do this? There's no reason for you to--"

"Inna," E-keysmash's voice resonated throughout the prison, sharp enough that it could cut steel, and finally, the blonde turned around.

"Yes, my queen?"

"Liora has given you a precious gift, my darling. Do you wish to squander it? Ordering you to go back to your cell would be such a waste." ...and also something she wouldn't hesitate to do, Inna knew. (Queens weren't exactly famous for being frugal, after all! Not when they weren't fucking asked to pay the price.)

"My queen, I--"

"No, I presume. In that case, come with me. We'll leave Liora alone for a while, alright? She has much to think about, I'm sure."

***

In that, at least, the demon queen had been right. The nature of her punishment, it seemed, revolved around giving her ample time to think-- mostly, she was left alone, with only the shards of glass to keep her company. 'Mostly' however, didn't mean 'all the time.' So, as for the one demon who did wander there? She came with a smile, and wrapped in an aura of mystery. "Don't you think that mythology is just so fascinating, Liora?" the woman asked her, oh so innocent, before burying her fingers in one of the piles. (...was she trying to find something there? What, though?) "It is hilarious, indeed-- kind of like watching a bunch of ants carry a potato. Such a great weight for such feeble minds! Trying to figure out how the world came to be, that is. My queen, however, likes collecting these stories. They amuse her. Do you know what her favorite myth is, Liora? Come on, take a guess. It is the one we are going to recreate here, to stave off boredom for a bit."

The pile of glass she had chosen? Under her careful ministrations, it melted into a fucking river-- not translucent, but honeyed, and so, so hot. Searing, in fact. A human would have been reduced to ashes, but demons were apparently made of sterner stuff. Like a master glassworker, she bent the mass, commanded it to shape itself according to her will, and... and before Liora's very eyes, a tree was born. A tree, so tall she couldn't even see where it ended!

"Have you ever heard of Yggdrasil? Odin, one of the made-up gods, tied himself to it, and bled in exchange for wisdom. Let's see if it works, alright? If you can, perhaps, become a little less foolish."

And then? Then glass branches sprouted from the trunk, sharper than thorns, and impaled Liora, through her belly, arms and legs. Other branches embraced her, only to pull her closer, closer, closer to the tree-- and, oh, was it just her, or did it sigh with satisfaction when her blood dripped down on its roots? Because it certainly sounded like that. Almost gently, the branches hung her upside down so that more blood poured from her veins, blood red like rubies, red like poppy-- "Ah yes, yes!" the demon clapped her hands. "Feed it, Liora. Feed it, and repent. Don't worry about dying, either. Here, in this blessed dimension, your life force is replenished every day? Isn't that wonderful?"

...and so she hung and hung and hung, perhaps for minutes, perhaps for days. Her blood painted pictures on the glass, too-- memories from various lives, both this one and the previous, and perhaps also from those that had never belonged to her at all. Alone she was, aside from these visions, and oh, did they bleed together in the most confusing of ways! ...until her mother melted out of the darkness, dressed in an elegant suit.

"Hmmm... how disappointing," she pursed her lips. "Are you truly so useless as to get captured via the oldest trick in the book? Shameful, Liora. Honestly, at this point, I'm thinking I should cut my losses. It should have been obvious from the very beginning that, without my genes, you can never reach my greatness. Overall, it's been a terrible waste of time. Or is there a reason why I shouldn't abandon you? Can you present a convincing proof as for why you still deserve to live? Tell me, child, how you can still be useful to me. I'm waiting."

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

While Liora had been left alone, there really hadn't been much for her to do. She tries to find a comfortable position to nestle within the shards of glass, but her prison is all edges and even though her clothing offers light protection, she still feels the shards rubbing against her skin. On the few occasions that she has fallen asleep, the glass pieces wake her up so that even if she had wanted to lose herself to dreams she can't. Of course, she thinks about Inna, probably more than she would care to admit; sometimes she feels comforted by the Inna that exists in her mind, the one who isn't angry with her, who finds it in herself to forgive her, but other times she remembers that she is filling her head with fantasies and that, in her reality, she fucked up and Inna is gone. Inna is a demon––a demon she saved at least twice now and... and she doesn't regret the decisions. It doesn't even make sense to have saved her in the ways she had, but Inna just makes her head feel screwy, even if she shouldn't have a place in her head anymore. But all those files in her mind that she had locked away seem to have burst open and there's just no way that she can put away her feelings for the demon.

When the mystery demon finds her, Liora is standing, propped against the bars of her cage, though her feet hurt and she can feel her legs wanting to give out beneath her and yet she knows that sitting down isn't anymore relaxing. It's a true pick your poison situation. Lazily, her eyes make their way across the dungeon to look at the demon. 'Ugh, what does she want...' She sort of keeps up with what the other is saying, but she imagines that this demon isn't here to give her a mere mythology lesson and so instead of focusing on these trivial details, she tries to figure out exactly where this is leading. Just so that she can prepare herself for the worst, because she just doesn't think this is going to end well for her.

And once more, Liora is right... as she always is and before she can even think to move away from the glass branches, they pierce straight through her stomach and limbs and they all pull her forward before she can even so much as scream. Blood starts to fill her mouth causing her to choke and sputter; automatically, she struggles against her bonds and realizes quickly that only causes more injury to herself with the tree itself being so fucking sharp each of her movements only results in the glass eating away at her skin. As she is hung upside down, pressure immediately builds against her skull, threatening to split her damn head open if she doesn't right herself immediately. Except that she can't, even trying to crane her neck does not offer her the relief that she needs and just adds more strain to her body. She tries to remain still, but even that seems impossible since her body apparently has this never ending supply of blood that continues to pour into her mouth and each cough rips through her and cuts her open against the edges of the glass tree.

Though there is some distraction in the memories that start to fill her vision. Enough that she can sort of forget that she's trapped in Hell (no quotes needed, because Liora has decided that even if this is not the Hell her catholic school education warned her about, it's close enough that there is no need for a distinction). In one of these visions, she sees Vie sitting next to her. They're both sitting side by side under a tree, a tree that doesn't feel familiar to her in the way that it seems to be familiar to Vie. It overlooks a large estate covered in vineyards. "Ah, here you are again. I did not think that we should meet so soon after our last encounter," her former self says, with her usual air of pretentiousness. She sighs,"If only I had chosen a stronger vessel for my next life, hm. Alas, it seems the end of my life was only filled with mistakes. You are just so weak compared to me. Not even a fledgling; just a worm with far too much power. Do not feel bad, for the fault is mine, Liora, for imparting such a responsibility on your paper shoulders. You simply are made of weak materials."

"What? What are saying? I-I'm you––we're the same person––"

"Hardly. The real Vie would have already broken free of this prison," when Vie says this, the illusion around them drops from the tree that overlooks a vineyard back to the tree that holds her hostage. "The real Vie would know how to defend herself against basic magical blocks. Perhaps, perhaps I should have selected Sol as my vessel. Yes, she seems so assured in herself." The woman rises, then, tapping her chin as she looks off into the distance. "Yes, I think I shall see what I can do with your sister. Perhaps, there is still hope for this world yet. You had so, so much potential. Where did all of that go I wonder?"

The woman walks off and disappears and just as she does, the world shifts around her again, bleeding into her childhood home. Sol is there, but she appears far younger than she should and that confuses Liora for only a minute until she realizes that she is also younger too. Both of them are in their mother's study and Helia seems to be finishing up something on her computer. "Girls, please sit down. I have made some adjustments to your career paths. Sol, I no longer want you to pursue medicine––it was so silly of me to not see your potential before, but I think you are going to make a fine CEO someday. I am signing you up for some preparatory business classes and you will begin on Monday. I always knew you would live up to your namesake, my darling sunshine," with that Helia beams at her youngest daughter then she turns to her second eldest, her eyes suddenly going cold and her tone sharpens. "Liora, you continue to disappoint me in the most fantastic ways and I really must applaud your dedication to that cause. Don't be so sad about it though, I still have plans for you as well––after all, I would not leave my own child out on the streets, even if that's where your mother seemed to think you belonged. Anyway, the company will need some decent lawyers and since you love to argue, I figure why not at least be useful about it."

The memory or vision or nightmare or whatever it is fades away just like the others before it; before she can even quip back against her mother. This time when the scene shifts again it's just her and Sol. She's in high school, Sol is in middle school; Liora is driving them both home. However, when Sol talks she sounds much closer to her actual age. "Y'know, Lio, you're a bitch and being a bitch to me isn't going to fix your relationship with Helia. Maybe if you weren't so fixated on that, you'd actually be like way cooler or more powerful, y'know? I mean, Vie offered me your powers just the other day. She says I have until the end of the day to decide if I want them or not and, t-b-h, since you're not even using them that well, I might as well. Vie says I have a higher affinity for this stuff anyway so I bet I'll be supes powerful. I'll soar in ways you just can't, because you're Liora and everyone knows that Liora is a useless bitch."

Again the scene changes before Liora can say anything and she cannot even keep up with what hurts more––the branches impaling her and cutting into her flesh, the pressure against her skull from all the blood being drain there, or how each person she runs into is bent on cutting her down. Again and again and again. Right now, she believes these are all her own memories and reflecting on them makes her want to scream. And then, before she can even open her mouth to do so, her mother appears. "M-mother? How did you get here? You shouldn't be here," she says, trembling against her bonds, for some reason fearful that her mother is going to get hurt––as if she should really care about that.

Even as her mother berates her and reminds her that she's not even hers, technically, Liora's worry for her mother remains––she even forgets that it has been years since she last spoke with the woman. Years since she ran off. "I––no, please, mother, please––I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen, it just... it just did," she stutters, having trouble collecting her usual calm that she would ordinarily try to front when facing this woman. "I didn't mean to embarrass you, I promise. I didn't mean to disappoint you, either," Liora swallows hard, but that's difficult when she's hanging upside down. "I know I don't deserve your generosity, I never have but I've always tried to do everything you've asked of me and more to show you how grateful I am that you... that you chose me as your daughter, I don't take that lightly. I was even going to get rid of that crime organization that kept messing with your businesses," which she hasn't pursued since discovering her magical destiny or whatever. "I know I'll never be as great as you, but you always knew that. You said that's why I didn't get a name like Sol's or..." she stops herself, shutting her eyes hard to shove away the confusion that comes up with her sister. "I'm loyal to you in ways that Sol just isn't––she'll never do what you want, can't you see that? I'll do whatever it is you ask of me––whatever you need, mother, I can get for you if you don't abandon me. I can... I can do so much for you if you just gave me the chance... Why won't you give me that chance, mother? Please, please don't leave me."

 

[Syntra]

Did Liora's speech impress the other woman? If so, it didn't show on her face-- in fact, Helia watched her with an expression of mild disgust, similar to the one an instagram model might make after discovering a picture where she looked only passable instead of outright stunning. "Please, spare me your theatrics, Liora," she rolled her eyes. Don't you realize how demeaning this is for both of us? Just having to listen to your prattling... ugh, this is so pathetic," Helia sighed before covering her eyes, as if she just couldn't bear to look at her daughter any longer. "I admit, this is my fault as well. I thought that, if I raised you, I could suppress your less desirable traits-- mold you according to my own image, so to speak. Even its approximation would have been good enough! It turns out that blood is thicker than water, though, now doesn't it?" she smirked, apparently entirely unaffected by the sight of her daughter hanging upside down from a demonic tree. (The sparks in her eyes? Those suggested that she was slightly amused, actually. Perhaps, in the back of her industrious mind, Helia was already planning to copy the design and market it to some army as a totally not torture device.) "Oh well. Can't win the lottery twice in a row, I suppose. It is good that I still have Sol, my little sunshine, to continue my legacy. Sol would have understood, you see, that by proof, I didn't mean silly emotional appeals. Have you learned nothing at all at your debate clubs? And to think I once thought you could be a lawyer! Once again, Liora, you discover a new way to disappoint me. Now if only you had applied that enthusiasm to more productive ventures, that would have been splendid."

Ignoring the glass underneath her feet, Helia circled around Liora, just like a predator might circle around its victim. "Don't misunderstand, daughter of mine. I know what's inside of your heart. How could I not? I'm your mother. I know just how hard you try, and how loyal to my cause you remain. The problem with that, though? It's not enough. It's never been enough! Had I wanted loyalty only, Liora, I would have gotten a dog. Are you a dog? A little bitch, perhaps? No? Then give me what I need. For once in your life, give me some actual results!" Her voice resonated throughout the prison, and oh, its very foundations shook with the impact-- not even Hell itself could resist Helia Rodríguez's will, it seemed. "But, hmmm. Motherhood is about giving second chances, isn't it? Although, in your case, it would be the chance number sixty five at the minimum. Very well, however. If a dog is all you can be, then we'll see just how good you'd be at the role."

The world around Liora shifted then, with the tree fading into the background, and... huh. What was this? Some seedy bar? Not the type of establishment that Helia usually wished to be associated with, that was for certain. (Someone else she had once known straight up reveled in visiting such places-- namely, Chett and his merry band of lackeys. Actually... now that she thought of it, this place was familiar. Hadn't her former boss used to invite them there often, usually to celebrate a successful heist? Yes, yes! Allegedly, the bar had been demolished a few years ago, but that must have been fake news.)

The music was blaring and threatening to rip her ears off, basically, but for some reason, Helia's voice still cut through the noise easily, like a hot knife through butter. "Such a vile, vile place. I'm sure you must have had a lot of fun in there, right? You got to be the one-eyed queen among the blind ones, after all." Helia walked forward, not hesitating for a second-- clearly, she must have been leading her somewhere. Where, though? Ah! ...in retrospect, the answer was obvious, wasn't it? Because Inna was sitting in the corner, laughing at some girl's (doubtlessly terrible) joke. "When you look at your relationship with her," Helia said, not even bothering to hide your disgust, "you'll discover the same trend. Instead of choosing someone who might have elevated our family name even higher, you went for the most hopeless gutter rat you could possibly find. Stupid, uneducated, with no career prospects. Her most impressive skill? Remembering all the Pokémon names, apparently. Truly, Liora, you've outdone yourself? Is your taste this authentically bad, or is this some delayed teenage rebellion? Pathetic, indeed. Either way," Helia gave her a chilling smile, "you know what to do, don't you? For all your faults, you aren't unintelligent. No, your grades at least ruled that out. Thus, I reckon, you must be aware why I brought you here. Show me just how far your loyalty extends, Liora! Give me her blonde head, and perhaps I'll find a place for you in my heart still. Don't you want to drink cocoa with your mommy again? Just like when you used to be a child!"

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

In this state it's impossible for Liora to find any sense of reason or logic––she cannot place that this situation is entirely implausible. She cannot think to herself that there is no way that her mother has found her way into Hell; it doesn't even occur to her that her mother may have passed away and ended up here as punishment, because in Liora's mind her mother is untouchable even by Death herself. So despite not being able to logically make sense of this situation, she believes in it in its entirety. She really does think that Helia Rodríguez has bent the laws of space and time to find her daughter; she even believes that she has done so without the express purpose of saving her from her predicament. It makes sense to Liora that her mother would want proof that her own daughter is worth the trouble. If anything, the woman is as efficient as she is calculating and she would never waste her precious time on saving Liora simply because she is in danger. That's just not the kind of mother she is––she's always left Liora to fight her own battles and has only stepped in when Liora has failed catastrophically; an outcome Liora hated and hates to reach because her mother coming in never meant well for her. It always means that she is still too weak. So that she's here, now? Oh Liora knows that she has not only irreparably fucked up but the consequences to follow will be severe. (Nevermind that Liora is a grown ass woman who does not need to take all of her mother's vitriol. Yet, Helia has done her job so well that Liora cannot help but to feel seven years old around her. A helpless child who needs her mother.)

The woman, despite knowing how meaningless it is, struggles against the tree that holds her hostage. The edges of the branches and bark bite into her flesh and more blood flows from her veins, yet Liora doesn't seem to really register this. Yes, she gasps out against the pain that spreads through her arms and legs, but she still tries to break these glass branches. Why though? To grovel on her knees, most likely. "Mother, I––" she stops herself, knowing that there is nothing she can ever say to appease that woman. She's tried and tried and her efforts have gotten her nowhere. Even if she does manage to say something right in her mother's eyes, it's just what is expected and never worthy of praise. Nothing she does is ever worthy of praise––it's like she doesn't know how to exceed her mother's expectations and she's done everything to close her fists around that prize. And it seems, until the very end, she'll just be a disappointment in her mother's eyes. A waste of all her precious efforts and resources. A mistake. That's what she is.

It's apparent that her mother's words hurt her more than this tree ever could. Being likened to a dog––and she can't even argue with that assessment because with her mother's narrative, she sees exactly how she painted herself this way. A bitch, by every definition of the word, is all she is. With Helia's words resonating through the prison, Liora flinches and cowers, pressing herself deeper into the bark and giving more of her blood to this tree. "I won't disappoint you," she says, keep her voice strong despite her exhaustion because Helia doesn't like pathetic things.

As the world shifts again, Liora falls from the tree (or thinks she does) and rises from the ground only to find herself in some seedy bar. It takes her a moment to place where this is and even though it's hard to imagine her mother here, she goes along with the sudden change anyway. She listens to her mother and nods along as she follows her like a shadow. "It was an interesting culture shift," she says, as she pushes through the sea of her former colleagues. Ones she even knows are dead or "missing" but still isn't able to think anything of it. With Helia here, she'll believe in all of this. Then, when she leads her to Inna, her heart all but stops and she tries to wrestle with the stupid muscle to act normal––fearful, perhaps, that her mother will sense this. Each word from her mother's lips, however, makes it nearly impossible for her to regain herself. The music in the bar seems to die out and all that seems to exist in this memory is Inna flirting with some girl and her and her mother standing as invisible onlookers. Carefully, Liora looks towards Helia and she wants to say something but everything she can think of will only be met unkindly. Yes, she does want to still have a place in her mother's heart; she wants to find that kindness in her she knows exists––she had seen it when she was younger, when they'd share cocoa after a fight––what she wouldn't give to have that right now. What she wouldn't give to have her mother's love.

Still, her shoulders tense and her nails bite into the palms of her hands. 'Breathe, Liora. Breathe. Mother asked something of you. You promised her you would do it,' she thinks to herself while another part of her chimes in, 'Are you really going to do this to Inna? Again? Just because mother asked?'

Liora has no idea what to do and the decision is tearing her mind apart. Though with Helia's presence, that pressure to please her seems to override her new loyalties to Inna and she approaches the laughing woman. 'She looks so happy here,' one part says while the other only counters, 'So what? You've probably killed happy people before.' Slowly, the woman begins to shutdown as her hands lift and wrap around the blonde's neck. This Inna doesn't seem to notice anything is happening to her until Liora begins to squeeze at which point the blonde looks at her and she can't tell whether she looks surprised, angry, unimpressed, or none of those things and Liora is just projecting. Is she really going to do this? Does she want her mother's approval this badly? Who is she more loyal to?

All these questions swim through Liora's head and the memories of Inna flood her mind as well. Though her hands are still wrapped around Inna's neck, her grip loosens and she shuts her eyes tightly. Her breathing becomes erratic as panic begins to take over and she tries to reason with herself. 'No. No. This can't be real. You can't do this to Inna. We're not here. Mother isn't here. This is from at least two years ago, I think? Mother wasn't there. You aren't here––you aren't here.' She lets go of Inna's neck and turns towards her mother, "Go away. Go away! You're not real!"

Slowly, and then all at once, the scene shifts back to her prison, with herself hanging upside down from that glass tree. Helia, of course, is still there, plaguing her daughter's existence as she always has. "You don't know anything about Inna. You're not real, but the real you... The real you still wouldn't understand either. J-just leave me alone!"

 

[Syntra]

Generally, Inna wouldn't say that staring into the ceiling was her greatest fucking hobby. Like, it wasn't the TV, you know? Not that most of the things on TV these days weren't a) fucking trash, b) thinly veiled commercials, c) a combination of both, but at least it was fresh trash. You could dive into it, like the human equivalent of a raccoon, and surround yourself with your favorite brand of junk! The ceiling probably wouldn't give you brain rot as quickly, but death via boredom was an actual fucking thing, so Inna didn't think it was automatically the superior choice. (It boiled down to getting killed by smoking vs. dying in a car crash, really-- except that, in this analogy, the car crash somehow managed to be infinitely more tedious. ...and still, still her gaze lingered there, just as it had the previous night, and the night before it. For some reason, her eyes just refused to move elsewhere. They fucking refused to close, too, which meant she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep for quite some time now. The stupid fucking ceiling with the stupid fucking hypnosis spell attached to it had completely fucked her biorhythm over! And the blonde didn't doubt for a second that such a spell existed, mind you. This had E-keysmash's handwriting all over it, really-- with her mind's eye, she could see the shit-eating grin on her ridiculously perfect face as she offered half-hearted excuses. 'What, me? Oh, don't be silly, darling. Of course I wouldn't want you to lose your sleep! I'd cry into my own pillow if such a tragedy were to happen. I didn't plant those Liora memories into your head, either. Psychological terror is so last century-- had I wanted to hurt you, I would have fed you to my dogs! Would you like that, Innushka? Shall we discover together just how much your regeneration factor has improved?' ...which, yeah, thanks but no thanks. Like, Inna believed with her whole heart that most psychologists were just charlatans with enough money for a uni education, but the queen's relationship with eating was so supremely fucked up that she should have yeeted her ass into therapy about ten thousand years ago. 'Hurrr durrr, eating = punishment, food = bad!' What was this, Anorexia 101? Was the fashion industry so fucking insidious it had somehow retained its monopoly in literal Hell, too? Stay tuned, folks, for the next episode of Horrors of Capitalism! ...this time featuring traumatized demon queens, apparently.)

...buuut, yeah. For some reason, someone had declared a war against the remaining bits of her sanity, and that anonymous bitch was a fan of Liora-centric warfare. Like??? Why the fuck was her brain suddenly carpet bombing her with all those goddamn memories? Liora had killed her. K i l l e d her, in cold fucking blood! 'Yes,' some annoying, nasal voice in her head said, 'but she has also saved you, too. Numerous times now. Plus, doesn't she also give the best hugs? Don't you want some of that Liora goodness?' Which, preposterous! There were many things Inna Orlovskaya wanted, some more of them more absurd than the others, but nothing, nothing even remotely as stupid as forgiving her own goddamn murderer-- even her childhood wish of acquiring her own Tyrannosaurus rex to ride seemed more realistic. (Just, self-respect, bitch. You know what it was? Something that Inna possessed in spades, and also something that prevented you from turning into other people's convenient little doormat. So, no, she wouldn't fucking let Liora demolish her entire personality just so she could experience her ~whirlwind romance~! ...not again, anyway. The three minutes of bliss hadn't been worth it.)

'Yeah,' the voice quipped, 'and meanwhile, ruining your current life to avenge some bitch you don't even fucking know is. Great decision-making skills you've got there!'

'S-shut up. I'm not fucking ruining it.'

'You are.'

'I'm not. It's always fucking been ruined, don't you get it, you useless bastard?! How do you destroy moldy fucking bread, huh?' From the moment she'd been born, the bitch of a Creator had decided she hated Inna's guts, and branded her accordingly. No, really. There must have been an invisible 'kick me' sign glued to her fucking head, or something!

'Oh, Inna,' the voice sighed, with sadness so deep it could match the average ocean. 'It wasn't always. Not when you still had yourself, anyway. Or, you know, her.'

'...'

***

The day of the ritual came faster than Inna would have liked-- kinda just like high school exams always had, really, except that the blonde guessed that she wouldn't survive this event via writing the right fucking answers on her palm and avoiding the teacher's watchful eye this time. (Not that she had to focus on surviving, of course. Liora was the one who had to worry about such things, which, hahaha! Payback, bitch. Nobody hurt Inna Fucking Orlovskaya and lived-- unless the one doing the hurting also happened to be Inna Fucking Orlovskaya, in which case killing her would be kinda counter-productive. Liora, though? Liora had no such protections. Once E-keysmash ripped her traitorous heart out of her chest, the blonde would fucking spit on it, too. This was the moment she'd been waiting for since she had joined the demon queen's knockoff army of darkness! ...why wasn't she happy, then? How come her hands were shaking, and why the fuck was she bathing in cold sweat?)

...so many demons had come, too. Each of them at E-keysmash's behest, most likely-- they were to witness her triumph, or something ridiculous like that. 'Hurr durr, look at how great I am!' (A tiny intermezzo before she finally took over the world, the woman had claimed. Yeah, 'a tiny intermezzo' her ass! As tiny as the Mount fucking Everest, as far as Inna was concerned.)

The sea of eyes was watching as an unknown demon led Liora to the triangle-shaped, glass altar towering above all at the center of the room-- her hands were bound behind her back, but other than that, there weren't any visible restraints. (Didn't have to be, most likely. The queen had her ways of binding people to herself, as the blonde now knew.)

"Liora," E-keysmash gave her her most brilliant smile before spreading her arms dramatically. "Today is the most glorious of days! The day I finally ascend to my true power. You, on the other hand, already have. My punishment has made you wiser, I've heard. So, let's test that out, shall we? I will grant you one last wish. What will it be, hmmm?"

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

After Liora has figured out how to escape her hallucinations, the image of Helia, who had been produced from her own mind, fades into the glass. Still, her mother's words echo in her head ceaselessly. With each repetition the words become more powerful and the woman integrates them into the very fiber of her being. She realizes the truth in those words even if it was an illusion that had said them to her. They are all things her mother would have said and so she knows it does not matter that it hadn't really been her. She is a disappointment. A mistake. A bitch, and not even a loyal one.

She doesn't know how long she remains hanging from that glass tree, just that at some point she had woken up face down on the sharp floor. Her wounds from the tree had somewhat healed as well, at least the cuts that ate away at her arms, legs, and back. Where she had been impaled, while there are no gaping holes, there are divots where the branches had shot through her. Though Liora honestly does not care if they are permanent or not, because, well, she's never cared much for her own vanity and she is going to die anyway. What is the use in wasting her time over scars.

When the woman finally brings herself up from the pile of glass, she scoots herself into the corner of her cell, with her knees tucked into her chest and her head resting against them as an endless stream of tears streak down her cheeks. Though she doesn't know why she bothers letting them all out now, because tears or not it does not change her fate. It does not make her any less useless, in fact it probably makes her more useless––which, how fitting. A useless bitch until the end. At least she is consistent. Her body shakes with each sob and though she bites down on her lip to prevent any noises from escaping, it doesn't stop the flow.

Liora must have cried herself to sleep, because when her swollen eyes open again, there is a demon standing over her, kicking her shins to wake her. Without needing any further prompting, seeming to know in her heart that she will finally be put out of her misery, she stands up and lets the demon do whatever she wants with her. She doesn't fight. She doesn't struggle. She doesn't say anything. The fight she used to have seems to have all but abandoned her. She stares at the glass beneath her feet, focusing and unfocusing her eyes as she is pushed from her cell and brought through to some stadium of sorts. The eyes in the room all bore into her and maybe she would have felt uncomfortable if there still was energy inside of herself for that. But, no, her eyes are sunken and as hollow as her chest feels. She feels weightless with all her exhaustion and honestly it does make her feel nauseated, but again, why fret over feeling normal when she is moments away from being sacrificed. Apparently, her blood being the key to opening gateways and portals.

Still, maybe it's all the conditioning that Helia has put her through over the years that at least allows her to lift her head and hold it high; though it is the only thing that makes her appear unbothered. And, you know, despite facing her end, she cannot really say that this is the worst day of her life. She remembers when she had thought the worst day of her life had been finding out her mother had her name blacklisted with all those law firms. Before that, she had thought the worst day of her life had been when her mother had company over and Liora had accidentally let slip some family secret and the look in her mother's sharp stare practically ended her life on the spot. Then, more recently, she thought the worst day of her life had been realizing she is part of some secret prophecy––which all led to one of the worst weeks of her life. She should not have underestimated that Inna severing their bond or splitting her face open could rival all those other awful days of her life. So, yeah, being sacrificed by some demon queen doesn't really take the cake. At least, you know, she'll have one last good day when she thinks about it.

It's not the way she would have thought her life would end, but she supposes enough episodes of 1,000 Ways to Die should have taught her that death comes in so many unexpected forms and fashions. She doesn't even know if this is better than what she had thought would happen to her (i.e., dying alone in her mansion estate on a Friday night and having her housing staff finding her body the following Monday).

Anyway, she's pushed forward to the center of the arena and while she can make out an Inna-shaped thing in the corner of her eyes, she focuses on the demon queen in front of her. There is part of her that does not want to give E-keysmash the satisfaction of knowing that she is broken and only waiting to be ground to dust; but then there are all the broken parts of her that just want this to end. That just do not have the energy for these games. It's so uncharacteristic of the woman that can sling insults faster than a speeding bullet. Though, for some reason, she does want to say something. Instead of addressing the demon queen, however, her eyes finally cut across to Inna with all their (undeserved) hurt surfacing in her empty eyes. Almost as expressionless as those mirrors that were once Inna's eyes. "I hope this makes you happy. Really, I do."

Then she looks to E-keysmash and gives a nod, as if to say, finish this.

 

[Syntra]

'I hope this makes you happy,' Liora said, in a voice that was and wasn't hers. 'Really, I do.' And, the problem with that? It fucking didn't! All day, Inna had waited for it to kick in-- the sense of triumph that should have pumped joy straight into her goddamn veins, so powerful that drug dealers would fear for their job security. Like, that was what vengeance was about, wasn't it? About making yourself feel good via making some other fucker feel bad! Apparently, there was a finite amount of happiness in this bitch-ass universe, so when someone took it away from you, you just had to claim it back. A pretty simple mechanism, if you asked the blonde. Humans basically being mosquitos in disguise made sense to her, too-- except that, instead of stealing each other's blood, they went after things like 'will to live' or 'emotional stability'. The theory explained why most people in her life had treated the way they had, and like, it also made her feel better about the things she herself did, you know? 'Cause, when viewed through this lens, this nonsense was out of Inna's control. Would you get upset, for example, at a lion for killing a rabbit? Duh, of course not! Despite not being nearly as fluffy and/or cute, the lion also deserved to live, no less than the long-eared fucker, and it had to hunt for there was no other option in its repertoire. Like, vegetarianism was trendy and shit, but it would fucking kill a carnivore! ...in the same way forgiveness would kill Inna, she was quite sure. (Blah blah blah, the repetitive nature of violence, blah blah blah, something about revenge being a cycle. Geometry had never been her strong suit, but like, for it to be a fucking cycle, it couldn't end anywhere, right? So, basically, Inna was required to spill Liora's blood! The cosmic laws demanded it of her, regardless of her own feelings. ...and, as it turned out, they weren't the only ones.)

"Hmmm," E-keysmash smiled, "an interesting choice of words. Why yes, actually! I'm sure Innushka is happy here, Liora. I can give her exactly what she needs, you see, and under my guidance, she has blossomed. What a beautiful rose she has turned into, too! One of my the most prized roses in my garden, most definitely. You know what?" she raised her eyebrow, looking more amused than anything else. "Let's do this in a different way. Innushka, my dear, would you join us? You've been faithful to me, perhaps more than I expected, and for that, you deserve a reward. Shedding your human half couldn't have been simple, I imagine, but now... oh, all of your weakness has burned away. Beautiful. Stunning. So, won't you kill Liora yourself? In fact, I demand it. After everything the bitch has done to you, surely you'll enjoy ripping her heart out of her chest!" All of her gifts, the demon thought, are fucking poisoned. Always have been. How come she hadn't noticed before? A favor introduced with the word 'demand' was no goddamn favor at all, no matter how you tried to spin it, and... and a real present wouldn't have made her feel this way, either. As if-- as if her blood had been turned into ice.

('After everything the bitch has done to you,' huh. What about the things she had done for her, though? Anger had consumed her once, yes, and Inna had wanted Liora to suffer at least as much as she had, but seeing her now, a shadow of her former self... fuck! Fight at least a little, the blonde begged her in her mind, so that I don't have to feel like such a fucking villain. Please, please, fucking please! ...except that, unfortunately, that feeling didn't really depend on what Liora did or didn't do. Whenever Inna blinked, you see, million images flooded her brain-- Liora saving her from drowning, Liora teleporting her out of the maze, Liora praising her cookies, Liora, Liora, Liora! ...the softness of her lips, too, and the way she had belonged to her in that moment utterly. A hidden, more sensitive side of hers, that Inna had only just begun to glimpse. Where she had once seen a kiddy pool, there was an ocean of depth, actually, and she'd never get to discover it because her ex would be dead, dead, dead! Aaaargh.)

Still, mechanically, Inna grabbed Haenel. 'Yes, yes,' the fox whispered into her ear, her voice low and seductive. 'All your life, this is what you've wanted. You may not have been aware of it before, but always, you've been walking towards that goal. Punish the bitch, Inna. Show her who's the boss.' ...what then, though? What would she fucking have then? The knowledge that she, indeed, was the goddamn number one? A lifeless body in her arms? Lips that couldn't smile, and a mouth that couldn't speak? Those were her favorite things about Liora, though! The way every fucking chuckle of hers felt like a rare pearl given to her and her only, and how her words could be so soothing when they weren't setting her blood on fire, and... and how her arms felt like home, more than her actual home ever had. (Oh, how Inna yearned to return! Return to that place of acceptance, where she didn't have to sacrifice herself every goddamn day just to prove that her soul was still the Official Property of E-KeysmashTM. ...as if it could be anyone else's at this point, really. As if she hadn't burned every single chance at redemption with her own fire, and hadn't stepped on it with her steel boots. There was no turning back now, it seemed!)

Slowly, Inna raised her sword above her head-- Haenel's likeness reflection flickered on the blade then, and like a phoenix that rose out of its own ashes, it burst into flames. (...would they be reincarnated again? Would the Creator just shove their fucking souls into new bodies a few centuries later, with hopes that they wouldn't fuck up this time? Would Liora want to claim her revenge then, killing Inna after she had killed her for... killing her? What was the motherfucking point?! Like!!!)

Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, and the sword grew heavy in her hand, so, so heavy--

"Do it, Inna," the queen urged. "Do it, and you'll have it all." What 'all', though? What fucking all? "You shall be mine, forever and ever." ...she was hers already, though, and that was the problem. With her soul shattered to pieces this tiny, nobody else would fucking want her, either! (The queen had taken care of that, with the convenient seal placed over her life force.)

(...maybe, maybe Inna could make herself look desirable to her own damn self at least, though. Yes, that was still an option! The only one. No fucking chance, and no fucking choice.)

"I..." she finally said, her voice trembling. "I'm sorry. I can't. No, it doesn't fucking make me happy! Not when I..." Tears were streaming down her cheeks now, though Inna was beyond caring-- her precious reputation was deader than fucking disco, anyway. "Not when I love you," she whispered. "I think. I'm sorry for putting you through all of this, Li. I wanted to hurt you, because it only fucking felt fair, but not like this... and... damn. I really ruined everything, huh? Wow, I didn't think I was this dumb."

"Inna!" the queen's voice boomed. "What are you--"

A gust of wind, powerful and icy, blew through the hall, and the demons found themselves pinned to the ground, as if invisible nails were holding them there. (...this wouldn't last forever, though. It would be foolish to hope for more than a fraction of a fucking second, in fact, but that was all that Inna truly needed.)

"I'm sorry," the blonde repeated once again before caressing Liora's cheek, with the gentleness she had thought she'd forgotten. "You'll have to teleport us out of here, or just... I dunno, just yourself. I don't fucking mind. Do what you have to." And then? Still sobbing, Inna plunged Haenel into her own stomach, and the whole hall exploded in a storm of magical energy.

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

This she knows, is not how her mother would want her to go. Not because her daughter is going to be sacrificed by demons, but because her daughter is not even fighting back or trying to do anything to stop it. Even if Liora's struggles would have been pointless, at least she would be leaving this existence with dignity. With a fighting spirit. At least she would not be passive. Even with that ghost of her mother who had reminded her that her only real talent is disappointment, she cannot find it in herself to prove the woman wrong. Usually, that would be motivation enough; it had been her motivation throughout her life to prove her mother wrong and, ironically, it had been her very own mother, or her image, that broke Liora's resolve. Her only saving grace, perhaps, is that she isn't crying and she isn't pleading for her life. There must be some semblance of dignity in that. 'Huh, I guess mother won't know that died or even how,' she realizes, though the thought doesn't bother her. It's fitting, she figures, because it's not as if Vie had the courtesy to share the news with Ivy's family that their daughter had been murdered. Besides, she's probably been dead to her mother since the day she drained her trust fund and disappeared. 'This is probably for the best. Whatever.'

Though E-keysmash's lips are moving and she can hear some garbled noises leaving her mouth, Liora doesn't exactly process what she is saying. It must have something to do with Inna, however, because she does recognize the blonde stepping forward. Quickly, she puts together who her executioner will be and, again, it only seems apt to her. Maybe she can at least please herself with the fact that her death will be perfect? Because to her, this seems perfect. A perfect second end to her soul. 'Just, please, please, don't let me be reincarnated again. Let someone else's fucking soul save this stupid fucking existence,' she thinks, hoping her last wishes will be met by whoever it is that designed the universe.

She holds Inna's gaze and watches, with a surprising amount of detachment from the situation, as Haenel is pulled from her sheath and lit aflame. She wonders if this will be fast. She wonders if Inna will choose to pierce her stomach as Vie had chosen for Ivy. Or will she go for her heart? Perhaps she will cut off her head. Or slice her throat. Maybe she will drag this out for as long as she can, just to watch Liora suffer. The demons that surround them, E-keysmash most of all, would likely enjoy that, she imagines. She clenches her jaw and braces herself for the blow or blows that are to come. 'Oh, and please protect Sol––she's annoying, but she doesn't fucking deserve anything bad to happen to her.'

Nothing comes.

The demon queen goads Inna and nothing happens. Liora doesn't know why Inna is dragging this out or why she is making the anticipation worse (though maybe that is part of her revenge), but the mystery is soon solved. And Liora? She doesn't know how to react. It looks as if she hadn't heard what the blonde has said at all, with how blank her expression remains. Then recognition starts to creep into her mind and her brows knit together, her lips parting slightly in her confusion. The words somehow hurt her more than Inna's blade ever could because they have to be a damn lie––even with how earnest the demon sounds, even with all the theatrics, she cannot believe this. "S-stop," she stutters, her eyes welling with tears. Why would Inna say this to her? What the fuck is the point of lying to her? And why even lie to her like this? (That alone tells Liora that this can't be a lie and yet she still cannot accept the fact.)

Her cheeks are now rivers, too, unable to contain her swell of emotions with this new revelation. "Why are you telling me this? Just fucking kill me already! It would hurt less," she begs, her voice cracking over each syllable, knowing that she has officially lost all her dignity. Then the demon reaches to touch her cheek and the woman nearly flinches, still not believing that Inna doesn't want to finish this. Convincing herself that this is just part of the performance, to give this crowd something to feast on for eons to come. So that when they tell their little demon brats about how the Great Inna Orlovskaya slayed the insufferable worm, she made her believe in love too just before she cut her down.

But Inna's instructions don't make any fucking sense either, even with the wind that pins all the demons down––even as she feels her powers returning to her and filling her pathetic body with strength it's not even equipped to handle. With horror filling her eyes, she flinches, fully expecting Haenel to land somewhere in her body, but instead she's pushed backwards against some explosion. When she opens her eyes again, she recognizes that (1) she is still alive (2) Inna has Haenel in her own stomach and (3) she has her powers back. While her mind races as fast as her own heart, she knows that she doesn't have much time and her next series of moves need to count if she is going to escape. Without thought, she cuts herself free from her bindings using a blade made of spirits and then scrambles over towards Inna.

(Does she want to save her? Does she believe her? Is this some elaborate trap? It makes the most sense to leave her. That is what the logical side of her is telling her to do, because as much as she wants the blonde back, after everything that has happened she just cannot trust her ever again. And yet, if this is not some elaborate trap, if this is real, she knows with certainty Inna will be lost forever. She's already seen what the demon queen is capable of doing to her.)

Liora takes the risk and grabs Inna's arm.

When she lets go, they're in her new apartment, collapsed on the floor of the living room (which looks pretty fucking dead, decoratively speaking). The woman sits herself up and wipes away her tears, holding her breath in an attempt to suffocate them from her system. It's always worked in the past and she hopes it does now, too, but her body still shakes and her sobs are only muffled.

She isn't sure if Inna needs medical attention since she just fucking stabbed herself, and she doesn't bother to check. Instead she pushes herself away from Inna and scoots across the floor. She calls Declan into her hand, but doesn't raise the weapon. Then, when she finally feels that she has contained herself enough, she asks, "Why? Why Inna? You didn't care before..." She has the thought to list all the reasons she doesn't trust her, but decides against it. She's too tired for that and it sort of goes without saying what she is referring to anyway. "Are you trying to kill me in some other way? On your own terms? If that's what you want... here," she slides her sword towards Inna. "I fucking deserve it, so just... if that's what you want, I've already accepted it."

 

[Syntra]

You know how, in cheesy love songs, the dumbass lyricists often claimed silly shit like 'when I saw you, my world stopped'? Well, Inna was getting a considerably less romantic version of that now! Because, with Haenel buried in her stomach, everything came to a goddamn standstill. (Fucking weird, that was what it was. The wind howling, the demons shouting at the top of their lungs, Liora choking on her own tears-- all of that felt distant, as if it was happening on the TV while she was cutting onions in a different room. There was this... sense of separation, you see? Both from the storm she had summoned, and also from herself. From this entire bitch-ass universe, really.)

Lazily, with the same flavor of non-involvement, the demon wondered whether Liora would leave her behind. (It kind of seemed like the logical conclusion, didn't it? The women had blabbed something about 'not wanting to hurt her' and 'wishing to save her,' yeah, but that was before she had cut their bond, before she had given her that scar, and before she had gotten captured only for Inna to do nothing-- before, before, before, so many of them she could fucking build a whole castle out of them. That ship, it seemed, had sailed. ...would the queen sacrifice her instead of Liora, then? Not that it would do shit, mind you, as her blood wasn't infused with the same powers that belonged to her former friend, but if she had learned something under E-keysmash's tutelage, it was that disobedience had to be punished. Always, always, always! Well, Inna thought idly, if nothing else, I've probably earned myself a nice, clean execution. Because, with the magnitude of the stunt she had just pulled? Yeah, not even the queen and her downright reality-bending speeches could make her look like anything but a fucking traitor! This could no longer be handwaved with 'you know Inna, she's a fucking idiot' or 'well, the human culture is different, so she didn't know she wasn't supposed to betray me, actually.' Nah, mate. In front of all of her subjects, the blonde had spat in her face! And since no amount of half-hearted apologies could rewrite that fact, she had to die for it now. The funny thing about it, though? Inna was fine with that outcome, too. Like yeah, she would have liked to live for longer, and perhaps also go down in history as the inventor of an ice cream flavor even more kickass than pistachio as well, but as a demon, that career path was closed to her, anyway. Anything but licking the queen's shoes was, really, and those were some sad fucking prospects! No, she had officially had enough of the bullshit-- better to die as herself, really, than to allow that bitch to turn her into... into a thing. Into a reflection of herself, cold and boring and all twisted. Plus, getting to die for the woman she loved? Even without reciprocation, that was some epic fucking ending! A legend worthy of Inna Awesome Orlovskaya, indeed, or at least it could be, if you edited out the bits that proved that this entire clusterfuck was her fault, actually. Hopefully the chronicles of the future would have enough sense to do that! You know, for the narrative cohesion and shit-- as the ~tragic romance~ angle would sell way more copies than her being a fucking dumbass. Ah, capitalism to the rescue! ...how the mighty have fallen.)

So, mentally, Inna began to prepare herself for E-keysmash's wrath. ('How could you?' her voice boomed in her head. 'After I've given you everything, too! I treated you like one of my own, despite your rotten blood, and yet you repay my kindness with treachery. What do you have to say for yourself?' 'Errrr... that I was always too fucking hot for you?' the blonde replied, enjoying the power fantasy in the privacy of her own mind despite knowing that she sure as fuck wouldn't be able to say something like that. One liners were cool and everything, of course, but with those worms crawling under your skin, and biting, biting, biting? Yeah, you try being a fucking smartass.)

Except that, despite her expectations, Inna found herself... in some room, anticlimactic as it was. In a room so fucking depressing, in fact, that it could only belong to her artistically challenged ex! She... she saved me, the blonde thought, entirely stunned. Just, damn. Damn, damn, damn. What now? The demon hadn't actually planned to survive, and she had no idea where to turn next, and everything fucking hurt, as if some sadistic fucker had poured acid into her veins, and--

Rather unceremoniously, Inna's knees buckled under her weight. (The horns and claws? The blue luminescence had died, only for them to turn grey-- grey like ashes, which was a great fucking comparison, really, for they began to disintegrate, too. Looking hopelessly lost, the former (?) demon embraced her legs and watched those strange snowflakes fall all around her. It... would have been kinda pretty, she guessed? Had she remembered what 'pretty' meant, that was. Had she remembered how to think, or what to do with herself. Had wearing her skin always been this uncomfy? Was it even her skin, actually? Because it didn't feel like something that belonged to her, that was for sure. It was all wrong, and Inna had forgotten where she had bought it, which meant that she could no longer demand her goddamn refund, and-- and--)

And, to top it off, Liora was handing her her goddamn sword. Great, just great. Did the blonde look as if she needed more sharp things in her life right now? Because, spoiler alert, she sure as fuck didn't! Sobbing uncontrollably, with more water spilling from her eyes, Inna shoved the piece of steel away. (Huh. When had she started crying, again? Or had she never stopped? Everything was spinning, spinning, spinning, with no point of reference in sight! ...kinda like wandering the desert, now that she thought of it, with the added bonus of the wasteland being inside of her.) "Stop it," she wailed before covering her ears, and trying to crawl away. 'Trying' was the key word, though, because her legs? Those didn't exactly obey her. ...maybe, if she tried hard enough, the blonde could at least hide behind the couch. "Stop it, stop it, stop it! I don't... I don't wanna hear it. I don't fucking wanna do it, either. That's not all I am. I..." I've always cared, she wanted to say, but somehow, the words froze in her throat. (Had she? Had she?! Despite cutting their bond, and then also her flesh, and saying all those terrible fucking things to her, too, and now Liora looked at her like that--) "I didn't lie to you," was what she settled on, after the whole eternity passed. "I didn't."

 

[starboob]

☉ LIORA TRIHN ☉
​

Liora doesn't know what to expect from Inna. In all honesty, she never really has, but in this moment in particular she just doesn't know what is going to happen. She braces herself for the worst, for her own sword to land somewhere in her neck or back. Where she wants to believe that Inna hasn't decided to go rogue, she doesn't know if she can believe that. Not after everything that has happened. The trust she once had (mis)placed in the blonde is all but shattered and Liora, rather than try to fix it with gold like it could be kintsugi pottery, she would rather sweep up the pieces and toss them in the fucking trash. Like, lesson fucking learned––Liora had been right that you should trust no bitch. It will be safer for her this way, anyway.

Like Inna, she hasn't stopped crying despite her own efforts and the vague embarrassment that settles in herself. She's only managed to scoot herself further away from the blonde until her back is up against the wall. Though when Inna rejects Declan and covers her ears, that startles her enough that her sobs quiet for a moment and just stares at Inna. With each word, she grows more confused, still not entirely convinced that Inna doesn't want her dead. After all those threats and the fury she had seen, she just doesn't want to let her guard down. She doesn't want to be turned into a fucking idiot again for what must be the quadrillionth time in her life. (That doesn't negate the fact that she does want to believe the blonde. She wants to, more than anything, because she does miss her. She never stopped missing her, really. All of her distractions––even if she had tried to make them as un-Inna related as possible––still caused her to think of the blonde. And, wow, she's realizing just how right E-keysmash had been to call her pathetic for caring about Inna when Inna clearly fucking didn't. Is she that fucking desperate for companionship that she's at least going to accept the blonde back into her life? Like, Liora didn't really fucking think that she needed friends or a supportive family before, but after tasting a meager sample she can't go back to her lonesome ways. Fuck. How fucking pitiful––she gets why her mother is so fucking disappointed with her.)

Despite that, she doesn't try to ignore that, as pathetic as it is, she is not going to abandon Inna. It's not even because of how distressed she looks right now, but because she does care about her. It's why she saved her at the risk of being killed later. Same as when she took her from the maze; same as when she gave her a piece of herself to bring her back. She decides, at least, that she does believe that Inna won't kill her––it wouldn't be like her to drag something like this out when she had been given the opportunity. And when she thinks about all the opportunities that Inna had to kill her and didn't, she realizes that maybe she never had wanted to in the first place. She still doesn't know where she stands with all the rest (re: the L word). It's too painful for her to accept it if it's true and more so if it is a lie.

She crawls over to Inna, having decided she is safe, and wipes away some of the ash from her shoulders. She missed the way Inna looked when she wasn't a demon and even if she is all tears, Liora finds herself trying to memorize her human face again––somewhat not used to it after all this time. Gently, she pulls Inna's hands away from her ears, a new onslaught of tears starting as she looks at her, but this time because she is glad the blonde is back and not because she's afraid. "It's not all you are... I just... I wasn't sure," she shrugs, pulling Inna up from the floor and allowing her to lean on her for support. "Let's just talk about this later, okay?"

.............
​

As per usual, Liora had not really slept. She actually didn't even stay with Inna once she had made sure she had gotten into her bed safely and (over) explained all of the settings the blonde could toy with, if she were so inspired. Though her bed is large enough that two people can easily sleep on it without ever running into each other in the middle of the night, Liora just couldn't bring herself to even lay beside Inna. It felt too intimate to her and she just isn't ready for that. So she settled down on the couch and mostly stared at the ceiling, thinking of everything that has happened between her and Inna.

Though that got too difficult to think about and so at the appropriate hour of 4AM, she decided to shower and that only result in her curling into a ball in the tub and crying for 45 minutes. About nothing in particular... just her life being a total shitshow and realizing she'll never live up to her mother's expectations. That E-keysmash had been right to remind her of how useless she was. How much those visions hurt, more so than the glass tree––in fact, she's almost certain the vision of Vie had been real and that she's even a disappointment to her past (and current) self. Most of all, she cried because Inna did all of those things to her, let her rot in a cell, and then told her she loved her (as if Liora still didn't clearly remember Inna telling her that she hated her). The worst thing about it all, however, was that Liora couldn't even say that she was angry and she didn't think she ever would be, because she understands where the blonde had been coming from. But, as humiliating as it was to cry over all of this shit that didn't matter, that shouldn't have bothered her, she did at least realize that what hurt most was not being able to trust Inna ever again.

All that, thankfully, was hours ago, so her eyes at least appear normal when she walks back into her bedroom at around 10AM––a considerably generous time for Liora to wait to check-in on Inna. She comes in with coffee and a plate of toast, mostly because those are two things she can make––and also really all she had aside from three cases of Soylent. "I don't know if you like toast, but I made toast. I have other stuff too, but toast seemed safe. It's bread that's been cooked again." Yes, she is nervous for some reason. It's not every day your ex decides to not kill you, because you killed her in a past life, and so you save her from an evil demon queen and now you don't know how to fucking act around her anymore. "Um, if you hate it... that's fine too. How are you feeling?" she sets the plate and coffee on the bedside table and sits at the edge of the bed. "Also, I threw out your things after you left. I can, um, theoretically probably find them," she'll just have to figure out which dimension they're in and where exactly they had been dumped. "Uh, sorry, I guess. I can get you replacement shit... phone, clothes, whatever... I mean, if you want. No pressure, obviously. How are you feeling? Did I ask that already?"