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INTERLUDE
Constance coolly gazes at the intricate arcane circle she has drawn on the floor.
She exhales.
She is calm.
She is not frantic.
Everything is fine.
She must be calm for the magic to work.
She’s never really had problems with that before.
Stephen, whimpers a part of her mind, the one that is new and that’s making her weak and stupid and unskilled. She is not sure she likes this part. Maybe she was better off before she discovered it.
The runes light up and show her the way to her missing boyfriend.
Constance blinks when she realizes he is right outside.
She throws open the door, and he pauses in the middle of the lawn, apparently already on his way to her doorstep. A most undignified sound escapes her lips and she runs toward him, clutching him tightly.
“I was so worried,” she whispers and he kisses her gently. “Where were you?”
“I met your sister.” His voice is pleasant. Her blood runs cold.
“A-Amelia?” She bites her lip and looks up at him with guilty eyes. He has a friend, Dazzling Dawn, and she was injured badly by one of Amelia’s early battles. So even once she confided her villainy to him, Constance could never bring herself to tell him just who her family consisted of.
“Yes.” He pauses and smiles. “She’s nice.”
What?
“She…didn’t hurt you?” Constance asks slowly, and he laughs, as if the very notion is absurd.
“Of course not. We just talked.”
Constance’s skin is crawling. He is so… happy. She doesn’t understand. The two most important people in her life are set for an inevitable collision. She knows Stephen will ask her to cut ties, and she knows one some level it is the right thing to do, but Amelia is her sister, so she’s been drawing it out.
“What did you talk about?” she asks, and dreads the answer.
“Heroes and Villains,” Stephen gets a faraway look in his eyes. “She made some really good points.”
Everything Constance and Amelia were raised with is wrong. Constance knows this, now. There are no good points, and Stephen is the one who patiently guided her to understanding that, and this doesn’t make any sense.
“Like what?”
“Well.” His smile widens. “It really doesn’t make any sense, does it? These rules we enforce, they’re made by people who are imbeciles. Why do we allow ourselves to be governed by inferior beings? With minds like theirs, they barely even deserve to be called sentient.”
Constance gazes at the first man she has ever loved, telling her things she used to believe.
Time freezes.
And then it starts turning back.
***
“Amelia!”
She finds her sister illuminated by a computer screen. A small choking sound escapes her throat as she sees Stephen strapped to a chair, wiring and machinery encasing his head.
“Stop! Stop it!”
Amelia tilts her head like a curious puppy.
“This is for us,” she says patiently, in that sing-song voice she used to use to explain basic scientific principles to Constance.
“Free him, now.” Her voice is a growl and Amelia narrows her eyes. They never take that tone with each other.
“But I’m almost done. And then he will be like us, and you can have him.” Her lip curls in distaste. “Though I really don’t know what possessed you to choose him. Really, Constance, a little taste next time.”
Constance slams her palms together, the arcane circles engraved on the inside of her gloves glowing brightly. Light and shadows roar to life and hit a forcefield.
The sound of an energy blast being discharged.
Amelia frowns at Constance writhing on the floor.
“…did you just try to attack me?”
And there is a coldness in her voice that Constance has only ever heard when Amelia killed their parents.
Time unravels, and she tries again.
***
Constance cradles Stephen’s body, sobbing as blood seeps through her fingers.
Amelia raises her hand to strike once more.
***
Stephen is standing over the dead body of his best friend.
“You know,” he says conversationally. “I never liked him all that much anyway.”
Her sister reaches out to approvingly stroke his cheek and he leans into the touch with an adoring smile.
***
It’s the most hellish week of Constance’s life.
And she lives it over and over and over again, wishing she had the power to go back just one day more.
The worst part is that it doesn’t make any sense.
Every time she thinks she has found a way, something changes, something that shouldn’t change. Constance is the variable, yet the constants change. Sometimes Amelia isn’t at home. Sometimes she brainwashes Stephen differently. Sometimes he is almost the same, and sometimes he is a monster.
But one thing never changes.
She can never, ever save him.
***
Shiva Bay is in ruins, smoke rising from the craters.
Stephen is dead.
Again.
Constance barely has the energy to reach out and stop the flow of time. It responds sluggishly, almost refusing her command, and of course Amelia is entirely unaffected. She simply keeps charging her laser cannon, aiming at Constance, while everyone else is frozen.
The timeline ends moments before her sister would have killed her.
***
Constance throws her arms around Stephen. He is docilely sitting at Amelia’s feet.
He kisses her so very gently, murmuring sweet words of affection to her.
He’s also trembling.
Good.
It’s a brainwashing that has left him mostly intact. He won’t do anything too bad, and that is fixable. Never will she forget that terrible monster that killed hundreds of people with nothing but a thought and a smile on his face.
Constance hates herself for it, but she must choose the lesser evil.
She just cannot win.
Killing her sister proves surprisingly easy in the end.
It’s just a matter of the element of surprise, and painful trial and error.
***
Constance sits at Stephen’s bedside and stares.
He looks like he is himself. Like she can reach out and stroke his cheek to wake him up. Like he’ll smile at her and then murmur a sleepy good morning. Like it’s just one of the nights they’ve shared.
He is sleeping because they slammed tranquilizers into his neck when he tried to choke her.
Again.
This is her fault.
She chose this.
And now she cannot go back. The window of time she can manipulate is too narrow.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
She should have just let him die. He would have preferred that to this.
Constance presses a gentle kiss to his warm lips, lovingly caressing his cheek. Then she walks out of the hospital and never returns.
And somewhere, a white-haired woman is smiling at a job well done. Then she hands a new assignment to an assassin named Radiance.
Of Heroes And Villains:
The Ties That Bind By Minikisa An assassin. A fallen hero. An unlikely meeting. The road to redemption is long and hard and filled with explosives. |
 |
Constance coolly gazes at the intricate arcane circle she has drawn on the floor.
She exhales.
She is calm.
She is not frantic.
Everything is fine.
She must be calm for the magic to work.
She’s never really had problems with that before.
Stephen, whimpers a part of her mind, the one that is new and that’s making her weak and stupid and unskilled. She is not sure she likes this part. Maybe she was better off before she discovered it.
The runes light up and show her the way to her missing boyfriend.
Constance blinks when she realizes he is right outside.
She throws open the door, and he pauses in the middle of the lawn, apparently already on his way to her doorstep. A most undignified sound escapes her lips and she runs toward him, clutching him tightly.
“I was so worried,” she whispers and he kisses her gently. “Where were you?”
“I met your sister.” His voice is pleasant. Her blood runs cold.
“A-Amelia?” She bites her lip and looks up at him with guilty eyes. He has a friend, Dazzling Dawn, and she was injured badly by one of Amelia’s early battles. So even once she confided her villainy to him, Constance could never bring herself to tell him just who her family consisted of.
“Yes.” He pauses and smiles. “She’s nice.”
What?
“She…didn’t hurt you?” Constance asks slowly, and he laughs, as if the very notion is absurd.
“Of course not. We just talked.”
Constance’s skin is crawling. He is so… happy. She doesn’t understand. The two most important people in her life are set for an inevitable collision. She knows Stephen will ask her to cut ties, and she knows one some level it is the right thing to do, but Amelia is her sister, so she’s been drawing it out.
“What did you talk about?” she asks, and dreads the answer.
“Heroes and Villains,” Stephen gets a faraway look in his eyes. “She made some really good points.”
Everything Constance and Amelia were raised with is wrong. Constance knows this, now. There are no good points, and Stephen is the one who patiently guided her to understanding that, and this doesn’t make any sense.
“Like what?”
“Well.” His smile widens. “It really doesn’t make any sense, does it? These rules we enforce, they’re made by people who are imbeciles. Why do we allow ourselves to be governed by inferior beings? With minds like theirs, they barely even deserve to be called sentient.”
Constance gazes at the first man she has ever loved, telling her things she used to believe.
Time freezes.
And then it starts turning back.
“Amelia!”
She finds her sister illuminated by a computer screen. A small choking sound escapes her throat as she sees Stephen strapped to a chair, wiring and machinery encasing his head.
“Stop! Stop it!”
Amelia tilts her head like a curious puppy.
“This is for us,” she says patiently, in that sing-song voice she used to use to explain basic scientific principles to Constance.
“Free him, now.” Her voice is a growl and Amelia narrows her eyes. They never take that tone with each other.
“But I’m almost done. And then he will be like us, and you can have him.” Her lip curls in distaste. “Though I really don’t know what possessed you to choose him. Really, Constance, a little taste next time.”
Constance slams her palms together, the arcane circles engraved on the inside of her gloves glowing brightly. Light and shadows roar to life and hit a forcefield.
The sound of an energy blast being discharged.
Amelia frowns at Constance writhing on the floor.
“…did you just try to attack me?”
And there is a coldness in her voice that Constance has only ever heard when Amelia killed their parents.
Time unravels, and she tries again.
Constance cradles Stephen’s body, sobbing as blood seeps through her fingers.
Amelia raises her hand to strike once more.
Stephen is standing over the dead body of his best friend.
“You know,” he says conversationally. “I never liked him all that much anyway.”
Her sister reaches out to approvingly stroke his cheek and he leans into the touch with an adoring smile.
It’s the most hellish week of Constance’s life.
And she lives it over and over and over again, wishing she had the power to go back just one day more.
The worst part is that it doesn’t make any sense.
Every time she thinks she has found a way, something changes, something that shouldn’t change. Constance is the variable, yet the constants change. Sometimes Amelia isn’t at home. Sometimes she brainwashes Stephen differently. Sometimes he is almost the same, and sometimes he is a monster.
But one thing never changes.
She can never, ever save him.
Stephen is dead.
Again.
Constance barely has the energy to reach out and stop the flow of time. It responds sluggishly, almost refusing her command, and of course Amelia is entirely unaffected. She simply keeps charging her laser cannon, aiming at Constance, while everyone else is frozen.
The timeline ends moments before her sister would have killed her.
Constance throws her arms around Stephen. He is docilely sitting at Amelia’s feet.
He kisses her so very gently, murmuring sweet words of affection to her.
He’s also trembling.
Good.
It’s a brainwashing that has left him mostly intact. He won’t do anything too bad, and that is fixable. Never will she forget that terrible monster that killed hundreds of people with nothing but a thought and a smile on his face.
Constance hates herself for it, but she must choose the lesser evil.
She just cannot win.
Killing her sister proves surprisingly easy in the end.
It’s just a matter of the element of surprise, and painful trial and error.
Constance sits at Stephen’s bedside and stares.
He looks like he is himself. Like she can reach out and stroke his cheek to wake him up. Like he’ll smile at her and then murmur a sleepy good morning. Like it’s just one of the nights they’ve shared.
He is sleeping because they slammed tranquilizers into his neck when he tried to choke her.
Again.
This is her fault.
She chose this.
And now she cannot go back. The window of time she can manipulate is too narrow.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
She should have just let him die. He would have preferred that to this.
Constance presses a gentle kiss to his warm lips, lovingly caressing his cheek. Then she walks out of the hospital and never returns.
And somewhere, a white-haired woman is smiling at a job well done. Then she hands a new assignment to an assassin named Radiance.
Comments
Wow...
No wonder she had to move on...
Peace be with you and Blessed be
Wow...
There is a certain anime series(*) of which this reminds me quite a bit, and it's used just as effectively here. Very nicely done.
But, umm, Constance killed Amelia? I have a confused.
(*-I won't say the name of the series here, since it's a major, plot-centric spoiler. If anyone really wants to know, they can PM me.)
Remember
That Cinder Snow was presumed dead during oHaV, and only revealed her survival to the world during the fight with Event Horizon. So no, Constance didn't kill her, but she got very close and thought she did.
Wow... just wow. I just
Wow... just wow. I just caught up with this and it is impressive.
Whar a tragedy... she really tried. And tried again. And in the end she could only undo everything.
Thank you for writing this awesome story,
Beyogi
Spiders
Looks like Radiance's employer is quite the master manipulator and has spun a large web.
oh...
Well that explained a few things. Interesting that her power let's her try again and again until she gets it right (or at least less bad), then again she is called chrono warden for a reason. (I had wondered (I just figured I had missed a reference somewhere))
Great interlude, thanks for sharing.
"She just cannot win. "
wow.
Variable
What Constance doesn't realize is that she is not the only variable. It's the white haired woman (who's name I forget) who was doing things as well.
-Tas