“I…wasn’t…supposed to die…” the changeling managed, choking on the blood that spilled from his lips. The purple fluid splattered onto Sage’s face, and she cringed, her hyperactive imagination quickly racing through all of the horrible things that could be contained in that blood. With a shuddering push, she managed to force the dying alien away from her. She winced at the breaking-glass sound the ice made as it broke. The changeling thudded against the ground, his eyes glazed and distant.
Finally, Sage managed to sit up, and she quickly slid back up against a tree, before drawing her knees in and hugging them tight against her chest with one arm, while the other covered her mouth, as agonized eyes watched the last breaths of the changeling who had attacked her fade away.
Flecks of purple blood marred her face, her clothes, and her hair. Blood shed by her hand.
- - - - -
Blood had splattered onto Sage’s hair and shoulders, onto the floor. Onto Aurelius’ chest. It oozed all over his face. The girl began to shake, mortified at the gruesome scene as the red fluid found itself all over the room. There was so much of it.
So much blood.
Aurelius had become a super saiyan, and had attacked her. Desperately, the thirteen-year-old Sage had plunged a stake of frost into his eye, forcing him to release her from the choke hold he had put her in.
Enraged, he lashed out at her, and the punch the immensely powerful man delivered knocked her out. He didn’t kill her, despite his rage, despite his want for revenge. He had made a deal, and killing his target wasn’t going to help with very much.
Aurelius, the man who had been charged with protecting the lives of Sage and her sister, scooped up the blue haired girl and at the push of a button, he and Sage vanished, before he casually strolled out of the bloodstained bedroom.
- - - - -
“N-No,” she murmured, shaking her head. “No more...”
Her eyes flicked up, and her heart sank when she saw that the changeling was still there, and was, in fact, dead. Just a contest, it isn’t real, she reminded herself. Just a contest, it isn’t real.
Sage was beginning to understand why her mother’s reactions during previous tournaments seemed so powerful. Even though she knew everything was fake, it was hard to separate fiction from reality. Everything looked so real. It felt, and smelled, and breathed like the real world. The distinct possibility that they were being lied to, and that Sage had, in fact, just murdered a man she had never met, seemed more plausible every time she went over it in her mind.
She shook her head again. She had been staring for several minutes. It wasn’t real, and yet, she was languishing like she had when she had actually taken a man’s life. That was real. She had shot him in the back. She could have just crippled him, but he had attacked her sister - who was more than capable of defending herself, Sage angrily recalled - and she pulled the trigger, thrusting a round of energy into his spine.
Images of his death, and the deaths of those Vad had killed during her journey with him, spilled into her consciousness. Those men may as well have died at her hand, too. Oh, Vad had killed them, not her, but she had stood by and done nothing while he slashed and hacked them to pieces, painting the trees and the walls with their blood. She protested, once. It wasn’t in earnest.
The monsters she murdered on Mercy, she didn’t feel guilty about. They were deranged, bloodthirsty things. But she had waited, allowing them to ravage the people living in that city. Tens of thousands, at least, killed because she and the others failed to intervene. The worst thing was that she had been used to help release those aberrations. The very thought left the girl feeling... hollow. Filthy, like she had when...
Sage closed her eyes, and gingerly placed her chin on her knees. The changeling wasn’t dead. She breathed a calming breath, and her shaking lessened. This contest was not real. The deaths were not real.
But the pain was. Sage looked at the frigid spears in the alien’s stomach, and felt cold waves of sorrow wash over her. She would have to keep going, to stop Sol. It was just as much about revenge as it was for the safety of others like her. Sol was a monster, and he had to be stopped. She would try next time to be merciful, and to end the fight as quickly as she was able.
But... she felt as though her humanity began to crumble away as the thought spilled out. ...A few minutes of pain was an acceptable risk, if it brought her to Sol. Sage just hoped she wouldn’t lose herself in this.
It was justified. Sage couldn’t help but feel the nagging at the back of her head, as it wondered wether she was affirming this truth, or if she was just lying to herself. Breathe. She just hoped her friends were okay.
The hybrid pushed herself to her feet, and decided she would have to get to the bunker. Now that she had come this far, it would be horrible to throw it all away. The thought that a hidden, darker self would pull her away returned, but Sage aggressively blocked it out. Breathe.
Picking up her pack, she slung it over her shoulder, and made to leave, but found herself turning back to the corpse of the changeling. His blood glistened against his ivory skin, but at least... at least he looked very... peaceful.
“I, um,” Sage began, her eyes roving over the damage she had done to this poor man. “I... am sorry. I hope you entered this contest on your own - th-that you weren’t tricked - and that you knew what could happen. I,” her voice cracked, but she shed no tears, fighting them back from the verge. “...Sorry.”
The blue haired girl trudged into the brush, leaving the clearing behind, as light fittingly pierced the canopy, coming down in magnificent rays, to rest upon the frame of the one who had fallen there.
As the girl left, the leaves of the trees around her curled and withered as vicious arctic blasts carried with them a blanket of snow, and a dazzling winter wonderland trailed behind the girl as she went, the flakes obscuring the world behind her.
- - - - -
It took a long time for Sage to get her bearings - she was no good with maps. But once she did, she found herself very close to the bunker. At least it would be one less thing to worry about. She just hoped there would be noone there when she arrived. The quarter saiyan would have to steel herself for conflict, but she just wasn’t prepared for another one so soon.
At least one mercy punctuated the otherwise cruel day. A dull, grey pillbox loomed on the horizon. She made for it, freezing and killing the plant life around her as she went. It was as though someone had literally painted a line of winter across a landscape of spring.
Sage stopped at the edge of the clearing, and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, held it, and then, as slow as she could, she exhaled, letting her muscles relax as she did. The ferocity of the snowstorm visibly eased, and the howling wind abated. The crystal haired addict practiced her breathing exercises a few more times, until only gentle flakes flitted about her. If there was someone in the bunker already, she didn’t want to assault them with a blizzard when she walked in.
Stepping out of her very own slice of winter and onto dry ground, Sage hurried across the clearing, fearful she would be forced into another conflict. Thankfully, the girl burst through the door, and then pushed it shut behind her. She had made it.
Turning back into the room, the girl found herself surprised to find Kaden there, seated atop one of the spartan beds that had been bolted to the wall adjacent to her. He was sitting up, an elbow on his knee, slumped against the wall. He glanced over at her, and then back at the wall opposite him.
Sage understood. The anguish in his face spoke more to her than anything he said could have. Instead of breaking the silence, she simply dropped her bag to the floor and slumped against the wall opposite Kaden, making sure to be off to the side, so that she wouldn’t be directly in his field of vision. She stared at the wall next to the courier, tracing up and down the fading white paint with her eyes.
He must have been suffering, too. He seemed like a kind man. A strange man, who found very strange things funny - her time spent with him and the others at the restaurant in Friend or Foe sprang to mind - but he never seemed malevolent.
Sage found herself grinding her teeth while her hard stare bored into the wall across from her. She hoped it would catch fire under her glare, that it would bend to her will and obliterate itself because she told it to. Because she willed it to.
Finally, a shaky hand went up to one of the ribbons in her hair and withdrew a small capsule. A click of its button, and out burst her bottle of pills. Sage sighed, quiet as she could, so as not to disturb Kaden, and tapped one of her little blues into her palm, before putting the container back in its capsule and returning it to her ribbon.
The girl put the Valium pill under her tongue, deciding to ingest it sublingually. The taste was repulsive, but the effects would hit her harder this way. Anything to make her stop caring, at least for a little bit.
Again, she found herself wondering if maybe she should offer Kaden one. He certainly looked like he could benefit from one of her chill pills, but she didn’t want to be an enabler. She might have been a drug addict, but she couldn’t suggest someone else go down her road. Still... if he asked for one, she resolved, she would give him one.
The girl got up, and crossed the room to take a seat on one of the unoccupied beds. She took the one farthest from the courier, understanding he needed his space. Her heart broke for him; she knew what he was feeling. It was written all over him.
Sage stretched out on her back, and folded her hands on her chest, staring at the ceiling. Exposed pipes and wiring snaked back and forth, coming and going to wherever it was they were supposed to end up.
A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. Good, she thought. Her pill, when it finished dissolving, would help her sleep. If she was already tired, all the better. Though she knew better, she still held out hope that things would seem better when she woke. The sentiment was laughable, but it was one Sage continually clung to.
Sage closed her eyes and turned over onto her side. She would have preferred a blanket - even if she never got cold, she liked having it. It made her feel secure - but she would make do. The girl began to drift away, her eyelids fluttering as her thoughts raced from one event to the next, while her conscience tried to sort out a way to justify what she had done.
She would have nightmares tonight.
Finally, Sage managed to sit up, and she quickly slid back up against a tree, before drawing her knees in and hugging them tight against her chest with one arm, while the other covered her mouth, as agonized eyes watched the last breaths of the changeling who had attacked her fade away.
Flecks of purple blood marred her face, her clothes, and her hair. Blood shed by her hand.
- - - - -
Blood had splattered onto Sage’s hair and shoulders, onto the floor. Onto Aurelius’ chest. It oozed all over his face. The girl began to shake, mortified at the gruesome scene as the red fluid found itself all over the room. There was so much of it.
So much blood.
Aurelius had become a super saiyan, and had attacked her. Desperately, the thirteen-year-old Sage had plunged a stake of frost into his eye, forcing him to release her from the choke hold he had put her in.
Enraged, he lashed out at her, and the punch the immensely powerful man delivered knocked her out. He didn’t kill her, despite his rage, despite his want for revenge. He had made a deal, and killing his target wasn’t going to help with very much.
Aurelius, the man who had been charged with protecting the lives of Sage and her sister, scooped up the blue haired girl and at the push of a button, he and Sage vanished, before he casually strolled out of the bloodstained bedroom.
- - - - -
“N-No,” she murmured, shaking her head. “No more...”
Her eyes flicked up, and her heart sank when she saw that the changeling was still there, and was, in fact, dead. Just a contest, it isn’t real, she reminded herself. Just a contest, it isn’t real.
Sage was beginning to understand why her mother’s reactions during previous tournaments seemed so powerful. Even though she knew everything was fake, it was hard to separate fiction from reality. Everything looked so real. It felt, and smelled, and breathed like the real world. The distinct possibility that they were being lied to, and that Sage had, in fact, just murdered a man she had never met, seemed more plausible every time she went over it in her mind.
She shook her head again. She had been staring for several minutes. It wasn’t real, and yet, she was languishing like she had when she had actually taken a man’s life. That was real. She had shot him in the back. She could have just crippled him, but he had attacked her sister - who was more than capable of defending herself, Sage angrily recalled - and she pulled the trigger, thrusting a round of energy into his spine.
Images of his death, and the deaths of those Vad had killed during her journey with him, spilled into her consciousness. Those men may as well have died at her hand, too. Oh, Vad had killed them, not her, but she had stood by and done nothing while he slashed and hacked them to pieces, painting the trees and the walls with their blood. She protested, once. It wasn’t in earnest.
The monsters she murdered on Mercy, she didn’t feel guilty about. They were deranged, bloodthirsty things. But she had waited, allowing them to ravage the people living in that city. Tens of thousands, at least, killed because she and the others failed to intervene. The worst thing was that she had been used to help release those aberrations. The very thought left the girl feeling... hollow. Filthy, like she had when...
Sage closed her eyes, and gingerly placed her chin on her knees. The changeling wasn’t dead. She breathed a calming breath, and her shaking lessened. This contest was not real. The deaths were not real.
But the pain was. Sage looked at the frigid spears in the alien’s stomach, and felt cold waves of sorrow wash over her. She would have to keep going, to stop Sol. It was just as much about revenge as it was for the safety of others like her. Sol was a monster, and he had to be stopped. She would try next time to be merciful, and to end the fight as quickly as she was able.
But... she felt as though her humanity began to crumble away as the thought spilled out. ...A few minutes of pain was an acceptable risk, if it brought her to Sol. Sage just hoped she wouldn’t lose herself in this.
It was justified. Sage couldn’t help but feel the nagging at the back of her head, as it wondered wether she was affirming this truth, or if she was just lying to herself. Breathe. She just hoped her friends were okay.
The hybrid pushed herself to her feet, and decided she would have to get to the bunker. Now that she had come this far, it would be horrible to throw it all away. The thought that a hidden, darker self would pull her away returned, but Sage aggressively blocked it out. Breathe.
Picking up her pack, she slung it over her shoulder, and made to leave, but found herself turning back to the corpse of the changeling. His blood glistened against his ivory skin, but at least... at least he looked very... peaceful.
“I, um,” Sage began, her eyes roving over the damage she had done to this poor man. “I... am sorry. I hope you entered this contest on your own - th-that you weren’t tricked - and that you knew what could happen. I,” her voice cracked, but she shed no tears, fighting them back from the verge. “...Sorry.”
The blue haired girl trudged into the brush, leaving the clearing behind, as light fittingly pierced the canopy, coming down in magnificent rays, to rest upon the frame of the one who had fallen there.
As the girl left, the leaves of the trees around her curled and withered as vicious arctic blasts carried with them a blanket of snow, and a dazzling winter wonderland trailed behind the girl as she went, the flakes obscuring the world behind her.
- - - - -
It took a long time for Sage to get her bearings - she was no good with maps. But once she did, she found herself very close to the bunker. At least it would be one less thing to worry about. She just hoped there would be noone there when she arrived. The quarter saiyan would have to steel herself for conflict, but she just wasn’t prepared for another one so soon.
At least one mercy punctuated the otherwise cruel day. A dull, grey pillbox loomed on the horizon. She made for it, freezing and killing the plant life around her as she went. It was as though someone had literally painted a line of winter across a landscape of spring.
Sage stopped at the edge of the clearing, and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, held it, and then, as slow as she could, she exhaled, letting her muscles relax as she did. The ferocity of the snowstorm visibly eased, and the howling wind abated. The crystal haired addict practiced her breathing exercises a few more times, until only gentle flakes flitted about her. If there was someone in the bunker already, she didn’t want to assault them with a blizzard when she walked in.
Stepping out of her very own slice of winter and onto dry ground, Sage hurried across the clearing, fearful she would be forced into another conflict. Thankfully, the girl burst through the door, and then pushed it shut behind her. She had made it.
Turning back into the room, the girl found herself surprised to find Kaden there, seated atop one of the spartan beds that had been bolted to the wall adjacent to her. He was sitting up, an elbow on his knee, slumped against the wall. He glanced over at her, and then back at the wall opposite him.
Sage understood. The anguish in his face spoke more to her than anything he said could have. Instead of breaking the silence, she simply dropped her bag to the floor and slumped against the wall opposite Kaden, making sure to be off to the side, so that she wouldn’t be directly in his field of vision. She stared at the wall next to the courier, tracing up and down the fading white paint with her eyes.
He must have been suffering, too. He seemed like a kind man. A strange man, who found very strange things funny - her time spent with him and the others at the restaurant in Friend or Foe sprang to mind - but he never seemed malevolent.
Sage found herself grinding her teeth while her hard stare bored into the wall across from her. She hoped it would catch fire under her glare, that it would bend to her will and obliterate itself because she told it to. Because she willed it to.
Finally, a shaky hand went up to one of the ribbons in her hair and withdrew a small capsule. A click of its button, and out burst her bottle of pills. Sage sighed, quiet as she could, so as not to disturb Kaden, and tapped one of her little blues into her palm, before putting the container back in its capsule and returning it to her ribbon.
The girl put the Valium pill under her tongue, deciding to ingest it sublingually. The taste was repulsive, but the effects would hit her harder this way. Anything to make her stop caring, at least for a little bit.
Again, she found herself wondering if maybe she should offer Kaden one. He certainly looked like he could benefit from one of her chill pills, but she didn’t want to be an enabler. She might have been a drug addict, but she couldn’t suggest someone else go down her road. Still... if he asked for one, she resolved, she would give him one.
The girl got up, and crossed the room to take a seat on one of the unoccupied beds. She took the one farthest from the courier, understanding he needed his space. Her heart broke for him; she knew what he was feeling. It was written all over him.
Sage stretched out on her back, and folded her hands on her chest, staring at the ceiling. Exposed pipes and wiring snaked back and forth, coming and going to wherever it was they were supposed to end up.
A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. Good, she thought. Her pill, when it finished dissolving, would help her sleep. If she was already tired, all the better. Though she knew better, she still held out hope that things would seem better when she woke. The sentiment was laughable, but it was one Sage continually clung to.
Sage closed her eyes and turned over onto her side. She would have preferred a blanket - even if she never got cold, she liked having it. It made her feel secure - but she would make do. The girl began to drift away, her eyelids fluttering as her thoughts raced from one event to the next, while her conscience tried to sort out a way to justify what she had done.
She would have nightmares tonight.
Quote:Sage enters the Forest Sector Bunker
![[Image: Sage.jpg]](http://rebecca.florizone.com/sig/miscsig/Sage.jpg)