You've got no place to hide
And I'm feeling like a villain, got a hunger inside
One look in my eyes
And you're running cause I'm coming gonna eat you alive
Your heart hits like a drum
The chase has just begun


________________________________________________________________________

She didn’t know how long she floated in that snowy void.

The was no time. No feeling. Nothing.

And then the mists begin to shift once more, outlines beginning to take shape, voices breaking through the stillness. Lycana blinks, time had passed here, it seemed, for the trees now bore the blooming color of autumn on the tips of their leaves, the flowers fully spent. Before her was two horses trotting along, their hoofbeats coming at a steady cadence. The creak of leather. And the lilting laughter of the girl.



Her eyes sparkled as she looked to the man who rode beside her, an easy smile on her face. He glances her way, his face stoic, but soft, letting his eyes roam over her. “You have a good seat, Tavya. You ride like you were born to the saddle.”

“You flatter!” she giggles lightly. “All youths are usually taught to ride at a young age, be it on a mule or a pony. Stubborn things I tell you. Much better when you are grown enough for a horse.”

“You learn before you are cast out, to work the fields here in your village?”

The happy look on Tavya’s face falters, and she turns forward, her fingers worrying the braided reins in her hand.

“I’m sorry, that was crass of me.” He reaches out and touches her arm as they rein their horses back down to a walk. “It just infuriates me, that just by a happenstance of birth, you are here, and your sister is living on high among the Lights.”

“It is the way it has always been with the twins Jonah. I have never complained about my lot in life. Perhaps it is even best this way, Betseva was always the stronger willed one, more independent. I daresay she makes a much better leader there, than I.”

“Are you happy?”

Tavya looks startled. “Happy?”

“Yes, happy. You said that you have never complained about it, but are you happy with how you live your life?”

Her mouth works, but no words come out for a few moments. “I’m... I'm not... unhappy.”

“Thats not the same. Think about it Tavya, you didn’t ask for this. You were born the Dark twin. That was the hand dealt to you, and Betseva born of the Light, to rule the South. But what is to say she is the better one? The one more suited for the job? Were there any trials, or teachings that made it so? Why is there not something that would show who would be the one more suited to leadership, instead of just you... by matter of being Dark, cast out to be Queen of a mere farming village? A paltry prize, a consolation if you ask me.”

“No, there were no contests or anything. Jonah, you must understand, it is how we were raised. It is how it has been for more years than I can count, since the generation born after the Priestess blessed the Originals after the Great Hunt.”

“But why must it stay that way my dear? Why couldn’t the North farms be one grand kingdom and the twins rule side by side? Why were you, chosen to be cast from the castle?”

“I... I have no answer for you Jonah, truly. I have never thought such things.”

“You are far too good, and kind, that is why. You are innocent, accepting things as they are, when you could be so much more. Have you never thought of it Tavya? Wondered what it would be like if it was you there, instead of her? Forgive me for overstepping, but you are like a breath of fresh air. I hate seeing you accept less than you deserve. If you were there, everything would be run much better, smoother. You have a sweet way, a fair way, about you... You deserve this far more than she does. I can help you, let me help you.”

“I just want to fix things Jonah, to help the peace remain.”

“I can assist with that as well, if you would but listen. I have what it takes to make you special, to be able to give you that edge you need to be able to handle anything and everything... Don’t you trust me by now, Queen?”

“Of course, I do. You and Wilhelm, you both are the ones I can come to with anything. I don’t know where I would be without you.”

“My beautiful Queen, then let me in, listen to me and let me show you the Gift I have to offer, one of power, one to make you strong enough to make a stand.”

“I... I will think on it Jonah.”

“It is all that I ask. Now, let us race!”

He urges his horse forward, and after a moments hesitation Tavya does the same, the wind driving her hair out behind her as they gallop out of sight, and the mist swirls back in to obscure.

Lycana returns to her milky prison, mulling over what she was starting to see. Something was afoot, and she didn’t quite know what it was. What she did know, was she didn’t like it. Not that she had any power here. She was just along for the ride of her ancestor and... whatever this was. She still didn’t know if it was the right time period, though the faces and circumstances screamed otherwise. It seemed like this guy and the Baph of this era, if it wasn’t the same damn one, she hadn't totally put that thought down yet, were manipulating Tavya into... something. She was gaining more questions than answers. Again.

Before she can think more, the fog begins to part and she settles in for more of the show.

Scenes flicker now, coming across one right after the other, the mist swirling wildly, none staying on for more than a few minutes at a time.

She watches Jonah walking arm and arm with Tavya through the vegetable gardens, Wilhelm following close behind.

She watches the trio sharing a meal, Jonah pointing at something on a piece of paper.

She watches a clandestine meeting between Jonah and Wilhelm, their heads close together, the latter looking worried.

She watches Wilhelm raise his left hand in greeting to someone.

She watches Jonah fiddle with a moonstone engraved with a palm print.

They keep going and she keeps watching. Watching the bearded man worm his way into the affections and mind of Tavya. And then the mists part, and the vision stays clear once more.

Tavya paces back and forth wringing her hands together, in the clearing beyond the village. A large shape detaches itself from the shadows in the surrounding woods, stepping into the setting sun, and hurrying to her side.

“Tavya!”

She whirls.

“Jonah! Thank you for agreeing to meet me!”

“Of course, my dear, sorry I was late... your note made it sound urgent. What's wrong?”

“Wilhelm brought news that the South, it looks like they are training, packing for a journey. It seems that they do march on us, and soon. I had thought it all wrong, that she wouldn’t... and now we are out of time. I was stupid not to listen to you, stupid not to take what you offered. Do you know of somewhere we could run?”

“Run? A Queen does not run.”

“I cannot protect them...”

“You can. All is not lost. I can still make you a warrior, I can still make you... special.”

“How, when there is so little time? Training would certainly take longer...”

“Less time than you think should you accept my gift.”

She studies him. “A gift?”

“Well, it would be a gift to you, and your people. But it would certainly give the advantage to you, when your sister comes marching in with her army.”

“I can’t believe she would do this to me...”

“I know darling, but now is not the time to weep, now is the time to embrace your power! The power that I can give you, just say the word and I will give you... a small sample.”

“Yes, if it will save my people... show me Jonah.”

Jonah nods, walking back to the trees and bending at the waist to retrieve something. He returns, bearing a skull, a crack through the top of it, lower jaw missing, streaked with things that were probably better left unnamed. He presents it to her, for her inspection. She looks it over, noting the sharp teeth, the protruding fangs. “Dog?”

“Wolf.”

“I don’t understand, how will a wolf skull help me Jonah?”

“It won’t, but this will.” he replies. With a flourish he removes a small jar from the depths of his cape. He holds it out to her and she takes it, inspecting the thick, almost gooey liquid that slid as she turned it this way and that. “What is it?”

“It is the source of what would give you power.” At her confused look, he continues. “I would rather show you. Do you trust me?”

“Yes Jonah, what...”

“Enough to put your life in my hands for a moment?”

She sucks in a deep breath, eyes going round.

“It will be painful. But it will change you into something your sister cannot stop.”

Tavya wavers.

“Again, do you trust me to save you, and your people?”

“Yes.”

Silently, he puts his hand out, and she obliges, placing her own tiny one in his massive. He turns it over, exposing her palm. He caresses it gently with a thumb, then brings the skull up and sharply slashes, the fangs ripping a long tear in her tender flesh. She cries out, trying to pull her hand back but he holds her fast. “Steady, Queen.” Tavya subsides, staring at the blood that wells up. Jonah releases her, then takes the jar and opens it. He pours the syrupy contents directly into the wound. He rubs it in, then steps back. She stares at him as he watches her.

Nothing happens.

For long minutes they stand in silence.

“Jonah, I don’t...”

Then she gasps, clutching at her stomach. “What...” she moans out, doubling over. With a whimper she drops to her knees, her body jerking. She wails, head thrown back, veins standing out sharply in her neck. She curls into a ball, shaking violently as she rolls about, in intense agony. Her screeches fill the air around them, bouncing back off the trees until it seemed like there was an entire group of screaming women.

Jonah watches impassively.

A cracking noise rents the air, an attack of pops and clicks. Her flesh tears, her nails growing long as they dig into the dirt in a desperate plea for the pain to stop.

And then there is silence.

And then, in her place, stands a silver wolf.

The wolf spins in place, stumbling slightly, learning her paws. Jonah steps forward.

“Embrace it.”

He motions with his arm and the wolf runs, circling the clearing in a blur, leaping a fallen log, speeding around, tail raised with joy. He lets her go on for quite some time, exploring, learning, feeling. Then he calls her back, and she returns, just like an obedient pup. He holds up a feminine robe, that he had retrieved from seemingly nowhere, putting his hand on her head for a moment, and within a second, a trembling Tavya stood once more. He carefully keeps his eyes skyward, as he bundles her up in the fabric, pulling her trembling body to him. “Easy now...”

“That was...”

“I know. You felt the power. You were not an ordinary wolf my dear, you were special. Rare. One of a kind even. You are a weapon in yourself, strong, unstoppable. And all this can be yours for good, my gift to you.”

“How did you do that?”

“It is better not to ask questions, just to take and say thank you... if you accept. Because with great power, always comes a price Tavya. You would need my help, you and your people, and in return I would ask for you... to do me favors as I needed. If you say yes, I will supply you and yours with this power, for so long as you complied. I could help keep your people safe as long as you belonged to me. I will train you as fighters as well. Nobody would dare lift a finger against you.”

“.... belonged to you, favors... I... Jonah...”

“A wrong word used... More so, helping me when I need it. Like I am helping you. You would need me to help control the power. Didn’t it feel good Tavya? Think about it. Talk to your people. We can even dose them so they can each decide for themself if they wanted to participate, if you didn’t want to give an order. And you could always say no...”

A few seconds pass. She looks into the distance.

“Yes Jonah, thank you. I think it would be silly of me not to accept what you are offering. Though I do not see how that will help in the war...”

“It will be revealed in time, but for now, let us start training your people to fight. We’ve not much time, as you said.”

He graciously starts to help her to the village, but not before Lycana sees him pocket the dagger he had held hidden in his hand.

Swirl goes the mists.

Lycana knew very well what Tavya had just felt. And was getting an uncomfortable idea of what the girl had just agreed to and what was coming. The girl had tasted power she had never experienced before, it was a heady thing. And Jonah had her wrapped around his finger, between the two, the poor soul didn’t stand much of a chance. Nevermind when you added in Wilhelm. Why did she have to be so damn trusting? If Ly didn’t know any better, she would have questioned if this really was her bloodline.

They clear yet again.

To two armies, facing off from one another.

”We do not have to do this Tavya!”

The golden haired one yelled across the battlefield.

“You marched on me, Betseva!”

The dark one bellowed back.

“Be careful my Queen, she will try to draw you into back and forth, all to play mind games.” Wilhelm whispers in her ear.

“She won’t change my mind. She will rue the day she tried to destroy my people! Just because we are different!” Tavya paces up and down the line, eyes trailing over the villagers, all standing at the ready. She spins around and returns to the middle, where Jonah stands tall, holding her bow and helmet, which he offers to her. “Are you ready to take what is yours?”

“I am ready to end this threat to my people once and for all.” She takes the helmet and settles it on her head. “There will be blood this day.”



“The blood of the Lights.” Jonah tells her. “THE BLOOD OF THE LIGHTS!” He repeats it, the surrounding people taking up the cry.

“You can stop this! Just surrender!”

Tavya turns, standing firm again the glare of her sister, defiantly raising her fist to the sky.

And then she drops it.

Her army leaps forward as one, charging across the empty space. Betseva does the same, and within seconds, the air fills with the clang of metal on metal, and screams of pain.

The battle rages, Tavya’s ragtag army of farmers holding their own the best they could against the better trained fighters brought by Betseva. Neither side would give an inch, and bodies started to litter the ground slowly, the delicate green blades of grass splashed with crimson as the blood began to flow freely from both sides. Betseva herself danced through the battlefield, a glittering beacon, gilded with her golden mail, her sword swinging. Tavya, her own armor she was clad in a dull silver, made no less impressive a show, less skill, but more determination as she cut down whoever stepped before her. Wilhelm tended the wounded, darting around staying as far away from the fray as he could so that he wouldn’t get harmed himself

And Jonah.

Jonah lurked among the sidelines, fading in and out among the trees, his eyes ever watchful of the goings on. A quick grin would flicker across his face here and there, fading to his normal, stoic expression. A lone Light, pushed back into the area by a skirmish, dispatches the Dark she had been fighting with, turns to spy him. She raises her weapon, letting out a yell as she charges. Jonah dodges the swing with ease, grabbing the girl around the back of the neck, following through with the swing of his arm to smash her face against the trunk of a tree. Her hand releases the blade as she hits the ground, but Jonah is there, putting his hands upon her head and giving a swift wrench, cleanly breaking her neck. He rises, and without a second glance at her corpse, continues to watch Tavya.

The tide inevitably begins to turn, the real warriors starting to overpower the ones hastily trained, resolve and will power only able to sustain them so long.

Tavya fights her way towards a young girl of her village, trying to reach her in time as she battled two at once. She lets loose an arrow, spearing one clear through the neck. But she is too late, a blade appearing through the girl's spine as the Light severs her with a sword, moments before the arrow slams into his eye socket, sending him flying backwards. Tavya drops to her knees, ripping her helmet off as she checks in vain for a pulse. Tears springing to her eyes as she looks around, at her people trying so hard.

“Look at what she is doing to your people.”

A movement, and he is crouched by her side. “She cares nothing for you or yours. She never did. She just wanted you gone.”

A ragged breath from Tavya.

“Take the gift Tavya. Take what is yours. Show her. Defeat her.”

A nod.

“Do as we spoke of.

Raise your left hand.

And pledge yourself to me.”

Tavya rises, her gaze finding and focusing on Betseva. Their eyes lock across the field. Never looking away, Tavya obeys.

She raises her left hand.

Under Betseva’s startled stare, she changes, a silver wolf again standing where the woman once was, the warped pieces of armor falling away. The golden sister gapes, as the silver wolf growls, muscles trembling with anticipation. Jonah lowers himself onto his haunches, his voice low, hypnotizing to her ears. “You have felt the power Tavya...”

All around them, the Darks begin to change, wolves appearing in their place.

“... now taste it.”

She launches forward, her paws thundering on the ground as Betseva recovers from her shock, dropping into a defensive position. She swings with her sword as Tavya gets close, but the nimble animal is too quick, darting to the side. She feints in, pretending that she was going for her thigh, making her sister swing once more, the other way. Her sword meets nothing but air.

Screeches of pain rent the air as the pack of wolves start tearing through humans. The ones that stayed. Some simply dropped their weapons and ran for their lives.

Betseva fights on, and the wolf continues to dodge, watching. Waiting. Judging. Until the swing that throws the beautiful Light Queen off balance.

And then she leaps.

Her jaws snap shut on her sisters throat, teeth sinking deeply in as they both crash to the ground, a gurgling cry coming from Betseva. Blood spurts, the jugular punctured by sharp canine fangs. Tavya releases, and morphs back into herself, kneeling naked by her twins jerking form. “I’m sorry Betseva.” She reaches out to stroke the long, molten gold hair. “It had to be this way.” The words are tender, but the tenor of her voice was cold, emotionless. “You brought this upon yourself and the rest of the Lights. You all must suffer the punishments bestowed.” She lays her fingers on Betseva’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet as the light fades from them, both sets.

The spark of life in Betseva’s.

The humanity in Tavya’s.

“You had to die.”

With a choking noise, blood begins to stream from Betseva’s lips. The pulsing spurt of it beginning to slow from the wound in her neck, slowing to a trickle as her heart beats its last under the unfeeling eyes of her own twin.

A soft footstep behind her.

“You did well. You impress. Mere mortals will tremble as tales sweep the land. You are more Tavya, under my hand you have become special. Now rise...”

A soft item drapes over her. A cape, made from wolf pelts, complete with head still attached as a hood. She rises, ever obedient, still looking down at the still form of her sister, the frame of Jonah looming up behind her, Wilhelm, hovering beyond him. The pack begins to howl.

“Wolf of the Left Hand.”

A denial noise in Lycana’s throat, and almost as if she heard, Tavya’s eyes turn her way, the wreckage of the battle all around her, and that was the last she saw before she was swallowed up by the snowy white once more.



She didn’t know how long she floated with nothing happening, until the empty world begins to shake. She jerks, being bounced around like a marble in a jar. It subsides, and she blinks, rattled. The it starts up again, and she begins to feel a strange pull towards a dark void. She tries to spin, to fight it, but it is no use. She goes hurtling along, a swirling vortex of colors and shapes whipping by her eyes like a runaway carnival ride, making her feel ill until she lurches to a stop in blackness. She forces her eyes open to see a blurry face hovering over her. She blinks, confused, until her vision clears enough for her to see.

Marf.

He had come to her. She wanted to smile, but she felt his rage.

“Marf.... what...”

Her head spins once more, and she feels the blackness creeping on the edges over her mind. Gritting her teeth, she wills it away, forcing control over herself as she carefully moves her limbs, relieved to find that they are sluggish, but relatively willing to respond to her.

“Stupid…you are so goddamn stupid! Why would you do this to yourself Ly!? Fuck sakes!”

He stands, keeping his hands on her and assisting her to her feet before letting her go, his hands hovering inches away as she wobbles dangerously. He gets ahold of her again, as she goes to take a step and nearly eats dirt. “I can... walk... on my... own.”

“Sure you can. Just shut up for a few minutes so we can get the fuck out of here.”

She goes to take another obstinate step forward, but he merely plucks her up as if she was as substantial as a hummingbird, and exits the cabin, still carrying her. She opens her mouth to complain, but as she looks up into his face she snaps her mouth shut. He was beyond angry, and now was not the time for her independent streak to show up. She subsides, peeking up at his stormy expression as his heavy footfalls announce just how pissed he was. She could feel it, the heat radiating off his body, the tremor of a muscle here and there, the rage monster was alive and well. The rocking motion though, set a soothing tone and pure exhaustion claims her, as she passes out in his arms.

________________________________________________________________________



“Oh Alias, you are quite adorable when you get all uppity.

But you are damn dense.

Watching you is sort of like watching a chicken with its head cut off, and I should know. And just like then, I was the fucking executioner who caused it.

It seems we may have crossed some wires here, and you really just are as disappointing as the rest when it comes to this play with words. Round and round and round you go, where you stop... is inevitably on how you have the Universe and that makes you different.

Yeah. I know. I’ve been saying it too.

See, it wasn’t my words that you were twisting, merely your own. I don’t have a problem with that. At all actually. Where the issue comes in Alias, is when you are directly contradicting yourself. Saying something completely opposite of what you told others, simply because it is me and it fits your narrative better. That my darling, is where I take umbrage. Wouldn’t anybody? There is I suppose, some merit in gaining knowledge over time, and changing one's opinion. That is a whole different animal right now, gaining new knowledge that changes your mind.

But that was not the case here, was it?

No Alias, you went along the last few months telling people that it took killing you to stop you, to take you down. That your death was the only way that anybody ever got one over on you. Your only defeat because you were set on fire, and burned alive until you were a pile of ash, dust, blown gently away to become one with the moon; yeah I believe we were there as well. Your murder, laid at my door, warning all who decided they want a taste of you just what it would take if they wanted to achieve the same.

No others were as willing to do anything.

Until you stepped in front of me.

Because now, your tune has changed. Now you are saying that I didn’t kill you at all. What is the only thing that has changed?

It's me you're saying it to.

That right there my dear, is a whole load of bullshit. You know you are doing it to try and what? Downplay me or what I did while saying that you aren’t? Pretend now that you didn’t actually die, you just conveniently died when you wanted to warn people it was the only way by you? And now that the murderer has returned for judgement, you decide that it’s time to flip flop your plea because there's some weird sense of “I’ll Show You, You Didn’t Hurt Me!” now that you are face to face with me?

You wanna be blasé?

It happened.

I hurt you.

I fucking killed you. Just like you told everybody else.

Despite what you say to me.

Don’t try and change it now Alias. It's not even my words that you are trying to twist here, but your own. And you aren't even doing a very good job of it. This whole thing is like a little kid coloring a duck purple, and then trying to argue that it was green instead. Fuck, I don’t even know why you are trying to. It is all right there, out your own mouth.

One thing I have noticed with you, is that as we go back and forth, having the pleasure now of doing double what we did before, is that it is somewhat like riding on a merry go round. You and I we came all bright eyed, seeking out the perfect pony on which to sit before the lever was pulled and we started this ride. And then you keep urging it to go faster and faster, trying your damndest to make me dizzy and lose my lunch. Perhaps go flying off my horse entirely and crash land somewhere.

Problem for you though Alias, is that I love me a carnival.

I live for this.

You act like I’m supposed to come in here like everybody else and be frightened of you. I’m not. I’m truly not. This is what I do. You fight. I fight too. I don’t care who it is or what they have done, when I step into that ring, I am there to give it my everything. I love what I do, that is why I am here. You can keep wasting your breath trying to warn me away each time, keeping taking us up on this tilt-a-whirl thinking you will shake me to my core. I’m just gonna hang on and smile at you.

Because it is fun.

I guess it would be a shame to continue on around our little amusement park without another hop on that rollercoaster you love. That was sarcasm, I’m just being a bitch. Sure, it goes forward until the end of the ride, which can be the start, but why do you immediately assume that means you start over? It only means that if you stay on the same damn ride. I guess that means when your rollercoaster stopped, you didn’t go forward and... oh wait.

Just like you have said approximately four thousand times, you jumped onto another ride.

A starting part to your next chapter.

How is it, that someone who is so into symbolism and the like, that such an obvious point would miss you, especially when it pertains to something you’ve been singing like an insane parrot on crack throughout this whole deal?

Oh right. It doesn’t fit your narrative right now.

Feel free to use it as an example, you know... for whoever you pick yourself up to face after we have our little party.

After the fate of the Universe is decided.

We’ve heard all about what you are going to do, and I would assume you're growing bored of repeating that over and over... right? Maybe you think I’m ignoring you because I’m not bringing it up every which way though I already have. Maybe you think that I don’t believe that I am some sort of human talisman for you, that shows up whenever something is about to happen to you. I do, it's pretty hard to deny for anyone with eyes. Can't say I understand it, but then again... I don’t understand half of what's going on in my own life at any given day when it comes to anything outside the ring. Do I think that me being around always makes you better? No. You chased your tail coming after us quite a bit in the beginning before you found your way, so nothing can say that this would be any different, dependent on what path you end up thrown down.

And there's that word again.

Different.

We view things in a much different light that I had thought, that much is for sure.

So, what would I do?

The short version is, I don’t know.

I just kind of let the world take me where it will Alias, and I suppose the Universe would be no different. Kind of like I let it from the start. I put my trust in it to point me in the right direction. To nudge me where I need to be looking to take that next step. And for me, that next step doesn’t have to be massive or make sense. I just have to take it, whatever it is, like a puzzle being pieced together. Sometimes, you just don’t see that full picture until the very last one snaps into place.

Pieces fall into place in ways we will never understand sometimes, until that final click.

For as much as I am a large part of yours, you have played a role in mine. I guess I can’t claim that you have been the turning point for me, in the ways you can, and I’m not sure if I should say I'm sorry for that or not, but you did mold me into who I am today, at least in part. Your hands were on me as I took shape, and will be within the future as well.

You see this as another way to step on me and see what you can take from going even higher.

I will just allow myself to become what I will. Given how much I’ve changed from a year ago, I would guess most would say for the better, I can only assume that I would stay moving in that direction. I don’t know Alias, and I refuse to pretend I do. I just know what I want, what I wish to do, and if it feels right, I do it. I’m not typically one to make spur of the moment choices unless I have to. Rest assured despite what you seem to think, and my reasonings behind it, I thought long and hard about facing you again being the right path to get there. All things point to me having made the right choice so far.

But life works in funny ways.

Not our little tee hee haha ways that we’ve been going back and forth with, but funny all the same.

You call me defensive for explaining the way I view things...

As you go on that massive tirade about things I supposedly don’t understand about you... and your view on them.

Are you seeing the crazy behind this all?

But I guess with all the questions we are tossing back and forth, hypothetical or actually meant, we are about to be chattering on and on about the same crap huh?

Let us take, for example, your inconsistent one, and why as a liar, you would care if I called you one, or caught you in one. You wouldn’t. That was my point. You said you were inconsistent, which would imply a set of principles to be varying with. I don’t think you did have any to do so. End point.

If you didn’t want me to explain about things Alias, you should probably stop adding in the contradictions within your sentences. You say you believe me that this has never been about belts for me, and fuck, I would almost say thank you, that still makes the number one I can count on one hand, except... I guess the part where you said you gave a little poke. “Though your constant attempts at becoming the tippy top of the Best Friends Division, whether with Marf or Betsy, kind of suggests something else is afoot.”

That screams doubt to me Alias, but hey... if you didn’t want a lecture, you should probably have just let it lie, hmm? When I take my little shots at you, I fully expect you to come back with some form of explanation, and the thing is Alias... If it was a plausible one, I would accept that I was wrong. You don’t seem to want to do that with anything other than that you approached Leap of Faith wrong. I don’t think anybody has ever said differently. I know I haven’t. I mentioned your blinders plenty of times. I’m not even sure why you brought that up like it was some big revelation that you had been denying. I guess that would be your example on where I said you contradicted yourself.

Only that never happened.

Those blinders are still on you, clear as day.

I told you I was going to be honest with ya Alias, and if that means digging back and showing you where you contradicted yourself on shit that pertains directly to what you are saying to me... yep. I’ll do it. I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again. What, did you think that I would just sit there, and stare at the log you laid out in front of me and just pretend like it didn’t stink to high fucking heaven?

I call it like I see it.

But I will also admit any wrongdoings.

Which, I suppose in my case is using the word “literally” a whole three times while speaking to you last? Do you have something against it? Does it bring back bad memories or something? Does it trigger you to go into whatever it is that you decided to try and do? Make “literally” to you, what “fuck” is to Thunder Knuckles maybe? I don’t know. I suppose that was your take on a sense of humor, or that’s what you will say at least. Prodding the bear I think you called it. But for me, it simply comes across as desperation to try and... fuck. I don’t even know. Show me that you’re paying attention? Get under my skin? Get my attention?

Well, you got that, and a raised eyebrow to boot.

And me thinking how desperate you are to do such things.

Mission accomplished?

What is the next one you want to do? I think I said “I don’t know” quite a few times. Maybe you care to take a stabby-poo at that one? I’m sure you can do it. Maybe you can even stumble onto something that actually makes a point against what I’ve been saying rather than just saying that I’ve been using your words. Of course, I fucking have. I was talking about you and the situation, and how we each saw it. I’ve explained that one until my face is as blue as my hair, and forgive me but I just don’t think I feel like going there again, especially when it comes to pretty common damn words to describe the situation. From now on I shall endeavor to only say dispatch, assassination, cease, terminate and the like. How’s that?

It’s funny that you would leap on that as one of the ways of twisting your words, when I simply took what you said... and showed you the contradictory terms you spoke. A rebuttal if you will. Goddess fucking dammit Alias... USING the other persons words, is not twisting them, when you are showing how they said it one way somewhere, and different elsewhere. And of all things, you choose the fact that I started with Ever Forward?

Again, for at least the third time... that was a compliment you dolt!

How the fuck am I twisting your words against you, if I am telling you that more people should adhere to the notion of it?

“You started this with using my words!”

Oh, whoa is Alias, Lycana decided to start things out being nice! She took what I said and proceeded to compliment me all over the place with it, but I’m going to completely skip over that fact, and cry about it like it was something negative, because I don’t have too much else to say, and she was being a meany about some other things that I said, where I fucked up a little, but... I’m just going to pretend she was mean there too.

It's like a fucking toddler putting their hands over their eyes.

La la la la la I can’t see you!

Blinders.

And confusion.

You really coming after me for saying the number of times that the X has changed hands, and how many people it went through?

When I compared it to your record.

Making out that beating you, was the bigger accomplishment.

Which was....

…. a fucking compliment?

Again?!

Maybe you are just really bad at taking nice things sent your way. Maybe that whole thing about honesty, didn’t really lock in and you thought I was being shady somewhere in there. Maybe you are just lashing out and everything and anything you possibly can, trying to land a punch. If you want to pitch some kind of fit and tear your own self down by trying to prove my words, that are meant to be kind, down... by all means. That is certainly no skin off my back. Just confuses me. You didn’t see me taking any of your pleasantries and trying to make you out to be the bad guy. I made you better. I helped you. I beat you. And so on. Yup, yup, and yup. Sure did, to all of the above. Things that you said around such things? Sure. I will take opportunities that come my way if I see them, if they don’t match up with other things to me.

Perhaps I would have stayed nicer if I didn’t have to explain things for you a hundred times over.

Don’t get me wrong Alias, I am more irked by the knowledge that you are seeing things where there isn't anything and attacking well-meaning words than anything. I just didn’t expect to have to deal with what amounts to a two year old asking why after every single response until I wanted to rip my hair out and stab my ears with that fork of yours. I had expected a little bit more from you by way of understanding. I suppose that was my bad.

What you seem to be glossing over, time after time, is the fact that I told you that I see you.

You insist on explaining that one to me each time, as if I have been denying it or arguing the point, trying to spin it when it doesn’t even need to be spun. You keep trying to pound me with the fact that you hold the Universe and you care about it. That you are a fighter and you always have been, that that is what you plan to do when we step into the ring together, as you do with everything. You live, to fight, no matter what.

I told you that I knew.

I told you that I saw you.

Now let me tell you that I want you to.

That I never expected anything less.

Haven't you realized that yet? That I want that from you? I am coming into this looking for the fight. I am looking at you to be your best. If I thought you would ever give up, I wouldn’t have come to you. I know what you are, I know what you do, and I know very well what is stretching out before me... probably even better than you do.

It just wasn’t enough to stop me from doing what I need to.

Not enough to send me cowering away, tail tucked at the thought of facing you.

I’m not scared of what you can do to me Alias.

I’m not scared of playing in your Universe.

I’m excited to.

You and me.

No matter where it takes us.”

________________________________________________________________________

One misstep, you're mine
And you better stay clever if you wanna survive
Once you cross the line
You'll be wishing you would listen when you meet your demise