Difference between revisions of "Loyalties (2/2) (Elliana Fairchild)"

Latest revision as of 05:57, 19 June 2014

Elliana's eyes snapped open. These were dangerous thoughts. It was true that she'd once considered the Magical Girl her friend, but it was also true that she'd done that favor due to the perceived debt. The Confederacy was welcoming to her, but it would not tolerate a second occurrence. Possibly not even the first, if that came to light. She played a dangerous game, even as an Inquisitor, relying on her verbal skills and her reputation for telling the truth... something she still clung to. No, not just reputation... the truth. Massaged, lightly tasted, arranged into a perspective, but still the truth. That was what kept the raging beast inside her from controlling her. That dedication. Yet it left her with questions, too.

Where did she belong?

The paralyzed young woman had plenty of time to consider it. She would have to. The Union's methods were not hers, that she knew. The Confederacy welcomed her, yet its methods were sometimes brutal and not to her liking. No, brutality wasn't the word... brutal was fine. /Dishonest/ perhaps. Self-destructive. She could admire the Union's goals, even if she thought them unrealistic. The Confederacy's standards... were they too loose?

"Princess Fairchild."

It was a mental voice, but it reminded her. After all her work, she'd gotten some recognition. Her birthright. It felt somewhat hollow, yet exhilerating at the same time. Confusing. And unimportant, ultimately, as she really didn't have a choice now. She'd thrown her lot in with this group, and they'd treated her well. She could make new loyalties here, couldn't she? Provided she were not killed by vindictive Unionites first.

Along with that one. That strange girl who had drawn her into that dream state. That was something to consider.

Of course the dream had been altered. They always were. Every night, Elliana had nightmares. Normal dreams, happy dreams, were lost to her. It was part of the Price. But to invoke a dream state like that, to draw others in, with such a simple means...

Elliana knew she should be able to do the same. She was the Mistress of Nightmares. She controlled them. Created them. But she was continually relying upon the simple matter of a leash on the instinctive flailing of the Shajem inside her. A part of her world... her world.

Why was she doubting? Her loyalties, her allegiance... how had she forgotten? It was to her world. Everything she had done was for that. It was all secondary. Even forcing this being, this angry, evil presence, to inhabit her body had been done for her world. And she was using it like an attack dog, a beast she could simply let loose upon her foes, in the form of nightmares or raw power.

It lacked finesse.

That wasn't control. That was imprisonment.

A deep breath caused pains to shoot through the young priestess, feeling the stabs and cuts along her shattered ribs. The respirator hissed again, then resumed its quiet rhythm.

Control. She lacked control.

Her eyes closed at last. She felt herself sinking into the storm of nightmares she always felt, the horrible visions that haunt her dreams. And this time, she welcomed them, hunted out the raw, primal, not-quite-sapient mind within her.

Control.

"It's time we had a talk."