victory_road | [005:] Ecruteak Inn

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[005:] Ecruteak Inn

Action: Outside the Inn

[As had become the norm, Angel had settled herself outside, seated on a bench while her Pokemon ran about. Today, Floette was facing off against Mari, while Bailey squared off with Skagbait. Each of them exchanged blows, though not particularly aggressively. Occasionally, Adorababy, who watched the fighting pairs, would reach out, adjusting the Floette's positioning. Skagbait, on the other hand, would nudge Bailey into a better stance. As far as she was concerned, it seemed that, despite Angel's own cluelessness, her Pokemon were picking up on the complexities of battle.]

[Settled behind her was her Furret, wrapped around the girl and resting his head on her lap. She scritched at the top of his head every now and again, which he responded with a loud dook or three. All in all, she was firmly enjoying her chilly afternoons. Especially if, depending on the day, she'll have ice cream in hand.]

Video/Action, Route 38

[While Angel might have called herself weak, her Pokemon thought otherwise. As she stood in the woods, with Mari facing off against a lone Hoothoot, there was an unmistakable air of confidence about her. She issued commands calmly and quickly, and while it helped that Mari was drastically over-levelled for the area, Angel's relaxed nature was certainly helping.]

[Once the Hoothoot had been dispatched, Angel turned around, then huffed at Pokemon filming her. The Pokemon let out something like a laugh, dancing backward as the girl swiped at her. It didn't take long for either of them to collapse into the ground, sounds of mirth erupting from the two of them.]

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Okay...

[Angel relaxed a little, and took their orders once they were prepared. She led the gladiator to a table and sat down, then pushed the coffee ice cream over to her. Rather than digging into hers, she fixed an expectant look on Athena.]

I really hope you like it.

[Looking at Athena, it wouldn't be unreasonable for one to think that she must hate sweet things. But oh no... it was hard to hate sweet things when your favorite drink is absurdly sweet lattes. And damn, she liked them enough to compliment Atlas on their latte machines. That said a hell of a lot.

So she doesn't make a face when she takes her first bite of the ice cream. In fact, she doesn't seem to react at all.. until she raises an eyebrow, and takes another bite.]

This is... interesting. And not quite what I expected.

[Interesting... was not quite the reaction she was hoping for. Her own first taste had filled her with absolute delight. Armin and Jean had both been over the moon when they first tasted the treat. She had hoped that Athena might do much of the same, even if it was uncharacteristic over her.]

[Still, Angel didn't look too bothered by Athena's stoicism. Yes, she had hoped for a miracle, but she knew Athena well enough. A muted reaction was not an outright rejection of Angel's suggestion.]

Is that interesting good or interesting bad?

The former.

[Sorry, Angel. She may have grown a lot since defecting from Atlas, but Athena still has a little trouble navigating personal interactions with others. It doesn't help that her body language isn't exactly the best, outside of when she's angry. Still, it's clear that she must be enjoying herself, with how she hms a little as she takes a few more bites.]

I was expecting it to be more bitter. Taking it black seems to be the popular way of drinking coffee, after all.

[Angel relaxed. She was used to her chief guardian's gruff behavior -- enough that it usually wasn't all that off-putting. It was only guilt that had her worried in the first place, fear that perhaps she might have pushed the gladiator too far and made her try something she absolutely didn't like.]

[The idea of ruining ice cream for someone was awful.]

To be honest, I wouldn't know about all the ways of drinking coffee. It was obviously out of the question on Pandora and here, well... [A shrug.] My system is unstable enough as is. Wouldn't want to upset the balance by pumping caffeine into my body.

[... Athena wants to ask. It was obvious to anyone who isn't even half as observant as Athena is that Angel was extremely malnourished when she first arrived on this planet, so of course she wouldn't be able to handle a lot of foods. But there seems to be... something else there.

She never asked the full story of just what Jack did to Angel. Maybe the time to bring it up is coming soon. But not now. Now, they still have something else to focus on.]

You seem much stronger and healthier now. If you can handle this- [She holds up her ice cream.] then you can probably handle a small cup of coffee. If you want to try it.

I have had a lot of training when it comes to ice cream, though. [It had become her favorite thing to do with friends, after all. But still, Athena had a point. If Angel could handle sugars and the like, then certainly she could stomach something more.]

Soon then. With you around. Perhaps we can make a habit of going out like this? [Their relationship wasn't strained or awkward, at least not in Angel's eyes. But that didn't mean they couldn't spend more time together.]

I'm glad you think so, though. That I'm healthier. Sometimes I look in the mirror and I still think I see shades of purple and left over scars from what happened. But the runs we went for helped, and so does just walking around and eating more.

It's... good to finally be getting past all of that.

[Athena snorts at that. Training? With eating food? Sounds ridiculous, but hey. Whatever floats Angel's boat.]

I... could do this again, yes. [It's not like she has much else to do with her time, outside of battling and training.] With the weather becoming less harsh, I'd like for our group to start traveling, but until we're all prepared... this is good, I suppose.

[For all that she projects the stock, uncaring attitude and boredom with everything except fighting, Athena does like casual things like this. They're nice changes.

... But any enjoyment there evaporates a bit at what Angel says next, unfortunately.]

... Purple?

[Athena hadn't examined the girl too closely when they first met, so she could have just meant bruises. But that... still sticks out in a way that Athena's sure means something else other than bruises.]

Who says it has to be here? [Angel spooned some of her own ice cream, and then sucked thoughtfully on the spoon. She doubted this was the only ice cream shop in Johto, after all.] You can conquer the gyms in the region, and I can conquer all of the ice cream shops!

[Like Athena, Angel sobered up when reminded of her own words. She was used to Krieg and his pinpoint knowledge of what had happened to her. She was also used to the gladiator's incredibly perception -- the fact that she hadn't spotted the bizarre tone of Angel's skin.]

[Perhaps then, it wasn't as bad as she had thought. That, or the woman simply hadn't understood what she was seeing.]

A... side-effect of Jack's treatment. [She let out a breath, almost like a laugh.] There is no quicker way to charge a Vault Key than a siren boosted by eridium.

[... And that's when everything else just sort of fades away. The lighthearted conversation they were having. Angel bringing up one of the ideas that had been on Athena's mind. All of that just blanks out with those few little words.

She thinks back to Elpis. She thinks about Zarpedon, and the corrupted, mutated soldiers of the Lost Legion, exposed to too much eridium and the bizarre technology (magic???) of the Vault. Those beings already touched by the Eridians who were able to mutate even further with just the right push...]

... He didn't just hurt you. He used you as a tool. A battery.

[Athena stands up, very suddenly. Her ears are ringing, so loud she can barely hear her own voice, and that white-hot burning is starting to flood her veins again. It was like confronting Cassius, like when she'd seen what Jack did to Tim...

Shit. Shit. She needs to get out. Angel will barely have time to notice how Athena glances at the door before she's up on her feet in an instant, practically charging out of the ice cream shop...]

Edited 2017-03-13 04:06 (UTC)

[Angel didn't have time to respond, to affirm or deny what the gladiator had asked. She watched the woman stand, stunned into silence by her shift in demeanor. It wasn't as if she had expected this talk to go pleasantly, but this reaction was... a bit on the unexpected side.]

[It didn't take Angel long to stand herself, nor did it take any convincing for her to try to reach out, to offer some amount of comfort in the face of her obvious distress.]

Athena --

[Before she could finish, before her hand could make contact with the woman's shoulder, she was gone, moving almost too quick for the siren to hope to keep up with. She glanced at their unfinished ice cream, to the staff, then to the door. This wasn't at all how she wanted their outing to go.]

[But she wasn't going to leave it at that, either. She followed the woman out of the little shop, not nearly strong or fast enough to hope to keep up. Instead, she waited until the doors closed behind her to shout after the woman.]

Athena, wait! [She wanted to say more, but none of the words would come to her. What was she even supposed to say in a case like this?]

[Athena is halfway down the street (heading suspiciously towards the Pokemon Center and the fast travel station close to it) when Angel's call finally cuts through the haze in her head. It's like a light switching on in a dark room, and she refocuses so fast she has to shake her head.

She'll let Angel approach her, so she's not completely lost, but she's not calm at all. Her hands are clenching and unclenching, and she's shifting her weight from foot to foot. Athena is the very image of a time bomb about to go off, but she's trying to hold it back. For Angel's sake.]

After seeing Jack's fall the way I did, seeing the things Hyperion had done on Pandora, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But...

[She thinks of the horror, the utterly consuming sense of self-loathing she felt when she cut down her parents. When she realized what she'd done to Jess.]

I can't comprehend this.

[The gladiator was far enough away by the time she stopped that it took Angel a good minute to catch up. Thanks to their training together, she wasn't completely drained upon reaching her, but after also engorging herself on ice cream, she didn't have the best energy from which to draw from.]

[The nervous fidgeting of the woman stopped the siren in her tracks. She had expected for her to be upset, but to see her in a state like this made Angel feel guilty, horrifically so. She could have gone about it better, or perhaps avoided it over all.]

[She should have known it would be such a slap in the face.]

I'm sorry. [For what, she didn't know. Even if she felt bad about telling her what happened, Athena wouldn't take well to an apology, that much she did know. All she really knew was that she hated seeing the woman like this.]

[It takes a moment for Athena to respond; she can't really collect herself, because hoo boy is she bad at that when she's this angry. She just makes a mental note to split off from the inn when they return later. It's been a while since she needed to take her anger out on a poor tree, but she still knew of a nice secluded spot right on the outskirts of town...

(The only reason she's not focusing on Jack is because she knows he's not stupid. After the last time she paid him a visit, there's no way he would just remain there...)]

You don't have to apologize. [There's an edge to her voice, but as her anger isn't directed at Angel, she at least tries to temper it just a bit.] I've know for years what kind of a monster Jack was, but willing using family like that... it puts him at a step beyond monster.

[Her scowl shifts to something like a cringe; it doesn't just make her angry, it makes her sick. The guilt of what she'd done to her family will always haunt her, and she hadn't had a choice in doing it. But this? Using his daughter to charge an alien device? Running the risk of her mutating into something like those Legion Eternals? He did it because of his own megalomaniacal greed and the desire to burn Pandora to ashes. Even after years of being exposed to the worst humanity has to offer, Athena just can't wrap her head around this.]

Hurting... killing family like that is a line no one should ever cross. No matter how evil or sadistic they are.

[As Athena vented, Angel toyed with her fingers. She wanted to offer her some kind of comfort, but everything she was saying, the siren had said as well. There was nothing to offer, nothing to say to comfort her.]

[Except for perhaps one thing.]

He can't hurt me. Not like that, not here. [At the beginning, she'd had an unreasonable fear that he might sweep her away in the dead of the night. That he'd poke and prod at her until her siren powers burst forth once more. It'd been especially prevalent in the midst of the return of her powers.]

[But then Athena had hit a rather sore point. As if Angel was particularly innocent in all of this. She never remembered the details, but there was a shrill scream and the sound of breaking glass and crunching metal that she'd never quite been able to forget.]

I... I'm not innocent. Not really. [Angel had already revealed the most troubling detail -- what was one more thing.] I killed my mother. Back when my powers first awakened. It was an accident but...

[Rail thin arms wrapped around a slim waist, as if she were trying to hold herself together.]

I think I'm what started it. What drove Jack mad. After that he locked me away in the control core. For my protection, he told me. It wasn't until later that the eridium came but... I swear Jack wasn't like this before --

Before me.

Bullshit.

[Yeah, sorry Angel. Athena just has to be blunt here.]

I know what it feels like. Having the blood of a parent on your hands. [Both, in her case.] I know the pain of losing family in a horrible way. It's awful. But that gives him to excuse to do what he did.

[She shakes her head, hands clenching and unclenching. She's not quite calm, but the metaphorical fuse has died down a bit.]

That sort of grief doesn't lead you to hurting the important people you have left.

Edited 2017-03-20 04:02 (UTC)

[Though she knew Athena meant no harm, the siren still recoiled at her words. It was something she needed to hear, that she had no doubts of. But even if she needed it, it still didn't make her happy. She didn't have to like it.]

[Athena's affirmation only confirmed the sort of thoughts that Krieg had put into it. Jack simply didn't know how not to hurt. Worse still, it reminded her that in the end, Jack was a monster, no matter how she spun it. She so desperately wanted to believe that there was some modicum of good in him, that somehow the could make things right.]

He's still my father. [Her voice was feeble, fearful of the outburst that might come from the gladiator.]

[Maybe it's the tone of Angel's voice. Or maybe the fact that she's growing more fearful as Athena goes on. But something manages to needle past Athena's walls, and a look of guilt flashes across her face.

Shit. Shit. She knows how easily she can freak people out, and normally she doesn't care what they think... but she hadn't wanted to do that with Angel.]

... I know.

[Athena's not always a warm person. Even with their odd little thrown-together family, she's not always like that. BUt she tries to force herself into some semblance of that attitude, if just so she can stop scaring the kid.]

But father or not, you can't allow him to make you keep thinking that all of your misfortune was your fault.

But part of it is my fault, Athena. [Despite the fact that her voice remained meek, there was a slightly more urgent tone to it. She knew that the gladiator had a point, but she was also tired of being absolved of all her sins.]

[Thousands of people had died by her hands. Accident or not, her mother was one of those. Without her, perhaps her mother would still be breathing. Athena was right in saying that Jack's madness didn't necessarily rest on her shoulders. It didn't mean that the rest of it couldn't be attributed to her, however.]

Do you remember New Haven. [A pair of trembling hands lifted and were held out to the woman before her. Her left hand clenched tightly into a fist.] That happened because of me. The same with Sanctuary, too, Athena.

[Athena sees the way Angel holds her hands out, and she understands. She'd felt that too, the first time her unit had been deployed, when she was still young enough that the Atlas brainwashing and indoctrination hadn't completely took over. She'd felt it after that final raid; it was like Jess's death had pulled back all those battered and repressed emotions Atlas had tried to torture out of her. It had brought back guilt, and since then, Athena had been uneasy at the thought of destruction on such a scale. It's why she dropped her alliance with Jack as soon as the Vault business was done.]

Jack ordered you to aid him in attacking those towns didn't he? They were his orders, and his people pulling the triggers - that wasn't you. You had no choice, with him doing all that he did to you. If you tried to resist... who knows what he might have done.

[She doesn't think her own words apply to herself, of course. Unlike Angel, before she broke her conditioning, Athena had enjoyed the thrill. She was a monster, yes. Angel? Not so much.]

I can't speak for anyone else, but... you see how Krieg treats you. If the Crimson Raiders still thought you were to blame for what happened to Sanctuary, I doubt he'd treasure you so.

[She thinks the others might feel the same, as well. When they told her their story in return for Athena telling hers, they... glazed over the Angel Core mission. Like it was a subject that was tender for them not because of anger, but because it... seemed to have hurt. The other siren, Maya, especially seemed to have a grim cloud hanging over her at that point in the story.[

[The siren still had her doubts. Not in the fact that Krieg trusted her -- if anyone were to know the horrors of Hyperion, it would be him. There was no doubting that if Krieg was willing to put his faith into her, then it was a well-deserved gesture. That didn't assuage her fears entirely.]

[Krieg, and perhaps even the second generation of Vault Hunters as a whole, seemed to exist on the outer cusp of the organization. And while Krieg, Maya and the rest of their cohort might have forgiven her, they weren't there to witness the deaths of friends and allies in New Haven.]

[And then there was the obvious answer...]

He wouldn't have done anything. [From everything Jack had told her here in this world, it was that he wasn't a physical abuser. She wanted to believe that no matter how stubbornly she refused, he wouldn't have laid a hand on her.]

[The truth was likely a bit more abysmal.]

He needed me to charge the Vault Key. Lilith was deceased, as far as we knew, and Maya did not react to eridium the way we did. Killing me would have doomed his plans. I could have used that somehow.

[That... that startles Athena a bit. It doesn't show much, but her eyebrows raise and her eyes widen just a little. She's not unfamiliar with people who would.... so casually use their own lives like that - lord knows she has no sense of self-preservation when she throws herself so easily into the thick of intense battle - but for someone like Angel to say that... she doesn't like that idea. At all.]

... But would you have used that somehow?

I did toward the end. [Her hands clasped together, clenching against themselves. During the final hour, when she had finally resigned herself to death and accepted that there would be no fixing Jack, all bets were off.] He could hurt me, did hurt me, but I could keep on living. Keep on fighting until the Vault Hunters came and made things right.

[A sigh left her lips.]

The point is that I could have done it sooner. I shouldn't have waited until the bitter end. I could have saved lives, if I had just said no.

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[005:] Ecruteak Inn

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