*Snff*
*snfff*
The desolate Brickstown stoop played unwitting host tonight, to a bedraggled young lady, a Paragon City Sewer manhole leaning against her knees, a rusty broadsword in an ersatz sheath on her back. Rain spattered intermittently off the manhole cover, occasionally mixing with the tears on the careworn face of Jeena Malso, known as Lost Sabre, leaving trails in the dirt and grime of the street.
A blast of jets and the muted clank of a hardsuit dropping to the pavement brought Lost's eyes up, and the slender armored form of Silicon Sabre stood in front of her, holding out a hand. Lost took her hand, and the two disappeared in a crackling of golden light. Ouroboros flickered into being around the two, and disappeared again as they shunted through space and time. Talos island clarified about them, and Silicon drew the passive Lost to the Base Portal at the foot of the hill, and they disappeared again, into the Riot Force base. Silicon handed Lost into the shower and moved off towards the locker rooms herself. Lost moved as if in a trance, slowly but thoroughly cleaning herself, Lost let the hot water of the shower beat some of her misery out of her.
Afterwards, pulling on her customary 'upscale' outfit of sweater vest and green jeans, Jeena looked up from tying her shoes to see Sylia leaning against the doorframe, elegant and slim in slacks and an ivory blouse, perfectly made up and accesorized. Lost looked down again, hair swinging forward to hide her face, and mustered her strength to face her notional employer. She straightened and gazed into Sylia's eyes. Sylia nodded once and turned. Jeena followed her to the small entry room to the base, and Sylia sat, elegantly poised on a green chaise lounge. Jeena sat as well, perched uncomfortably on the edge of the grey couch facing it, and the two sat in silence for a long moment.
"So, care to tell me what led you to Brickstown tonight?" Sylia asked. Jeena sighed, and bent her head forward to rub her face with her hands.
"I just got access to the Midnight Club." She stated, and trailed off. Straightening, she faced Sylia head on. "I just got access to the Midnight Club. I thought they seemed like a really interesting group, someone I could do a lot of good working with. What I didn't expect was that there would be a cure for the Lost... or that it would be so limited."
"Limited?"
"Before they were caught by those crazy preachers, most of those people had lives, Sylia! They may not have been rich or even may not have had homes, but they were their own people, and the Lost took that from them, welded them into their own twisted group. It was only because of Nene's sensors and you Sabres that I made it out of that... " Jeena trailed off again, staring into space, and Sylia leaned across the gap to put a gentle hand on hers.
"But you did make it out."
"Yes. I did.. but I'm not whole, Sylia. I still don't have any memories between childhood and my rescue, and I still have the occasional.. breakdown.. from the drugs, from the malnutrition, from the toxins in the sewers.. I don't know."
"I know, and while we don't have anything we can do about the memories, we are, at least, on top of the neurological damage."
"Cold comfort... "
"I know.. but again, why Brickstown tonight?"
"Well.. the Cure.. That nice Rikti researcher said it should help reverse the changes that the Lost were going through, and it worked wonderfully.. but I ran into someone that I had known while I was.. in. The Cure changed back his body... but he didn't know who I was. He didn't remember me, or respond to his name, he barely seemed to know where he was." Sylia drew breath to interrupt, and Jeena raised a hand to stop her. "I know, something as massive as the Lost Cure would certainly cause some disorientation.. but I followed him for over an hour, Sylia. He just.. wasn't there anymore." Jeena's hand fell back to her lap, and she clasped her hands together, staring at them. "He wasn't the person I knew.. then.. and didn't seem to be even.. a person.. now. I called the Paragon EMS and got out of there."
Sylia hmmed.
"They knew what I was talking about as soon as I said 'Lost Cure'. It's been happening for awhile now, it seems that about half of the people who get the Cure just don't.. recover. The other half seem to be able to go on to 'normal' lives, but.. even they don't have a 100% return of their memory."
"So.. when I had one dose of the Cure left.. I dosed myself. Everything turned into color mush, and I passed out."
"I woke up on a rooftop in Brickstown, and made my way to where you found me. And.... I've given up. We've tried psionics, magic, technology, and now this, and none of it has brought me any closer to finding my memories. I don't think I'm ever going to get them back."
"So." Sylia asked, focussed on Jeena's face. "What were you doing in Bricks, then? Had you given up altogether?"
Jeena sat back, determination sharpening the planes of her face. "No. No way. Even if I don't have my old memories, I still have the memories of Paragon, of what you and the Sabres have done for me, and the good people I've worked with here. If I have to rebuild my life, here is a good place to do it. Here, I can be one of the people that make Paragon City a great place to live, and that's worthwhile, no matter what I was.. back home... " Jeena paused, glancing down at her hands again. "Tonight, I guess.. I was mourning my memories. 'Cause now, giving up.. it means they're really gone." Jeena's gaze dropped back to her hands and held there, as tears fell onto them.The long, clean scrape of metal against leather pulled her attention back to the leader of the Sabres as she pulled out a dark jade blade from a scabbard, holding it point down before aiming the pommel at her. Jeena blinked tears away before picking it up and making a few test swings.
It was...perfect.
Balanced to her strength, firm in her grip. It was less a weapon and more some sort of lethal extension of herself. The vibrant green of the
steel in the blade brought forth images of leaves and spring, and the darker green of the hilt accented it wonderfully.
"It's...beautiful."
"It's yours," Sylia said softly, getting a surprised look from the other woman. "You've held the name we all have for some time. You've proven yourself valiant and brave, a defender of the weak and the oppressed. You've triumphed over a dozen hardships of your own....your memories may not have returned. You may not remember who you were. But I can tell you who you are. You're one of my Sabres, a hero to the people of this city, and one of the strongest women I've ever met. That sword is merely a physical symbol of what's become true over these last months...and when you're ready, there's an armor that goes with it, waiting for you as well."
Sylia caught her eyes, and the sympathy in them was far beyond what Jeena had expected. "I know. It's hard letting go...you want to hold onto
it because it used to exist for you, you're sure of it. It feels like you're surrendering to some enemy you can't fight. Like something precious was stolen from you and you're just letting them get away."
She stood up, resting a hand on Jeena's arm.
"But you don't have to mourn your old memories. Eventually, we all grow old and they start to go fuzzy and drift away. But people are more than their memories. The way the experiences those memories came from shaped them....the people they became...that more than anything is the precious part of life...and that wasn't taken from you."
Sylia smiled gently.
"I was...waiting, I admit...to see where this went before I told you. You know like I do what I and my girls really are....that we aren't the people that existed by these names back in our dimension of origin...but I still have the memories of that Sylia Stingray, and I know she remembered one Jeena Malso, at least partially."
She nodded at Jeena's shocked expression. "You were a police officer. A member of the ADP, in fact...you were part of an organization who routinely faced down the most dangerous threats in Megatokyo, without a thought to your own safety, because you were protecting the people. Fighting things as dangerous as any villian in this city. You vanished at some point after that, before Nene joined the ADP herself....but that's what I remember of you...and as far as I can tell, memories or not, you've still lived up to who you used to be, even if you don't remember the experiences that shaped you."
She smiled once more, gently. "And that, to me, seems to be all that matters." Sylia bowed to Jeena, then turned back to the teleporter. "Use your new sword in good health, Jeena. And when you're ready, we'll be waiting." And in a crackling burst of light, Sylia disappeared, leaving Jeena Malso, nee Lost Sabre, considering the gleaming blade laid across her legs.
Edit: Fixed formatting
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
*snfff*
The desolate Brickstown stoop played unwitting host tonight, to a bedraggled young lady, a Paragon City Sewer manhole leaning against her knees, a rusty broadsword in an ersatz sheath on her back. Rain spattered intermittently off the manhole cover, occasionally mixing with the tears on the careworn face of Jeena Malso, known as Lost Sabre, leaving trails in the dirt and grime of the street.
A blast of jets and the muted clank of a hardsuit dropping to the pavement brought Lost's eyes up, and the slender armored form of Silicon Sabre stood in front of her, holding out a hand. Lost took her hand, and the two disappeared in a crackling of golden light. Ouroboros flickered into being around the two, and disappeared again as they shunted through space and time. Talos island clarified about them, and Silicon drew the passive Lost to the Base Portal at the foot of the hill, and they disappeared again, into the Riot Force base. Silicon handed Lost into the shower and moved off towards the locker rooms herself. Lost moved as if in a trance, slowly but thoroughly cleaning herself, Lost let the hot water of the shower beat some of her misery out of her.
Afterwards, pulling on her customary 'upscale' outfit of sweater vest and green jeans, Jeena looked up from tying her shoes to see Sylia leaning against the doorframe, elegant and slim in slacks and an ivory blouse, perfectly made up and accesorized. Lost looked down again, hair swinging forward to hide her face, and mustered her strength to face her notional employer. She straightened and gazed into Sylia's eyes. Sylia nodded once and turned. Jeena followed her to the small entry room to the base, and Sylia sat, elegantly poised on a green chaise lounge. Jeena sat as well, perched uncomfortably on the edge of the grey couch facing it, and the two sat in silence for a long moment.
"So, care to tell me what led you to Brickstown tonight?" Sylia asked. Jeena sighed, and bent her head forward to rub her face with her hands.
"I just got access to the Midnight Club." She stated, and trailed off. Straightening, she faced Sylia head on. "I just got access to the Midnight Club. I thought they seemed like a really interesting group, someone I could do a lot of good working with. What I didn't expect was that there would be a cure for the Lost... or that it would be so limited."
"Limited?"
"Before they were caught by those crazy preachers, most of those people had lives, Sylia! They may not have been rich or even may not have had homes, but they were their own people, and the Lost took that from them, welded them into their own twisted group. It was only because of Nene's sensors and you Sabres that I made it out of that... " Jeena trailed off again, staring into space, and Sylia leaned across the gap to put a gentle hand on hers.
"But you did make it out."
"Yes. I did.. but I'm not whole, Sylia. I still don't have any memories between childhood and my rescue, and I still have the occasional.. breakdown.. from the drugs, from the malnutrition, from the toxins in the sewers.. I don't know."
"I know, and while we don't have anything we can do about the memories, we are, at least, on top of the neurological damage."
"Cold comfort... "
"I know.. but again, why Brickstown tonight?"
"Well.. the Cure.. That nice Rikti researcher said it should help reverse the changes that the Lost were going through, and it worked wonderfully.. but I ran into someone that I had known while I was.. in. The Cure changed back his body... but he didn't know who I was. He didn't remember me, or respond to his name, he barely seemed to know where he was." Sylia drew breath to interrupt, and Jeena raised a hand to stop her. "I know, something as massive as the Lost Cure would certainly cause some disorientation.. but I followed him for over an hour, Sylia. He just.. wasn't there anymore." Jeena's hand fell back to her lap, and she clasped her hands together, staring at them. "He wasn't the person I knew.. then.. and didn't seem to be even.. a person.. now. I called the Paragon EMS and got out of there."
Sylia hmmed.
"They knew what I was talking about as soon as I said 'Lost Cure'. It's been happening for awhile now, it seems that about half of the people who get the Cure just don't.. recover. The other half seem to be able to go on to 'normal' lives, but.. even they don't have a 100% return of their memory."
"So.. when I had one dose of the Cure left.. I dosed myself. Everything turned into color mush, and I passed out."
"I woke up on a rooftop in Brickstown, and made my way to where you found me. And.... I've given up. We've tried psionics, magic, technology, and now this, and none of it has brought me any closer to finding my memories. I don't think I'm ever going to get them back."
"So." Sylia asked, focussed on Jeena's face. "What were you doing in Bricks, then? Had you given up altogether?"
Jeena sat back, determination sharpening the planes of her face. "No. No way. Even if I don't have my old memories, I still have the memories of Paragon, of what you and the Sabres have done for me, and the good people I've worked with here. If I have to rebuild my life, here is a good place to do it. Here, I can be one of the people that make Paragon City a great place to live, and that's worthwhile, no matter what I was.. back home... " Jeena paused, glancing down at her hands again. "Tonight, I guess.. I was mourning my memories. 'Cause now, giving up.. it means they're really gone." Jeena's gaze dropped back to her hands and held there, as tears fell onto them.The long, clean scrape of metal against leather pulled her attention back to the leader of the Sabres as she pulled out a dark jade blade from a scabbard, holding it point down before aiming the pommel at her. Jeena blinked tears away before picking it up and making a few test swings.
It was...perfect.
Balanced to her strength, firm in her grip. It was less a weapon and more some sort of lethal extension of herself. The vibrant green of the
steel in the blade brought forth images of leaves and spring, and the darker green of the hilt accented it wonderfully.
"It's...beautiful."
"It's yours," Sylia said softly, getting a surprised look from the other woman. "You've held the name we all have for some time. You've proven yourself valiant and brave, a defender of the weak and the oppressed. You've triumphed over a dozen hardships of your own....your memories may not have returned. You may not remember who you were. But I can tell you who you are. You're one of my Sabres, a hero to the people of this city, and one of the strongest women I've ever met. That sword is merely a physical symbol of what's become true over these last months...and when you're ready, there's an armor that goes with it, waiting for you as well."
Sylia caught her eyes, and the sympathy in them was far beyond what Jeena had expected. "I know. It's hard letting go...you want to hold onto
it because it used to exist for you, you're sure of it. It feels like you're surrendering to some enemy you can't fight. Like something precious was stolen from you and you're just letting them get away."
She stood up, resting a hand on Jeena's arm.
"But you don't have to mourn your old memories. Eventually, we all grow old and they start to go fuzzy and drift away. But people are more than their memories. The way the experiences those memories came from shaped them....the people they became...that more than anything is the precious part of life...and that wasn't taken from you."
Sylia smiled gently.
"I was...waiting, I admit...to see where this went before I told you. You know like I do what I and my girls really are....that we aren't the people that existed by these names back in our dimension of origin...but I still have the memories of that Sylia Stingray, and I know she remembered one Jeena Malso, at least partially."
She nodded at Jeena's shocked expression. "You were a police officer. A member of the ADP, in fact...you were part of an organization who routinely faced down the most dangerous threats in Megatokyo, without a thought to your own safety, because you were protecting the people. Fighting things as dangerous as any villian in this city. You vanished at some point after that, before Nene joined the ADP herself....but that's what I remember of you...and as far as I can tell, memories or not, you've still lived up to who you used to be, even if you don't remember the experiences that shaped you."
She smiled once more, gently. "And that, to me, seems to be all that matters." Sylia bowed to Jeena, then turned back to the teleporter. "Use your new sword in good health, Jeena. And when you're ready, we'll be waiting." And in a crackling burst of light, Sylia disappeared, leaving Jeena Malso, nee Lost Sabre, considering the gleaming blade laid across her legs.
Edit: Fixed formatting
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies