[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]her expression contorts into something halfway pained.

"i have lost many things that were precious to me. most, if not all, are not able to be returned."

not a dead boyfriend. not a fickle deity. not even herself.

"tell me, do you think i fear pain? loss?"

everything can be mended. and everything can be broken again and again. endless pain... she knows, understands. this is different. this is salvation. this is redemption.

this is fucking interdimensional war.

she'll be the last one standing. there are no exceptions.

and why would she go out of her way to deal with the rest of her lesser selves?

it's the principle, she supposes. where one revolted, where one aimed for assassination... none will ever make such a grave mistake again.

"yes."

her eyes are unforgiving. merciless. perhaps a glimpse into the monster that lays beneath scarred skin.

"they will know pain as i have."

forged in the fire, they say. she had been shattered porcelain. repurposed, she becomes jagged steel.

"let them take their best shot."

her chin rises in open defiance. there is no father winter to laugh at her here.

"i will still crush them."

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]pushed to the edge, she finally shows her teeth.

anger flashes quick, sudden. it ignites already red eyes until they're molten with barely contained rage.

"do not tell me what my actions are. you have not lived what caused them."

her teeth are sharp, as if plucked straight from her alter self's still warm corpse.

"would you not seek the end of your other selves after being ripped in two at their hands?"

she stalks a little closer. in the dim light, she looks as alive as she is dead.

"do you know what it's like to face your better self in combat and come out looking like a slaughtered animal?"

her body twists, contorts, and she does not care for preservation of modesty. her shirt is ripped up from the skirt its tucked within. scarred skin of her back greets him with a wink. it stretches from shoulder to lower hip, carved across her skin like a trophy.

"is this not cause enough for my own war?"

fabric is lowered once she can no longer stand the crawling of scarred skin. life ignites with paranoia until skin itches and burns and wants to crawl off bone.

and when she faces him, searing anger dies into a hollow sort of sound.

"i will do whatever it takes to eliminate them."

there is no questioning it. this is her path.

"if i don't, they will eliminate us all."

for all her ambition, for all her greed... it is shared across the multiverse with her other selves. even as they speak, her sea hoennian counterpart is gathering strength with the sea queen.

they are coming. not just for her, but for them all.

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she takes the gruesome nature of his injury in stride.

and in this dim light, she swears his features start to morph. changing, becoming something familiar. she sees, briefly, the face of a councilman scorned and she has to drag her eyes away before more anger rises to greet his ghost.

he readjusts and hides the injury back behind a mask as she looks up to the sky. endless possibility exists up there, laying somewhere between long-dead stars and orbiting planets. there's a wonder in the sky. untouched and limitless, it beckons.

"there is no reasoning."

she doesn't believe in the concept.

and if she knows herself enough, she can guess how the story ends for all alter selves.

"i don't think lowly of them or myself."

her eyes drift back to him.

"i would never dare to underestimate the things they would do if given the chance. curiosity and greed drive them just as much as it does me."

they're the same, in some odd sort of way. different facets of the same entity.

"if they are not eradicated, they will bleed this world dry just to see if their theories hold."

for she would act in the same manner. for she already has.

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"i'll be fine."

even if she isn't, it doesn't matter. she has long since given up on ever expecting to feel a semblance of normal again. the brokenness is comfortable, familiar. it's all she knows now.

"injuries are apart of war, of life."

she's not afraid anymore, not of pain or injuries or whatever lies beyond. she's done being fearful.

and after a few beats of silence, her head inclines into a nod.

"you were helpful in providing more theories to think about."

there is no denying that. even if there was, she wouldn't dare try it.

a small, barely there smile returns. it looks a bit hollow at the edges, as if forced into place without any meaning behind it.

"i would like that."

staying on contact... it's a way to both monitor him and also utilize him. for what? she does not know quite yet. it'll be revealed soon, perhaps.

"do you prefer calls, emails, or texts?"

Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she nods, accepting his written number with a steady hand.

"if you see or hear anything you think i'd be interested in, feel free to send a text."

information is a commodity and there's nothing she'd like more than whatever he can provide for her.

and just before he departs, he turns back toward her with something akin to concerned sentiments. she smiles a little wider, chin rising. is it defiance or pride?

"i will."

a beat passes.

"keep yourself out of trouble... i have a feeling the meteor was nothing compared to what's coming."

and with that, she leaves it all behind.

Isaac Merlo