foolishwren | 024. Video (illustrated)

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Current Location: Violet City Gym

024. Video (illustrated)

_{[This is it. It's the big day. THE big day. The day Heather said she was going to kick Falkner's feathery butt. A little while earlier, Heather had posted a particularly cocky video in which she stated these intentions with deep conviction and a big ol' smirk on her face.]}

_{[So, how's she faring?]}

_{[Well, the camera turned on about halfway through the battle-- why? Maybe she'd just forgotten, or maybe she'd realized it wasn't filming halfway through. Who knows? But either way, it came on just in time to catch a very battered-looking Arty struggling to stand. She had powered through Noctowl and Honchkrow, but now her little legs were wobbling for once, the normally-bloodthirsty Furret was looking like she'd really rather be somewhere else. And this was for good reason, because about two seconds after the camera came on, a blur of tawny down and glossy yellow and red flashed past the screen and the camera shook-- but the sound of impact was unmistakable, as was the high-pitched hum of a Pokemon being summoned back into its Ball.]

[Also unmistakable? Was the sound of Heather's creative cursing, distorted as it was from the 'Gear being waved around.]}

_{Fricking fu--} Cujo, you try! Take him do-- NO, you-- GO.

_{[The screen swerved down to settle on the happily-panting Growlithe by her side. He stared back up at his trainer adoringly, sloppy pink tongue lolling out of his mouth like a giant fruit rollup. Her commands only made him wiggle with excitement and wag his tail.]}

I-- no. Jesus.

_{[The camera shifted once more as Heather stuck the gear under one arm, pointing off-camera with the other.]}

Arty's down! Go! Fight!

_{[Cujo tilted his head. Ooh! OOH! He knew this one!]

[Panting happily, he sat to attention and lifted a paw.]}

.... No. _{The hell, who even taught you 'Shake'... I thought you just knew how to chase shit...}

_{[... Idea.]}

COOJ! GO GET THE BIRDY!

_{[Insta-attention getter. Cujo's ears stood up straight and within seconds, he was darting into the field, barking up a storm. Somewhere on the other end of the arena, Falkner just shook his head and pressed a hand to his temple. His Pidgeot, meanwhile, focused its golden glare on the Growlithe and, with a few mighty strokes of its wings, went airborne again.]

[The next few minutes of film would be-- slightly difficult to decipher. The battle was high-speed and high-stakes. But the general gist of it was... Cujo was not doing well. And the sound of plastic creaking increased as Heather's grip on the 'Gear did. Her commands had gone from confident shouts to mumbles-- because none of it really seemed to be doing much good. Cujo wasn't being disobedient, he just... wasn't listening and he was getting clobbered for it. None of his attacks seemed to be able to do much against the swift opponent. ... And was that... worry in Heather's voice?]}

No-- no, no, dammit, you stupid mutt, look out!!

_{[A sharp yelp broke the air as the pup was knocked sprawling by a vicious swoop from the bird Pokemon, which was in the process of circling around for another blow, just as Cujo was picking himself up off the ground. Finally, Heather broke her quiet and yelled again, a note of panic in her voice.]}

LOOK OUT!! Don't you know how to do ANY attacks that aren't--

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

.........

_{[The camera turns around and there's a brief flash of Heather's face, looking somewhere between... surprised and horrified, before she hits the 'Off' button hastily.]}

_{[ooc: Action for anyone who might have been around to see the battle-- after the video stopped, Heather promptly lost the battle out of sheer loss of focus. Apparently that sudden Fire attack really shook her up.]}

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A...ritual?

[He listened expectantly, wary but curious expression on his face.]

The setting on fire.

It was a ritual.

They believed that by forcing the mother to suffer, the unborn God would grow more powerful from the pain.

_{[Her tone was flat and faithless.]}

That's--!

[Horrible. But 'horrible' didn't quite cover it. Otacon didn't know quite how to phrase it, but the horrified look on his face most likely covered it.]

...'unborn God'?

_{[Heather looked back up at the scientist again, once more looking him dead in the eye.]

[Yes, she said 'unborn god', Otacon. She also said 'mother'. Think about it.]}

But...you said you were seven.

I know.

[Okay. Going to quietly set this very disturbing piece of information aside for a moment.]

...You don't...y-y'know, look like you were burned at all. Is medical technology different for you guys?

_{[She doesn't blame him. And she's actually pretty glad he did. That's not something she wants anyone to ask too many questions about.]

[The question actually gets a mirthless laugh and a shake of her head.]}

No, no, medicine's still exactly the same.

I was burned to a crisp and I stayed that way for another seven years.

[So that would make her fourteen..and she was about eighteen now, right? So-]

-what happened, if you want to talk about it?

_{[Her answer is curt.]}

I died.

...

S-sorry, what?!

_{[Well, this was it. Everything Heather had told him so far was ... horrible, but still believable. People did and thought horrible things every single day in real life. This part? ... Would be the real test of just whether or not this new friend of hers was true to his word. Because after all, what BETTER way to thoroughly invalidate any claims of trauma or suffering than by following it up with a claim like this?]}

You asked me awhile ago if I believed in curses.

Now I'm gonna ask you something.

... Do you believe in reincarnation?

[Otacon was silent.]

[For all of two seconds.]

I'm not sure, but I bet I'm about to. I'm listening.

... Well, it's a long story.

_{[And she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to tell the whole thing. It was weird enough even just... telling the truth about a little of it.]}

My... real name isn't Heather.

The girl who was burned was called... Alessa. When it happened, she... did something to prevent the ritual from being carried out. _{[Or maybe it had really just been a desperate break in Alessa's psyche and a wish for a normal childhood that had resulted in Cheryl's existence. Who knew? All she could remember about that point in time was pain.]}

... It's not important I guess. _{[Not when it came to giving a succinct summary.]}

But when she died seven years later, I was... _{[Was born the right word? Not... really. She hadn't been born so much as... materialized. But she couldn't say that without sounding retarded.]}

... Well. I showed up.

Edited 2010-09-04 04:56 (UTC)

[Listening patiently, Otacon was silent until Heather had finished. At first he wasn't sure what to say--how did you respond to something like that?--but after a moment or two he gave her a hesitant smile.]

Alessa's...a nice name.

[Okay. That was a start. An awkward, awkward start. It was unbelievable, almost, almost crazy...but this was Heather he was talking to. She wouldn't just make up something to mess with him, and she definitely wasn't insane. Besides, thinking about it were his circumstances even close to what some people would consider normal or even plausible? Hell no.]

...I believe you, y'know.

_{[Heather actually snorted. She knew how unbelievable it sounded, and it was... it was embarrassing. This place was so far removed from everything she'd gone through, and even Otacon's kind reassurances somehow just made it worse.]}

I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, y'know...

I mean...

_{[Rolling her eyes, she lifted her hands, wiggling her fingers mockingly and doing a self-deprecating imitation.]}

So, like, all this bad shit happened to me-- wait, whaddya mean there's no physical evidence? THAT'S just 'cause it happened in a ~*~past life~*~.

I must sound like a fucking joke.

[Otacon shook his head, looking serious.]

No. Not in the slightest. Who am I to judge what is and isn't possible in different worlds, now that I know they exist? I trust you, Heather--I know without any doubt that you're not crazy.

_{[She heaved a sigh, not quite willing to make eye contact. It had nothing to do with Otacon and everything to do with the fact that, even though she'd been through hell three times and was more secure about herself than many girls her age could claim to be... deep down she still felt like she had no idea what she was doing.]}

... That's just the bare bones. It gets so, so much worse than what I just told you, Hal.

Are you sure you would still believe me?

Absolutely.

[He answered without hesitation, usual cheerful smile turned dead serious.]

.........

_{[There's a long, long silence, before Heather nods slowly. All right.]}

.... So tell me about this vampire.

_{[Aaaaand it looked like the Heather-meter was out of show-and-tell time tonight. Please insert another token.]}

[Well you know what. That was progress. And that meant something.]

[Sighing, Otacon realized it was his turn.]

His name was Vamp. That offshore plant I mentioned? It was sort of taken over by a military unit called Dead Cell; made up of Vamp, a woman called Fortune that could deflect bullets, a bomber on rollerblades named Fatman, and led by Snake and Liquid's brother Solidus.

[Strap yourselves in, folks. We can't stop here; this is MGS2: Sons of Liberty country.]

_{[That's right, it's Otacon's turn. Heather's far too skittish on this topic to give up great big chunks of her past all in one go. It had been different with Douglas on that rainy night. But this was far away from Maine and that old rattletrap of a car and the urgency of saving the world, so sharing with the people here has to take a slower pace. It's the only way she can even hope to retain some illusion of being a normal kid.]}

Soooo, the military employs vampires where you come from.

Where does the bisexuality fit in?

Let's just say they didn't call him Vamp because he drank blood.

[Annnd he's facepalming.]

He was from Romania, and did things with knives I didn't even think were possible.

[A pause. Vamp was not his favorite subject by any stretch of the imagination.]

...And he's immortal.

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