|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 2:41:35 GMT
Joey, unoccupied for the moment, smiled at Kamen, for once not mockingly or with her usual smartaleck overtones. "My first doll came from you. I always pretended I hated it because I didn't want anybody to think I was a wimp --all the girls I know who had dolls were wimps-- but at night, when nobody was watching, I used to pick it up and hug it." She glanced at Annie. "And if you ever tell my sister that, your butt is mine, yo."
She eyed the doll Kamen held. "What's the story with that thing, anyway?"
The dark presences were closer now, Kadaj could feel that much. But with everyone back inside Kamen's shield, they could not be detected... the party was being forced to search on foot. He smiled. Someday, you'll learn you aren't all powerful, Jenova... and I intend to be there when that happens.
Jared placed his sleeping younger self inside his cage. "I hate to do this to me, but I'm afraid I just can't trust myself." He sealed up the boy's confines. "Somebody has to be watching this thing until Xima and Rufus are wiped out."
Amnesty volunteered for the first shift... she sat down, her remaining Dragon's Tooth in her lap. She sighed. "I need new weapons. I never much liked these anyway..."
|
|
|
|
Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 25, 2006 2:48:14 GMT
kamen watched her and slowly smiled back. ''thats interesting....'' he looked at annie. ''and i won't....'' kamen looked down at the doll and lifted it up. he let its head flop to the side, its curly blong hair bouncing. ''this....'' he chuckled almost dryly. ''my first attempt to run away from my master... i was picked up by a woman. she took my inside her doll shop and took care of me for months. she was the only one for years to show me love and happiness... that was real. but then my master came.... he burned her and the shop down while i was at school. this was the only doll left there... and surprisingly.'' he laughed. ''it looks just like her in a way....'' he sighed.
nikky watched them all before sitting, legs crossed. she yawned and ran a hand through her hair.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 3:03:52 GMT
Annie's heart went out to him. "Aw... that's so sweet..." She gave him a hug.
Joey rolled her eyes and facepalmed herself. "Here we go... one of Annie's infamous hug attacks."
She scooted away and sat next to her mom, eyeing Jared as he sat around with his aunt and uncles, rigging up some of the time release traps Joey intended to set later. They were speaking in low voices, probably about "Remnant stuff".
She tilted her head. "Mom, I have a confession to make." She grinned slightly. "I have the hugest crush ever on that boy. And I've been keeping it a secret for a year and a half now. When I finally worked up the nerve to tell you... well, you suddenly weren't around anymore." She fiddled with some rocks. "I donno how to handle it... he's, like, a million years older than me, but I can't shake it."
|
|
|
|
Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 25, 2006 3:13:23 GMT
kamen made a funny face but then hugged her back and laughed slightly. ''theres a part of me i guess that will always be a little kid....'' he blinked. ''did i never tell you about me??''
nikky looked over at her but then smiled. ''well... the best thing you could do is tell him... but.'' she grinned. ''i can see now would not be the best time....'' she pulled her into a hug. ''age really doesn't matter when you like someone.... i barely knew your father when i started liking him....'' she laughed. ''but then i was older than you are.... and at a bar.'' she shook her head. ''but just trust yourself and not deny your feelings....''
|
|
|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 3:24:48 GMT
Annie shook her head. "No... you never talked about your past." She sat down expectantly. "But if you want to tell me now, it seems we have time to kill." She smiled invitingly and reassuringly, the way her mother did...
Joey hugged her mom back. "OK... I'll try to keep that in mind, granted we survive this." She smiled. "He really does get to be a nice boy in the future, Mom. All the girls at school wanted to be his girlfriend... but then he was a rock star." She shrugged. "I was too, but the guys who wanted me were all dorks."
|
|
|
|
Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 25, 2006 3:30:17 GMT
nikky laughed and held her. ''aww... thats so cute. but i wouldn't take much of my avice to heart... i wasn't the best kid in the world.''
kamen sighed heavily. ''i should never have mentioned it....'' he smiled and sat next to her, pulling his knees up and relaxing slightly. ''okay.... i guess i could.... but i don't know where i should start. my childhood was, to say the least, depressing....'' he was trying to talk her out of it even though he knew he couldn't. ''do you want me to start before or after i killed my family....??''
|
|
|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 3:47:59 GMT
Annie kept a very placid face. "Before, please."
Joey giggled. "I'm sure you were an angel, Mom. You sure were back in my time. Or at least, you pretended you were." She snuggled into her mother's embrace. "I missed you so bad."
Reno watched his girls... MY girls. Since when did I start thinking of them as MY girls? He sat next to Nikky, having nothing really to do with himself. "I'm sure we'll miss you... when all this is over."
Joey shrugged. "Annie says it'll be like we were never here if all this works right. I dunno... and it's supposed to be MY jurisdiction." She sighed. "Annie always was the brains..."
|
|
|
|
Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 25, 2006 4:04:26 GMT
kamen nodded. ''my parents were.... terrible. but also very, very poor. my father needed rent money so he was talking with my mother about selling my sisters and me..... who were about your age at the time. i overheard them and ran to tell my older brother... but he wouldn't listen to me. i yelled at him to stop them but he slammed, or tried to slam the door on me. i took the knife and pried the door open. he tried to get the knife away from me but i pulled away. i yelled what i had heard and that i would rather die then be sold. he stop and let go but i fell into him. i had stabbed him through the heart... i was so scared i ran to my sisters room... but they screamed at the blood and then my father came....'' he looked over at her and waited for it to sink in.
nikky rolled her eyes. ''yeah... that sold drugs and illegal substances...which i will kill you if you ever try.'' she punched her lightly in the arm and grinned. she huggled her. ''i'm sure i was...'' she seemed saddened by the fact that she was going to leave soon...
(srry it took so long. ><)
|
|
|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 4:14:21 GMT
Annie sat and listened, still as placid as humanly possible. "Go on." She had actually heard more twisted stories... being a rock star will place one in that position. At least this one didn't include pedophiliac visions of her in a shower.
Reno hesitated before he joined in on the hug. These are some wonderful kids we managed to raise... brave and strong, even after all they've been through... where the h**k did they get it from? Musta been their mother.
He held his future wife and their future child, deciding to let go of the fact that all this abjectly impossible and just love them both while he could... Although I'll see them again in about a year... but it won't be the same. He smiled to himself. Not quite the same at all.
|
|
|
|
Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 25, 2006 4:28:29 GMT
nikky smiled.
kamen had hoped she would have stopped it there. but he went on, ''my father, he was drunk and started screaming at me and threatening to shoot me. i started crying and he got mad and smashed the bottle of whiskey over my head. he stormed out. after a few moments of shock i walked out into the hall. my mother, who had been crying over my dead brother came out and stormed up to me. she slapped me across the face and told me i was never her son... i tried to explain and begged her not to sell us. she started cry and my father came out with his shotgun. he yelled at my mother to back away but she wouldn't.... so he shot her.'' now being cleared of the pain, he could recount all of the story. ''my sisters screamed and he shot at them but i tried to pull the gun away... my father knocked me aside and aimed the gun at me. i used my powers then for the very first time and blasted him back. i got the gun and i shot him... but then my sisters started screaming and sobbing so i yelled at them to shut up. they started crying and screaming more and nika went to call the police. not knowing what to do i started to cover her mouth and face with my jacket. i soffocated her on accident. my other sister nora grabbed the gun from my hands and shot at me... i screamed at her and she just died....'' he fell silent for a few minutes before sighing. ''in all my shock i ran down the snow covered streets yelling for help... but no one came. i heard a few screams from the neighbors but i hid. later i sat on the curb... i sat there for what seemed to be days before he came...'' he trailed off.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 4:35:34 GMT
"Before who came?" Annie decided she had to be missing something... "All these memories... don't hurt you?" She couldn't feel any pain from him... it was like someone had just cut it off at the roots. "Hey, wait, I remember... you were the First! I almost forgot." She facepalmed herself. "Amnesty's First. After people started finding out about her, she was flooded by people who wanted their pain to be erased... she couldn't bring herself to turn them away, but taking on all that pain and sin was killing her. She got so old and tired... She spent years trying to hide, until one day she found out about a child who was dying... it turned out, the story was a fraud, a trap for Xima to come kill her when she responded. She played Amnesty's heart against her."
|
|
|
|
Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 25, 2006 4:49:23 GMT
kamen blinked before sighing. ''oh.... thats terrible. but yes... i guess i was the first.'' he smiled before getting serious. ''but on with the story... this part ami hasn't even heard, neither has your mother.'' he grinned slightly before taking a deep breath. ''the man that came to me... when i was cold, starved and crying.... his name to me was only Vikktor, he told me that he could take care of me... he picked me up and took me with him to his mansion somewhere...'' he left out where for now. ''for years i stayed under his care, learning and soaking up everything he told me. after a while he told me to do things, but since i could not say no... i did. he gave me the 'gift' to take over peoples mind and body... at first it was nothing but after a while i couldn't get away... i was forced into killing, stealing, destroying.... i couldn't take it so i ran away...i fled to a woman named Florhin, she ran a dollmakers shop... for a little while i hid there.. but when i was away my master came and killed her... burning down the shopand the remains of her body... the only thing left was this doll, which was stolen from my by your mother... but my master took me back in and again i was forced intothis cruel slavery... he was lead to believe nikky had something of his... he made me try to kill her... when everyone else here tried to stop me... i was driven away and i got the cr*p beat outa me...'' he grinned before continuing. ''i was sent back to my master and he punished me... i left him again to seek safety with nikky and the others... and thats where i'm at now... my master is still looking for me... trying to kill everyone...'' he sat back and sighed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 4:58:17 GMT
So that's why my dad was so determined to beat this guy. I was only a little girl... I didn't understand then. A phrase from the tale had caught in Annie's mind. "You said he told you she had something of his. What was that, exactly? If we find it first, maybe we could use it against him."
Reno was listening... if this was a way to shave a couple of years off his promise to Kamen... then he was all too happy to hear about it.
Amnesty, meanwhile, was mulling over what Annie had said about Xima and her calling to be a Sacrifice... and so was Fruxas, locked up inside the stone cage. He looked like he was sleeping, but he was wide awake and listening... A child? My mother couldn't be so cruel... of course she was a savage fighter. That was our heritage. But... What should it matter to me? She stopped one of our enemies and that should be it for me... so why does hearing this upset me so much?
|
|
|
|
Post by *~Nikkole~* on Nov 25, 2006 5:04:11 GMT
kamen shrugged. ''he never told me... but he was advised to find and obtain this by another... whom i do not know his name. he did visit my master often... but i never saw him. i was sent away... but my master told me to be careful and to bring her alive so he could get this object....'' he looked to nikky. ''i still don't know what it is....'' he sighed. ''the only way i could find out is to go to my master and ask.... because nikky doesn't know either....''
|
|
|
|
Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Nov 25, 2006 5:22:01 GMT
Annie blinked. "Somehow, that sounds to me like a non-option." She shrugged and sighed. "So it looks like all that will have to run the natural course... and don't ask me how it went, because I was too little to remember."
Joey pulled back. "I appreciate the Kodak moment, but it's time I set my traps now." She sat in the middle of the floor and concentrated... she felt the curtains of time parting for her as she stared into the near future... she saw the soldiers coming, the route they intented to take... exactly when they would be where...
She went back to the boys. "Let's get to work."
Annie turned back to Kamen. "Joey needs my help... can we finish this later?"
They started rigging up their setups through the caves. She kept glancing over as Jared as they progressed through the caverns. Geez, girl! Get your head in the game!
Reno glanced over at Nikky, his arm still around her. "Finally, five seconds alone to talk about this." He leaned back against the wall of the cave. "Twins... girls. Oy." He passed a hand over his face. "It makes a freaky kind of sense. My sisters were triplets."
|
|
