[b]VIII: The Insane and the Solemn – A D2 Short Story[/b] [spoiler]Wait for it…wait for it…YES! (Dark) DRAMA![/spoiler] A security guard strolls the prison halls, glancing absently at the cells as he passes by. His boots click against the stone floor loudly, an ominous thud with every step. A reminder of the prisoner’s situation: the guard always near, always watching. Cornelia knows this. She has known this for weeks now. Always the same cycle: click, click, click. She leans against the wall as she sits on her metal bunk, twirling what seems to resemble a knife between her fingers. What appeared to be a knife was in reality a well-formed piece of paper. Weapons were strictly forbidden. But even paper was a deadly tool in the hands of this Warlock. “You ave a veesitor,” the Russian guard spat outside her cell. “Make eet quick.” The door opens, and Cornelia drops the piece of paper on the floor. - - To the average eye, Cornelia looked somewhat normal: short red hair, gold eyes, pursed lips, and a constantly narrowed brow. To a fellow assassin, however, she looked poised to kill in a moment’s notice. She is led by the arm to the visitation block, and is roughly shoved into a wooden chair. The guard leading her takes his place behind her watching with a glare. Across from her behind a pane of glass sits Rysedian Buern. His black robes are smooth, his hair recently combed. He watches her silently, judgement plain on his face. Cornelia smiles. “Good to see you again, darling.” “Don’t call me that.” She adopts a pouting face. “Aww. Are you in a position to tell me what to do now, dearest? I don’t think so.” “Enough. How did you get here?” “I was transported in an armored sparrow. You know the type.” “No, why are you here? What did you do to get yourself sent to prison?” Cornelia smirks. “What, looking to join me?” When he doesn’t reply she continues. “I killed a man.” “Why?” “I didn’t like the way he looked at me.” “How's that?’ “With pity. Sympathy.” She spits. “He looked at me with weakness. So I ended his weakness with my strength.” “Murder is not strength, Cornelia!” Rys shouts, unable to restrain himself. “AND EMOTION IS?!” she screams, rising from her seat. She transitioned from calm and collected to utterly insane. “SINCE WHEN IS FEELING STRENGTH, RYS?!” He looks at her in disbelief. “You really did go crazy.” Cornelia slows her breath and resumes her seat. She is looking away from Rys, trying to control herself. “I am what I am because of what you made me, Rys.” “No. I gave you a choice, a reasonable one, and you turned your back on it. You did this to yourself. I am not to blame.” His voice is low. Not threatening, but not friendly either. “Your sister is dying.” Cornelia looks up in shock. “What?” “Fiona isn’t going to make it.” The Warlocks stare at each other. Cornelia is open-mouthed, and tears well in her eyes. “I need to see her.” “That’s not possible. She’s way to weak to come and meet and you can’t leave.” “Rys, I HAVE to see her.” Her voice shakes with unexpected desperation. “If I don’t, I know without a doubt that my life will be over. I will have no one.” “You’ve coped with loss before, and you can again. I see no possible way for you to meet with her.” Cornelia turns away again, pressing her mouth into her arm, trying to conceal the sound of her sobs. “I’m sorry,” Rys offers. “I want you to see her, but…” He trails off as he watches the Warlock. He finds it hard to believe that he loved this Guardian with all his being. The girl who sits before him is not the one he once felt so strongly for. The girl he sees is a twisted, broken creature. He believes that she will never be healed, and the death of her sibling might truly finish her off. “Cornelia…” his voice breaks for her. She looks up to see him wiping his eyes. “I hate you.” “In this cursed world it’s hard not to hate everyone.” “No, I HATE you.” Absolute fury consumes her grief. “You left me for the Vanguard to pick apart. You left me to be toyed with. You left me to die. You left me, you left me, you left me, you left me, you left me. And now I hear that you have a new one.” Her eye twitches. “A Hunter.” Recovering himself, Rys nods. “Tetra.” Cornelia’s shoulders rise and fall quickly, displaying vividly the amount of anger she has stored up. “Then I hate her too.” “She's done nothing to you! She has no idea you exist!” “And whose fault is that? YOURS. I am invisible because you erased me from existence. I am forgotten because you made me so. I am nothing. I will be nothing. I have ALWAYS. Been. Nothing.” Rys places a gloved hand on the glass. “You weren’t to me, remember? I did love you—truly, Cornelia. But you did things that I swore to never take part in. You broke my trust, our friendship, and so many lives around you. This…” he gestures around them, “…is on you.” She gazes at him for several moments, her breaths long and loud. Finally she raises her chin in the air defiantly. “Get out. Before I end you.” Rys blinks and pauses for a few seconds, then stands and walks out the door. Cornelia watches him leave, glaring at his back with more malice than one would have thought capable of a Guardian. The Russian guard takes her by the arm once more. “Back to your cell, guurl.” Cornelia is practically thrown into her small room, and she slowly returns to her original position on the mattress. She picks up the paper knife from the floor and resumes twirling it in her hand. She only does so for about thirty seconds before she chokes and begins to sob. Burying her face in her hands she weeps for her sister, one of the few comforts she ever had. She weeps for the loss she will eventually endure. And no small part of her wept for herself, a small, broken child in need of a friend. Just one. No. She didn’t need a friend. All she needed was herself to survive. She looks up as the Russian shoves a platter into her cell. “Dinner, guurl.” He turns to leave. “Madam.” The guard stops, and turns around very slowly. Anger simmers in his eyes. “What did you say?” The Warlock rises and grins wickedly at him as fire engulfs her hands and illuminates her face. “You will call me madam.” Screams echo throughout the halls.