Stories and Hopes

[Vivienne Daniels]

Vivienne sat on her couch, legs drawn up underneath the simple blanket as she continued reading the book in her hands, the tea left forgotten hours ago and the sandwich already cold.

She lounged across a silk chaise in nothing but a sheer nightgown. Her slender legs were crossed on one end while her head was thrown back over the other side. She felt the blood rush to her head as the beautiful diadem tangled in her golden locks remained secure.

The world looked different upside down.

"Your Majesty." A laugh bubbled up her throat as the man below her podium spoke. He was as beautiful as she remembered. Those familiar grey eyes and wavy black hair. She held a hand up and traced his figure with a finger.

She felt hatred. It caused her stomach to clench and goosebumps race down her arms.
She remembered a time when she could make him laugh with the smallest of efforts. A time when his eyes filled so obviously with admiration and warmth that it embarrassed her.

"General Achaeus, are you here to kill me?" Her voice was soft and enchanting. Sweet poison.

"Yes."

"I see."

She raised from the chaise and unsheathed twin swords from the floor. She was swift and just as ferocious as she was years ago, when they fought back to back on the battlefield, amid cries of agony and death, pain and chaos.

Yet now they aimed for each other's necks.

Her first attack was blocked deftly by his sword, followed immediately by a kick to her stomach which she dodged.

"This brings back old memories." She sighed as a blade missed her cheek by a mere sliver.

"You were a genius in warfare Amaya. But you never won against me." His blade sliced the air like butter, faster and faster until it took all her concentration to evade his attacks.

She wore bells around her ankles, and as the pair fought they chimed softly.

It had been perhaps been minutes or hours she had lost count. But with a single blade left and exhaustion weighing her down, she knew this was going to be the final attack. She saw in his eyes that he knew too.

With a pause, they rushed towards each other blades glinting.

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked down at the sword buried deep in her stomach.

He was sure that she could have defended that attack, yet she had missed him and run straight into his blade.

"Damn, in the end I never won." She leaned into his embrace, breathing in the familiar scent of soap and him. "I missed you so much, Aiden."

She felt herself slipping away.

"I will be right behind you, Amaya." With the last of her fading vision, she watched him plunge his sword right through his heart.

"MOM!" The sound of the twins calling pulled her from her book, setting it aside.



Vivienne sat on the couch next to her old Pitbull, wearing a nice green dress.

"One might wonder why I sent Nick Knight a message accepting the open challenge. I only just lost my fight in the Heiress to the Throne match. I have spent most of my time back talking about the women's division needing to rise to the occasion so you might be wondering why I even challenged for this belt. Is it to add to my limited credits of belts held? I'm not gonna lie and say no."

Vivienne smiled, "I mean another accolade would be nice. Even I'm not immune from liking the new accessories from time to time. Compared to other Hall of Famer's I've been lacking in the belt department. So yes, obviously since I can't make Brooklyn work to retain her belt I'll settle. But it's about more than just my own petty little wants. it is still part of the grander message."

"For the entire history of the Imperial Wrestling Federation, it has kept the gender divisions steadfast and firm. A few kicks to a manager here or a slap to an ex-lover there. One unsanctioned match between god and the devil there. But no crossing the boundaries. IWF didn't do that. And then, they did. This one aspect of the company was different from other places. The one thing that everyone and their mother kept saying Roberto Verona needed to tear down to Keep Up with the Jones of other companies, just everyone in the pool. No wasting time by gender binaries."

"On the one hand, I thought it could be interesting. Maybe sign some nonbinary wrestlers. Maybe some transgender wrestlers who didn't have to hide so hard in the closet in case someone called foul. But what we got was a show where intergender matches happened and a belt where anyone could fight for it. Seems only fair. Allowing intergender wrestling in IWF did not start a revolution. Thinking it would be...is frankly hopelessly optimistic. Assuming the people who took their ball and went to some other fed after not getting the push they wanted here are never going to stop talking shit. That's what trash does, no point in paying attention to it."

"No, the reason I answered this challenge is because in the history of this belt it was only held by one other female-identifying person. And she put a lot of shame on the belt if I can be frank. She dodged matches and was silent leading up to others. If this company is going to keep an intergender belt it needs to have some intergender champions. I might not be mythic like Eternity or Rowan or even Jessica Reed. But I can still make a championship and have a little class. And Nick Knight wanted a challenger. Seems to make easy sense to me."

"Hi Nick. Hope you don't mind me talking up why I challenged you before getting to you specifically. We've both been in the business a bit I hope you don't let it bruise your ego. Obviously, I'm aware of the Hollywood Butcher. I've seen your matches. I like to watch every match that gets put on the card. Even when I'm not involved. Part of the habit from growing up behind the curtain. Watching a match gets me as pumped as being in one. Standing backstage watching the action is the best part of any show. And I'm not saying that to get the fans in a twist. It's the hard-hitting truth. You get it."

"I mean you have two wives and a kid. You dealt with cults and brothers and tag teams falling apart. You took some hard losses but you get back up. Because of the cheers? The action? The sound of someone's body bouncing on the mat? That's the best feeling in the world. We both get that. Which means there will be no holding back in this match. There will be no hand-wringing about hurting me. There will be no fake white knighting offering me an easy out. I want to walk away from this match looking like I took a beat and spitting my own blood even if I do get the belt off you. And I know you aren't gonna be a chicken shit about it. Good."

"Did I get overconfident last match? Yeah. I'm not going to pretend I didn't. I got my ass handed to me. It sucks but you put your shoulder back to the stone and try again. Because that's what we do here. If every loss made me quit I wouldn't have made it through my first year. My first six months in this company I couldn't get a win. I lost every match. I got pinned by Crystal fucking Hilton. Losing a match doesn't bother me. The entire point of this comeback, of The Murder is to get the girls in this company to put their all in. And that's what happened last week. She made me choke on my own tongue. Fuck yeah. Kick Jennie's ass next."

"But I'm grounded again. I have my eyes on the prize. I see the belt and I am aiming for it. If for no other reason then to at least have a girl listed on the record as making Nick Knight earn that defense. I'm going to be going full unhinged rage machine in the ring for this, Nick. I have what my therapist calls 'a lot of unprocessed anger' and I've found when I let that shit drive I always sleep much better. And I want you to look like you had a street fight with a feral dog. Because I think it'd be fun, for me. Like a door in a hurricane."