Post by Helena Sawyer on Jan 30, 2017 5:20:19 GMT
No sooner did the door open than Michelle came crashing through, clutching Grace tight as she almost bowled her over. Grace held her tight, staggering back with the impact of her charge, and Michelle babbled nervously at her, words flowing without conscious thought.
"She knows who you are. She knows who you are! She knows you, s-she said 'from Grace to graceless', she talked about masks, she knows I'm not Helena, she's going to come after you, she—"
Grace held her tightly, patting her back and rocking her girlfriend in the hug slightly. She shushed Michelle, patting her back gently and cradling her into the hug.
"It doesn't need to be about me. She's trying to get into your head. She doesn't know me, it's a coincidence. She's trying to freak you out and get you off your game. Are you going to let her win like that? Are you?"
Michelle shook her head, breathing heavily as Grace carefully set her down, size belying the gentle nature that her name would indicate. She patted her on the shoulder, smiling softly at Michelle and glancing back at the open laptop on the couch.
"Hey, I need to finish up a few things really quick. Why don't you go lay down, I'll join you in a minute?"
Michelle nodded, breathing deeply, and walked towards the bedroom, slipping inside and letting herself flop in a near-freefall onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily, and brought her hand in front of her face, watching it tremble as her breath shuddered in and out. Her lips worked in utter confusion, stuttering and stumbling over her words, but when they finally formed coherence the voice that escaped was not Michelle's own.
"Wh-wh-what was that? I told you, you let me take control and we have nothing to worry about. You decided to put on the brakes at the last second, and you showed your belly to Eternity. She's going to gut you like a fish, and you know how I know? Because it's what I would do to someone as afraid and timid as you."
Michelle managed a stammering response, heart hammering against her ribcage like it was trying to break through. Her hand refused to still, nerves fraying almost before her eyes, even as her lips worked to try to weave them back together.
"You don't know that. I don't want to go to the places Eternity goes. It's not an act for her. You're still an act for me. You're not who I am."
Helena snorted disdainfully, shaking their head and glancing over to the trembling hand. She shook their hand once, and at once the trembling ceases. Helena inspected the now-still hand, grinning and snapping their fingers.
"See? You were consumed by your nerves all the way home. I cured them with a snap of my fingers. You can't control your fear of Eternity, and that's because you won't do what it takes to conquer it. You're not strong enough, Shelly. I am. I'm going to offer you a chance. One more time. Either you give me what I want, you give me complete control at Metamorphosis, or I make you do this all on your own. You get to tremble like a leaf in a hurricane in the middle of the Dragon's Den, against the most vicious competitor in this company, man or woman. It's your choice. Your. Choice."
Michelle took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, and finally opened her mouth after a few seconds of desperate gulping for air and words.
"I...I showed the world that I can do things my way. I showed you. We...I beat Gabriela. Middle of that ring. My way. Not yours. But...Gabriela isn't Eternity. She doesn't do what Eternity does...and I don't do what you do. I won't. But...I won't be doing it in there. It'll be you. It'll be Helena. But...I have to watch the footage and see my face, my hands doing those things—"
Helena cut her off roughly, snarling at Michelle.
"BullSHIT. You watch ME. This is ME. You're making excuses because you're a coward. You're a COWARD, Michelle! Is that what you are? Is it? DO YOU WANT TO BE A COWARD FOREVER?!"
Michelle snapped up in the bed, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"NO!"
Almost as soon as the shout escaped her lungs, Grace stampeded down the hallway, yanking the door open and skidding to a lift, breathless and wide-eyed.
"Holy SHIT, Shelly! Are you okay? What happened? What's going on? Talk to me!"
She clutched Michelle's shoulders, looking into her eyes for some sign of life. Michelle's eyes were glazed over for a few seconds, but she slowly shook her head, life coming back into her face. She met Grace's worried expression, and she reached out, gently stroking Grace's cheek. As she spoke, though, Grace couldn't help but feel an involuntary shiver rattle down her spine.
"Am I...okay? Yeah. Yeah, Gracie. I'm just...fine."
She looked back into Grace's eyes again, cracking a small smile as we faded to black.
We open on Helena Sawyer standing on the far side of a chain-link fence, hands linked through the chains and fingers idly running over the links. She cracks her neck, head rolling across the fence, and her voice drips with malice as she speaks, breathing heavily in the chilly January air.
"I could talk about how much I've wanted this. I could talk about how much I've...hungered for this match since I stepped foot in this company. I could...I could do so many things. But what would it really amount to? Nothing more than what we all know. And I know...I know you lovely people want more than just repeating the same thing over and over again. If you wanted that, there are other women in this company you could test your luck with."
Helena chuckles to herself, sighing and strutting along the fence. Her face is still mostly hidden from the camera, hints of face paint visible in the dim light. A spotlight sweeps by in the background, and her hand drags lazily along the links of the fence.
"No...I want to take this moment to thank you, Eternity. Thank you for giving me a chance to be me. Even with Sarah, even with Pandora...there's something there that keeps them away. They keep themselves at an arm's length, no matter how much they profess to want to understand me. They hold themselves back, no matter how much they say they utterly loathe me. But...I can't read you. I thought I would know you better than anyone. But...isn't that really the beauty of you, Eternity?"
She smiles, hair draping past her face but unable to hide her grin, and breathes out through her nose, heated air billowing forth like smoke from a brass bull's nose.
"We all think we know you. We all think we're special enough to crack the code, but we only know our special angle. We change our viewpoint, just for a second, and we see a completely different Eternity. Too many facets to see, too many beams of light filtering through you. But we can still catch those glimpses we recognize, and it's in those moments that you provide the most valuable thing you can in this world."
She pauses, looking over at the fence for the first time. Even in the dim light, it's clear that Helena's face paint isn't her own at all, but a reflection of one of Eternity's most common designs. She smiles, a wide, eerie grin, and giggles. The laugh isn't the distinctive, twisted laugh of Eternity, though, but identifiably her own.
"You provide hope! No, you do. You provide hope that those who are lost and dreaming of a place in this world can find a home. They can find happiness with who they are and what they are...and you make it all possible. And, if I'm being honest...you gave me the strength to come out into the light. And I cannot thank you enough for that with words...so I'll show you that respect the only way we truly can: in a sacrament of blood and suffering."
Helena pauses along the chain-link, wrapping her fingers through again and smiling broadly. She pulls herself up against the fence, pressing her flesh up against the metal, and bites down on the chain, grinning wickedly.
"If you hadn't come out of the shadows and shown the world what the undesirables can do...I would have stayed tucked away in a little corner of my own mind forever. But your vision has given me the strength to be me, and your bravery has provided me with the catalyst to break free of the bonds that I've laid on myself. I tried to tell myself that what I felt was...wrong. That I was sick. That...we should all recognize that I'm the problem here. But I've got no problem. My problem was denying what I am. And Eternity...you showed me that I can't let fear hold me back anymore."
She begins to climb the fence slowly, clambering hand over hand. Through gritted teeth, Helena speaks, almost as if forcing herself hand over hand. The spotlights waver and weave in the distance, slowly drawing closer and closer to her.
"Pain is temporary. Fear is temporary. Blood is temporary. But their aftereffects? The growth? The self-affirmation? The scars that remind us forevermore of what we've done? Those are eternal. Our suffering is like the paint we wear. It can be wiped away. But what's beneath? Who and what we really are? Well...that's the truth that we can't hide from. I'm not going to hide. You have nothing to reveal. You have nothing to unearth. You hold no fear for Helena Sawyer."
She reaches the top of the fence, fingers teasing at strands of barbed wire looped around the top of the fence. Helena grabs the top of the fence, letting the spikes of the wire dig into her hands and draw blood as she hauls herself up. The spotlights converge on her, and she squints into the glare, breathing heavily. Helena's grin, though, is unmistakable, and she laughs again, wind whipping up and billowing her hair around her.
"So try to expose me now, Eternity! Try to show the world whatever you wanted to show them! Show me what you wanted to show me! And I will show you what you could never see, what I hid from myself for so long! I will show the world what happens when the light is shined into the darkness, and the darkness comes snapping back out! And I will show you...that this facepaint hides nothing. When you wipe it away from me, I will still be Helena Sawyer. And I will inflict the lessons of my Dark Mother upon you, in the heart of the Dragon's Den. I will steal that Shieldmaiden from you, and I will come full circle. You are Eternity...but I will show you that even your Eternity has an end. I. Cannot. Wait."
She waves for the camera, blood dripping from her hands, and she throws her head back, laughing into the wind as the spotlights intensify and we fade to white.
"She knows who you are. She knows who you are! She knows you, s-she said 'from Grace to graceless', she talked about masks, she knows I'm not Helena, she's going to come after you, she—"
Grace held her tightly, patting her back and rocking her girlfriend in the hug slightly. She shushed Michelle, patting her back gently and cradling her into the hug.
"It doesn't need to be about me. She's trying to get into your head. She doesn't know me, it's a coincidence. She's trying to freak you out and get you off your game. Are you going to let her win like that? Are you?"
Michelle shook her head, breathing heavily as Grace carefully set her down, size belying the gentle nature that her name would indicate. She patted her on the shoulder, smiling softly at Michelle and glancing back at the open laptop on the couch.
"Hey, I need to finish up a few things really quick. Why don't you go lay down, I'll join you in a minute?"
Michelle nodded, breathing deeply, and walked towards the bedroom, slipping inside and letting herself flop in a near-freefall onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily, and brought her hand in front of her face, watching it tremble as her breath shuddered in and out. Her lips worked in utter confusion, stuttering and stumbling over her words, but when they finally formed coherence the voice that escaped was not Michelle's own.
"Wh-wh-what was that? I told you, you let me take control and we have nothing to worry about. You decided to put on the brakes at the last second, and you showed your belly to Eternity. She's going to gut you like a fish, and you know how I know? Because it's what I would do to someone as afraid and timid as you."
Michelle managed a stammering response, heart hammering against her ribcage like it was trying to break through. Her hand refused to still, nerves fraying almost before her eyes, even as her lips worked to try to weave them back together.
"You don't know that. I don't want to go to the places Eternity goes. It's not an act for her. You're still an act for me. You're not who I am."
Helena snorted disdainfully, shaking their head and glancing over to the trembling hand. She shook their hand once, and at once the trembling ceases. Helena inspected the now-still hand, grinning and snapping their fingers.
"See? You were consumed by your nerves all the way home. I cured them with a snap of my fingers. You can't control your fear of Eternity, and that's because you won't do what it takes to conquer it. You're not strong enough, Shelly. I am. I'm going to offer you a chance. One more time. Either you give me what I want, you give me complete control at Metamorphosis, or I make you do this all on your own. You get to tremble like a leaf in a hurricane in the middle of the Dragon's Den, against the most vicious competitor in this company, man or woman. It's your choice. Your. Choice."
Michelle took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, and finally opened her mouth after a few seconds of desperate gulping for air and words.
"I...I showed the world that I can do things my way. I showed you. We...I beat Gabriela. Middle of that ring. My way. Not yours. But...Gabriela isn't Eternity. She doesn't do what Eternity does...and I don't do what you do. I won't. But...I won't be doing it in there. It'll be you. It'll be Helena. But...I have to watch the footage and see my face, my hands doing those things—"
Helena cut her off roughly, snarling at Michelle.
"BullSHIT. You watch ME. This is ME. You're making excuses because you're a coward. You're a COWARD, Michelle! Is that what you are? Is it? DO YOU WANT TO BE A COWARD FOREVER?!"
Michelle snapped up in the bed, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"NO!"
Almost as soon as the shout escaped her lungs, Grace stampeded down the hallway, yanking the door open and skidding to a lift, breathless and wide-eyed.
"Holy SHIT, Shelly! Are you okay? What happened? What's going on? Talk to me!"
She clutched Michelle's shoulders, looking into her eyes for some sign of life. Michelle's eyes were glazed over for a few seconds, but she slowly shook her head, life coming back into her face. She met Grace's worried expression, and she reached out, gently stroking Grace's cheek. As she spoke, though, Grace couldn't help but feel an involuntary shiver rattle down her spine.
"Am I...okay? Yeah. Yeah, Gracie. I'm just...fine."
She looked back into Grace's eyes again, cracking a small smile as we faded to black.
We open on Helena Sawyer standing on the far side of a chain-link fence, hands linked through the chains and fingers idly running over the links. She cracks her neck, head rolling across the fence, and her voice drips with malice as she speaks, breathing heavily in the chilly January air.
"I could talk about how much I've wanted this. I could talk about how much I've...hungered for this match since I stepped foot in this company. I could...I could do so many things. But what would it really amount to? Nothing more than what we all know. And I know...I know you lovely people want more than just repeating the same thing over and over again. If you wanted that, there are other women in this company you could test your luck with."
Helena chuckles to herself, sighing and strutting along the fence. Her face is still mostly hidden from the camera, hints of face paint visible in the dim light. A spotlight sweeps by in the background, and her hand drags lazily along the links of the fence.
"No...I want to take this moment to thank you, Eternity. Thank you for giving me a chance to be me. Even with Sarah, even with Pandora...there's something there that keeps them away. They keep themselves at an arm's length, no matter how much they profess to want to understand me. They hold themselves back, no matter how much they say they utterly loathe me. But...I can't read you. I thought I would know you better than anyone. But...isn't that really the beauty of you, Eternity?"
She smiles, hair draping past her face but unable to hide her grin, and breathes out through her nose, heated air billowing forth like smoke from a brass bull's nose.
"We all think we know you. We all think we're special enough to crack the code, but we only know our special angle. We change our viewpoint, just for a second, and we see a completely different Eternity. Too many facets to see, too many beams of light filtering through you. But we can still catch those glimpses we recognize, and it's in those moments that you provide the most valuable thing you can in this world."
She pauses, looking over at the fence for the first time. Even in the dim light, it's clear that Helena's face paint isn't her own at all, but a reflection of one of Eternity's most common designs. She smiles, a wide, eerie grin, and giggles. The laugh isn't the distinctive, twisted laugh of Eternity, though, but identifiably her own.
"You provide hope! No, you do. You provide hope that those who are lost and dreaming of a place in this world can find a home. They can find happiness with who they are and what they are...and you make it all possible. And, if I'm being honest...you gave me the strength to come out into the light. And I cannot thank you enough for that with words...so I'll show you that respect the only way we truly can: in a sacrament of blood and suffering."
Helena pauses along the chain-link, wrapping her fingers through again and smiling broadly. She pulls herself up against the fence, pressing her flesh up against the metal, and bites down on the chain, grinning wickedly.
"If you hadn't come out of the shadows and shown the world what the undesirables can do...I would have stayed tucked away in a little corner of my own mind forever. But your vision has given me the strength to be me, and your bravery has provided me with the catalyst to break free of the bonds that I've laid on myself. I tried to tell myself that what I felt was...wrong. That I was sick. That...we should all recognize that I'm the problem here. But I've got no problem. My problem was denying what I am. And Eternity...you showed me that I can't let fear hold me back anymore."
She begins to climb the fence slowly, clambering hand over hand. Through gritted teeth, Helena speaks, almost as if forcing herself hand over hand. The spotlights waver and weave in the distance, slowly drawing closer and closer to her.
"Pain is temporary. Fear is temporary. Blood is temporary. But their aftereffects? The growth? The self-affirmation? The scars that remind us forevermore of what we've done? Those are eternal. Our suffering is like the paint we wear. It can be wiped away. But what's beneath? Who and what we really are? Well...that's the truth that we can't hide from. I'm not going to hide. You have nothing to reveal. You have nothing to unearth. You hold no fear for Helena Sawyer."
She reaches the top of the fence, fingers teasing at strands of barbed wire looped around the top of the fence. Helena grabs the top of the fence, letting the spikes of the wire dig into her hands and draw blood as she hauls herself up. The spotlights converge on her, and she squints into the glare, breathing heavily. Helena's grin, though, is unmistakable, and she laughs again, wind whipping up and billowing her hair around her.
"So try to expose me now, Eternity! Try to show the world whatever you wanted to show them! Show me what you wanted to show me! And I will show you what you could never see, what I hid from myself for so long! I will show the world what happens when the light is shined into the darkness, and the darkness comes snapping back out! And I will show you...that this facepaint hides nothing. When you wipe it away from me, I will still be Helena Sawyer. And I will inflict the lessons of my Dark Mother upon you, in the heart of the Dragon's Den. I will steal that Shieldmaiden from you, and I will come full circle. You are Eternity...but I will show you that even your Eternity has an end. I. Cannot. Wait."
She waves for the camera, blood dripping from her hands, and she throws her head back, laughing into the wind as the spotlights intensify and we fade to white.
Well howdy there pardner.