Post by Eternity on Apr 8, 2017 19:00:55 GMT
Once more our story begins where so many others seem to end - in absolute darkness. A state of mind, a place so many of us fear as children. I am older now, and I am no longer afraid.
What you spend a lifetime running from, I yearn to embrace - and still it pushes me away, pushes me on...
And so here I am, still. Alive...
The darkness is as natural to me as the fear of it once was for you. As natural as breathing...
And so here I am, still. Breathing...
All else around us is silent, but the breaths - my breaths.
They are the loudest and most important thing you hear now, as wisps of grey smoke slowly rise before you, synchronised with the rhythm of my lungs. In too short a time, the wisps bloom into plumes of a familiar colour, a vibrant purple. A royal shade that over the last four years had become synonymous with the very foundation of the Imperial Wrestling Federation.
It was the colour of Sacrifice, and as you so often observed my love, I had always worn it well.
Out of the billowing smoke, a childish laughter is heard as a cackling mouth begins to form, for a moment you are uncertain if you what you are seeing is real or just a fantasy but as the smoke begins to clear, a renewed face starts to emerge from the cloud, the piercing green eyes of the Diamond Dragon.
Now you hear a chorus of Angels sing, rejoicing for she has returned to the land of the living, thanks in no small part to the forgotten Son of God himself - Warren Michael Kane.
She was in his debt now, and in time the Devil would give him his due.
She would make sure of it...
Angels: Round and round
Round we go
Where it stops
Nobody knows it
A pure white light shines down upon me from above, as you see that I am sat cross-legged on the ground, with the Shieldmaiden stretched out before me, and a caramel complexioned doll in my grip, she reminded you of Crystal, although you couldn't with any confidence recall her name.
It had been a while since you had seen her, after all.
Angels: Side to side, baby
Back and forth
God above
And the Devil below Him
Now you hear me caught up in their song, adding my voice to the unseen Angels, all around me.
Eternity's Angel: You've got your reasons
And I've got my wants
Still get that feeling
But I'm too old to die young now
Now only my voice remains, once again alone in the dark, back where we began.
Too old to die young now
Above or below the ground
Yes, too old to die young now
Still the good lord might lay me down
Round and round
Round we go
What it stops?
Nobody knows it
Side to side, baby
Down and crawl
God above
And the Devil below Him...
You hear me take a deep breath as I look down and stare deeply into the lifeless eyes of the plastic doll in my hand, addressing it softly.
And somewhere in the middle here we are again, just you, me and him, Miss Caramel. Like we have been for so long now, so many years. So many words, lost - the song often repeated but barely remembered, still the dance is as familiar today as it was even back then. The steps retraced, the routine rehearsed, and once more Crystal you take a deep breath and offer the world one last hope...
The hope that it will be alright on the night. Monday Night - the night the Silver Screen Queen takes centre stage once more in front of the thousands in attendance and the millions more at home. All eyes will turn upon her, every gaze will be drawn to the undeniable beauty of the most beautiful rose they have ever seen - and they will wait now, as they have waited forever to see you blossom and bloom again.
That is your dream, and that is their wish.
United as you are by that one desire that inspires the best of us and kills the rest of us.
A desire to go back to the way things were, back before the wheel spun out of control. Back before the circle became a spiral, an ever spinning reel of disappointment. Caught on camera, rerun on television, relived for a lifetime, replayed for their entertainment.
That is the story of the girl with seven last names, none of them remembered for very long.
A shame, a tragedy, worthy of somebody else's time perhaps, but not mine...
You see me then look directly at you and slowly shake my head.
No, no, no. My time upon this Earth is far too precious Crystal, my journey is not over. It will never be over. Not so long as he still needs me, and he will always need me, I know that now...
You see me then gently caress Miss Caramel's hair, speaking softly to her.
Precious little flower, so alike and yet so different. He knows your pain, perhaps even better than he knows mine or even his own. Together, we know your desire, your hunger for redemption, and your thirst for revenge. It is a most familiar tale, told and retold for all eternity, almost to the point of cliche. A true product of Hollywood, that is now your world Crystal and this...
This is my world now, and seldom shall the two meet.
What you left behind upon your extinction has been reclaimed as all things are eventually, by an eternity far beyond your understanding. Your time as Champion, it was a fine act, but all acts draw to a close, Crystal, all movies reach their end credits.
It is life that goes on beyond them, and it is Death that goes beyond life.
That life or this life, it is all beyond you now, Crystal...
Live on in their hearts as an act of nostalgia, or die in their eyes as a fact of reality - the choice is yours, and yours alone.
I cannot deny that you are a very rare and very special breed of Rosa, one worthy of dissection and further study....
Ha, listen to me, Mommy would be so proud. She always encouraged me to take flowers seriously...
"They're not just pretty, they're alive too, darling," I remember her telling me once.
I look at you Crystal, and I see now just how delicate a flower you really are. A beautiful flower masquerading as a Warrior Queen. It's been a hell of a performance so far, a shame then that the best performance of your life so far is also the one performance you never intended to give. Still there is no going back now, for either of us...
The lights are at their brightest once more, the camera rolls once again, and you, Christina Rose Lopez Hilton-Millar are called to action one more time. So go on girl, play the part you were born to play, go on and make yourself part of history - my history.
We all have one, just as surely as we all have a part to play in this life.
And here you are Crystal, picture perfect, playing against type in the hopes that this will be the one role that makes you...
Immortal.
Remembered forever, honoured among your contemporaries and maybe even by the Academy.
But you are not a Champion sweetie, you just play one on television sometimes. Neither are you a Dragon Slayer, though many more before you have tried to answer the casting call. It is an important role in my story, and I have seen so many auditions already - but the search goes on...
And so too must I.
For as Michelle Dearborn once said to Helena Sawyer, "The Show Must Go On."
That too was a fun performance...whilst it lasted. We were all there for her curtain call too, just as we always seem to be...
You see me then reach out with my free hand and caress the name-plate of the Shieldmaiden gently, locking eyes with the platinum circus beast that stared back at me.
"Don't let calamity interrupt the proceedings; we mustn't stop what we are doing, even if something unfortunate has happened," the old ring master said. And so it is in that spirit, with a heavy heart and a heavier head that we go on and on and on...
Now you see a silver revolver slid across the floor into the light and within my reach, you recognised it as the one Warren had tossed away. My fingers tremble as I reach out for it. With some effort, I finally get a good grip on its handle. I lay Miss Caramel down as I retrieve the revolver.
Tell me Crystal, are you familiar with the writings of Anton Chekhov?
Even as an actress only playing the part of my adversary this Monday Night, you must be. He was something of a master, and what he wrote in 1889 in a letter to a fellow playwright, I relay to you as the most important principle underpinning this life, this path we have chosen for ourselves...
One must not put a loaded rifle on stage if no one is thinking of firing it.
And I know you've thought about it Christina. I know the thought and the dream that inspired your chronic insomnia these last five months. I see the hope in your eyes and I feel every lashing of your loose Latina tongue as you spit in my direction bitter promises of revenge, retribution and redemption - so go on girl, take your shot...
Pull the trigger.
COME ON, COME TO ME YOU GRUESOME SON OF A BITCH!
Kill...me...
You see me then raise the revolver to my temple, and slowly squeeze the trigger, flinching as I anticipate my end once more.
There is no end, only the click of an empty barrel.
HehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You see me then look down at the frozen doll, shouting at it.
IT'S EMPTY!
DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WOULD BE THAT EASY, MISS CARAMEL?
You see me then violently shake my head.
No, no, no, he didn't let me die then...and he will not let me die now...
You see me then clap my hands together and the lights are raised ever so slightly to show Warren Kane standing in front of me. You see me then hold out the revolver for him, he takes it and seems momentarily entranced by it as he whispers the name of his dearly departed brother...
Warren: Xander...
Well done, Kidd, once more you have proven you are not him. You are better, not shackled by the same regrets that will never let him sleep again....
Warren: If only Spike had unloaded the damn gun...
Do you see now, there is no going back, there is only one direction any of us ever get to go in this life. Forward. Always forwards...
Warren: Pandora...we have to save her...from him...
In time Kidd, these things cannot be rushed. For now, let's focus on you, let's focus on Xander Michael Kane...
Warren groaned at the use of his middle name.
Warren: Anne sure did have a sardonic sense of humour, didn't she? Out of all the middle names she could have picked...
I'm sure your mother had her reasons...
You see Warren now sit down in front of me.
Warren: Oh she did. She told me years later that she picked my middle name in the hopes that when I was old enough that I would appreciate carrying a piece of my father with me always, even if he could never be a part of our lives, she didn't want me to forget him...I can understand her intention, but -
They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Kidd...
Warren: And thanks to my dear old Mum, it seems they were right. You have no idea what its like to live in his larger than life shadow. The weight of expectations that people have when you're a Kane, not to mention the assumptions they make about the kind of person you are simply because of who your parents are...
I just might have a better idea than you think...
Warren nods, slowly.
Warren: Yes, I suppose you do. I can't imagine your parents ever wanted this life for you...
They shouldn't have died then...
You see me lock eyes with Warren, and a moment of silence passes between us.
Still, it is what it is. You are not your father, and I...I am not my mother. Between us both, we're quite the disappointment to them, I'm sure, but you helped me and now I will help you...
Warren: But you've already done so much for me...
You see me shake my head, before I reach for his hand. He takes it, squeezing it gently, as I whisper to him.
No, not yet. Not enough. Never enough...for you...
What you spend a lifetime running from, I yearn to embrace - and still it pushes me away, pushes me on...
And so here I am, still. Alive...
The darkness is as natural to me as the fear of it once was for you. As natural as breathing...
And so here I am, still. Breathing...
All else around us is silent, but the breaths - my breaths.
They are the loudest and most important thing you hear now, as wisps of grey smoke slowly rise before you, synchronised with the rhythm of my lungs. In too short a time, the wisps bloom into plumes of a familiar colour, a vibrant purple. A royal shade that over the last four years had become synonymous with the very foundation of the Imperial Wrestling Federation.
It was the colour of Sacrifice, and as you so often observed my love, I had always worn it well.
Out of the billowing smoke, a childish laughter is heard as a cackling mouth begins to form, for a moment you are uncertain if you what you are seeing is real or just a fantasy but as the smoke begins to clear, a renewed face starts to emerge from the cloud, the piercing green eyes of the Diamond Dragon.
Now you hear a chorus of Angels sing, rejoicing for she has returned to the land of the living, thanks in no small part to the forgotten Son of God himself - Warren Michael Kane.
She was in his debt now, and in time the Devil would give him his due.
She would make sure of it...
Angels: Round and round
Round we go
Where it stops
Nobody knows it
A pure white light shines down upon me from above, as you see that I am sat cross-legged on the ground, with the Shieldmaiden stretched out before me, and a caramel complexioned doll in my grip, she reminded you of Crystal, although you couldn't with any confidence recall her name.
It had been a while since you had seen her, after all.
Angels: Side to side, baby
Back and forth
God above
And the Devil below Him
Now you hear me caught up in their song, adding my voice to the unseen Angels, all around me.
Eternity's Angel: You've got your reasons
And I've got my wants
Still get that feeling
But I'm too old to die young now
Now only my voice remains, once again alone in the dark, back where we began.
Too old to die young now
Above or below the ground
Yes, too old to die young now
Still the good lord might lay me down
Round and round
Round we go
What it stops?
Nobody knows it
Side to side, baby
Down and crawl
God above
And the Devil below Him...
You hear me take a deep breath as I look down and stare deeply into the lifeless eyes of the plastic doll in my hand, addressing it softly.
And somewhere in the middle here we are again, just you, me and him, Miss Caramel. Like we have been for so long now, so many years. So many words, lost - the song often repeated but barely remembered, still the dance is as familiar today as it was even back then. The steps retraced, the routine rehearsed, and once more Crystal you take a deep breath and offer the world one last hope...
The hope that it will be alright on the night. Monday Night - the night the Silver Screen Queen takes centre stage once more in front of the thousands in attendance and the millions more at home. All eyes will turn upon her, every gaze will be drawn to the undeniable beauty of the most beautiful rose they have ever seen - and they will wait now, as they have waited forever to see you blossom and bloom again.
That is your dream, and that is their wish.
United as you are by that one desire that inspires the best of us and kills the rest of us.
A desire to go back to the way things were, back before the wheel spun out of control. Back before the circle became a spiral, an ever spinning reel of disappointment. Caught on camera, rerun on television, relived for a lifetime, replayed for their entertainment.
That is the story of the girl with seven last names, none of them remembered for very long.
A shame, a tragedy, worthy of somebody else's time perhaps, but not mine...
You see me then look directly at you and slowly shake my head.
No, no, no. My time upon this Earth is far too precious Crystal, my journey is not over. It will never be over. Not so long as he still needs me, and he will always need me, I know that now...
You see me then gently caress Miss Caramel's hair, speaking softly to her.
Precious little flower, so alike and yet so different. He knows your pain, perhaps even better than he knows mine or even his own. Together, we know your desire, your hunger for redemption, and your thirst for revenge. It is a most familiar tale, told and retold for all eternity, almost to the point of cliche. A true product of Hollywood, that is now your world Crystal and this...
This is my world now, and seldom shall the two meet.
What you left behind upon your extinction has been reclaimed as all things are eventually, by an eternity far beyond your understanding. Your time as Champion, it was a fine act, but all acts draw to a close, Crystal, all movies reach their end credits.
It is life that goes on beyond them, and it is Death that goes beyond life.
That life or this life, it is all beyond you now, Crystal...
Live on in their hearts as an act of nostalgia, or die in their eyes as a fact of reality - the choice is yours, and yours alone.
I cannot deny that you are a very rare and very special breed of Rosa, one worthy of dissection and further study....
Ha, listen to me, Mommy would be so proud. She always encouraged me to take flowers seriously...
"They're not just pretty, they're alive too, darling," I remember her telling me once.
I look at you Crystal, and I see now just how delicate a flower you really are. A beautiful flower masquerading as a Warrior Queen. It's been a hell of a performance so far, a shame then that the best performance of your life so far is also the one performance you never intended to give. Still there is no going back now, for either of us...
The lights are at their brightest once more, the camera rolls once again, and you, Christina Rose Lopez Hilton-Millar are called to action one more time. So go on girl, play the part you were born to play, go on and make yourself part of history - my history.
We all have one, just as surely as we all have a part to play in this life.
And here you are Crystal, picture perfect, playing against type in the hopes that this will be the one role that makes you...
Immortal.
Remembered forever, honoured among your contemporaries and maybe even by the Academy.
But you are not a Champion sweetie, you just play one on television sometimes. Neither are you a Dragon Slayer, though many more before you have tried to answer the casting call. It is an important role in my story, and I have seen so many auditions already - but the search goes on...
And so too must I.
For as Michelle Dearborn once said to Helena Sawyer, "The Show Must Go On."
That too was a fun performance...whilst it lasted. We were all there for her curtain call too, just as we always seem to be...
You see me then reach out with my free hand and caress the name-plate of the Shieldmaiden gently, locking eyes with the platinum circus beast that stared back at me.
"Don't let calamity interrupt the proceedings; we mustn't stop what we are doing, even if something unfortunate has happened," the old ring master said. And so it is in that spirit, with a heavy heart and a heavier head that we go on and on and on...
Now you see a silver revolver slid across the floor into the light and within my reach, you recognised it as the one Warren had tossed away. My fingers tremble as I reach out for it. With some effort, I finally get a good grip on its handle. I lay Miss Caramel down as I retrieve the revolver.
Tell me Crystal, are you familiar with the writings of Anton Chekhov?
Even as an actress only playing the part of my adversary this Monday Night, you must be. He was something of a master, and what he wrote in 1889 in a letter to a fellow playwright, I relay to you as the most important principle underpinning this life, this path we have chosen for ourselves...
One must not put a loaded rifle on stage if no one is thinking of firing it.
And I know you've thought about it Christina. I know the thought and the dream that inspired your chronic insomnia these last five months. I see the hope in your eyes and I feel every lashing of your loose Latina tongue as you spit in my direction bitter promises of revenge, retribution and redemption - so go on girl, take your shot...
Pull the trigger.
COME ON, COME TO ME YOU GRUESOME SON OF A BITCH!
Kill...me...
You see me then raise the revolver to my temple, and slowly squeeze the trigger, flinching as I anticipate my end once more.
There is no end, only the click of an empty barrel.
HehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You see me then look down at the frozen doll, shouting at it.
IT'S EMPTY!
DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WOULD BE THAT EASY, MISS CARAMEL?
You see me then violently shake my head.
No, no, no, he didn't let me die then...and he will not let me die now...
You see me then clap my hands together and the lights are raised ever so slightly to show Warren Kane standing in front of me. You see me then hold out the revolver for him, he takes it and seems momentarily entranced by it as he whispers the name of his dearly departed brother...
Warren: Xander...
Well done, Kidd, once more you have proven you are not him. You are better, not shackled by the same regrets that will never let him sleep again....
Warren: If only Spike had unloaded the damn gun...
Do you see now, there is no going back, there is only one direction any of us ever get to go in this life. Forward. Always forwards...
Warren: Pandora...we have to save her...from him...
In time Kidd, these things cannot be rushed. For now, let's focus on you, let's focus on Xander Michael Kane...
Warren groaned at the use of his middle name.
Warren: Anne sure did have a sardonic sense of humour, didn't she? Out of all the middle names she could have picked...
I'm sure your mother had her reasons...
You see Warren now sit down in front of me.
Warren: Oh she did. She told me years later that she picked my middle name in the hopes that when I was old enough that I would appreciate carrying a piece of my father with me always, even if he could never be a part of our lives, she didn't want me to forget him...I can understand her intention, but -
They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Kidd...
Warren: And thanks to my dear old Mum, it seems they were right. You have no idea what its like to live in his larger than life shadow. The weight of expectations that people have when you're a Kane, not to mention the assumptions they make about the kind of person you are simply because of who your parents are...
I just might have a better idea than you think...
Warren nods, slowly.
Warren: Yes, I suppose you do. I can't imagine your parents ever wanted this life for you...
They shouldn't have died then...
You see me lock eyes with Warren, and a moment of silence passes between us.
Still, it is what it is. You are not your father, and I...I am not my mother. Between us both, we're quite the disappointment to them, I'm sure, but you helped me and now I will help you...
Warren: But you've already done so much for me...
You see me shake my head, before I reach for his hand. He takes it, squeezing it gently, as I whisper to him.
No, not yet. Not enough. Never enough...for you...
Well howdy there pardner.