[Almund Docks] A Choice

[Lakia Amaranthine]

11th of Ymiden, 717

They were out of Psinia again. Normally, with the supplier being right there in town, Lakia wouldn't have let them run out. Delta might guess that this apparent oversight was a result of what had happened to the Naer in the Ice Caves. The injuries she had sustained and the things she had witnessed. Lakia didn't know, and didn't have reason to pry into her slaves private thoughts. After all, Delta needed something that was entirely her own. Today, however, Lakia wanted to give her a bit more.

She had brought Delta out to the docks, now that the Psinia had run out and Lakia herself had completely recovered from the Ice Caves. As the stood on the edge, overlooking the waves, she took a small bottle from her pocket and handed it to Delta. The main high had worn off, but withdrawal hadn't really set in yet, or so Lakia thought, so Delta should be at her best, mentally and physically. "The secret ingredient they used on you, it isn't special. It's water, grass seeds, and a bit of pepper. The stuff they gave you that they called "regular" Psinia was watered down to be less effective." she said, her tone calm before she let out a long sigh.

"You asked me why, why I kept you addicted, why I kept you a slave. I told you why, at the time." she said, before looking over at Delta. "I want to be better than that. I don't want to become my mother, so paranoid and violent I wind up hurting the one person I actually care for." she said, before taking a deep breath. "I can't free you, not yet at least. I'm...I'm still too...broken. Damaged. I still need you, and I need to be able to tell you I can trust you without reservation."

Lakia looked down at the small clay bottle in Delta's hands. "What I can do, though, is let you choose how you live from now on. If you want, I'll keep buying you the Psinia. But if you don't want that, I'll help you through the withdrawal as best I can. Except when I have to leave to make sure we have food on the table, I'll be there, helping you get off this crap. But either way, it's your choice."

[Delta]

Delta had walked quietly down to the docks, following Lakia just half a step behind. Down from the highs that Psinia always left her in, it was one of those rare days where Delta was entirely content and satiated. When Lakia had told her they were heading out, Delta barely fought. Their conversation seasons previously had made it easier on the reluctant slave. she still hated her lot in life - she longed for her father, for the seas - but the young biqaj was beginning to feel a sort of… empathy for her Mistress. It was somewhat horrifying, to think that she might be starting to care for the other woman, but after years of constant companionship… it was only to be expected.

Not that she was giving in.

The two stood at the docks in silence. Brilliantly blue eyes, much like the cool water they looked out on, spoke of desire, yet acceptance. She missed the high seas so much. Pulled from her thoughts, she turned quizzically to her Mistress and unconsciously accepted the small vial of liquid. She stared at it as Lakia spoke, explaining of the deception she had been under for three arcs. Her eyes, which were now round in shock, flashed viridian as the other woman continued. It was all a lie.

“You…” she stopped herself, as she dragged her gaze away from the vial to stare at the naer. Her knuckles went white as she gripped the vial, and she worked hard to channel all of her anger into the satisfaction that the vial would soon smash under the pressure in the palm of her hand. Delta took a deep breath. In. Out. Hold. Again.

As her breathing relaxed, so did her eyes neutralise. They did not return to the bright cerulean they had been before, however. They now sat at a cool teal. Her resentment was towards the naerrikk race as a whole, rather than this single individual before her, but that did not stop the pain. Lakia was a product of the problem, regardless of her kindness and genuine need to be liked. Delta was a slave due to Lakia’s obsessive desire for companionship… but that did not make it right.

“Why are you telling me this now?” She finally asked, her mind racing over her options. She could flee - now that she knew Psinia was all she needed, she could leave and source the drug herself. When she was ready… she could get herself off it. Surely a few days of pain would be worth freedom. A plan began to formulate in her head, and she barely registers Lakia’s offer to help her through the withdrawal. Surely she did not think Delta would stay, now?

[Lakia Amaranthine]

Lakia stayed silent as Delta worked through the ramifications of what she had said, and when the Biqaj finally spoke again, the Naer nodded. "Fair question." she said, looking back out over the seas. If Delta had familiarized herself with how Scalvoris was layed out, she might realize they could see Ishallr from where they were, and it was that frozen island that Lakia had been staring at the whole time.

"I almost didn't make it out of Ishallr. You saw me when I came back, half-frozen and badly injured. In truth, I nearly drowned because part of me didn't want to survive. The only reason I did was the thought of what would happen to you if I didn't make it back." she said, before looking back at Delta and gesturing at the bottle the Biqaj now held. "Now you know that you don't need me. Honestly, you never did." she said, before she grimaced slightly.

"I can't...what they did to you wasn't right. What I've done to you isn't right either. And I know that I can't...I can't make you stay. That bottle, that lie, was all that I had to hold you to me." she said quietly, before she looked down. She realized she no longer had a real hold over the Biqaj, and the realization of what Delta could do to her caused an unconscious reaction. She hunched up, like she was trying to protect herself from something by making herself a smaller target. "You have every reason to hate me, or leave now that I have no real control over you, but..." she finally looked up at Delta, and her eyes showed her fear. "I still need you. Not...not just because of what was done to me. I need you to help me get better."

[Delta]

Delta could not believe what she was hearing. Well, she could, but she didn’t want to believe it. Her father didn’t raise a fool; she should have been able to see through the lies. but, more than anything, Delta was hurt. Despite all she had been through, and how much she had rebelled against her Mistress over the past two arcs… despite wanting to hate her, a bond had been formed, one which was almost familial in nature.

A very small part of her didn’t want to leave. Lakia’s words only strengthened that. How weak and maudlin was the woman, that she had considered giving over to death? Yet, she also proved herself strong, to be willing to fight for the sake of a meaningless slave. Lakia Amarinthine, for all her faults, was not a bad person. Delta shook her head. How would she be empathising with this monster? “No,” her whispered word was harsh, though mostly meaningless.

And then she scoffed, “You need me?” She bit out, her tone incredulous. How dare Lakia have the audacity to speak to her in such a familiar way. “I owe you nothing, Lakia,” she spat, eyes flashing with nothing less than undiluted hatred. “Your people ripped me from my life, my family. They beat me, drugged me. You removed my free will, lied to me, caused me pain and anguish, and you think I can just forgive you? Move on from today after you reveal the only card you held, and think I would do nothing? Lie back and take it? You thought I would accept, and stay? But I can't leave anyway, can I? Your people branded me, condemned me!”

She had, in all her arcs with her Mistress, never spoken so much at once to Lakia. But the hurt, the agony, the suffering, which had always been kept behind tightly behind adamantium walls in her mind, defences built to protect herself from her situation, quickly came crumbling down. And she felt everything. The vial cracked in her hand, but the spasm of pain only fuelled her words. “You are barbarians, you naerrikk! Disgusting, loathsome creatures that ruin this land with your foul existence! Idalos would be so much better off without you. I would rather suffer through arcs of withdrawal, if it meant I never had to look upon your detestable face!”

So lost in anger was Delta that she had switched to her native tongue; unless Lakia had picked up some of the language, much of it would be indecipherable, but the ferocity with which she spat the words would not be missed on her Mistress. Then, the language reverted back to the Common Tongue, “It would have been better if you had died! An icy death for a cold, dead heart. I hate you!” Her arm swung back and, lighting fast, her open, uninjured palm swung forward to collide with a loud 'crack' against Lakia’s cheek.

There was no time for Delta to wait for a reaction, though, she did not even consider the other woman. Suddenly, the slave felt very, very tired. Her knees gave way and the tears, which had been threatening to fall throughout her episode of raging, finally cascaded down her cheeks. Uncontrollable, violent sobs wracked her body as she knelt forward, clutching her hand to her chest. The fight in her faded away as she rocked gently, repeatedly whispered, “I hate you.”

[Lakia Amaranthine]

Lakia wasn't at all surprised by Delta's rage induced outburst, seeing as how she fully believed that Delta absolutely hated her. After all, she had fairly good reason for her anger, after everything Lakia and the Naerrik had done to her. So she let Delta vent, even though she didn't understand a fairly good part of it due to Delta's shift to her native tongue.

The slap, however, was unexpected, but not unwarranted. Lakia considered for a moment whether she should respond to that, but in the end, decided to let Delta finish venting uninterrupted. When the Biqaj collapsed to the ground and started rocking herself, Lakia lowered herself to the ground as well, not wanting to loom over Delta. "I know you do. I never expected that you didn't. It would be foolish of me to expect otherwise. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, or your friendship or any such thing. I don't deserve it." she said, before she let out a slow sigh. "All I'm asking for is understanding at this point, I suppose."

After a moment, Lakia decided to try something she wasn't really comfortable doing, but had helped her when she was young. Maybe it was the way Delta was huddled in on herself that brought the idea to mind, as Lakia was forcefully reminded of herself after some of the worse encounters with her mother. She edged a bit closer to Delta and gently put an arm around the Biqaj.

"I wish I could undo what's been done to both of us. Maybe then, we could have met under better circumstances." she said, before taking a deep breath. "But in truth, I want to free you someday, when I can contemplate that without having panic attacks. Which is why I've been looking into how to remove the brand." she said, before grimacing slightly. "Which, thus far, has been an entirely fruitless endeavor." she said.

[Delta]

The slave was in turmoil: thoughts were racing; breathing was erratic; her whole body shook; and pain spiked in her heart. The sobs did not stiffen and, perhaps for the first time ever, Delta did not stiffen, nor pull away, as Lakia’s hesitant arm rested upon her. She barely registered the touch of her despicable Mistress, save the strangely comforting warmth.

It took a long time for Delta’s tears to stop, for the sobs to calm into hiccups and sniffles. Her body became calm as the outburst drained her muscles of all residual energy. As she calmed, she said nothing, just kneeling, bottom resting on the heals of her feet as she stared down at her injured hand, where shards of glass had penetrated through the skin. She had heard the words Lakia had uttered, but she had no room left in her mind to process the self-pitying excuses the near provided for her treatment of another sentient creature.

She turned her thoughts to breathing, and clearing her mind. In. Out. In. Out. It was easier than trying to think of what her future held, now that she knew how much power she had. To have been stripped of any free will for at least three arcs, now that freedom was in her grasp, the slave was at a complete loss for how to respond, or what to do. It was like she had forgotten how to manage her life. What was she supposed to do now?

Eventually, the sniffles and hiccups became more infrequent, and Delta blinked away the final tears, clearing her blurred vision. She did not raise her head, which now was somehow resting upon her Mistress’ collarbone, as she murmured, “I don’t want it anymore…” Her voice, damaged from all her screaming and crying, was harsh and barely above a whisper. But Lakia would be able to hear it.

“I don’t want the drugs.” For now, that was the only decision she had to make. Once she had made that decision, perhaps making other decisions about her life once more would become easier.

[Lakia Amaranthine]

As Delta calmed slightly, Lakia found herself pulling the Biqaj slightly closer, to where Delta's head was resting on her collar bone. When Delta finally spoke again, barely above a whisper, Lakia nodded. "I didn't think you would." she said, taking what was left of the bottle in the Biqaj's hands and tossing it into the sea beside them. "It'll be rough for a bit, but we'll make it through." she said, before she put her other arm around the Biqaj and stood, pulling Delta to feet beside her.

"Come on, let's get back to the room. We can bandage up your hand." she said, starting them towards the inn. She didn't take her arm from around Delta unless the Biqaj tried to move it herself. For some reason, Lakia actually enjoyed having Delta that close, far closer than she had let anyone get to her before. Part of it was that she generally didn't like touch that much, but she knew her trust issues factored into it a great deal. She knew they had a long road ahead of them, getting the Biqaj off the drugs. But she also knew that Delta would make it, though she would need help.

What worried the Naer was what would happen afterwards. Delta now knew that she didn't need Lakia to keep her functional, and once she was completely off the drugs, there was every chance the Biqaj would flee. Lakia couldn't blame her if she did, and she knew her reasons for wanting Delta to stay were utterly selfish and self-serving, but she did still need her. Hopefully, Lakia could convince her to stay, at least until they get the Naer past her trust issues. Once that was done, if Delta wanted to leave, Lakia would have to let her go. She owed her that much, at the very least.

[Aeon]

Delta

Skill Knowledge:

Discipline: Deciding to get Clean of Psinia
Linguistics: Common Tongue
Linguistics: Rakahi
Linguistics: Switching Between Languages in Anger

Other Knowledge:

Lakia: Damaged and Broken
Lakia: Lied about Psinia
Lakia: "Needs Me"
Naerikk: Barbarians

Loot:

N/A

Injuries:

A gash on the palm of hand. Will take 15 trials to fully heal without any further treatment

Fame:

N/A

Devotion:

N/A

Magic:

These points can NOT be used for Domain Magic

Points awarded:

15

Lakia

Skill Knowledge:

Discipline: Don't Retaliate in Anger
Discipline: Leaving your Comfort Zone to Help Another
Medicine: Bandaging a Wound

Other Knowledge:

Delta: I need Her
Delta: Quite the Temper
Delta: Wishes Me Dead
Delta: Wants Rid of Psinia

Loot:

N/A

Injuries:

N/A

Fame:

N/A

Devotion:

N/A

Magic:

These points can NOT be used for Domain Magic

Points awarded:

15

Comment:

I hope Delta stays, I really like the dynamic between these two characters and I'm really looking forward to reading more of your threads.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful day!