The last time she sees her brother, he is smiling warmly at his family as he heads off for war- the uniform he wears a bright assortment of green and black.
The colors of the Resistance. The colors that signify their future, their impending freedom. The colors that would reveal the true fighters for humanity, the true righteous heroes of their world- just as her father had said to her so often.
Back then she had been ignorant and blissfully naive, flushing in pleasure at the thought of her brother fighting in the Resistance. At the thought that he was fighting for such a noble cause, and that he would be a hero. Something she had always wanted to be due to the stories her mother had read her every night through her childhood.
'My brother will be a hero.' That's what she had chanted ceaselessly inside of her head during the days following Matts departure. 'He'll save us from the monsters that plague the world. He'll judge those who stand against us, and rain justice down upon them.'
That's what her naive mind had believed. So deeply was this ingrained in her mind that she knew it to be true. It had to be true- her father wouldn't mislead her, nor would her mother. And her brother wouldn't risk his life for a cause that wasn't for the good of the world.
But she wasn't naive anymore. Her brother had only been a pawn, a tool used for destruction. And now he was a comatose puppet held hostage by the Healers Sanctuary, governed by the last Alteans in the universe...and she had to save him.
And as Katie lifted her blade, eyes sliding shut and strangled gasps escaping her lips as she carved the Altean mark on her shoulder, blood emerging from the painful wound like a red flood, she knew that after today; Katie was dead.
Because if she had to throw her life away to avenge her father and save her brother, and if killing Katie was the only way to do it- then there was no other way.
Her old self had to die? Then so be it.
''I'm coming Matt." The brunette whispered to herself, trembling hands grasping the ink vial her mother had tearfully handed over to her once she realized her daughter was serious about the mission. It hurt to leave her behind, but there was no way an unnamed boy and a middle aged human woman could slip into the Healers Sanctuary undetected. She had to do this and she had to do it alone.
So with shaking hands, 'Pidge' unclasped the bottle containing the mystical liquid Alteans had used during old rituals millennia ago. The rituals were centered around blessing a chosen Altean with a tattoo, used to give their people ranks in society. Unlike human tattoos, the ink embedded itself without the need of a printing needle, however it was said to be tens times as painful, and not at all removable.
She had read that the ink was very unstable when in contact with blood that wasn't pure Altean, so it was a huge risk to don it...but if Katie wanted to find her brother she had to at least be willing to face every risk there was.
Her brother meant the world to her. He was her life. Her hope. She couldn't live on without knowing if he was alive, especially once she had caught wind of what they had done to her father. And just like that, the memory of her fathers lifeless eyes sent a wave of bitterness through her.
'I have to do this.' She whispered, golden eyes staring into her reflection as her fingers tightened angrily around the bottle. 'I have to.'
And so she closed her eyes,
and let the ink fall.
Only to let a blood curdling scream rise above to heaven.
"Katie" was dead.
And now she was ready to take her life back.