Twist of Separation

Category: Romance/Angst

Pairing: The Merovingian x Persephone

Other: Written for the 1sentencetheme sets over at LiveJournal, published here after a proposal from my sister and while I wait for the claim to be listed.

Twist of Separation

#1. Memory
Persephone recalls, that for three years was their marriage like the height of the summer.

#2. Laugh
Something to laugh bitterly at: 'Betrothed' sounded humorously close to 'be throttled'.

#3. Dance
Persephone might be the one looking like a doll, but he was the puppet dancing when she pulled the strings.

#4. Fire
And on they bicker, like flames.

#5. Formal
Nowadays they were married mostly to have someone introducing one another during formal dinners.

#6. Temptation
The first time they met, he melted like a piece of chocolate in her well-manicured hands.

#7. Conversation
Conversations over candlelit dinners fit perfectly into their life; one didn't want them, the other hadn't time for them.

#8. Red
''Persephone, listen to this; Roses are red and diamonds are blue-'' ''- you've drunk too much wine again, haven't you?''

#9. Cold
The longer his eyes stared into the logfire the more warmth they seemed to imbibe, but never did he slip a flicker of it to her.

#10. Forever
Despite having this eternity of Matrix stretching out in all directions, it feels like they're wasting their time…

#11. Lock
If the castle was full of locks, barriers and inhibitions, her husband sure was the opposite.

#12. Box
Ramachandra said: '' The word 'love' is like a box to keep the content in - though, the Merovingians must have thrown it away to refill with something else''.

#13. Midnight
Today at midnight they sleep together - In the literal, most decent meaning.

#14. Breathe
He's like a bad odour - easier to breathe without him when she doesn't have to brace herself for next disgusting habit or open flirtation with other women.

#15. Ring
If a ring represented love, this would mean after centuries of marriage she still had her husband's heart wrapped around her finger.

#16. Silk
After the incident with the woman at La Vrei Merovingian tried to smooth it over praising her hair (''it's like silk''), but she snatched the strands out of his grip with the poisonous reply '' and do not use it to wipe your ass with!''

#17. Fall
Their marriage began as a summerday, then turned into fall - will it ever be a new spring again?

#18. Candle
Sometimes she could glimpse the shadow of the man she'd fallen for in him, like the smoke after a blown out candle.

#19. World
Briefly he might realize there's another world than his hell, and goes to regard Persephone where she sits in the library's sofa staring at nothing but the walls.

#20. Wings
Once in time she could wish for anything and he'd give it to her, so when Seraph betrayed them she asked for his wings on a silver plate - and the Merovingian brought them to his wife, but at the same time their problems began, almost like a curse.

#21. Music
Merovingian once thought that if there was still a moment when Persephone's grace and taste came to their right, it was when she played the piano.

#22. Lies
How could music and love, which you couldn't touch or taste, be considered true and existing when Matrix was claimed to be a lie?

#23. Promise
A long time ago the Architect promised to take care of the twins for one day every twentieth year or so, because Persephone and the Merovingian pointed out his equation wouldn't be balanced with a torn apart Underworld.

#24 . Formal
Nowadays they were married mostly to have someone whom introduced one another during formal dinners.

#25. Body
'' It's really a waste that someone with her body would be married to such an old fossil'' Twin One told his brother as they discussed their masters.

#26. Drink
Merovingian thinks it's compassionate to save her from a sip of bad wine by drinking it himself.

#27. Hero
'' You've certainly good looks, Neo, but compared to my husband's omniscient persona you are is about as deep as one of those spoonbowls you use to bend'' Persephone muttered to herself watching the flying man speed southwards over the hilltops.

#28. Dream
Persephone wasn't the one to let anything within her reach remain a dream: she sampled kisses from interesting visitors and took out her rage on an Exile by the help of her trusty handgun.

#29. Gravity
From a window in their chateau Persephone watched Neo zoom away over the mountains, and suddenly wishes she could repeat his defying of gravity and leave this place.
#30. Highway
When the police came to tell them the twins had been blown up in the middle of the freeway the Exile royalties tried their best to look regretful, though they knew the twins were probably already updating and rebooting somewhere at the sidelines, e.g. the sidewalk of a highway.

#31. Hope
Luckily for Persephone, what you never was programmed with can never be lost; Hope, humanity's greatest strength yet simultaneously weakest point.

#32. Whisper
In the dark tense air of the club he could still get the impulse to lean closer and whisper something in her ear like during older days, but the loud music or their henchmen always got in the way.

#33. Midnight
'' Why do you need me to be at home by 24 o'clock, when everything else in our château, from the library to the kitchen, is available until midnight and past?'' He once asked Persephone indignantly.

#34. Hurricane
When the sky darkened, rain began to fall and humans disappeared all over Mega City, the two are some of the very few to realize it's not a hurricane, but Smith, approaching.

#35. Cover
While their henchmen panic in the bottom floor Persephone merely takes cover from Smith in the library - she's almost looking forward to meet this man that is so eager to get hold of her.

#36. Strength
''So neither the Merovingian's power, the gathered forces of the Exiles or mr Anderson's 'psychical strength' can do anything to save your kind now'' Smith muses as he walks up to her.

#37. Farewell
'' So you agree with me when I say it would only serve my husband right if his wife was turned into a virus?'' she smiled quietly.

#38. Masks
Finally the Virus is defeated, and as these emotionless masks of Smith copies melt away, Persephone finds herself taking support against a park bench in West Mega City.

#39. Journey
On her journey back to Club Hel Persephone realizes everybody else is wandering aimlessly or running - except her, maybe because she knows her goal, but is in no hurry to reach it…

#40. Overwhelmed
….But back at the club the Merovingian meets up with her saying '' It could've ended a lot worse'': after that he doesn't word much about it, but for the first time during his existence he hasn't been able to tell the consequences from looking at the causes, and Persephone can tell he's bothered by it.

#41. Sacred
And sure, not long after the final showdown between Smith and Neo in a raging thunderstorm, the two Exiles see a colourful sunrise in the East, and the moment is almost sacred when a new dawn breaks.

#42. Eclipse
Persephone, being the more romantic of the two, finds some kind of simile in the sunrise; Their marriage began in an eclipse of the real world, but continues for now in a much lighter air.

#43. Cold
One day Persephone managed the unbelievable for programs and caught a cold, but even though the Merovingian frowned at this he still made sure dinner and reading were sent to her bedside.

#44. View
''Don't worry dear'' the Merovingian called apologetically. after accidentally walking into the dressing room while his wife was in there redressing before dinner, '' I didn't mind the view…''

#45. Run
''Do you know what I'm thinking of?'' she asks, simultaneously running her fingers over his shirt front in a heavily implying way.

#46. Talk
There's a thing they've reinvented themselves on, which hasn't been done in quite a while: They talk confidentially to each other again.

#47. Silence
''Nowadays they're hardly silent even in the night'' the twins mischievously tell Niobe when she comes to bargain with the Merovingian.

#48. Search
In the beginning of his programmed existence the Merovingian never had to search for a wife : Persephone was created especially for him.

#49. Talent
''Does that women-charming talent of yours still exist?'' Persephone asked whilst they celebrated the new Era with a glass of champagne.

#50. Wait
''Yes'' he replied and put a hand to her cheek, ''it's just been on hiatus for a very long time - my apologies if it made you wait''.

Really, I've missed updating.

/Morgane