M. A. R. Y. S. U. E. S.
Chapter 01
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"If you can't change your fate, change your attitude."
- Amy Tan
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/ / /Argent \ \ \
The term Mary-Sue originated in the year 1973, when authoress Paula Smith's parody story 'A Trekkies Tale' was published in the second issue of the fanzine, Menagerie. The story was set in the popular series known as Star Trek and starred a young 15 and a half year old Lieutenant Mary Sue, the youngest Lieutenant in her entire fleet. She was pretty, witty, charming, and well… perfect.
The story was published as way to mock the ridiculously unrealistic fan made stories (aka fanfictions) that were steadily growing in popularity. Thus the girl, Mary-Sue, was created as an example of how most female fan-characters created were grossly idealized by their creators and, to put it plainly, made the plot circle completely around them and their awesomeness.
Of course Mary-Sues exited in other forms of media long before that publication was released. But it was the first time that the character type had been given a name and it soon was became a term that many writers, fanfiction or no, started to fall back on when a character was, or was staring to become, too perfect.
Over 300 years later, the Interdimensional Mary-Sue Distribution Bureau, more commonly known as the IMSDB, was formed. Their founder and president was the creator of dimension traversing technology, or DTT; this woman took on the title of Madame Mary-Sue, the first of many more Madame Mary-Sues to come.
With the help of Madame Mary-Sue's DTT, the IMSDB made it their mission to send the beautiful, perfect young girls of the many different worlds into other worlds - which were dubbed 'series' - to make the hot, single men – these people were dubbed as 'characters' - of that 'series' to fall in love with them; creating drama, being amazingly perfect and winning the hearts of all the other 'characters' along the way.
The IMSDB, through means no one quite understood, would record these Mary-Sues in these series, and broadcast them on televisions all across the know universes. It must've been popular too, considering that the IMSDB has been making these recordings for over 500 years.
"Who wouldn't want to watch my perfect little darlings?" Madame Mary-Sue would coo, stroking the images of her girls on the television screen. It was always a little disturbing, Argent thought, but she learned to deal with her sensei's over-the-toppersonality long ago.
Argent was taught that to be a Mary-Sue meant you had to be perfect in all your actions. You had to be correct in hating one person just as you were correct in loving another. Your behavior was always justifiable, excusable or left you blameless in some way. And on the very minor chance you really did make a mistake, you would punished in a horribly unfair way for it in the story, brood about for a while, then go running into the arms of your beloved for comfort… then chances are pretty high that later on it will be revealed that your 'mistake' was never really your fault anyway. Mary-Sues can't be blemished with such things as 'flaws' after all.
Fictional Mary-Sues are easy to create; it's not very hard at all to come up with a perfect person inside your head. Real Mary-Sues on the other hand, are an entirely different story. Very few beings in the worlds even scratch the surface of being a true Mary-Sue, since nobody is really, truly perfect. So, in order to be a 'real' Mary-Sue, you had to one of two things; you actually had to be perfect, which is impossible, or…
…you had to be an excellent actor.
Yes, that's all they were, really; glorified actors. Paid by the Interdimensional Mary-Sue Distribution Bureau to entertain the masses by invading other worlds and infesting them with cliche's and absurd love stories. Argent scowled. Love. That small, four letter word is the reason she hated being a Mary-Sue. As a Mary-Sue, your sole purpose - besides simply being amazing - is to be the romantic interest of the series hot male character - sometimes characters.
Based on your personality type, powers, etc, the IMSDB selects the series you are sent to and the character you are paired with. Your powers - because Mary-Sues must have an awe-inspiring power of some sort - usually fit in with your 'traumatic past' - said past being a version of your childhood (traumatic, troubled, or otherwise difficult childhoods are also a base requirement for any potential Mary-Sue) - distorted to suit the universe you're assigned to.
With that script in hand, your stage is set. You're prepped, groomed and sent out the door; into another world where you slowly worm your way into the hearts of the people. They adore you, loathe you, want to kiss you, to hold you, to kill you, to crush you. And you play right along with them. You cry, laugh, triumph, lust and love right along with them, like the proper imposter you are. You're an actress, a fake and you know it.
But they didn't. The people you wooed were real. They believe wholeheartedly that you were real. They harbored real feelings towards you (good or bad). You became a part of their lives, deeply intertwined into their individual stories. You become a friend, a companion, an enemy in some cases and of course, a lover; the thing you existed for.
Then the second you are no longer entertaining to 'the audience' - whoever they were - you leave.
Just like that. You're no longer part of that person's life, no matter if you like them or not. No matter if you cared for them, hated them or simply felt neutral. You're plucked from that world and quickly prepped for the next world that would fall victim to your loveliness.
And that vicious cycle continues. On and on, round and round like a carousel. Never moving forward, never making progress. You just mindless go around in circles, pretending you are doing something worthwhile. That you were someone worth loving.
There had been a time when Argent craved the attention. Lived and breathed for it. The feeling of being 'loved' was something she had always longed for desperately as a child. If she became a Mary-Sue, Argent was promised she would be loved by all and the few who would despise her were simply jealous, bad people. It was too much of a temptation for an 8 year-old child harboring severe trauma from, well… let's just say it was something no child, adult or otherwise should have to go through (having a traumatic past was a base requirement for all Mary-Sues, remember?) so, she accepted.
Then after many years of playing the part of a lover, with many different people as many different characters, reality bitch-slapped her in the face.
These people didn't really love her.
They loved the idea of her, the concept of Argent Ina. They loved her satisfying their needs and wants, they loved her character and how she made them feel… but they didn't love her. How could they? They didn't even know her! Not the real Argent. Not the one that exploited people for her own selfish gain and toyed with their emotions to put on a good show to get some false feeling of 'love'. The real Argent was, and still is, a terribly ugly person. A wolf in sheep's clothing, preying upon the weak willed minds of lustful men (hell, even women on occasion) to get what she wanted out of them.
"Love doesn't exist."
She promised that to herself the day she found out how easily she was replaced by another woman. How all that love she thought she had became nothing but a distant memory to the boy she could've sworn had feelings for her.
Even now, Argent still wasn't entirely convinced 'love' really existed; but her past self took insane measures to prove it. She purposely made a point in breaking (crushing was probably a better word for it) the heart of every single person she was paired up with after that. She made them fall so desperately, madly in 'love' with her character, she brought them to the point that they simply couldn't live without her. No one else could ever replace her in their lives.
Then she'd rip herself away. She'd fake her death and they would mourn, oh how they would mourn for the character she played. In the past, Argent would get giddy just thinking about it. That tingly pleasure of seeing someone fall completely to pieces because her character was no longer a part of their lives was addicting. Argent relished in that feeling that now makes her skin crawl. She basked in the control she felt like she had over someone's life. They couldn't say no to her. She could get whatever she wanted from them so long as she played the good little Sue. The demented girl could make them swim oceans on her whim; make them answer her every beck and call. She loved the power. The control she had over them was just too much a temptation to pass up. She felt like a GOD.
Argent snorted at that. A god? Yeah right. She was nothing more than a petty, self-pitying, glorified actress (albeit, a talented one) with family issues and ruined lives on her hands.
How many people bled themselves out because they were unable to live without her? How many hung themselves with nooses spun from her pretty little lies? How much blood did she have on her conscience? How-
"It's not my fault! They could put their foot down. Resist it, damn it! Be a man and say 'no' for a change! If they're so willing to be used, than far be it from be to waste a good resource."
-How had Argent let herself go so far?
Argent suddenly opened her eyes, staring at the white tile ceiling. Her expression quickly morphing from surprise into exasperation; she barely suppressed a groan. "Damn it… I went on an inner monologue… again." 'Stupid Mary-Sue powers'. She added mentally, having no desire to say such things out loud inside the IMSDB compound… and only several feet away from the Madame Mary-Sue's office, no less. Saying things like that would only give her even more of a headache than she had at the moment.
She sighed then, folding her hands behind her head and slouching against the bench she had been sitting on for – she quickly checked her watch – one hour and thirty-two minutes.
Argent bit the inside of her cheek, not even bothering to mask her agitation. Just how long was the Madame going to make her wait out here? Or has the Madame's personal butler still not informed her that Argent was waiting outside?
She shut her eyes, forcing herself to take slow, even breaths. 'Just chill Argent. You don't want to completely come unglued in your meeting with the Madame... Just breathe, in, out, in, out, in-'
"Um, excuse me?"
Not even bothering to lift her head up, Argent cracked one brilliantly colored eye open and glowered at the person who dared interrupt her chillaxing meditation.
It was a little boy, much to Argents surprise. He was probably no older than 11. He had short, unkempt looking, dark brown hair and big, brown eyes that reminded Argent of a startled deer. He had a light dusting of freckles across his cheeks and nose. Though, what Argent really noticed was the kid's attire.
It looked formal, as if he took a wrong turn and was supposed to be attending a wedding reception, though the dressy attire looked absolutely ridiculous, considering it must've been several sizes too large for the kid. He wore an awful shade of mustard yellow dress shorts that showed the kids knobby knees and a white, collared dress shirt with a an equally ugly yellow vest and a red – 'Dear god, RED WITH YELLOW!?' – bow tie that looked too tightly tied around the kids neck. A pair of shiny, oversized shoes and a pair white gloves completed the horrendous outfit.
…And was this kid's left arm larger than the right?
Argent sat up fully now, lifting an eyebrow at the child. The boy blushed at her critical stare. "I-Is this the entrance to M-M-Madame Mary-Sues o-office?" the kid stuttered, pointing at the large, gaudy, 20 some-odd feet tall set of double doors that Argent's bench was located near. The door had intricate designs of all sorts of beautiful women carved onto its surface (Argent always supposed they were images of the past Madame Mary-Sues) and she could have sworn she saw pink sparkles hovering around it.
What more did this kid need? A flashing neon sign that said "Welcome to Madame Mary-Sue's Office"? Argent gave a slow, sardonic raise of her brows and the boy blushed an even darker shade red.
…That or the bowtie was cutting of his oxygen supply.
"Yup." Argent eventually replied outloud; popping the 'p' when she said it.
"Oh! Um... um... I was told to come and see her. Is she... in?" The boy asked again, shuffling nervously from foot to foot.
Argent schooled her features so her curiosity wouldn't show. What would a little boy need to see the Madame for? Was he one of the many of Madame Mary-Sue's fan-boys? The teen shrugged her shoulders. "No clue. Her butler told me to wait here for her, so I am."
"Oh..." the kid mumbled, looking down at his shoes. "M-may I please sit here?"
She raised her eyebrows again. "It's not like I own the bench." Argent replied dryly.
"Th-thank you!" the kid breathed happily, sitting down a respectful distance away. Argent felt somewhat amused with this boy's timid, yet polite nature. The teen's mouth formed into a small frown and she tilted her head slightly, giving the kid another appraising once over.
He was kind of cute, actually, if shy and timid boys with freckles and tiny noses were your type. Argent had no doubt he'd grow up to be a cutie, too. Not the stunningly, drop dead gorgeous men she was use to dealing with, but more like the blushing, polite, geeky school-boy type that would win the girls hearts with his gentle and kind demeanor. Said school boy was clacking the heels of his shoes together, staring at his hands that were folded neatly in his lap. Argent sighed, what was a kid like him doing in a place like this?
She finally gave into her nagging curiosity. "What's your name kiddo?"
The boy looked startled before replying in a rush. "Oh, I'm Sam! Sam Miester!" he held his hand out for Argent to shake. A nervous, but genuinely friendly smile on his face.
Argent took it. "Argent Ina. So Sam, what exactly are you doing here?"
Sam's smile faltered. "Well, I was told by the Mary-Sue testing facilities secretary to come to Madame Mary-Sue's office to discuss the results of my test."
Argent blinked. "You're... applying to be a-" She shook her head, trying to hide her laughter, though she couldn't help the amused quirk of her lips. "-I think you're in the wrong place. The Gary-Stu testing facilities are in the opposite building."
Sam's brows furrowed in confusion. "But I'm not applying to be a Gary-Stu…"
"Well you certainly can't apply to be a Mary-Sue." Argent snorted.
"Why not…?"
"Only girls can apply to be Mary-Sues."
Sam blinked twice, cocking his head to the side. "So…?"
Argent wanted to bang her head against the wall. How dense was he? She put a hand on Sam's shoulder, turning the boy so he would look her directly in the eye and, as slowly as possible, said. "Yoooooou… aaaarrreee… aaaa… boooooyyy…"
Argent couldn't believe how many emotions could flicker across this kids face at once; first there was confusion, realization, shock, then lastly, embarrassment.
"Understand now?" She asked, watching as the kid started to turn tomato in color. The teen rolled her eyes. "There's no need to be so embarrassed about it. Mistakes happen like that all the time. Tell you what, I'll even draw up map so you won't get lost next time, ok? Drawing happens to be one of my many, many talents. You'll be wooing the ladies before you know it."
The boy started to turn a purplish color.
Argent resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. 'Geeze, overreaction much?' "Hey, if you like, I'll help you practice even." She offered, a teasing, seductive smile on her face. "A private practice session just between the two of us…" The teen cooed, running a finger down the length of his oversized left arm. "You are kinda cute, you know. A bit young, maybe, but when it comes to the kind of chemistry we have, what it age but a number?" Argent made sure to let the boy know she was kidding by the over-dramatic tone in her voice and the exaggerated lovey-dovey face she was making; she was just trying to lighten the kid's mood. Nothing more. She mentally wrinkled her nose at the thought of even kissing the boy. It would be like kissing a brother… like…
'Like kissing Avenant…'
Argent was jolted out of a soon-to-be ill-timed flashback when Sam started making a series of squawking noises and doubled over, burying his face into his gloved hands. The action reminded Argent of a startled turtle hiding in its shell. She was starting to wonder if he was having some kind of seizure, after watching this continue on for nearly two minutes.
Guilt began to churn in Argents stomach rise up the back of her throat. She scooted closer but received no reaction. She coughed lightly into her hand. "Um, hey, are you… ok? I mean…" She trailed off and ran a hand through her hair. 'Crap', she had no idea how to deal with these kinds of situations. She awkwardly patted the boy's back. "I was just… joking…Is it even healthy for your face to stay red like that for so long…? I mean, should I call a doctor or something?" Argent winced. She had no idea how to apologize properly! She was a Mary-Sue! She only apologized for things that weren't her fault, damn it!
Sam made a few muffled sounds from behind his gloved hands. Argent raised an eyebrow, patting him on the back a little harder, as if she could smack the words out of his lungs.
"You'll have to repeat that."
The boy pulled his hands away. "Immammrph…" He mumbled again.
"You're a what?" She asked, blinking several times.
"… I'm a girl…"
...
…
…
"Wow, really?"
"Uh…Yes?"
Argent blinked, looking at the young boy, now turned girl, in a whole new light. "Well, you should be applying to be a Mary-Sue then…"
"Y-Yeah…"
"Not a Gary-Stu."
"I-I thought so too…"
…
…
…
"So, I take that means you're no longer interested in that private training session?"
Sam's mouth flapped up and soundlessly at the suggestion before Argent put her hands up in defense. "Just kidding, just kid-Hey! Don't go back in your turtle shell!" She yelped, prying Sam's hands away from her freckled face.
"Y-You were flirting with… with…"
"Trust me, kiddo, if I was really trying to flirt, we'd be trying to suck each other's face off right now and wouldn't be wearing as many clo-Hey! I already said no turtle shell!"
"P-please stop s-saying things l-like that…" Sam whimpered, looking up at Argent with great big, frightened doe eyes.
Guilt clenched in her stomach again. Argent sighed, giving the kid a tired look. "…Fine, just drop the kicked puppy-dog eyes, ok?"
Sam nodded; her face slowly returning to its normal complexion. "Yes, Miss Ina."
Argent snorted. "Call me Argent. 'Miss Ina' makes me sound like an old hag."
Sam's eyes went wide with horror. "Oh, I-I'm so s-sorry! I didn't m-mean to in-insult you!"
The purple eyed girl suppressed a groan. This kid was starting to give her a headache. "I'm not mad, sheesh, quit apologizing." Sam opened her mouth, another 'sorry' forming in her lips, but Argent cut her off. "So, Sam, you said you were applying to be a Mary-Sue?"
The girl stopped, giving Argent a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I'm here to discuss the results of my test with Madame Mary-Sue." She trailed off, rubbing her over-sized left arm nervously. "The ladies at the testing facility told me I… I flunked it. But I… I insisted to t-try again, so they told me to come and t-talk to the Madame herself about it…"
"You flunked the test?"
"Well... I only checked n-nine boxes in the questionnaire..."
Argent mentally winced. 'Damn, that is bad. But I suppose it's for the best... after all…' "You know,being a Mary-Sue really isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's all really... I mean, I know it may look glamorous on TV, but you… well… It's probably one of the most morally incorrect jobs you could get."
"Oh, I know that."
Now that was not the answer she was expecting. "Then why in all the known universes do you even want to be a Mary-Sue?" She asked, frustration, and perhaps even a little bit of fear creeping into her tone.
'Please don't say it's because you want to be loved, please don't say it's because you want to be loved…The world doesn't need another one of me…'
"Well-well you see… I need the money."
Argent blinked. Money? It that all?... Really? That's just so…materialistic. So… un-Mary-Sue. Argent knew that Mary-Sues salaries were notoriously large, but did the kid really need that much? "You know, if you just need a little pocket change, there are better ways of going about it that selling your soul to the she-devil." She jabbed at the sparkling doors with her thumb.
"I... I need a bit more than just pocket change..." Sam mumbled, looking down at her hands and twiddling her thumbs.
Argent quirked an eyebrow."How much does a kid like you need?"
"Um… 10,000,000 credits, I think…"
Argents jaw almost dropped. That was an insanely large sum of money. Sure, that would be less than one year's worth of Mary-Sue pay, but still. "What exactly do you need 10,000,000 credits for?"
Sam sighed again, her shoulders slumped and she averted her eyes from Argent's. "It's... It's kind of a long story."
Argent shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and shrugged her shoulders. "I've got time, kiddo."
Sam chewed her lower lip nervously, like she didn't want to tell. But Argent knew her Mary-Sue powers of persuasion would eventually coax the girl into speaking. Several moments of silence and nervous fidgeting passed before Sam let out a resigned sigh. Argents lips quirked upward slightly.
'Bingo.'
"I-I… Well, I come from a world known as Bliel."
Argent frowned, mentally running over the list of dimensions she knew of. Bliel wasn't ringing any bells though. "I haven't heard of that dimension before."
The brunette smiled softly. "I wouldn't be surprised. W-We're a small star system p-pretty far away from any other advanced civilizations and dimension traversing tech is still p-pretty new to us, so we keep to ourselves most of the time."
Sam took a deep breath, looking down at her hands. "About 70 years ago the Northern and Southern parts of our continent broke out into a civil war. There was a conflict among religions, you see. The Northern people worshiped the God Dae who was, in the opinion of the North, the supreme God over all the other deities our planet worshiped; whereas the Southern people worshiped the Goddess Nite."
"In the old stories, Dae represented the Sun, light and life in our culture, whereas Nite represented the Moon, darkness and death. Dae and Nite each had one child. Dae had a son he named Ipaia, who tended the clouds for his father and Nite had a daughter she named Volema, who cared for and named the stars."
"The story goes that one morning, just before dawn, Volema was putting the last morning start to sleep when she met Ipaia, who was shepherding the dawn clouds to their places in the sky. The two fell in love instantly, but had to keep their meetings a secret from their parents, since Dae and Night were bitter enemies-"
"Not that this mythology lesson isn't fascinating…" Argent slightly drawled, resting her chin in the palm of her hand; her eyes half lidded. "But what does this have to do with the money you need?"
Sam flushed pink with embarassement. "I-I'm getting to that. You see, the story goes that after several of Ipaia and Volema's secret rendezvous, their parents figured out just what their children were up to. Dae and Nite became enraged with the thought of their children becoming lovers, so they declared war upon one another. That's when the civil war began. The people of the North claimed to be bringers of justice for Dae while the people of the South swore vengeance against the North in the name of their Goddess."
"After both sides fought for seven days and seven nights, Dae and Nite eventually ended up slaying each other in battle. After that, the world fell into complete, utter blackness and the War was brought to a standstill."
"Ipaia and Volema grieved over their parent's death, of course, but they also realized that with their parent's gone, they could do whatever they wanted. They could leave the pitch black world behind them, start their lives over somewhere far away and wed. They could have a happy life, have children, and be together for the rest of their immortal lives."
"But then they looked down at the black world. 'Who would guide the people?' they thought ' Who would tend to the stars and clouds? Who would make the sun rise and set for them? Who would make sure the cycles of the moon were completed on time?'."
"Thus, they came to an agreement. Ipaia would become the new Dae, in place of his father and Volema would become Nite. But, in doing so, the two would never be able to be together, since day and night cannot exist at the same time. The two sacrificed the thing that meant most to them, being together, for the people who would have been doomed to live in a world of eternal blackness otherwise."
Sam cleared her throat. "The North and the South, touched by the two Gods selflessness, drew up a peace treaty and together, they built a new city on the only land that was left unblemished by the war."
"And things went well for a while." Sam said, a small smile on her lips and she shrugged her shoulders. "Crops were planted and people started opening up shops, starting businesses and taking up new trades. They built hospitals, and even a few schools… but then it came."
"What came?" Argent asked.
"Our entire planet was struck with a... plague... yes, plague would probably be a best term for it. Doctors named it 'The God's Wrath'. The elder veterans of the war and the high priests of old claim it's a curse that Dae and Nite cast upon us for choosing peace instead of finishing their war. But, scientifically speaking, it's a disease - don't worry it's not contagious-" she added quickly when she noticed Argent scoot to the farthest side of the bench as possible. "- it's a disease that makes anyone who has it have lung and heart problems, then they just start to... fall apart."
"Fall apart?" The teen asked, scooting back onto the bench.
"Mm-hm. Anyone who has this disease start losing limbs and other body parts until there is simply nothing left. This sickness also effects the birthing process. Very few babies and mothers survive childbirth now, and even fewer children are born with all their limbs..." She trailed off.
Argent took note how the girl self-consciously rubbed her oversized left arm. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. "Like you?" She ventured. Sam sadly shook her head 'no'.
"I… I lost mine a couple years ago. Not too long after my brother… succumbed to the disease."
The small slowly removed the glove from her left hand and girl rolled up her shirt sleeve. Argent's eyes widened a fraction. The girl had gray, steel arm that reached all the way up to Sam's shoulder.
"A bio-prosthetic arm." The teen hummed aloud.
Argent had seen other people wearing them before. It was a common thing for those who had lost limbs in accidents and wars to use as a replacement for the one they had lost. She knew a little bit about how they worked, too. It somehow connected to the person's nervous system with thousands of wires that were so tiny, you needed a microscope to see them properly; this makes the arm function much like a real flesh and blood one would.
"I was lucky to have only lost one limb by now." Sam muttered quietly; almost as if she was talking to herself, like she'd forgotten Argent was even there. "Many kids I know that are my age have lost much more than that... " She frowned, her brows furrowing together in thought. "This one was my brothers arm before he passed away. My parents couldn't afford a new one… i-it's not that we're poor or anything, they are just extremely expensive since it's a long, daunting process to make them, so we just used his." Argent looked up at Sam to see bits of moisture welling up in the girls eyes and instantly felt panic rise up in her. Oh, gods, she wasn't good with tears.
But they were gone a spilt second later as Sam composed herself. "The doctors told me that the disease has started to infect my insides and are causing a lot of damage to my organs. According to them, I have only a year left to live, maybe a year and a half if I'm lucky, before the disease completely overtakes me. We need the money to fund our research so we can maybe find a cure for the ones who still have a chance. So, I… I came here to become a Mary-Sue, since it is a high-paying job that a kid my age could apply for... I thought that maybe, since I have a some-what tragic past and couple of Mary-Sue traits, that I might maybe be able to get in... but now..." She trailed off, swallowing hard and looking down at her shoes.
Argent looked away. 'Well, I guess her reason to get the money is a bit Mary-Sueish after all. Noble, self sacrificing… Definitely Mary-Sue… but the rest of her… not so much. It takes more than just a few Mary-Sueish traits to become a Sue...She glanced at the kid before shutting her eyes.
...
…
...
"Were you ever physically or mentally abused or tortured?"
Sam looked up. Argent's eyed were closed and she was sitting slightly slouched against the back of the bench.
"Huh?"
"Just answer the question."
"Umm... No, no and no?"
"Raped?"
Argent didn't even need to look at the kids face to know it turned tomato red with embarrassment "No!" she squeaked out.
"Do you succeed in virtually everything you try?"
"Uh, no."
"Do people often compliment you on your looks?"
A long pause. "Um, Great Granny Fareeda thinks my freckles are cute..."
Argent sighed. "That doesn't really count. Do you have natural eye, hair or skin coloration that is not natural among your species?"
"No."
"Do you have a particularly attractive scent that doesn't come from perfume, shampoo, etc?"
Sam sniffed herself. "Um, I don't think so..."
"Do you have a scar, or some sort of small flaw that doesn't detract from your appearance?"
"I have a scar where my bio-prosthetic connects to my shoulder, I don't think it's ugly… but not really pretty either. And it's usually covered up..."
"Okay, well go ahead and count that one. Do you get into a lot of physical fights and have no scars to show for it?"
"I don't get into any fights, at all... in fact, I-I'm not really that good at any kind of athletics..."
"Ugh, you're making this difficult..." Argent grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose, thinking hard. "...Are you a cross or hybrid of two or more species?"
"Not that I am aware of."
"Are you driven by completely justified revenge?"
Another drawn out pause. "…No?"
The teen grumbled several profanities under her breath. "Have you ever had amnesia?"
"Not that I can remember." Sam replied, nearly giggling at her own attempt of a joke.
"Ha ha ha." The teen drawled, casting Sam a half-annoyed sideways glare. "Who knew you had a sense of humor? Hm... are you related to royalty, and/or were adopted by royalty?"
Sam scoffed – Argent could tell the small girl was becoming increasingly comfortable in her presence – and rolled her eyes. "I wish."
"Are you the best or among the best at what you do?"
"Um, I'm considered the top in my class in engineering. Mr. Jaffer says I'm a natural."
"That's two now. Are you a 'Chosen One' or do you play a major role in a prophecy?"
"Not that I'm aware of…"
"Are your parents unreasonably strict and cruel?"
"No, my parents aren't anything like that."
"Okay... do you have an exceptionally good singing voice?"
Sam burst into peals of laughter then. "No not at all." She giggled a little more before sobering up enough to continue. "I was singing in the shower once and-" She let out another giggle. "-the neighbor's called animal control because they thought my mom was torturing a cat."
Argent's lips curled into a smirk-ish smile. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, they searched the house and everything. They ended up busting into the bathroom, with me still in the shower." Sam recalled; her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink, then. Whether it was from her laughter or embarrassment, Argent wasn't sure. "It wasn't pretty, let me tell you."
Argent opened her mouth to ask another question, when she heard someone clear their throat obnoxiously loud. She and Sam looked up.
'The butler…' She hissed mentally, glaring at the man.
"The Madame will see you now." The butler droned tonelessly. Argent couldn't see his expression, since he wore a white mask, like all of the Madame's other hired help did. The only thing that made his mask different from the other was three purple diamond markings on his right cheek.
'It's about time.' Argent sighed, standing to her feet. "Alright, let's go kiddo." She yawned, stretching her arms above her head; her back popped loudly."What took so long anyway?"
The butler sighed, as if giving an explanation was taxing to his health. "The Madame was putting on her make-up. It is a daily ritual that requires much time and concentration to perfect. Now, follow me, if you please." He opened the large golden doors and made a gesture for them to enter.
Argent snorted at his explanation and stuffed her hands into her pockets. "You coming, kid?" She asked, looked over her shoulder at Sam.
The little girl nodded, slipping her white glove back on her mechanical hand. Argent noticed she was shaking.
And once again, she was placed a position that she had no idea how to handle. What was she going to say? Sam failed nearly every question and probably wouldn't get the position of Mary-Sue. She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. And, as tenderly as she could, she patted Sam on the back; managing a half-smile. "Well, let's get going. We wouldn't want the Madame's makeup to melt off before we get there, now would we?" 'Mary-Sue rule #27 When in doubt, make 'em laugh.'
The child nodded again and gave Argent a watery smile. "I suppose not."
The pair passed through the massive double doors; which closed shut behind them. The door locked itself with a foreboding 'click' that echoed loudly around the entire room. Argent took a deep breath; preparing herself mentally for yet another meeting with the Madame- preparing to be sent to, yet again, ruin another person's life. With those thoughts weighing on her conscience, she took a step forward…
…She had no idea that fate had other plans.
Unchangeable, inescapable, fate.