"Cassandra!" V-GR burst through the door of the mansion, "Where are you!?"
"Whoa." Willow looked around, "Why is it so quiet?"
"It sounds abandoned." EVE commented as V-GR spotted his laser pistol on a coffee table, "Do these skulls have dust on them?"
"Maybe the dust came from the skulls." WALL-E said, a little salt in his tone.
"What are you guys saying?" Keith asked.
EVE shook her head, "Nothing important."
"You guys! This is serious!" V-GR pocketed the pistol, "Ugh. Listen! We need to find Cassandra! She could be dead by now, spread out and search for her!"
Everyone scattered to look around, adding odd sounds to the eerie silence.
"What did he say?" WALL-E asked, not understanding the language.
"We need to find Cassandra." EVE swept him up, "Let's go."
V-GR carried Willow as he searched, already guessing where she was. It took a little while to find where he knew she would be.
He only brought a group with him to offset the violence.
He stopped when he saw Victoria, flecks of red on her outfit. Blood?
V-GR shifted his body, trying to sheild Willow from this psycho, "Where's Cassandra!?"
Victoria's eyes shone with purpose, "She is...out of commission..."
"What!?" V-GR glared at her, "If you killed her, I swear I'll tear you limb from limb!"
Victoria lifted her scythe, "You can't do that with your budding family in your arms."
V-GR held Willow a little tighter. That one had struck a nerve.
He narrowed his eyes, "What are you suggesting?"
"Oh...not much..." she began to walk towards him, "All I know is that I will not stop fighting until I am reunited with my wife..."
V-GR was about to snap back at her, but then he realized that logic would just bounce off her like a mirror. She wasn't willing to listen, she was just going to lash out at everything because of her pain without question.
He had to try something else.
She was going to attack, and he was going to dodge, but...
She gasped in shock, "YOU!"
He blinked.
"You were the stupid project Gregor always spoke of! You were always more important than his own daughter! No! He had to go and create another one!"
V-GR felt his muscles freeze.
"...what did you say...?"
"DIE!"
He jumped around her, running deeper down the hall to avoid her attacks.
His own father was Cassandra's biological father!?
"Cassandra!" he called as he ran, "Cassandra! Please answer me!"
"You were always his top priority! He never truly cared about me! He had to leave when I needed him the most! I THOUGHT HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!
V-GR finally found what he was looking for.
Cassandra was lying on the floor, with a sickly black eye and a bloody nose. She was covered in bruises and cuts, the blood soaking into her long black hair.
"Oh no!" V-GR dodged another swing, spinning around to kick his attacker. He connected with her arms, knocking the scythe from her grasp. He swept up the dangerous weapon and held it to her neck, "Stay still!"
She couldn't reach the handle, so she was forced to hold still as V-GR held the blade under her chin. Her glare was still icy.
"I'm going to let Willow check on Cassandra." he told her, "If you move from this spot, I'll cut your head off. Do you understand?"
He didn't break eye-contact as he let Willow slide from his arm, and continued to stare at Victoria as Willow rushed to Cassandra's side.
"Cassy!" Willow shook her shoulders gently, "Wake up! Please?"
She began to stir, just slightly, her uninjured eye fluttering open. Willow commed her mother while V-GR held the scythe with both hands, still in a perpetual staring contest. As EVE, WALL-E, Kieth, and the others gathered around Cassandra, Victoria began to cry, but no mascara ran this time.
Guess she knew it would be ruined anyway.
"Will you kill me quickly?"
V-GR sighed, "Sure, but would you actually let me? Otherwise it'll be long and painful."
"I'm just too cowardly to kill myself." she replied, "And I'm afraid of Cassandra being all alone."
V-GR still didn't break eye contact, "Guys, how is she?"
"She's really hurt, but she seems fine enough." Willow replied.
Almost on cue, Cassandra sat up and gasped, "No! Mama!"
Victoria flinched, the scythe cutting just a bit into her neck.
"Let her go! Please!" Cassandra cried, "She just needs help! I know it! I know I can get to her if I try real hard! Please!"
V-GR still didn't move. Victoria didn't move, Willow didn't move, EVE and WALL-E didn't move, Kieth and Ty didn't move.
Everything was still.
Everything was silent.
Finally, after what felt like several minutes of completely still silence, V-GR realized what he had to do.
"Cassandra..." he began, thinking about exactly how he would word his statement. He inhaled slowly, "Your mother is beyond hope." he felt bad saying that, but he knew it was true, "She can't look at anyone without lashing out at them. She wants to be saved, but instead of beating herself up, she destroys others. I'm so sorry, Cassy. We can't save her."
Cassandra seemed to consider this for awhile. Silent tears slid down her face as she thought, shaking with despair.
She slid her skeleton key from her pocket, clicking a button on the side. It expanded in size, growing and morphing until it was almost as tall as she was.
It had expanded into a sword.
"Mama." her eyes blazed as they filled with hurt and betrayal, "Stay still!"
She did.
This was when V-GR finally tore his gaze from Victoria, moving the scythe from her face.
That was all the distraction Victoria needed. She grabbed the scythe and knocked V-GR down.
"YOU ALL WILL DIE!"
Cassandra screamed as she charged. It was clear that she had practiced with the skeleton sword, jumping and swinging at the right times. She wasn't very strong, but V-GR could tell that Cassandra was thinking, calculating, watching for her chance.
The group wanted to step in, but none of them could move as the shock held them in place. The hallway around them began to show damage as walls and curtains were nicked, slicing through the air with incredible speed. Finally, Cassandra was knocked into a wall.
Victoria towered over her, "I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU MY DEAR!"
She lifted her scythe-!
Boom!
V-GR's arm was up, the laser pistol in his hand. Smoke spilled from the barrel and spiraled upwards as Victoria fell, her scythe morphing down into a fancy fountain pen and her eyes opening wide.
She was dead.
V-GR waited a moment, then he ran to Cassandra, dropping his weapon on the ground as he lifted her body.
"Cassy?" he whimpered as he held her, "Are you alright?"
She opened her eyes, looking towards her mother's lifeless body on the floor. She felt numb as she crawled towards her, ignoring the shooting pain in her now broken leg. She burst into hysterical sobs, blubbering nonsense and hugging Victoria as she lay on top of her. Screaming and crying, desperately trying to cling to something that was no longer there. A mother who could no longer hear her calls.
She hummed something silent as the sobbing subsided, thinking about the song her moms would sing to her late at night. The wordless humming turned into a worded song as she wiped the tears from her face;
"Hush my child, baby blue,
Will decorate your hallway of dark maroon.
Something else might catch your eyes,
As my dear, you shine as the pale-moon sky..."
The song repeated a couple of times. Cassandra could almost imagine her two Mamas, singing her to sleep together. Victoria would always sing the melody, while Klaudia always sang the harmony. Soprano and alto, together like yin and yang. It was always so beautiful it lulled her right to sleep.
But this time, there was no harmony.
She was all alone.
"Your hallway...will shine...
Just like...the pale-moon sky..."
She finally relaxed, her grip on her mother loosening, and V-GR lifted her up to carry her home. She instinctively clung to him, seeking comfort.
She was an orphan.
"It's okay, Cassy..." V-GR reassured as he ran his fingers through her hair;
"I'll take care of you..."