Good Love Lingers On
Writing Desk's Raven
Part I
Rough Start
~Antarctic Hydra Base~
January 2006
The girl trembled slightly as she crouched behind the heavy metal desk, clutching the stuffed rabbit to her chest. She hadn't meant to be any trouble, she'd just seen the stuffed toy and fallen in love with it. Not like any of the people around here would care for it like she would. They'd been laughing and throwing it around, and one of them had split the seam on the arm with a well-thrown dagger. They'd only left it behind because they were called away for something. Her handler had not been pleased to find her playing with the toy, though.
She was determined to keep it. She had nothing of her own, not really. The only things that were always returned to her were her clothes, and even those had to be alternated and washed. But now she had this rabbit, and she wasn't going to let it go. They always took away anything remotely fun when she wasn't in lessons. No books, or maps, or daggers for her.
"No one's gonna find you, mister. Don't worry." She whispered to the rabbit and hugged it close for another moment. "I'll make sure of it."
A door slammed open at the other end of the large office. The girl quickly pried up the corner of the small floor tiles closest to her. It gave easily, lifting out of the floor without so much as a scraping sound. She'd torn it out weeks ago, planning to hide something from her lessons, to keep something to herself. Now, she had something even better to put in there.
"Asset!" The angry voice of her handler shouted. She was sure to get beaten for this. Worth it. "To me, now!"
"My name is Elise!" The girl shouted, popping up from her place behind the desk, having set the heavy tile back into place.
Phaedra stalked over to her, making to grab for her hair, but the girl was immediately bald. Her handler missed her mark and nearly stumbled. The girl crossed her arms in defiance, lengthening her hair back into the princess curls she adored. Phaedra slapped her across the face.
"Listen here, Asset." She spat angrily. "I don't care what a little brat like you thinks, or what you want. There is only what Hydra wants. You have no name. Only Mirage, or Asset. You are a weapon of Hydra, and you will be referred to as such. I expect you to act as such, as well. Now, where is that damn toy?"
Elise held her head high. "You'll never find him." She said. "Sir Bradford Derrywine III doesn't take audiences with mere commoners."
Phaedra grabbed her arm and began to drag her out of the room. Elise dug her heels into the floor, stopping her handler entirely. A smug look began to cross her face, but Phaedra just picked her up and threw her over her shoulder. She kicked and screamed, but her strength was of no use when the woman wore the armor plating under her clothes, built specifically to withstand her strength during her tantrums.
"Believe me, you will regret everything you have ever done when I find that rabbit." Phaedra intoned coldly.
This one's a bit short, but I'm already working on the next few. I just wanted to spread the events of Part I a little, seeing as there's going to be a lot of time skipped between events, and Part I was never going to have too too many scenes, anyways. I almost decided not to include it, but I decided a backstory was more important than getting right into the most interesting parts of the story. As of right now, there are six parts planned, varying in length. The different parts chronicle different 'phases' of the main character's life, so while Parts I and II are planned to be pretty short, most of the entire plot takes place in Parts IV and V. Things are subject to change though, so we'll see how it goes.
As always, drop a follow/favorite and/or review to tell me what you think! Any feedback's good, just don't roast me too hard, please.
~Writing Desk's Raven