It's just one thing after another, Weiss thought disdainfully as she sized up the unwanted intruder of her solitude hand on the handle of her gun.
It was obvious that he was an archer, however skilled he may be; all the more a dangerous opponent. Weiss had enough experience with archers to know that they were never were never truly unarmed. An arch of golddn sparks ran through his eyes, A magic user too. Have to play this cautiously.
'Maelstrom' began circling her form with slow, halting steps not unlike a predator observing their chosen prey. "There are things you don't know, another player has entered the game-" Weiss groaned in displeasure, finger coming to rub at her pounding temple in annoyance. "Can we cut the mysterious brooding stranger bull and get to the point already? I'm already beyond tired, I don't have the time nor the patience for riddles." What is it with villans and creepy monologues.
Maelstrom seemed to pause, gazing at her in an odd way berfore chuckling as though truly amused. Gloved hands rose to pull back the hood that had wreathed his visage in shadow, falling to a stunning sight. "I see now why she adores you so."
He was deathly pale, something Weiss had been expecting. What she could not have predicted were the numerous black veins rolling across his skin; from the corner of his eyes to the base of his neck down to his exposed wrists, he was covered in them. His hair was brown, limp and matted like he has never truly been able to rest. Yet, with a quick inquisitive flare of magic Weiss found that the body before her did not seem to 'connect' with the aura inhabiting it.
Weiss frowned, just barely stopping herself from stepping forward. "What right do you have to speak of her?" The mage forcing the growl out of her voice in an effort to not seem so easily enraged. Maelstrom simply raised his hands making a show of kowtowing at her tone. He spoke in a clear but soothing voice.
"I've not come to fight you; to harm either of you. I'm simply here to offer my help, perhaps fill in a few peices of the puzzle." A hand scratched at his neck fervently-Weiss assumed he did this often if the red marks already present were any indication-before he contiued on with a sigh, "I know who took her."
It was completely silent for a moment before, in quick sucession, a click resonated and a burst of wind nearly knocked the archer off his feet as he deftly avoided being grappled by the woman. "How do you know? Were you involved? Tell me now!" Her eyes had begun to glow, the air around her turning cold. "If you could stop trying to strangle me and let me finish speaking..." Maelstrom spoke to her like a child in need of scolding as she scowled darkly at him. Weiss huffed and waved her hand at him impatiently.
"The man responsible for your lovers trauma is responsible for my own condition. I'm sure you can tell this body is not truly mine?" Weiss nodded in confirmation eyes gazing deep into form, "Are you a spirit of some kind? Possesing some unfortunate victim or corpse?"
"Yes and no." Maelstrom leaned against a nearby tree as he came to a stop, "Though I possess this body, it is not of my own choice to do so. He found a way to force me into this vessel, intent on controlling me. However upon becoming cognizant of his plans I made it my mission to stop them from coming to fruition."
Weiss came to stand closer to the solemn man, "Is she part of this mysterious man's plans?"
"She is more or less the entirety of it. He intends to take the Guardian's powers as his own, for what purpose has not yet been made clear to me. One can only assume it is nothing pleasant." Maelstrom makes deliberate eye contact with the mage, "The torture they suffered under the effects of the Nightmare spell was meant to break her spirit. Weaken them enough for him to successfully drain her of her power."
Weiss' brow furrowed in anger, "They must have used the Council's attack as a cover. No one would have suspected a third party until it was too late." The ice mage rose from her crouch, dusting herself of dirt.
"You still haven't told me who he is?"
Maelstrom tilted his head, "I thought you would've figured it out by now. He's her father."
Once more the forest is wreathed in silence. Only to be shattered by a row of trees being torn from their roots by some unseen force.
Weiss stood still, unnaturally still as she stared in shock. "Her father?! Why would he do something like this? To his own child?"
A self deprecating chuckle rose from the not quite dead man, "You give him too much credit, he has always wanted power and control. Once she became the Gaurdian all bets were off." He scowled as though he had just tasted something terrible, "Catalaya leaving was the best thing she's ever done, the smartest too. Any longer and they would not be the woman you love today." The anger and disgust in his voice was indubitable, he clenched his hands into tight fists. Weiss stopped for a moment watching the anger roll through him and quickly rise as he continued on.
"That man is no real father. He was, and still is, an abuser of the highest caliber. The things he put the children through in the name of controlling their actions would have him excuted in any other country for war crimes. Catalaya always had it the worse." He dug his boots into the dirt beneath him as though he was imagining attacking the man in that very second. "I believe he is afraid of her. Afraid of what she represents, of how strong she truly is. They could wipe his legacy from the map if she wished and that terrifies him more than anything."
I wonder did he witness the abuse firsthand or was he a victim as well? "What of her siblings? Did they-"
"They were victims as well, beaten back by fear of the one man in the realms who was supposed care for them. Helpless to watch each other suffer. Mo-Their mother-" Weiss rose a brow at his near slip of tongue but did nothing to acknowledge it. "was as much of a victim as them. No true power of their own, forced to be the one who had to put them back together as he broke them down again and again."
Weiss growled beneath her breath, his words filled in the proverbial gap in the puzzle. This explained the strange behavior between the siblings upon first arriving in Catalaya's home land. Their interactions lying somewhere between softened compassion and a rapid fire stream of rage and confusion. They clearly cared deeply for each other but the distance had been so deeply ingrained into them they weren't sure how to be around one another anymore. Thoughts ran rampant through her skull, of abuse, of the suffering of such an amazing woman. Beyond her she watched as the archer pinched and rubbed at his wrists in such a familiar motion...
The world around Weiss froze.
Catalaya did the same thing, often when at the mercy of another person's frustrationsor upset with herself. How come I didn't see it before? The former heiress wanted to vomit, the disgust she felt for herself was unbearable. Her wrists... Scratching so violently at her neck as though she's being choked... Weiss barely noticed Maelstrom stand and begin to leave.
"How is it you know her pain so well?" When I cannot be bothered to notice it, "Why do you even care?"
He seemed much more careful with his words then despite the clear emotion in his voice, aura thrumming with untold feeling barely restrained beneath the surface. His eyes bore into her own, taking her in. What a sight she must've been; a snarl on her lips, magic leaking from her every pore just as violently as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Anger, confusion and disgust near consuming her entirely with these revelations.
"Damien tried to bury me once before, just as he has always done to those he has no further use for. He would've done the same thing to your lover if not for her becoming the Guardian. That gave her a purpose, kept her alive long enough to escape his influence. To do what the others would not. To live." He smiled softly, as if in remembrence of happier moments.
"There's still a light left in her yet. The dark has not yet snuffed it out, she just needs a bit of guidance though she is lax to admit so. You need only ignite what little ember has hidden away." He raises his hood once more, walking into the murky shadows disappearing within them as quickly as he appeared.
The shadows seemed to recede away at his departure though Weiss gave it no real acknowledgement. She shook out her hair, hands wiping away tears from her face violently as she straightened herself out. Heels shakily clicked against dirts and stone towards the entrance as she pulled her phone from her pocket. This changes everything.
Quickly opening the door to her car, a dark blue Corvette she recieved as a gift from her grandfather, she sagged into the seat. With a few flicks of her finger and it was ringing. It only rung twice before the line clicked open. "Alicia? It's Weiss," the mage looked behind her once more, the red forest seeming all the more imposing. "We need to talk."
Of all the reasons to visit a significant other's parents this was not something Weiss was looking forward to. Her body was filled with dread, the very thought of speaking with the woman about this particular subject pulled her into a strange combination of rage and melancholy.
She knocked on the hotel room door in a polite four strikes and waited to be recieved.
Alicia opened the door with a smile that quickly disappeared with a quick glance at the younger woman's posture. "Come in, sweetheart." She locked the door behind her guest with a soft click.
"Would you like something to drink dear? I've got some more of that whiskey you like."
"Yes, that sounds great." Goddess know we're both going to need some. Weiss accepted the glass with a polite smile, taking a small sip before speaking- all too hesitant to start the conversation. "I was approached by an odd man earlier, called himself Maelstrom. Strange fellow, wore a cloak, glowing eyes and an odd purple aura around him. You ever meet him?"
Sounds like the man who broke into my study back home. "No, never heard of him. What did he want with you?"
"Said he had some information to give me about what's been going on," she paused taking another drink, "about your husband Damien."
Alicia's brow twitched in surprise though she tried to hide it. "What did he have to say? Have they found him?" She gripped her glass tight between her fingers, anxious.
"In a way yes. He works for him, though its more like he's being controlled by him." Weiss took note that the older woman didn't seem surprised at this information despite her grimace. "Told me that he wasn't kidnapped, he left. Suppose his plan was finally ready to be put in action."
Alicia leaned forward, placing her glass on the coffee table, "Plan? What kind of plan?"
"He wants her power, for what exactly he doesn't know yet, but from what I can tell it won't be good for any of us. If not her power, control would be the next best thing."
Weiss blinked at her before dropping her head to stare at the ice in glass as they moved. "He also told me some frightening things. Things like the secrets you've been hiding, about what kind of man Damien really is."
Alicia gulped, she could Weiss' glass creak as she tightened her grip on it. "I don't see how any of that's your business." The bear shifter could see the storm rage in her eyes as she said this. Playing with fire here aren't I? How ironic.
"You see when those plans of his involve kidnapping the woman I love and forcing her through trauma again it becomes my business!" She spoke with a reverberating growl that could be felt in the floorboards. Upon seeing the shifter jump and flinch away so suddenly she paused, shaking her head. Ashamed at herself for her actions.
"I'm sorry. I just- I just want to understand all of this, I want to help. If you let me Alicia."
The two said nothing to each other, the only sounds were of ice clinking together in their glasses.
Alicia spoke with a shuddering breath, "He was different before we got married." She didn't look Weiss in the eye, though she knew she had her full attention. "Softer, kinder, he was perfect if a bit odd. He became obsessed with the idea of a legacy, of everlasting power. Every child we had was a disappointment in his eyes when they failed to meet his expectations. Marcus despised fighting, he saw Jaime and Thomas as defective and the triplets he traded off to grubby men in exchange for jewels and alliances the moment they came of age. Damien wanted to leave his mark on history, despite his history."
Alicia took a long draw from her drink, "He grew up poor, his mother worked in a brothel in another city and he never met his father. Damien hated his previous life so much that he had his own mother killed when she came knocking. He set about wiping every trace of 'Damien the whore's son' off the map and replaced by 'Damien the Cheiftain'." Alicia chuckled darkly to herself, refilling both of their glasses.
"Damien wanted to be a King, to be the king of the realm. When Catalaya was born, he saw his way in. He was always cruel, quick to strike down any of us but with her he was demented and brutal. Her abilities came in when she was much younger, young enough to put her life in danger. He took advantage, isolated her from the others, molded her into his image. She would be his legacy."
Alicia looked to Weiss with tears streaming down her face, eyes red in sorrow, "I couldn't protect her then but I'll be damned if I don't protect her now."
Weiss took a deep breath to steady herself as she entered her bedroom, the events of the day had completely drained her emotionally. Kicking off her heels, shucking the clothes from her body left only in her bra and underwear, she sunk into the matress, biting her tongue as she stared into the plaster ceiling.
An arm wrapped around her waist from behind, "Love? You alright?" Cat was looking at her with eyes half lidded with sleep, the scar stood out prominently on her face- though Weiss didn't stare directly at it in fear she may burst- as she allowed herself to be pulled down onto the the bed.
Cat realised her lover had no wish to speak and simply embraced her tighter, unknowingly anchoring her in the moment. Weiss' gaze immediately glued themselves to her wrist, the scars were faint now just barely noticeable. They looked as though the wounds had been reopened numerous times giving it a rough scale-like appearance. Hesitantly, so as to not startle her she gripped her hand and placed a soft kiss in the middle of her scarred over flesh. Weiss tried to ignore the way Cat shivered subconsciously in her half awake state and rubbed her thumb along it soothing her girlfriend into a peaceful sleep.
The mage herself wouldn't succumb to Morpheus' influence until much later, her own dreams far from pleasant.