Piper could feel the familiar twisting in her stomach as she ascended the stairs that lead to the large metal door. It had been almost a week since she had seen the disheveled girl. At the request of the healers, she allowed her time to recover from her recent bout with fever.
Her muscles tensed, binding together and almost freezing, on the prospect of seeing the former master once more. The time away from her nourished the nervous feeling that ran sickly at the back of Piper's throat. She was afraid, truly frightened, that Cyclonis may have reverted back to the almost catatonic state in which Piper found her in a little over a month ago. Piper hadn't made much progress, but eliciting a response was better than nothing. It was, in the least, a step in the right direction.
She sighed heavily, standing at the top of the stairs, as she stared down the hall at the large metal door.
Almost all that Piper touched in the postwar world appeared to come apart at the seams. The relationship between the remaining leaderless Cyclonians and the rest of Atmos unraveled on a daily basis. The latest treaty between them fell apart within the span of a fortnight.
Conflict continued to rage between the two groups, so much that it required Piper and the Storm Hawks' physical presence. This also meant she spent more time with Aerrow than usual, which was difficult, since they hadn't even made up since their last fight. Why was this so difficult? They had been best friends since childhood. But then again, that was all they had experience with… The renewed tensions carried them away from attempting any form of reconciliation.
As the guards opened the large metal door, its loud and deep sounds reverberated through Piper's body, amplifying the anxiety that crept through her chest. She could feel the cold trickle of doubt flow through her veins as she started towards the room of white stone.
She seemed to find little success in all of her recent efforts. She would and could not allow herself to blunder yet another situation. She vowed not to fail Cyclonis. It was one person she thought; if she was unable to save one, just one, did she really deserve to be called a hero?
She stepped into the room of white stone, chest filled with apprehension. According to the elder healer, she had little to worry about; however, she would have to find this to be true for herself.
The room looked entirely different. Although newly decorated, the amenities were sparse, yet, arranged in such a fashion that revealed an underlying sense of order. A round table under a rug decorated with the Cyclonian hawk image, centered the room. To the side of the room a nice bed and nightstand sat in the place of her mundane cot. On the other end of the room, a desk and chair sat idly. The desk's scrolls and contents' arranged neatly on its surface.
Piper's heart almost stopped within her chest, and her eyes began to grow with fear before she took control of her reaction. She saw a ghost, a reminder of the past, standing in the corner of the room.
Cyclonis was free, standing by the window and gazing into the endless skies outside. She wore her old robes, her cowl closed around her head. When Piper entered, the former master turned to face her, and the cowl slowly retracted like wicked flower petals to frame her head. The distraught and tired look that once adorned her face was replaced with the fear inducing smile that had chased Piper and her friends across Atmos many months ago. Her wrists were shackled together still, but no longer chained against the walls. She wore make-up: thick black lines painted around her large eyes. The dark hair flowed casually down to her shoulder, partially covering the right side of her face.
Fear washed over Piper. Those deep violet eyes rested upon her as if Cyclonis' gaze alone could kill her.
Piper almost let out a slight shudder. She had forgotten, in the span of a month, how absolutely terrifying Cyclonis' calm, cold, somewhat smug demeanor could be when standing in her presence. Piper could see it in her eyes, her expression, and the pattern of her breathing. She was once again in control of herself, no doubt; but it didn't simply end there. The tendrils of her villainy spread almost as if physical things, slithering across the room looking to grab hold of something, or someone.
This was the Cyclonis whom Piper expected to encounter a month ago. This was the Cyclonis' who used to strike fear into the hearts of all within the proximity of her will. This was the Cyclonis who had taken over the entire Atmos. This was the Cyclonis who now rested her eyes upon Piper as she wore a mischievously wicked smile.
"Well, well, well. A little bird has found its way into my cage," she said quietly, her soft voice eerily playful. "Hello, Piper."
"Hi, Cyclonis," Piper responded with a courteous bow. "I trust you're feeling-"
"Better?" she interrupted with a casual tactlessness. "Oh, I suppose I am."
Her fiendish smile grew wider. Piper's apprehensions whispered louder.
"I see you're healing exceptionally well. In fact, the flesh looks as if it was never burned," she said, focusing on Piper's left forearm.
She looked at her arm and smiled. "Oh, yeah, Aerrow helped me with that."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Cyclonis tutted, "still associating those pesky little sky knights, I see. I've said this many times, Piper; don't waste your talents on them. They are ignorant of your true power! You should be ruling them."
Piper grimaced in protest.
"Relax, Piper. It's just a joke. A harmless jape. Surely no one person should rule the sky knights. They should all be exterminated like the filthy vermin that they are."
Piper opened her mouth in protest, but she stopped herself as she studied the expression upon the other girl's face. She grumbled, knowing only too well how much the dark sorceress enjoyed toying with her, pulling her leg at any chance just to get a rise out of her. Piper decided to take her insults in stride. She wouldn't allow Cyclonis to place her in any mindset that she didn't desire for herself.
Breathing deeply, Piper sat at the opposite end of the table, facing the dethroned tyrant.
"So, Piper, why is it that you're here exactly?" she inquired with little genuine interest.
Piper pondered the implications of her question and decided that it would be most beneficial in the long run if she was open. She hoped that she could establish a sense of mutual trust with Cyclonis.
Piper focused on the other girl's deep violet eyes as she spoke. "I'll level with you, Cyclonis. I was initially asked to do this-"
"Of course," she interjected, breaking eye contact and looking away from the hazel eyes that gazed in her direction.
"But," Piper continued, "I'm here now out of my own desire to help you."
Cyclonis faced Piper once more, wrinkling her nose and curling her lip in pure spite.
"Help me to do what?" she said, her voice dripping venom. "Make peace with the conditions that I have found myself to be trapped in? Turn another leaf? Don't make me laugh. Do you expect to spout your pathetic Storm Hawk nonsense to help make all of this ok?"
Piper continued her steady gaze; the soft smile that settled upon her face remained unphased by her apprehension. Her smile was calm, reassured by some innate goodness; Cyclonis despised it.
"Piper, you may leave," she declared with a dismissive air of authority. "Your job has been completed without any thanks to you. I have indeed come to terms with things; as abysmal as it may seem, I have accepted my fate. There are consequences to losing a war and these are the conditions that I must now begrudgingly live within. So, Piper," she finished, almost spitting out her name, "if you have anything more pressing that needs to be accomplished, which I'm sure you do, then I would suggest that you leave this place and attend to it now."
Piper crossed her arms, taking a more relaxed stance, despite the cool dismissal that Cyclonis delivered to her.
"I'm not here for that," she stated, "I may have come here to do that in the beginning, but not anymore. Now I'm here to work with you, and eventually get you out of here."
Cyclonis' eye twitched. "Can you repeat that?" she asked with a voice almost devoid of emotion.
Piper smirked, happy to finally be evening the playing field.
"I'm here to work with you until you're ready to get out of here," she said once more.
Cyclonis looked at the blue-haired girl in front of her. The calm, amused smirk continued to decorate her face. It was transparent. There was nothing hidden behind her warm and cheerful gaze. Her words were those of truth. Cyclonis couldn't fathom the fact that Piper, the only other person in this world she truly respected, was such an utter fool.
"Then you're more naïve than I was initially inclined to believe," she hissed through her teeth. "How are you going to convince the Sky Knight Council to allow me to leave this place?"
Piper stopped smirking and a frown crept across her face.
"Oh, I think… I think you misunderstood. I mean temporarily, you know, like, little outings on the terra and such," she reluctantly revealed.
Piper could see a slight wave of disappointment wash over Cyclonis' face, before she managed to harden her features into the familiar cold stone that she chose to wear on a seemingly daily basis.
"But it's definitely not out of the question, Cyclonis!" she blurted out in an attempt to mend some hope of freedom that the broken master seemed to hold on to deep within the recesses of her shattered mind. "It's possible that one day, and one day soon, we'll figure-"
Piper was caught mid-sentence by Cyclonis' giggling. The giggling became laughter and turned into an almost demonic cackle that echoed throughout the room of white stone.
"What- did I… say something funny?" Piper asked in pure bewilderment.
"Oh, absolutely," Cyclonis said as a smile worked its way across her face. "Do not attempt to placate, Piper. It's a futile effort. Must I reiterate the point once more? I have accepted these conditions as the consequences of losing the war. There is nothing left for me in this world."
The smile faded from her face as she looked down at the shackles that bound her wrists together.
A small silence was shared between the pair.
"That's something we're going to have to address as well. How you view the turn of events, I mean," Piper said in a concerned tone as she attempted a reserved smile.
Cyclonis slowly looked up from her shackled hands towards Piper. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke. "What do you mean?" she growled as her facial features became engulfed in a spiteful shadow. "Are you referring to my life? To my birthright? Am I to not only accept the turn of events but also reevaluate the perspective in which I view them? Would you have it so that I magically come to the realization that Cyclonia was wrong in what it attempted to accomplish? Would you like it if I somehow admitted to you that my accomplishments, my aspirations, and the entirety of my existence was based upon lies?" she asked rhetorically as she rolled her eyes at the absurdity of the notion. "I'll inform you now, Piper, so listen carefully. It won't happen. I can promise you that."
Cyclonis' eyes burned through Piper with great intensity, setting the Storm Hawk at unease. She began to open her mouth in protest, so that she could explain her position.
Cyclonis cut her off once more. "Let's just… talk about something else."
Piper's eyebrows rose as she was hit by something she didn't quite understand.
"W-what?" Piper asked.
With an exasperated sigh, Cyclonis repeated herself. "Let's change the topic and talk about something else. You're obviously not going anywhere, and not from a lack of effort on my part. Honestly, if you're going to stand there and bother me, I might as well receive some form of entertainment out of it, it's only fair. The guards are afraid I'm going to kill them, and the healers are relatively quiet. I either talk to you or sit here in silence."
"You could always talk to yourself," Piper jokingly put forward.
Cyclonis scowled.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" Piper asked, genuinely curious.
The edges of Cyclonis' mouth rose upwards in delight.
"Why, Piper, I want to talk about our mutual passion, of course. You're the only one I know with whom I can talk about crystals. Have you come upon anything interesting lately?"
Piper couldn't help but to feel a spark of joy ignite within her chest.
"Well, actually, I recently acquired a huge load of high quality freezers on an excavation dig to Terra Blizzaris! Come, let's sit, and I'll tell you all about it!"
And with that, the two girls sat by the table in the middle of the cell, where they shared stories, theories and insights about crystals, as if they had always been close friends. While they would never have admitted it to the other, both girls had gravely longed for this.