"Talk to me," Piper pleaded as the two sat in Cyclonis' cell.
The former master's head rose from its downturned position, lazily craning towards Piper; just enough to make eye contact. Her eyes met hers, and within them, Piper saw it. For a brief moment, she saw that elusive thing. The thing that caused her heart to sink stared her in the face. "Like you would ever invite me over to "hang out"." It pleaded to be seen. Cyclonis' desperation was apparent. Her pride, arrogance, and resolve could no longer effectively keep her pain hidden from view.
Unknowingly, in her gaze, Cyclonis allowed Piper into a door that led to her very soul. There Piper saw more than a defeated tyrant stripped of title and nation. For a split second, Piper saw just a lost little girl, holding no connection to the world around her.
"You want to talk? About what? Explain myself?" Spite laced every word. "You couldn't possibly begin to understand, Piper."
"No, you're right. I couldn't," the Storm Hawk admitted, breaking eye contact, looking toward the white stone floor.
Cyclonis' head tilted to the side, off-balanced by Piper's readiness to cede any opposition. She straightened her back, sitting straight as she began to speak.
"Yes, I am right," she cautiously stated. "This is something you wouldn't understand."
Piper looked from the ground to Cyclonis' purple eyes and asked her something she was unprepared to hear.
"Then help me understand."
Taken aback by Piper's request, Cyclonis' rudely huffed through her nose. She looked at the figure before her and curled her lip in displeasure. She respected persistence but resented obtrusiveness. She wondered if everything had to be spelled out for her. After all this time they had spent together, Piper should be able to see the truth. She didn't want to be helped.
"No," she said flatly, looking away from Piper's calm hazel eyes.
"No?" Piper asked, unsure what she meant.
"No," Cyclonis said more firmly, making her intent clear.
Piper closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She exhaled as she stood, towering over Cyclonis as she began to speak. "I can't accept that."
The former master did not enjoy being spoken down to, figuratively nor literally. Few had had the honor of doing so. She wouldn't allow a Storm Hawk to be amongst their ranks. Standing up, she met Piper at eye level.
"Then I guess you're going to have to deal with it," she whispered through clenched teeth.
"Sorry," Piper said with a hardened resolve. "Like I said, I can't accept that."
Cyclonis' eyes narrowed, focusing on the unwavering gaze of the blue-haired girl before her. Piper, of all people, stood against her, questioning her will. Few had done so and lived to tell the tale. Aerrow, that annoying purple-haired sky knight girl, and Piper were the only people to do so and succeed. They were the only individuals bold enough to push back when Cyclonis made a stand.
Cyclonis stared at Piper, her nose wrinkling in revulsion. Piper would not budge. She would not back down. She refused to give in to Cyclonis' desire.
"Why is this so important to you?" she asked, almost disgusted with the question.
Piper's face was stone.
"Besides the people you hurt out there? Maybe it's the sacrifices that a handful of individuals make to ensure your safety. Or could it possibly be the liberty you seem to want to throw away for no apparent reason?" she asked rhetorically. "What I want to know is, why isn't this important to you?"
Cyclonis' eyes began to glass over. Piper wouldn't allow the subject to rest. Her patience began to run short. Cyclonis approached her. Their faces were inches apart from one another's, and Piper could feel Cyclonis' warm breath bear down upon her with every exhalation of the other girl's mouth.
Cyclonis began to whisper to her in a menacing tone. "Why should I care, Piper?"
An uncomfortable silence lingered between the pair. Piper attempted to step back in order to give herself a proper distance to answer the question that Cyclonis posed. She found this to be impossible, as Cyclonis' fingers grasped around her shirt's edges. Piper pulled against Cyclonis' grip but found herself forced back into her original position.
"Don't speak," Cyclonis hissed, anticipating Piper's desire to respond. "You want to understand, then I'll allow you to understand."
Cyclonis shoved Piper away, forcing her to stumble a short distance before she regained her footing.
"You know what it's like to lose people, Piper. I know you do. I know your parents are dead. While my parents are long gone as well, my people still live and breathe, going about their lives in this… odd, changed world." Cyclonis' soft voice was almost sorrowful. "I have no place among them, and very little place on this new Atmos. My life was extinguished, and what remains can barely be considered a life at all," she said as her eyes burrowed into Piper's. "That much I could accept, but it's more than that. So much more."
Cyclonis paused, unsure whether or not she should continue. She decided to press forward, despite the newfound stinging sensation within her eyes.
"The worst of this situation is the realization of a lack of self. Everything I was, everything I strived to be, rested on the back of Cyclonian dominance. My identity; Master Cyclonis, master of Cyclonia. Master Cyclonis, Conqueror of Atmos," she said, voice choking in her throat.
Her violet eyes lay rested upon the Storm Hawk standing before her. Their gazes met once again. There was no mistaking what Piper saw. The raging inferno of her soul was replaced by a small, dying fire. Cyclonis' eyes lacked purpose, will, and desire. This was not the person she had fought for her life against. This was not the tactical genius who had conquered Atmos single-handedly. What stood before Piper was not the terrifying creature who had kept half of Atmos awake at night with fear. This was a small, broken girl in a world that was just too big for her. Piper's throat tightened. Her heart sank.
"Piper, you ask me why I don't care. Do you realize that I have nothing? I am… nothing," she whispered, holding back sobs. "There is no longer a cause to fight for. Terra Cyclonia is rubble, my ancestors' empire is gone. Most of what defined me has been taken away from me, and I've ruined the rest myself in my quest for domination. Piper, don't you get it? I am no one."
"Cyclonis," Piper broke in, attempting to comfort her.
"No, I'm not done," she said defiantly through tears. "Without my empire, without my terra, without my armies, my ships, my people… I am the one failure in a long line of magnificent masters. I am no longer the Master of Cyclonia. I am the Master who lost Cyclonia. I lost everything my ancestors built because I am a stupid, idiot child."
The sobs that she so desperately tried to hold back began to leave her body uncontrollably. She shielded her face with one hand while attempting to wave away a hesitantly approaching Piper with the other.
"I was six, Piper, six, when my grandmother died. They put me on her throne and told me to conquer all of Atmos. Do you have any idea what that does to a child? Do you?!"
Piper continued to approach her, reaching out to place a hand upon Cyclonis' small shoulder. The Storm Hawk was caught off guard when one of Cyclonis' arms shot forward, hand grabbing her shirt tightly. Before Piper could react, the other girl buried her face in her shoulder and continued to weep.
Piper was frozen, brought to a standstill.
She did the only thing she knew how to do in those situations. She placed her hands upon Cyclonis' back and gently embraced her, placing her cheek against hers.
"I'm sorry," Piper spoke softly, "somewhere in the flow of events, somewhere obvious even to myself, I'm to blame for where you are now. You ask me why I care. I care because I'm responsible and I care because you're in need. And I promise, I'll be here until I make it right."
Piper could feel Cyclonis' black nails dig into her back as she spoke.
Through labored sobs, Cyclonis managed to speak. "And after that… you'll leave me here?"
Piper paused, listening to her muffled sobs.
With a heavy heart, she whispered into the other girl's ear. "I'll be here, standing with you."
Hearing the words of the Storm Hawk caused Cyclonis to tighten her grip. She could feel her nails dig deeper into her skin, fearing that she might draw blood, yet Piper seemed almost unphased; in fact, Cyclonis felt her embrace of her tighten.
Whatever this was, however long it lasted, Cyclonis allowed herself to become lost within its magnitude.