Unwanted Reunions [Nadia]

[Slash]

This is a bad idea on so many levels.

[/center]

Here they were. Agrabah.

This was not going to end well.

Jericho looked out of the ship at the surrounding sand dunes. They were a very short walk from the city itself. The wind blew the sand into beautiful waving patterns and it was all very nice.

He never figured he'd be escorting displaced royalty around here.

"All right. You know where to go better than I do," he said.

If her family actually did accept her back, then he'd let her go, yes. But what were the chances? She had been considered a monster before and now she had blood on her hands, corrupted under his tutelage.

This was going to be interesting. Was the thirsty sand going to be fed with royal blood today? Time would tell. One thing he knew, though, was that not a drop of it would be Nadia's.

[Aerith]

Hasn't changed in the least.
-------

She was home. Just like she wanted.

Dread was already forming within her the second her feet touched the sands. This was a terrible idea. Nothing good could come from being here. So, then. Why? Why had she asked Jericho to bring her here? Perhaps it was a desire for closure. Real, face-to-face closure. Not the kind of closure you get when you're forced out of the life you've always known.

She shook herself out of her introspection before she dug herself into depression. Jericho was waiting on her. Surprise briefly flashed across her face. There had been a part of her that suspected he would dump her out and leave as quickly as possible. This was none of his concern, after all. Wasn't it?

Nodding at him, she reluctantly began walking toward the city entrance. "They'll know I'm here. Long before we even reach them."

Sure enough, soon after entering the city proper, she could hear the whispers spreading like wildfire. Not only could she hear her name, but she could also hear mutterings about her improper clothes and hair. Speculation on why she was returning ran rampant. Mostly, people assumed she was here for revenge.

Oh, and Jericho certainly didn't escape the people's notice. No one could quite pin down what she was doing with him, though. The whispers tended to lean toward him being here to help her get her revenge.

Maybe he was. Revenge was certainly a tantalizing prospect that hovered at the edges of her mind.

No. She shoved it aside. This was her family. No matter how badly they might have treated her, they were still her family.

"You. You're not supposed to be here."

A group of three palace guards stopped her. There was no way to get around them, so she simply told them the truth. "I'm here to see my family. I have no desire to start any trouble."

The bundle of hate in a corner of her heart said otherwise. But she ignored it.

"I don't think they're too eager to see you. You had best turn around and leave."

The nobility in her blood took over for a moment. She fixed the guard with a commanding stare. "I am not leaving until I have seen my family. And you are going to take me to them."

Her tone caught the guard by surprise, and he stuttered his consent. "Y-yes. This way."

With a glance at Jericho, she followed behind the trio of guards.

The buzzing of the crowds intensified.

[Slash]

I guess I'm a bodyguard now?

[/center]

Jericho was unfazed by the size of the crowd. So they did recognize Nadia, after all. They buzzed like insects, and he was able to pick up most of it. Things about him, and things about Nadia. They thought he was here to help her get revenge, which was only partially true. He was here to make sure that whatever was Nadia was going to do ended up done.

Of course, there was a limit. He was not going to amplify her parents in such a way that they were more likely to accept her back. He liked her, but what idiot stacks the deck in a way that ensures their loss?

Looking around at the crowd, he had the faintest desire to assume the form of the spider. How they would cry out! But that would end badly.

Why do anything to them? Who paid any mind to an idiot swarm of insects?

Nadia was now being led by three palace guards. He followed wordlessly, keeping a wary eye on them.

[Aerith]

I don't need a psychic to tell me where this is headed.
--------

Everything was much the same as she remembered. The people of Agrabah weren't known for being fond of change. Tradition was an important facet of the society that they clung almost relentlessly to. Of course, this resulted in the people being viewed by outsiders as backwards.

Nadia tried to focus inward, both to block out the whispers and to figure out what she would say when she saw her family. Should she try for an emotional appeal or cold reasoning? Neither method would end up working, probably. But which one would have the greater chance? Maybe a combination.

She noticed the guards stopping just before she almost ran into one. This wasn't right. They weren't near the family home yet. They were still in the middle of the marketplace.

When the guards silently moved out of the way, she understood.

Arrayed in all the gaudy splendor of Agrabah nobility, an entire contingent of her family faced her. She suddenly felt incredibly under-dressed. In the middle was, of course, her father--an imposing, grey-bearded man with a belly round from the pleasures of being rich. Her mother was on his right, and a few of her older brothers and sisters were present. Not to mention some aunts, uncles, and cousins. One face in particular stuck out to her above all the rest, though. She still didn't know his name.

Camel-face.

She almost said that out loud but caught herself in time. Camel-face's father was here, too. Wonderful.

Rather than pay much attention to them, she looked straight at her parents. They were unmoving for the moment. Silence hung thick in the air. The crowds had gathered, many people hanging out windows to see the events that would unfold. They were like vultures and jackals, hungry for death that was inevitable.

Whether or not that death was going to be hers remained to be seen.

She could stand it no longer and decided to take the initiative. Walking forward, straight toward her father, she took a deep breath. "Father--"

He struck her across the face. Hard.

While she was reeling from that, he tore into her verbally. "How dare you speak to me? Have you forgotten your place? Do not speak until I have told you to."

Before she could say anything in response, he abruptly changed tracks and looked in Jericho's direction. "And who are you? What are you doing with my-- With her?"

She had almost forgotten about Jericho, but now she remembered. Oh, did she remember. She hadn't returned home empty-handed. No, she had led a ticking time-bomb right into the middle of this city. Right into the midst of nearly her entire family.

Turning to him, she gave him a look that pleaded for him not to react with violence.

Yet.

[Slash]

What a large family.

[/center]

Look at all of Nadia's lovely family in the marketplace. There were quite a lot of them, and all were dressed in the bright, gaudy colors of Agrabah royalty.

...Disgusting.

Nadia took a step towards her father, and was rewarded with violence and a few harsh words. What a wonderful man. Jericho's hand was halfway to the hilt of his sword when Nadia sent him a pleading look.

Fine. Normally he'd kill the old man anyway, but one wrong move in this place and Nadia would never forgive him. God, he was such an idiot for bringing her here. She wasn't ready.

But now he was being asked a question.

"My name is Alan Jericho," he said calmly. "You could say I'm life insurance."

Why bother showing all that much respect to a man he could tear apart in two seconds?

[Aerith]

I knew it.
-------

Nadia relaxed only a little when all Jericho did was answer her father's questions. But her stress levels quickly shot back up when her father spoke again.

"Hmph." He looked Jericho up and down and decided he didn't amount to much. "You think one man is enough to protect you from an entire city, Nadia?"

You have no idea. No idea.

She tried to warn him away from further talk about Jericho's competence. "Father, don't--"

"As for you!" His eyes were on her again. "What does a disgrace want with us?"

She just looked at him, mute.

"Speak!"

She flinched, then gathered herself. This may be the only shot she had at convincing him of anything. "Why am I a disgrace? I didn't... I didn't do anything."

"You showed yourself to be a danger to this city."

"How? How was I dangerous? I didn't hurt anyone!" She was quickly shedding her timidity. It was outrageous that he claimed she was such a threat to people when she had barely known about Asherah. No one had died. No one had even been injured. Yet, they had exiled her.

"We could not risk that you might become violent in the future and make yourself a threat. And you will watch your tone when addressing me or anyone here."

How ironic. How deliciously ironic. She had been thrown out of her home because she might possibly become dangerous in the future. That was the reason? She nearly burst out laughing. If she had continued living here, she probably would never have met Jericho, would never have killed anyone, would never have developed this growing hatred.

And it was growing now.

"I won't take anything else from you. If I'm no longer your daughter, then you have no authority over me. Assume all you like, but I would never have raised a hand against you or anyone else. No. Asherah--that's her name--is just another part of me made visible. She is not a demon that I command. She is not a demon who possesses me. You simply don't understand her, just like you have never understood me. That is why you put me on that ship." She looked around at the crowd, raising her voice. "And that is why you all want to kill me now!"

A fist-sized rock thudded loudly in the sand at her feet. She stared at it for what seemed an eternity until she lifted her eyes back to the crowd. It seemed like almost every single person was holding a rock and giving her wary looks. Did they carry rocks with them for daily stoning or something? To her utter horror, most of her family held rocks, too. Even her mother. Her own mother.

"No!"

That was all she managed to get out before stones pelted her and the sand around her. The pain was unbearable. Some of these people had really good arms. But the emotional pain was even worse. All she could do was drop to the sand and curl up in a ball, hoping that it would be over soon.

[Slash]

Oh, is it time to kill everything already?

[/center]

Jericho listened to the man's question with ill-hidden amusement.

Ah, but can you actually call me a man?[/color] He came very close to saying this.

Things then quickly escalated out of control. Stones flew through the air. A few hit him, but he wasn't the main target here. Nadia was.

Ha! What a great world this was! A world where a mother could watch her daughter slowly die in front of her- even worse, actively participate in her death.

That was it. He wasn't putting up with this a second longer. Nadia's father had made a huge mistake. She wasn't the demon here, and he was about to find out who was.

Okay. Have to remember two things this time. Keep from killing Nadia, and save her family. Not that I care for them, but Nadia should get them herself. It's only fair. Spider, do you hear me? Understand?[/color] No answer, of course, but Jericho was confident that it did, to some extent. It was not unintelligent.

All right. Go.[/color]

He was ready for the pain this time. It scorched his insides and tore away at his mind, but he did not scream. He couldn't. He would not show any sort of weakness.

A mantra repeated itself, pulsing in his head even as everything else left him. Keep quiet. Keep quiet.

He kept quiet. Even as his back tore itself open to create six new limbs, he kept quiet.

The spider was amused when it came to the forefront. Look at all the people! The aura hardly knew which way to go. And now they were focusing on him. No one had expected it. The girl (Nadia, her name was. It remembered! How nice.) was given brief relief as the stones petered out.

Alarm spread through the crowd, and the spider took advantage of the two seconds when they weren't throwing something.

It plunged as deeply into the crowd as it could. So much for the use of projectiles. It tore into them as best it could, taking advantage of the many stands to throw itself into different sections.

They came here to deal with a monster, now they got what they wanted.

The spider impaled and ripped apart whatever came in front of it, all the while screaming laughter that sounded partially like the screech of rusted machinery and partially like the gibbering cries of a madman.

How fun.

[Jericho used Anti-Form. 2 posts remaining.]

[Aerith]

Sweet release.
--------

The rain of stones stopped. It didn't take long to figure out why. The screams were a dead giveaway.

Uncurling herself slowly, she turned onto her back and could see Jericho--the Spider--doing what it did best. The sounds of carnage were strangely soothing, like a bandage keeping her heart from being completely torn out of her.

Now they knew exactly what she had brought with her. She pushed down the sudden urge to laugh.

Finding the strength despite the pain that shot through her body, Nadia pushed herself to her feet, staggering a little. She was probably going to have a million bruises. At least it didn't feel like anything was broken.

Even though the Spider was tearing through people like a knife through butter, her family remained oddly unharmed. Why? She had expected them to be the first to die.

Oh. I know why.

This was a twisted gift to her, a chance to unleash every ounce of her frustration and anger upon the unjust scum that was her family. Her eyes found the Spider ripping into some random person she cared nothing about.

I accept. And I will have to thank you later.

With a much more confident air about her, she approached her family and pointed at the destruction happening around them. "That is a monster. Is that what you thought I would do to you if I had stayed here?"

Every eye, including Camel-face and his father, was on her. Surprisingly, her mother was the first one to find words. "Make him stop! Please, make him stop!"

She finally allowed herself to laugh. And it was cold. "You think I have any control over him when he's like that?"

Actually, she had not given that much thought. If it was intelligent enough to recognize her and know not to attack her, could she have any say in what it did?

"And don't even try to earn my pity now. You were going to kill me! All of you were! Even you!" She shot a look at her mother and pointed at her father. "So much for motherly devotion. Your fear of him is greater than any concern you should have for your own child."

She whirled to look at Camel-face and his father next. "And you two! This is the last day you ever look at a girl as nothing but a decorative piece of property to be abused whenever you need personal fulfillment."

The second after her knives were in her hands, pain stabbed her lower back. She looked down to see a blade gone clean through her stomach. With a morbid fascination, she watched it turn for a second or two before it was ripped out of her. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw her father standing there, holding the bloody weapon.

She couldn't speak. Too much shock that quickly morphed into rage. Her entire body ached with the hatred that broke from its carefully sealed compartment in her heart.

No words. Just a gathering of strength.

One knife whipped through her father's throat, but that wasn't enough for her. The other one found his chest and stabbed it. Over and over and over and over.

Her mother soon had a better reason to scream than her husband's dead body. The wretched woman joined him to bleed out on the sand.

Camel-face and his father were the next to die. They didn't even have time to cry out.

The rest of her relatives were scattering now, but the rush from her hatred was quickly leaving her as too much blood was flowing from her stomach. No longer able to stand, she collapsed onto her side, breathing heavily, trying to shunt aside the pain.

Though her physical strength was fading, the darkness in her was not.

She could still hear the Spider.

Just kill them. Kill them all for me.

[Slash]

The spider killed and killed. Ah, how the crowd dispersed. So many of them! Could it hunt them all down? Perhaps and perhaps not. It would like to try.

Ah. She fell. Nadia, that was. Stabbed. That changed things. IT saw the people around her, differently-dressed people, scattering like dust in the wind. Nadia's relatives. It could see that in their hearts.

No, no no no. That wouldn't do. They should all lie bleeding, shouldn't they? Yes. The spider made sure of it. Taking to the walls, it stalked them all with malicious amusement, ensuring that their last moments were filled with hopeless despair.

Every one of them died. Every single one.

It returned to Nadia. The crowd had scattered completely. Good.

Crouching down, it made sure that the aura was not touching her already weak body before he looked closer. She was hurt quite badly. Perhaps it should kill her instead of permit her to suffer? No, that wouldn't do.

"Nadia," it said. "Nadia Blair."

It could not move her, so it would simply relay news of its success. And what a wonderful success it was!

"All of them are dead. The streets are littered with their bodies."

[Aerith]

I don't think I've ever been in this much pain.
--------

The streets were suddenly quiet. Deathly quiet. It was nice.

A shadow fell across her, and she heard her name. That voice. Oh, yes. Him.

She shifted to look up and confirmed it. More than one word this time. And these words practically sang in her ears.

She took a shuddering breath. "Good. That's how it should be."

Her attempt to sit up failed miserably. She managed to get her back only a few inches off the ground before her abdomen screamed in protest. When she hit the sand again, more pain shot through her. Stones hurt. Yes. Very much.

"I... I can't move, though."

[Slash]

The spider listened.

"Then don't," it said. But perhaps she should be taken somewhere else. It could carry her- but that would worsen her injuries. And if she came into contact with it, there was no way she couldn't be affected by the weakening aura.

It would have to wait, and did so while keeping a watchful eye for any movement.

Eventually, the spider faded.

Jericho found himself standing near Nadia's wounded body. This was, to put it mildly, distressing. He didn't remember much- but he was almost sure that he had killed some of her relatives. He supposed she had been stabbed by one of them.

He was weak, but he still had the strength to carefully move Nadia into the shade of an abandoned stand.

"What happened to you, Nadia?" He looked over her wound. It wouldn't be fatal- if they were careful.

[Aerith]

Getting stabbed was so inconvenient.
--------

She nodded weakly and resolved to stay put. But then she felt herself being carried out of the sun until the shade of stand enveloped her. The slightly cooler temperature made the pain more tolerable. But not by much.

After she was settled in the shade, she looked up to find that, as she had suspected, Jericho was indeed Jericho again. While she had found herself not as uncomfortable around the spider during that whole altercation, knowing that Jericho was himself also helped ease some tension.

"My father. He stabbed me." Her eyes went somewhere else for a second. Somewhere beyond anything physically present. "But I killed him. And then I killed my mother. And that... camel-faced buffoon they were going to make me marry. And I killed his father."

A twisted wave of happiness swept over her, chased immediately by pain. "But then I couldn't kill any more of them." The disappointment was clearly evident.

[Slash]

The last ties are cut.

[/center]

That was it, then. All her ties to this world were cut. Under no circumstances would she be permitted to come back, and why would she? Her family was dead- by her hands and those of someone she considered a friend.

And was she happy about it? Yes, she was. He could see that.

Now everything had been taken from her. She had nothing left.

Good.

She would be stronger now, and she would be crueler. This was the last step into the abyss, or perhaps the next-to-last. There was still the matter of aggresion. All the people she had killed had been part of a group that had attacked her first. She'd have to begin killing of her own accord. She'd have to take the initiative.

He wasn't worried about that. All in due time.

"It's done, then. They're done. Interesting that it was only in their bloody last moments that they had any serious consideration for you."

Jericho took a deep breath. "I said that you wouldn't get hurt," he said. "Looks like I failed pretty miserably at enforcing that."

[Aerith]

Hope is useless. I see that now.
--------

"It's all right. I asked you to do nothing, so you didn't until after they had already hurt me. If anything, this is my own fault."

She was still processing what had just happened. Her parents were dead. Not just her parents, her entire family. But her parents, she had killed herself.

In fact, she could still see the bodies from here. She couldn't stop staring at them. They would never be able to throw stones at her again. She had made sure of that.

Remembering something, she turned her head back to Jericho. "You let me have them. Or... it did. Or both." So very confusing trying to talk about it.

"That was so... sweet." She would have laughed, but that hurt too much. So, she settled for an amused smirk instead. "Sweet" was certainly not how any of those dead people would have referred to anything Jericho had done.

"I only partially unwrapped it, though." She looked back out at the scene of mass death, the vast majority of it not accomplished by her. "I didn't think he would stab me. I thought maybe..."

No. She hadn't thought. She had hoped. Hoped against reasonable facts that her family would rescind their distaste for her.

How stupid.

[Slash]

And how are you?

[/center]

Ha. Even after killing her parents her sense of humor was still intact. And she considered it a gesture of kindness- which it had been in his eyes.

That was good. She was thinking like he did. That was very good.

"It's all right. You couldn't really have expected it. Who expects their father to attack them?"

He looked her over again. Her wounds were worse than he had expected. It worried him. Maybe...maybe they were fatal? She was so weak...And what if they were?

"How do you feel? Physically, I mean, but...are you also all right? About all this?"