Unwanted Reunions [Nadia]

[Aerith]

I'm terrible in some ways and not so terrible in others.
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Two different questions required different answers. The first answer was easy.

"I feel like I've been nearly stoned to death." She laughed softly, then grimaced. "And stabbed on top of that. I think every last inch of me feels like its on fire."

For the first time since she had gotten it, Nadia looked down at the wound in her stomach. Her grimace worsened. So much blood.

Am I going to die? Is this my punishment for what I've done?

She shut her eyes for a long moment, resisting the images of her parents' faces as they had died. No. They had deserved it. They had deserved every harsh word, every ounce of fear, every prick of pain she had given them.

Jericho was waiting on an answer to the second question. She opened her eyes.

"I have to be all right. Don't I? My feelings can't change what's already been done."

There was only a hint of guilt within her now. Nothing like what she had experienced after killing on Destiny Islands. Another, more predominant, emotion filled her. And had she not been so weak, she probably would have expressed it more fully.

"But I'm more than all right. I'm... ecstatic. I thought I had enjoyed killing Elliot, but that was nothing compared to this. I'd never met him before. My family, I've known for my whole life. And I could finally pay them back for everything they've done."

Her eyes were on the bodies again. "I don't think they ever really loved me." She shook her head, albeit gingerly, and smiled. "I think watching them die was the first time any of them made me truly happy."

[Slash]

You learn quite fast.

[/center]

Nadia was far from the first person Jericho had corrupted, and not the first person he'd taken under his wing. Jericho had shared the company of accomplices before- some he even taught a thing or two, if he saw something in them. Often, he grew bored or annoyed with them after a while, and he threw them away like broken tools.

But in all that time, he'd never had a student as perceptive and adaptable as Nadia was. In such a short amount of time, she had grasped things that he would have to pound into another's head for a month to understand. Only a little longer and she'd be completely ready.

But Jericho was getting more worried by the second.

It would make sense for her to die so late in the game. If she had died back on Destiny Islands, I would have felt little. Now her death would mean something, and wouldn't it hurt to lose everything again? I've played my game with the universe, and now it's playing right back.

If she died now, right after taking the most important step...Still, he'd wait a bit. Maybe he was just exaggerating.

"It is an interesting feeling, isn't it? There is nothing quite like it." He looked down at her with understanding.

"All debts paid for, forced to be paid by your hand. A scourage taken off of the face of the universe. You can degrade someone and leave them forever, but they'll still be there at the back of your mind. You'll always know they're still around. But now, they can never bother you again."

"Of course, there is another joy that you don't know. One even greater. You might find it, might not."

Yes, she didn't know how it felt to not only kill your enemies, but force them to suffer. Break them down piece by piece until there was nothing left, then finish off the shell as a perfect end to such a complicated and great process.

[Aerith]

Quick, before you can't tell me anything ever again.
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Despite the intense pain she was experiencing, Nadia felt incredibly liberated. Perhaps if she had still been the person she had been in Twilight Town, the deaths of her parents and the rest of her family would have sent her spiraling into mourning. She had no energy to mourn right now. She had no energy to do much of anything except breathe. And even that was taking most of her strength.

She winced and put a hand to her stomach. Eventually, they would need to go somewhere else. Staying here for too much longer would attract the people's attention yet again. They were like sheep after all, quickly forgetting about the lion that had just devoured so many of their brethren. And she wasn't in any shape to kill anyone else today.

Her eyes, with a hint of curiosity, went to Jericho again. "Something greater than what I'm feeling right now? What is it?"

She had to know. She had to know, in case she died, what could possibly top this ecstasy.

[Slash]

So, you want to know?

[/center]

He wasn't exaggerating. She was hurt. He'd answer her question, but then they'd have to go.

"There is great joy in killing someone, Nadia. But there is an even better happiness in breaking them apart first. Tearing down the walls of their mind one by one until they are nothing. Forcing them to see themselves for what they are before you cut them down. That is the greatest joy in life, my dear Nadia."

No more time to waste. He looked her over, deciding what was the best way to carry her to the ship. She was in no condition to walk.

"We can't waste anymore time. You need a healer, and the only one I know is far."

He picked her up as carefully as he could, painfully aware that with each passing second she faded a little more.