Family Ties

[David B.]

David nodded and continued off, giving Einrik the impression that David trusted him. It was a good impression considering he did trust him. Despite his lack of knowledge on the man, the fellow had shown two things: 1: he would protect Kiyr with his life. And 2: Kiyr trusted him. That was enough for him.

/Davids exit

***************************************

Hyperion paused, smelling the air before looking up into the sky. The sun sparkled around him, and he stared hard...watching. This was not good.

"MOVE OUT!"

He and his troop of 300 started marching, back toward his caves.

[Damien Blaze]

Damien checked the monitor- they were entering the atmosphere. He smiled and spoke softly to Arianna.

"Guess what? We're on Earth. Nearly time for touchdown love. Things will be...difficult. Don't judge Hyperion too harshly, okay?"

[Arianna Barrial]

There was a small amount of turbulence as they carved through and into the atmosphere. Arianna inhaled sharply with what sounded like a whine between her clenched teeth.

No. No, no. No, no, no. She wasn't going to—

Her shoulders jerked a little and she made no move to try to respond to her fiancé. Not with the saline tears squeezing out from her clenched eyes to wet Damien's neck and a sob bubbling up in her throat. Her only consolation was that Damien would be the only one to see her cry, this time. Maybe it wasn't just fear. She was afraid during take off and landing on a plane and bearably anxious on the flight itself... But here she was fearful of the flight which meant she was terrified when it came to planet fall and landing. So she clung.

And she cried.

[Damien Blaze]

They plummeted into the atmosphere- the point of the ship heading directly for Hyperion and his men. Hyperion turned back, running through the arm that was now sprinting for the caves. He stood at the direct point of contact and held up a hand, bracing himself.

********************************************

Damien kissed her, giving small reassuring shushes while he strapped them in...before he  clutched tighter as he waited for the impact. For the ship and its children didn't have control over the pod- after all, he had forced a detach, cutting it off from the mother.

"It will be okay."

He wondered if he even believed it.

*********************************************

The nose of the ship slammed into his hand, and Hyperion cried out, the ship sliding him backward through the earth. Bones popped out of his arm only to be re-enforced by light to continue to hold. It took several moments....but it finally stopped just short of his men. He set it down, then dropped to a knee, holding his arm.

"The...fuck!"

[Arianna Barrial]

She was not going to scream, she was not going to scream, she was not going to scream—! The kiss and soothing nonsensical words couldn't punch through her terror fully, but thankfully reduced her to hyperventilation instead of crying out.

She was dimly aware of the strap that pressed against her back and hips but couldn't care as she pressed her face back against Damien's neck. Though the visor was shielding her from the view, she could tell they weren't slowing down. No, they felt to be going faster. It didn't matter that it wouldn't be long after impact and Damien would be up and about again, and he would bring her back if there were no flames to do it before he could. What mattered to her in these moments was that she didn't want to die from a fear that was brought to life.

Arianna screamed.

Her pulse jumped from it's already elevated speed and she fainted, cutting the yell off; her entire body went limp, hands no longer clutching Damien's shirt.

The impact against Hyperion's hand brought her back, whatever flail that would have come with it effectively nulled by the fact her body was sandwiched between the straps and Damien's own. Trembling, she latched on again and buried her face again, trying to sort out her gasps, chokes, and sobs as the pod slowed, jolting. Utterly white, the blonde was extremely content to just not move while coming to terms with the fact she'd just - completely without grace, but it was understandable - survived that and how she could and what had happened to make it so. Before she found that out she needed to try and calm down.

And she clearly wasn't letting Damien go any time soon. She hiccuped another sob.

"—hnn-nn-ngh—"

[David B.]

David tuned in to Einrik and Kiyr, sitting in his Captains chair...like he was waiting for something. Ceres chimed in over his shoulder in her physical form, staring into the viewer with him.

"Forgive me for asking but...you said you loved her. That you would do something about it. Do you not care for the other female anymore?"

He tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair before leaning back, taking a deep breath.

"Of course I do, Ceres."

"Then why-"

He turned his eyes up to her.

"Because it's not...Ceres, it's difficult to explain." He turned his eyes forward but could feel hers on the back of his head, so he figured he would...do his best to give an explanation to one of the few beings that might be around as long as him. "Throughout school, from the moment I pulled heather from the floor of the cafeteria, people have looked to me to help them. To wait on them hand and foot- whether it was to make sure they had enough to eat, or to beat up the muscled football player whose daddy didn't love him in order to protect the weaker ones."

He stood from the chair, taking a step or two toward the screen, staring at Kiyr.

"She is the only one who has respected me, honored me and loved me enough to never keep anything from me. To be willing to sacrifice herself for my happiness. And before you ask- no, she has nothing to do with my decision to leave Olesya."

He turned back.

"Olesya chose her own path. She didn't pick our future. She picked her own. She probably convinced herself that shes doing this for me, or Maddie, or hell- maybe she understands she doing it for herself. But when I was floating in the tank, just wishing that I could have someone to talk to or die where I was....I realized something. When it comes down to it, you are alone. Your an island. You are born alone and you damn sure die alone. At least...you will, if you try to make everyone else happy one hundred percent of the time. After all...how do you think I got there in the first place? I don't begrudge Olesya for fighting for herself. To get herself better. But I want a partnership, and she isn't ready for it. After she's 'cured', whatever that means, whose to say she will even be the same person? I love who she is now. I may not love who she becomes."

He walked back over and resat.

"So. She will stay at this facility to be poked and prodded. Meanwhile...I will move on. Because that's what I need to do. For me."

He glanced at the other screen.

"Shit...Hyperion..."

***********************************************8

Hyperion would back away from the ship and grab his sword, turning back toward it and wincing.

"C'mon men! We got more of strikes men to kill. Wait for the doors to open, then fire a barrage of arrows right inside the hatch. Take no chances!"

[Damien Blaze]

Damien clutched her tightly, holding her gently as she passed into a sleep from her fear. As she sobbed, her rubbed her back, looking up at the monitors and flashing his eyes over them rather curiously. The impact should have ripped them into a thousand pieces. Now...they were perfectly okay. He cleared his throat but still spoke hoarsely.

"Main...gak-monitor up!"

The screen blinked into life...displaying a rather pissed off and bleeding Hyperion moving his men around the ship. Damien let out a curse, and undid his straps. He kissed Ariannas forehead.

"I'm sorry babe...I gotta figure this out. Are external mics operational?"

He said the last bit toward the screen...but there was no response. He cursed again, bashing his fist against the panel.

"Well...I suppose we can always come back to life if they kill us."

[Arianna Barrial]

Arianna didn't immediately see the situation outside, as she didn't open her eyes. She shuddered a breath against his neck as he apologized and nodded ever so slightly...

"Wh-What?" She choked out and finally shifted enough to be able to see.

And saw Titans forming up around them, bows, crossbows...

She shuddered, then curled her arms a little more tightly around Damien's torso with a shake of her head.

"What...what about external speakers...so I could speak to them? So we could." Arianna screwed her eyes shut again for a moment. "'cause it sounds like from what you told me and the brief summary of what Kyrie gave...that just you speaking would set him off."

[Damien Blaze]

He shook his head.

"I doubt it. If the mics are broken, it's likely the speakers were blown coming into the atmosphere. There was no seal procedure...because I forced a launch. Maybe if we open the door."

He started to reach for the handle.

[Kyrie Blaze]

In the mean time...

En route, Kyrie had started filling Einrik in about what all had happened. Though, with David having let them know he would be watching - and even without that - she did not mention the fact that Scene would demand compensation for his help, let alone that it would be from her, specifically. She felt swamped and overloaded by what David told her that she drew into, slowly.

It just didn't make sense that Olesya wanted to stay with the ARC.

She looked over at Einrik as she finished. While she wasn't pale, her eyes were wider than they normally were. And she still looked...shocked and unsure. She could hardly dare to hope, yet some part of her definitely did.


Einrik stared at the blonde and then glanced around the interior of the pod with a bit of a grin.

"Do me a favour and tune out and give me confirmation of you doing so."

Yes, David. You.

"Some things need to be heard by their intended audience, alone."

[Arianna Barrial]

Whoa, whoa, no! Arianna jerked and moved her arms, pulling on Damien's to stop him.

"W-Wait..!"

Not ready. Nowhere near ready to be shot at. Because that's what it was looking like.

[David B.]

David stared for a long time at Einrik. Before he stood sharply and walked toward the monitor. He spoke looking at Einrik as though he was threatening him face to face.

"Remember your promise. She comes back alive, Einrik. And unharmed."

He didn't wait for a reply. He flipped a switch and turned off the screen and mic, but turned to Ceres.

"Warn them of Damien and Ariannas plight, please."

He turned and left the room.

He needed his armor.


*******************************************

Ceres' voice chimed in.

"He is no longer monitoring you. But hurry- your sister and Damien are in trouble, and appear as though they are about to be killed. It will take two minutes to reach their location."

[Kyrie Blaze]

Einrik's eyes narrowed. You'd think he wasn't worth his weight in solid fucking gold for David to be threatening him again. He stared a moment before rolling his eyes. He'd chalk it up to David being over-protective.

Not that he blamed him.

He was just about to speak when Ceres chimed in, causing him to shut his mouth.


Kyrie immediately spoke, ignoring any discomfort over what David said. "Prep for re-entry and ensure we travel at the fastest speed we can without compromising our safety. I am counting on you, Ceres."

She turned back to Einrik...waiting patiently despite the fact there were so many things tearing her in multiple directions right now.


The Titan looked back to Kiyr and took a breath.

"We can talk later, too, but what I want to say is this: it's both a dick and smart move to let you know ahead of time. Dickish because he has no fucking idea how it'll all turn out and he could wind up hurting you again whether he means to or not. But smart because of this: how would you feel if he suddenly told you one day that Olesya wasn't coming back and that he had already ended it and was now going to pursue you starting right then? At least right now he's giving you time to come to terms with it...and whatever way you convinced yourself it just wouldn't work for you in this life."

Einrik stared for a moment before blinking as the blonde nodded. He turned his gaze to the monitors.

"Tell David he can tune back in and give us any update you can on the situation."

He and Damien were...eerily alike. And both of them would be popping out like daisies in front of Hyperion despite the vast amount of years between their exiles.

[Damien Blaze]

Damien pulled the lever before Ariannas words reached him, smoke pistoning out of the holes in the cover and rolling onto the ground. Hyperion held up an arm.

"HOLD! The other ships didn't smoke like this. Wait for visual....confirm...confirmation.""

He slowly stood straighter, taking measured steps forward, his golden eyes staring at the man who emerged, female in toe.

"........"

Impossible....

*********************************************

Damien stepped out, taking Arianna to his side and leading her along by the hand, blue eyes locking on Hyperion and Hyperion only. Bows were drawn, pointed at him, but he didn't care. Death was not something that caused fear anymore. Nor was pain. Arianna would learn to forget it in time too...the one thing that made him nervous was memory. And Hyperion had a long one. He never forgot a thing. So when Damien stepped forward....he did the only thing he could. He let go of Arianna...and-

He clocked Hyperion in the face.

His punch caused Hyperion to stumble back a step, head whipping to the side as a bit of blood came from his previously-cut lip. He brought his uninjured arm up and thumbed the corner of his mouth before looking back down at Damien, who spoke.

"You let them take her. After everything...you fucked up. The last time we saw each other, some part of her loved me. And you nearly killed me for it. Except healing would have been easy if you did- so you just broke every bone in my body and crushed every organ...but I was alive. And I had to heal, painfully, for years. You had no right to do what you did. You were not married to Themis then. But I did love her. By the time I was able to come back you and her had tied the knot. She turned her back on me. But I didn't address it. Because of that promise you gave me on your wedding day."

He stepped forward and grabbed Hyperion by the scruff of the shirt. The titan didn't try to stop him, he just stared down at him.

"She chose you, Damien, but she felt weakness. She felt fear in you. She knew you couldn't protect her from me, so how would you protect her from Robert? No...she chose the man who could give her strength. You could have used that bow to pierce my heart- we both know Artemis' bow could do it. But you didn't. Because you know it's true. Let her be happy, Damien, and I will make sure she lives forever in bliss, and never wants for anything. Never feels fear...never dies."

He pulled Hyperion close.

"You lied to me."

Hyperion reached up and took Damiens hand, forcibly removing it. He waved off his men.

"You got strong, kid, but not strong enough."

He turned to walk away, but Damien spoke, stopping him in his tracks.

"Your muscles got bigger too, Hyperion. As did your fear."

Hyperion turned back...and his fist clutched his blade. Now...he was stepping over a line.

[Arianna Barrial]

Arianna winced as the lever was pulled and tucked herself in against Damien with a tremble that shook down her spine. She had just been through a sort of personal hell. She was alive, certainly, and none the worse for wear, but that didn't change the effect the fear had on her. She wasn't ready to be shot at.

But with Hyperion's voice commanding something she could only just begin to hear and no shots fired...she could feel her knees knock together. She might have wanted to kiss the ground as she carefully stepped out of the pod with Damien, but, she wasn't about to leave--

Yet when he let go and struck Hyperion, she could only gasp: "Damien..!"

She didn't move to try and stop him, though...recognizing that this was part of whatever healing process he would get. Or that was her thought until things were pushed a little too far and Hyperion turned back, blade in hand.

Maybe it was stupid and reckless, both, but she practically leaped forward to slip around Damien, if she could, one hand pressing against his chest and the other stretched out towards Hyperion in a clear 'stop' gesture.

"Hyperion? My sister, Kyrie, has told me quite a bit about you. One important thing being that you can be a fair man. Like what happened with Einrik."

Please work! She wasn't about to watch them spill each others' blood.