She had never laid it all out like this before. The massacres. The blood that was spilled with her hands. The strange worlds and peoples that her voice was used to mislead and destroy while she was trying to even understand what she was seeing. As she explained she was surprised at the look of quiet and compassionate understanding he was giving the whole set of affairs. “He eventually landed a decisive blow on the parasite and I was freed from her control. But between the crimes that were done with my body and the fact I had spent 8 years not able to use my own body, he was forced to go on the run from the law and the mercenaries his hero work had pissed off. For two years he looked for a way to bring me back only for his nemesis to wake up the remaining DNA from the parasite to turn me against him and to tie the countdown for a planetary bomb to my heart rate. After a decade of being held hostage, I died at the hands of my best friend when we were so close to finally being free from it all.”
Magnifico waited for her to finish, her hands shaking, her gaze distant, and her heart broken. After finishing, the wound finally bled clean, she didn’t feel any better. Her body felt cold, the bodies in front of her eyes as if she had just killed each of them anew. She thought it would make it better. She hoped that getting to the end of the story would somehow make her feel less crazy, less alone. But here she was, lost in her own memories, her ears ringing, her hands clammy and her body cold.
He clapped her on the back which caused her hand to instinctively to reach for his neck only to have him lock her in a triangle choke faster than she could process. She was trapped again! Her body fighting against the hold, struggling and clawing as her breathing sped up. She kept struggling until for reasons she couldn’t process her world went black. When she came to, Magnifico was standing over her with a glass of water and a warm smile. Her head was throbbing. She tried to speak but he motioned her to drink the water instead. When she thought she had finished the glass she was handed another and another. Eventually, when she felt her belly was full of nothing but water, he spoke, “I am sorry. For choking you out as well as for your ghosts.”
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She sighed, “I’m sorry. I’m clearly-“
He clapped her on the back hard enough to knock the wind out of her, “Anisa, you are not going anywhere.” She looked at him in confusion. In all of their training he had never used her real name. He stated firmly, “We cannot control the roads we are placed upon. Only how we walk them. Do not walk them alone.”
She scoffed, “You are one to talk.” He nodded slowly as if leading her to the obvious conclusion. “You are speaking from experience.”
He was quiet long enough for her to think she guessed it right before he said, “I’m never alone. I may be here with no one but you and my wife, but that means nothing. Even you are not alone.” She raised a brow at him and he said firmly, “Your ghosts. Your shadow. Your friend on the phone. Even the one you claim is gone is with you always.”
She rolled her eyes, “You mean in my heart and memory.”
He smacked her which was so startling and emotional that she couldn’t help but look at him betrayed. His eyes seemed sunken into their sockets, haunted, as he said, “No. Those are just the tools we use to see them. Do not dismiss this. It is as vital as your warrior’s face.” She was unable to reply, seeing how important this was to him. “Those we meet leave marks on our very soul, seen or unseen and we mark them too. The chained beast chains also its holder.” He left the room, muttering, “I will get you some ice for that. Maybe the pain will brand the lesson in your heart.”
When he came back, the haunted look was gone and shame was all he seemed able to show, refusing to make eye contact. He stated again, “I still believe you should embrace the symbolism of the scorpion. Perhaps acknowledging its mark will help you to take power back from your shadow.”