Black memories.

[Phoenix Black]

Up on a hill, outside her property, a small grave was dug. The remains of what was left of her body swept up by our own Pilot. Marking the area, was a small headstone that read:

Delilah 'Phoenix' Black
Loving mother, sister, and friend.


((If your character has anything to do with Phoenix, feel free to post here!))

[Diritas Ashin]

The leather was gripped loosely in his hand, rolled into a small scroll that he laid at the base of the grave.  He?d written it all there. Everything he loved about her. For a long time, he didn't speak. He just stared at the words carved in stone. It seemed so simple. But he didn't know what she would have wanted. It wasn't something they talked about.

?I?m sorry? I wasn't there. I?m so sorry.?

His tears fell, and formed roses made of ice in his palms, the thorns digging into his skin and the blood coloring the blossoms. They would never melt, so long as he lived. He wrapped the chain of an opal and onyx pendant around the stems, and laid them over the fresh turned earth.

Quietly, he stayed kneeling at the grave and sung the melody he?d hummed while he held her so often. A melody of thanks, and to ask for safe passage for the lost, and peace for a soul who had helped him heal.

[Val]

Signs of earlier disturbance; turns out he wasn?t the first to arrive. Word of Phoenix?s death had trickled down tongue-by-tongue and Val, at first, figured it nothing but a distorted game of Telephone. Phoenix can?t die, Phoenix can?t even be -hurt-. What he didn?t know was that this was the standard reception of the news. And what he knew now was that it was no joke, at least not seemingly, Phoenix wasn?t the ?fake her own death? type. She was more the eat your face type. Grinning solmenly, the man bent down on his hams and folded his hands.

 ?So it?s true, mm?? Stringent eyes, skinny of sight, work away and his mouth collects up under his left cheek. ?Bullsh?t,? he smiled. ?I don?t believe it for a minute. I really don?t, sorry. You want to know why? Because I think you were pretty damn close to redemption. And don?t get me wrong, I know you weren?t looking for an ornamental reprieve for damages done, you were certainly more practical than that. I guess what I?m trying to say is that I?ve become a very lame and ignorant man who, in one of the many rotten turns, has become convinced that there?s some big f?cking ?plan? for our lives. Funny right? Weird old Val; nihilist, proud and stubborn Val, all ready to beleague himself to fate. But it is what it is and I won?t take it back: besides Martyr, you were the only person in the world that I trusted.?

Val stood, smiling cynically, and pocketed his hands in his longcoat. ?You saved my life once, you protected my family when I wasn?t there. I thanked you for both, but words are just vibrations on the air.? The old Hellion removes his silver cigarette case and tosses it lightly on the ground near the headstone. ?There---I just quit smoking for you; I know there were a couple times where you threatened to turn me inside out if I were to expose Max to cigarette smoke, so there you go.?

The severe man turned and, over his shoulder, waved two fingers as goodbye.

[Martyr]

[size=9]Stepping up to the patch of dirt, Martyr stared with a wide, violet gaze. She had come with so much to say, but the sight of Phoenix's name written on hard stone was enough to make her tongue hot and sticky, enough to pin it to the roof of her mouth. Tensed legs vibrated, before giving out all together. She sat there for a good ten minutes of silence--something that would surely eat away at Phoenix were she sitting there with her--before speaking. "I c-cut my hair..." Martyr said as she pulled up a clump of dirt and sprinkled it back down towards the ground.

The tears had not yet fallen, but they were pooling inside her eyelids. Fingers ran through the choppy locks as she gasped in a cool breath of air. "I c-can't... Phoenix..." Martyr started, then was distracted looking at the things left. She recognized the silver case. "V-val came to see you." Martyr whispered, tracing her fingers along the case. Then went on to look at the roses. She smiled softly and ran her fingers across the headstone, scooting her butt across the ground to lean on it. A hand came up so that she could brush the lettering.

"You were m-my best friend in the whole w-world..." Martyr whispered as the tears fell to the dirt. "I w-was never afraid... B-because I knew that you'd b-be there... I knew you'd be there to save m-me. N-now what? What am I s-supposed to d-do now? You were the strong one..." Her fingernails scraped the stone as she balled up her fist. "You w-weren't supposed t-to d-die... You weren't supposed to leave m-me, Phoenix! You.. You were supposed t-to be there... Always.. What about Addie? Y-you can't d-die, Phoe..." Sniffling in, Martyr raised her head.

It took an entirety of thirty minutes for the immortal to speak. "I have t-to be the strong one n-now, d-don't I?" Martyr's wide eyes thinned out as she moved to go through her pockets. "I k-kept this in m-my pocket... B-because I thought... W-well, I thought it would protect m-me. I thought it w-was g-good luck." Martyr pulled out a small stone. "I f-found it one t-time I was w-walking. And someone attacked m-me, and you w-were gone b-because N-Nazareth killed you..." A sharp inhale was sucked in. "I thought it g-gave me the c-courage to fight b-back.. To g-get away." Martyr took in a deep breath of air. "It's n-not the same, is it? You're n-not coming b-back this t-time... Are you?"

"It d-doesn't m-matter.." Brushing her hair from her face, she smiled. "I d-don't need it anymore..." she whispered as she stood.

There was something almost dark in her eyes as she dropped the stone to the ground. "...b-because I'm going to b-be stronger n-now..." Then, she leaned in to press her forehead against the stone. "It's n-not the real thing... N-not really what I'm leaving..." Martyr said, standing upright. Insanity brewed in her expression as she turned away, looking at the symbol on the palm of her hand. She grinned widely, honed fangs screaming for attention as they were displayed in the sharp smile. Her fist was balled up and she put the glove back on her hand.

"I'll bring Solaris' heart back to you once I rip it out of his chest..." there was no stutter in her tone, and definitely no hint of nervousness as she moved into a hip-swiveling gate away from the grave.

"Good-bye, Phoenix..."



[/size]

[Aviana Slane]

"Alright." Avi's words signaled her entrance far before her red eyes, or even bright pink hair did. "I'm here. I'm visiting you, but I don't know what you want me to say..." The girl whispered with a nod. "I'm not sure, because I don't know how to feel about you." Aviana said with a roll of her eyes. "What can you expect, though? You spent most of your time with me kicking my ass, and it's not like we were ever friends, you know? Don't think that I forgot that you freed my axe... That wasn't cool."

"I tried to save you, though... Doesn't that count? Does that give me the right to be here? You hurt my pride, but I didn't hurt you... I remember the first time we met... Martyr had to stop you from destroying my soul. The thing was, that even back then, I respected you... Hell, a lot more than I respected Martyr."

"You were a bad person, like me... But you changed, and now I'm trying to change, too. Don't flatter yourself, it's not because of you." Aviana said with a shrug. "I guess, it gets tiresome, huh? Spending all your time hating people. Hating the world. I guess, I'd rather be weak than spend another day being Solaris' little punching bag." Aviana shrugged as she examined the items left for the immortal.

She'd be lying if she swore she didn't consider taking them. Instead, she went with the noble route. "Guess you're expecting me to leave something, huh?" The hellion asked. "Alright fine."

Going through her pockets she pulled out three items. "Okay, I have a gun, a grenade, and a pocket knife... Which one do you want?" Then she thought about it... "Okay, you can't have my gun, you still owe me an axe... I don't want to be responsible for blowing up your grave..." Aviana looked at the knife. Her name was etched into the blade, it was a gift, though she couldn't recollect any certain memories... She dropped the knife to the ground. "There. Don't say I never did anything nice.." Slowly, she walked away.

[Martyr]

The trip was long, and awkward, but not upon the immortal's part. She was as happy as a squirrel with nut. It was...fitting for her current state of mind. "We're heeeere." Martyr chimed to Nazareth with a wide-set grin. "You're here, I'm here...and I feel like..." Martyr cracked a wicked, toothy, disgusting smile, "Part of Solaris is here with us."

It was then that she held up the heart as if she were holding a lion cub atop a mountain overlooking the lands. She turned to look up on the hill. "Not much further now. What a climb. What a doozy! What a hill! I can drop it on the grave, and..and..Then we can laugh, and laugh and laugh." The girl gave Nazareth a fearless nudge. "Laughing is good for the soul, you know?"

[Nazareth]

The walk was less awkward, more strained. Nazareth was careful around the woman and it showed in her unwillingness to take the lead or the hand off her blade. It was sad in a way she chose not to understand. Because whether it was a sense of complacency urged by the fact that she was going to likely spend the rest of her life in Rhy?Din among Val and his family, or whether she did truly -feel- something for her brother, Neth realized that this turn of events was going to further damage Val and Martyr?s relationship. Surely her brother would not be angry, how could he given his track record, but Martyr was going to awake eventually (presumedly so) and injure herself with guilt. Perhaps the gods would bless her with amnesia, that?s what Soap Opera writers do for a lack of talent?s sake afterall.

?Uhm--? As Martyr spoke Nazareth broke her daze and leveled the dainty demon with a perplexed gaze. ?Yes. Yes, laughter is very healthy I hear. I?m glad you?re enjoying it all, very glad to help.?

[Martyr]

Amnesia would surely be a blessing, but what was to come of this, would be a mystery to even her. She gave a firm nod, and with the score line so close, she couldn't contain herself. She trucked it up the hill, leaving Nazareth in her dust if she chose not to run. As she made it to the grave, she stopped. Dramatically, she took two steps and let the bleeding heart fall from her hands. It rolled on the ground, collecting loose dirt and losing moisture instantaneously.

"...Told yooooou." Martyr hummed.

"I told you," she said with a nod.

Then she threw her arms in the air, bloody and guilty as they were and did some form of a violent dance near the site. "Told you. Told you. TOLD YOU!"

[Nazareth]

Nazareth waited a moment and watched the girl dart up the hill. Phoenix?s grave was just up it, Nazareth was certain; even in death the girl just had this certain---scent and energy. Or maybe Nazareth was just sentimental. The woman tied her hair back neatly for face and hiked up the knoll slowly.

Once at the sloped and tender peak, Nazareth placed the edge of her hand into her forehead and a burst of wind cut off it and toyed with her hair. On her approach to the headstone she caught Martyr dropping the severed organ into the plot. ?Martyr,? she called, waving her right hand while rehashing her hold on the hilt at her hip with the left. ?Did you do it? You did---? Eyeing strange, almost humorous, sight of a soil-covered heart, Neth nodded. ?Okay. Is there anything else? We should go.?

[Martyr]

Martyr's dance finally came to a conclusion. She dropped her arms to the side, and looked as if she might vomit. She turned to Nazareth and looked at her with cold yellow eyes. "Yes... It is done." The immortal said with a nod before allowing her eyes to shut.

The rage and insanity released her, along with the power that had been swirling invisibly in the air around her. The static softened, and her eyes resurfaced as violet as ever. She let out a soft grunt, and then fell to a single knee.

[Nazareth]

Nazareth fell down with Martyr, reached out and snatched her collar. ?Oh see---See, I knew this was coming, Martyr.? Exiting the plot with the woman in her arms was outside the parameters of their agreement, and chances were even if she were to lay there for weeks getting pecked to bits by crows she?d be just fine, but Nazareth felt this would leave the task -incomplete-. Or at least she?d tell Aggie as such, she had a clawing reputation to uphold.

Scooping the half-out immortal off the knoll and turning to the slope, Neth looked down at Martyr and asked, ?Okay? You awake? You don?t look as though you?re able to walk at a normal pace, so I?m going to carry you.?

[Martyr]

Martyr was awake. She knew everything she did, and she stared up at the sky, going over the events in her head. Her eyes trailed to Nazareth and she gave a nod. "Ok-kay.." Martyr whispered as she looked upwards.


With a brain going a mile a moment over all the filthy details, she looked down at her hands. They were bloody, giving her the final confirmation that everything was true. She had cut out his heart, she had killed a man in cold blood. Martyr blinked, tucked away in Nazareth's cold embrace.


She could only think about one thing...


...why didn't she feel bad?

[Nazareth]

Nazareth began down the hill slowly. She observed the genesis of revelation in the young Immortal that acted as catalyst for the new absence upon her now. Nazareth had her trial centuries ago and not only did not remember what it is she felt when the axe fell, but the face of the victim, his or her name or why it is they needed to die. A monument of bodies would rise from the foundation of the first kill. Nazareth had been mostly hollow since then. And then, her eyes, cold and thin and old, saw someone who did not belong in her company.

At the foot of the hill, Nazareth readjusts the girl, pulling her in for greater support. ?Comfortable?? She asked. But before Martyr could answer, Nazareth spoke forward. ?It?s done,? she said dryly. ?I think you?ve been hurt enough to do some hurting of your own. The man is your father so I think it?s safe to assume he?s just fine. If there?s anything else you need to express, I shall listen.?

[Martyr]

"I'm n-not a killer..." Martyr whispered as she rested her head upon Nazareth's chest. She was comfortable, but Nazareth had already began speaking once more. "..I j-just... W-well..." A soft sigh escaped her lips. "I j-just cut him up, I k-killed one of h-his g-guards, and they c-could have had a f-family... That they w-won't g-go home t-to..."


Martyr's voice was raspy and weak, but she wasn't choking up. "I d-don't feel b-bad... N-not even a little b-bit.. I know it was w-wrong, I know it isn't l-like me.. But I d-don't feel b-bad."

[Nazareth]

?Nothing wrong with that,? she said sardonically. Nazareth looked ahead. The sun was mostly down and what remained of it was caught up and splintered by the thicket's canopy. Crossing into the lowered arms of shadows leaned symmetrically off the trunks and over the path, Nazareth gave Martyr her eyes once more. ?I don?t want to be a---broken record, I think it goes---but you needed something like this.?

Neth?s stomach jounced; she?d proclaimed a contrary to herself against those words only minutes before and now her body was rebelling. The woman swallows and lifts her sights. ?But maybe I?m wrong. Maybe everything I ever was or wanted was wrong. I?m not you and so I can?t be or understand you, just like you?ll never understand me. You killed a man and now feel nothing, you say. But I don?t think that?s true. I think that whatever it is you?re afflicted by is concealing the guilt you?re famous for.?