Shooting Stars [Closed]

This was harder than she thought and she wasn't sure how to handle it. Reaper was an interesting man, one that she respected quite a lot, but that wasn't it. Reaper had come to hold a piece of Selena's heart, even if he was currently unaware of it. She cared for him, deeply. His thoughts on the world were unique and selfless. He was a man willing to sacrifice every part of himself to protect a world that would not do the same for him. It was why Selena was so determined about him. If he was going to live this life to sacrifice himself, then she would do her best to aid him in his goal, but was it worth it? So much of her heart told her to keep with him, but her mind was telling her otherwise. He was pretty dark and it was messing with her mind. She had done a few things that she normally would not have, without hesitation, to prove her loyalty to him. Was she regretting these things now?

Selena couldn't answer any of the questions that plagued her mind. She was clouded, uncertain of tomorrow, today, and yesterday. It was like she was living each day by the string of this man. It was hurting her, but with how he was hurting himself for others, could she not continue to deal with this burden for him? For once, he was not alone, right? Even though he felt he'd be fine alone, a few incidents in their time together proves him otherwise. It's quite possible that without her, he'd be dead. And with these thoughts confusing her, Selena found herself quiet most of the time. The week they had alone together in this safe house felt so long. She spent most of her time outside. Eye contact between the two of them was even rarer than the blind woman usually gave. She was avoiding him still and he'd likely noticed, but had yet to say anything, which was honestly fine with her.

One night, Selena set up a fire outside of the safe house. She made sure it was quite a ways down from the house, but had forgot to make sure that Reaper knew where she was going. Luckily, the flames were obvious. She sat on a log, staring into the motionless pit of fire that only barely gave her an image. It's heat was what showed her it was still blazing. She had her elbows sitting on her knees and she was silent. She had her chains buried around the area about one hundred feet out, allowing her to sense anyone that wasn't Reaper if they were getting too close. She was out there for a good fifteen minutes before she felt someone approaching. She immediately recognized the size, frame, and posture of the one approaching, but beyond that, she was able to tell it was him because of that damn outline. She could see bits of everyone else but him. She cursed his strange armor sometimes.

"Mm... Sorry... J..." she spoke up with a sigh as he got closer, still staring into the fire, "I should have told you I came out here... I just needed some fresh air... I guess."

That was one thing the two of them agreed on. The fresh air was quite comforting. It almost cleared your mind when you were able to sit and enjoy the breeze. The sound of the water in the lake gently moving around made it even more comfortable. She nodded lightly, "Yeah." That was all the blind woman could say at the moment. His tone was different. She could not place it's meaning, but the way he was talking felt much lighter than normal. He spoke about the stars and the heavens in a way that brought on a light smile. When he had to confirm the lack of offense, she chuckled. "No worries... I know how you mean it." Selena said softly, listening to the flickering of the fire, "I'm sure they are beautiful tonight. The air is clear... I can only imagine the night sky is as well. I'm glad that you can at least see it, so just enjoy it for the both of us... okay?" She sounded like she was asking a favor then.

Reaper then brought it up. She thought he'd end the question at her possibily being ill, but when that second bit came up, Selena's expression dulled and she turned her face toward him. Her eyes fixated on the blank outline of his head and raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, hun... If it was that time of the month, you wouldn't be standing here." Selena said and reached up to grab locks of her hair with each hand, "My hair turns into snakes, I grow fangs, my eyes become red, and I hiss a lot... Some even told me I try to suck their blood when I'm angered... Of course, this only happens when my mind is clear. When I'm stressed, worried, or working on something, I do not become Serpent-Woman. That would be why I didn't change last week... Had... other things to take care of..." Selena was obviously referring to Reaper's blind scare. She crossed her arms over her legs and rested her chin on them again.

"No, no... I am fine, not ill." she said softly, "I just haven't had much to say. I've been thinking more than talking recently... I guess I've been unsure of a lot of things, so I'm trying to work them out..." Selena fell silent for a few moments, nothing but the sounds of the night forest and lake being heard. Even her breathing was calm enough to not be heard. "J..." she spoke up and broke the silence, "Do you... really not think it's possible to go back? I mean... You say that... well, you're destined to live your life this way, but... I just... I can't believe that's true. Why can't you turn back...?"

Choices. That seemed to be a theme for the creators today. Choices were what brought him here. It wasn't one, it was many. That was something she could understand. That was something she could agree with him on and for the first time in quite a while, Selena felt her mind clear. She stood up as he looked out onto the water. Selena stepped up beside him and gently ran her hand along his hair. The smile she had right now was a renewed one. Selena had always been a determined and hopeful woman, but recently she had been feeling much of that fade away. That smile showed that determination again. The words he just spoke to her had renewed that hopefulness she always had. He may call her naive. He may call her idealistic. He could even call her foolish and stupid, but the light that she felt in her heart because of those traits she had was something she did not want to let go of.

"I think I can understand that a bit more now, but..." she said softly and stepped up behind him. She turned him to face the water and laid her chin on his shoulder. "...there is something I don't understand still. You've made many, many choices in your life... and it's gotten you here. You keep choosing to walk this straight line and if you do..." Selena motioned toward the lake, "You're going to end up in deep water." She chuckled a bit and then sighed, getting back to her point. "What I mean is... You can choose to keep going and not change your direction, but what is keeping you from choosing to turn left or right? Why do you choose to stay the same? I mean, you've got opportunity after opportunity to change your path... Like me. Look at me... When I met you, I had no direction, no goal, no reason to really do... anything. I was wandering everywhere and I was constantly all by myself."

"Mom always told me that the gods don't give you what you want because you pray for it..." she continued explaining as she pulled her glasses out from her pocket and put them on, "Instead... they give you chances to change what you've got. They give you signs and throw obstacles at you to help you learn. When they do, you choose to take those chances or you don't..." Selena looked to him with a sweet smile and slid her hand into his own. "Now look around you, J. Right now, you have nothing in this world forcing you to do anything you don't want to do. It is your choice. You have signs and opportunities all around, giving you that moment where you can take the path that you want to take, where you can control your own destiny... And it may sound conceited, but I feel like I might be one of those signs... One that is supposed to show you that there is no set path, only your choice."

You know, there was a moment there that Selena's heart was soaring. He was agreeing with her! She could practically dance for joy right now, but when that final sentence came into play that changed. She sank, again. His goal, huh? Assuming it was the same goal that he had been talking about since they met, Selena's mood fell right back to what seemed like her normal recently. She missed the days where she could just be cheerful and happy, but as she had just explained, her own choices brought her here. Selena just kept up a smile, obviously forced and lacking of that light it had a moment ago. He didn't get it and at that point, she realized there was a high chance that he never would. "Right." was all she said. She gave a nod and walked away again, returning to her log to sit again. For the first time since they met, Selena actually thought about giving up and just leaving.

"Alright masked man..." a voice rang out from the shadows. Selena's heard skipped a beat. She jumped up and turned around, moving to take off her glasses. "You better have a good ass reason for calling me to this meeting as well." the approaching person, obviously a woman by her voice, spoke out again and emerged from the surrounding forest. Selena decided not to remove her glasses and got a good look at the woman who showed up. She obviously knew Reaper and had been called here. The woman who came forward was pale in skin and hair, but a beauty that was hard to compare to. Selena couldn't help but look her up and down, but not with awe. Instead, it was with annoyance. Lilith looked to the long haired woman with the glasses with an eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip. She didn't appreciate the annoyed look Selena had and was ready to smack her across the face for it.

"Who the hell are you?" the two said in unison, both annoyed at each other. They both scoffed and looked to Reaper. "Who the hell is she?!" they said again, pointing at each other. The two looked angrily back toward each other and just stared. They both took on stances that said they were ready to fight too. Selena once again went to remove her glasses so she could actually fight, but stopped half way through. The anger in her eyes faded to indifference and she waved Lilith off. "I don't care." Selena turned and walked off. She could be seen pulling off her glasses and a moment later, two chains shot up from the ground right next to her. One wrapped around her waist and another lifted her into the air, placing her in a tree about one hundred feet away from the two. "... Uh... Bad time?" Lilith asked Reaper with her eyebrow still raised, "You two love birds have a fight or something?"

"You sure about that, Reap.?" Lilith asked about the love bird comment, "Or are you just not understanding the 'love' thing again? She didn't exactly seem happy that another woman showed up, ya know?" Lilith just smiled and winked at him, but then waved the conversation off, asking him to explain what the hell was going on. So the purple one was a new member, hm? Interesting. "Assassination attempt?" Lilith questioned, crossing her arms, "Actually, I did hear something about that. There was also word that Arakawa, the Lord General of Cieria, was actually poisoned in some way during that attack... The people who launched it also were able to get into the private quarters of Brauk's Regent General and attacked the Guild Master of Aria Grand during a festival in Colburn... I fear whoever is doing this has spies in many places or a power that we cannot even comprehend."

"Either way... they some how have the locations and schedules of really powerful people... I am surprised by one thing though..." Lilith's eyes narrowed and she looked off toward the lake, "Not a single one of the Grand Council members of Arcadia had an attack on their lives." That information was disturbing. Could Arcadia be making some sort of move? But why would they attack their own guild if that was the case? The situation was vague; they needed more information. Lilith just sighed and stretched. "Well, this is stuff we can talk about at a later date, during the meeting. If someone is foolish enough to attack, I'll take care of them. It's probably a good idea for you to go take care of your girlfriend." Lilith immediately put up a hand to signal him not to say anything, "You can deny it all you want, but if she's stuck around... She's either stupid or special. You know that answer."

"She cares about you and only scum ignore something like that." Lilith told him and turned back toward the safe house, "Don't turn into scum, Reap. I wouldn't stick around if you had fallen that far."

The woman had kept him from falling, huh? Lilith looked to the woman sitting in the tree. A lightness spread across her features as she brought a soft smile up. Returning her attention to Reaper for a moment, she pat his shoulder before walking off. "Good. I'm glad to hear it, J." she said as she raised a hand and waved back to him, "Now go be charming and take care of her the same way." A difficult mission, indeed. Was Reaper even the type to take care of Selena that way? What would he do if her mind fell into darkness? Could he pull her out? Would he care to? Lilith was curious about this. How far would the man she knew as cold and calculating go for that woman? As the white haired woman vanished into the shadows, Lilith walked through the trees until she got to the safe house. She took up her spot on the couch and just rested, waiting for the other two to return here as well.

Her glasses now off, Selena tilted herself to looking toward the approaching Reaper. She was asked to come down, so she did as she was asked. Maneuvering her chains around her body, she ended up hanging upside down from the tree, similar to spider man from his web. If she was the one with the mask, this would make for a pretty interesting kiss scene, but that was not where her mind was at. The look on her face was disturbing, distorted to confusion and rage all at once. Her blind eyes wide in horror as she stared directly at him. She let him speak first and was suprised at his words. With a bit more maneuvering, Selena's feet were placed on the ground and she was standing in front of him like a normal person. "You're welcome..." she said lightheartedly. Her eyes softened and she smiled lightly. It meant a lot to her for him to say that, though part of her was confused about it.

"J... I need to ask..." Selena lowered her head a bit. She was trembling, as if scared. She looked back up, fist clenched tightly. "What the hell is she?" Selena asked and then pointed toward the cabin, "Lilith has no heart beat... no blood flow... she's like a stone statue unless she moves or something else is moving her... I see her no differently than I see the walls or trees. What the hell is she, J.?!"