mad_muses february set 1.1.3 [quote]
(Clearly this is an alternate future, it's just been brewing in my head all day.)
“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.” - T.S. Elliot
After awhile days started blending together and Claire decided that time could lose all sense of meaning when it simply didn't matter anymore. A lot of things stopped mattering after awhile.
She couldn't count on one hand how many times her life had nearly come to an end but instead of blissful darkness, she simply knit herself together and pressed on. After awhile, the need to help others and to save the world faded from her mind and she just didn't care anymore. For awhile she simply wandered, passing through the lives of others like a ghost. She was there but sometimes she wasn't seen, barely touching and yet a strong presence to guide someone along. For awhile she thought that it would matter if she focused on one person and tried to change their lives but it stopped mattering as well.
When she got tired of being alone, she found someone to share her life with. Not her entire life, just a snippet, a small piece of time that she could give when she found someone who was the right person to share it with. Her first marriage lasted a few years but she was happy for the time that she had with him. He had been a musician, a pianist who liked to play her slow love songs in the middle of the night and then used those same fingers to play her body as well as he played his instrument. He never seemed to mind that she didn't really seem to age and some day she planned on telling him but she never got a chance. He was killed by the men in black masks who came for her and her husband sacrificed himself so that she could escape. He never knew the truth about who she was and why the men came aft her. She grieved for him for a long time.
Her second husband had been more of a serious fellow, the first man that she allowed herself to be with that was like her in the sense that he had an ability. He had wanted the same thing as her, he just wanted to have a normal life and not be scared of living. This was during one of those times when people were scared of their kind and the government decided to step in like they had when she barely turned eighteen. They had been separated during a raid and she didn't find him for years. When she did find him, he was merely a record, a name and a date of death in a sort of concentration camp. She stole the paper since it was her last tie to him.
She waited till the fear of her kind died down before she allowed herself to fall in love again. This time she decided to go to a high school since she looked young enough; it was there she was charmed by a boy with laughing blue eyes and reddish blond hair. They never got married, they broke up in their second year of university and it was a relief to her after having the last two men that she loved die. She merely kissed his cheek when they broke up, moved on and got yet another degree.
Her third husband, she told him the truth about everything. She had feared he would call her a monster and run away but he took the truth quite well and he continued to love her. They had thirty years together but it got to be a bit of a strain when he looked more like her husband than her father. It bothered him at times and she understood that but they still loved each other up until the day that he simply had a heart attack at a young age. She lived in their home for a few more years before she moved on.
There were a couple men after that but it was hard as she continued through her life. Men with different names and different looks, it was always hard to say what attracted her. Out of all of them, there were only two with abilities that she got close to and she decided after awhile that she probably chose men who were normal because that was what she had craved for so long.
Wars continued to happen, sometimes the government decided to step up and try to control things but it never lasted for long; everything just sort of escalated. She couldn't remember what war was raging these days, everything blurred together and stopped mattering. She could barely recall where she was these days; she lived on an island in a remote area where she wasn't bothered. She was in one of her moods where she didn't want to deal with people on a regular basis; she was letting her heart heal once more.
Her living room was sparse beyond a few pieces of furniture, a large mirror over the mantle and a television. All along the mantle there were pictures of various faces and people from her life. Some of the pictures were fresh and some were faded, some were even digital as they changed constantly in their frame. She barely looked at them some days, sometimes the memories were a little too painful for her to deal with.
The television was going, offering a soft hum of noise in the living room as she sipped her coffee quietly and watched the screen in front of her. Her hair was back to the long blond curls she had been known for and she didn't bother with contacts to change her eye color. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a tank top, her body still slender and tight as it was forever trapped in the form of a young woman between the ages of eighteen and early twenties. She wasn't sure at what age she had been when she stopped aging all together.
She was so focused on the television, she didn't even hear the front door opening after the lock slowly turned and she didn't seem to sense the man walking in. His heavy boots were surprisingly light and his black clothes made him seem more like a shadow than a person who was actually there. Claire merely lifted the cup to her mouth, taking a small sip of the bitter liquid as the man came slowly to her side and stopped. She lowered the cup then, tilting her head a little as she slid a look over to him and then gave a soft noise almost like she was amused, "Sylar." She nodded in greeting.
It was his turn to give a soft amused noise though it wasn't clear if he was amused at the fact that she was taking his arrival so calmly or if it was because of the name. "Claire." He nodded his head in turn.
Claire was silent for a good long time before she set down the cup, folding her hands together as she looked at the man once more. He had changed a little bit, his hair was shorter but she wondered if he dressed the way he had so that she would remember him. As if she could forget the softness of his voice or his looming stance that made him seem larger than he was. Even with all the time that had passed, she still remembered what it was like when he had touched his fingers to her brain as she laid on her mother's coffee table. "I expected to see you a long time ago."
"You're not an easy woman to find when you want to remain hidden." He pointed out, his fingers twitching at his side and she half expected something to go flying but nothing moved. He almost sounded forlorn that she had been hidden for so long.
"I suppose." She shrugged before moving to her feet, turning to face him as she tilted her head back so that she could look up into his face. "What are you doing here? You know I have nothing you want." Her voice wasn't angry, it was merely even as she reminded him of the time that he had come to take her power.
His features twisted, caught between annoyance and something else that almost looked like regret. She wondered if that emotion was even a possibility for him. "I know that, I came here for something else." He declared quietly and she arched a brow at him.
"I have nothing else to give you." There was a slight touch of annoyance now as she lifted her hands up a little bit and then let them fall back to her side. "You took everything else."
She waited for him to strike, there was even a tiny spark behind his eyes but then he simply nodded, "I suppose I did." He had a wry smile on his mouth now but it faded quickly as he suddenly sighed, his dark eyes on her face. "At one time, I thought being immortal would be a good thing, I wanted to live forever...."
"Lost its charm after about the first century, right?" Claire asked, sounding a bit tired. Not that she had ever found the idea of immortality as being charming, she hadn't signed up for that part of her ability but he had. She wondered if he truly regretted it now.
He didn't answer, instead he continued, "I told you once before we were a lot alike." He murmured, his voice gruff as he lifted a hand to touch a blond curl as he remembered all the times that he had faced her before. He had been intent on destroying her before, just as she had been intent on destroying him. He waited for her to argue that she wasn't like him, that she would never be like him but the argument never came. "I want your forgiveness, Claire."
She hadn't expected that and for a moment she was at a loss as to how to react. A strange knowledge rolled over her then, a sort of wave that left her feeling strangely blank and yet warm. Her body felt heavy as she knew why he was standing in her living room and for some reason she was strangely okay with it all. She recognized what the feeling was, it was a strange sort of peace that seemed to be enveloping them at the moment. For a moment she merely held his gaze, seeming to communicate all that had passed and how weary it had made her in the end. She wasn't aware of what all had happened in his life, in the long years since she had seen him last but she could see the weariness in him too.
Quietly, she took a step forward as she heard glass splinter and break behind her. She merely curled her hands against her sides as she looked up at him and then slowly nodded with a soft sort of sigh, like the sigh right before Death came to steal your breath away. "I forgive you."
Sylar didn't say anything; he merely brought his hands up, silently amazed at how large they were as they curled around her upper arms. Their eyes never strayed as light started to glint all around them, shards of glass surrounding them and glowing faintly as the afternoon sun poured in through the windows. Everything faded away seconds before he sucked in his power and the glass flew at them. She could thank him for the time he made sure that she would never feel pain again, because she didn't feel it as the glass slid into the back of her head, slicing through skin and bone before entering the brain. She never heard the soft sigh from him seconds before the glass entered his brain as well.
Her body slumped against his before crumpling and he landed on top of her as though to shield her from the world. Not that it mattered anymore.
“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.” - T.S. Elliot
After awhile days started blending together and Claire decided that time could lose all sense of meaning when it simply didn't matter anymore. A lot of things stopped mattering after awhile.
She couldn't count on one hand how many times her life had nearly come to an end but instead of blissful darkness, she simply knit herself together and pressed on. After awhile, the need to help others and to save the world faded from her mind and she just didn't care anymore. For awhile she simply wandered, passing through the lives of others like a ghost. She was there but sometimes she wasn't seen, barely touching and yet a strong presence to guide someone along. For awhile she thought that it would matter if she focused on one person and tried to change their lives but it stopped mattering as well.
When she got tired of being alone, she found someone to share her life with. Not her entire life, just a snippet, a small piece of time that she could give when she found someone who was the right person to share it with. Her first marriage lasted a few years but she was happy for the time that she had with him. He had been a musician, a pianist who liked to play her slow love songs in the middle of the night and then used those same fingers to play her body as well as he played his instrument. He never seemed to mind that she didn't really seem to age and some day she planned on telling him but she never got a chance. He was killed by the men in black masks who came for her and her husband sacrificed himself so that she could escape. He never knew the truth about who she was and why the men came aft her. She grieved for him for a long time.
Her second husband had been more of a serious fellow, the first man that she allowed herself to be with that was like her in the sense that he had an ability. He had wanted the same thing as her, he just wanted to have a normal life and not be scared of living. This was during one of those times when people were scared of their kind and the government decided to step in like they had when she barely turned eighteen. They had been separated during a raid and she didn't find him for years. When she did find him, he was merely a record, a name and a date of death in a sort of concentration camp. She stole the paper since it was her last tie to him.
She waited till the fear of her kind died down before she allowed herself to fall in love again. This time she decided to go to a high school since she looked young enough; it was there she was charmed by a boy with laughing blue eyes and reddish blond hair. They never got married, they broke up in their second year of university and it was a relief to her after having the last two men that she loved die. She merely kissed his cheek when they broke up, moved on and got yet another degree.
Her third husband, she told him the truth about everything. She had feared he would call her a monster and run away but he took the truth quite well and he continued to love her. They had thirty years together but it got to be a bit of a strain when he looked more like her husband than her father. It bothered him at times and she understood that but they still loved each other up until the day that he simply had a heart attack at a young age. She lived in their home for a few more years before she moved on.
There were a couple men after that but it was hard as she continued through her life. Men with different names and different looks, it was always hard to say what attracted her. Out of all of them, there were only two with abilities that she got close to and she decided after awhile that she probably chose men who were normal because that was what she had craved for so long.
Wars continued to happen, sometimes the government decided to step up and try to control things but it never lasted for long; everything just sort of escalated. She couldn't remember what war was raging these days, everything blurred together and stopped mattering. She could barely recall where she was these days; she lived on an island in a remote area where she wasn't bothered. She was in one of her moods where she didn't want to deal with people on a regular basis; she was letting her heart heal once more.
Her living room was sparse beyond a few pieces of furniture, a large mirror over the mantle and a television. All along the mantle there were pictures of various faces and people from her life. Some of the pictures were fresh and some were faded, some were even digital as they changed constantly in their frame. She barely looked at them some days, sometimes the memories were a little too painful for her to deal with.
The television was going, offering a soft hum of noise in the living room as she sipped her coffee quietly and watched the screen in front of her. Her hair was back to the long blond curls she had been known for and she didn't bother with contacts to change her eye color. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a tank top, her body still slender and tight as it was forever trapped in the form of a young woman between the ages of eighteen and early twenties. She wasn't sure at what age she had been when she stopped aging all together.
She was so focused on the television, she didn't even hear the front door opening after the lock slowly turned and she didn't seem to sense the man walking in. His heavy boots were surprisingly light and his black clothes made him seem more like a shadow than a person who was actually there. Claire merely lifted the cup to her mouth, taking a small sip of the bitter liquid as the man came slowly to her side and stopped. She lowered the cup then, tilting her head a little as she slid a look over to him and then gave a soft noise almost like she was amused, "Sylar." She nodded in greeting.
It was his turn to give a soft amused noise though it wasn't clear if he was amused at the fact that she was taking his arrival so calmly or if it was because of the name. "Claire." He nodded his head in turn.
Claire was silent for a good long time before she set down the cup, folding her hands together as she looked at the man once more. He had changed a little bit, his hair was shorter but she wondered if he dressed the way he had so that she would remember him. As if she could forget the softness of his voice or his looming stance that made him seem larger than he was. Even with all the time that had passed, she still remembered what it was like when he had touched his fingers to her brain as she laid on her mother's coffee table. "I expected to see you a long time ago."
"You're not an easy woman to find when you want to remain hidden." He pointed out, his fingers twitching at his side and she half expected something to go flying but nothing moved. He almost sounded forlorn that she had been hidden for so long.
"I suppose." She shrugged before moving to her feet, turning to face him as she tilted her head back so that she could look up into his face. "What are you doing here? You know I have nothing you want." Her voice wasn't angry, it was merely even as she reminded him of the time that he had come to take her power.
His features twisted, caught between annoyance and something else that almost looked like regret. She wondered if that emotion was even a possibility for him. "I know that, I came here for something else." He declared quietly and she arched a brow at him.
"I have nothing else to give you." There was a slight touch of annoyance now as she lifted her hands up a little bit and then let them fall back to her side. "You took everything else."
She waited for him to strike, there was even a tiny spark behind his eyes but then he simply nodded, "I suppose I did." He had a wry smile on his mouth now but it faded quickly as he suddenly sighed, his dark eyes on her face. "At one time, I thought being immortal would be a good thing, I wanted to live forever...."
"Lost its charm after about the first century, right?" Claire asked, sounding a bit tired. Not that she had ever found the idea of immortality as being charming, she hadn't signed up for that part of her ability but he had. She wondered if he truly regretted it now.
He didn't answer, instead he continued, "I told you once before we were a lot alike." He murmured, his voice gruff as he lifted a hand to touch a blond curl as he remembered all the times that he had faced her before. He had been intent on destroying her before, just as she had been intent on destroying him. He waited for her to argue that she wasn't like him, that she would never be like him but the argument never came. "I want your forgiveness, Claire."
She hadn't expected that and for a moment she was at a loss as to how to react. A strange knowledge rolled over her then, a sort of wave that left her feeling strangely blank and yet warm. Her body felt heavy as she knew why he was standing in her living room and for some reason she was strangely okay with it all. She recognized what the feeling was, it was a strange sort of peace that seemed to be enveloping them at the moment. For a moment she merely held his gaze, seeming to communicate all that had passed and how weary it had made her in the end. She wasn't aware of what all had happened in his life, in the long years since she had seen him last but she could see the weariness in him too.
Quietly, she took a step forward as she heard glass splinter and break behind her. She merely curled her hands against her sides as she looked up at him and then slowly nodded with a soft sort of sigh, like the sigh right before Death came to steal your breath away. "I forgive you."
Sylar didn't say anything; he merely brought his hands up, silently amazed at how large they were as they curled around her upper arms. Their eyes never strayed as light started to glint all around them, shards of glass surrounding them and glowing faintly as the afternoon sun poured in through the windows. Everything faded away seconds before he sucked in his power and the glass flew at them. She could thank him for the time he made sure that she would never feel pain again, because she didn't feel it as the glass slid into the back of her head, slicing through skin and bone before entering the brain. She never heard the soft sigh from him seconds before the glass entered his brain as well.
Her body slumped against his before crumpling and he landed on top of her as though to shield her from the world. Not that it mattered anymore.