Growing Pains

[reborn_eve]

Characters: Caren, Rushuna, Shirayuki-hime
Content: Caren accidently triggers a device on her gown, not intended for human use.
Location: Latham Hotel
Time of day: Afternoon
Warnings: This log contains scenes of blood and a mean electrical device attaching to the body.

Comments

[ihaveasmile]

The aftermath...was something she wouldn't have wanted to see.

Everything...everywhere. So much pain in their faces. Nothing she could do. The Ultimate Strategy was harder to hold than it looked. In the face of fear, it hid. In the face of loss, it came back out, but...

...but she wasn't a Healer.

So, she left. Left those who needed help to those who could give it. There were medics and others aplenty there, and as much as she wanted to help, what could she do that wasn't redundant?

What could she do that didn't leave Caren here alone?

The door opened easily, and Rushuna peeked in, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

So why was she so uneasy?

"Rushuna?"

"Caren-chan?" Rushuna called back, shaking her head a little as she started to make her way over to the source of her friend's voice.

What's that humming sound?The door was open, and Rushuna let out a relieved giggle as she saw Caren in the old dress, the one she was wearing when she first appeared. How strange, to see her look so...elegant. Grown-up. She was

[reborn_eve]

Seeing Rushuna walk in alive and well gave Caren an overwhelming wave of relief. She looked a little bit tired and dirty but she didn’t look like she’d gotten eaten, and if Rushuna had she must have told the evil monster (or whatever the big scary stuff had been) off for being so nasty. Now that she was home, things wouldn’t be so boring anymore, and she could stop worrying.

“You’re alright,” Caren praised her face lit up with a gleaming smile as she advanced towards the brave fighter-With the prickling heat increasing against her back, the sound of gears turning as the blue spheres on the pads rotated. This wave of happiness unfortunately was not to last as her smile faded the moment Rushuna asked her a question. “Are you alright, Caren-chan”?

She stopped dead in her tracks…

Are you alright?”“I…” She was lost for words, suddenly feeling numb with a sickening guilt in her stomach. But why would she feel guilt? She might’ve scoffed a few cookies without anybody knowing this morning and broken her bed but she hadn’t done anything

[reborn_eve]

‘Am I okay?’
‘Am I okay?’
‘Am I okay?’

As if a switch had been shut off inside her, the violet haired girl’s head fell forward and her shoulders slouched. She stood there as still as a statue, her breathing lowered to a minimum. A long uneasy silence passing before she finally spoke.

“I don’t know, Rushuna.” Caren meekly replied, not sounding her usual self. Something was manifesting a change within her. The child inside was maturing.

Slowly she takes a small step towards the blond woman, followed by another and another. Her head still hung low with her arms unmoving at her sides. Caren came closer and closer, with not a single stride moving with a natural rhyme.

“Rushuna…Tendo.” She whispered, her voice never having sound so serious before.

Carefully they lower her to the floor where the woman crouches and takes her wrist to feel for a pulse. Up until this moment the girl they have protected has kept a secret from them. They don’t know what she is but soon they will, for her skin will break like glass and they will see what

[1/2]

[ihaveasmile]

Lied?

Rushuna wasn't exactly sure what had happened for a second. Lied? Why would Caren lie, and about what?

Look.

Rushuna blinked and did as she thought, confirming some of her earlier musings. Caren did look more grown-up...but more so than she had figured. Her face...and her mannerisms. Everything gave Rushuna the impression that...

"Your memory's returned?" she asked, her face beginning to fade into a smile. "That's great, Caren-chan! You-"

She caught herself before finishing. Rushuna definitely knew that memories weren't always pleasant. She knew the truth now...but was it a happy truth? Caren's demeanor suggested that it wasn't.

[2/2]

[ihaveasmile]

To an outside observer, Rushuna's demeanor suggested that she didn't give a damn.

Holding Caren close, Rushuna looked down, her expression as kindly as always. "Whatever it is, Caren-chan, you can tell me. You're still the same kind and beautiful person I saw when we first met. I can tell! You're very precious to me, Caren-chan. I won't ever push you away, no matter what. Okay?"

[reborn_eve]

No

No, it wasn’t true.

Caren shook her head in a stubborn child like manner and squeezed her eyes shut, “I’m not! I’m not…” The lies, so many horrible things she’d done. It was...Mother. That was right M.T.H.R was the voice that’d kept telling her to do those things. From ship salvagers, to people who’d stumbled across the Ozymandias by accident, M.T.H.R let them wander aboard and then used her to lure them into danger they couldn’t escape from. Then the dead crew’s ship was used for parts to benefit M.T.H.R’s needs

[ihaveasmile]

Rushuna's shock at Caren's insistence was doubled by the mechanical whine of metal against flesh. Rushuna sank to her knees, looking in horror at - were those part of her dress?! - Caren suffering in front of her. Rushuna inched her hands forward, a tap here, a tap there, wavering yelps sneaking past her lips. So much blood...a puddle forming on the floor. It was like a swordsman had become a demon in the same room. There was too much...too much...too much!

I...I don't know what to do!

Would pulling them out hurt her even more? Would letting them stay in kill her? What to do? Whatever she chose, Rushuna knew she was doing this for one reason. Caren-chan had to live. She wouldn't let her die