Time Only Knows [Complete]

[dix-des-coeurs.livejournal.com]

Characters: Rosette and Luxord
Content: Luxord's had his eye on the young nun for quite a while, and now he finally gets the chance to see what makes her tick.
Setting: Unknown
Time: Unknown
Warnings: As much brainscrew as I can fit in here. Swearing on Rosette's part.
A Note: Since I play both of these characters, I'm going to do as few posts as possible and will therefore be writing for each character several times in each post. Hooray for page dividers.

Luxord smiled as the portal of darkness opened before him. It was not a nice smile. It had taken two Dusks and one of his own personal Gamblers to bring this girl in. He was looking forward to testing that strength. He wondered idly how much it would take to break it as the three lesser Nobodies chained the protesting girl to a chair anchored in the center of the room.

He hadn't been exactly truthful in his reasons for taking this girl. Sure, she had interacted with the Key's friends. Sure, she might have information. But what really intrigued him was the way time flowed around her. It seemed constrained, almost as if something were keeping it from its normal flow.

Oh yes, he was interested.

"Good evening," he greeted her politely as soon as the lesser Nobodies had completed their task and departed. "And how are you today, Miss Christopher?"

~

In a word, Rosette was terrified. She'd been in the city a grand total of one day, and in that time she'd watched somebody she'd just met simply disappear without a trace, been reunited with and then forcefully taken from her partner, imprisoned God knew where, seen a young boy tortured for no apparent reason, and then taken in for what she could only assume would be more torture, this time directed at her. "Terrified" was certainly a good summary.

Hell if she was going to show any of that to him.

"I'd be a whole lot better if you'd let me out of this chair," she snapped. If they expected her to cooperate at all, they had another thing coming.

~

Luxord had, of course, not been expecting anything of the sort. The day he found a docile research subject was the day hell would freeze.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he replied simply. "You see, I need you to stay put for the time being. Otherwise, this would end up much more painful for you." With that, and no warning, he simply walked forward and through her, drawing on his powers to read her memories. He smirked at the content of this sudden influx of information. She'd certainly led an interesting life. How much of it could he use against her?

Most likely all of it.

He turned back to her and lifted the pocketwatch from around her neck, holding it by its chain and allowing it to dangle before him, golden seal glinting in what light the room had to offer. "Quite an interesting trinket," he said conversationally. "I wonder, whose time does it count? Yours? Your partner's, maybe."

"Or perhaps," he leaned towards her conspiratorially, "it marks off the time of the poor little brother you've not yet managed to save. Poor, poor Rosette. It seems you've failed in your duties as a big sister."

He smiled again - still not a nice smile - and straightened up, allowing his poison to sink in. He'd see just how strong her heart was against its greatest weaknesses.

Comments

[nun-with-guns.livejournal.com]

Rosette gasped and stiffened as he walked through her. All of her memories flashed before her eyes, sixteen years of happiness, sadness, pleasure, and pain, all in a few scant seconds. She slumped against the back of the chair as it finished, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. How – what had he done to her?

The questions died in her throat as he took hold of the pocket watch. She cried out in panic and struggled against the chains as he simply lifted it from her neck and out of her grasp. “Stop! STOP! Give that back!” She couldn’t be without it. It was her bond to Chrno, her only bond to him now that she had been separated from him in this strange city. Without it, he wouldn’t even know if she was alive…

“What?” she whispered as the man’s words began to sink in. “How – how do you…No! No, I’m not a failure! I’ll find him! You’ll see!”

~

Luxord laughed at that. It was like caging a small stray cat – for all its hissing and spitting and intimidation, it was helpless and laughable behind those bars – or, in this girl’s case, in those chains. Her uncertainties made her easy prey, and he had the key to every one of them.

He laughed at her words, scorning her determination. “Oh, is that so? What have you been doing for the past four years, then? You’ve had plenty of opportunities to go find him, and you let them all pass to do menial tasks. What do you call that – practice?” He sneered at her, ripping open the doubts he knew she’d been having and leaving them to smart painfully in the open air.

~

Rosette reeled as his words hit her, the heaviest of blows to a confidence that had already been shaken by the day’s events. She’d been doing everything she could! She would never have been able to get him back if she and Chrno had just gone on their own that night!

Or would you have, a small doubtful part of her spoke up. Are you sure going with the order was the best choice? Why couldn’t you have just run after them after the contract was made?

She shook her head angrily, willing both the voice and the smirking man before her to shut up. “I did what I could!” she snapped at the man. “You don’t know how hard this is! I did everything I possibly could to find my little brother, and don’t you dare tell me that I didn’t!” The desperation in her voice betrayed her remaining doubts. She believed her own words, yes…but only to a point.

[dix-des-coeurs.livejournal.com]

It was that point that Luxord exploited, the point at which her doubt met her worst fear. The easiest place to hit, especially with her in such a state.

So hit it he did.

He leaned in, face only inches from hers, and asked his question in a quiet, serious tone. “What makes you think he’s even still alive?”

~

Rosette gasped and pulled as far away from this man as she possibly could. How – how could he – no! No, it couldn’t be true!

“He- he’s not!” she insisted, putting just as much emphasis on the denial as she could – which, considering that her determination and will had been horribly shaken, wasn’t very much. “They needed him! He’s alive! He’s got to be!”

~

“Why, what’s wrong?” Luxord adopted a tone of mock concern. “Can you not handle the possibility that maybe, just maybe, all your efforts were for nothing?

“Oh, but don’t worry,” he continued on, heading for the door with her precious pocket watch still in hand. “I’m sure you’ll find something else to do with your life.” He paused, offering a smirk over his shoulder as the dark portal sprang up before him. “However short it may be.”

Two steps forward, and both he and the dark portal were gone, leaving Rosette alone in the room with her thoughts.

[nun-with-guns.livejournal.com]

Several minutes passed with her bound to the chair, breathing heavily, before the strange silver creatures finally came to take her back to her cell. Her brother…her contract…her whole life…for nothing? It…it couldn’t be!

But…she…she just didn’t know…

She barely noticed and didn’t struggle as the pair of silver creatures unfastened the chains binding her and bore her back to her cell.