[22:08] <Feldi> "I don't know what he did to you, but...you're obviously not yourself. Still."
[22:08] <Earthflame> "...He isn't the problem. Not really." She shakes her head... Starting to walk towards the waterfront, expecting Dia to follow.
[22:09] <Feldi> Dia frowns, glancing and nodding at the others to go ahead, then walks after her old mentor.
[22:15] <Earthflame> Walking into the space between the city and the water, the empty air and the night sky far above... The woman before her sighs, looking at the lights glistening on the river. "...I don't know who I am anymore."
[22:17] <Feldi> Dia shivers at that word, something hard and cold pressing against her heart. "...what do you mean?"
[22:17] <Feldi> that sentence*
[22:18] <Earthflame> "Brilliant Woman?" She shakes her head. "...I don't know if that's who I am. 'Her Dark Majesty'" She laughs bitterly. "...It was something to do. Something to be... Because I didn't want to face this. To not know..."
[22:20] <Feldi> "...why? You left Sunset City without telling me why you left.  I thought you had gone to chase after Night Rose or someone....was that not true?"
[22:21] <Earthflame> "No." She shakes her head. "He was... Familiar. Something to latch onto. To not feel so... Lost." She shivers again, wrapping her arms around herself... Looking weaker and more vulnerable than Dia can ever remember her being.
[22:25] * Otgonbayar (ID_Work@sux-5E37509F.sub-174-218-9.myvzw.com) Quit (Quit: )
[22:25] <Feldi> Dia stares at her mentor for a long moment.  Awkwardly, she reaches out to place her fingers lightly on the other woman's arm, but they fall before they reach her skin. "But...why didn't you tell me you were...feeling this way? I came searching for you! I thought you were captured...in trouble! And you were just...playing a part?!" Dia can't help but let the hurt flow into her voice.
[22:26] <Earthflame> She shudders... Hanging her head. "...I'm sorry..."
[22:28] <Feldi> "...was it all true then? What you said to me in that dressing room? That you don't want to be a hero anymore?..." Dia's hands curl and uncurl.  She can't quite look at her mentor like this.  The woman she remembers was so confident, so strong, and this...
[22:29] <Earthflame> "...I don't know." She shakes her head again. "After... When he found me, I was... Empty. Even that dumb prick was able to influence me that much..." She shivers. "...It felt good. It was soothing, to feel... Anything. After-" Breath catches in her throat again... Light glistening from tears, running down her cheeks.
[22:31] <Feldi> "After...? Brilliant, what happened?" The sight of the tears on her mentor's face captures her eyes, leaving her staring, her own eyes watery.
[22:33] <Earthflame> "...I don't know. It's..." she presses the heel of her hand to her forehead, closing her eyes. "...It's confused and messed up and... Wrong. I was... Going after something bad. Something so bad, I..." She pauses, glancing back to Dia again. "...I thought about bringing you with me, but... There wasn't time, or I was scared, or..." She turns, suddenly, letting out a shout of frustration and a
[22:33] <Earthflame> flicker of that crimson light... Still tinged with flecks of shadow.
[22:39] <Feldi> "...someone did this to you." The hurt in Dia's voice falls away, replaces with hard-edged anger. "This wasn't your choice.  You...you didn't lose yourself, someone buried who you were under their...shadow." She practically spits the word. Dia's body twitches, the anger flowing through her body like a jagged bolt of lightning.
[22:40] <Earthflame> "...I remember a lot of those. Shadows. Shadows and mist and screaming." She hangs her head. "...Laughter, too. Mocking me. That I was no hero. That I couldn't save anyone... Not even myself. I saw people die. I felt myself die... But I was still standing, still running... Still screaming..."
[22:43] <Feldi> "Brilliant..." Finally, she reaches out with both her hands, placing them on her mentor's shoulders, squeezing hard. "You are a hero.  You always were, to me, to everyone in Sunset City! Whoever did this to you, I'm going to make them pay.  I'll burn away all the mist and shadow and find the /bastard/ who did this to you.  I promise on the Heavens."
[22:43] <Feldi> Heavens' themselves.*
[22:45] * AndroUser2 (androirc@sux-5F2786F.sub-174-221-134.myvzw.com) has joined channel #hellic
[22:45] <Earthflame> At those last words... Golden light radiates from Dia's hand, sending a shiver through Brilliant... Blinking, closing her eyes, opening them... Looking just a little like her old self... Although it's clear any healing will take time. "...If you believe that about me, Dia... Perhaps it really is possible." she bites her lip, though, fear showing again... Raising a hand to squeeze Dia's. "But...
[22:45] <Earthflame> Don't. Not for my sake. We can't afford to lose you too."
[22:48] * Xiaozhi (androirc@sux-C28DECE7.sub-70-198-78.myvzw.com) Quit (Ping timeout)
[22:48] <Feldi> Dia squeezes back. "If there's one thing you taught me that I'll never let go of, it's that Justice always wins in the end. You won't lose me, because with the Heavens and my new friends at my side, there's no way I can lose."
[22:48] <Feldi> She sounds so absolutely certain about that, and inside she is, unshakeably.
[22:48] <Earthflame> She smiles a little more. "...Maybe I might be able to believe that too." She pauses... And then throws her arms around Dia, hugging her tight.
[22:49] * AndroUser2 is now known as Xiaozhi
[22:49] <Feldi> Dia brings her hands off her mentor's shoulders and hugs her back just as tight.
[22:50] <Earthflame> ...Feeling her back start to shake, and a few spots of hot tears against her skin... There's no sound, though. The woman who was her mentor clinging to her, silently sobbing... Fear and loss and pain flowing out of her...
[22:52] <Feldi> Dia holds her through it all, the warmth of her anger fading into something more comforting.
[22:54] <Earthflame> It's quite a while before she wipes her eyes. "...I'm not going to leave. But I... I need time. To figure out... Who I am anymore." Pulling back a bit, raising a hand again... The brilliant light of her Chi still stained with that shadow. "...The darkness in that place... It never left me."
[22:56] * AndroUser2 (androirc@sux-17718EBE.sub-97-46-3.myvzw.com) has joined channel #hellic
[22:56] <Feldi> "There might be people who can help with that.  I have a friend who's part of the Hundred Ghost Faction...perhaps they'd know how to work that darkness out of you.  But...I'm just glad I found you again."
[22:57] <Earthflame> "...I'm not sure you did, Dia." She shakes her head. "...I'm not sure if I made it out of there."
[22:58] * Xiao (androirc@sux-DCD7581C.sub-174-221-2.myvzw.com) has joined channel #hellic
[22:58] <Feldi> "Maybe you didn't, but you will." Dia says with conviction. "I'll help you find your way back."
[22:59] * Xiaozhi (androirc@sux-5F2786F.sub-174-221-134.myvzw.com) Quit (Ping timeout)
[22:59] * Xiao is now known as Xiaozhi