Quicksilver’s Quill Offers
Green Lady
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
standard disclaimers
There was just something about her.
Perhaps it was her eyes- they were a soft brown, and
looked like liquid chocolate. Maybe it was her hair- it was a
vibrant green, and looked as though it contained the color of
Terra’s healthiest ivy, and flowed freely with a life of its
own. Then again, it could be her body- and what a body she had.
Curved in the right place, and toned all over, she chose to
enhance it with tight clothing and boots that made her already
impressive inches stand out even more.
But to speak the truth, that wasn’t what it really was.
It was her laugh- the thing about her... a rippling cackle that
sent shivers down the spines of her friends (not that she really
had any) and enemies alike. It was unique to her, and repulsive
as that laugh was, it had an odd effect on people. They’d turn
and stare, yet they were entranced in spite of themselves. And
the fan certainly didn’t hurt either.
That women happened to be named Esmeraude- like all
members of the royal family (distant though she might be) she
bore the name of a precious gem. And at that moment, she was
sleeping.
Most people never thought of the Black Moon Family
resting. They were just too much, full of energy, full of
vengeance. But though their bodies had high constitutions, even
they must rest. She slept on black satin sheets, how cliché,
yet how fitting. In sleep most appear innocent, but not the
children of Nemesis. When they slept, the barriers they put up
as protection came down, and all one could see was how very old
they were. Esmeraude looked sad in her sleep, and the way her
legs and arms twitched beneath the thick comforter showed she
was having some kind of dream- and that it wasn’t a pleasant
one....
She slammed Rubeus’ hand away, then fluttered her fan to
try to deal with the heat. It was so terribly hot. How could
Rubeus ever be such an idiot and get himself into such a mess in
the first place? she wondered, then crushed the thought. If he
hadn’t been, then she would never had had this chance. Now SHE
was the First General of the Army of Nemesis, and well on her
way to finally winning Demando’s regards.
Still, as she teleported away from the doomed ship, she
felt a tinge of something-- it couldn’t possibly be regret. She
didn’t feel regret- hadn’t since she had helped Demando assume
the throne after the premature death of his father, Onyx. He
had been Heir then, and only her support, along with that of
Rubeus and Saffir, had kept him alive long enough to consolidate
power enough to keep that position. She and Rubeus had never
liked each other much, so she couldn’t be feeling regret. It
just couldn’t be that...
She almost thought she could hear Rubeus’ screams of
denial.
There’s a certain threshold a person enters when falling
asleep- the point between waking and sleeping, when all the
senses become heightened to the point of needle-sharp
sensitivity. And at that point, she would forever after relive
that moment, hear Rubeus’ screams ring in her ears, feel the
flames burn her pale skin the same way they must have consumed
him. The pain was so intense, with fire licking at her from all
sides. Then she would remember that she had escaped, that
Rubeus had been the one who had died, and plummet into a
restless slumber, forever falling.
God, she hated that. Heights always made her nauseous,
though she hid it well. Sometimes, though, she would get the
most terrible feeling of vertigo, like she couldn’t tell up from
down, and that she was falling. Oh, how she hated that
sensation. The only thing worse was the sensation that she got
whenever Demando thought of the Neo-Bitch Serenity. And
Esmeraude could always tell when her Prince was thinking of her.
Saffir sat behind his computer, looking up at her with
those blue blue eyes of his. He was attractive-- all the
members of the family were. Some might even be tempted to call
him beautiful. All the men of the Family were that, too--
Rubeus looked like fire itself, while Demando held the
changeless beauty of his namesake. But Saffir was a totally
different case; he was mysterious and watchful, and Esmeraude
hated dealing with him.
She walked into the room, the heels of her boots clicking
with a confidence she didn’t feel. It was like bearding a lion
in his den, coming to visit Saffir in his study. Those damn
eyes of his just seemed to cut right through her, making a
mockery of everything she stood for. Instead of concentrating
on her, his fingers continued to type out patterns into the
keyboard and other pads he had lying around on his desk.
Probably trying to come up with another way to conquer Crystal
Tokyo without getting messed up in the twentieth century, she
thought cynically.
His desk was sickeningly well organized. He was so anal
compulsive about it that she was sometimes tempted to sneak in
when he wasn’t around and move things around, just to piss him
off. Then again, he probably wouldn’t notice. He was too
wrapped up in his world of tactics.
"What do you want, Esmeraude-chan?" he asked lightly,
still pounding at his keyboard with nimble fingers.
The 'chan' he had attached to her name always sent her
right near the edge, but she retaliated in kind. They used to
play this game much more often when they were younger, but the
fourteen year old Saffir had finally abandoned the practice
after being accused by Rubeus of having a secret crush on his
older cousin. The look of revulsion on Saffir’s face had kept
Rubeus laughing for weeks. Esmeraude, though, had fumed for
other reasons. It wasn’t that she liked the little bookworm;
hardly that. It was the fact that he didn’t have the good taste
to recognize her beauty. "I need you to make something for me,
Saffir-kun," she purred, then let out one of her laughs.
He cringed slightly at the sound. "I don’t do love
potions, no matter what you might think," he said.
She fluttered her fan, then swung it towards him using
only two fingers. The move was elegant and smooth, and she was
glad she took the time to practice it. She spent a lot of time
making sure her hair and fan would perform the way she wanted
them to. It was hard being the most beautiful woman in the
galaxy. "Oh? I thought you did. Then how do you get Petz, I
wonder?" Saffir just glared and she knew she had scored a
point. "Anyway, that’s not what I need."
"Really," he said in a dead voice. "I don’t feel like
mixing up any make-up products for you, so do us both a favor
and leave."
That one stung. Just because she hadn’t been able to get
the right shade of red that one time, he hadn’t let her forget.
Still, the lipstick had been worth asking for his help. "Oh,
no, cousin mine," she said, coming closer to him. She watched
him tense, knowing that he hated having his personal space
invaded. And if Saffir had anything, it was a large definition
of what he considered to be personal space, especially where she
was concerned. Like half a planet worth of space. "I’m here on
business."
That got him interested. He hadn’t been particularly
fond of Rubeus (their feuding had been legendary- much worse
then the sparring he and Esmeraude conducted), and hadn’t really
gone out of his way to aid the fiery General in his attempts to
conquer the Tokyo of the past, aside from making the droidos
which he had given to the Ayakashi sisters. Rubeus had
returned the favor by ignoring Demando’s favored ototochan.
"I’m listening," he said, saving his work and turning away from
his machinery. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his
left palm.
Esmeraude knew that this was a wonderful chance. Saffir
was wonderfully brilliant, and was more then capable of
listening to her and working on his project at the same time.
But he put it aside to listen to her more carefully. She felt
herself soften, seeing a glint of the quiet child she had met so
many years ago in the library.
Squashing down the unexpected nostalgia, she laughed.
"Rubeus was an idiot. Rather then try to conquer the Crystal
Points, we can weaken Crystal Tokyo in a much easier way." With
a laugh, she explained her plan for wedges of dark power.
Saffir considered her plan carefully. "It just might
work," he said, sounding surprised. "What do you want me to
do?"
Her smile turned coy. "I thought that was obvious. I
need you to make the wedges."
Saffir sighed, then leaned back in his chair, an amused
expression on his face. "In other words, do all the hard work
for you. You don’t change, Esmeraude-san," he said.
"There’s no need to improve on perfection," she replied
matter-of-factly.
Saffir rolled his eyes. "Whatever. But I have a price
to ask of you first."
She flared, collapsing her fan. "I could have my Demando-
sama order you!" she declared.
"My oniisan wouldn’t order me to do anything, you know
that as well as I. If I refuse, you’re out of luck, since he’ll
assume I have some good reason."
Damn, the little baka was right. Demando was amazingly
blind to his little brother at times. Sometimes she thought
Demando still thought of Saffir as that seven year old who had
fallen hopelessly in love with his idol, his older brother.
"What do you want?" Esmeraude seethed.
"I want to know why," he stated simply.
All expression dropped off her face, and she looked
younger then her twenty-eight years. "Why what?" she whispered.
"Why do you serve him so loyally? Why do you love him so
much? He loves the Neo-Queen."
No one had ever dared confront her on the issue so
blatantly before. Her reaction was automatic. "He does NOT
love the Neo-Queen! It’s just a passing fascination!" she
declared confidently, though she wasn’t sure if she was trying
to convince Saffir or herself.
He lowered his eyes, the brilliant blue shaded by
amazingly thick lashes. "I hope you’re right, Esmeraude.
God, I hope so," he said.
Esmeraude almost dropped her fan in surprise. Looking at
Saffir, she recognized that he was in pain. With a jolt of
surprise, she realized that without Demando, he had nothing,
just like her. She turned around to leave the room, but was
stopped by Saffir’s quiet voice. "Be careful, Esmeraude. The
Wiseman is dangerous, and I wouldn’t want to see you hurt."
She spun around her, her long hair lifting off her
shoulders as she whirled. "You sound like you care," she
teased, though she was truly confused.
He sniffed derisively. "I don’t like you anymore then
you like me. But you’re my family, and now that Rubeus is
dead, you and Demando are my only family. It shouldn’t make a
difference, but it does."
She didn’t know how to reply, so fell back into a laugh,
though the laugh was noticeably weaker then usual. "Just make
sure you have the wedges ready for me."
"Have I ever not been ready before?" he asked somewhat
bitterly, then returned to the computer.
And he was. When he presented her with the first wedge,
she was surprised that they were shaped like statues of her.
She heartily approved of his good taste.
Now there was a mirror in front of her. She fluffed her
hair, preparing to admire herself. Esmeraude looked into the
mirror, and then screamed. The reflection that stared back
wasn’t her own. It was that of a woman she had never actually
seen in person, but this women had the greatest impact of almost
anyone on Esmeraude’s life- aside from Demando himself.
The reflection that stared back was that of the ageless
Neo-Queen Serenity, star of mystery. She smiled out sadly, and
Esmeraude collapsed to her knees. "Wha-what?" she stuttered.
The Queen pressed her palm against her side of the mirror,
shaking her head. "I don’t know. You’re the one who brought
me here, Esmeraude-san."
"You know me?" Esmeraude asked, regaining some of her
confidence.
"You’ll know me, or at least one of my incarnations,"
Serenity answered. "It’s all in the past, or the future,
depending on how you view it,"" she said, biting her lip. "I
never really understand time. I just trust Pluto to tell me
what I need to know."
Esmeraude rose to her feet, cocking her hip forward
slightly, regaining her sexy posture. This woman was the
person she hated most in the world. It simply wouldn’t do to
be less then her usual gorgeous and seductive self.
The Neo-Queen was beautiful, by some people’s standards.
She was fair, almost as fair as Demando himself. She had long
silver hair that was done up in a strange style. Her eyes,
though, were a strange combination of innocence and wisdom,
holding knowledge with faith. Esmeraude looked her over, and
determined that the Queen’s beauty was nothing compared to her
own.
"You really aren’t that pretty," Esmeraude said bluntly.
"You are an absolutely zero in the sex appeal department. You
don’t even have that much of a chest, and your fashion sense
leaves something to be desired- I mean, white? It’s not even
the right time of year, and it does absolutely nothing for you.
And darling, you need all the help you can get." Then she let
loose that laugh, sending ripples of sound everywhere.
Serenity blinked a few times in surprise, obviously at a
loss for words. Her mouth moved soundlessly, trying to find
something to say. "Endymion never has any complaints," she
murmured finally, then looked at Esmeraude with keen eyes.
"But that’s not it. You’d rather be me then you. Why?"
Esmeraude looked at her and knew she couldn’t lie.
"Because at least Demando thinks of you. How come he never
notices the wonderful thing right under his nose?" she raged at
the pure Queen.
The Queen shrugged helplessly. "Men are like that. But
my questions for you are simple. Why do you serve him so
loyally? Why do you love him so much?"
The words echoed in Esmeraude’s hands, and she pressed her
black-gloved hands against her skull, the fan finally slipping
unnoticed to the floor. The Queen’s words were exactly the
same that Saffir had asked. Why do you serve him so loyally?
Why do you love him so much?
She looked into the mirror again, but this time, there was
no reflection. Just darkness.... Her vision began to spin and
that sensation of vertigo entered. She was falling forward,
and there was no place she could land...
Falling.... falling... fallingfallingfalling.....
...and worse of all, there was no one to hear her screams.
Esmeraude sat up in bed, a scream caught in her throat.
There was a light sheen of perspiration on her skin, and she
realized that she would have to shower immediately. She
cursed, realizing it would take a good half-hour to get her hair
restyled after getting it wet.
There is a reason that the denizens of Nemesis hate sleep.
For in sleep, they relive the past and view possible truths, and
are forced to confront the grim reality of their lives.
Esmeraude’s reality was simple. It all came down to a few
questions. Unfortunately, she didn’t know what the answers
were.
Even at the moment of her death, Esmeraude never knew
those elusive answers.
THE END
FEEDBACK!!!
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
This story isn’t beta-d. Probably should be, but I actually
like it too much- who would have thought?
I like Esmeraude. This story is going out to all you fans of
the Green Lady- especially people like elektra-chan (visit
http://www.angelfire.com/ia/Esmeraude/ to understand why I say
that).
This fits into my VIRGO continuity (“Huh-what?” you say, but
Quicksilver replies “Be patient”.) Let me know if you loved or
hated it, and also let me know if my symbolism caught you! This
is the first time I wrote a piece that was truly “symbolic”.
My homesite:
http://www.homestead.com/quicksilverslabyrinth/files/headpage.htm
(
geocities.com/televisioncity/set) (
geocities.com/televisioncity)