What Must Be Done [NaNoWriMo ficlet]

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Svartfreja
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What Must Be Done [NaNoWriMo ficlet]

Post by Svartfreja »

Part One

It was a dark and stormy night....

Well... it wasn't... but we can pretend. These stories always sound better when they start that way. It was dark though. Just more balmy than stormy. Ew Summer.

Anyway....


It was a dark and stormy night and the house was almost silent but for the gentle creaks and cracks of the wood settling down. But Lily couldn't sleep. She huffed and rolled over, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in, but to no avail. She eventually gave up, climbed over her sleeping partner and wandered out into the hallway, pulling on a robe and closing the door behind her.

She walked along the hall and down the stairs; maybe a glass of water would help settle her down?

She put the light on to cross the entrance hall and was startled by a sudden knock at the door. She frowned, why knock when there was a perfectly good doorbell? Had she been in bed there was no way she'd have heard that knock.... Pulling her robe tighter around her and tying the belt, Lily shuffled over to the door.

She stood on tip-toe to look through the spy hole... there was no one there. She sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little. Probably just kids. She stepped away from the door. There was another knock.

She was quicker off the mark this time, straight over to the spy-hole, looking left and right to try and see the culprit. Still nothing. She chewed a lip then unlocked the front door.

"Took you long enough!" A hooded and cloaked figure pushed past her into the house, "Been stood out there for ages trying to get your attention!"

"Excuse me! You can't just... this is my home! I didn't invite you in!" Lily stared at the woman who'd not even taken her hood down yet.

"You opened the door 'sgood enough for me." The hooded woman replied. "Gonna close the door now or stand there all night?"

"I'd like to close the door, preferably with you on the other side of it." she gestured for the woman to leave. Despite the fact that she towered over her, Lily wasn't afraid. This was her home. And she had reinforcements upstairs.

The hooded figure sighed, "Not even going to offer me a cup of tea after my travels?"

"Why should I?! You haven't even introduced yourself!"

"I would have thought you'd have recognised me by now..." The woman raised her hands to the hood, "Your mother was sure you would remember me...."

As the hood was lowered, revealing a head of dark hair, as black as her own, realisation dawned on Lily. "Not you...."

Charming. There I am, making an effort to be all dark and mysterious and.... nice and all I get is 'not you'. That's just rude.

"Shall I assume that means you do remember me?"

"What do you want?"

Wonderful manners on this one, 'ey?

"I want to talk to Corrine. I presume she's still here?" The woman looked around the hall, "You've changed things a lot since I was last here...."

"Of course we have - it's been well over a hundred years." Lily folded her arms, "Corrine won't want to see you either."

"Probably not, but I should talk to her nonetheless - through the door if needs be." The woman removed her cloak, creating a stand to hang it on out of thin air. "I have something for her."

"You have nothing I want." Lily and the woman looked up, "Lily is quite right, I have no wish to speak to you or hear what you have to say." Corrine stopped at the top of the stairs, resting her hands on the rail, "Please leave." She looked impressive, regal, even stood there in her short emerald green nightdress and matching silk robe.

"I told you." Lily narrowed her stone grey eyes on the woman, who sighed somewhat exasperatedly. This was not going at all how she'd hoped.

"Look..." she started, "I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm here in an official capacity. There were terms that you agreed when you left." She spoke directly to Corrine, "Those terms were to be adhered to by both parties. I'm sorry to say that not everyone was able to keep to them."

"... Close the door, Lily...." Corrine stepped away from the rail and came down the stairs; she didn't bother to tie her robe. Stopping a few feet short of the other woman, she regarded her.

They were the same height, similar builds, tall and slim. But they were different in the other aspects of their appearance. Corrine had long brown hair that fell naturally into ringlets and somehow always managed to look perfect even when she'd just got out of bed. Her eyes were a deep green, the kind of green that made one think of a forest - one that you could get lost in for days on end. She was graceful, elegant and poised.

The other woman had black poker-straight hair and brown eyes. Beneath her cloak (which was solid black with a silver clasp) she wore red robes and soft-soled red shoes. Her skin was pale but it didn't make her look unwell, it gave her an ethereal beauty, the kind that could make one wonder if she was really human at all.

Both women had strong personalities. And, as they stood there facing each other, a battle of wills began. Neither willing to break the other's gaze or the silence that stretched between them. Lily watched in fascination, it was like a game to her but, naturally, she wanted Corrine to win.

Eventually the woman in red turned away to reach into her cloak. Corrine relaxed a little having gained that small victory. Lily went to stand beside her, slipping an arm around her waist. They both watched her movements, Corrine frowned a little, sliding an arm around Lily's shoulders and giving her a small squeeze. Lily looked up and smiled at her.

The woman in red retrieved the item she needed from her cloak and paused with her back to the couple. Holding the necklace loosely in her left hand, she traced her thumb over the green stone. It looked so empty now, lifeless... like its former owner. She sighed, "Corrine... I'm sorry...." She turned and showed her the necklace.

Corrine's eyes went wide, she shook her head disbelievingly, "No...."

Lily bit her lip, loosening her grip a little as Corrine released her altogether to take the necklace. She moved her hand up to touch Corrine's arm, trying to offer some comfort.

"They... they didn't have any other children, Corrine..." The woman in red continued to speak, "You need to come home...."

Corrine nodded, holding the necklace to her and touching her own necklace - almost identical but for the small light of life inside it. "How...?"

"Earthlings..." Came the simple reply, "They're trying to start a war...."

"Why?" Lily asked, "They must know that'd be a bad idea...."

"Because they're human, and have to own everything...." Corrine muttered; she walked away from them. "If they want a war, I'll gladly oblige."

"No, you won't." The woman in red told her, "We can't risk something like that.... You know that already."

"I don't care!" Corrine turned around, her eyes shining with tears, "They killed my mother!"
:quicksilver Pietro Maximoff [Quicksilver]

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IronMan: That is the noise Pietro makes right before he's tossed out of the airlock. ~ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6
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