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ohdeargodnotyouagain · 7 years ago

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Way Down We Go (Side Piece)

Down the tunnel as they followed as a lightshow- but not the normal kind in clubs or bars. This one the memories were sketched out on the walls of the caves as Cassander walked in front of them. He glowed as he started to jog- the man running through time to get someplace. His memories were scratched in white in the darkness.

322 BC. The tunnel shifted around them suddenly to where they were inside a temple- a beautiful, tall, elaborate stone palace that dancers and people sang. The food smelled so sweet; it was an almost painful contrast to the scent of death before. The shadow remained beside Shade, but perhaps, slightly more whole than before. It breathed raggedly behind her, like it could not fully expand its lungs- but it was soft enough to lose over the sound of the music around them.

A man was dancing with several other men; he was younger than Shade knew now. Still boyish in expression and not the soldier she yet knew. He danced and twirled, leaving all those, including the king who sat on the thrown with another man beside them. It was obvious who those were from the men who sat beside her body in reality. Alexander and Hephastian were both dazzled by him, though Hephastian seemed far more worried in his expression than the other.

Cassander had once told her how they had met. He had been a spy for the Persian army, sent to assassinate Alexander but had instead saved them both. The moment Alexander looked away from him; the man seemed to take offense. He pulled a strap from his body that was both rope like and a decoration. He moved it like a weapon at first, because he was a warrior in his movements. He was trained and honed from a young age. And he was graceful in a predatory way.

Cassander took the front of the dancers and walked forward, standing before the king and his lover for a moment. Before he twirled and moved forward to them, taking out his whip and cracking it- it came to life with a dazzling brilliant blue electric bolt. It twirled with his movements, creating a tornado one moment and then being a new creature before them the next. The bolt became a projector instead of a killing bolt and it showed them gorgeous images from his own memory. A brilliant cat padding its way toward them and roared, and then a glimpse of their jungle homeland. Birds breaking over a brilliant sunset and the images exploded into shining light that sent a brilliant ending to their dance. The servants dropped before it and the dancers dropped too, leaving only him standing. The drums that were banging their climax to the song stopped dead and Cassander stood before the king.

It was a sight. All the other dancers were to the floor, heads bowed to- What seemed like, Cassander. He stood at the front, the entire clan behind him in one soul. Cassander raised his head in dignity only of a prince… and then bowed himself, setting himself as a guest to their court. A peaceful gesture. The servant posing to be the prince in his place beside the King frowned, but did not clap as so many others did around them. The room was alive with them. “See me, king.”

The king stood, stepping down to him in the saunter that Shade would know so well. "What is your name?" The memory again, translated for her. The dancer bowed low, "Gaia."

Alexander scoffed, "That's a woman's name. And you are no woman." He thought for a moment, "I think... you should be called Cassander in my court." His smile was devious but Cassander's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "For in your court, and always." He answered the young king, who nodded his satisfaction. "Come to my side, meet Adia." He gestured to another young man who was also Persian and beautiful beyond believe. His eyes shown like gold in the firelight. "Hello." The man greeted, and Cassander blinked, smiling at him, "Hello." The fire in the middle of the room seemed to grow as they continued to speak and then the people were running- a memory blending into another, one in which when Shade looked away, another took over. This time, of a new scene before her.

148 BC. Cassander was being drug by his armor, bloody and war torn, by Hephastian who had tears streamed down his face. Alexander gasped for breath, sword swaying in his hand as dead lay around him. "They are burning it!" Alexander cried aloud, "They are burning Macedonian and everyone in it. Gods I wished never to see this day." Hephastian swallowed, "My king-" He had to say it twice more before Alexander looked at him, "We need to go- Roxanna and the young prince are safe thanks to our friend- now we need to go- run away with each other until we can no longer see smoke." Cassander moaned softly and Hephastian shushed him, "We must go, my love." And Alexander nodded, dropping his sword and picking up Cassander instead. "We will stay together." He told him- and they drug his limp body into the dark burning night.

60 BC. More fire. This time images of a volcano erupting and Cassander swimming, watching death and destruction around him. The shadow behind her looked up at the volcano erupting and hunched over, too long arms seemingly pooling into the ground to mix with smoke and ash. Alexander's face in the crowd, holding onto Hephastian for dear life, screaming out for Cassander who was swept into a different direction. It was sad to watch as the people around them died and they were separated.

40 BC. Then another memory came, this time of Cassander looking at Graego across from a tavern and going to him. "Me'ami?" He whispered and the face turned around and they kissed desperately- some of the men around them barked laughter that the drink had gotten to their heads and he pulled him into an alleyway, "Never leave me again." Graego whispered and Cassander shook his head, "I- I- I'm such a fool." He sobbed, shaking terribly in Graego's hug. What he could not see was the smile that curved Graego's face as he cried into his shoulder. The shadow raised a hand, gently touching her but not entirely. Just hovering there. A man that Shade did not know came from the darkness to whisper to Graego, "Meet my new apprentice Cassander. Brutus, general of the recently deceased Caesar." He purred and Cassander jerked backward from him, "You... made an immortal?" He whispered to Graego and he nodded, "Yes... do you like him?" Cassander's mouth worked and he swallowed, "You..." Whatever he said was cut off very suddenly- the memory was shifting again.

1095. "Charge!" There was a scream as horses ran past them- their hooves beating the ground and wading through lakes of blood. The crusades- and Cassander was there on a hill overlooking the bloodshed, before he dropped to his knees. "What have I done- What have I-" He gasped, trying to wipe the blood from his hands. Behind her, the voice of the shadow repeated it, but it was softer, "I killed them all." It responded to the Cassander that couldn't hear it.

1227. The next memory was strange because it was not of Cassander, but a woman. There was screaming and crying going on outside the window of a village shack. Perhaps it was someone else that he remembered- but when the woman peeked over the side of the window, shushing several other women in the room with her, it was clear who it was. Cassander, with long black hair and the brightest blue eyes, watched the men of Genghis Khan walk over the bodies of the men. The shadow beside Shade was purposefully standing close by her this time, almost in front of her like its presence would keep the memory from being real. Cassander would give a single for small groups of women to run, until she was one of the few left when the door burst down. She stood there, scared out of her mind with a knife in both hands.

1230. The next few memories of her made the shadow disappear from view- she was captured by the man, put in a cage and treated like cattle. It was... It was horrible and sickening and had no real word to describe the inhuman nature of what was done to this woman. And one could see the haunted look Cassander had in his eyes truly form here. The flickering scenes were like a television on bad reception until it landed on her in a barn. The other women were either dead or sleeping around her. She was crying softly as she held a small albino baby who wasn't breathing. Cassander sung a soft lullaby to it, rocking it back and forth. A mother, naked and bathed in moonlight, singing to her dead child who had undoubtedly just been born. She would occasionally try to bring it back to life- the same way Cassander had done to Graego, Alexander and Hephastian, but nothing seemed to take. A man came into the same area as her and started to remove his-

The ending was just as horrid. But this time, the woman stood victorious. The village that Khan had inhabited was destroyed- leaving nothing but the men's heads on pikes. She stood standing over a funeral burning of the women that did not make it; the bundle was no longer in sight. "What will you do?" Another woman asked and she shook her head, "I have nothing left. I will left the ocean take me, and hopefully let it drown me." She again, left the funeral pyre behind her, only this time with tears in her eyes.

1270. Ocean sounds rattled the world around her, and the shadow still had no returned. This time, this time Shade could see the woman tying up sails far above her. She looked down at a man who stared back at her. "What are you staring at?!" She snapped at him and he grinned, "Just the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!" He called and she slid down one of the ropes to land in front of him- billowing shirt barely falling off her shoulders. "Keep your eyes to yourself, Polo." He shrugged, "My eyes are my own, but I can't help them when you catch them with yours." She blushed and he shrugged, "Doesn't it seem just lovely."

She took a breath, "What does?" Marco Polo gestured to the ocean, "This. And you." Cassander swallowed, "I know what you want, I you cannot have it." When she walked away, he followed her, "And what says I demand it from you so?" Cassander twisted around, "All men do."

"Not me." He sobered, "Not me." His voice was soft on her, "I have one love, and she is the sea. But you seem as though you need more than the sea." Cassander swallowed and he smiled at her kindly, "Come, let me show you the world." The next few years was her exploring with him- the adventures they got into. They almost... almost, found love in each other. But by 1299, he had found someone else, and Cassander left in the dead of the night when they docked in England. A little heartbroken, and with one eye looking backward to see if he would follow. He didn't.

1350. The woman was running again, but this time from a group of men on horseback through the woods. Witch hunters. For a moment- just for a moment- the woman saw Shade. Her eyes widened and she yelled at her, "Run you fool! The hunters are here!" She screamed, grabbing hold of Shade's hand and running with her. The memories were becoming much more real. She ran until she could no longer run and they fell into a trench- except Shade kept falling. Fell into the next memory of a man looking down at her.

1481. "Are you alright?" He asked and the woman blinked up at him, "Yes." She whispered and sat up, "Where am I?" Cassander asked him and he, the young man, shrugged, "Nowhere and everywhere it seems. You feel through my roof!" He pointed upwards and she shook some straw out of her hair. "Oh." Through the hole, there was another building that towered over the man's home. It was clear what she had been trying to do and it had nothing to do with flying. "It seems quite lucky you hit my roof!" He laughed, "You could have died!"

She said nothing as she picked up herself, "Excuse me, I must be going. I will pay for the damages as soon as I can- I promise you sir."

He stepped in front of her before she could leave. "Now wait just a minute, my dear. You are sick, cold and hungry. Any man can tell. Please, at least sit with me and have a warm drink." It was no secret that she was gaunt. Thin and tired. She looked at the bread he waved in front of her face and cleared her throat as he led her to sit. The memories fast forwarded to him showing her his drawings. Her becoming more and healthier until she was the one fixing the roof. They talked and enjoyed each other's company. The memories slowed to where he was older- in his forties now. "Leonardo?" She asked across their living room. He hummed softly in response.

"Why do you not desire me?" She asked and the man lifted his head, "Pardon?"

"You and I have lived together for many years- but you have never once fancied me to join you in bed. Am I ugly to you?" He laughed and she frowned at him.

"No my dearest... I just... I am not a normal man." She frowned at him and asked him what that meant and he sighed, slowly explaining his... awkward tastes. Now she laughed, "There is nothing awkward about you." She told him, "I just wish I was in my other form- perhaps I could belong to you in such a way I hold you." He came to sit beside her and refilled her drink, "My dear, you have given an old man hope for our future and not to mention, helped with some of my designs and... been my companion." He pointed up at the pair of wings they had strung from the ceiling.

She stayed by his side until the day he died. She did not change one bit, and closed his eyes for him when he let his last breath out. Cassander placed a kiss on his head, "In another life. I will meet you. And I will love you all over again, my dearest Leo." She whispered to him, wrapping her face in a shawl and leaving the room.

1517. There were heads Cassander saw in the distance. He gasped, running in a full sprint across the market screaming their names. Alexander and Hephastian twisted, eyes lighting up and tears all over again. They tackled each other, laughing and crying. A woman was with them with her long blond hair pulling around her shoulders. She cried seeing them too, and so did another, the one that kissed Cassander so deeply the memory couldn't convey how much it made Cassander's heart stop. They had found each other. The pyramid stood towering in the distance and he gasped, "I thought I had lost you all- I thought-" He gasped and Alexander gripped him, "We will always find each other- We will." He promised.

1650. Another flash of memory- this one felt realer than the last. Cassander stood on a pyre, tied to a pole. "Can we hurry it up please." he called to the pilgrim holding a torch. "This is getting very boring. Burn the witch. Yes- Yes, burn the witch." He snarled at the man who jerked with the flame. Cassander yawned as he was slowly burnt alive- and then came right back to life before them causing the villagers to scream and run. "Burn the witch my ass." He snapped at the few had remained. "All witches are under my protection! For every witch you burn I will bring back to unleash hell tenfold!" He screamed and the villagers went running as the skin on his face regrew. "Amateurs." He grunted, jumping down from the pyre and adjusting his burnt clothing. Adia sighed, handing him another coat. "Please, Me’ami, can we not try to antagonize the locals?" Cassander scoffed, "Why not, is the question."

1718. Another memory took over for the last. It was getting to mentally exhausting being here. This one on another ship that was circling a whirlpool. Cassander stood, wide brim hat with a feather in it waving in the wind, right at the front of the ship as cannons flew past him. The shadow had returned. It was behind her and human shaped. It no longer had the film grain around it, but solid edges. Cassander, and the group, lead an unholy siege against the British Empire. The Golden Age of the Pirate was upon them. A well placed canon ball hit the mast and they started to sink into the whirlpool.

1801. They were at a bar, Adia and Cassander. A smile on his features as he whispered into Adia's ear and slipped something onto his finger. Adia's face lit up and he turned, kissing him deeply. They laughed and sung together with a group of people. Alexander, Hephastian and Lykana were nowhere in sight. There was a horrible sound of yelling and the scene flickered in and out. "No...” Said a voice behind her, "not this again." Cassander's voice came out of the black shadow. "Not this." The scene's sound went in and out as Cassander was thrown into a wall and beat nearly to death. Adia was dragged in front of him.

Graego was there, shouting in words that were temporarily muted. "You thought you could take another?!" He snarled at him when the sound came back. People were screaming and running from the bar, leaving Graego, Brutus and several other immortals there. "YOU DARED. THINK YOU COULD. REPLACE ME." He hit him again with every word. Cassander begged for Adia's life- not his own. "See what is like- to lose the most important person in the world to you!" The shadow moaned behind her as it curled in on itself. "Adia- baby-"

Cassander looked into his eyes; "Look at me- I'm sorry- I love you so much-" And Graego took a sword from the hand of one of his men and swinging it downward. Beheading Adia- Cassander screamed- a bone breaking, lung crushing scream of agony seeing it. "No- No-" The shadow got louder like Cassander, "I don't take pleasure in this, Cassander." Graego whispered angrily, "But you can't just replace me. I am everything to you. And I will not be forgotten."

1850. More images. Ones of Cassander crawling through the dirt with people behind him. Him talking to a present- Abraham Lincoln. Pained expressions as Cassander drunk... and drunk more. It lead right into the civil war where he walked amongst the bodies of men and brothers. His long, thousand yard stare.

1889. They were on a bridge, overlooking a long river that flowed beneath them. Cassander was close to the man that she knew now, but yet, somewhat innocent in his features. He was talking a young woman from the ledge, “Jane… please…” He whispered to her on the other side of the railing. “Please, my love. Come down from there. I don’t care what you’ve done.” His voice was soft, begging quietly, but urgent. “Jane, I don’t care- Please don’t take yourself away from me.”

The woman turned to look at him. Her eyes were red, “I killed those women.” He swallowed, “I know.” She took a breath, “You know what your little police force call me?” His voice was soft, “They think it is a man. Jack the Ripper, I’ve lead them astray- come now.” He whispered to her and she hissed at him, “Jane. Jane the Ripper. Much more fitting.” Cassander swallowed, “Please, think of the baby.”

Cassander had had nightmares of this when they slept together. Shade would know the softness of his voice, the whisper, “Jane no- Jane-“in his restless sleep. When asked, he told her once of a woman he loved in England, who had killed herself and the baby he thought was his. How much he had been looking forward to it. It was a topic of pain neither of them liked to bring up.

Cassander stepped a little closed and she climbed over the railing after taking his hand. “This baby isn’t yours.” She told him suddenly and he blinked at her, “What?” Jane looked into his eyes, frown on her pursed lips. “It isn’t.” She hissed at him. “And I was right- That’s the only reason you’re saving me. You want the baby. Well you can’t have it!” He shook his head, “No! That’s- What- JANE!” She had taken a knife out of her pocket, cutting into her stomach and repeatedly stabbing herself. Cassander caught her, calling out for help. He put a hand on the blood and she stared at him, “I won’t let you take my baby.” She hissed at him and he shook his head, “No no- I don’t- I want you both- you both-!”

The image sped up- again, like a poorly used television- to images of her taking her first breath as an immortal. To Cassander buying them a house by the ocean. To her hurtful words and her abuse. To the relationship that Cassander was so willing to go along with because he thought he deserved the pain she caused. The shadow said nothing in this- not even when they sat across a courtroom and she pointed at him- to the cuffs that were slapped around his wrist that he had hurt her even when the bruise was on his jawbone. To the Asylum they had put him in and the bars he had grown accustomed to. His entire life had been one tragedy after another.

1876. He picked up the phone- the first time it had ever rung and put it to his ear slowly. “Uh… Hello?” He asked and the voice on the other end was screaming with joy. “I knew it!” Alexander laughed, “WHAT AN AGE!” He laughed and Cassander practically collapsed. They talked for hours on this new thing- this telephone that he knew would connect people across the world soon enough. “Find me.” He told Alexander, “Find me and take me away from here.” Alexander asked about Adia and Cassander couldn’t answer him. “It’s my fault, Alexander…. Everything is my fault. Please... I need to see you. I just...” Alexander calmed him, “I’m on my way, brother. Hold on. I know...” He swallowed, “I’m coming. Just hold on.”

1914. The worst war he had ever seen and he stood to take a picture with his troops. Captain Roshack. A name he had forged on his papers to make it look legal. He had misheard the man asking him to look at the ink blots and he had answered with it. It seemed like a good name as any. The flash made his eyes hurt and he walked toward the encampment. The sounds of fighting were not far away. A man handed him a cigarette and he thanked him, smoking it as he looked over the fields. “God I hope this is the last war like this.” He sighed, “It won’t be.”

1944. The shadow left her side and walked toward the dying man on the ground- and seemingly went right into him. They went through his years at Ford, the good years of the 30s in Cassander’s barhopping. Alexander, Hephastian and Lykana staying together against all odds. Until he was drafted. He built his first engine, to only come here on the battle field of World War II. He was filled with holes, and was staring up at cloudy sky above him. His eyes found Shade looking over him and he blinked slowly, “Are you an angel?” He asked quietly, looking up at her. His voice was cut off by the blood rising up his throat. The rain pelting down came in sheets, soaking him to the bone. He shivered as he sunk further into the mud. There was no one left alive on this side of the battlefield. “It’s okay…” Cassander whispered to her, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He was holding the hand of a soldier who had died not too long ago. It wasn’t clear if he was talking to him or to her, even as he stared into her eyes. Through the rain was a small bark and a dog no bigger than a puppy came sloshing through the rain and sniffed him. A small, black ball of fur that was desperate to find someone, started to tug him out of the mud, digging with his front paws to get him out as best he could. Cassander gasped in pain as the dog drug him up the trench was the water started to rise further and he rolled over and the dog crawled under his arm to try to get him up, Cassander moaned again and gasped as he started to throw up bullets. The dog licked his bloody hand, whimpering as he slowly got to his feet. He picked up the dog with shaky legs, not strong enough to even carry his gun by to drag it behind him through the muddy field of bodies. “What do they call you huh?” He asked the dog, limping heavily towards the sounds of gunfire. “Artemis. That’s what they call you.”

1986. He drove away, tears in his eyes with a handful of people in the back of his truck. The ruins of Chernobyl behind him as he drove fast to get out of dodge. Graego had done it again- tried to take the world from everyone. He had found a place he could have been happy and Graego had gotten in the way of it again. Damn him. DAMN HIM. He swallowed, Artemis panting beside him in the floorboards. He patted his head, “Don’t worry boy. We’ll be okay.” He whispered to the dog, who huffed from where he was on the floor.

2012. His eyebrows rose a little at the piece of paper in his hands. The address was… interesting, to say the least. Cassander looked up at the building and cocked his head to the side. His suit was impeccable, as was the rest of him. Not a hair out of place, tie practically glued into its spot with its sapphire pin holding steady. The man glanced at the note in his hand before it turned to ash in a flash like someone had taken a picture- then it flew into the wind off his palm. No evidence of his charge would be left for people to see.

He let the sunglasses slide down his nose a little as he stepped to the front door. A light touch to the doorbell and he waited, arms behind his back. When it opened he didn’t smile. It wasn’t his job to do that. “Ms. Shade, I presume?” He asked softly, his throat gave his tone a low rumble. Another her stood there in front of the door, her face immediate suspicious of the man. This time there was no shadow to make ominous comments about this interaction. Cassander kept her at arm’s length, but as time went on, he started smiling at her when she wasn’t looking. But he let his guard down. Just when they were starting to seem to get to that edge of- of whatever he was he was scared of. Her ex- there was a battle and Cassander made it just in time to get her to the hospital- She had killed him. Cassander waited there by her side, praying that she would wake up. That he could protect her better. Lykana came to her in the middle of the night. Her steps silent. “Cassander.” She greeted and he looked up at her, a tired expression on his face. “Hey.” He breathed, “How’d you find me?” She shrugged, “Alexander.”

He nodded, “Go get some sleep.” She told him after a moment, “I will watch over your new pet until she wakes.” Cassander frowned, “I thought you didn’t like me fraternizing with the humans.” Her smile was soft on him, “I know you. You’ll do it anyway.” He stood, “I’m just going to get something to change into from home and I’ll be back.”

The memory sped up and he was at home, stepping out of the shower when he got the call. Lykana was so quiet when she told him what happened. “I… I’m sorry Cassander. Cassander-“

He had already hung up, dialing the hospital. “I need- I need some information on Artemisia Ca-“The nurse spoke over him, “Oh its- Sir, I’m sorry.”

The phone broke on the ground. Why did he always start loving people who left too soon?

2013. He knew it. The woman from last night at the bar knew it. But what he couldn’t quite figure out was why she was standing over him. A not so friendly look on his face or why he was in a bathtub in his shitty apartment. Was it his shitty apartment? They were looking a lot alike these days. “Waffleck do ya want?” He grunted, face muffled with his arm, and turned over in the tub, his rolled up jacket a surprisingly comfortable pillow. The bottles rolled around in the tub with him.

She knew this moment. The moment they had supposedly had met. She had gotten him cleaned up- they had rebuilt that apartment building. They had gotten closer- danced when the roof was leaking. He had talked about so much with her- such open honesty. If only she knew that he was so desperate not to mess things up this time- to tell her but hoping she- she…. Wouldn’t leave.

The memories blending together. So far the happiest ones that she had seen so far. But now they were in a different space. Lykana stood not too far away from him; they were on a roof overlooking the Kremlin. “You told me she was dead.”

Lykana was quiet for a moment, “I was saving you from yourself. You haven’t watched yourself- You’ve been dying from the inside out- all over humans. I didn’t want you to get attached and lose another-“ “That is my choice!” He screamed, “How dare you get involved with that- How dare you tell me she died and she has been alive all this time- How do I even begin to tell her what happened!? What we were!”

She scoffed, “You’ll find a way. You’ll fall in love with her- You’ll love her. SHE’S HUMAN, CASSANDER! Humans die!” She yelled back at him, coming closer and the steps she took froze over. “No matter how much you love her- she will always die in the end!”

“Then I will love her with every last breath I have!” He shook his head, “I don’t care if she’ll die- I will spend my entire life making sure she’s happy. And I swear to all the gods, if you intervene again I will find a way to end us both.” She stared at him, “Cassander-“ He held up a hand, “No- Lykana. You were wrong.” Her mouth shut, “And this conversation is over.” 2018. More images of his capture from his last job. His desperation to be free. The thoughts and hallucinations of her there. The vague distorted memories of her coming up to his cage. And then nothing- Shade was standing in a dark room. Nothing inside, nothing around them… Cassander stood behind her. Eyes confused and vacant. “Artemisia…?” He asked quietly, he was the one she knew. The shadow fully forming. He had become clearer and clearer the last few memories but now he was there. “Are you an angel?” He asked, eyes blurred looking at her.

#dimxchxerus #thedarkissoloud #tw: long post #tw: suicide mention #tw: rape #Cassanderswork

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