AUTHORS NOTE - omg!!! this got to 1k + reads, and that's awesome! i want to thank you all for reading, voting, and commenting on this story, i really appreciate it!
i never expected this story to come this far, but it did and i couldn't be happier, so thank you! anyways, that's all for now, so please continue to enjoy this story!
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If two living inexperienced magical beings decided to take a dive into one anothers head, do you think it would go well?
If you guessed terribly, then you are correct. Rachel and Kory decided that Rachel could try to bring back Kory's memories with Rachel's powers. It didn't work, obviously, because once Rachel succeded, she unleashed Koriand'r.
Not Kory, let me warn you, because the woman choking Rachel is not Kory.
Not with the blood curdling scream that erupts from Rachel anyways.
It alarmed everyone, especially Larke, because she suddenly felt a searing pain from her neck and up. It vibrated through her head, forcing her to fall to her knees.
She's been through the thickest of pain before, but she never thought this level of pain was possible. It didn't even seem like an inhumane pain to Larke, which was what she was used to.
The pain she was feeling seemed like it had been there for decades, just waiting to expose itself at the right time.
She didn't like it. But all she heard were Rachel's screams, Gars shouts, and sound of shoes on the floor to get her up again, feeling the same feeling she did before.
The one where she felt like she was supposed to protect Rachel, and make sure she was safe at all costs.
And so Larke got up, barely seeing through the pain, and stumbled her way to Kory. She had her orange-red glow to her limbs, but her eye sockets burned a bright green. She has Gar in a chokehold. He tried telling her to stop, but she didn't listen.
It was automatic that Larke realized that this wasn't Kory.
Something or someone was influencing her to do this.
And so as Gar was thrown back, Larke attacked, knowing what to go for.
She knew Kory used her hands. They were her main source of power. She didn't use anything else to direct her power, or none at least that she knew of.
And so Larke went for her elbows, ducking under Kory's reach and sliding to the right, behind her.
Larke grabbed a small knife she had concealed in her pant pocket, made a tiny slit on Kory's elbow, and was about to slit the other elbow as she ducked behind her when Kory kicked back, reached for Larke, and grabbed her as she was falling back.
Kory held her by the neck, bringing back unwanted memories for Larke, and threw her with all her strength to the other side of the room, and right into Dick.
The front door flew open, a tall woman now coming into the room. She made small hand movements with something in her hand, and suddenly Kory was down on the floor, the Lasso of Truth around her neck, absolutely dampening her powers.
Donna Troy, also known as Wondergirl, took a steady stance as she stood over Kory's body on the floor.
And then everyone groaned. The pain settled in, all accept for Rachel and her mother. No, those two were scurrying over to the other side of the room, panicked.
It took Larke a second to realize that the pain was gone, as her brain automatically expected more to follow.
But as quickly as she was put down, she sat up, listening to a gagging noise. She turned to see Gar holding his throat, and felt herself moving towards him. He just waved her off, as she saw Dick behind him.
"I'm okay," Gar wheezed out, standing up with Dick's help. Dick nodded at Larke, thanking her for trying to help him.
"What happened?" Dick asked. Larke was about to answer, but stopped, as she felt and tasted blood trickling down her throat.
It was Rachel's mother who got Larke's attention next, "she tried to kill my daughter."
"I was trying to help Kory get her memory back," a timid Rachel rasps out, and Larke reaches for her, feeling the same protectiveness she felt before arise in her. Rachel has one hand to her throat, the other now taking Larke's hand.
Arella flinches, not wanting her daughter to be touched by anyone else, but Rachel puts out her hand, telling her it's okay, that she's okay with Larke touching her.
"I must've done something wrong," Rachel mutters, and Larke immediately steps in.
"No, none of this is your fault," she replies quickly, trying to get through to her friend. Rachel just swallows and looks back to Kory, now stirring.
It puts everyone on edge.
"What's going on?" Kory's voice rings out amongst the quietness of the room.
"You tried to kill Rachel," Dick says, and Larke hears a taste of disdain in his tone. She frowns slightly.
"What -- no, I would never do that," Kory stands up now, slowly. Donna takes a couple steps to her right, as if to guide Kory to the door with her position.
"I want this woman out of my house now-"
"Just wait -"
"Now goddamnit." Arella spits, now taking Rachel out of Larke's arms. Larke looks to Dick, who's glances between Kory and Arella.
"Rachel I'm -- I'm so sorry," Kory whimpers out, taking a few steps closer. A mistake on her part, because everyone moves around or closer to Rachel. A protective barrier between the girl and Kory. Larke immediately steps amd pushes Rachel back, as Dick and Arella step forward. Donna moves towards Kory, making her look the other woman's way.
Her attention soon goes back to a speechless Rachel, and then she runs out the door, telling everyone she needs to go. Dick goes after her, followed loosely by Donna.
Larke inhales sharply as they leave, but lets go of her breath as everyone left in the house seems to relax slightly, with Kory's presence gone.
___________
The three teens eating the food - which Larke thought was delicious- were relatively quiet. Larke and Rachel sat across from one another, Gar sitting between them at the head of the table.
A small conversation, starting with Gar telling her to eat, and Larke trying to comfort her, ended in both Larke and Gar being at the head of Rachel's miniature snap.
Larke reaching and grabbing Gar's arm as his free hand touched Rachel's hand made her pop, made the thing inside of Rachel squirm, bursting itself out of her for a surprise visit.
It was able to touch Larke and Gar simultaneously.
Arella came in, muttering something about the flowers as Rachel had her hands to her head, feeling remorse for what she'd just done. Before Larke could do anything, Gar grabbed her and his bowls amd put them on the counter, giving the both of them no reason to stay at the table.
Larke swallowed, still somewhat startled by Rachel's powers popping up at random, but got up and excused herself after Gar.
As Gar explored the house, Larke had went to the bathroom to resettle herself. She has just splashed some water on her face, freshening herself up, and dried her face with a towel.
As she turned to back to the door, to the mirror on the wall, she froze, almost jumping back in fright.
What she saw was not her - not Larke Kingsman. No, she saw something much, much worse. Something much more frightening, more spine chilling than anything she'd ever seen before.
She saw a reflection of her, cheekbones drawn in, face discolored, sweat dripping down her face. Her hair was a matted mess, a red color surrounding her eyes, showing how truly deteriorated, malnourished, and dead she looked.
She stared at her reflection, terrified at the memories that came with it.
Her brain was a mess, as she tried to tell herself it wasn't real, that it wasn't true, that she was with Rachel and Gar, but she just couldn't bring herself to believe it.
________
She was back in that luxurious room, with velvet sheets and blankets covering the softest of mattresses, with a fireplace crackling across from the foot of her bed, with a couch and chair on the right side of the room (made of the same fabrics as the bed), and with a simple wooden table and two chairs to her left, an unfinished game of chess on top.
She was standing by the foot of the bed, drained by the days gone ny without human interaction, meals, and showers.
She knew this was as bad as she could get, but she didn't believe it was actually possible, not in the slightest.
Yet here she is, staring into the fire in front of her, contemplating if she could sink down into the floor, crawl over to it, and touch it, feeling something other than the forcefield put in front of it to stop her from committing suicide.
But that would be if she was able to move, if she was able to put the sentence of sinking into the floor together, let alone process and remember what the sentence was.
And so she stands there, staring at the fire, her mind seconds away from finally giving in and letting go -- leaving Larke's body to drop dead.
"Hello," the girl whispers, giving her last words to her parents.
But they are watching her, standing near, readying themselves to make sure that doesn't happen.
And so, as Larke's brain gives its last three breaths to her lungs, they step in, injecting her with a silver poison, which makes Larke go limp into a Widow's arms.
Lady Widow steps forward, caressing the girl's cheek, awakening her mere seconds later without a word. Larke's eyes slit open, and the last thing she hears are the words that haunt her every move.
"Congratulations, Young Widow, you will become humanities salvation."
And then the pain, torture, and abuse follows that sentence, for years on end.
From a simple slap across the face to being violated daily - in that same room with the velvet bed sheets - she became a marble statue.
Burned, stabbed, shattered, morphed, and reconstructed into who she would become. The "almighty salvation" for humanities failure at keeping so alive -- the Death Widow.
To bring pain and confliction amongst whomever they please. Accept for Lady Widow. No, Lady Widow was untouchable to all.
And then, just like a marble statue, one singular crack and everything that has ever held you up, everything you've ever worked for, comes crashing down for all to see...
________
Larke swings her fist, her throat trying so hard to scream, but nothing comes out.
She suddenly hits the glass in front of her, the mirror cracking in every which way, making almost no noise at all as her fist collided with the glass.
She keeps it there, knowing that the second she releases the pressure of her hand on the glass, it will hit the sink and floor, which will make noise.
And so she stands there. Blinking at her normal, returned state -- nothing like the glass just showed. She looks put together, as usual, with her face, clothing, and hair put into a place that won't bother her.
Yet the tears sliding down her face contradict that statement, as she feels the marble wall she forced fifteen years of her life making crack, shattering down with the mirror.
Then, a knock on the door.
"Larke?"
It's Arella.
"Is everything okay?"
Larke takes a breath, eyes returning quickly to their dull, unwatered state.
"Kind of."
"Kind of? Sweety, could you please open the door?"
Larke feels something cold on her hands, dripping and sliding to her nuckles. She peers down to see blood. She can use that to her advantage in explaining what just happened.
And then she opens the door, to see a concerned Arella standing there. Her eyes widen at the sight of broken glass and blood surrounding the young girl, but soon just pays attention to the blood.
"What happened?" Arella frowns.
"I accidentally broke your mirror." Larke is blunt, appealing to the fact that Arella would care more about honesty rather than lies.
Larke found that particular trait when she heard Arella asking so many questions over the past few days -- she's a woman that just wants the truth.
But who's to say she doesn't have her own secrets, too?