My Heart Beats

[chronicle_tenko]

Merrick caught the man neatly, folding him into his arms almost lovingly. A child cradling a sick father, perhaps felled by some dire illness rather than a mercenary's angry and expert blow. "Hello father. I am afraid our regular confession was missed, as you may know I've been indisposed, or just disposed of." Merrick's voice started out caring, almost mocking in it's cloyed honey sweetness, but it finished as a snarl, his visage snapping from laissez-faire to something predatory. "Grab his feet." Like an order was barked to serena, and when she did the darkness engulfed them both again.

His skies were blue again, and he lay on the grass rolling in green. Around him children played running; with hot yellow sun beating down on them, and on him. It warmed him. Happiness surrounding him his stomach full, his face a grin, and the world a carousel of color changing his outlook of grey.

Then it all stopped, a terrible calamitous crash, Betrayed in confession, assaulted in custody and jailed without trial. Forgotten. Forever. Locked deep in a cold dark cell, subsisting on hatred, and the faith of a city. But once the sun did shine down upon him, now there was only darkness.

It was slow work to tie the fat priest to the chair, getting him up there and securing his Blubberous mass, but with help Merrick succeeded, tying the man in place, still in the hotel Serena had booked before to hide in. "Wake up father, Wake up." Merrick waved smelling salts under the nose of the man watching his nostrils trip and then his eyes widen.

The priest snapped to attention seeing Merrick's grin. "Good morning father, I can tell you're scared, perhaps confused, and maybe a little angry. Have no right to be, you should understand, But we need answers, and you should provide them. Please. And I will know if you lie to my compatriot."

 

[VampiricTouch]

Serena flipped through the book in hand and scowled at the esoteric symbols she couldn't read. Marking the page of the Hanahoshi, she set the book aside as the priest started hurling insults and demands at Merrick. Still hooded in the novitiate robes, she allowed the priest to howl his indignation a few moments longer as an idle flip of her hand drew a knife from it's hiding place.

Her movement was swift as she brought the knife down hard against the wood of the chair, a hairsbreadth away from his groin. The terrified priest stopped mid sentence as she brought the open book before him.

"Spare us the rant. What can you tell me... us about this?" Her curt words were succinct and to the point as she presented the picture before the priest.

She watched the blood drained from his face, a mite amused that a person could be any paler. Keeping the hood up, she kept her face shadowed, but she wouldn't be surprised if the priest remembered her voice...

"You..." The word left his lips venomously... but the knife, still planted near his groin, brought enough reason into his fear immersed mind.

The priest gave a shudder as he recounted what information he could to appease his captors, "It... it is a mark that seals the contract with a demon. The mortal gains some kind of power and in exchange becomes the demon's prey until his designated time. Which... becomes catastrophic - legends say that whole cities were demolished when their time ended..."

He grew bold with each passing phrase until he leered at Serena and spat, "So is it worth it? Whatever blessing you received from the demon... is it worth the price of your daily fear and your pending demise?"

He turned to Merrick, trying to throw the calm on both of their faces as he continued, "Stay away from her I tell you... Compatriot? hmph... She'll be the cause of your destruction!"

Serena sighed with annoyance at the priest's change of attitude. The fool forgot his place quite quickly and she still had learned nothing new.
"Is that it? Useless... Can you at least read the symbols? Otherwise we might as well just dispose of you."
She pulled the knife from the seat of his chair as she pushed her hood back with frustration, shedding light to the scowl on her face.

"No -no wait! " The priest whined, immediately regretting the words he had spoken in his haste as the flash of silver from her knife suggested that his life might be gone if he didn't come up with something to placate her.

"Hanahoshi. I told you that last time... it was a name coined by Dominic Streit. I can't read the symbols but he might... They say he spent much of his time traveling to research the Hanahoshi... Last seen on the islands of Ilmatar! By the gods spare me! I don't know anything else!" His words poured out in a babbling rush, rising a pitch higher as panic took over.

 

[chronicle_tenko]

"Dominic Streit Of Ilmatar." Merrick smiled. "Go use some of your connections to run down that name. I'll get us to Ilmatar after I'm done with the father. We dn't need any more than that do we?" Merrick's grin flashed almost ear to ear as he eyed the priest and Rena. She was so incredibly sexy like that, in power, in control, making this man tell her everything she wanted, and yet still so scared, even more than this priest almost pissing himself in her presence.

Her body was full of lethality and yet it was so soft. Full of power and skill, and yet frail, so confident, knife in hand, and yet frightened. She was a smorgasbord of emotion. And yet it was the priest he was watching so calmly with such hunger. "I'll finish it up here. And leave your knife." His grin was entirely predatory now, a feral thing as he took the knife from her and waved her off. His motion drunken with power swaggering to touch the chair and vanishing the blade still in his hand.
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"I think father that it's time for us to talk. I don't imagine you'll be doing much of that despite however much you may wish to tell me especially like this." The blade's sweep was vicious as Merrick efficiently began to remove the priest's lips. Firm motions that peeled the mans skin and flesh back from his face exposing his teeth. "See so few words can be spoken without lips. And no lies without a tongue." Merrick reached in pulling the man's tongue out and slicing through it. "it's so sinful isn't it?"

More and more the blade worked, fingers, toes, teeth, anything that could be pried or twisted or cut until finally blissfully the priest bled out. "Fitting. Ilmatar is the sufferer's planet isn't it? I'm glad we could get into the mood of that swampball." he blinked back to the hotel. "I'll need a few hours of rest before we can be ready to go. But I got our revenge."

And for once as Merrick closed his eyes he saw nothing, except the black. No green skies No home, simply oblivion came as he went to rest.

 

[VampiricTouch]

Serena glowered with annoyance as he took her knife from her hands. There was something in the feral gleam of his eyes that told her something was off, but before she could stop him, he vanished - with her knife. With a colorful string of curses, she pulled out her slicepad and began to search for information.

It was several hours before she woke Merrick up. She ignored the growl of distaste over his disturbed rest and held her hand out expectantly.

"Knife?" She watched him blink in confusion for a moment before reality caught up to him.

He handed her the knife and she inspected the serrated edge for a moment before looking back at him. "Should I even ask what you did to that priest?"

She eyed him for a moment longer and tucked the knife away. "Never-mind - I don't think I want to know. Ilmatar.”

She pulled up the slice-pad and switched on the holographic screen, projecting a glorious 3D representation of their galaxy. Her hand reached through and redirected the interface, bringing a small blue planet into view. A subtle twist allowed her to hone in onto a series of islands in the southern hemisphere.

“Ilmatar. I’m sure you know what it’s like there… Dominic Streit apparently has been manning an archaeological dig that spans the main island here. Chances are that’s where we’ll find him.”

 

[chronicle_tenko]

"Merrick." the voice was at the edge of the universe, a bare intrusion to the blue skies and green grass of his memories.

"Merrick." It became more insistent though, a harsh reminder that the real world called, a place not so colorful and happy as his own dreams, his hands pulled up becoming illuminated red lit from teh back as he looked at the sun through them.

"MERRICK" Unavoidably he snapped to. The real world surrounding him. Same hotel room, same ugly, rumpled sheets, same woman, same uneaten food. had he even moved, in a moment would he get up and shower, befpre he came out to shock her once more?

"Knife?" No. This was a much better day, the colours of the holos softened, the grey walls became friendlier, even the stale sandwich almost looked appetizing. His grin was happy each muscle of his mouth almost shouting in it's joy. Smoothly he picked her knife up by it's now cleaned blade and handed it back to her. She checked the serrated edge, and then looked to him.

"Should I even ask what you did to that priest?"

His smile now was gruesome the predatory sort of hellish glee that implies you are only inches away from being devoured. Thrown into the gullet of some huge predator, and he got up his thumb coming to his neck as his mouth began to open.

She eyed him for a moment longer and tucked the knife away. "Never-mind - I don't think I want to know. Ilmatar.”

Promptly his pantomime stopped and his grin faded to the cool emotionless pall his face normally held. "Ilmatar, and there Dominic Streit, what did you find out?" Her displeasure showed through in the way she told him, while her answer wasn't much apparently Mr. Streit had been running some kind of retrieval project from the swamps. Each little piece of the puzzle coming together. Likely he was looking for something about this flower. Or maybe he grew them, or knew something about the symbol beyond superstitions of destruction in any case it was further than the priest, who could help them no longer.

"Alright, then we're off on the journey, whenever you're ready. Do you have everything." A mere nod of her head told him it was time and his touch though serpent like in it's quickness was gentle as he closed to wrap his arm around her waist, enjoying the closeness of her. For a moment he could almost see something in her eyes as he touched her, a spark of femininity, an attractive spark. Or perhaps it was just that he'd just got out of prison. "Do you need anything here on Amaterasu before we leave, Ilmatar is a long trek to come back for an eyeliner."

 

[VampiricTouch]

His hand wrapped around her waist and for a moment, the brief reminder that she was still every bit a woman crossed her mind. The moment passed as if it never was there, leaving her wondering where the thought came from, and if it struck her at all.

"Do you need anything here on Amaterasu before we leave, Ilmatar is a long trek to come back for an eyeliner."

She broke into a chuckle that was stopped short as he teleported them back onto the ship. The feeling was still very doubtful as the steps of solid ground merged, and just briefly, she could see both the hotel and the interior ship blur in her field of view – two very different places coming together in a crash of wavelets that surpassed her understanding.

As he released her, his steps sagged a moment from the exertion of teleporting. A few stumbles brought him to the control room and with practiced ease he powered up the Journey. Bracing herself, she found a corner to secure her things and herself to the solid safety of plated flooring. Her eyes closed, anticipating the sickening lurch, wishing that she could go under for these moments of discomfort.

This time without the ruckus of peace keepers and the panic of escape hanging over her head, she could hear the soft hum of the Journey’s engine and the thrumming of its thrusters. They came together in a soothing melody she held on to as the first lurch threw the Journey into Amaterasu’s orbit. She found that with the disturbing compression and expansion of dimensions, she could settle her nausea with that simple sound.

Her eyes opened to peek outside the window and the sudden rush of awe flooded her as she stared at Amaterasu and it’s fellow stars and planets traversing the steps of their trajectory. The view emanated a rare feeling of peace she had not tasted in so long…

“It’s… beautiful…” Her voice was a breathless whisper, not daring to break the moment.

And it came again. The heavy wave of hatred, so thick it dashed the moment of her serenity into pieces and pulled her under with merciless terror.

“Run… part of the fun is the chase, and I will revel in your demise, knowing that your fear will never leave you… until you’ve returned to me, until you’ve returned my heart back to me along with it’s due payment… made all the sweeter by fear.”

Her eyes closed to darkness and opened to darkness. The harsh rasp of his threat resonated in her ears and drowned all else out, until she was nearly suffocating with the terror that racked her senses... It wasn’t until the Journey made another sickening lurch into Ilmatar’s orbit that she broke free of her paralyzing fear… with nausea.

 

[chronicle_tenko]

Merrick watched Rena lurch with her stomach first; before she straightened, too proud to decorate his floors with her vomit. A good thing too the Zero grav would likely make her wear it as much the floor. "Yes it certainly is." Merrick paused as his eyes opened, a cool steel color reflected in the darkness. "Beautiful." Gravity kick in, letting a number of things clatter harmlessly to the floor of the journey as they began an approach to the atmosphere of Ilmatar.

Her fear was distasteful but it only made him want more. It was Hope he reasoned, desperate frantic hope that sweetened the bitterness of her fear. he drank it all in about her watching her. such a beautiful girl, and he could use that to his advantage too. "Rena we're going to need an ID to put this ship down in at the underworld of the planet. We're not going to use official channels because you never know how fast News can travel. Remember the warp channels are just as fast as anything, likely including me. Ilmatar is a long journey. So when we enter we need a shipping Log that makes it look like we've been on voyage a long time. I also need to know who Dominic' provisions come through is it on world or off world all of that can be found in the criminal sector's so if you have any grudges I need to know now."

Merrick's eyes ran over her. Strong. Assured, dedicated to her purpose. All of that described Serena and more, not to mention how good she looked. Maybe it was simply that he had just left prison but he'd never been one to notice anyone before, now here he was hungering for her body, getting excuses to come closer to her, as he walked across the floor with a glass of water and an anti nausea med. "But for now take this, both of us are going to need some downtime before we go. But I think I have a plan to get us close to Mr. Streit."

 

[VampiricTouch]

Her eyes came into focus once more... his voice bringing her back to the solid ground beneath her feet. She turned her face away from the approaching Merrick... he didn't need to know her weakness and he definitely didn't need to see the pallor of her face as fear stole away the vitality she had. The last thing she'd need was him asking why she was going after the Hanahoshi...

"Rena we're going to need an ID to put this ship down in at the underworld of the planet. We're not going to use official channels because you never know how fast News can travel. Remember the warp channels are just as fast as anything, likely including me. Ilmatar is a long journey. So when we enter we need a shipping Log that makes it look like we've been on voyage a long time. I also need to know who Dominic' provisions come through is it on world or off world all of that can be found in the criminal sector's so if you have any grudges I need to know now."

Rena? Rena? Since when was he close enough to call her that?! Despite the distaste his familiarity brought on, she listened, knowing that hearing him make plans at least drove away a small amount of her fear and brought her mind back down to solid ground... shipping log... She could probably forge that after her stomach stopped lurching... Provisions, if she could get into the system... she might be able to find information on that...

"But for now take this, both of us are going to need some downtime before we go. But I think I have a plan to get us close to Mr. Streit."

"Serena. The name is Serena, use it." When she was sure her voice wouldn't crack with her fear, she said curtly before accepting the glass and medicine. Her voice softened as she murmured a thank you, popped the pills into her mouth and downed the drink. Her eyes slowly closed, forcing her system to accept the intake of medicine and water.

"I can probably forge the shipping log. It won't stand up to intense scrutiny but for a cursory glance it would suffice..." She sat down, leaning her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Grudges... most that have grudges against me are not around anymore. I honestly can't think of any, but then again, it's not like I try to remember... downtime... would be greatly appreciated..." Her voice was weary and slowly trailed off...

 

[chronicle_tenko]

"I can see why. Who'd want to keep one?" His words pulled bitterly "But if you don't have any then this will work." Journey trailed off down a gravity slope and he could see Rena, Serena drifting off beside her. A smile crossed his features playing over the sharp tongue and scruffy cheeks as he thought about that. The two women of his life new and old falling asleep and drifting off together. He shut down the lights and let the heaters begin to work. Walking as gravity finished settling so he could drop a blanket across her.

"Of course Serena."

There was some work he could do. Basic inquiries about Streit and where his money was coming from. Old news holos could tell him that and they did as soon as he was close enough to get a signal from the planet. Seemed that his dig was big news. Likely because it was the only news. Ilmatar might have had atmosphere and all the blocks necessary to begin life. But it was still a godforsaken mudbowl and swamp with nothing real on it. Merrick clicked his tongue as he plotted a real course for the ship to spit out, some huge thing taking almost 4 months by jump gate on this kind of tub. Ugh four months. It seemed such a short time, It seemed so small now especially compared to how much time he'd spent in prison. His eyes closed and he saw blue skies when he opened them, looking at the display still and matching the course of the Amaterasu jump gate to the solar lane along stellar way 14, finally cutting out to take the gate at Presidio leading to Ilamtar's sun, and the solar lane to the planet. Each plotted point something the woman sleeping nearby would have to forge later.

He felt a small part of him go out to her as he saw her huddled there, angry at the worlds it seemed, and scared beyond reason, all while projecting the image of a woman who had no time for anyone or anything. But underneath that he was sure he was starting to see that she was a woman still. Even if she didn't remember that fact. And maybe she was right to. Alone this was little place for anyone, he knew that better than most but she was trying to make it her own way. Alone. Here he was though thinking about her, and not only that but being comfortable thinking of her as a new woman. the only companion since his ship, and curiouser and curiouser, he didn't mind the idea. Maybe she didn't either.

Merrick watched her resting feeling the fear subside from her dreams, peaceful calm emanating off her as he watched her sleep. Did she trust him? to fall asleep so easily or was she truly that exhausted. Settling back in the chair he watched as his own delusions showed him the things he remembered, singing softly to himself until he too fell down to sleep.

I walked across, an empty land,
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand,
I felt the earth beneath my feet,
Sat by the river and it made me complete.

 

[VampiricTouch]

Her eyes flew open as she quietly berated herself for falling asleep in such a place... with someone she hardly knew, let alone trust. But she had needed the rest... and they were still floating in orbit with Ilmatar in sight... WIth a resigned sigh, she stood and made her way over to the control room. He'd fallen asleep as well... She smiled at the peaceful expression oh his face, marked by the roguish grin that wasabsolutely him... before turning her attention to one of the monitors.

She recognized the plotted points and knew that she'd have to forge the electronic signature at each point they had pretended to stop at. She hooked up the her slicepad once more and began to hack the ship's database and it's stored memory of they past locations. She rapidly rerouted the past four months of the Journey's passage along with the necessary stations that did chart scans to mark their logs. When she had finished, and double checked her work, she sat back to wait for him to wake... as her thoughts meandered once more.

Just why was he so keen on helping her? She obviously had nothing he needed and traveling with her was merely a butden on his shoulders.... It was certainly convenient having him, but what was the catch? Her attention returned as he stirred and his eyes opened.

"Good morning... I just finished forging the shipping log. As long as they don't try to check it with the Amaterasu stations, it should pass."

She stood once more to look outside at the constellations around them, her entire being drinking in the momentary calm in the stall of their journey.

"I hope you don't mind me asking... but why are you helping me? Whats in it for you...?"

 

[chronicle_tenko]

Of course this question was coming. What was in it for him, he'd been asking himself this question from the beginning. Ever since he'd spoken to her in the cell, and each time since he'd had revenge on Amaterasu. It was obvious that she was digging deeper and deeper in his pocket, and he'd already established that money wouldn't buy her out of it. Why then was he helping her?

"I get you really." Honest enough. "I get the pleasure of your company the knowledge that you'll pay for anything we do need should we ever need anything along the way, and the entertainment you bring me in your little quest. besides not only am I a sucker for a good story which you obviously have, I also like a pretty face." He openly ogled her for a moment, the motion cold and obvious, that he was appraising her like a piece of meat, some creature made of holes and soft flesh for few uses. "Most men do, but at least I'm not them."

His statement hung in the air, thick and heavy. Tension in it and lust like a fog, and she reacted to it as well, perhaps not completely positively, but he and anything he could demand was far less frightening to her than what she was running from. And then a thought struck him, or what she was running to. "Flip question then. Why are with me? You could probably barter passage on any number of ships and travel the galaxy the usual way, after all it'd probably be easier for a woman of your many, many, skills to get the information you needed if you didn't have to forge receipts and hide things from my intruding graceless ass."

 

[VampiricTouch]

She stiffened at the open stare he leveled at her. Scowling as she recognized the lust that rose in his eyes. She turned, purposely trying to avoid the tension he blatantly left in the air

"Flip question then. Why are with me? You could probably barter passage on any number of ships and travel the galaxy the usual way, after all it'd probably be easier for a woman of your many, many, skills to get the information you needed if you didn't have to forge receipts and hide things from my intruding graceless ass."

She thought about the events leading up to the present... There had been no other way. Not with the security Amaterasu was under. "Convenience. With the Amaterasu peace keepers after me and my face plastered across the radar, I'd probably be hard pressed just trying to get to a landing pad, and bribing someone in hopes that they'll get me out... " She shrugged. "Not very likely. Depending on how fast news travels in Ilmatar though, it might be a good place to barter passage there so you can go back to your wanderings and I can stop racking up a bill I'm never quite sure what or how much I'll be paying."

She turned to the window, watching the planet loom over their spacecraft, "When do we get there?"

 

[chronicle_tenko]

Though it was her earlier question that intrigued him far more, Merrick began the circling slow down of re-entry into an otherwise unmarked space port. "We'll be docking shortly." And a series of hand signals sent massive storms of communication to the docking mechanisms and defense emplacements of the criminal importing dock on Ilmatar. Dominic Striet may have been looking for artifacts but it appeared the local government wasn't the one helping him load them off, and for the right price men like this could be convinced of anything. Merrick smiled.

"Touchdown in a few minutes prep up whatever you need, and take a samll bag with you, for anything, like a lady does. It'll be part of the cover and if you are so worried about your outstanding accounts with me, well I'd be happy to discuss terms of repayment when we're safely planetside. In the meantime I'll check us in and book some lodgings."

What did he want from her. As the obvious lust wasn't the only thing. he could have had her in prison for that and she'd still help him escape. Or he could have moved in the hotel while she was showering. No it was more than just her body and the nourishment her emotions provided. It was a rampant curiosity, as to why she needed to go to these places so far flung in the galaxy, to see the pieces of the puzzle fall down. She intrigued him, and that was worth more than money. Especially to a man like him.

Once inside he slipped a small pad into someone's palm greasing the right wheels it never changed and told him to go find Roscoe Rathbone. The man didn't exist but it would pull up a number of old smuggling manifests, for almost anything perishable. Considering the distance traveled it would open a number of doors for him and allow them to meet with principal suppliers. Any dig of that size in this muck would require a lot of labour and men were always hungry thirsty and horny. And Dig sites were as bad as prisons for all three. It was only a question of finding out who to talk to to get her into the camp. And get her out safely again. He waited for both Rena and the docking guard to get back, so everything could be notarized, and she could give the flight verifications to the man. After all it had to at least LOOK like they were playing nice with the authorities.

 

[VampiricTouch]

She'd lied to him... and to herself - and she knew it. Convenience? no... Merrick had proven to be undeniably useful in his travel with her and there was no mistaking it... Especially when she was on the run from this... demon. Would she be able to get away? Honestly what sort of payment would he be looking for? If she continued to rack up the bill... and by some stroke of misfortune the demon caught up... what good would all that do?

She put up a bright smile as the docking guard took their paperwork and reviewed it's contents. She kept her face calm as her heart thrummed with nerves. Would it pass inspection? She'd done forgery before but... Things might still go wrong... She withheld the breath of relief as she accept the approved verification from the man.

She took a stroll along the landing pads, eyeing the various transports there. It was odd how such high technological machines moved slower than the sub light scrap of metal she'd been riding in. Any of the cruisers would have taken months just to get from Amaterasu to Ilmatar.... and Merrick? he managed it in less than a day. It wasn't convenience... it was necessity. She needed him if she was going to run... could she run? When the cold voice threatened her so easily? Would she be able to get away? Her sliver of hope began to fray as she clutched desperately... She had to believe there was some hope that she could live... She had to.

A brisk turn took her back to Merrick, wondering if he'd gotten things settled on his half now that the ship was verified to dock in the Ilmatar port.