Broker-Chapter 204

Tch.

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Ishtar clicked her tongue as another jolt of pain ran up her arm. She pulled back on instinct, releasing her focus. The small fragment of plant left behind by Visage of Titania tried to worm its way back into place in her wrist. Her lips curled into a snarl before she paused, frowned, and let out a soothing breath. Anger was a crutch, a false strength. It gives me nothing but a clouded mind. Calm. A relaxed spirit is what Visage responds to best. Breathe. She cleansed herself with a few more breaths before turning her focus back to her wrist and slipped her awareness around the fragment once more.

I cannot use any of my abilities, but Visage still responds to my will. I wonder if that means it is still active or if there is something else I am missing. The instincts of my abilities are still present, just separate from the powers themselves. She allowed the thoughts to drift as the fragment began to move through her flesh. It hurt, but the pain was nothing but an obstacle. As long as she did not pull too sharply she could manage it without breaking her focus. One millimeter at a time, slowly, slowly, slow- another sharp spike of pain, she jerked her entire body and cursed.

“Are you okay?” Marta asked from nearby.

“Another failure,” Ishtar said irritably.

“You only just woke up a few hours ago, there’s no need to rush,” Marta said, “Why don’t I get you a coffee?”

“As pleasant as that sounds, the next coffee I wish to drink I would do so with my own hands,” Ishtar grumbled, “A water will be fine.”

“Right away,” Marta said, sounding a little relieved. Perhaps she was worried I would reject any help. Ishtar thought as the door opened and closed, There’s no need to be so concerned about that, I am aware of my limitations.

The door opened and shut again, Ishtar raised an eyebrow, “That was quick.”

“There’s someone here to see you,” Marta said, sounding nervous. When Ishtar didn’t speak she clarified, “It’s Black Lotus.”

Ishtar fell silent for a heartbeat. Her face still pointed up to the ceiling. How wretched, she grumbled before the words came, “Sit me up.”

“Are you sure?”

“I will not greet the hero on my back like an invalid, sit me up, please, Marta,” Ishtar insisted, her fingers tightening around clumps of smooth sheets. Blind. I cannot even look her in the eyes. To meet again like this, how pathetic. Turning her away though… ah, I could never. She felt Marta gently slide her hands beneath her back and lift. It took a little effort with the pain that seemed to rise up any time she dared to move too dramatically but she eventually found herself sitting up against the headboard. Her hair fell around her face and Marta brushed it quickly. “Thank you.”

“Of course, do you want me to give you two some space?” Marta asked.

Ishtar tilted her head towards her companion, “That would be best, I think.”

“I will be outside if you need me,” Marta said and the doors opened again, Ishtar sat in her blindness as a new set of footfalls entered the room. Marta moved about quickly with a sense of assuredness but also an intent to get from one task to another. The movements of a caretaker. This new set was steady, each step inexorable even as they were quieter than Marta’s. The steps of a composed warrior. Those steps faltered once.

“Sonya?”

Ishtar’s lips pursed, “Hero,” she said by way of greeting.

The word hung in the air between them. The heaviness in the air spiking and rising until finally the woman let out a shuddering gasp. Ishtar rest her hands in her lap and waited.

“It’s strange,” Black Lotus said, “I see your face and the memories come roaring back. It’s a sweet sort of agony, my own punishment, I guess. Marta would not tell me about your condition, only for me to see it for myself. Where is Sonya?”

“Asleep,” Ishtar said.

Black Lotus seemed to wait for a moment for further explanation but when nothing further came from Ishtar she let out a sigh, “Why haven’t you healed yourself?” She said and Ishtar heard her take a slightly uneasy step to the left. It was difficult to pick up on but the confines allowed sound to carry much better.

Ishtar’s lip twitched, “How are your injuries?” she asked.

“Mild,” she said.

“Do you need to sit?” Ishtar offered, jerking her chin towards where Marta usually sat. She assumed there was a comfortable chair there. I cannot imagine what ‘mild’ injuries are to someone like her, Ishtar thought. I am surprised she hasn’t gotten healing services yet either.

Another pause and she heard the woman walk over to sit in Marta’s chair, letting out a small huff that could have been a groan of agony as far as Ishtar was concerned. “That Liberty,” Black Lotus said, “Her sword did something to my body. Healing abilities work but they’re slow.”

“You’re rather open about your circumstances,” Ishtar commented.

“Are you going to use that information against me?” Black Lotus asked.

“No.”

“Then there’s no issue, when are you getting out of this bed?” Black Lotus asked.

“When I have made some progress,” Ishtar said, “Until then I will remain. This body’s life is important to me and I will not endanger it.”

“You’re talking about Sonya,” Black Lotus commented, “Not about yourself.”

Ishtar snorted, “And you’re taking the opportunity to read into every word I say since Sonya isn’t here to cut off our conversation. We are enemies, Black Lotus. That is our role, you have no reason to play fair or nice.”

“Carla is coming to visit you soon. I spoke with her yesterday over the phone,” Black Lotus said, ignoring Ishtar’s comment. “Don’t be cruel to her.”

Ishtar’s frown flickered into a small smile, “Only if she asks nicely.”

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“What happened to you two? What you did, those villains. I can’t help but admit that it saved the day in its own way, but, it didn’t feel like your kind of scheme,” she said, “Like all you could think of was to throw a wrench in and see what damage you could do to Liberty’s plan. A massive wrench, I might add.”

Ishtar shrugged her shoulders, it hurt a little to do so, “From what I can understand, Liberty’s plan was an act walking on a knife's edge. That fellow who can block teleportation has only so much range. Eventually heroes would have arrived, perhaps not in time, though she was rushing to get the job done. A plan like that is fragile. For glass, a wrench works nicely.”

Black Lotus went quiet, the silence stretching out between them. I know I didn’t answer your question. You may have Sonya’s affection but I hold no such love for you, hero. A useful piece in your own way but also a continuous source of trouble. You seem hell bent on knowing what drove Sonya to make the call. You are more useful to her in your right mind, strong and motivated. Telling you the truth would do more harm than good.

“I need you to tell me,” Black Lotus said finally.

“So you can walk around feeling sorry for yourself? What good would that do?” Ishtar scoffed.

“You just-”

“I admitted to nothing, I just pointed out how much of a fool you’re being. I just got done telling one of my beloved subordinates that I do not suffer fools,” Ishtar ground out, “You are wasting my time I could be spending recovering. Time you could be spending mending yourself as well. Every extra day here is a day you are not doing your duty as a hero,” Ishtar lectured her, “I just don’t see what she sees in you. You’re pathetic.”

“Aren’t you the same person?” Black Lotus asked after a tense pause, her tone turning flinty.

Ishtar pressed her lips together, resisting the compulsion to answer a direct question this time. It welled up in her chest like a bubble for a moment, a new source of pain that rankled her. Damn. Sonya may be asleep but it would seem some things don’t change. “I think it is safe to say that I possess something of my own identity now,” she conceded, “We do not share the same likes and dislikes, for example.”

“You don’t like me?” Black Lotus chuckled.

“If it weren’t for you,” Ishtar said, “I believe Liberty would be dead by now. The events of the camp would have been a footnote rather than a saga. You are a shackle on her heart.”

Black Lotus went quiet, “...that was cruel.”

“I am a villain, girl,” Ishtar hissed, “What do you expect? I won’t do anything to interfere with your relationship with her. I care only for Sonya and for some reason her heart needs you. So I stay my hand, but I will not avoid pointing out your faults.”

Black Lotus got to her feet and approached the bed. Ishtar felt her invalid state in that moment yet again. First Kera and now Black Lotus. She hated the feeling of being so defenseless. She turned her head to look in the direction where the woman was standing just within arms reach. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Why are you really trying to push me out?” Black Lotus asked.

Ishtar turned her head away but couldn’t bring herself to respond to that question with the absolute truth. Just… leave. Get better, I can’t have her coming back to you in a weakened state. Recover and do your job, stupid hero. Warm fingers brushed her arm and she set her jaw tight.

“I’ve been reading the flow of your internal energy since I arrived, watching to see if you would lash out,” Black Lotus said, “Normally it’s hard to see, you are good at keeping your powers under strict control. Right now… your body is a mess. Your meridians are damaged and infested with something that will not allow power to move through them easily. Your core is blocked completely. What did this?”

Ishtar huffed out a laugh, “It’s strange being the one easily read rather than the other way around,” she commented before flexing her fingers, “Visage. She used it to punch through Halloway’s ability.”

“That power seemed strange, unstable, when I first saw it in the camp dungeon,” Black Lotus said, ‘But I couldn't explain to her why I felt it was so dangerous,” her voice was soft, thoughtful. She put her hand on Ishtar’s shoulder and ran her fingers over her skin. Ishtar shivered and pressed her lips together even more tightly. Damn. Sonya may not be here, but her body responds well enough to this woman.

Black Lotus went quiet again and Ishtar felt something wash through her very being, like a sonar pulse. It bounded through her entire body before returning to the spot where the woman was touching her. To her surprise, it didn’t hurt.

“I see, can I get you to lay on your chest?” Black Lotus asked.

“I cannot move, nor do I wish to,” Ishtar said resolutely, pride rising up to snap back at the hand of a hero deigning to aid a villain.

“I’m going to help you,” Black Lotus insisted.

“I don’t want your help,” Ishtar snarled.

“I don’t very much care!” Black Lotus nearly shouted, “Would you rather me call Marta in here and we can treat you like a child that does not want her shot? Have her hold you down so I can treat you? Or are you going to act like an adult, Ishtar?”

“What are you planning?” Ishtar asked after an uncomfortable pause.

“I’m going to help set your meridians, I can’t do much for the damage to your muscles but I can do that much. I should be able to loosen those strange fragments a little in doing so. It will take several treatments and it will be painful,” Black Lotus said, “Or you could sit here and feel sorry for yourself instead of taking the fastest route back to standing on your own two feet and doing your job.”

Ishtar tensed at having her own words thrown back at her. Her lips trembled for a moment before she burst into painful laughter. She shook her head and leaned forward, gripping weakly at her now aching ribs. When the amusement subsided she turned her head towards Black Lotus’ voice again, “You might have the spirit of a hero in you after all,” Ishtar admitted, “I don’t hate this side of you.”

“I’m only interested in Sonya,” Black Lotus clipped.

“I already have an unwanted suitor,” Ishtar said with a casual shrug, “I don’t care for another anyway,” she paused, Why did I say that?

“You?” Black Lotus asked, suddenly interested, “Who is it?”

“I am not having girl talk with someone with your credentials,” Ishtar grumbled.

“Credentials?!”

“You’re my other-half’s lover, a hero, and should be my nemesis,” Ishtar pointed out.

“Fair enough,” Black Lotus chuckled, “I’m not going to forget that though.”

“I am painfully aware,” Ishtar sighed, “Now help me onto my chest. I can’t move.”

–

Ishtar lay on her side in bed. Marta had been forced to bathe her after Black Lotus’ first treatment. The power moving through her body had struck nearly every single one of the fragments of Visage lodged in her flesh and pushed against them in a way that she couldn’t have possibly done willingly to herself. The pain had been excruciating, but she had to begrudgingly admit that she could feel the faintest, infinitesimal sense of her energy moving through her body afterwards. Even so, she had been left shaking and weak, weaker than before and covered in sweat and bits of blood.

I have to keep interacting with that woman. It is going to make fighting her difficult.

She tried to relax in the eternal dark of her blindness. She needed rest. Hopefully if she felt better the next day she could try again to get one of the fragments out. They did feel a bit looser inside her body, enough to the point that she was more aware of where they were. Feeling them all move simultaneously had certainly helped that sense of awareness, not that she’d enjoyed it.

Ishtar let her mind drift, sleep, she needed sleep. Unconsciousness came and went, sleep drifting into strange lucid dreams that she tried to push through for the simple void of rest. Dreaming was a new and quite novel experience, unsettling. She would rather be at the back of Sonya’s mind while she dealt with this sort of thing.

Something urged her back to the waking world, her body reacting to a new sensation. She surfaced and felt a pair of soft lips pressed against her forehead. A delicate hand resting on hers. She caught a scent in the air, Iris? Marjoram? I know that smell. Who?

She frowned.

“...you’re doing it again. Pandora.”