Ranger
Chapter 105: Id
By Wanderer D
"This is not a memory?" Sunset asked, looking around the place.
"Oh, so you're the one that has been linked…" Aria sighed and went to sit down. "I thought—I hoped it would be…" she sighed again. "Doesn't matter." She studied Sunset for a moment. "So I see I was wrong… you are one of us…"
"I'm not a siren," Sunset said, frowning at Aria.
"Hm. Not yet." She snorted. "Or maybe not a siren at all… but I can feel the connection to you, so you are sort of like us, little sister."
Sunset stepped back. "Explain. Now."
Aria rolled her eyes. "What forbidden magic are you practicing?"
Sunset's eyes went wide. "What?"
"Are you really going to make me repeat myself? The magic. What type of forbidden magic are you using? All of us monsters used it at one point or another."
"I'm nothing like you!"
"Yet." Aria hummed. "I've felt you before… when I was on a rampage, I assume. It's hard to keep track."
Sunset gave her a wary look. "So you're going to tell me you're not the assassin and that the assassin is just a shell from which I should rescue you?"
Aria bellowed out an honest to goodness guffaw. "What? No. I definitely am the Assassin. I'll be honest, I was expecting bigger boobs from the exchange, along with the taller body, and maybe less teeth, but it didn't happen. Ah well, que sera, sera, right?"
"Are you… I met another of you, she wasn't… like this."
"Another me?" Aria blinked, then shrugged. "A phony. Or, possibly an entirely different being. I seem to recall another recent link to myself but… not me."
"Still!" Sunset shouted. "You're here! Annette is out there, fighting the assassin, if we could—"
"What?" Aria asked, giving Sunset a deadpan look. "Bring 'me' out? Replace my personality? What do you think will happen? I'll suddenly be your buddy? Join your ill-fated crew and go fight the elders? I've been a monster for centuries… what's your name?"
"...Sunset."
"Sunset. Centuries of lust for hate and mayhem. For death and destruction. For blood and glory... Just because I seem rational here, right now, doesn't mean I'll turn around a new leaf the moment you presumably did this."
"Don't you want to go back to who you were?"
Aria scoffed. "By the elders, you truly are naive." She rubbed her temple. "I'm the assassin. There aren't two of us. I'm her. I keep her regrets at bay, at the most, whatever I was before—whatever I could have been—has been given freely to the magic that corrupted me and my sisters. Just like it will inevitably happen to you."
"I'm not a monster!"
"You aren't?" Aria asked, tilting her head with a small smile. "Really? You haven't… say, transformed? You haven't met your inner-self? The real you that doesn't hide behind masks of generosity, laughter or friendship?"
"I—"
"You don't pretend to be kind? Can you even be honest with yourself at all anymore? Tell me… what magic is it?!" Aria demanded.
"I—"
"Come on… share. What magic did you use? What foul, delicious, sensual, soul-transforming, mind-liberating, power-seeking misfortune did you gloriously bring out to devour the simple, unwitting mortals that think you actually care?"
"Blood…"
Aria laughed. "Oh, this is rich. Tell me, Blood Witch. When you get covered in it… and you know you do get covered in it often, don't you… tell me, how does it feel?" she leaned forth, licking Sunset's cheek. "What does it taste like? Does it make you feel… hmmm…" she shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself with a smile, looking at Sunset through half-lidded eyes.
"That's not me! I wouldn't—"
"If you kill me," Aria whispered, walking around Sunset and hugging her from behind, letting her hands roam the other girl's body, and making her shudder, "take this gem. It's made from forbidden magic too. One day, you'll know what to do with it. For now…"
She spun Sunset around, surprising the ranger as she locked lips with her, pulling her into a sensual embrace. Just as Sunset felt her knees go weak and her arms come up as well, Aria broke the kiss, pushing her away with one hand and a flirty smile on her face.
Sunset could still taste her lips though.
Aria smirked. "See you in battle."
"Gah!" Sunset snarled, backpedalling and falling on her back.
"Hiss…" Angel said, slithering closer to help Sunset up.
"I-I'll be okay… today's not a good day for my sanity…" she shook her head. "Where are the others?" she asked, noticing the absence of her team.
"Hiss!"
Sunset groaned, "Dammit… I think the visions are done. Come on!"
The pair moved as fast as they could into the next area; a large room full of screens and computers, where Annette, Jane, Laetitia and Elena were just finishing off the last trooper.
Six bodies lay strewn around, three belonging to vipers.
Angel hissed softly and went to their bodies, looking down at them in contemplation, Jane gave Sunset a thumbs up and went over to talk to the viper, while the other walked up to Sunset.
"Well, well, look who's up."
Sunset gave Annette a slight glare. "That should be the last of it happening… I'm glad you guys could take care of business over here without my assistance."
Annette snorted. "It's said that Sunset Shimmer once took a whole downed UFO by herself," she gave Sunset a shrug. "If I and four others can't handle some ADVENT troops while mini-her is out for the count, we're not worthy of calling ourselves XCOM."
"Ouch. And also, that sounds like quite an achievement," Sunset said dubiously, "as fantastic as Sunny-One might've been, that sounds like a bit of an exaggeration."
"With our luck, you'll find out for sure somehow," Elena said.
"Yes, about that, you and I should have a talk about tempting fate."
"I told Sunset that if she ever went Lone Wolf like that again, she'd be stuck in the brig until the apocalypse." Chrysalis said on the comms.
Elena gave Sunset a smug look.
Jane and Angel joined them then, with the Viper looking less remorseful, and Sunset took advantage to glance around with her Blood Magic. "There's… no one organic in that direction. I guess as long as there's no MECs or Specters, we should be okay."
The group started walking towards the next room. Taking positions behind cover and around the door, Sunset gave the signal for Elena to open the door. Immediately, as it slid open, all weapons were trained on any possible enemy, but the room was empty, save for a slightly glowing platform atop a couple of smalls sets of stairs.
On either side of the platform, statues of the Elders flanked it, raising their hands to the heavens.
"I think… we found the place."
This appears to be an alien transport device of some kind," Tygan said.
"Looks like we found our way out of here," Bradford noted.
"Heading over," Sunset called in, as she an the others trotted up the stairs and onto the platform.
"Did you learn anything new about Aria?" Annette asked.
Sunset considered her last encounter. "Yeah. I think the other Aria was right after all… there's not much, if anything left. Let's not hesitate."
Annette smirked. "Never crossed my mind."
o.0.o End Chapter 105 o.0.o
SHOWDOWN TIME!! real quick.. what are the strengths and weaknesses of aria as of this point?
"Sunset. Centuries of lust for hate and mayhem. For death and destruction. For blood and glory." Just because I seem rational here, right now, doesn't mean I'll turn around a new leaf the moment you presumably did this."
Can you be even honest with yourself?
1. Extra quotation mark in the middle.
2. Can you even be honest with yourself? Though to be fair, I've never seen this phrase written this way before so I could be wrong if it's cultural.
The keeping of the element of harmony by the humans is stupid.
The elements were meant to work together to try and make them work individually is just asking for out of control power.
Also as long as they are trying to control it they will never be able to use it.
The act of wanting power is what makes someone undeserving of the power.
Oh
Careful. Angel may get jealous.
Ha, I got it.
Okay now you're just showing off.
They're probably below sea level so might as well call her a terror while you're at it.
If Sunset makes the gem her own, maybe she can use it to preserve her sanity somewhat, similar to how the Sirens in this story seem to?
Didn't they first encountered the specter in the previous room and had yet to give it a name yet?
Finally caught up. Goddamn am I excited. On one hand, they get to meet and maybe kill the assassin, but I can't help but hope for redemption, especially after the FMP arc (which, btw, was a trip with all that happened).
You're Not a Monster, Sunset.
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And the alternative is? The portal is down after all, and at least they have the rightful bearer as an ally.
"know what to with it, for"
"know what to do with it, for"?
SHOWTIME!
Is it wrong of me to want to see this story end in a massive bloody struggle and a heroic sacrifice?
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It's XCOM, that much is practically required
Sunny gets ALL the ladies, no matter the alignment, faction or species. She's gotta catch them all
Now it's time for the showdown. I always found the assasain to be easy in her own home. She is easy to find, even if inviseble. And you can just consentrate all your fire on her pretty quickly.
But why would Aria (both of them!) deliberately tell her to keep the Gem? What do they know??!?!
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At the moment Aria's stealth is useless, I don't think the temple room is big enough to out range Sunset's blood vision and Elena can see her if she focuses in the right location. This is before we even question if the psykers can sense her or if Angel has any tricks up her sleeves...
BUT
She's still super human, fast, strong with a lot of health and very powerful weapons.
Also they havent experienced her "Wave" attack yet so she could herd them and unleash her wave against those who can see her.
If Aria fights smart this still isn't an easy battle.
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Isn't she, though?
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Yes
Final showdown. Though part of me can't help but suspect that there's an army surrounding the other end of that teleport pad. This isn't over yet...
Well Aria is quite the femme fatal.
Though what is so important about Sunset taking the gem? I now the gem is the heart of the Siren and stores the negative emotion they normally extract with their songs, but I can't guess else it could bring to Sunset to have it.
it
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I mean in the game. The room was always too small to hide in.
That sure didn't go as Sunset was hoping.
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what is your comment doing in this chapter? You seem to be replying to something in an entirely different chapter, about fourty chapters ago.
And now she's been told to take the gem by two separate versions of Aria ...
others
Spectors huh? Neat name...
To bad... Nothing can be saved from Aria...
The Gem was made by forbidden magic? I wonder if the sisters are not sister by birth, but choice.
What is there other than blood magic I wonder...