CLOSED ♔ i'm leading the army inside

[coldheritage]

♬ The Army Inside - Lacuna Coil

WHO || Spike, Nadia, Burt, Vladislov  [Closed]
WHAT ||Spike acts as Nadia's personal bodyguard as she embarks on touring under her new label
WHERE || Various
WHEN ||From February onwards
HOW || Actionspam

[ Nadia Reichenov has made her stand against her grandfather, Keijen Blade, son of the nightmare god Malaak'a, by breaking away from the deal she's made with them.  Such actions don't come out without their share of dangers, and to that end, Spike has agreed to stay with her as she travels on her world tour, where she plans to warn as many people as possible not to listen to the mind-controlling music that Keijen and his descendants are producing.  While her concerts don't draw in anywhere near the following that Heatless Passion does, there's still considerable call for her music, and it seems like maybe some people are listening.  ]

Comments

Late February

[coldheritage]

[ the first few weeks are rough. apparently, breaking malaak'a's hold isn't easy, gasp who would have thought. nadia doesn't feel like doing a lot of talking during this time, so while she goes on stage, does her number, and then goes back to the hotel, she's hard to socialize with much.

and there are the nightmares. she wakes up actually screaming sometimes, but she refuses to talk about those too. tonight, though, there's a crash from her bedroom, and when spike opens the door, he'd see that she's knocked the lamp off the bedside table as she sat up, and the smell of blood fills the air where she's cut her hand. ]

[bigbad]

[Well, this is nice and fun for the vampire. His will save of 11 makes him grip the door, not wanting to get too close since he doesn't quite trust himnself to act rationally right now. He knows Nadia can defend herself from him, but he's her bloody bodyguard. She shouldn't have to.]

Sounds like it's getting worse.

[coldheritage]

It's going to get worse before it gets better. [ she tries to sound cool about it, but her other hand is gripping the edge of the bed and trembling. she looks down at her injured hand, and then says: ] Can you get me some water?

[bigbad]

Yeah, of course.

[He vanishes towards the kitchen, taking a moment to drink some cold blood from the fridge to get himself back under control before coming in with a glass of water and setting it down next to her.]

[coldheritage]

[ she doesn't reach for it at first, indicating that maybe she didn't need the water so much as a moment to compose herself also. ] Thanks.

[bigbad]

[He takes a seat, watching her with a slight frown. He knows she won't want to talk about it, but Spike's nothing if not persistant.]

So is he trying to get you back? Or just poking holes in your mind cause that's what he calls a good time?

[coldheritage]

He's punishing me. For turning away.

[bigbad]

[So the latter, then. Spike gives her a sympathetic look. Can't be fun, having a monster playing around in her mind like that. Even less fun when there's no way to keep him out. But she knew what she was getting into, and he's bloody proud that she keeps fighting despite what he's doing to her.]

Wish there was something I could do to help. Past getting water.

[coldheritage]

There's nothing anybody can do. Short of finding a way to kill a god.

[bigbad]

Well, I'll bet we're working on that. [Considering how many of his teammates are holding a grudge against Keijen and his nightmare dad..... yeah.]

You're brave, you know. Fighting on despite everything. It's bloody impressive.

[coldheritage]

If I were brave, I would have done this before I'd already done so much of his dirty work.

[bigbad]

Might've taken you time to get there, but that doesn't mean what you're doing now is any less brave. [Spike shakes his head.] Maybe it's more brave now. Deeper you got in, harder it must've been to finally get out.

[coldheritage]

Something Keijen knows, and is happy to use against us.

[bigbad]

But you did get out. [He turns towards her, looking at her intensely.] And you've stayed away. So whatever he's doing... it's not working.

[coldheritage]

The others are still there. Probably will be right through to the end.

[bigbad]

Maybe. Might be some of them had their own doubts and'll follow in your footsteps. If they don't, that's just one more bad guy we'll have to worry about when the time comes. [He flashes her a smile.] Still, there's already one less than we were counting on, thanks to you.

[coldheritage]

I never relished the thought of killing any of you. Or... I wouldn't let myself relish it.

[bigbad]

[That gets a smile from him. He thought as much. She hadn't seemed all that bloodthirsty to him from the first, and plus, Myri likes her. Hard for him to believe anyone Myri liked could be out for their blood.]

But you would've, if you were still on their side. [He shrugs. It doesn't make the admission any less meaningful, but his eyes are clear enough to realize that if she had been on the bad guys' side, they would have fought. Despite the beliefs of some of his teammates, his heart eyes don't entirely blind him.] Blade doesn't seem like the sort of boss that'd allow you to pick and choose.

[coldheritage]

He wouldn't be above killing his own, not if any of us refused an order. I knew a time was going to come where he gave one that I couldn't go through with.

[bigbad]

Did he? [It won't make a difference to how he feels about her switching sides, but he's curious. Did he ask for something too terrible for her to accept, or did she just decide to pre-empt it?]

[coldheritage]

He gave some I wish I hadn't. [ which is... a different matter lmao ]

[bigbad]

[Yeah that's... not really the question. Spike raises an eyebrow.] Figured that much was a given, honestly.

[coldheritage]

It goes deeper than I imagine you'd like to think.

[bigbad]

What, you think I couldn't handle it?

[coldheritage]

I don't know where your lines are. Those that fancy themselves hero types tend to have rather strict ones.