Forgotten Tales II - Priss's Story

This story is part of the "Forgotten Tales" series set in the world of
the 2090 BGC series.

The name Bubblegum Crisis and characters within are copyright of
Artmic & Youmex.


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Location: New Avon, New Avon
Time: AE 7614, 1st Decan, 29:34 (New Calender)


    The young brown haired woman sat in the dingy twilight of the
filthy bar and quietly nursed her drink. Her mud splattered clothes
and tired eyes reflected exactly how she felt and somehow seemed to
fit perfectly into the atmosphere of this place that was laughingly
called a bar of entertainment. The woman raised her glass and sipped
at the foul crap that was all this place ever served. She did not even
care that this stuff was ultimately a slow poison that could shorten a
human's lifespan by half - no one did these days.

    The woman looked over at the other tired faces present in the bar
and wondered just how many of them would be dead before the end of the
year. Quite a few probably - either to the filth of the stuff that
they were putting into their bodies or to the dark despair that seem
to permeate everything these days. The woman did not care. These
people meant absolutely nothing to her. They were simply a reflection
of the sickness that had seemed to infect the race of Man as a whole.
What did it matter? What did anything matter? Man was a dying species
lost in its own hopelessness. The fires of Life had just about burnt
themselves out and only the flickering embers remained. The insidious
Corruption of the Great War was everywhere and entropy was sucking
like a great Hunger at the Life of Creation.

    It was the year 7614 and the glorious space bound empire that Man
had always dreamed of had been and gone. All that remained of that
once bright vision was a corrupt star spanning bureaucracy that itself
was slowly dying and crumbling away. Mankind had gone to the stars all
right. They had gone with hope and dreams at what they would find and
what they would shape but those hopes had quickly faded into cold ash.
Mankind was alone. Where they had hoped to find others to share their
bright dreams they had only found cold empty worlds, worlds that were
as barren as the Earth had become. Oh, in the beginning there had been
attempts to terraform these worlds and produce paradise like Edens but
the few successes had only resulted in muck holes like New Avon.
Mankind had to finally accept that they were mortal. The creation of
paradise like Edens was beyond them. And so, disillusioned Mankind had
turned in on itself and in less than 3000 years of first achieving the
stars the race had more or less returned to its cradle world leaving
only a few places like this planet as a remnant of what had once been.

    Priscilla Stephanie Mayline Asagiri had lived to see it all. She
had been born on Earth so long ago that even she could no longer
remember the year or even cared. She had lived through the rise and
fall of so many millennia that time was no longer relevant to her. She
had been touched by the Darkness and Death itself had abandoned her in
a combination of disgust and fear. Existence had rejected her and she
had to live with the consequences.

    Oh, at first Priss had been ecstatic. She had been young, in love,
and had a Chosen who had catered to her every whim. However, as time
had passed, when the years had grown into centuries and the centuries
had turned into millennia Priss's bright dream had turned into a
living nightmare. The endless years rolling by had driven her deeper
and deeper into anger and despair. Mayline has tried, even Priss had
to acknowledge that, but the despair had been too strong and in the
end she had driven her Chosen away. She could still remember the
broken look on the Noble's white face when one day the loathing and
anger that had festered within her for so long had exploded. What had
followed had made her truly alone. The words once said could never be
taken back, Mayline was gone - forever.

    Alone. It was a word that Priss had had rather a lot of experience
with, even before the Darkness. It was almost as if being alone was a
natural state for her. All those she had ever loved had either been
taken from her forcefully or Priss herself had driven them away. She
was an island, self contained, and although she might share herself
with others from time to time being alone was who she was.

    "Rely on yourself and no one else can ever hurt you," she muttered
to herself as she drained yet another glass. And yet, even as the
words left her lips Priss knew that deep down they were a lie. The
truth was something much more simple - Priss was a coward. Being alone
was something she understood. She was safe with it and it helped her
to survive.

    The thought bought a crooked half grin to Priss's face. There had
been a time long long ago when she had been called reckless. A time
when the fires of hate had burnt so strongly in her that she had
chased after her goal no matter what the consequences. A time when she
had been young, naive and foolish. A time...

    Priss frowned as she struggled to recall the names of the people
associated with those days. It was a effort. The long centuries tended
to flow into a blur after a while and trying to recall the incidence
of any specific year was difficult.

    A face... a name... a friend... a sister...

    "Linna," Priss murmured as her mind dredged up the old memories
from the muck. "Linna... Yamazaki..."

    It had been Linna who had once called her reckless. Linna, who had
once slapped her around the face and cryfully demanded that Priss not
seek death so much in her... Another name rolled out of the depths of
her past - Knight Sabers. That was it! That was what Linna had been so
worried about! The Knight Sabers....

    Priss waited as yet more memories slowly came to the surface.
Sylia, Nene, Mackie... Names of mortals long since crumbled to dust.
Names and faces that Priss could just barely dimly recall before they
faded back once more into the murkiness from which they had emerged
until only the first name and face remained - Linna.

    Linna had been wrong. In the end it had been her who had been the
bravest one. Linna, who had risked everything and ultimately gained a
prize that was above all others. She who had dared to chase after her
dreams and she who had found all that she had ever wanted. Yes, Priss
was the coward all right. She had been offered the same opportunity
that Linna had but instead of committing everything that she was to
chasing that dream. Priss had ultimately been too scared.... Too
afraid of sharing everything that she was with her Chosen, too afraid
of the Joining, and thus unlike Linna and Samanaimethea Priss was
alone... Forgotten...

    "Like it matters..." Priss commented to no one. Mayline was better
off by herself anyway. The young Noble was at the forefront of the
titanic struggles that raged through out so many other Realms. She did
not need the presence of an immortal human weighing her down. It was
better this way, better for both of them. Better that Priscilla S.
Asagiri be forgotten altogether.

    It had been so long since that time when she had abandoned her
Chosen that Priss doubted somehow that any others of the Family even
remembered she still existed. She had long since given up any interest
in the Games of the Nobles, or the Great War that she knew was still
furiously being fought. She was only interested in survival - her
survival. Survival was, after all, the only thing she still had left.
And so now she simply stayed apart. That had been one of the reasons
she had moved outwards when Man had first taken to the stars and that
was the reason why she had remained here on New Avon.

    New Avon? Priss snorted. The place was basically a semi-dried
swamp. The Empire had originally chosen this world as the key military
stronghold for this sector and as a result of this decision they had
begun the terraforming process over 800 years ago. One landmass was
now habitable with three cities located in different areas. The major
city, confusingly also called New Avon, housed the majority of the
world's population and all of its major facilities. Priss had
originally come here over 500 years ago when the Imperial Navy had
been offering civilians large payments to move here. The money itself
had been of no interest but the remote location and the undeveloped
nature of the colony had appealed to her so she had gone. As the
Empire had slowly begun to collapsed from within the only military
presence that was still on this world was one small almost forgotten
legion. The total world population was struggling to meet the one
million mark and even though it was the year 7614 the technology
generally available was not much different from that of over three
thousand years ago. In fact, Priss very much suspected that within the
next few hundred years all contact with the Empire would wither and
die. When that finally happened this civilisation would collapse and
fall into anarchy - just like Rome and so many others. Priss was
almost looking forward to that time, it could certainly be no worst
than this.

    Priss got to her feet and looked at the time - another dull night
was almost complete. In a few more hours the hot yellow sun would rise
up in the sky overhead and another dull day would start. Priss would
go to her meaningless job for yet another meaningless day and the
whole cycle would repeat itself again and again and again. Her routine
was like clockwork and gave her a sense of timelessness that comforted
her, even if it was dull and pointless. It gave her a shield against
the insanity that she knew was happening somewhere out there in the
other Realms, an insanity that she even dreaded the knowledge of.

    She threw some chips down on the table and taking her coat walked
out into the humid night. The faint smell of rot and decay hit her
senses almost immediately and she snorted as she sealed up her coat.
She should have gotten use to the stench by now but somehow it still
always managed to surprise her. She cleared the mucus from her throat
and walked out into the semi-lit side street. She mindlessly stepped
over the gutted body of a dead man and headed back down the small
street towards the apartment that she called home. Perhaps, she might
be able to get some sleep before she headed into work or maybe not -
it did not really matter to her either way.

    It took her a further ten minutes to reach her apartment from the
bar where she now spent the majority of her free time. The route was
very well known to her by now and the human lowlife who lived along it
knew better than to give her any trouble. Millennia of experience
living alone and protecting herself was an edge that those who had
once tried to assault her did not have. The word had spread quickly
and no one bothered her now. As she walked the dimly lit streets Priss
looked up at the murky night sky overhead. The stars shone like jewels
in the velvet darkness overhead and Priss stopped to have a look at
them. The night sky was the only redeeming feature that this sorry
world really had. It reminded Priss of something from her past,
something she had forgotten and for the life of her she could not
recall it at all.

    Priss frowned as she struggled to dig out the elusive memory but
nothing came. The only thing she could recall was a voice whispering
her name... a man's voice... The memory vanished and Priss felt
herself crying for some strange reason. She shook her head and pushed
on towards the apartment. Getting lost in sentimentality was not
something she needed to do this night.

    Finally she reached her apartment. Placing her hand under the lock
scanner she waited the brief moment for it to read her genetic code
and open the door. The lock bleeped and the door swept open letting
Priss inside.

    "Welcome back Priscilla," an unimaginable hauntingly musical voice
called out from the kitchen. "I have made you some dinner so why not
come in and eat?"

    Priss froze and a sense of dread rushed up and down her spine. She
knew that voice. She might have forgotten a lot but she knew THAT
voice.

    "Well?" the indescribable voice queried again as a young woman
stepped out into the centre of the small apartment.

    "Dada..." Priss went into her usual reaction when faced with the
inhuman perfection of Samanaimethea. She stumbled forward and her
hands reached out to try and touch that luscious long red hair.
"Red..."

    Samanaimethea laughed in a fond tone that made Priss go completely
to mush.

    "Silky..." Priss announced as she tried to touch that glossy,
luxurious...

    "Oh Priscilla..." the young woman smiled and led the dumbstruck
human over to the table.

    "Long..." Priss said dreamily as she sat down and continued to try
and touch those glossimar strands.

    "Eat Priscilla," Samanaimethea said turning away and letting the
human recover something of her dignity. Priscilla never changed...

    Priss started to obey without thinking. It was only after the
first of the indescribable items of food had passed down her throat
that Priss came slowly back from the land of "dardar". She blinked and
began to look...

    "Priscilla," Samanaimethea's perfect voice said warningly. "I do
not want you going mindless on me now. So why do you not just keep
your pretty little head down and enjoy the food I have made for you.
It looks like you have not eaten anything decent for quite a
sometime."

    "What..." Priss swallowed and concentrated on NOT looking at the
divine being behind her. "What do you want?"

    Samanaimethea did not answer for a moment as she watched Priscilla
struggle against the temptation of turning to face her. Finally, she
smiled and spoke up. "I always get endless entertainment from teasing
you Priscilla."

    "I'm so happy for you..." Priss murmured as she was not sure
whether to feel afraid or glad that Samanaimethea was in a playful
mood. The young "woman" was both Sam and Samantha rolled into one and
Priss never knew which aspect she was dealing with.

    "You misunderstand me Priscilla," Samanaimethea commented still
enjoying the effect she was having on Mayline's Chosen. "Sam and
Samantha are gone. I am nothing like either of them."

    "Yeah sure," Priss said aloud. "Whatever you say."

    "Why are you here Priscilla?" Samanaimethea suddenly changed
topics. "What is it that you hope to achieve by hiding here? Are you
really that afraid of love?"

    Priss's head spun around angrily and she focused on the
questioning face of Samanaimethea. "What do you mea... Red..." another
stupid grin broke forth on her face.

    Samanaimethea sighed and rolled her eyes. Suddenly she vanished
and Priss was left staring at the wall. "Priscilla," the glorious
voice spoke from where the young woman had been standing. "Priscilla!"

    "Red... What?!" Priss came back to reality with a bump. "Where..."

    "Invisible for now," an annoyed tone crepted into Samanaimethea's
musical voice. "Since this appears to be the only way we are going to
be able to talk easily. Now Priscilla, will you answer my question -
why did you leave Mayline so abruptly? She has been desperate to try
and find you even now."

    Priss's eyes widened. "After all this time? That's..."

    "Time is irrelevant to us Priscilla," Samanaimethea interrupted.
"You of all people should know that."

    Priss did not answer. Mayline was still looking for her? It seemed
impossible, her Chosen was a Noble she should have been able to locate
Priss in a...

    "I hid you," Samanaimethea remarked causally. "Linna said you
needed sometime to think things through so I gave you some privacy."

    "You?!" Priss hissed incredulously. "Why would _you_ help me?"

    "Oh Priscilla..." and Priss could almost see the hurt expression
on the divine face.

    "I... mean..." for some reason Priss felt like the bad guy.

    "Mayline is my daughter," Samanaimethea began talking as if to a
very stupid child. "Linna is my Bonded, and you Priscilla are a
friend. Why should I not be concerned about you? I simply want you and
Mayline to be happy."

    Priss did not believe that statement for one second. This was the
Corrupter she was talking to, the Hunger who sought to...

    "I am many things Priscilla to many different people,"
Samanaimethea said. "To some I am what you call the Corrupter. To
others, I am the Enemy and to yet others I am simply Vengeance. I have
even been known as Beloved to a few. I have many names mortal and many
many different facets. The Corrupter is only the most..."
Samanaimethea paused as she sensed that what she was trying to explain
was going over Priscilla's head. She sighed and continued simply.
"Priscilla, to you I am simply Samanaimethea - a friend."

    "If you are my friend like you claim to be then I want you to
leave me alone!" Priss exclaimed rising to her feet. "I am happy here
Samanaimethea! I don't need anyone telling me how to live my life,
least of all you!"

    A mocking laughter was Priss's only answer and she began to feel
angry. "What are _you_ so amused with?" she demanded.

    "You Priscilla," the laughter subsided into giggles that made
Priss shudder. "Trying to lie to _me_ of all people. Sometimes your
stupidity is just so refreshing."

    Priss felt her face go red with rage and she took an involuntary
step towards that mocking voice.

    "Excellent!" Samanaimethea's voice giggled gleefully. "I see the
Priscilla we all know and love is still there."

    Priss's rage turned cold. "You're deliberately trying to provoke
me aren't you!?" she demanded.

    "Me? Why would I do that?"

    "You're Playing with me!" Priss growled.

    "Playing? No. Teasing? Yes."

    Priss muttered something dark under her breath. Arguing with
Samanaimethea was a dangerous and pointless exercise. She just knew
that the redhead would not go away until she had had her amusement.

    "Or my answer Priscilla," Samanaimethea's voice stated. "I will
leave you alone when I have my answer. Why are you so afraid of
opening yourself up? Do you not trust in yourself or something?"

    Priss sat down and crossed her legs stubbornly. She was not going
to give Samanaimethea the amusement she desired. She would just sit
here and...

    "Sulk," Samanaimethea said in amusement. "All right Priscilla, if
that is how you feel I will leave you alone and let you get back to
your exciting life of wild pleasures. Say hello..."

    Priss almost sighed with relief at Samanaimethea's words. The
Corrupter was leaving and...

    "...to Mayline for me..."

    "What?!" Priss shot to her feet as a cold shudder went through
her. "What does that mean?"

    "If you do not want to explain it to me then you can explain it to
Mayline," Samanaimethea replied briskly. "You and her need to work
these things out and  now. You have had your time to think and Mayline
deserves an answer. Now, who is it to be - me or her?"

    Priss swallowed. Why did everything always come down to threats
with Samanaimethea?

    "Well Priscilla?" Samanaimethea said quietly. "Who is it do be?"

    "Why are you doing this to me Samanaimethea?" Priss begged.
"Please... can't you just leave me alone?"

    "Because you are hurting Mayline with your indecision and I cannot
allow that to continue. I need her whole, the Family needs her whole
and most of all you need her whole. It is time to stop being afraid
Priscilla. Time to answer _your_ question. Linna has answered hers and
now you must answer yours. Why do you want to be alone? What are you
so afraid of sharing?"

    The question hung there between them and Priss knew that
Samanaimethea would only be satisfied with the complete truth but the
problem was that she did not know the answer herself. What was she so
afraid of? Why had she just left Mayline in the lurch? What was it
that drove her to be alone?

    "Samantha knew," Samanaimethea commented helpfully. "That was why
she let Darshi place you in your own private little hell. You both
want to be alone and also see it as your worst nightmare. Try and ask
yourself why."

    Afraid... What was she afraid of? Being alone? But she liked to be
alone that was one of the reasons she had felt so uncomfortable with
Mayline. Holding people at arms length meant that she was in control.
It assured her that no one could climb into her heart and hurt her by
their deaths. She remained an island only reliant on herself, never to
be betrayed by those in whom she trusted. Being alone was what helped
her to survive.

    "Being alone is what helps you to survive," Samanaimethea repeated
Priscilla's rambling thoughts. "It stops you being hurt or being
betrayed - but by whom Priscilla, by whom?"

    "I..." Priss tried to say.

    "By whom Priscilla?" Samanaimethea pushed harshly. "Who hurt you?
Who betrayed you? Come on Priscilla - think! Who BETRAYED you? Who
HURT you?"

    "I..."

    "WHO?" Samanaimethea's command shook Priscilla to the core.

    "SHE DID!" Priss suddenly screamed out. "SHE BETRAYED ME! SHE MADE
ME KILL HIM! _SHE_ USED ME... She _used_ me..." Priss suddenly started
to cry as a wave of buried emotions flooded over her as the memories
she had suppressed for so long burst forth like raw festering wounds.
"She... used me..."

    "Sylia," Samanaimethea said quietly as she looked down at the
sobbing human. She felt no pity or joy at having forced Priscilla to
answer her question. It was simply something that had to be done.
Samanaimethea  needed Mayline and Mayline needed her Chosen. It was
simply cause and effect.

    - Is it really just that Sammy? - Linna's voice whispered in her
mind.

    - Should it be anything else? - Samanaimethea  calmly replied to
her mate. - Leviathan already begins to break the weaken Seal even as
we try and limit His intrusions from the Shadowlands. I need Mayline
whole Linna - we both do. The Family must be one if we have any hope
of trying to save what we can. You know that as well as I. The time we
both have left is limited. We must do what we must, we have no
choice... -

    - And so Priss becomes a Pawn to be moved... -

    - No -

    - Then what? -

    - She becomes what she was meant to be in the first place,
Mayline's Chosen -

    - First place? - Linna's voice was soft with confusion. - What
does that mean? -

    Samanaimethea  smiled to herself and remained silent.

    - Samanaimethea? What do you mean? -

    - Mayline is coming Linna my love. I had better go -

    - What did you mean Sammy? Tell me -

    Silence.

    - Sammy? -

    Nothing.

    - ... - Linna exclaimed. Sometimes Samanaimethea was even more
frustrating than Samantha! But then what else was new. Sammy was Sammy
and Linna loved her. It was as simple as that, no matter the price
that she knew they both had to pay and soon.


** End of Priss's Story.