loose strings . platinum

[ANNA GULLY]

"You're the wife." The rough voice would penetrate the silence as Anna caught sight of what she recognized to be a familiar figure. She had never met Platinum, yet she would not be formal. It was not her duty. For all she knew, Platinum was nothing more than a trashed doll.  Anna had only come to Johto for business. It was always business. One week's recovery and she had insisted upon hurrying reconstruction work. Unfortunately, the dex holders had become part of such work. They were too famed in the world to ignore, especially in times of need. Citizens would be grasping onto their fantasies, waiting for the day the "heroes" would have their revenge. Platinum was one of them. She was also the wife of her-- Her what? Employer? The title would serve. For now. "You shouldn't have let him wither away." The was a bitterness in her tone reserved for the ounce of jealousy she held for the younger girl. Not that Anna was jealous. No. It was not in her nature. She was indifferent, constantly.  "You should have taken care of him." It was only then she realized her hand was curled around the hilt of her switch blade. Emotions had gotten the best of her-- Anna was not supposed to express anger. She was not supposed to let the mask crack. But how could she prevent it from cracking, when it was already broken? She was still getting used to the ways of this life, months away had damn near ruined her. There was an uncomfortable, awkward even, air about her, behind the anger. How was she to treat the Heiress? Most likely better than she already had. Anna was never one to talk first and act later, but that was exactly what she was doing. Quite unfortunate. "Anna." She would answer the inevitable question before it was asked. Which would be another mistake. She felt exposed. It was almost more unpleasant than being kept underground as a for months.

[PLATINUM BERLITZ-SILPH]

Words stung into Platinum's consciousness as she stared forward. She had been deep in thought, eyeing plans for a building that would remake part of the Berlitz chain of hotels. Johto had been hit hard when it had been destroyed, but they had managed to make a comeback.

Because she had been free from her "husband", from the man who she had been underneath. That was the reason she had been able to come back from such a horrid place, he had disappeared with the attack on Silph, had let it happen. Gold-silver eyes blinked at Anna as she turned around on the prompting of the voice.

Shouldn't have let him wither away? Perhaps she should have been more of a doting wife. But then, what kind of husband had Fernando been anyhow? Constantly telling her that she wasn't good enough.

It had been a marriage of convenience after all.

"It was not my place, regardless of our marital status. Even if I could have kept him from doing as he did, it was never my place and he would have shunned my attempts." Platinum's voice was much calmer.

Anna may have been the other woman, but in Platinum's eyes that waas more of a positive than a negative. After all, Fernando had never truly treated her like a wife at the best of times.

"I guessed who you were. He has said your name before. I must ask though, why do you think he would have allowed me to take care of him? I was nothing but a figurehead and a trophy to him. He would not even allow me into his true business meetings, despite my pleas to learn proper business."

Platinum folded the papers she had been staring at, leaving them against her side as she looked directly at Anna, mildly scrutinizing her. What purpose did she have here? Platinum, like so many others, looked tired. She had been working since the "demise" of her husband in order to restore her own business, the way she was supposed to.

Anna was, after all, the heir to Silph's ways. That had never been a question.

"I could not stop the inevitable. I could only continue on the path that was before me."

[ANNA GULLY]

She was right, for the most part. Anna doubted Fernando would have truly taken to any attempt Platinum would have put out. Yet... "You didn't try. You let the world fall by letting him fall. You had a job, and you failed." Hypocrisy at its finest. The other did not have to know, though-- she would never know. It was not her place, not her duty to know Anna's business. The healing bruise on her own face was enough to say that Anna had not exactly been treated delicately in her absence, yet she acted as if it was not there. It was a symbol of her own failure. "You were the only other one around. Despite your childish thoughts, effort is notable and, in your case, absent. You do not learn by asking, you learn from observation. If you had managed to stick out the first phases of cruelty, you may have learned something. You're weaker than I am." Patience was the key to progression, she had learned. Perhaps Fernando's personal favor had driven her to what was formerly success, though Anna would deny any notion of such. "Your path will lead you astray. You're trusting in something that does not truly exist. How do you hope to rise, when you only lead yourself deeper into failure?"

[PLATINUM BERLITZ-SILPH]

Platinum's eyes flicked over the woman before her. Anna was, after all, closer to Fernando that Platinum ever had and ever would be. Perhaps even in there had been love from her husband for the other, and Platinum did not resent her. Her "wedded bliss" with the Silph heir had all been manufactured, all for convenience. It was silly to think that she would have been able to do anything.

"I did not want to." Finally, Platinum let out her voice, honestly speaking of what she had done. "Perhaps I should have, but I do not believe that by lifting him up onto a pedestal and granting him power over myself and the world that we would have been any better off than we are now. He is selfish and flawed as any other human, and he did not deserve it any more than these Knights do."

Golden eyes flicked away from Anna, turning her gaze briefly to the horizon. "To you it may seem like I am being lead astray, but I am confident in my steps and in my path. We have defeated great evils before now and will do so again." Plat frowned briefly, "And the difference is that I do not hope to lead, I hope to repair. And repair I have, regardless of your assuming I am being lead astray. I will follow the path of heroes. We have walked it before."

Fingers curled in on themselves. Platinum and Anna would likely never get on - Platinum had something that Anna did not, and she abused it. It was not something that would bode well between the two.

"Fernando to me is not a hero. He is not the path to follow to a saviour. We must do this on our own, or we will merely form two different dictatorships."

[ANNA GULLY]

Pathetic, truly pathetic. Want was a thing for the weak. "It's not about what you want." Her tone is sharp, punishing. It's the same tone he always used with her. It was true. Want was never necessary. She wants to kill Platinum. She cannot. Anna assumes such an act is forbidden without permission, but the desire to kill is pulsing through her veins; Anna is no murderer, yet she was trained. By the best. The best was crippled. She could blame herself, the difficult route, or she could blame the one person who was not disabled. The latter was easier, and Anna was not feeling forgiving. She would not take any malevolent action on the other, yet her fingers lingered around the pokeball of the serpent she most relied on. "Then you let everyone suffer." Simple, a stated fact. That should have been enough. Apparently Platinum's thick skull prevented her from seeing otherwise. She was blind. Anna could feel the annoyance creeping through her as the heiress continued her speech. Utter resentment would take hold of her, her hand would grasp the ball at her waist, until she would remember her actions and release her grip, lips set in a firm line, eyes glaring. "You're useless. Stupid. Hopeless. You are no hero. There are no heroes. You will fail, and the world will laugh at your attempt. Expect no pity." It's harsh, she knows. Yet the talk of pokedex holders being significantly stronger than any average trainer fills her with a spite she can't quite explain. "Power does not come from a device. You're an ignorant child." There's no mercy, she's willing to be relentless. "You'll simply be the cause of your alliances' demise."

[PLATINUM BERLITZ-SILPH]

"The man you worship is a lie, Anna."

Platinum had endured all Anna had to say, her eyes closing as she tried to get her to believe the words she was saying. But Platinum didn't believe a word that the second-in-command to her husband was saying. The talk of heroes being a fantasy - those things never occured to her.

"I am a hero, my friends are heroes. The power does not come from the device but the people who hold them, who care. They are heroes and they have been for longer than Fernando has been attempting to cultivate this creature he has become." She looked back up at Anna, almost feeling sorry for her.

"Your boss is not worth your time, if you want to worship him it is a waste of your resources. I do not believe that he will be the downfall of the Knights because he is the downfall of himself. It was never my place to help him and it will never be my place. Perhaps you would like my position, as the wife?" Platinum paused to meet Anna's glaring gaze. "I would gladly give it, so that you may take my place. He chose to marry me, for whatever reason. I do not know why, and I would give it up, but it is not my place to help him or put faith in him."

[ANNA GULLY]

"You speak as if you know him." Which, presumably, Platinum did not. It didn't matter, her message would not get across, she realized that now. Anna was wasting her time-- why had she approached the wife in the first place? To remind herself that Fernando has existed, to remind herself that she had always been lesser? This meeting was not for business, she would not ask the Pokedex holder for anything. Anna was too proud for that, too stubborn. "And they failed." She keeps it short now, getting through to the heiress is pointless. She would continue to refuse the truth behind Plat's words, clouded by... emotion? Something that could not be placed, something that refused to speak for itself. Her gaze had began to wander, but jolted back to the younger female at her first inquisition. "I'm nothing. It is not my place. Breeding means more than you've been lead to believe." It's not a no and Anna scolds herself for that. She shouldn't be here. Shouldn't be doing this to herself. Platinum is simply a cruel reminder of what she's been forced to leave behind. The woman takes a deep breath, letting her shoulders fall and her mind wander. Her guard is down simply because she no longer believes the dex holder would bring harm to anything, let alone her. Too weak. Too soft. "Don't dig your own graves." There's not much more to say, but she won't be the first to turn away. Anna is not going to give her purpose away, and she will not answer unspoken questions. Where were you? Why didn't you save him? How did you fail when you were raised by the ring leader? They bring a frown to her lips, a sadness in her eyes-- not that she expects Platinum to notice. In all honesty she hopes her mask was intact enough to spare her the agony of answering.

[PLATINUM BERLITZ-SILPH]

"I know enough to make my decisions." Platinum replied cooly, slightly annoyed. "He is my husband after all, and at least I have seen enough of him to know what I believe and what I do not. I do not believe that he would have been the saviour of the world, he is too proud and too sure of himself to be a true hero."

Apparently she had hit a sore spot when it came to breeding and Platinum had to raise an eyebrow. "I certainly know what it means. It is the reason I am married to him and you are not. My father would not have permitted me to marry beneath my station any more than Fernando would have chosen to. That does not mean it is a true marriage, just one of convenience. I am well aware of my breeding and what it means, I would still, just as soon, switch places with you. At least you love him."

Perhaps it was overstepping a boundary but Platinum thought that for a moment she would just see if saying it out loud would give Anna something to cling to. "I will protect my own, just like you will protect yours. I have no battle with you, Anna. I do not covet what you wish to possess, you are welcome to him much more than I will ever be. I cannot have faith in him the way you do."

[ANNA GULLY]

Hers? The simple word of possession was enough to make the usually-patient and collected Anna crack, lithe fingers leaving her waist with the intention to wrap around the heiress's throat with an unexpected amount of pressure. "You are nothing. To him. To anyone. If you held any significance, the world might not be in the state of terror it seems to crave. If you meant anything, perhaps your friends would be alive." She had to pause, had to take a breath, but neither would cause her to retreat. She would let her fingers sink in enough with hopes to leave some sort of bruise, some sort of reminder. As if Platinum was smart enough to remember her boundaries. As if she was smart enough to realize she even had any. 'Sniveling cowards full of doubt are not the ones to run the world, nor the ones to save it. You needed his confidence, and you shit on it instead. Congratulations." Only then would she relent, venomous words coming to a halt, violent hands coming to retreat and relax motionlessly against her sides. There would be no apologies. It was too late to be forgiven, too late to prove herself. Fernando had already sent her away, the only thing Anna could do was take it out on the world and wait to be recalled. "I know." Platinum never knew when to stop talking. Anna was accustomed to the vocal torment, but she would not endure the voice of an ignorant coward. "It is not your place to give me permission to something you never possessed. I did not approach you to have your blessing." Bitter. Too bitter. She didn't care anymore, it was too late to care. As much as she would have enjoyed to see the life drain from Platinum's eyes, this was not the place. Strangers were already beginning to linger, curious of the taller woman's intentions-- she had, after all, attacked the heiress in a public space. A mistake of idiocy, a mistake that could have been prevented. Not that it mattered. Anna was still standing, she would depart soon enough. "Good luck with your company." OOC: If you aren't comfortable with anything in this post, let me know so I can change/re-write it when I get the chance. I recognize the bit of powerplaying, and completely understand if you want it gone, etc. Sorry!

[PLATINUM BERLITZ-SILPH]

Platinum had not expected the choke-hold. She would be lying if she said she wasn't frightened and a flash of fear appeared in her eyes as the other woman's fingers tightened around her neck. But the heiress would not give her the satisfaction of seeing it and she flattened her gaze to a stony, irritated one as she shifted slightly under the grip.

It would probably bruise, but that was something for her to deal with later. "My friends are alive. I do not intend to be anything to Fernando but I am his wife. I do not have to hold significance to be a hero, and I do not intend to run the world, merely to restore it. I did not need anything from him, and I chose my path."

She had to raise an eyebrow at the bitter tone and Platinum turned away quickly, about to start moving away. "I do not need luck. Remember, Anna, you may not have approached me for my blessing but you certainly chose to approach me. We could just as easily have ignored one another's existence forever more. It was you who decided to confront me, perhaps because you needed some semblance of permission, if not another."

Platinum turned fully then, dark hair shifting in a sheet as she began her walk away. "Goodbye, Anna." She mused, gingerly touching the red marks on her neck as she strode.