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[The first thing Annabeth thinks is if Yelena killed someone, it was with reason. She knows the other girl well enough at this point to know that for certain. Her expression both softens and turns a shade contemplative.]

He was haunting you. [A brief pause.] To extract revenge?

[Her voice is surprisingly understanding, even as revenge is her first conclusion. It all reminds her of King Minos, even if he wasn't targeting her for revenge, exactly.]

[The lack of outcry is a good sign. There's no talk of "You're a murderer?" from Annabeth which gives Yelena a measure of relief that confiding in her isn't an entirely poor idea.]

Probably. I think it amuses him to taunt me during...everything.

[One could say Reyad had haunted her well before his death, and dying had changed only what he could do and nothing of his nature. He'd been as awful alive as dead.]

Back home no one could see him but me, I think, but if it works differently here...there's no telling what he'd do or say if he showed up. To anyone he wanted.

[She scowls, at the the taunting.]

I bet that made things difficult for you. [The fact that only Yelena herself could see him. It doesn't even occur to Annabeth to be disbelieving. What reason does she have to distrust? Yelena's got an honesty about her, and Annabeth has some experience in the undead to know what's being told as possible.]

If it helps, I think most of the people here don't seem particularly interested in the goings-on of the ghosts. [She frowns in thought, trying to think of things to argue against the possibility of this turning out badly for Yelena.] The ones here don't seem to say much either.

Edited 2012-10-29 22:40 (UTC)

[Difficult? Yelena just sort of huffs half a bitter chuckle. Yeah, it makes things difficult.]

I hope that remains the case then. Reyad is...

[Yelena's throat grows tight as the memories start to trickle back again. It's the first time she's really thought about him since she's arrived and now she can't help it. The time he almost lit her on fire. The experiments with his father that pushed her to her limits. The days she spent naked in chains, forced to do flip after flip for Reyad's amusement, hoping that by doing as she was told he wouldn't cross the line any further...

...and the time she was of no more use to Brazell and given freely over to Reyad, and how Reyad had crossed that line in brutal, violent ways that were to serve as only the start.

She swallows.]

He was a monster, and he's still a monster. The other ghosts here may be quiet and the people may not care, but if he showed up here he wouldn't be the same at all.

[Annabeth reads Yelena's body language, and she doesn't like it. She shifts a little closer on the couch, but she doesn't reach out to touch - the contact, though meant well, could have a negative reaction. Annabeth herself doesn't even like to be touched most of the time.]

If he does show up here, I'll do whatever I can to help. And to stop him.

[If Nico were here, he could even control him.]

[And whatever it was, it was horrible, from the way Yelena's speaking and holding herself. It makes her mad, because Yelena's so good; she doesn't deserve that fear and haunting. But she's outwardly trying to be and look as supportive as she can.]

But if beings from other worlds can only be summoned... I'm not sure what good a ghost would for the Emperor's plan.

[Also what she hopes is comforting logic.]

[It's a good attempt to be comforting, and it's almost enough to ease her fears but for the mention of the Emperor.]

Just because we don't know doesn't mean it's not possible that he could play some part. We don't even know what the Emperor wants with us.

[She sucks in a breath and tries to calm herself. Another time she'd focus her energy into katas with her staff, but she's too agitated to consider it now.]

Back home as a ghost he never did anything, couldn't touch me anymore, couldn't be seen by anyone but me. He'd just appear and he'd talk to me...

[But his presence had been upsetting, and the memory affected her enough that she hadn't realized she made a slip and said that he couldn't touch her anymore.]

We know she wants us to save this world. But you're right in that what that entails is still up in the air.

[She reads the agitation, starts pondering ways to help lower it.]

[The couldn't touch me anymore catches Annabeth's attention right away, with unfortunate implications.]

Just because something can't touch you doesn't mean it can't be a horrible experience. Especially since you were the only one who could see him.

[And there was some sort of contact before he died. Probably violent. She pauses.] Yelena... whatever he did to you - if he showed up here, I wouldn't let him near you.

[Ignoring the fact that he would be ghost and she is not a daughter of Hades. But she's Annabeth fucking Chase, and she would logic her way through it. She doesn't like seeing Yelena like this.]

[Horrible seems an understatement, but Yelena nods. That she's not in this alone is...really the comfort. In Ixia there was no one she could talk to about this, and no one who believed her. Annabeth was there for her and it meant more than her paltry words could express.]

Thank you. That means a lot. I did some talking to some other people who replied to my network post. I met another who said he could talk to ghosts and there was a woman who said she had a spell that could keep ghosts out of our suites but she'd have to do the spell in the place itself or teach us the spell...

[And Annabeth already knows how doing magic is treated in Ixia. Surely she'll understand Yelena's hesitation.]

Maybe you could give the conversations a look and see if they're anyone you think could be trusted. I don't know them at all.

[She understands the hesitation, knowing what she does now about Yelena's home. She also knows Yelena's not the most trusting individual either, and she gets that, too. Annabeth isn't even sure she could do the spell if taught - she doesn't have that sort of power. Now more than ever she wishes Nico were here.]

[But she nods.] Absolutely. And if you do need their services, I'll be there, too, while it goes on.

There's someone I know from home - if he ever showed up here, I know he could help. So I know there are ways.

Edited (gj html - WHAT THE FUCK HTML) 2012-11-06 03:04 (UTC)

[Interesting allies you have, Annabeth. Yelena gives her a cautious, measured look before nodding.]

In the meantime do you think it would hurt to let her do the spell? Rather than try to do it ourselves.

[Yes, she's including you in this Annabeth. Getting one thing out of the way before delving into the rest, perhaps.]

If she's telling the truth, no - I don't think it would hurt. Preventative measures never do.

[That hasn't gone unnoticed - the fact that Yelena is quite unapologetically including her in this. She doesn't mind, of course, and would gladly do so regardless. If anything, it only fuels Annabeth's desire to be there. She can't let Yelena down.]

I'll speak with her later then. Would you mind coming over when she arrives? To help me...keep an eye on things.

[She's never felt so damn vulnerable before but these ghosts hit her in one of her soft-spots and there's no shaking the way it affects her.]

Not at all. Just let me know when she's coming.

[And Annabeth can absolutely tell it's affecting Yelena.]

[She fidgets for a moment; she's not the best at friendships and opening up, and it takes a lot for her to do so; it's always been easier to be guarded. But she can try, especially for people she cares about.]

You know, if - if you need to talk to someone. I'm a pretty good listener.

[Others have asked her side of the story, but never because they thought she needed to talk. Always because they wanted to shut her down. Because they wanted to hear the murderer talk, even though they thought they knew the whole story.

It would be nice, no, it would be...well...incredible probably, to be finally able to tell someone what she'd been through. Why she was the way she was.]

The things I'd...need to talk about--they're not happy stories. They're not things people like to hear about.

[The look she gives Yelena is something of understanding.]

I know. Nobody even really likes to talk about the bad. I offered. I'll still listen. I've got some experience in bad stories.

[She's heard the stories of so many kids who came to Camp Half-Blood, and very few of those were happy stories, either. Yelena's might not be on the same level - and she has her suspicions - but Annabeth will help, as she always tries to do.]

[Yelena goes quiet for a long while, considering what she'd want to say, where she'd even start...]

I think I told you once that I grew up in an orphanage?

[Yelena's fairly certain...]

Well. I did. It was run by General Brazell, the man in charge of MI-5. To everyone he seemed kind. The other generals would make jokes about it, as if he'd gone soft or something. It wasn't bad at the orphanage for the most part. There were lots of us there, but he made sure we were all well educated and taken care of.

When I was sixteen Brazell approached me and asked if I'd help with his experiments and of course I said yes. Why wouldn't I? I was grateful for everything he'd done for me...

[And this wouldn't be the first time she'd trust someone she shouldn't have.]

The experiments weren't all they were cracked up to be. They separated me from the rest of the orphans and--

[Yelena stopped, taking a breath. This was the hard part, and getting the words out was incredibly difficult. No one in Ixia would have believed her, and while Annabeth had no reason to not believe her it didn't make it any easier to say what had happened.]

[An impassive, attentive audience is Annabeth's first goal when Yelena starts talking, but as she goes on, her lips curl into a frown. She thinks back on what Yelena's said before, connects it to what she's saying now, but she stops. Holds back in trying to preemptively calculate. This is something Yelena needs to share for herself.]

Your trust was broken.

[An understatement, but something of a transition, a gentle nudge that she can take her time and keep talking as long as she needs to. Given how Yelena is, and what Annabeth is coming to learn, it's an easy conclusion to make.]

[She gives a harsh laugh and looks away.]

That's one way to put it. They experimented on me.

[The words come out in a rush because she doesn't want to linger on them, doesn't want to make it seem the big fuss that, well, the big fuss that it honestly is.]

They kept me from the others. And they did things. I remember one time they tied me up and held a torch near my face. Told me to put it out or they'd set me on fire. I kept blowing on it, didn't understand what more he wanted of me... [Yelena swallowed.] It was like this for months until the Fire Festival. I'm an acrobat, you know.

[She looks up then, offers Annabeth a wan smile.]

Brazell fostered our talents. Let us practice and get better, let us compete during the festival. I kept ranking higher year after year and...I wanted to compete. So stupid, I wanted to compete even when they told me I couldn't. I sneaked out for the festival anyway and I competed, I even won. Best of everyone there and it should have been the best moment of my life. I thought I'd get away with it but Reyad was there. Brazell's son? He saw.

Reyad, he--he was always there during the experiments. There was always something in his eyes, something he kept restrained. Sometimes he'd oversee the experiments. He and Mogkan, without Brazell. He...he'd make me strip down and chain me up. Tell me to do flip after flip and if I did, he'd just watch. He'd watch and he'd make me do flips for hours but he wouldn't do anything else. I think he wanted to, waited for me to slip up so he could have the excuse but he didn't.

Brazell had purpose but Reyad, he just wanted to enjoy himself. And when he saw me at the festival, he smiled. When I got back, Brazell decided he was done with me. That whatever he wanted, I couldn't give it to him. So Brazell gave me to Reyad.

[Yelena stops and takes a deep, shuddering breath. She looks at Annabeth, pale, haunted.]

I can stop now if you want. You don't have to listen to this. It just gets worse from here.

[As the story goes on, Annabeth's frown deepens and she gets angrier and angrier. Her hands ball into tight fists, but she doesn't interrupt. Letting Yelena speak feels important. She knows it's important.]

No. You don't have to. It's okay. Only stop when you want to.

[She'll hear it all out.]

Edited 2012-11-13 05:46 (UTC)

[She doesn't want to talk about this, doesn't want to voice it aloud, but now that she's gotten started she can't really stop. She won't let herself stop now.]

The short of it is that Reyad didnt have any reason to hold back. He had this journal, a list of "slights" I'd made against him. Looking at him defiantly. Imagined disrespect. And he said he was going to punish me for every one and he did. He hurt me, and then he...

[Yelena hesitates over this word. Her lips curl with distaste as she struggles with it. It's an awful word, one that is both accurate and fails to encompass everything that happened to her. Her tone gets clipped as she continues.]

He raped me. And when he said that he was going to start with one of the girls who I considered sisters, I snapped. I grabbed the knife I'd been keeping under my pillow and I killed him.

[She looks up then, expression showing how haunted she is by all of this, and then offers Annabeth a wry smile.]

In Ixia the punishment for killing another person, on purpose, by accident, or in self-defense, is execution. I killed the son of a general and even if I tried to tell everyone why I did it or what really happened, not only would no one believe me over Brazell, but it wouldn't make a difference.

They threw me in a dungeon for almost a year until the Commander needed a new poison taster. Valek, his right-hand man, followed the laws and offered the position to the next prisoner in line due for execution, someone whose life was already forfeit.

[This part is easier to talk about, and it shows, honestly. Yelena runs a hand through her hair.]

So I learned from Valek, the Commander's chief assassin. Learned by seeing, smelling, and trying every poison, and all of the antidotes. And the only reason they didn't keep me in chains the whole time is because Valek poisoned me with something called Butterfly's Dust. I'd be fine as long as I got the daily antidote. It was how they kept me in line.

[Her lips form a thin line, and Yelena looks up at Annabeth again.]

That's why I was in the palace for a few days. They didn't have the antidote here, just something that worked sort of. It was the Emperor's people that came up with a permanent cure, thank god, or I wouldn't be here now.

[Annabeth is really bad at physical affection with people who are not Percy. Hugs are hard. Despite that, she wants to hug Yelena now, and she starts moving to do just that, but she's not sure how the other girl would take the physical contact at the moment. Or ever, really. So she pauses, one hand slightly raised, and decides to gently rest it on her friend's lower arm.]

I don't blame you. For killing him. [And she can say it because she means it. She's never killed a person - only monsters and the stuff of myths. But with Yelena's story, she absolutely cannot disagree or think it was the wrong choice to make. She considers that she'd probably do the same. The harsh punishments remind her of some of the things she's learned about antiquity, when the gods were young.]

[But she listens to it all, carefully and attentively, taking everything in. Poison tasting. Annabeth's memory pulls up all the images of Yelena eating her food, things that she noted but never really addressed before, and it fits right in, makes more sense.]

I remember that. I'm glad you got it cured.

[An apology? For what? Saying "I'm sorry" doesn't seem fitting right now. Annabeth's pretty sure the best thing she can do right now is just be an ear. Support Yelena. And that she can do.]

Edited 2012-11-21 03:58 (UTC)

[Yelena doesn't flinch at the touch to her arm. Rather, she almost leans into it. She'd take a hug if offered but she and Annabeth are not particularly physically affectionate in general.

As it is, it means so much more to hear Annabeth say she doesn't blame her for killing Reyad. No judgment, no persecution. With a deep breath, she reaches her free hand over and sets it over her friend's.]

Me too. The effects of Butterfly's Dust are supposed to be...excruciating.

[She takes a deep breath and offers Annabeth a wry smile.]

And now you know most everything I've been keeping to myself.

[There's still the magic thing to bring up, life as a poison taster, the First Magician Irys...Rand and Margg, but they don't affect her directly here.]

Enough that if you have questions you've been holding back [like Yelena does for her sometimes] you can ask them now.

[Annabeth's glad the gesture isn't unwelcome, glad Yelena didn't flinch away. She rests her other hand atop Yelena's lightly.]

[She has several questions, she always does, but she doesn't want to bombard her friend with them, not right now. Not when she's still angered herself by the story, that all of this happened to Yelena.]

I always have questions. [Though true, it's said a little lightly, a callback to the fact that she really does, in hopes of not letting Yelena simmer forever in the dark emotional place she undoubtedly is in.]

How long were you a poison tester? [It's an easy start, she hopes.]

[It's an easier thing to talk about. Yelena can manage some level of detachment when thinking about her work with Valek.]

Months? Nearly a year but not quite.

[She smiles a bit.]

I spent some weeks training before Valek had me taste any of the Commander's meals, but once I did I was there to check everything before he ate.

[She draws in a deep breath, silently.]

A few months is still a bit of time. [Especially in a dangerous job like poison testing. Especially since Yelena didn't deserve that, didn't deserve any of it.]

Though I guess the job fits in with the Commander's paranoia. [From all Annabeth has heard about said Commander before.]

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TRIGGERS FOR EXPERIMENTATION, TORTURE, AND SEXUAL ASSAULT START HERE

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SORRY THIS IS SO LATE KSHDSDKJH ;;

NO WORRIES BB <333

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