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from his eyes came
subtle acknowledgement
from her eyes falls
gently his peace
from her eyes falls
gently his peace
*** [AREAS NEEDS MORE TRANSITION]
Dellasseea [Perrie] offered up a meaningful, “Thank you.” when the rain stopped abruptly. She felt the dampness in her bones and longed for a warm cup of tea. Unfortunately, distant snipers still had them pinned down. Khy-Lin fired off another shot when four rounds pinged off the armored plating just ahead of them.
‘Interpreter's down!’
The VoiceThought statement pierced the inner silence of Within. Taken aback, Dellasseea looked to Khy-Lin. Yes. He heard it as well.
***
Veiled by the darkness Lionheart raced back to the front. Though he chose to return alone, just as he’d come, two Allied troops followed close behind. He dropped and rolled behind a jeep when he saw two flashes up ahead. Having missed their mark, Lionheart heard them wiz by and sink into the earth. He cursed the muddied ground as he rose to take off again; as he still had some distance go.
Born of this world, Lionheart could not see or walk Within, as could those who fought so hard to get and take his charge back home. But, somewhere in his family’s history, there had been an hybrid birth; giving him the ability of Voice-Thought.
With haste imperative, Lionheart ran on through the dark. He wrestled with what he’d witnessed and the message he bore; but, suppressing the urge to protect Dellasseea N'Syis from providence a few moments longer, he once again risked vulnerability and shouted Within, ‘Interpreter's down!’
It’s all she would need to hear. Though there came no immediate response, he knew to expect none.
***
The words send a chill rippling up her spine and through her entirety. Though graciously long in coming, Lionheart's communiqué clearly indicated the realization of yet another predetermined night. Dellasseea shut her eyes momentarily to still the swell of her heart. She then indicated to Khy-Lin the need to disengage.
With no questions asked they broke from the conflict. Crossing the strap of his M-14 over his neck and shoulder, Khy-Lin wove the fingers of his left hand between hers, grabbed up the Dragon, and then took off to meet Lionheart halfway. Grasping up clips and magazines, two troops followed after watching their backs.
Trusting her guardian to duty—maneuvering around burned out vehicles and wet craggy terrain—Dellasseea lost herself in memories of Interpreter's cryptic alliance.
Due to the circumstance of her false birth, Dellasseea N'Syis spent the greater part of her human life (as Perrie Stevens) ignorant of the fact that she was, by this world’s understanding, empathic. She could literally feel that proverbial tension in a room. Once Awakened--the stratagem used to draw her attention to her disguised imprisonment--the process of distinguishing her feelings from another’s began. Learning to recognize is one thing. Disconnecting hers from theirs proved the more difficult. Especially when those closest to her stood to lose the comfortable lives they’d become accustomed to.
Her imprisonment required she be stripped of this ability. Or to at very least be and remain unaware of any knowledge of her own capabilities. Perceiving what another is thinking is a powerful tool, especially when used by those suffering a lesser degree of integrity. Extremely beneficial to the ongoing struggle and those who perpetuated the greater lie upon the masses.
Though her Awakening offered harsh lessons, the learning explained a great many things to her. Among them being that certain thoughts evoke specific emotions and emotions emit outward. Imagine a sordid man’s confusion when—even though he knows he’s looking less-than-kindly upon a beautiful, innocent-minded woman and says nothing to offend or give himself away—ends up surprised by her rejection of him.
Imagine the woman not recognizing that what she feels is his threatening and perverse emotions. She walks away feeling ugly—believing she’s physically ugly—not knowing it was the dark emotions she picked up on. Not how she thought he saw her. He moves on feeling rejected, inadvertently, by his own careless thought process. What happens if he acts on that misunderstood rejection?
What if, in the grander scheme of things, someone believes another’s ugly thoughts to be his or her own? The greater offense or true wrong done is to keep them believing these were his or her own passions. The implication to this alone disturbed Perrie deeply. Once she'd dealt and come to terms with who and what she was, she concerned herself with its misuse by those who possessed and shielded the same inherent abilities.
It was during the Awakening Years that The Interpreter (who worked in the same corporate surroundings as Perrie), risked the increased danger of knowing her and established a harmless working relationship. In his own initial naivety, he believed there was a great deal more to this woman than what normally met one’s eye. There was a grace about her that he found refreshing if not obviously appealing. She didn’t mess around with small talk or gossip and welcomed a challenging conversation.
Though she’d been weaned on head games, upon her Awakening they were noticeably more serious. As her awareness of the lies that enveloped her grew, so did the games. All orchestrated to force her into making mistakes, trumping her up; anything to discredit and/or demean her.
Over time, Interpreter saw for himself the varied end results suffered by those getting too close. As often enough, some were suicided. Just the same, he admired her tenacity and offered her subtle reassurance and vague acknowledgments. All denied her by those losing control of the known future.
As their seemingly platonic relationship grew, Perrie rarely challenged when his words fell out of sync with what she sensed. She let him say and lie what he wanted to anyone else. He usually had his reasons. And out of respect, she left him to them. She understood, quite well, the factor always centered on self-preservation. Though he was not so unlike the many others she knew to be inextricably linked to her future, his distinction was that of never verbally let on that he knew of such things. But that tends to happen when you play both sides.
Once among the Allies and her writing became more prolific, he never even acknowledged reading of himself in her published work. Never let on that he knew she had written of his fate. He was the perfect player.
***
After ducking behind one of the supply trucks to catch their breath, Khy-Lin nodded to Dellasseea to move on. In a crouched run they headed for the next available cover. When a sudden burst of enemy fire erupted from the darkness, the two following after them, stopped to engage. Khy-Lin pulled at and pushed his charge ahead of him. And Dellasseea headed for a pile of sand bags and jumped into the fox-hole just behind. The instant Khy-Lin landed inside, he found a solemn-faced Lionheart. The look on Dellasseea’s face that said Interpreter’s wound was indeed mortal.
Reading the anguish in her eyes, Lionheart knew every moment would be precious to her. He nodded to Khy-Lin to move out and quickly went about retracing his steps. Along the way, he confirmed the Duster that hit the truck behind which The Interpreter hid and the explosion that sent shrapnel and jagged fragments of sheet metal everywhere. Unfortunately, his would not be the only mortal wound suffered this night.
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