Shattered

Posted on Sat Jun 10th, 2023 @ 9:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel
Edited on on Sun Jun 11th, 2023 @ 12:22am

Mission: S1 Episode 5: Ex Post Facto
Location: Unknown
Timeline: Date 2371-08-19 at 1600
1853 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Hundreds of times she had been in this water; it was familiar to her, she knew where the sands left her feet and the timing of the waves. She had no reason to fear, she thought, there was no danger, and her father said he liked to swim in the ocean so he could clear his head. Her beloved father - her papai - was a wise man; if he swam to help clear his head and focus, it must have been a good idea. So naturally, the weeping Lyra had retreated into her home, changed, and fled to the ocean waters of their own private beach.

At first, everything was fine. She was swimming around and she was indeed calming down, but she hadn’t quite had the sense to figure out the waves had started to come faster and higher. Stupidly, she had turned back to look at the shore and that was the moment she had figured out she had gone out further than she had intended and it was also the moment a wave broke right over top of her and pushed her under the dark water. She came up, coughing and sputtering only to be caught in the face by another wave. Panic immediately set in, and at only eight years old, she hadn’t been equipped to deal with it. She cried, she coughed, went under, came back up, gasped for air, and tried to swim again and again.

Another wave hit her, and she felt herself go under again.

She felt the stab of the blade in her midsection, the pain sharp, the feeling of death seeping into her being.

She thrashed violently on the table, screaming in a mixture of pain and rage. She could hear alarmed voices as she managed to wrest an arm free, and the hands trying to respond quickly enough to grab her. She fought, clawed, punched and flailed viciously, blinded by memories and pain and seething rage. They grabbed her, held her. Her mind slipped away again.

Arms wrapped around her, pulling her back and upward. Her face crested the water, she gasped, blinked, and then found herself on the lukewarm sand. His hands were on her shoulders and he gave her a violent shake.

“What were you thinking?!” He demanded, angry in the way men were when something disastrous nearly happened; it was how they showed their concern.

Her eyes opened and she looked up at the green and silver eyes framed by a black mane of hair. Andrei.

She blinked again, and when she opened her eyes Andrei was gone and instead she looked up to the face of her papai. His beautiful green eyes were intense with frustration but also a deep concern as he held his baby girl in his strong, tanned hands. His usually curly hair was wetted down and stuck to his face and neck and he looked anything but the lord he was.

“Lyra… Anjinha, o que você estava pensando?” His fingers moved up and traced her small face and she immediately burst into tears. He clicked his tongue, sighed, and pulled her into his arms. “Shh, papai está aqui, minha menina.”
Eventually, little Lyra calmed, though the chilly ocean breeze now found her shivering in her father’s arms. She looked up at her father with big, tearful brown eyes. “Papai, do you love me less since mamãe had Raoul?”

Renato Hale looked at his firstborn daughter like she had suddenly sprouted a second head from her shoulders. He gathered her up out of the sand and began walking back to the Palácio da Alvorada which had served as the estate for the Lords of Brazil since there were lords of Brazil. Lyra had eventually calmed and once they were back inside the receiving area from the beach, Renato sat down with her on the bench and wrapped her in a towel, rubbing her to help warm her.

“Anjinha, where did you get such an idea?”

“From the boys at the party… they were making fun of me saying that now that you had a son I wasn’t worth anything anymore and you won’t love me.” Lyra explained through sniffles, her dark eyes still resting in her father. She watched him sigh and rub his forehead, frustrated by something she couldn’t grasp.

“Lyra, of course I still love you just as much.” He fought to keep the exasperation out of his voice. “I am not going to treat you and your brother or any future siblings differently just because you are boys or girls and I will love you all just the same.” He hugged her close to him. “You’ll always be my Anjinha. Eu te amo. Now…”

His voice faded from her ears, Lyra grimaced and opened her eyes with immediate regret as the bright overhead lights blinded her briefly. She closed them again and flexed her fingers; she was feeling so exhausted and overwhelmed; it was making her angry. It was as if she could feel her control slipping through her fingers like grains of sand. She was delivered to the darkness of her cell and immediately fell asleep once again.

At least that is what she had hoped.

They were fighting again, she hated it when they fought. They never screamed or shouted, but they certainly spoke with loudly raised voices in an angry mixture of Portuguese and Terran standard. She was walking down the hall hand in hand with her little brother to their music lessons when the voices of their parents had caught her attention from within her father’s office. She reached her small hand out-

The door to Alexander’s office flew open and a furious Madeline carried the heads of the two men her father had sicced on her with her as she stormed inside. She was covered in blood, but clearly not unscathed; how far they had gone on their mission of “education” was unclear but the fact that she wasn’t wearing the same clothes spoke volumes. She threw the heads unceremoniously across the desk where they rolled and landed at Alexander’s feet. Her fury only grew when he turned and looked at her with his eyebrows raised and no fear.

“Well done, Madeline.” He said simply.

“Lyra! My name is Lyra Caterina Orsini Hale!” She roared at him, “I swear by all the gods above my name will be the last thing you speak before you die.”

Alexander rounded the desk and took her face in his hands, he had never shown an ounce of fear. He leaned in, pressing his lips to her bloodied forehead. “We’ll see, little one.”

The lips pulled back, and Madeline stood in her room with her mother. Aurelia’s hands were on her daughter’s shoulders and she smoothed out the uniform she was wearing. She gave a sigh and shook her head. “These cadet uniforms do nothing for the figure, you’d think someone would address that.”

Lyra rolled her eyes slightly. “Well I won’t be wearing it for long.” She paused, “Mother… about when I return from my mission… I know you know that papai-”

“Lyra, please,” Aurelia sighed and touched her daughter’s cheek. “Yes, I know what your papai intended… but that isn’t going to happen. You know that can’t happen. It isn’t your purpose.”

“But-”

“Lyra.” Aurelia took Lyra’s hands in earnest. “The truth of the matter is men would rather watch the entirety of the Empire burn than follow a woman despite the successes of our female rulers. It has always been that way. I am sorry, my dearest, but your brother will have Brazil. He will continue the Hale line and you… you will help continue the line of a powerful man by giving him s-”

“Sons to avenge me.”

"Seven? Oh dear." Lyra tapped her lips at this concerning revelation that Andrei had just given her. "That's quite a few. Big dreams and expectations I see."

She looked at him, took in his face, the way his hair fell around his features. They were quite well on their way to being drunk, but she had felt such a strange peace then. Her fingers danced over his spine as he spoke again.

“Life is meant to b-”

“Be ruthless, girl!” The doctore demanded loudly in her ear. “If you hesitate like this they will-”

“Kill you first.” Christoph grinned at her as they walked toward the captain’s ready room. The door opened, she stepped inside.

“Captain,” She greeted respectfully, her eyes fell on Andrei, noticing the third pip. She felt a sense of pride well up, and she allowed a small smile. “Commander.”

“Lieutenant yo-” Ivan began.

“You can’t be ser-” Christoph protested.

“Seriously gorgeous, you kn-” Ilan grinned.

“Know your intentions with m-” Yana demanded.

“My lov-” Renato murmured.

“Lovely Lyra.” Andrei moaned.

“Lyra.”

“Lyra?”

“Lyra!”

She screamed.

The sound full of rage and agony bounced off the walls of the small room, her bound hands went up and her fingers clawed into her scalp. She thrashed off of the cot she had been placed on, falling to the floor with a loud thud. Make it stop. Her mind danced between memories playing out in her vision and the reality of the cell she was in, caught in a vicious loop of reality and memory. The pain in her head was overwhelming; tears were streaming down her face. She was going to die. Make it stop. She pulled herself to her feet and immediately threw herself against the wall in desperation.

Make it stop.

She did it again and again. She felt the skin split just above her temple in her hairline, warm blood pouring out of the head wound. Head wounds bled the worst of anything. It wasn’t helping. The voices, the visions, the pulling, the kissing, the stabbing, the beating, the pain, the laughter, the caress, the glee - she needed it to stop. She was lost, drowning.

Lyra heard voices unfamiliar, felt hands on her body. Even compromised as she was, the instinct to lash out and fight surged and her body did as well. She had no idea if she did any damage, her mind couldn’t process everything that was happening, but she felt herself go down to her knees and a device was pressed to her neck. The grogginess hit her and she gritted her teeth, shaking her head to fight against it when she realized…

It had stopped.

The pain was still excruciating and she was certain she was on her way out of this world, but she could see the "Baneans" now in the room with her, one with a bloody nose. She was pulled back into the cot just as the darkness began to close off her vision.

It had been five days now…

The thought didn’t have a chance to finish as she finally found peace in the total darkness of her forced slumber. Finally, it had stopped.

END