His Name Was Christoph I

Posted on Thu Sep 1st, 2022 @ 8:26am by Lieutenant Christoph Ivers & Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov
Edited on on Tue Sep 13th, 2022 @ 5:16pm

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Various Locations
Timeline: Mission Day 10 at 2100
2991 words - 6 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Andrei had just completed another day of unemployment. He, unlike so many, had been putting his to good use however. He had spent three hours in the holodeck practicing swords with steadily increasing difficulties and then sparred with several officers in security before returning to his quarters for some light reading on the history of the Empire. Now he was standing in his underwear and nothing else, a violin held up to his neck as he danced around the cramped temporary quarters playing a tune by Paganini and improvising on it skillfully as he thought. What was going on in his mind was unannounced, but his closed eyes indicated that it was certainly not nothing.

As Andrei played, the console on his table began to beep incessantly with the delivery of an incoming message.

The sound came in like lightning to him. He got so sensitive when he played that everything he experienced felt intense. He lowered the instrument and moved over to the table quickly. He leaned down to look at the computer screen and selected a message sent from Christoph's quarters.

As he brought up the message, it was quite simple. Come to me. I'm waiting.

Andrei sighed. He knew that it was time. How he'd waited for this moment. He placed the violin carefully in the case and pulled on some green jogging shorts and a black beater. Then, after attaching his dagger scabbard to his thigh and holstering a phaser, he stepped out of his door and moved in the direction of the Chief of Security's quarters.

------

Christoph and Madeline stepped off the turbolift together. His hands were all over her now, his lips on her neck as he allowed her to lead the way to his quarters. He could barely contain his excitement, his pants tented out slightly in front of him though he paid little mind to it. “You’re so beautiful.” He growled softly into her neck. She kissed his cheek and he squeezed her hips forcefully, his warm breath playing over her skin.

When they approached his quarters, he was surprised as she spun around on him, grabbing him by the shirt and pinning him to the door forcefully with a passionate kiss. Her hand reached out to the access pad by the door and she tapped in the code. The door opened and they both stumbled in. Christoph fell to the floor though caught himself and dragged her down on top of him. The door slid closed.

Laughing, Madeline kissed him again and pressed her body to his. “Sorry. Didn’t think I was pressing that hard.” She smirked and sat back to slide out of her jacket, tossing it to the side and leaning back in to kiss him. She felt his hands run up her back under the fabric of her standard-issue tank top. Calm. Pulling back again, she looked around and saw what she was after.

“Oh, you got my gift.” She untangled herself from him and stood, sliding out of her boots as she walked to the bureau where she saw the box with the sword resting. Opening it, she pulled it out and slid the blade from its sheath. “My I got this sharp, didn’t I?”

Christoph walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around her hips. “Yes, you did. Thank you. It was a lovely and thoughtful gift. I’ll just have to find a good place to display it.”

The door opened then and Andrei walked in without any pomp or fanfare. He had a neutral expression until he saw them standing together, at which point his face turned into a bright grin.

"Good evening, friends." he said simply, and then moved to sit on the couch near them. He said nothing, but only watched them with interest. He folded one leg over the other and braced his hands there. He wished he had brought popcorn.

Christoph pulled himself away from Madeline with a start as Andrei walked into his quarters in this moment. "What the fuck are you doing in here?! GET OUT!" He yelled at Andrei, his voice dangerous. Madeline was for the moment completely forgotten.

Maddie for her part was very busy looking at the sword, testing the weight in her hands and giving a few swings down toward the floor in front of her. It was actually quite a nice sword now that she swung it around a bit.

Andrei looked as Maddie practiced with the sword and was near-giddy with excitement. He actually bobbed a bit on the couch as he looked at Christoph, unworried about the man.

"Oh, Gods, I would rather you make me leave, Christoph." he said, feeling quite confident in his abilities. "Because I came to see a show and you two are going to give me one."

As Andrei spoke, he could see the temperature starting to shift in Madeline as her adrenaline began to spike. Her grip tightened on the blade in her hand and in a surprisingly soundless maneuver, she slid off the bureau and onto the ground. Her dark eyes were trained on Christoph, glittering with hate and something so much deeper. Any amusement she might have had in the moment was gone and replaced with purpose.

“I said get the fuck out of m-” Christoph began but was cut off.

“Christoph.” Madeline called to him, her voice quiet and focused more so than Andrei had ever heard.

As Christoph turned to look at Madeline, an audible gasp passed his lips. Pain and confusion bloomed on his face. He didn’t even look down. His hand went to the blade embedded at an angle upward in his chest. “Maddie?” He questioned and fell back, though she caught him and lowered him down to sit on his wooden coffee table. “W-why?”

Of course the sword hurt, but the pain of true betrayal was written on his face. He had loved her. Anyone could see it. His eyes began to well with tears. “Maddie, please.” She hadn’t killed him yet. She could have a change of heart.

“No… no no, Christoph. Not Maddie.” Madeline touched his cheek, coaxing him to look up to her. It would have been a sweet gesture were she not holding the hilt of the blade buried inside of him. “Look at me. Look at me…” Her voice beckoned, challenged. “Look into my eyes.”

Christoph swallowed hard, the tears rolling down his cheeks. “Maddie.”

“No. Look at me.” She commanded, her voice darker this time.

Andrei leaned forward. The deed had been done already, and when the sword made contact, it took everything in him not to cheer like he was watching a sports game. But now that they were talking, he was quite curious what she had to say. He stood up and took a position behind her, leaning and looking over her shoulder. It was intimate and terrifying, though he didn't touch her intentionally except to the degree his chest was on her back. He looked into Christoph's eyes, his own filled with amusement.

"Christoph, look at her. Neither of us want to miss this."

Christoph's eyes moved to Andrei and then back to Madeline, the sting of betrayal deepening still.

"Look into my eyes... and say my name. Christoph. Who am I?" She held the sword perfectly still in her hand, not wanting to end him. Not quite yet. She watched as he now seemed to do as he was asked if nothing else for his own closure. His eyes searched hers, and then it slowly dawned on him. The pain and betrayal became laced with anger and hate of his own.

"Lyra." He spat the name out with venom and lifted his hands, wrapping them around her throat.

"That's right, Christoph." She purred, not worried about his weak grip around her neck.

Andrei reached forth however and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it with his own death grip until Christoph inevitably let go of her. He held his wrist, not letting go. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but he was resolved to go with it to the end.

"Oh, by the way, Christoph. You lose. And in the end, not only couldn't you get the girl, but the girl was playing you from the start." he said, chuckling.

Christoph was too focused on Madeline to respond to Andrei's barb. She sat down on him then, straddling him while sitting on his knees.

"Your family is gone, Christoph. Well... almost all of them. Your pretty little sisters are probably entertaining our soldiers and slaves still. Soon it will be the only thing they beg for." She touched his cheek, still holding his enraged gaze. "We have taken back what is rightfully ours. I'm just sorry your father couldn't watch you die himself... but I'm just tired of you. This game is boring and I have found something much, much more interesting. You are in the way."

"Fuck you." He spat, blood now trickling from his mouth.

"No no, Christoph. Fuck me" Andrei said, grinning a toothy grin by his face. "And I've been very patiently waiting for you to die for that and more."

He looked into Christoph's eyes, wanting to see the moment he died. Wanting to savor it.

"He has been." Madeline reached back to touch Andrei's cheek. "He's been so very patient. I figured if I fucked him I would be much, much too bored by you to continue." Giving a dramatic sigh, she shook her head. "But now, I really am bored. Your line is dead. Your family was nothing and returns to nothing. Goodbye, Christoph." She didn't even give the man a chance to speak any last words as she finally twisted and pushed the blade upwards the rest of the way. Christoph grunted and gave a sickening gurgle as he reached for her throat again. He pawed at her ineffectually until the light finally went out in his eyes.

Madeline let him go and he fell back onto the table, the sword sliding out of his chest covered and dripping in red.

As he fell, Madeline began to breathe harder, the hate and pain and rage she had bottled up for over a decade finally crashing over the dam of her control. With her left hand she reached back and grabbed Andrei's dagger, pulling it from his belt with ease. Her face contorted into a beautiful, terrible mask of pure malice, her eyes glittering black. She screamed as she drove the dagger down into Christoph's forehead, holding it there as she took slow, deep breaths. The emotions remained for but a moment and then dissipated into a face of calm. She then moved the dagger a bit and burst out in a fit of sadistic giggles as it made Christoph's body twitch.

Her body was white hot. She was probably crawling out of her skin.

Andrei had startled at her reaching into his shorts through the bottom to get his dagger, but he trusted her not to do any harm to him. When she became emotional and stabbed his head, he realized how very confused he was. Now that she was laughing uncontrollably, He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her off of Christoph and stopping only short of scooping her up. Instead he dragged her away until she was in his lap on the floor.

"Lyla?" he asked, his only word as he looked down at the back of her head.

She took a few deep breaths to get herself under control, still wearing a giddy, gleeful smile as she looked at Christoph's corpse on the table. "Lyra." She corrected him easily.

"And exactly what did Christoph's family do to you to deserve all of this, Lyra?" He asked, His grip on her becoming slightly more comfortable. He felt like he didn't know her a bit, now that he understood her alibi really was fake.

"They killed my father." Slowly, the woman calmed down and tilted her head back to rest against Andrei's shoulder. She closed her eyes then and placed her arms over his, familiar as she had ever been with him.

“And who was your father?” He asked calmly; conversationally. There was no rush in his voice and no uncertainty, though deep down he felt a bit insecure, like he was meeting a new person.

Finally, she turned in his arms enough that she could face him. She ran the backs of her fingers down his arm as she had often done with him. "My father was Lord Renato Inácio Hale." She smirked then, amused. "You were very close, but you guessed the wrong side of the Crown with your guess." She kissed his cheek gently. "My name is Lyra Caterina Orsini Hale."

“Hale?” He asked, though he had heard her clearly. Then he realized and understood a bit more. “The former Lords of Brazil.”

"That's right." She confirmed patiently, watching him process the information. Her body was cooling in his arms, her control reestablished. While she had every plan on jumping his bones right here in Christoph's quarters, she could see the insecurity in his expression.

He looked at her and turned his head to the side. He would get right to it.

"Tell me your other secrets." he said plainly, a subtle playfulness in his eyes. They were surely past hints at this point. Right now, he was the only one who knew who she really was and that Christoph was dead.

"This whole thing has been planned for the past thirteen years." Maddie... Lyra spoke honestly to him, her gaze steady and unwavering. "I was trained as the blade to kill Christoph and likely would have also killed his father if I had been on Terra still. That wasn't enough for me though." She looked to Christoph's body then. "I wanted him to suffer the same betrayal before he died." Her body briefly flushed with heat again but it died out. She looked back to Andrei then and smirked slightly.

"No more secrets, but ask the questions on your mind, Andrei. I'll answer." She touched his cheek under his right eye. "I know you can see if my answers would be true."

"Who told you that?" he asked, with a grin, his hand finding her hair and moving through it smoothly. "So his father killed yours and took his title. But if you are part of the Imperial Family, how could the Emperor...Angelus at the time, let that happen?"

“I did a little reading on what your eye can do exactly.” She smirked, relaxing under his touch and frankly happy to receive it given the situation. “The short of it is, my mother asked him to. I don’t know how much you know about the Ivers family, so forgive me if I’m giving you information you already know. Matthias Ivers - Christoph’s father - has been a figurehead in the construction of the Imperial Fleet. His influence runs deep and wide and he was one of the key contributors to unlocking the secrets of the ships from the other universe when they cross over to ours.” Her voice was calm as she spoke, leaning into his body and idly tracing her fingers over his chest. “My mother was close to Angelus, he trusted her and I truly think she suspected that Ivers was going to move against my father.”

“They were friends, you see. My father trusted Matthias, they were close. Matthias was much more intelligent than his son. When he betrayed my father, Angelus was going to strike, but my mother stayed his hand. She hatched a scheme with Imperial Intelligence to use the incident to the benefit of the Orsini family as a whole. Ivers would be allowed the title which would in turn encourage him to press the production and research of ships even faster. Eventually after a certain point. While this was happening, my mother and fath- step-father began to extend influence into that sector. They’ve been slowly gaining a chokehold on it without Matthias realizing it. This year with the blessing of Imperial Intelligence was the year we were to decimate his family, gain control of the shipyards, and serve to completely solidify Imperial influence without fear of interference in regards to the fleet.”

Andrei listened attentively. Most people dismissed him as a playboy, but he was intensely interested in politics, economics, and history. One who wanted to truly lead had to be in his mind. So he listened, piecing things together as he heard them and understanding.

"I see." he said when he was done. "And, since you said Matthias was intelligent...why did he leave you and your mother alive?"

“He didn’t. He thought we were dead. We-“ She paused and put her hands on her cheeks. “Ah. We fled and were taken to a medical facility run by Imperial Intelligence. There, we had our DNA altered so that our appearances would not be the same. Because I was twelve at the time, I did not need as much alteration as my mother and brother would have. I was going to hit puberty soon with all the changes that came with that. So, this isn’t actually my face, but it is supposedly not too far off. I wouldn’t know.” She shrugged.

He considered this for a few beats, looking at her. It was a shocking proposition, but one he understood under the circumstances she had described. There were still many things he didn't know and could know for a while, because things like this took time. He took her face into his hands and leaned in, kissing her lips gently.

"I like this face." he said simply. "But I want the real one. I want to know you as you really are."

TBC