Post by Silver Eagle on Apr 2, 2017 23:43:43 GMT
Dulce pasăre mică,
I wanted to give you something, please take it in the spirit that I mean it, if you can.
Facing you was a challenge, and a delight. This is not how I would have wanted it, under rules that confounded me at every turn, much like the rest of us who aren't familiar with MMA. While I understand how it happened, it did not leave me with that feeling a match this important should, and I believe that one day soon we will have a chance to have our real 'first dance' in a way we both will enjoy.
I want you to know, that it's people like you, your wife Sophie, my little Apprentice Aria... that give me something special. I see in you, the me that I wanted to be when I first became a wrestler, and I wasn't strong enough back then to hang on to that. I don't want that to happen to you, you're too special. Always remember you're unique, sweet little bird.
Rori.
I wanted to give you something, please take it in the spirit that I mean it, if you can.
Facing you was a challenge, and a delight. This is not how I would have wanted it, under rules that confounded me at every turn, much like the rest of us who aren't familiar with MMA. While I understand how it happened, it did not leave me with that feeling a match this important should, and I believe that one day soon we will have a chance to have our real 'first dance' in a way we both will enjoy.
I want you to know, that it's people like you, your wife Sophie, my little Apprentice Aria... that give me something special. I see in you, the me that I wanted to be when I first became a wrestler, and I wasn't strong enough back then to hang on to that. I don't want that to happen to you, you're too special. Always remember you're unique, sweet little bird.
Rori.
A tumble. A fall. And then the gushing air as it ripped through her every being as she plummeted headlong into the vast abyss of nothingness. She span and spiralled, her eyes shut tight as she felt the eternal adrenaline rush as the endless plunge continued, her arms spread wide like hollowed out eagle wings, providing no resistance to the relentless nose dive. Her blood ran to her head, dizziness kicking in as the inevitability of a crash landing loomed over her. Her eyes shot open, but instead of those sea greens and sky blues, there was flame. Yellows and reds and golds, and the smile on her once angelic face becoming demonic and twisted. The wickedness flowing through her as an inferno engulfed her wings, the roars of hell itself echoing out as she took flight, a burning sabre in her hand as she shrieked like a banshee as she soared to the very heavens to tear it apart. The Rising Phoenix brought fire and brimstone, the wrath of the flaming underworld itself as she scorched the kingdom of light and executed it with Napalm Death.
Her eyes shot open.
“Little Wing, you seemed in quite the daze. I hope I wasn’t boring you?” He sat across from her, the Piper in black on black, that stare of his peering into her very soul. Those eyes, her eyes, his eyes, matching sets. She shuffled in her seat, feeling both welcome and uncomfortable at the same time. Here he sat, the man that she had despised for so long because of what he had said to her during the YGC 2016, but mainly for what he had put her wife through, and he was her…
“Papa,” she begrudgingly responded, “I just have a few things on my mind, that is all.” He’d insisted upon the title. She had tried Bobby, Isaac, Barabbas, everything. But he had always corrected her, plainly and peacefully. And since that incident after her match with Aurora, it was beginning to become second nature to refer to him as such. Though meeting him in a public place, was not.
“I can understand. Title defences take their toll on mind,” he began, his curls matching her own but a different shade of darkness. He spoke between mouthfuls of food, electing to sample some of the Vegan finery she herself craved, sweet potato, peanut butter & chilli quesadillas, with just enough spice to give it a kick, but not one that overwhelmed the senses. “I believe you are fully prepared for what is to come. I have seen this Finn. His recklessness is like a coin flip, half of the time he has you on your tail, the other he lands on his own head. His reliance for punishment is somewhat complementary, though I have seen his body shut down and the cogs still spin in his head, to such a level you would class it as foolishness as opposed from a blessing.” He kept eye contact all the way through his speech, his words like a serpent slipping into her ear and somehow inspiring confidence in her. “He’s rough around the edges, mistake prone, I’m sure you have spotted them in his recent contests, especially when he is wound up. You are more than capable of making him slip, and that is when you strike.”
She’d done her research, she always did, but hearing him repeat nigh on everything that was in her own mind about the contest helped her relax, a slight smile spreading on those rose tinted lips of hers as she calmed herself, her eyes scanning the private room in the restaurant. Nobody could know she was here, especially her beloved Sophie. That fact hurt her. “I’m fully prepared for the match, Papa. I know what I’m dealing with. He’s really good, but like you said, he makes mistakes. Lots of them. I just need to lure him in, like I did to Dragon, then I’ll have him trapped.” He smiled at her words, though she couldn’t keep eye contact, uncharacteristically downing her pink champagne in one gulp. She tried to hide it, but it wasn’t the match that was bothering her. It was him, it was here, it was the note, it was her wife.
“You have moved on from what you once were. No longer are you the naive little girl you once were. You have blossomed, you have evolved, you have been reborn again.” Those words of his were awe inspiring, and she was beginning to realise why her Mother had put so much trust in him. “It is time to remember that, and use your mind to take your body on a whole different journey, higher and higher to the very summit of this sport. The roof of your house is not your real roof; the walls of your house are not your real walls, your fists are not your real fists! Your real roof, your real wall, your real fist, your real shield is your right thinking! It is your right thinking that protects you from every danger! It is your right thinking that will bring danger to all those that oppose you.” She was listening to him, she was taking it in, all of it. He made such perfect sense, and yet he was the damned figure that her wife so hated. And yet he was her father, and yet he was dead, wearing the face of another man.
“Can you excuse me a moment?” she squeaked out, gathering her things clumsily, her makeup and phone tumbling out onto the table. She excused herself as politely as she could, scooping up her belongings as quickly as she could, before shuffling off towards the restroom. She couldn’t even turn to gaze at her infamous father, the man the world believed dead, now like the phoenix brought back to life as the most notoriously ruthless wrestling representatives in the world. It was their secret, so she was told, and no one could know who he truly was. He had been leaving her messages, meeting her in secrecy and instilling his wisdom upon her these past few weeks. The focus for her ringwork that he was giving her was unreal, and she now fully understood why the likes of the Daughters of Janus and Eileen Amaro valued him so much. She understood how he had managed to achieve a place on the HKW Board of Directors, and how his merciless pursuit of success had granted him the Underworld Championship for his own. But his words, were his words poison like Sophie had once told her? The things he had said about her sweet wife, calling her a thief and a manipulator, a liar and a cheat? She should simply smash him in the face and be done with it.
“But h-he’s my Papa…” she whispered to herself, gazing upon her reflection in the mirror, her eyes running in a panic as she tried to gather her thoughts, her bearings. Here she was, living a lie to the world and her loved ones by meeting with the man who lived the greatest lie of all. And now she was part of it. Anastasia, above all people, had been lied to and deceived at every turn. By her closest friends, past lovers, associates and allies and family. Sophie had once lied to her, tragically, but due to all this Anastasia had sworn that she would never lie or keep secrets, but here she now was. A part of the biggest tangled web of all. And she felt trapped.
She rooted in her bag for some semblance of reason, clawing through with talons as she attempted to find the letter Aurora had sent her. She cried when she first read it, and the second time as well. The fact that the former champion, the woman who was judged to have been better than her took the time to actually communicate with her had meant the entire world. She didn’t feel as lost, she didn’t feel as hopeless as the night it occurred. She certainly feel cheated, like her father had remarked. It helped her look to the future, helped her pick herself up again and it certainly helped her in the preparation she had made before her match with Faith. Maybe this note would inspire her once more?
If she could find it.
She had emptied her dove shaped handbag upon the tabletop, but it was nowhere to be found. Her mind wandered, panicking as she searched for her folded fix of inspiration like an addict to heroin. Quaking, shaking, sweating, she composed herself and returned to the table, back through the deserted room to the single table with the single person, still smiling, still staring. But then, in the midst of it all, was the note. Folded as it was, but not as it was. Anastasia always folded her notes with the inked side showing, some strange subconscious act to display that she hid nothing. But here it was, folded with the blank side showing. She paused, stared upon her father, and then hid her emotions as she continued to eat. This didn’t help her trust him, it was obvious he had read it. Had he?
“Is something wrong, Little Wing?” he asked, a slight hint of suspicion in his smooth, textured voice.
“Nope… nothing at all.” Another lie. But if she could lie to Sophie about meeting him, she could lie to him. Her mind wandered once more, but to her vivid dreams of the Phoenix, the horror of those flames and she wondered… What if that was her future? And what if everything Sophie had told her about him would lead her down that path?
==
Finn, I could give you all the respect in the world right now, but I’m not. I could praise all you have accomplished so far in your career, every hardship you have gone through, glorify you for every opponent you have defeated. But I’m not. I could list the advantages that you have on me when the tale of the tape runs out, but those don’t mean anything to me either. I could talk about your determination about possibly achieving your first real merit in this business, and the fact that you have been to wait to take the opportunity you have earned for so long. So long. But it doesn’t concern me. None of it does. What matters to me, is when you step through those ropes and the bell sounds. And at that moment I will be standing across the ring from someone who wants to take something that is mine, something I have earned, something I love.
And Finn… nobody does that.
I’m not in the game of purposely going out there to upset people. I’m not the kinda girl to get hold of a microphone or go out on social media and insult you for no reason. I’m not. Honestly honest. But when I say that this, to me, is just another title defense… I mean it. Now some may say that I am simply discrediting you, passing you off as nothing and I’m going on an ego trip saying this is going to be easy. It’s not. I’m not expecting it to be. Because I am proud of this title, I am proud of the achievement and I am proud to be a part of this company. And I expect the company to show in, show out to let me show off against the best showcase of talent around. So I expect the best opponents. You earned this, so right now, you are the best opponent. You really are. But I don’t respect people who want to take things from me. Especially when they are so pretty and shiny.
If you are upset about what I have just said, then sadly that is a “you problem”. Because you are just another name in a long list that wants to take my title. You might be lovely, you might be a sweetheart, you might be scum or even the worst human being alive. It doesn’t matter. I’ve squashed flyers smaller than me, out grappled technicians, defeated legends… hell, I once ground and pounded a seven foot monster in unconsciousness. I adapt. I thrive. I evolve, and they die. It doesn’t matter whether it is you, whether it is Faith, whether in the future it’s Frisky or Kamigawa. It’s all the same. Someone, wanting to take something that is mine. And that is not going to happen. I can’t let it happen. I won’t let it happen.
You’re going to bring your all, at least I hope you are. I hope you take this as seriously as I do, I hope you want this as much as I do. Because I want to face people who are going to push me, who are going to test me and who are going to make my title reign worth it all. You are one of those people. Right now, you are that person. And you are that person I’m going to beat. Because I wanna keep this title for a long, long time. And the only way I’m going keep it, is by beating you. So that is what I’m going to do.
There’s nothing much else I can say. I’ve been through too much to let it all slip now, so I won’t. You seem lovely, and I’m sorry. But I don’t respect you. And I’m going to hurt you. Then I’m walking out as champion at the Supershow. One day you’ll find your Redemption from this, but it is not today. And it’s going to be against me.
==
