Mera Confronts Stonegit

December 3, 2014 Season 3 thread.
== Summary ==
== Full Text ==
Mera Violet Haddock: Mera marched up indignantly to Stonengit’s door, pounded heavily on the outside frame, then waited. When she received no response, she threw herself against the door and marched right on in without permission.
"Bodyguard boy," she demanded, arms folded across her breasts. "We need to talk."
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "I know what your going to say," Stonegit said in a low voice, staring at the list carved into the wall, his back to her. "You shouldn’t panic…I’ll be out of your hair soon enough."
Mera Violet Haddock: "Panic? I am not panicking," Mera announced. Her eyes scoured Stonegit’s room and wrinkled her nose in clear disgust. "I am highly questioning what you are doing right now. And you’re going to explain it to me. Wouldn’t want to disappoint your beloved king’s widow now, would you?"
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "I wanted to…" Stonegit said distractedly. "You showed me such kindness even though it was me who killed your husband. But then…one day, I just thought" he squinted. "You’re not Haddock, and you could never fill the hole he left in my heart. And that feeling…stuck," he turned to face her. "So what I want," Stonegit said, pointing back at the list. "Outweighs my concern for your…disappointment."
Mera Violet Haddock: Completely unimpressed, Mera remarked, “Garthy’s death leaves a hole in my heart, but at least it doesn’t leave a hole in my senses. You’re still talking, boy. I’m your Queen and you chose me yourself at that meeting. You try screwing around with me, and you’ll see what rewards you get for that. Certainly ones that won’t give you anythingwhat you want at all.”
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit spread his hands, his eyes devoid of any sanity. “Put the words into action Mera…see what happens.”
Mera Violet Haddock: "You’re stripped of your authority and arrested for defying the orders of the Queen of the Wilderwest." Mera motioned behind her, and five loyal guards stepped in behind her.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit slowly licked his lips, rubbing his chin. “Thank you…that’ll be all.” he murmured, waving a hand. And then, to Mera’s shock, the guards turned…and left.
Stonegit placed his hands behind his back, his eyes boring into Mera’s. “Did you know I was the first person to ever stand up for those men? To give them a chance beyond thrusting grade A prisoners at them and telling them not to screw it up? The one who bothered to train them, teach them, make them feel worth while! Queen Mera…your honor guard came from me!…and they haven’t forgotten it.”
Mera Violet Haddock: "If you think that’s going to make me back down, and if you think that’s going to save your sorry fanny, I’m afraid you are quite incorrect," Mera remarked. "Do you know what other powers I possess? I am more than capable even without those men. How have I lived all these years as the wife of Gareth Ragnar Haddock the Second, O Hear His Name and Tremble, UGH UGH without any incident? Without getting harmed, without an assassination attempt, without any trouble on my end at all?" She lowered her voice ominously and squinted her eyes, staring up at Stonegit threatening. In a near-whisper, she asked, "Do you want to be let in on my secret?"
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "Of course," Stonegit replied.
Mera Violet Haddock: "Oh goodie." Mera smiled and cracked her knuckles, one at a time, before she reached into a small pouch at her side and pulled out a small item. She held t up to Stonegit between her pointer and middle finger. "See this little token? See the rune on it? Do you have any idea what power is mine because I have it? And unless you can take it from me -" she smirked deviously at the thought "- then you have ten seconds to live.
"Ten.
"Nine.
"Eight.
"Seven…"
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "Wait!" Stonegit said, holding up a hand. "Nothing…would please me more then to die by your hand…" he backed up, placing his spread fingers on the back wall. "Just see to it that the rest on this list are killed as well…"
Mera Violet Haddock: She quirked her eyebrow at him and kept counting, eyes indicating that nothing but Stonegit completely backing down would allow him her mercy.
"Six.
"Five.
"Four."
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Seeing she would not uphold his wishes Stonegit clenched his teeth. “NO!” he yelled, bending down and grabbing up his pike. “You can’t!”
Mera Violet Haddock: She held her token out, as though asking Stonegit to grab it. It was, at the very least, more than a cruel teasing.
"Three."
She smiled.
She opened her mouth for the next number.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit’s back foot pushed him forward, his good hand hauling back the pike while his marred one reached for the token. Stonegit was determined to either grab that charm…or knock it out of the Queen’s hand. 
Mera Violet Haddock: Mera noticed Stonegit was reaching for the token. She let him take it, then used his momentum against him, grabbing his arm with her free hand, twisting it painfully inward, and forcing him to the ground. She pushed herself on top of him, pinning him down in such a way that if he moved incorrectly, moved much at all, he would break a collarbone.
"You fool," she said. "That was just a harmless little bead. Never seen a bluff work this well." She huffed, pleased with herself. "I should threaten to kill people more often. That was mildly enjoyable."
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit’s pupils contracted, and he thrashed, his collar bone snapping violently and his arm dislocating. He jerked and thrashed, screaming in rage, his face no longer looking human. When he had exhausted himself his head thudded on the floor. When Mera looked down, she saw a trickle of water pooling from Stonegit’s mouth as he starred wide eyed at the area in front of him.
The one guard, who had rushed into the room, had seen the display, and now stood shocked, his mouth slowly falling open.
Mera Violet Haddock: "So, my loyal turncoat," Mera said, glaring up at the guard. "What say you now? Still on his side, or do you remember your loyalties to the kingdom. There’s two ways this could turn out." She smiled sweetly, curls bobbing around her face and framing her nicely. "You help me out here, or you join this traitor on the floor. What will it be?"
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: The guard stammered, motioning vaguely at Stonegit. “I-I was a just a bread thief before all this happened to me. S-Stonegit gave me a chance…I never thought that he was…I mean.” he gulped, and then bowed his head. “Yes your highness.” he paused. “Actually, the battle master here had ordered us to re design the dungeons…I think it’ll be quite fitting if he tries it out for himself.”  
Mera Violet Haddock: "Good chap," she said agreeably. "And I agree with you. He has done some good things with you and the other soldiers, and it is a shame that we must now turn against him. However," Mera pulled Stonegit up best as she could and gestured for the guard to take him in her stead, "everyone can surprise us from time to time. And thankfully for you, I give second chances, too."
Once the guard took hold of Stonegit and began to carry him, Mera brushed up her skirts and straightened her blouse. “Take him to the dungeons, and show me where they are, too.”
And Mera walked right behind the guard as they headed toward the cells. She began humming a nursery rhyme to herself as they walked.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: A couple of minutes later: Stonegit found himself, bandaged, and restrained. He looked around he cell he had been placed in, one of their classics, not one of his redone ones. He turned, seeing the guard in the cell across from him. The man shrugged. “Turned out you still are the only one who gives chances,” he said, but then shook his head. “But I can’t blame the Queen for locking me in here, you’re batshit man.”
Stonegit glanced at Mera, scooting forward, his restraint chain sliding on the ground. “If you’d be kind enough to feed my dragons and get them fresh air,” he said to the Queen. “One of them is quite old…”
Mera Violet Haddock: "Where are they?" she asked quietly, almost sympathetically. No. Not almost sympathetically.Definitely sympathetically.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: For a few moments, Mera saw the real Stonegit, more real then what she had seen the day she met him. He no longer looked like that madman, instead, he was that young bodyguard, who was as good and as noble as she had said he was. His eyes filled with tears and he motioned down the hall, his lip trembling. “Just in throne room…poor Shovel’s blind and Snag’s just a young thing…they need to be cared for.” he said, looking up at her, his eyes hopeful, and grateful. “I…I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if Shovel got sick cause of me…”
Mera Violet Haddock: She nodded. “Of course. I will take good care of them. I have a thing for dragons.” Smiling, Mera remarked, “You might not have seen him around since he hides up my skirts a lot, but I’ve got a Terrible Terror who’s rather fond of me. Well… maybe not fond. We bicker more than anything else.” She smirked. “But then love can be like that, can’t it? Harsh words and actions, but good intentions?”
She watched Stonegit closely after her last comment.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit rolled his neck, his softness fading away. “Good…” he sighed, his tears gone. “Oh…and don’t think I won’t know about every little thing going on in the fortress…you can’t operate without the guards some of them, you wont know which, will be /very/ interested in keeping me informed.” he gave the ghost of a grin. “And when I get out, I’ll get right back to what I was doing before…only this time I’ll keep myself out of arms reach.”  
Mera Violet Haddock: She ignored his comment about the guards, though a calculating look crossed her face for a moment before it fell into sympathetic sadness. “I’m sorry hon,” she said softly. “I think we both know you’re not leaving anytime soon.
"Look… what you’re doing. It would never have pleased Sire Honor-Bound. He wouldn’t like this at all."
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit ducked his head. “Like I said…I don’t care.” he raised his head, and then suddenly began pulling against his restraints, jarring his bound collar bone. “WHY! WHY! WHY!” he hollered, falling onto his side, his feet scrambling. “WHY DON’T I CARE?!” he stood, grabbing the bars. “I ought to care! It’s my job to care! But…I…don’t!” he hissed.
Mera Violet Haddock: "Your… ‘job’?" Mera inquires skeptically, trying to butt in between his frantic shouts.
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit plopped back down. “I was his bodyguard…” he replied simply. He turned away, rolling on his side. “I’ll be out later.”
Mera Violet Haddock: "I know your old job." Mera shrugged. "And now you’re someone else. Listen… maybe a better question is… what do you care about now, and why?”
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "I’ve hit rock bottom…" Stonegit said. "I only care about killing those having a hand in Haddock’s death, including myself. Why…no idea."
Mera Violet Haddock: Mera scoffed, “Killing people. What good would that do?”
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "Absolutely nothing…" Stonegit said slowly, and then turned his head. "Except of course purge this rebellion of all of it’s threats. Which always rang really nicely in my ears."
Mera Violet Haddock: Mera shifted on her feet. “That sounds more like creating a new threat than solving the problem.”
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "Not if I’m not around at the end of it…"
Mera Violet Haddock: "Leaving everyone else to pick up your pieces," Mera anwered drily. "How… ineffective."
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: "Doesn’t have to be effective, it just has to be done." Stonegit stretched as he lay on the round, rolling his head up so he was looking at her, her image upside down. "It just has to be done. Haddock’s death sapped everything out of me, leaving me with just this…just these motives. So that’s what I’ll execute," 
Mera Violet Haddock: "Narrow-minded, logic-less imbecile," Mera muttered beneath her breath - though still loudly enough Stonegit could decipher her words. Probably, that was intentional. "You’re on a suicide mission and you’re trying to bring the entire roof crashing down not just on your head, but on everyone’s. Not just on the threats to the rebellion, either, but the good men and women of the rebellion themselves. Your route is going to condemn us all. Just because you have some motives doesn’t mean you should follow through on them.
"And just because you consider yourself a horrible, hated person, the killer of the king… doesn’t have to make you a bad young man. You can be an honorable man with a bad past, rather than the antagonist you are now. Gareth, were he here, would consider youone of his biggest threats. But you don’t have to be. There are other possible decisions you can make.
"At the moment, though, you are a sore disappointment. Not for what happened with Gareth. For what happened after." Mera shook her head. "It’s probably best time for me to be leaving."
Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss: Stonegit watched passively as the Queen left. His mind turned over the words of reason she had spoken to him…but then they slowly vanished. His head thudded back down on the stone floor as he quietly began to hum the same tune Mera had been humming when she had taken him to the cell.
Category:Season 3
Category:Events
Category:Mera Violet Haddock
Category:Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss
Category:BOTGD