Snippet #2280152

Orfhlaith walked down the hall, her head held high and smile playing upon her lips. People stared. But don't they always? People had very little to keep their little minds amused anyway. Of course she was going to grab attention. She wasn't a royal yet she most definitely acted like one. She was also definitely a flawed. Her writhing hand proved that even if no one knew of her abilities. She was a half and half. She was a hybrid. She was, therefore, disgusted and feared. She didn't mind. Better to be feared than treated as a joke. But she watched as people looked in the royal box and saw her sitting beside the King. She knew what they all thought of her. More fool them. She swished her long hair out of her eyes as she went down the hall, annoyed at this minor problem. That bomb was much more trouble than it was worth. However it would do no good to be down in the flawed holding pens and explode. That would just be terribly inconvenient.

Besides, this was more of a double check of the double check. She was rather sure that the bomb wasn't going to explode but she really did not want to take that chance. And she wasn't all that sure the double check was all there.

Her hand convulsed violently, grasping at the air with desperate motions. She frowned at the limb. Now, really! Calm down! I have all this under control. No need to panic. To her surprise, her hand actually ceased its frantic movements apart from the occasional twitch. Orfhlaith nodded to herself. Apparently, talking to the hand actually worked. Oh, the irony.

So she moved down to the rooms where this monstrosity would be held. She leaned against the door frame, her red eye taking in the room. A large dirty blob of metal sat in the middle of the dark, messy room. Oil slicks were artfully dispersed around the floor and there was a lone scientist, working within the mechanisms. Orfhlaith rolled her eye and slowly moved forward. Her boots clicked against the floor, the noise distracting the scientist who looked at her in fear. Of course, she was merely a shadow to these people. A plaything of the King's. She grinned viciously before leaning over and flipping a switch.

"W-what are you doing?!" The man spluttered, holding a wench in a defensive position. Orfhlaith's red eye looked him up and down before she rolled her orb.

"Really, I was merely making sure we exist in the next half hour. Flipping the wrong switch? And you call yourself a scientist? Standards round here really are slipping." The overseer mused, her smile becoming slowly more vicious. The man looked terrified. She looked at the wench that he held and smirked. Now, this fight wasn't active in this time stream but really, it was too much fun not to re-enact.

"Now what are you going to do with that? I hope you weren't meaning to attack me. For, I, my dear, can simply slip away." With that the young woman moved gracefully to the left, stepping in behind the scientist and pulling him into a backwards stretch by grabbing his hair firmly. He looked her right in the eye as her left hand graced his thin reedy neck.

"As you can see, this position isn't very good for you. In fact, it's an awful position for you." A thin sharp knife slipped into her left hand and she quickly swapped positions. Her left hand held the man's head tightly, muscles convulsing every now and then, earning slight whimpers from the scientist. In her right hand, the knife lightly caressed the man's artery.

"Now, there is a little lesson to this scene. Do you wish to hear it?" She cooed gently as he gulped hard. His Adam's Apple bobbed and she let out a little hiss as the knife pressed down hard against the throat. He slowly nodded and the redhead grinned. Suddenly, the hold, knife and young woman were no longer behind the scientist and he fell to the dirty floor with a thud. He looked up and found himself face to face with the crouched young woman, who smiled viciously.

"The lesson is, my dear, always flip the right switch, Artem Jater, or you will have to answer to me." And with that, the overseer stood up and strode out of the room. She could almost feel the fear from out in the hall and the vision of everyone horribly dying was also gone. A win-win situation all round. The overseer let loose a peal of laughter as she made her way to the flawed pens. It was now time for the main attraction. The big event was just about to start and she was going to have fun playing her part. Oh, so much fun.

"Roll up, roll up." Orfhlaith laughed again, eye flashing. "The show is about to start."

~~~

Orfhlaith made her way around the flawed pens without hanging around. She didn't exactly enjoy being down here as it reminded her of a fate she just missed. If the government hadn't noticed what she could do, she would have been here. No. She would be dead. Orfhlaith knew that for sure. She had seen it enough times, flashes of her own vocal chords being turned into ribbons by monsterous claws, spears flying through her body to hit the opposite wall while leaving a trail of gore behind. Never pleasant. Seeing the future is all well and good and she may be able to foresee attacks but the King was known to release another flawed into the arena to speed things up a bit.

She wouldn't stand a chance, with or without her abilities.

Not that that would be her punishment. No, that would be a waste. She wouldn't get such a privilege. The redhead stopped and shuddered gently as flashes of memories flew to the forefront of her mind. The overseer growled to herself and moved those memories to the back of her head. She didn't need those right now. She had more important things to worry about at the moment. The redhead moved into the shadows to the left of an empty cage as the nobleman, Luther, passed by. Just on time. Good, good. Orfhlaith stood for a second, musing on who must have occupied this cage. Not that it mattered. In death, no one cared about the flawed. Come to think of it, they weren't all too important in life either.

Orfhlaith left the shadows and carried on her way. She passed many a flawed that she knew were going to die. The girl worrying her lip would be decapitated. The young man practising with a staff would be impaled upon a sword. The overseer closed her eyes as she passed the King's champion, a horrible animalistic thing with a slobbering jaw and claws as long as knives. She knew he/she/it would win. She had seen it. She also felt a tendril of doubt seeping into her mind but quickly dismissed it.

It would do no good to worry when you already knew the outcome.

She noticed that the blue haired princess was still conversing deeply with her "champion". The redhead knew she had at least five minutes before she should interrupt. This seemed as good a time as any to reorder her current visions. She stood against an empty cell and mentally flicked through the threads.

Hmm. Boring, boring, death, birth, sex, sex, flawed being turned into mush, apocalypse, theft, the King...Orfhlaith bit her lip hard. The King did not look happy she had been gone for so long. She grabbed her left hand tightly as it convulsed, obviously mirroring her anxiety and fear.

Stop it now. We both know that he wouldn't be a problem for us. Come on now. We have first impressions to make and it simply wouldn't do if you are panicking like that. Orfhlaith grinned as her left hand lessened it's movements. It was still twitching but at least it wasn't as bad anymore. The five minutes were up and Orfhlaith had things to do. She slinked behind the princess silently and leaned against the cage behind her, red orb glinting with an indistinct mix of emotions.

"Oh my. What do we have here? A party? How delightful. Am I invited, per chance?" The overseer asked, her malicious grin widening at the look on the princess' face. Too much fun, really.

(Eris) "No, fuck off. It looks like your period came hella early and screwed up your dress" A voice from inside the cell called out. Orfhlaith grinned and without skipping a beat, she returned the favour. Gladly.

"Looks like your period attracted wolves and they ate your dress." Then, moving away from the cage she leaned on and moving a little closer, she carried on with an expression of mocking thoughtfulness. "That or you shop at "Sluts-R-Us". I don't really care, true be told."

Before the woman inside the cage could reply or the princess could open her mouth, a call caught their attention.

"Orly!"

"Oh, for the love of all that is holy..." She turned to the two in front of her. "Excuse me two minutes." She turned and was greeted by that obnoxious face in front of hers. She let out a cough as his aftershave overpowered her senses.

"What do you want." The redhead asked, voice flat and emotionless. Her red eye flared underneath her red fringe. She knew what he was going to say but really, common courtesy dictated that she let him speak. Unfortunately.

"The King sent me to find you! He thought you had gotten lost, Orly!" The guard reached out and grabbed her wrist. The left one. Her hand instantly reacted by trying to claw at the man's hand. The overseer mentally praised her limb. Good job, dear. Finally doing something I want you do to.

"I am not lost and I do not wish to return to that vile man's side. And what have I told you about calling me that?" She hissed, eye a hard red. The guard frowned and went to pull the young woman to the Royal box. The redhead sighed heavily. Of course, she couldn't just listen to her. No, of course not. It wasn't as if she knew exactly, to the last detail, what was coming or anything like that. Oh, of course not. Mister Big, Brawny and Dumb over here obviously knew best.

He obviously didn't know her very well.

She didn't take to being forced into things kindly. The overseer pulled a thin dagger to her right hand and with controlled familiarity and ease, thrust it deeply into the man's shoulder. The guard bucked at the pain and fell to the ground, releasing Orfhlaith's arm. The overseer brushed her arm down casually and looked back up at the two women in front of her. She was about to carry on her conversation with the delightfully entertaining metal user inside when the guard on the floor groaned in pain. Orfhlaith rolled her eyes.

"Now really. Do be quiet. You are fine! Not in one single future do you die, which is a little disappointing really. A bit like opening that huge present in the corner for Christmas and discovering it was a hideous jumper..." The overseer trailed off, hands on hips, looking down at her victim. Her left hand drummed gently against her hip as the man groaned in agony. The guard eased an eye open and looked up at the red haired woman. He then slowly grinned.

"Heh. Anyone e-ever tell you t-that you look incredibly h-hot when you're angry?" The redhead blinked for a second, for once honestly confused. Sure, she had seen him say that in a vision but she didn't actually know he would say it.

"I just stabbed you and you are still trying to flirt with me?! I do not understand you, Torn. But that doesn't matter. Just keep quiet; I'm trying to have a civil conversation here." With that she looked back up at the princess and the flawed, hand writhing and locking in the muscles, with a catty grin stretching her features. She brushed back some red locks that had spilled upon her shoulder and look at the people in front of her. Her single red eye flashed in the low light.

"So. You were saying?"