Across The World...
"Mom...I need your help. Where are you?"
It was a call she had gotten over the years on occassion when Erika was at her lowest points, and despite Kelly's cold nature, it was a call she always answered. Because nobody else was going to, and because nobody else could. It did not matter that Kelly was in the middle of a rather pressing event, as her daughters words filled her mind, she immediately honed in on her daughter with her omni sight and shimmered into her room. The sight of her room had been shocking the first few times she had seen it, but now, it was something Talisman had gotten used to.
The former black queen's cobalt blue eyes travelled from the mutilated body on Erika's sofa to her daughter who was a huddled mess, crying at her vanity with wild abandon. With a wave of her hand, the body dissappeared in a swarm of black nanites being taken to her Body Shoppe as she flexed her energy signature around the room, charging the crystals she had given Erika to place for discretion, giving them a fortified defense against prying eyes and nosy empaths before approaching her daughter with caution.
"Erika..."
At the sound of her mother's voice, Erika lifted her head from the vanity, catching her mother's eyes in the reflection of the mirror. Her face was red and bloodstained, from the murder she had just committed and from compulsively scrubbing her face. It never failed to cause a deep reaction within Kelly as she placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder, gently swooping strands of blood wet hair from her face, both looking at the mirror in front of them.
Erika: [voice cracking] "I can't do this, Mom..I don't want to dissappoint you..but I can't do this..."
A feeling of dread filled Kelly as she watched the tragic eyes of her daughter search for any sign of approval and empathy on her mother's face, and it was there. Erika was the one thing that Kelly could not fix, not with her surgical knives or her magick. What nobody knew, not even Erika herself was that Erika was cursed with madness by Hecate herself as punishment for the actions of her son, though Kelly blamed herself. Kelly had been irrationally jealous of the power of Morgan Victoria. The death of Christopher Victory helped sway the balance of power in Hellifre towards her, but the power of magick was another story. Morgan was primed to become the Sorceress Supreme, and that was something that Kelly could not allow. So she nurtured her son's hatred of witches that were not his mother, and he murdered her with such a righteous glory that it nearly caused her to climax, but it was not without consequences. Cameron had murdered a daughter of Hecate because of his mother's insecurities, and in turn Hecate punished her own daughter, stoking Erika's already fragile mentality and turning it on it's head. And the years that followed caused Kelly to further her daughter's insanity as she served as a constant reminder of Kelly's own failure. She pushed Erika away because it was too painful to face her. She focused on Cameron instead, and it wasn't until her own son took away her crown and forced her into retirement that she realized that she could no longer ignore the problem that was Erika.
"I would not have allowed you to be here if I didn't think you couldn't do this, Erika..."
She stroked her daughter's hair gently, sensing a wave of calm rushing through Erika's body.
"My sweet girl.. Here.. face me."
Erika turned to face her mother as Kelly sat in the chair next to her daughter, grabbing some makeup wipes from the vanity and gently holding her daughter's face, finding it hard to hold her gaze for more than a few seconds. It was a heavy feeling knowing that she was only now addressing the problem's of her daughter because it benefited her, but Kelly had built her life in Hellfire, she was more than able to strangle such heavy conflicts of morality. Slowly, she began to wipe away her daughter's bloodstained face as she gripped her hand lightly.
[reluctantly]
"I...have failed you as a mother, Erika."
Erika: "No..Mom, don't say that..it's me..I'm just..I'm broken."
Kelly gripped her daughter's chin, forcing their eyes to meet, watching Erika's eyes dart back and forth, so chaotic, so ready to hold onto ANYTHING that wanted her back.
"Kings do not break, Erika. Bend, yes. Break? No..."
She continued to work on her daughter's face.
"I have ignored you for too long because I thought I could fix you, but...perhaps you don't need to be fixed. There is always reason in madness, Erika. And power. Even in your mind, you are never alone. You are safe from being understood..which is a good thing, despite your yearning for it."
As she washed the last bits of blood from Erika's face, she stroked her face lightly and turned her to face herself in the mirror as she grabbed a stainless steel antique hairbrush to the left of her, running it through Erika's hair slowly and deliberately.
"When somebody understands us, they can enslave us. Figure out how we operate...know how to manipulate us. But you my dear..they may be able to placate you, calm you temporarily, but NOBODY will ever be able to control you..."
She stopped brushing Erika's hair for a moment.
"But that does not mean you are incapable of controlling yourself..."
Kelly spun Erika's chair around and knelt down to face her.
"I brought you here so that I could protect you. Help make you strong..help you use that brilliant madness to carve out a purpose for yourself. You will always see the world on fire, Erika...but it's time for me to help you learn which flames to douse..and which flames to stoke."
From within her cloak, she produced a vial of a swirling blue energy, holding it up in her daughter's face. She took a deep breath, hoping she had caught Erika in a moment of clarity, which was becoming a rare occassion over the last few years.
"I can't cure you...but this?"
She tapped the vial with her finger.
"This can help you have more clear days. More good days. More days where you can CHOOSE to listen to the voices, to know when they are guiding you in the right direction.."
Traditional medication had never worked on Erika, and she was resentful in taking any. It had been a bone of contention between them, with Erika dramatically stating that Kelly was trying to suffocate her true nature..but this was her daughter's last hope. If she did not address the demons inside her, demons instilled in her as punishment for the actions of her family, she would die. And as cold and uncaring as Kelly pretended to be, her survival was a testament to the fact that she was capable of something that Helena and Diana were not - real love. And she was beginning to see that the one thing she had always denied herself of, was the one thing that had protected her life when she needed it the most. The uprising had changed Kelly, and she had decided that she was no longer going to play by a set of rules given to her. Her life was HERS now, and while she was still going to change the world to meet her perverse vision of the future, she would not only be guided by her mind, but her heart. It had been what her work was missing.
Erika seemed displeased, but she was drained. Tired. Kelly could see the mouse wheel turning in her mind. Kelly gripped Erika's hand.
"Erika please..do this. For me. For your brother...we need you."
Her daughter seemed to light up like a beacon.
Erika: [with relief] "Okay, Mom...I'll do it."
She grabbed the vial and drank it down with ease, licking her lips at the sweet taste, looking at her mother like an eager puppy awaiting instructions.
"You will need to take this everyday for it to be effective..but Zach can help you as well. He is a naughty little dog, but..I can sense something there. You will do well to have him by your side in the days to come. Let him be an outlet for your...creative expression."
The painful receptiveness of her daughter caused regret to run through her body and she pulled Erika into an uncharacteristic hug, holding her tight, almost as if she were hugging her for the first time, smelling her hair...feeling the warmth of her skin. It felt good. She pulled from her daughter, placing her hands on both shoulders.
"You are The White Princess now, my sweet girl. And though the announcement has yet to be made, you have a responsibility now. To Cameron and Haleigh, to help them build the court in their image. You are a part of that image now. It's what you've always wanted."
[softly]
"Do you feel better now?"
Erika: "I do..thank you for coming, Mom...again. I promise..I'm going to make you proud this time. I swear it."
She stroked her daughter's hair once more.
"I believe you. Now..."
Kelly shook the intimacy from her body, afraid of what might happen if she pushed forward. She stood from her chair, dusting her skirt off as she composed herself back together, becoming the former black ice queen in record time.
"We both have events to get ready for.."
Erika: "You're not coming to the Red Event?"
Kelly smirked.
"Being retired has it's benefits. Plus, I'm not one for dirt...I'll return this evening, I promise."
Erika reached in for another hug, but this time Kelly resisted a bit. This was new to her, and she was not ready to burst at the seams with love and affection. She could only give so much.
Erika: "I love you.."
Kelly smiled for a moment before loosening herself from Erika's arms, shaking it off for a moment.
"I'll be in touch...and wear something nice to the Black Party..there will be more than just the king's coronation to celebrate."
She winked before shimmering out of her daughter's room and back to her original location, a lush and beautiful villa, exhaling deeply. The exchange had sucked a great deal of energy from Kelly. She could spend days at a time in her research lab, lost in her work, without eating or sleeping, hyperfocused. But she could not manage a five minute conversation of warmth with her daughter without feeling somehow dirty. The children of Hellfire were not the only ones with deep scars. It's wounds lasted forever, and affected even their Queens. A voice was heard as it called out to her from a speaker system within the villa.
[voice]: "We're ready for you Miss King."
The former black queen nodded and composed herself in seconds. She had secured MysTech, brokered a deal of peace with Haleigh, and set her daughter on a path that just might save her life. But it was not enough. The breakfast had revealed something to Talisman. She may have been able to easily stoke the creative fires of The White Court, but they were not a separate entity, and though it may have been her family's court, they could not protect her...not completely. She needed another layer, and she was about to get it. She looked at the wall of beautiful bougainvilleas that crept along the terrace of the Cassadine estate as she took another deep breath.
"Time for phase two..."