Orpheus and Eurydice

--- Phoenix Headquarters ---

*Lorenzo sits in his office, alone. On the desk in front of him are various folders and documents which refer to Pandora, which are scattered over the desktop, while one folder open in front of him, which he is currently flicking through, refers to three ancient books which had been in the process of being translated by the Pandora organization, details of which having come into Phoenix agent hands. After a while, Lorenzo stops flicking through the pages to instead tiredly rub at his temples*

Lorenzo: *recalling the events a few hours earlier, where Nadia had bluffed to him* Nadia….What exactly is she thinking? She knows that her position is precarious. I have her life in my hands. One word from me and she wouldn’t be drawing another breath. Is it foolishness? Is she suicidal? Perhaps I had underestimated how fanatical she can be… *he frowns* Either way, her usefulness is starting to wane. It might be best to kill her now and get it over with before she causes more problems.

*Lorenzo closes the file in front of him with a snap, closing his eyes with a dark frown.*

Lorenzo: Tch…..comparing me to ‘God of War’....how foolish. Does she truly believe I act in the name of an inferiority complex? How truely juvenile... Does she truly not have the ability to see that the goal of Phoenix is far more than that? Truly, I have underestimated her intelligence. She has become….weak…

*Sitting back in his chair, he pulled out a cigarette and lights it, taking a deep breath of the smoke and breathing out the smoke*

Lorenzo: No, I have more important things to look at in this situation. Crushing the gods….freeing humanity from their oppression...my plans are far beyond that of petty grudges. It’s far beyond a singular person. It’s far beyond me alone…

*There is a flash of memory as he remembers the look on Nadia’s face as she spoke to him a few hours before*

Nadia: *Chuckle* I have faith in Pandora, the bond between man and the mystic, is ever growing and as cliché as it sounds, I have faith in my organisation. It’s what I… we believed all those years ago. And even if you decided you wanted to end me, you wouldn't.

*The flashback ends*

Lorenzo: *Gritting his teeth, he leans forwards once again, resting his forehead in his free hand* Damn you….

(your turn. Nadia comes in now, right?) yop

*The door slowly creaks open. Nadia walks in bandage around her neck*

Nadia: Lorenzie, you here. I have chocolate loving for you? *folder in one hand and two cups of hot chocolate in the other*

Lorenzo: *Keeps his eyes closed and his head in his hand, speaking tiredly* What are you trying to do, Nadia? Trying to ‘win me over’ with chocolate now?

Nadia: Well, I know how much you used to love my hot chocolate… how you used to pester me to make it every time you were stressed out, so… I… *Sets the cup down in front of Lorenzo, and the folder down on the chair. Her eye scans across the carnage that is his desk* It’s a good thing I came, huh? Here take this too.

Lorenzo: *Takes the folder* Say what you will. I already told you before, I am not the Lorenzo you knew. I’m hardly pining after hot chocolate.

Nadia: Is that why as soon as I walked in, your eyebrow twitched, and why I can see it in your eyes that you’re missing it…? Go on, and don’t waste it. I won’t pester you anymore tonight. I just want to chat, that’s all.

Lorenzo: *Stills his expression and purposefully ignores the cup, eyes narrowing to Nadia instead.* Then hurry up and speak so you can leave me be. I have things to accomplish other than play around with you.

Nadia: Nope, not gonna do that. There’s 24 hours in a day, you can spare 20 minutes talking to me. Besides, in that folder is your work simplified, organized, translated and more by yours truly. I’ve worked hard, Lorenzie, and YOU’RE GONNA reward me by talking to me and drinking hot coco with me. I’m not backing down on this one *pout*

Lorenzo:  Che…. *he pulls himself upright once more.* Then talk. And be to the point. I already told you that you’re walking on thin ice, so don’t push it further, otherwise I’ll have you destroyed so thoroughly there’ll be no evidence of your existence by the time we’re done. I thought I told you before, this is not a game, and I am not the Lorenzo you knew. Give up on trying to draw him out. He is gone.

Nadia: *Chuckle* And I thought I told YOU, Lorenzie, you don’t scare me, so drink up before it gets cold and, while you're at it, convince me… convince me to give up on Pandora and make me want to be a Phoenix agent. You said it before, didn't you? ‘We all have our reason for being here.’

Lorenzo: *A growl breaks from him as he smacks the mug away, sending it flying off the table and onto the ground, breaking on impact* I have no reason to tell you anything! You’ve been making it clear enough that you’re still so in love with Pandora! I’ve covered for you enough! This is not a game, and I will indulge you no further, since no matter what I do or say, you will not follow me! Because you don’t understand and you never have! *slamming his hands on the desk* Even now, you think I do this out of some petty grudges against petty gods like my father. And if you believe that, then you never understood me at all, not back then, and not now! And you will never understand because you’re so in love with this corrupted world that you cling to it like a leech, draining out what little good will this pathetic world has to offer! And you will die, starved, as the last of that goodwill is consumed by the gods that believe they can enslave everyone into destructive fates while demanding praise! And you don’t care, won’t care, and so you will never understand because it will never fit into your box of preconceptions, because you will blind yourself to the truth of everything!

Nadia: *Slap him as hard a she physically can, tears welling in her eyes* did i follow you in the beginning, NO did i care for you or anyone back then NO, did i ever blindly follow the gods will Hell fucking no! How could i there selfish and spoilt… loving and cind, curle and flawed like mankind… the very creatures they created. An governed *places han over where she hit him* i understood then as i do now. One thing i always understood… that was you. Don't tell me i don't when i can see it in your eye, i see the same man i saw then. Fighting for what he believed in. i see the flawed broken man rebuilding himself piece by piece from nothing working his way to the top. I see the man i leaned on when all i was, was broken and i see the man that i will save. So convince me Lorenzie convince me that i should follow you convince me to care convince me Phenix is right and i’ll do the same with pandora convince you to come back home. Pandora is flawed not always right but they try. As do i as do you as do we all *hugs his close* convince me.

*As her arms wrap around him, Lorenzo freezes, his eyes wide. His body is shaking and slowly, he rests his face in her shoulder, thoughts frenzied*

Lorenzo: *thoughts* Why….why is she trying? Even now, she believes that I can be saved….I can’t be saved, not now, I can’t…..I can’t go back to the lies, and even though she thinks she can, she will not be able to understand. All she will do it be driven down to the darkness and torn apart. She’ll die. Die...Die, die diediedie

*Body shaking, what had began as quiet tears begins to change into choked sobs, which changes into crazed laughter, tearing himself away from Nadia, palms of his hands pressed against his eyes as he continues to laugh hysterically*

Lorenzo: It’s too late! Far too late! For me, for you, for them! Even….even now, everything is already in motion, far bigger than anyone here! This world will burn and begin anew! There’s no turning back! You cannot stop it! You cannot save me! Everything…..everything will end, whether you convince them or not! It’s over already! You just don’t know it yet!

Nadia: *Gently puts her hand around his cheeks, resting her forehead against his and whispering in a barely audible voice* I’ll save you from the depths of Tartarus. *Kisses his forehead and turns to leave* I’ll won’t die ‘til I do.

Lorenzo: It’s a hopeless endeavour. He’s already gone, the Lorenzo you want to save died years ago. It’s a fool’s errand. You will be like Orpheus, going into the depths of Hades to save Eurydice - you will be doomed to fail as you look back for the man you knew.

Nadia: *Chuckles as she leaves the room* My love, what I do with my time and body is my choice. If the man I knew is truly dead, then I will drag his wretched corpse from the pit he resides and throw his sorry ass into the Lazarus Pit myself. And, after he has returned to me, I’ll once again slap the hell out of him and make him swear to never leave my side again. He broke that promise once… i won't ever let you do that again. *Leaves the room, a sad smile is plastered on her face as she does so.*

Lorenzo: *Shakilly, Lorenzo drops back into his seat once more, running his hands through his hair and scrubbing at his face with his palms, taking a breath to try to regain composure. That done, he looks back at the desk, where the file Nadia had brought is sitting under the other mug of hot chocolate. Moving the mug aside, he pulls the file to himself, freezing as he sees what is on top of it*

*Laying on the file is an old photograph, which looks somewhat worn, as if it had been carried around for a while. In the photograph is himself and Nadia, holding glasses of wine and the smiled to the camera. It seems that they are sitting in a booth of some kind at a fancy restraunt. From the writing on the menus in the background, it looks as though they were in a high class italian restaurant. Around them, other people seemed to have dived into the picture, all grinning happily and mischievously, some making rabbit ears behind their heads, grinning or pulling silly faces to the camera. These faces, too, were familiar. The photo was portraying, other than himself and Nadia, the lost members of Pandora’s original, lost Team 226*

Lorenzo: *Shakily pulling the photo to himself* It’s too late…..why….are you doing this to me? Even if I wanted to do something….even if I wanted to stop...there’s nothing I can do any longer. No matter how much my heart is crying….There is nothing I can do…..*Putting his head into his hands* Damn you….Nadia….

[END]