She's Come Undone

Darkness... Maria dreamt of nothing while unconscious, which was probably a good thing.

Opening her eyes slowly, where ever she was, was extremely bright or at least seemed to be. Oh shit, am I dead? Maria wondered. Nah. If she was dead, she'd be in hell, not heaven. Finally able to open her eyes enough to see her surroundings, she looked around. The infirmary... her bed was the farthest away from the entrance and right next to the window which emitted rays of sunlight onto her bed. Trying to sit up, an incredible amount of pain shot through her shoulder, ribs, and head. Maria's rib cage was covered in a tight bandage, her arm in a sling, and something covering the crack on her head, though she couldn't tell what.

"Good to see you're awake." A soft voice called and a nurse walked over to Maria's bed.

"What... happened?" Maria tried to remember, but thinking too hard made her head hurt and everything turned fuzzy.

"Try not to think to hard, you have a minor concussion." She replied softly, checking the IV bag. "You went on a mission with Julliete. You both made it back alive, although you were beaten up pretty bad." The nurser didn't want to sound alarmed, or it was never good to worry injured students. "Don't move around and get some rest. Call me if you need anything." With that, she left the room, closing the curtain behind her.

Oh, that's right, the mission. A sudden burst of memories overwhelmed injured girl's mind. It all went so perfectly, her and Juliette working together, fighting the bad guys. That is, until Evaline got a hold of Juliette. Once things started heading south, it finally hit her; she wasn't as strong as she thought she was. Thinking about all that had happened, tears found their way to Maria's cheeks. I've been... defeated. Maria had always been known for her strong will and fighting abilities, but now... she felt like a normal person, someone easily defeated in battle. In the end, there was nothing she could've done when battling the hypnotized girl. Some could say "you tried your best", though it wasn't enough for Maria. She'd been defeated, that's all that mattered. Her soul had been practically snapped in half like a twig, Maria's wounds, not only physical but mental would most likely never mend. She would never experience the days of glory and satisfaction when fighting again, for nothing would be the same.

Connor took a deep breath in as he walked into the infirmary, the smell of disinfectant and sickness overwhelmed his nose. The winter's nose wrinkled at the unwanted scent as he proceeded to walk up to the front desk. To his surprise it seemed that no one was around, he quietly paced around the room waiting for a nurse to arrive. There was a small cut just below his shoulder with a growing red welt around it.

Earlier that day his intelligence coaxed him to try and do a back flip off into the pool. He ended up being to close to the edge and it clipped his right shoulder. So there he was, waiting at the infirmary dripping wet in swim trunks and a semi-soaked t shirt waiting for a band-aid and a bag of ice. Connor ran his fingers through his hair causing the brown locks to take shape once again. He could hear voices behind one of the curtains but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. One of the voices explained the injuries, which he didn't catch but knew automatically it was the nurse, the second voice was what spiked his curiosity.

The winter quickly went behind the wall, next to the curtained room and waited for the nurse to leave. Once she excused herself Connor began to think of a way to slip by without being noticed. His attention was directed to the metal rings that held the curtain, he pushed them open with as little noise as possible, with a little help from his power of course. The nurse turned to go behind the front desk which provided Connor the perfect moment to slip through. Releasing his power, the metal rings closed the curtain once more letting to flow in and out with small gusts of the AC.

His curiosity was right as he stared at the girl lying on the bed. Maria laid propped up by a pillow, a sling covering her arm, and bandages around her head and chest. Tears shimmered against her cheeks and a look of defeat covered her face. A worried look crossed Connor's face, "Hey. You okay?" Idiot! Of course she is not okay, does she look okay? Connor quietly cursed himself for asking such a stupid question, but hoped it was enough considering he couldn't come up with anything else to say. Unlike Maria's normal strong appearance she looked helpless, as if something had changed her with an impact she couldn't handle. The boy shifted uncomfortably, unsure how to comfort the girl.

Someone was here? Maria's eyes shot up from the bed to the guy standing at the curtains. Of course it was Connor, the one person who actually showed up. "I wouldn't say okay, I mean, I've been better." Maria tried to smile but her efforts most likely didn't show. When her and Connor had hung out when they were partnered for the bear project, it had been really fun. At first, he was just some other guy, but for some reason, when ever she talked to him, she got this weird fluttery feeling. It's probably just the vodka. She'd remind herself, although part of her knew it wasn't the drink. "Why are you sopping wet?" He looked miserable.

sorryforshitpostIalloutofmuseatm

Connor parted his lips to respond to Maria but was quickly silenced by the girls sad attempt of a smile. His memory went back to the bear project, that of which ended up being extremely fun. With a few intense moments in the beginning, then a nice explosion out of the autumn dorm windows. Connor looked down and scrunched up his wet shirt, releasing some of the water. It dripped to the ground leaving a small puddle under him. A chuckle escaped his throat as he went to respond to Maria, "Well, uh, I just came from the pool and forgot to bring a towel." He put on a silly grin hoping to raise the girls spirits as she watched the idiot in front of her. His eyes fell upon a towel that sat not to far away from her bed, it was clean and folded ready to be used. "Mind if I use this?" His hand gripped the towel and began to sop up the water that remained on his clothes and body. The blood on his arm was beginning to diminish leaving just a small cut with a red welt. Connor placed the towel around his neck once he was done and looked up at Maria, "So, what brought you here?" It was a question he didn't want to ask, but it couldn't be helped.

Figures, someone like him forgetting a towel. Usually the little things in life like Connor standing here didn't amuse her, but for some reason, she found it somewhat funny. Besides, how often does a guy decide to start a conversation while dripping wet and probably freezing cold? "Sounds like some adventure." Maria started, her mood starting to lighten up a little. "Oh, me?" Being reminded of the mission brought back the unpleasant mood. "I was on a mission with Juliette and things... got a bit out of hand." Pushing the throbbing pain to the back of her head, Maria had a realization. Being sorry for myself and not talking about it won't help. She thought to herself, thinking about how Freya ended up. And I can't let myself be a depressed, downcast person like her. Maria couldn't, no wouldn't, let that happen.

Connor slumped into the chair next to Maria's bed, it soft cushion provided a comfortable seat. He placed the towel around his neck to help catch the dripping water from his head, cold drops raced down his back causing him to shiver ever so often. "Yup! It was quiet the adventure, especially sneaking in here after." He gave Maria a silly grin, eyes shinning with amusement. Her sudden mood change surprised Connor and instantly told him he hit a sensitive topic. "Would you like to talk about it?" His voice was filled with concern and a worried look crossed his face.

At least he was trying to make the mood better. His effort may have been for nothing, but a personality like his was what most girls wanted, right? Wow, she really needed to get her priorities straight. Noticing that he looked genuinely worried, she debated whether to just tell him. It wouldn't hurt and he was someone she could trust, which was honestly weird, considering Maria never had any "allies". "Well, it's not that big of a deal..." The injured girl started, but stopped himself. Just tell him. Letting out a little sigh, she started again. "I signed up for this mission, God knows why. I guess I thought it would be a great way to prove myself, but I ended up almost getting killed." That sentence was honestly probably one of the humiliating things she'd ever said in her life, and with the state she was in, it was pretty obvious that something bad went down.

Connor's nose wrinkled at Maria's comment, "What do you mean not a big deal? You're a pretty big deal to me." His eyes softened as he looked over the injured girl, "At least you're safe now." He gave a sympathetic smile, she was sure adventurous he would give her that. But there was still a question that lingered, "Why would you need to prove yourself?"

ooc; sorry ive been really busy and out of muse D8

Maria stayed quiet until he spoke again. "You're a big deal to me." His words hit Maria like a punch in a gut. She... mattered to someone? No, he was probably just being nice, trying to make her feel better. Right? No one ever seemed to care for her well being, and Maria wanted to say something, but she had no idea what to say. Finally about to reply, Connor spoke again. Great, another comment that needed an awkward reply. Well, she couldn't stay quiet forever. "Uh, I... I don't really know." She started. "Well, I do know, it's... complicated I guess. I mean, I'm still confused." Maria felt utterly stupid for even speaking and realized how dumb she must have seemed right now.

Connor gave Maria a smile, "Well I'm hear to listen if you want to talk." Her hesitant answers caused him to worry, Maria wasn't normally so fragile, but it was obviously in this state she needed time recuperating. The winter quickly arched his back as he felt another trickle of cold water run down his spine. He brought the towel up to his head and scrubbed it against his damp hair until most of the water stopped dripping. Connor wrapped the towel back around his neck and leaned back into the cushioned chair.

Honestly, Maria couldn't have been more glad that Connor was here to keep her company, but she wished that they were talking about a less shitty subject. "Geez," She mumbled. When did life get so confusing? So confusing that she didn't have a simple explanation for a simple question. "I'll try to spare you the gory details, but basically all my life, I was raised to protect my father." Wow, I sound really pitiful right now. Giving a short sigh, she continued. "My sister and I had the strictest, of strict, cruelest of cruel fathers. But of course I wasn't going to live under his rules, so I left. Life was good, until I got a letter from Freya. Then everything started heading south." She hoped that she wasn't boring Connor, although the fact that he was willing to listen made her like him even more.

Connor's eyes lit up, gory details? She was actually planning on telling him? A relieved sigh escaped his lips as he waited for Maria to start her story; he wasn't expecting her to tell him and would make him sit through with an awkward silence between the two. Besides, she was pretty beaten up and bringing back those memories so soon could really impact someone.

His green eyes shown under the bright infirmary light as he gave his full attention to Maria. When she began her story a confused look spread across his face. Then it hit him. She was going to tell her entire life story. Leading from the questions he asked earlier, as to why she would need to prove herself. The winter was filled with questions already, like what did her father do to make him so cruel? Or what happened between Maria and Freya? Or where was their mother if the father was like this? Connor decided to keep quiet and waited patiently for Maria to continue, surely she would explain sooner or later.

Maria could tell he was somewhat into her story, but suddenly she felt really nervous about sharing it. Could she turn back now? Leave him at a total cliff hanger? She couldn't just tell him everything, for there were some things she could never tell, not even Freya. Besides, hadn't her sister already told one person her sob story? That was the last thing they needed, the whole school knowing their secrets.

"But enough of that," she said with an awkward and nervous smile. "How was the pool, besides getting hurt," Maria didn't want to seem like she was abruptly changing the subject, but she was.

(Sorry for shortness ><)

Connor paused, she just stopped the story and was trying her best to avoid it. He looked down at his shoulder which now had a decent amount of blood running, his mind slipped away from the pain and focused on her story, but now that she pointed it out his shoulder ached with pain. The winter snatched the towel that was around his neck and wrapped his arm up to stop the bleeding.

Green eyes peered back up at Maria, "Uh, well the pool was fun, I just did a few laps around. I tried to do a backflip but the edge of the pool clipped my shoulder." Silence filled the room for a few moments until he couldn't resist the urge of asking Maria to finish her story. "So, what was the letter that Freya sent you about?" Connor waited patiently, silently wishing she would finish and wouldn't try to change the topic again.

The pain that Connor dealt with from his shoulder was nothing compared to what Maria had just gone through, but she had to admit it did sound a bit painful. About to reply to his little pool story, he asked her about the letter from Freya. Wait, he still wanted to know what happened? Pretty damn persistent, she thought to herself though knew it was technically her fault for leaving him at a complete cliff hanger. Giving an internal sigh, she realized it would be best to continue and just get it over with. Guess no one ever really gets away from their past.

"It was just informing me on life with father and of course her begging for me to save her, as always," the injured girl replied with a slight smirk, but that smirk soon went away when she thought of her father. "Our father loved us, only for our power, and after I left, I guess he went totally crazy. So crazy he almost killed our mother," she added softly, remembering how delirious he could get when drunk. What if I had stayed? Would things have been better? Maria often wondered this, but in the end she always concluded that her father never truly loved them, even if she would've stayed.