Learn your lesson well? (Dominique)

[Zodiac]

"--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--"

<Dominique>: Dominique was at the kitchen island with the black iPhone resting in front of her. She was in the middle of a text fest with what she found easy to blame for so long instead of be accountable for all her sins far before what ultimately happened. Excuses were killers all on their own. One after another brought her to where she sat. Each one was of her own design. the hell she was existing in was a culmination of everything she had a choice in happening. Hind sight was proof. Her grandparents told her since she could remember what was wrong and right. She chose the hard way and now she was in a place where she could not have fathomed in any of her nightmares. It was time to swallow it all and spit it back out into something of purpose. She owed someone a thank you. Without them she would still be in the hell she was sure she was intended to go to. Her fingers curled around the cell and swiped the screen with the tip of her thumb. A message was produced in seconds and she glanced at it before sending it off to Zodiac. -

'IF it were not for you I would not have the chance to send this and thank you. Not sure if this is a sign or a curse to the world around me but for your guidance in thought I found my way out. Thank you for doing what you had no reason to do' .- She had erased a couple more sentences that went on babbling about being a shitty employee. After what the paladin vampire had seen for more time than she cared to see again she felt it would go without saying. Her brain was overloaded and her insides sick and heavy with the weight of choices that needed to be made.

She ached. She had decided to quit running long ago. Her eyes drifted to the one leg that dangled off the chair she was sitting on. Now she realized how much it took to get her to finally stop. She thought of the paladins, The Order and of those she cared for and was responsible within. Verne. A sharp pain went to her chest. She needed to think long and hard what her presence, what she was meant now.

<Zodiac>: The phone trilled softly, causing the pile of blankets to shift about. Ginny glared at the moving mass in irritation as she was unsettled from her comfortable spot as a hand reached out and groped for the device. Zodiac pulled the phone to where she could see it and read the message. 'So, the prodigal shadow returns' she thought as she sat up, further annoying her cat. Part of her was surprised to get the message. When she had learned Dominique had been sent to the Realm, she had reached out to her mind. Having no clue if hearing a voice you could not even answer to would add to the problems the woman was facing in there, she kept her advice short and sweet. Considering the former paladin barely listened to her advice as it was, the subject of how to survive and escape the so-called Shadow Realm had never been discussed and the girl was sure Mini's 'sire' had not mentioned it either. What to do, what to look for, how one can escape.

Apparently, Mini had finally listened to her words and took them to heart. Perhaps now she'd be willing to listen to more?

She rubbed her eyes and then let her fingers dance over the touch screen.

'Glad to hear you made it and yes, you are the worse employee I have ever had. If you are doing nothing at the moment, why not come by and we can talk face to face. Don't expect the dazzling beauty you see in the shop all the time-I warn you now.'

She added the address where she was and hit the SEND key, then stood up. Feet sliding into her oversized kitty slippers Sundial had given her as she began to stretch and contort herself. She wasn't sleeping well anyways, so she felt she might as well get moving and be ready early for the rest of her night.



<Dominique>: Dominique moved incredibly slow. She somehow managed to get to the shop with the aid of a set of crutches she grabbed in her early visits to the hospital. Surely she had enough supplies she could open a free clinic if she gave it enough thought. Arriving inside her place of employment reminded her she truly was a piece of work. It was a testament to Zodiac's patience. Dominique had done nothing but give but excuse upon excuse and now that she was there she felt a slow relief that all the limbo she was in was about to be resolved. She couldn't avoid what needed to be accepted, sorted and dealt with. Choices were going to be made. Finding no movement she plopped down in a seat and waited.

The young woman who would go seek until she found no longer felt the need. She discovered more than she bargained for and as she sat there in Zodiac's shop she was coming to terms with the fact she needed to begin the sifting process and find her place if there was one to be had. Her inked hand retrieved her cell phone from her jacket. She sent out another text to the woman. -Made it as far as the shop. Cant come further. You will see why.- She hit send.

<Zodiac>: The phone trilled again. Zodiac read the screen and frowned deeply. 'The ***** expects me to show up? Like this?' she grumbled. 'Sure, no problem. Shower, hair, make up, dressed in five minutes? ***** please!'

She pulled herself up from the impossible back bend she had been doing and debated quickly. She scratched her head, causing the mass of bed hair to get even worse. She imagined she looked like she had been in a train wreck right now.

'Time to improvise' she sighed as she grabbed her purse and reached out to her assistant and friend Jennifer's mind. 'Hey, do me a favor. Mini should be out front. Drag her *** into the back work room and have her lock the door. I will be there in a few'

'Can do' she read the reply in the girl's mind. Zodiac padded her way into a spare room and slipped through a hidden door.

<Dominique>: Dominique was barely settled when Jenn came out and she gave her a silent tug at her jacket. Mini hopped up without question and figured a few more feet was in her for travel and followed her to the work room she was familiar with. She hobbled along inside and barely turned around to see the door close and hear the lock set. Dominique sighed. She was not going to question it. She tossed the crutches and took a seat. Her eyes faded as her lids fell down. Rubbing her temples she waited for Zodiac to arrive.

<Zodiac>: She stepped to the proper fadeportal and entered it. A feeling similar to teleporting swept over her as she rode the 'express' trip from her place to the shop. A one way ticket, but she could make herself more presentable once she was there and her discussions were finished.

The wall panel in the work area slid open. First Ginny came running out and then a tired looking Zodiac followed. Dressed in a grey sweatshirt, light purple pajama bottoms with cartoon cows with wings and wands on them, large black comic kitty slippers and a dark violet bathrobe over the entire mess. She scratched her train wreck hair again and looked at her employee. 'Don't say it, I know. If Hugh Heffner saw me now, he'd be begging me to be in next month's issue' her thoughts sighed as she dropped her purse and took a seat. She eyed the girl's leg in curiosity for a second. 'Playing with the Doctor again already? Great goddess, take a night off or something!'

<Dominique>: Dominique was mildly laughing at Zodiac's reference of her being a Playboy centerfold as she watched the woman appear. It was a relief that she could find anything amusing but Zodiac was one to perform the unexpected and she went silent. The man's name was mentioned and reality hit her once again like a runaway train while she stood on the tracks waiting for it to happen. "There is nothing about what has happened that I would consider playing. I got over here on crutches and really I need to figure out why the hell I am still around." Her head cocked to the side until a soft pop could be heard of her neck cracking. Once it was accomplished she sat back in the chair and set her eyes on the woman who deserved her gratitude for many things.

<Zodiac>: 'Oh, I beg to differ. This is a game of sorts. They shoot you, you shoot them. No one stays dead. We keep coming back like bad habits or bouncing checks.' The mystic shrugged as she pulled a brush from her purse and began to try and tame her ebony locks. Ginny sniffed about Mini's feet for a few moments before arching her back and rubbing against the woman's legs as she purred.

'I see you got my messages. I am sorry if I didn't keep talking to you. I had no clue if even the sound of my mental voice would help or cause you to freak out even more than you were.'

<Dominique>: Her brow lifted as the woman with the power to do so was chasing each thought she had like a cheetah would a gazelle. "Humans die, Zodiac. They disappear. Paths in human life are altered permanently. You don't taste your own cookies or your teas. You are left on the outside looking in no matter how powerful you become. The world continues and now we watch as if we are holding a snow globe. You can shake it and try to break it but you still will never be able to be inside no matter how hard you try. Once you leave you are just a spectator. You can't get back what you lost, gave up or took for granted." She leaned down and brushed her colorful fingers into the ebony fur of Ginny.

<Zodiac>: Her eyes narrowed at the woman's self pity rant droned on. 'Thanks for making me feel better about myself,' she continued brushing out her hair. 'You think I don't feel like that every single night of this continued existence? Is the quality of who you really are lessened by the fact you don't have to breathe and can taste those god awful energy drinks so you so adore? Are you that ******* shallow, Dominique?' She stopped brushing and shook her head in disgust. ' I, me, the part of me eternal, is still here. Maybe lost some good things, but gained some others. No, I can't enjoy tea and crumpets anymore and do not dare dance as the sun rises naked in a field somewhere as I used to do, but do not sit there and write us both off as nothing!'

She stood up and slammed her tiny fist into the workbench. The boards cracked as the hidden strength lurking inside the small woman showed itself. 'I was to tears when I discovered you went to the Realm and hoped you would be ready to listen. But, oh nooooooo! I'm a vampire, I'm nothing, no one loves me, why am I even here. You honestly feel that way? Tell you what, I will take you up on the roof and tie you down and let the sun work on ya for awhile. How about it? '

[Dominique]

"--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--"

<Dominique>: Dominique's ears burned. The words she felt in her head were fine and well. She was sure a lot of it she had coming. However anger rose in her as well when she was called shallow. Who the **** could be shallow missing parts, a heartbeat and still trying to press on with their original plan of action when they peeled themselves off the cold concrete that was to be their deathbed? "Shallow?! Shallow would be not giving a **** about the world we both seem to remember dying. I give a **** so much I find myself treading through it and trying not to drown. It is not about me! News flash for you but if it was I would be creating an empire right now jumping like a flea over buildings and flying around like Superman. I fucked up and didn't appreciate it but there are many who care, who do deserve to exist. Jenn is an example. If I was incredibly worries at what I gain or lose then I think I would have been out of town as soon as I arrived." She felt her fingers tighten on the arms of the chair beneath her grasp.

<Zodiac>: She refused to back down. Too many times she had this debate only to be blown off or disregarded by the woman. 'Oh, so what among the still living do you feel sorry for? No wait, I know. What specimen of humanity is now denied you since you are now a new member of the Dark Side? Is that it? Lover boy suddenly nervous cause his lady love has fangs now? Or has your little glee club in the big church suddenly gone cold to you? Did you think their hatred would be exempt to members fallen in the cause?' she laughed. 'Trust me, babe. In the end, you will be tossed on the pyre with the rest of us. You just another stinking vampire to them now, and the sooner you get with the program and adapt to that fact, the longer you might have to make a real difference.'

<Dominique>: Zo raked Dominique over the mental hot bed of coals and while her boss did that she dug her fingertips in deeper to the furniture beneath her hands. Her warm wide eyes narrowed a little and her lips parted and she gave a seriously out of place wide white grin to show she was fangless. "If I love someone I want them happy and the best for them. If they are nervous about these changes I am considerate as all hell as to why.
Who the hell wouldn't be a little unsettled that their mate was cold to the touch, didn't have a heartbeat and was now what they hunted? I honestly wouldn't blame each and every paladin for hunting my *** as much as they hunt every other fanger. I know what I am. I have no delusions at all. If I was looking to be accepted by the masses I sure as **** am on the wrong course of action." She snarled." I am not afraid of the lights going out forever or becoming dust. If I was before I would not have signed up for the role of paladin. I believed in the cause and yeah I am a target and I am going to burn like the rest. I am not giving up what I had left and that is what is most important. I give a **** about what happens and refuse to sit back and do nothing. Can you see that?"

<Zodiac>: She allowed herself to smile as her indignation finally came out. Much of it she could not deny. She had felt the same in ways when she herself was first turned. 'Well thank the goddess for small mercies,' she finally spoke. 'So now that you have admitted a few things, perhaps you are ready to consider a few more.'

She reached into her purse and pulled her gun out from it. Making a grand show of ejecting the clip and removing the round in the chamber, she cocked it and pointed it at a bottle and pulled the trigger. The hammer fell on nothing, making a loud 'click!' sound. 'You still believe, yet you are ready to write yourself off as nothing now despite the fact you are still somewhat alive? Mini, Mini, Mini. I adore you girl, but you thinking this out all wrong.'

She dropped the empty gun in front of her on the table. 'Tell me something. Humor me here, because I do have a point to this.' she pointed at her gun now. 'Is that evil?'

<Dominique>: Dominique watched the gun with the respect and the increased focus anyone having a weapon suddenly presented to them should. She felt the twitch of 'HOPE' lighten on the hold of the arm of the chair beneath her inked hand. It prepared to move for the master blade on her side if need be. The woman was healing and a bit weaker but she still would take up arms against anyone if challenged. That fact was not lost on her employer, Zodiac. Dominique didn't feel threatened to see her with the weapon but she was aware the woman had far more skill than she had shown in front of the paladin. the small, friendly types always were not to be underestimated. The gypsy's voice returned to her head and the message became clear. Yes, she was making a point as the woman's hands went about unloading the gun.

Even with the gun empty the click had her jump slightly in her seat out of reflex. Her eyes stayed locked on the barrel the whole time as it dropped in front of her on the table. The gun was not the issue or threat it was who made the choice to handle it and what purpose they used it for. Her bottom lip retreated between the gentle bite of her teeth. She stared thoughtfully at the prop of Zodiac's lesson and she sighed slowly as her lips parted. "You are right. It is all about the one with the power and choice they make that makes good or bad happen. A gun doesn't kill, the person holding it does." HOPE lifted and found her temple and rubbed slowly as her eyes found Zodiac's.

<Zodiac>: 'Ah, so you can be taught.' the gypsy smiled brightly for the first time. 'It is the hand, not the tool in the hand, that dictates if something is used for good or evil. It applies to anything a person can use or do. The same fist that could break someone's jaw could also help pull a person to safety. So since we agree on that much, perhaps the question that should be bouncing in that little mind of yours should be this. '

She got up and moved to stand beside the chair Dominique sat in and smiled down at her. 'Is the spirit inside of this body still you? The hopes, dreams and desires still in there? Never mind what can't be done now, but is Dominique Doe still at home in there. If so, so what if you are a vampire? Personally, from my own experiences, I'd be thinking how can I turn this to an advantage for myself and what I still give two shits about. Embrace what you have become just enough to become a healer, a weapon, a positive example and an asset to what Dominique Doe was when she was still among the living. Yes, powers and abilities are just like that gun on the table. It is the person who uses them that determines if the results are good or evil. '

<Dominique>: It was easy to answer. Major changes had taken places but she found what truly made her feel alive was still there. Her heart stopped beating but something was present and she remained. What was most precious survived what should have been a final act and moment. Everything was there. Love, pain, regret, joy, loss and above everything else... Hope. She remembered everything and still felt it as if nothing happened at all. If she was going to be held back it was her that would responsible. "Yes. Everything that was me remains." She blinked fast. She would only be destroyed if she allowed it. "Can you teach me of these powers that are possible. Whatever is within reach? I won't give up. You know that."

<Zodiac>: 'Padiwan, shall you be' Zodiac changed her mental voice to sound like Yoda from Star Wars. 'Master, I am. hmmm?' she giggled. 'Temptations in all of them for much misuse. You know, this Yoda analogy works for me. 'Judge me not by my size' and all of that. But I won't lie to you. You gonna make mistakes here and there in the process. It happens. The trick is to learn, move on, and not beat yourself up over it forever. Hell, I have been this way for going on three years now and I still screw up at times. That's the part of us that is still human in action, dear. And when you do mess up, I will be here to help you. Bitchslap, I will! Hmmm?'

<Dominique>: A smile found her lips bringing them to curl upward as the Star Wars lines went through her head. It was going to take time and patience on Dominique's part as well as the one who would guide her. Zo had so many situations she could have turned on Mini as a human paladin and even more so after her turning and standing her ground as a paladin after. She didn't. Her boss was fair and patient. All she was seeking in the end was guidance of what was possible in getting her strength back and be it in a different way but still she served no purpose weak as she was. Especially not to those she felt responsible for. The bitchslap suggestion had her laugh. "I will try my best to learn and not leaving you regretting the time spent. You have had ample opportunity to turn your back on me, or do worse and you have done the opposite. I will give you the same in turn. I have no where else I can trust asking about powers. Not a first hand source anyways."

<Zodiac>: 'Always, even when it made you sick to be in the same room with me, I have simply tried to be your friend- nothing more. And as Yoda told Luke 'not try, do'. And also, as the little green muppet said, there is a dark side to all of this. You may have a glimmer of a clue what I go through every moment of my new life here now. Fighting to hold onto myself. The self I was raised to be and was happy with. I admit, I can be a double crosser, thief, dirty dealer and other things, but those were things I was before I was turned. There is a type of allure to this that slowly pulls at you. Three years and I know I have lost some of me along the way and in time it will happen to you as well. It can't be helped, but how fast or slow those changes happen you can control that much.'

Zodiac leaned against the table and looked thoughtfully at the woman. 'It also occurs to me that if I am successful with you, I will be giving the Order a powerful weapon to use against us all. Now I am dealing in arms for both sides now. Odd.' she half chuckled. 'If the portents I have read are right, one day that war will happen beyond one or two of you annoying the hell out of other vampires. I never asked you about paladin things, just as you were smart enough not to ask me of vampire dealings. Teaching you how to be a better vampire I can do. Informing you who is who and what groups and plans our kind has I will not. And the day your friends come for me? Reminds me of the joke 'I came into this world covered in blood kicking and screaming and I have no issues leaving the same way'. There will be blood and there will be as much pain and hurt as I can manage in the process. Not because I am vampire, but because I am a child of Syzgany. We fight, we survive, we carry on and endure. That is also a part of me that was in place long before I was turned.'

<Dominique>: Dominique looked at Zodiac and held her eyes as her conditions came through her mind. She nodded slowly and swallowed hard at what she could see would be truth given time. Everything changes. Power or knowledge does its work and makes it happen. How much that would apply to her was in fact her choice and responsibility. Zodiac would not be the only one enduring blood and pain when the time came. Dominique knew that the fate would arrive to her as well. "I do not ask for anything except how to gain what strength I can. I will not ask about anything else. I just need to know where to start."

<Zodiac>: She nodded as their pact was made. 'That I can do. Teach you how to get them and advise you how to use them and what effects they will have both positive and negative. And the ones you gain I have no clue of I know others I trust who will be able to help as well. Honest people in life and now fight to be so in this. Help you get the best bang for your buck, so to speak.'

She hugged the woman suddenly. For perhaps the first time Zodiac felt she would not be causing the girl any duress in doing so. She held her for a moment then let her go. Her face suddenly all business now. 'If you are truly ready, then let us begin.'