Overwatch (editing)

Familiar Feeling

10

"Why can't he just die," Kassandra mutters. She sits alone on a riverbank, tired of hiding from Foresight agents and Asian authorities who might not even be looking for her.

There is also something different about the day. Kassandra once again feels a butterfly feeling which means Felix is alive.

"So he's a lucky cat," Luminescence concedes, "So what?"

"But it's so strange. It's as if there's something that wants to tell me he's special. As if he's still alive not because of luck, but because... " Kassandra trails off and shifts around. Her clothes are shredded, her hair is untidy and she is missing a boot. It's plain to see she made an attempt to wash her eyeliner off. She crawls to the waterside and as she finds her blurry reflection, she glides back into her thought, "... God is watching over him."

She notes Luminescence's disgust. "Listen here," he says, "You know God might not exist - you said 'he's a figure made up to keep the sheep at ease.' You are not a simple sheep. Don't let the boy make you think like one because sooner or later he'll want you to act like one."

Kassandra stares at her reflection and shakes her head slowly.

"You are unique," Luminescence continues, "The boy sees how precious you are yet thinks only of himself. You are Kassandra Sorrows, born to annihilate this stupid world. That is how it is written, and that's how it must be."

"I've tried already. The punk won't die. Killing is beautiful, but his life... his life is one I don't think anyone can take."

"You are his weakness. You're the Chosen One."

Kassandra seems to growl before crying out, "STOP! I'm tired of people telling me who I am, who I can be, and who I was. I don't care anymore. Who are you, huh? Who are you to tell me what to do? You're supposed to be dead!"

Kassandra pushes Luminescence angrily. "You are dead! I killed you! You don't get to live like Felix! You're not that special! You don't exist!" Kassandra shoves Luminescence one last time, at which he trips and is on his way for a jungle bath. But there is no splash. There is no Luminescence.

Kassandra freezes, unsure about anything she thinks and feels. She peers quietly at the river before her, her face still warm from fury.

An old man in dark blue robes approaches. He owns a serene Dumbledore look as he walks on the river. Kassandra notices and squares up to fight.

"My daughter, do you not recognize the Lord once he's come before you? Don't be afraid," says the old man. She gets another feeling in her gut, but it isn't butterflies this time. It's quite the opposite - similar to what she felt when she encountered a band of wild apes.

"Who are you?" she challenges.

"I... am the Overlord," he replies.

Kassandra approaches him slowly, the foreboding feeling within her growing more intensely. It is like vines tug at her shoulders but she proceeds anyway, toward the friendly-looking majesty.

"Okay. What do you want?" she asks.

"You are the Messiah and I am here to show you the Way."

Her face twitches. The old fool went there. He tried to tell her who she was. It had been no more than ten seconds that she met this ancient stranger, and he was already telling her who she was and what she needed to do. Her aura of curiosity burned away. The vines disintegrate as she says quietly, "Tell me the Truth, then."

"I am the Truth," says he. At once, gas sprouts all around them. The Overlord brings out a gas mask hidden beneath his robe and puts it on.

Kassandra inhales the gas and falls to her knees, wheezing. She feels Felix yell Run! but her chest burns. The warning feeling within her intensifies. This is when the Overlord grips her hair and forces her to look up at him. Out of her moist eyelids she gets a glimpse of his soulless black eyes.

These eyes, Kassandra thinks, Even my eyes don't like those. Before she can make further observations, the Overlord claws her stomach out and collects some of her sanguine life in a flask.