ᶤᵐ˒ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒅

       her eyes darkened slightly at the mention of theft, the word settling far too neatly into place. "it does," she admitted, more plainly than she usually allowed. "it feels exactly like that." her jaw tightened just a fraction, something colder slipping into her voice now, more grounded, more personal. "do you have any idea what it’s like to spend centuries being hunted for something you never chose? to have your entire existence reduced to a face… to blood?" ninety-eight (perhaps even ninety-nine) percent of katherine's life has been defined by this and everything that comes with this.

       her lips pressed together briefly before she continued, the irritation no longer concealed. "and then i find out it isn’t just one other person that has the almost exact same face. that there's yet another one." another one who steals (probably) what is supposed to be hers. another one who (maybe) gets to have a life while she's stuck with shit and enemies with being endlessly compared with the 'better' versions. "forgive me if i find that a little absurd."

       at the mention of elena, her expression shifted again, something fleeting passing through her eyes. the pronunciation, however, drew the faintest, almost imperceptible twitch at the corner of her lips. it sounded strange and wrong.

       but it was the next word that truly struck and the shift was immediate. her posture straightened, the air around her tightening as her gaze snapped back to amara with sharp, unfiltered precision. whatever calm she had maintained fractured just enough to let something far more dangerous surface beneath.

the name rests briefly on her tongue, tested like an unfamiliar flavor before something softer, quieter fractures beneath it. a faint breath escapes her, followed by the smallest, most disbelieving hint of a chuckle. not cruel, not mocking, but touched with something almost ancient in its confusion. her head tilts, gaze lowering before lifting again with that same unsettled calm.    ❛ how strange. ❜ she mutters, voice smooth as worn silk. ❛ to take a name and shape it into something unrecognizable. to strip it of where it began. ❜ a pause follows but this time there is no uncertainty threaded through it, only quiet resolve as she meets her gaze more directly. ❛ .....katerina. ❜ the name is not offered, not questioned, it is placed between them steady and unmoving.  ❛ i mean no insult, but i will not pretend history did not exist simply because it no longer pleases you. ❜

her posture shifts then, subtle but undeniable. the softness does not leave her ;; it never truly does, but something steadier settles beneath her skin, something that does not bend quite so easily. her shoulders square just slightly, chin lifting a fraction as she holds that eye contact longer than before, as though forcing herself to remain present within it. katherine’s words linger, sinking into her like cold water through cloth ;; hunted, reduced, centuries carved into survival. a quiet scoff slips past her lips, soft enough to be mistaken for breath, though the meaning beneath it is unmistakable. ❛ centuries… ❜ she repeats, not dismissive of the suffering itself, but of the way it is wielded. ❛ you speak of time as though it is a burden unique to you. ❜ her voice remains calm, almost painfully so. ❛ i have been alone longer than your suffering has had a name, ❜ she adds, and though there is no pride in it, the weight of truth settles heavily between them. ❛ and still… i do not wear it like a crown. ❜

her fingers curl faintly into the fabric at her sides, grounding herself as they always do, as though the present moment requires constant reminding. ❛ i was not given the luxury of death when i asked for it, ❜ she admits, and there, faint but present, something strained threads through her voice. ❛ the witches have seen to that. i am to live ;; fully, painfully, endlessly human ;; until time decides i have earned my rest. ❜ her lips press together faintly, as though the truth itself tastes bitter. ❛ so you will forgive me if i do not tremble at the idea of endurance. ❜

a collection of dialogue prompts for or about characters who have been treated or trained as weapons by others, valued only for their capacity for violence, destruction, and harm. trigger warnings for mentions of murder and violence. change & alter as needed.

THE WEAPON:

"I'm not proud of the person they've turned me into. But it's all I know. And it's too late for me to change now."

"If there was ever any good in me, there's none left anymore."

"I don't know where the blood ends. Where my hands begin."

"I do what it takes to survive. And I don't care if that makes me a villain."

"I'm good at hurting people. I'm not going to apologize for doing what I'm good at."

"I'll never know who I could have been if they hadn't made me into this."

"This is your fault! You did this to me! You're the reason I'm like this!"

"Don't try and get close to me. You'll just get yourself hurt."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm... I'm not very good at being good."

"I don't really know how to be gentle."

"I'm not nice, and I'm not going to pretend to be. Deal with it."

"They made me a monster."

"They're all afraid of me. And they're right to be. You should be, too."

"I know I'm a villain. I don't need you to tell me that."

"Look at what they did to me! Look at what they made me into! It's their fault! They ruined me!"

"I wish they'd just killed me. I wish they'd just killed me instead of turning me into this. Being dead is better than being a monster."

"I know you're scared of me. It's okay. Everyone is."

"What does it matter whether I feel guilty about it or not? I still did it. Being sorry doesn't change that."

"Who am I if I'm not a monster?"

"No one could ever love me after everything I've done."

"Why aren't you afraid of me? How can you not be afraid of me?"

"I don't even know who I am without them pulling my strings."

"You want me to be the villain so bad? I can damn well provide."

"I don't want to be like this anymore. I don't want to hurt people. I want to be gentle. I want to be good."

"Who am I if I'm not what they've made me?"

"I don't need a weapon. I am one."

"Do you think I have it in me, to be good?"

THE WIELDER:

"You look so beautiful covered in somebody else's blood."

"And where did this little crisis of conscience come from all of a sudden?"

"You don't get to say no to me. Not after everything I've done for you. You owe me."

"You belong to me. You're mine."

"Where would you be without me? Who would you be without me? ...That's right. So let's try and be a little more grateful, hm?"

"I gave you everything, and this is how you choose to repay me?"

"I made you! You're nothing without me!"

"You don't make the rules, darling. That's my job."

"You are a dog, and I hold your leash. Never forget that."

"I didn't make you a monster. I just brought out what was already there."

"Look at you, coming when I call, eating out of my hand, doing everything I tell you... such a good dog, aren't you?"

"You think you can just walk away from me? Where are you going to go? Nobody else could possibly love a sick thing like you!"

"Monster is such an ugly word. I prefer to think of it as... helping you reach your fullest potential."

"I've got you trained so well, don't I?"

"I thought you knew better than to disobey me."

"Do you really think you can be a hero? After everything you've done?"

"Well, then, if I really ruined your life like you say, why don't you just kill me? We both know you're good at that."

"This is all you're good for. Don't go getting delusions of grandeur on me now."

"You couldn't survive without me. Don't ever delude yourself into thinking otherwise."

"I give the orders. You take them. Not the other way around."

"Destruction is really the only thing you're good at, darling. Take that away, and what's left?"

THE OBSERVER:

"You don't have to be what they tell you to be, you know? You're not stuck. You can change."

"You're not a monster. You're my friend."

"Being gentle doesn't come easy to you, does it?"

"You're a good person. I'm sorry they made you think you aren't."

"You kind of have a little... blood... on your face. ...Don't worry, I'll get it for you."

"I'm not scared of you."

"So, have you ever... you know... killed somebody?"

"You're sick, you know that? You're really sick. I can't believe you seriously do this kind of shit."

"Look, I know who you are. I know what you've done. And I'm not running away from you. You can't scare me off."

"You really are a monster."

"Why do you listen to them? Why do you take orders from them? You don't have to obey everything they tell you."

"So, let me get this straight: you know how to kill a man fifteen different ways, just with your bare hands, and you wouldn't even break a sweat... but you don't know what to do at a party?"

"You're not as mean as you want everyone to think you are."

"You say you're not a dog. So why do you blindly follow orders like one?"

"You don't have to do this. You don't have to be like this. You can choose your own path."

"You really are as bad as they say."

"Don't touch me. You have blood on your hands."

"I know you won't hurt me. I trust you."

"No! Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!"

"The world isn't just heroes and villains. You don't have to be one or the other. And just because you've been one doesn't mean you can't be the other."

"You don't have to listen to them. You don't have to obey."

        for a moment, katherine did not answer. her gaze lingered (too long, too intent to be considered polite) as she studied the woman in front of her. it was not curiosity in the usual sense. because no matter how many times she had encountered it before, it never truly lost its edge.

       her face. her features. reflected back at her as though the world had decided to mock her existence in the most deliberate way possible.

       katherine’s head tilted slightly, her expression composed but her eyes unmistakably scrutinizing, tracing familiar lines that should have belonged to her alone. she did not see herself as a copy. never had. whatever twisted lineage connected them, it did not diminish that this, her face, was hers. and yet here it was. again.

         ❛ i imagine you wouldn’t. ❜

the words leave her lips in a tone softer than the finest silk, but there's something ancient beneath them ;; not quite defense, not quite surrender. something that has long since grown tired of choosing between the two. silence folds around them like damp cloth, heavy & clinging. her gaze does not meet katherine's immediately, no, it drifts, falters as though eye contact itself were a burden she has yet to relearn how to carry. as a hand maiden it was forbidden. she must remember her place, but times had changed, hadn't they?

❛ your face? ❜ a slow blink. a careful inhale. the subtle rise of her shoulders betrays a body still unfamiliar with its own breath. how strange it is, to be looked at as though she is the reflection. as though she is the echo.

❛ it must feel like theft, ❜ she continues after a moment, voice laced with something quieter than apology, yet dangerously close to it. ❛ to see something you have claimed as yours… worn by another. ❜

her head tilts, not in challenge, but in fragile consideration. like a creature stepping too close to a flame just to understand the heat. there is no bitterness in her expression. no sharpness. only the same with unsettling gentleness. the kind that comes from surviving too much to waste energy on cruelty.

❛ i would not find it charming either. ❜ a pause. so devastatingly long that it caused a chill to slide deeply through her spine. her fingers curl faintly within the fabric of her pockets, grounding herself in something tangible, something present. the earth beneath her feet. the air in her lungs. the reminder that she is here and allowed to be here, even if it feels like a borrowed permissions.

there is a lapse in time between them. a lineage stretched too thin, pulled across centuries until it became something unrecognizable. what was once a single life now splintered into many ;; each piece bleeding, surviving, adapting in ways the original never asked for. and still ... they all wear the same face. - - if she could change it, she would. hell, she tried. in the forest that night, she tried to make it right, but the bennett witches would not allow it. she was to endure a full human life to reset their balance. their precious earthly balance that had torn her bloodline to shreds.

❛ i have met ....el-en-a. ❜ she pauses as the name slides off of her lips with a bit of uncertainty. that was her name, wasn't it?

for the "i don't need your help" one

you can get lost.

i thought i told you i had this under control.

you never listen to me.

i was taking care of it.

leave me alone.

are you happy now?

you just stepped in and ruined it for me.

that was completely unnecessary and you know it.

i had it under control.

you didn't need to show up.

can't you let me handle my own shit?

i would have appreciated it if you asked first.

i had it handled!

you didn't need to do all that!

what part of "i don't need help" do you not understand?

they were about to give it to me before you showed up!

i had something going and you ruined it!

what, you mean you don't trust me to handle it myself?

you trained me better than this.

you can't just show up every time and save me.

what's the point in putting me out here if you're not going to let me do it on my own?

i thought you trusted me to take care of this by myself.

you taught me this.

i'm never going to forgive you for this.

that was uncalled for.

what happens when you're not here one day and i have to take care of things on my own?

how am i ever going to learn if you keep stepping in?

i'm not you.

for the "i'm just trying to help you" one

i heard you struggling.

i was just trying to help you.

and this is the thanks i get for trying to help?

things were getting out of hand. i had to step in.

you never would have done that by yourself.

it's okay to ask for help.

it's not that i don't trust you. i don't trust [them].

a minute longer and you'd be dead in there.

i had to make sure you were okay.

of course i trust you. this was never about trust.

i'm not going to risk your life like that!

i should have been there sooner.

if i'd only reached you faster.

a simple "thank you" would suffice.

you could thank me for saving your ass back there.

sure didn't seem like you had it under control.

things were getting out of hand, and i stepped in.

i'm in charge here, not you.

i'm not going to put your life at risk like that again.

we're done here.

i'm not arguing with you.

i saved your life, and this is how you repay me?

i just wanted to make sure you were okay.

maybe i crossed a line back there, sure, but i did it for you.

it's because i care about you.

of course you're capable. that was never up for debate.

you're not ready.

next time, let me handle it.

clearly you need more time before i let you do that alone.

mixed bag of sentence starters/dialogue prompts. taken from reedsy.

“i love you.”

“do i know you?”

“do you remember?”

“this section is off limits.”

“we’re closing in ten minutes.”

“this isn’t what i signed up for.”

“this is all my fault.”

“that’s not what i meant.”

“have we met before?”

“are you real?”

“i didn’t mean that.”

“i’ve said too much.”

“i didn’t see that one coming.”

“is nobody going to say it?”

“i wish we could stay here forever.”

“it’s all fun and games.”

“i can’t say it.”

“you can’t run forever.”

“we have all the time in the world.”

“you’ve got this.”

“that shouldn’t be there.”

“i think someone’s listening.”

“i think someone’s watching.”

“we’re not alone.”

“i’m free!”

“maybe in another life.”

“rome wasn’t built in a day.”

“it’s the thought that counts.”

“i feel alive.”

“speak now.”

“so, what’s the catch?”

“it’s mine, and you can’t have it!”

“houston, we have a problem.”

“let’s go for a walk.”

“thank you for that.”

“i’ve got a plan.”

“move aside.”

“i’m here to investigate a crime.”

“you didn’t come to the funeral. why?”

“oh my god. don’t say that!”

“quick! act surprised!”

“are you absolutely sure that your plan is foolproof?”

“come here.”

“truth or dare.”

“tell me something i don’t know.”

“is that… is that blood all over you?”

“right, i’m leaving now.”

“when has listening to you EVER worked out well for me?”

“don’t do that.”

“no, you can’t have my number.”

“i’d rather you just tell me.”

“did you also hear a knock on the door?”

“you’re not looking your best today. what happened?”

“[he/she/they] did it first.”

“well, don’t just stand there! do something!”

“run! run now!”

“hey. someone’s on the phone for you.”

“you’ll never know unless you try.”

“thank you, god. thanks an awful lot.”

“this is my worst nightmare.”