#murmaidens

How long had it been? How much time had passed since Nina was told what she needed to do? Something so heinous that the full weight of it felt like it could have crushed her soul. Murder someone? The very thought made her stomach drop, an acidic sour taste in her mouth as she swallowed the growing lump in her throat. The only thing that brought her back to the reality she was facing was the person before her. The only one in the world that was able to ground Nina was Bride…The woman who had been as much a thorn in Nina’s side as she’d been a companion. But in that moment, those final fleeting seconds of true friendship…Bride’s words were the only thing Nina cared about. 

“You’re the biggest freak of us all” 

 The strong hand cupped around her shoulder as those geraldine eyes burned their likeness into her mind. In that moment, Nina felt nothing but confidence in herself. Truly believing that she had what it takes to follow through with their mission, do what had to be done for not only themselves but for the fate of the world and then come back to her team…to her friends…

But that’s not what happened.

To be frank, the moment Nina stepped foot in that water the tides changed. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, the mission wasn’t supposed to go this south. It wasn’t supposed to come down to one cheap sneak attack, but the mission is what the mission becomes. All Nina had to do was sneak up behind the princess, stab her, twist the blade into her stomach and then retreat back to land to regroup with the others. 

“The water is yours. A home field advantage!”

Bride’s words of encouragement playing in her mind over and over, with each repetition Nina felt more and more emboldened. She could do this, she had to do this…She will do this! Not just for herself but for everyone. One life to save the fate of the world, it should have been an easy trade off. But the universe works in mysterious and cruel ways…

Her target suddenly twisting in the water, Nina hesitates in her approach as Princess Ilana turns towards where the rest of her team is hidden in the brush. The peaceful scene of the secluded alcove broken by the sudden trashing of water and harrowing, animalistic cries echoing around them. Nina doesn’t know what’s going on as Illana quickly turns her attention towards the water. Breaching the surface, Nina clenches her eyes shut before she tries to stab Ilana. Blade slicing blindly in the air, gasping and opening her eyes when she feels her arms grabbed roughly before the pair slip back into the water. 

Beneath the surface time seems to move in slow motion. Every desperate kick and flail was somehow captured in a crystal clear image. It’s like Nina wasn’t even in her own body as the horrid scene played out, each movement so clearly defined, like it was a rehearsed dance that she was a mere spectator of. Princess Ilana Rostovic was precise in her actions. Hand gripping over Nina’s face, Ilana blinds her attacker as they sink lower into the water. In the panic, Nina loosens her grip on the knife as she attempts to back away. In her efforts to escape, Nina failed to notice that the knife was now in enemy hands.

The knife Bride gave her…

The first stab was shallow, only just barely breaking the fabric of Nina’s suit and skin. Like it was only a test to see how tender the flesh hidden inside was. The second was deep and forceful…and every subsequent puncture that followed laden with hate and fury.

Crying out and reeling from pain, Nina feels herself weakening by the second. Each blow spilling more and more blood into the water as Ilana continues. For a split second, Nina could clearly see Ilana’s piercing gaze.

Bright blue eyes focused and stoic as if she’s done something like this a hundred times. There’s no fear, no desperation, no panic…just a cold and calculating stare. 

This wasn’t a struggle for survival. That would have been one stab to wound your attacker so you could get to safety. This? This was a massacre. 

Though something about the intensity of Ilana’s eyes is familiar…It may just be the shock, but the blood circling around them creates a shaded red and the bright cerulean orbs glaring at Nina almost look like a pale pink…A comforting pink that reminds her of someone else’s…

‘Bride’  The last thing Nina thinks about is her…The woman she’s come to trust with her life, the one that was able to give her the courage to even dream she could be worth something to someone, the one that called her a freak and that was somehow a compliment. 

The person she's most upset about disappointing. The person she longs to see just one last time. 

Vision blurring and body slowly going limp, the last thing Nina remembers is Bride. The confident yet comforting smile, the strong hand on her shoulder, and the way her bewitching red eyes seemed to shine just a little bit brighter… 

After the failed assassination attempt on Princess Rostovic, Nina Mazursky had succumbed to her injuries and was initially pronounced dead at the scene. After said event, the de-facto leader of this merry band of misfits and murders, The Bride of Frankenstein, seemingly went rouge and took matters into her own hands, following through with the assassination and killing Princess Rostovic in her personal study a mere hours after the first attempt. Though The Bride was not acting out of pure rage nor vengeance, but instead acting on a still credible threat. It turns out that Princess Rostovic had indeed been a threat the entire time, hiring the shapeshifting villain known as Clayface to pose as Dr. MacPherson, a renowned scholar on Themyscira, who had warned Task Force Leader Amanda Waller that Circe's messages and supposed visions were to be believed. After an in depth investigation was held onsite, it was determined that all members of the task force had acted accordingly and in the best interest of the United States of America. <END OF REPORT. TO BE REDACTED AFTER APPROVAL> Retrieved units: Nina Mazursky Status: Deceased.

Closing the file without saying a word, Bride glares through the window of the Medical Center of Belle Reve. The supposed 'deceased' Nina Mazursky laying in a hospital bed, the water helm Nina uses still surrounding her head with a multitude of wires stuck to the arms and legs of the incapacitated female. There's her friend, her only friend...the one she thought had been murdered in front of her laying there in a hospital bed, one still tucked deep within the confines of the restricted levels of Belle Reve prison, but still a hospital bed.

But the most important thing isn't any of that...It's that Nina is there. The heart monitor a pair of wires is heading into clearly indicating that the poor thing is alive...Still breathing...Still with her...Even separated through bulletproof glass, a team full of doctors doing god knows what to her, and atleast two armed guards between them, it doesn't matter. It's still just the two of them in Bride's mind.

"How" The gravely serious tone of Bride's voice would've been enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone else on the receiving end but not Waller. The bomb still lodged in the base of Bride's neck acting as a pretty good trump card Waller still has tucked in her sleeve.

"I never lied to yo-"

"Bullshit!" A patched fist slamming into the glass enough to slightly rattle, Bride glares down at Waller with reckless abandon. "She was dead Waller! You said Nina died in Pokolistan! I saw her there bleeding out in that shitty little alcove of water! We all did! And I killed that little bitch wh-"

Holding up the control with her left hand, Waller stands perfectly still as her and Bride lock eyes in a heated glare. Her thumb isn't on the button, she's simply showing Bride she still, and always will, have it on her.

"Don't say anything that will incriminate you...The official report is correct. You had credible evidence that pointed towards Rostovic being a threat and acted exclusively on THAT. You didn't go rouge to avenge your fallen team member. Stick to that. " The direct and pointed tone isn't so much an attitude correction, simply a friendly and professional warning.

"Don't pretend like you're doing me any favors right now..."

"Couldn't you use a friend?"

"I have one and she strapped down to that bed in there! So you tell me how she's in there! Right now, Waller or I swear..."

Watching Bride with an unwavering gaze, Waller gives a heavy sigh as she drops her shoulders before handing Bride a clipboard had carefully tucked under her arm. All but snatching the file away, Bride somehow speed reads in depth and skims the report, in such desperate need of an answer that she can barely process what she's reading.

"I knew you two had grown...an affection for one another. And seeing how hard you took her death, I didn't want to risk you flying into another...episode...if the treatment failed." Arms behind her back, Waller nods when the lead doctor in the room gives a quick thumbs up and nod before the medical team exits the recovery room through a side door.

"What...what treatment?" Unable to make high or low of the medical jargon and charts on the paper infront of her, Bride turns her head to Waller and shifts the weight of her feet, now turned properly towards Waller.

"Despite her appearance, Mazursky was born completely human. Suffering from a slew of health issues was the least of her problem. Mazursky's lungs were primarily outside her body, her father was a well renowned surgeon and was able to transition Nina's physiology and DNA to help her survive without the need of a breathing apparatus...It had...Unintended consequences. Nina's appearance became what you know it to be now. "

"Her father turned her into...her?"

Nodding her head before continuing, Waller holds her hand back out for the clipboard that Bride absentmindedly gives back. Looking back, Bride's eyes soften as she looks over Nina's still unconscious body in the hospital bed.

"It was, what he thought, the best and only way Nina could live without intensive medical care. But now..." Flipping to the third page on the clipboard, Waller holds up the medical report so Bride can read it without needing to dig for the proper section.

"After we recovered her body, we took a chance and gave Nina a last minuet transfusion with the blood we took from an Atlantean a few months back. Nina started showing signs of improvement."

"How? What would a blood transfusion do for her if she was-was..."

"A basic Atlantean's blood would do very little but it turns out an Atlantean mage is a different story. Natural healing properties, a rampant energy boost while in water, and a seemingly baseline affinity for hydromancy... Her DNA and that of an Atlantean aren't all that different, or are at the very least compatible. Her body seems to be adjusting well. She's not out of the woods yet...but it's a start Bride."

"So...So she'll be alright?"

"We have to keep her under observation but as far as we can tell, yes...She should make a seemingly full recovery if her vitals keep improving at this pace."

Hand pressing gently against the glass, Bride watches silently as a single tear runs down her cheek while a soft smile slowly spreads across her face.

"When-When can I see her properly? I...There's...There's much I need to say."

"Soon. When she wakes up and we confirm she's stable. We need to make sure her body can handle the shock if there's any underlying biological changes that haven't surfaced yet."