Just Looking For Trouble

[Ash]

The chocolate milkshake lasted Ash for about 15 minutes. And probably only because she had been occasionally sipping at it instead of devouring it like she would have in her normal state.

Normal...

That was such a strange observation to take suddenly. What was normal about her anymore? Normal girls didn't act the way she did, a mix between tomboy, badgirl, and some sub-species of skater-punk. On top of that, normal people didn't write programs to make the task of password choosing easier. Normal girls, in her realm of reality, did have technology at their finger tips, but rarely was it injected to their head as her's was. A flash of thought opening doorways in cyber-space, a flick of her finger scrolled past information that she deemed useless, and eventually with a proper connection, she could get lost in The Matrix, where she took on new challenges and other crimes. Normal girls weren't criminals.

But even when she was just Emma Shutter, she wasn't all that normal. She had been one half of a birth, the later half, but just as important. Or she should have been. She imagines her mother had trouble keeping track of who was who for a little while there, and maybe she mistakenly got some attention meant for Isabella in the process of figuring out her own children. She imagines at a certain point her mother loved them equally, her father admired both his babies with the same smile when they were mentioned as individuals. But when they did become individuals, with their own thoughts and ideals, that's when Emma and Bella became so different that the love was divided depending on how good or bad they were.

'Normally' Emma was the bad kid. Dropping out of Ballet, picking up boxing classes, getting in fights, trouble, vanishing from time to time only to return with some new story and usually being lead by the hand by some police officer who always gave her parents the details of what had landed her in the arms of the law. But they never asked for her story.. Never once did they wonder why she was acting out so much, creating so much chaos in their dull and boring lives.. They would just yell at her, attempt to be good parents, and then chastise her for not being more like her older sister, Bella.

Bella who took up collage as soon as she graduated, and was gone far longer than she ever was, who came back with glasses instead of piercings, who stuffed her face in books instead of twisting it in disgust at the very mention of work, respect, or responsibilities. Bella, who had no idea how much she was 'responsible' for so many thing Emma did.

Ash never blamed her sister for anything. She was mad at her parents for never seeing her own accomplishments. Never acknowledging her achievements in math.. Never able to see what potential she had. Mostly because their heads were stuck up Bella's ass and how her years in school made them proud parents. They couldn't even see her in Bella's light, let alone the things she did that were worthy of praise. They simply focused on anything that was shoved in their faces by the law enforcers that kept bringing her back. Ignoring the bruises, scratches, cuts, or even the tears she may have shed..

Normal girls didn't have their life written all over their body, but then again most girls weren't covered in unnatural colored skin, had horns sprouting from her head, or a tail whipping a cheap paper cup at the ground in frustration brought on by memories of her parents. Normal people didn't get sucked into a game like universe, where that paper cup shattered into digital garbage and vanish moments after hitting the ground. Most girls, let alone people, fought a giant sea monster that would later guide them to a ship that was inherited from some Ancient old Tiefling that once ruled those very seas they had to fight in addition to the sea creature. Most normal girls weren't carrying around the spirit of some famous swashbuckler on their arm..

Ash's fury settled down quickly as she remembered the other things. How this abnormal girl, with the bluish-purple skin, the horns, the tail, the washed out eyes, had out-smarted many. Particularly a group of people who wanted nothing but to save the world, and would rather have called her crazy than really give her the time of the day. The group which suffered a fitting end. Stabbed to death by devil figures for trespassing, after brushing off the one person who might have been able to guide them through.. The satisfaction brought a grin to her face, but nothing could wipe the smile off her that happened when she remembered the night when not even the magnificent Isabella Shutter could save them.

She never actually found out what had been in that cave of wonder.. She had been so satisfied with the horror on her sister's face, and distracted with leaving them all behind to die, that she never took her chance to explore where they could not. She suspected Osa would lead her back there one day, but that day never came. Maybe she'd get to find out one day.. But at the moment, her only goal was to head to the gate that would lead her to Coruscant. At that thought, Ash looked up to see what her progress was on that goal. And it surprised her how close she was now. She could make out figures in front of it, white.. Like everything else in this space. But it would seem the two hours had passed nearly, and she would be rid of this blank space soon.