Title : Nightmare in Blue
Author : A_Taste_for_Blue
Rating : NC-17 Extremely violent, NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
Pairing : Chiana/Zhaan, Zhaan/Other
SUMMARY : A device shows past events. The experience leaves Chiana wishing she hadn't tried it.
Spoilers : Set sometimes after "The Way We Weren't".
Author's Notes : I've never done any fan-fiction in my life, but this whole story was a dream I had three nights prior to writing it.
Prologue - Evening
Rygel floats through the cargo bay and stops one metron short of a table upon which lays a strange device. It's a metal box containing what looks like a crystal ball, with buttons and lights all around. There's a helmet attached to it, at the end of a long yellowish coil. Chiana is lying down on a reclining chair, near the device, the helmet on her head.
- You were supposed to wait for me, growls Rygel under his breath.
Chiana opens her eyes and takes the helmet off.
- You didn't miss much, Ryg, she says, putting the helmet on the table, and then switching the device off.
- What was it about? asks Rygel, hovering close but not too close.
- Some frelling cell, says Chiana, avoiding his curious gaze. Where did you take the metallic piece, anyway?
- Lying around in the maintenance bay, says Rygel, putting his throne sled in reverse to keep his distance from the Nebari. The merchant said it could be anything, as long as it's not valuable, because you loose it.
- I know what he said! cries out Chiana, her eyes glistening. What was it you took?
- Scrap metal, says the little Dominar as he hovers away.
Chiana had made a move to grab his throne sled but she wasn't fast enough. Her hands close on thin air.
- Frell, she mutters, then sniffles before she can regains her composure and exit the room.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Chapter 1 - Night
Moya has lowered the lights. This is nighttime, and everyone should be asleep. They all are, except for Chiana who wakes up in a sweat. She gasps, sits up and tries very hard not to burst into tears.
- It was too real, she whispers to herself. It was frelling too real. It had to be true.
She gets up and fumbles with her clothes for half an arn before deciding upon getting dressed. As she opens her door, she's not yet convinced she should go, but the remnants of her dream, plus what happened under the helmet won't give her a moment's rest. She has to know, and there's only one person who can help her right now. So, with determination and long strides, she ends up in front of Zhaan's room.
Chiana gasps. For a microt, she saw that room exactly as it was before, when it was a bare cell. The illusion didn't last, but it only convinced her she had to set her mind to rest before loosing her sanity.
There's one little light in the room, a votive candle lighted on the table, near the bell and the other unrecognisable things of Zhaan's religious devotion. Did she forget to blow it out, or is she meditating? Zhaan has her back to the door. Even in this feeble light, it's obvious she's naked, sitting at the edge of the bed, over some pale blue fabric.
- Can I talk to you? asks Chiana faintly.
She's thinking : "If Zhaan is really deep in her trance, she won't hear me, so I'll go away and no one will be the wisest."
- You can come in, Chiana, says Zhaan, draping herself in her blue shift as she gets up, doing both at the same time in one swift gracious movement.
When she turns to greet Chiana, she's totally covered, and smiling. But seeing the Nebari's distraught look, her smile fades quickly. Chiana opens the door and takes a step inside.
- The crystal... I tried it, she says, contrite. I know you asked us to wait until you had examined it, but... I was curious. Now, I can't get those pictures out of my head. Every time I close my eyes, I see it, like it was going on, right there, in front of me.
She talked fast, but by the end, Zhaan has put her arm around her quivering shoulders. Chiana looks up, tears streaming down her grey cheeks.
- Is it true, what we see in that thing? she asks between two gasps for breath.
- I don't know, answers Zhaan, pushing her gently to the bed until the young one can sit down. What did you see? Can you tell me?
Chiana stares deeply into Zhaan's blue eyes, trying to clear her mind of the images long enough to be intelligible. She's thinking: "It's so hard, having her right in front of me, smiling, comforting, when all I can see is her battered body lying on that same bed!"
- It was a part of your past I saw, blurters out Chiana, taking a deep breath to keep from sobbing uncontrollably. I saw you... here... before you were free.
- I see, says Zhaan with so much sadness in her voice, Chiana has to look away for an instant to keep tears at bay.
Between tears, and hiccups, and gasps for breath, Chiana relates what she has witnessed under that helmet.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Chapter 2 - A few arns... and cycles ago
Chiana stands less than a dench from the wall, but she is invisible to those in the room. There are three peacekeepers around the bed, which blocked her view, but she can't move. So she waits, listening to their ramblings. One is telling the others that nothing could be gained unless force is applied. Then, he takes his electric stick from the waist holder and the two others do the same.
- This behaviour is strictly prohibited, the leader says in an authoritative voice.
The discharge from the stick is clearly audible for a single microt, before a cry of pain blots it out. The three peacekeepers fire one after the other. Chiana tries to turn away, to get out of the room, but the crystal won't release her. She hears the first cries of pain turning into one single howl of pure agony as the jailers fire simultaneously.
Then, complete silence. The leader looks down on his work and laughs. Chiana recoils as a subtle scent of burnt leaves comes her way. "Where does that come from?" she wonders, suddently distracted by it.
- Too easy, the peacekeepers leader says. She's bluffing.
He shakes his head and the two others put on heavy gloves Chiana hadn't seen before.
- Get her up, says the leader. We have to make an... imprint... on her mind... and body.
The taller one bends down, but the other one hasn't move.
- She'll die, whispers the shorter one.
- Shut up Dreinac, or you'll end up in her place, growls the leader.
- YES SIR, answers the young officer, bending down to grab the victim. Getting her up, SIR.
Chiana cries out NO! as she sees Zhaan being pulled to an upward position between those two goons. There are darker markings on the Delvian's bare shoulders. When she's standing up, the thin golden blanket falls to the ground, revealing her nudity. There are more dark spots on her breasts and belly, down to her thighs. Chiana can't see beyond that, but she's sure the Delvian whole body has been burnt.
Dreinac looks a bit embarrassed and makes the slightest move to bend down to retrieve the fabric, but the charged stick sizzles in his face and he straightens up.
- There is nothing I hate more than finding a self-pleasing tralk on my night shift, says the leader. Open wide. I'll give you something that will keep you warm for a long time.
- NO, gasps Zhaan as she looks at the fizzing stick.
- Open her legs, whispers the leader. This will be a lasting memory.
Zhaan summons what strength she has left to try to break free from the gloved hands. At the same time, she tries to kick the holder of the stick, but he steps back, barely in time.
- Bitch, he mutters under his breath. I swear that I'll make sure you'll NEVER feel anything down there.
The peacekeepers put their boots on Zhaan's feet to prevent her from kicking some more, and as she still fights to free herself, the leader of the jailers gestures his accomplices to pull her feet apart. Zhaan whimpers as the weight from the boots crushes her toes, trying hard not to show as much pain as she feels.
The leader blocks Chiana's view as he bends down, fizzing stick in hand, but she has closed her eyes. However, even if she tries to block the sound with both hands on her ears, she can't block the awful howl of agony that rips through her mind and soul. It seems to go on forever, echoing deeply, until she can't hear anything else but that horrendous agony piercing her brain.
When she dares to open her eyes again, the peacekeepers are gone. Zhaan is on her bed, lying still, eyes half-closed. Has she woken up before Chiana noticed? Or was she conscious the whole time? Chiana shudders at that thought.
Zhaan might be awake, but she's too weak to move. The blanket has been thrown over her nudity, covering only part of her battered body. Her legs are exposed, in all shades of blues, darker ones when the skin was bruised, paler where blood vessels have been destroyed. At the edge of the golden fabric, where it falls down from the bed, a single drop of white blood drips down to the floor.
At this moment, Chiana is released from the crystal.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Chapter 3 - Back to Present - Night
Zhaan sighs at that vivid recollection. She remembers it now. So many cycles of meditation and chants to block it from her mind hasn't erased it. She still feels it in her every fiber, how painful, how degrading it was.
- It did happen, sighs Chiana. I was afraid so. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you, pulling back all those awful events back from the past.
- We always remember, says Zhaan in her sweet, musical voice. We chose to ignore it when it isn't necessary. But when the need comes, it's there, in every detail.
- I can't live with those images, says Chiana, as Zhaan pats her hand in comfort.
- I can give you something which prevent dreams, says the Delvian, staring at her with a quizzical look on her face. But, you want more, don't you?
Chiana looks back at her, feeling her heart sinking.
- I was hoping you would find a way to erase those images from my memory.
- I'm sorry. I can't do that. With time and patience, they will fade away on their own.
- There's one thing that troubles me, more than those images, says Chiana, getting up.
She kneels down in front of Zhaan, and takes her ringed hands in hers.
- What that man said, she starts, not sure how to voice her concern. When he told you wouldn't feel anything ever again... did it...?
Zhaan frees her hands to caress Chiana's wet cheek.
- He had no idea how quickly, and thoroughly, Delvian heals, says Zhaan, reassuring.
- Yes, you're saying that, says Chiana, a faint ironic smile on her lips. How can I believe you? I mean, don't take me wrong, but you never had anyone since that time. You pray, you sing, you meditate, but when are you having fun? No... not the light. I'm sure it doesn't trigger the same response. I mean... sex?
Zhaan laughs, a soft musical sound that, strangely, makes Chiana all soft and warm inside.
- Yes, child, says Zhaan. I can have sex, and it would be as good as it was before. There was NO lasting effect from that night.
- Prove it, says Chiana, defiantly. I won't be convinced otherwise.
- You mean? says Zhaan, slowly blinking to realise what has been asked of her.
Chiana nods. Her black eyes are bright with anticipation. If she had been asked, when she went out of her room, that she would be asking Zhaan for sex tonight, she would have been insulted. It was the farthest thing on her mind at that moment. But now, with that magnificent perfect azure body so close to hers, intimacy never looked so appealing... so necessary.
- Please, she begs with one of her most seducing smiles, one she had practiced with for ages. I won't tell anyone. No commitment. Only this once... for me... to put my mind at rest once and for all.
- I don't know, says Zhaan, taken aback but still pleased, even flattered by the offer. Are you sure it's not part of the shock, something you'll regret afterwards?
- Me... and YOU, she says in a breath. I'll cherish it all my life, Zhaan.
- No one has ever asked me that way before, whispers Zhaan, incredulous.
There's an awkward silence as Zhaan ponders the offer. For Chiana, the wait is excruciating.
- I don't want to spend the night alone, Zhaan, please.
Zhaan slowly nods.
- I understand, she says, getting up.
She goes to the table, says a few words in her native tongue before the altar, then snuffs out the candle. In the soft, warm light of Moya nighttime, she comes back to the bed. Her night shift falls down from her shoulders, slowly, as though an unseen hand was revealing her gracious nudity one henta at the time.
FARSCAPE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of The Jim Henson Company,
Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Network (Australia) and the Sci-Fi Channel
THAT IS, except for the characters and races I've added.
A Taste for Blue is a fan run site, done strictly for fun and is in no way affiliated with any of the above.
I don't get paid for it and none of the advertisement on this site comes from me, but from the free webspace provider. I don't have any say in this.
COPYRIGHT
FARSCAPE et tous ses personnages et éléments sont la propriété de la Jim Henson Company, Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Network (Australie) et le Sci-Fi Channel, sauf les personnages et races que j'ai ajouté.
A Taste for Blue est un site personnel, conçu et entretenu pour le plaisir. Je n'en retire aucun avantage pécunier et je n'ai aucune affiliation avec les membres de la distribution de cette série.
Les pubs viennent de l'éhébergeur; je n'en ai pas le contrôle.
Updated: November 2006
Creation of this section : November 3, 2003
Mise à jour: novembre 2006
Création de cette section : 3 novembre 2003
