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Kallie Reznik- Posts : 4
Join date : 2020-11-17
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: RAGNAROK
Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:54 am
the butterfly effect: ragnarok
“But if you write a version of Ragnarok in the twenty-first century, it is haunted by the imagining of a different end of things. We are a species of animal which bringing about the end of the world we were born into. Not out of evil or malice, or not mainly, but because of a lopside mixture of extraordinary cleverness, extraordinary gree, extraordinary proliferation of our own kind, and biologically built-in short-sightedness”
byatt
“But if you write a version of Ragnarok in the twenty-first century, it is haunted by the imagining of a different end of things. We are a species of animal which bringing about the end of the world we were born into. Not out of evil or malice, or not mainly, but because of a lopside mixture of extraordinary cleverness, extraordinary gree, extraordinary proliferation of our own kind, and biologically built-in short-sightedness”
byatt
Kallie Reznik. It was a name synonymous with nothing. No glory. No gold. No gods and goddesses. Nothing. No one. It did not strike fear into the hearts of men and women across the entirety of the wrestling world -- how could a name like Kallie even touch on something fearsome? Kallie meant “fairest”, or “most beautiful”, which didn’t really go in line with what the wrestling world looked for these days. Usually, such a name would be used by a person desiring something sugary sweet, or thotty-thot-thot-thot up in the hizzy. But not a wrestler.
Not many knew who Kallie was, but those who did didn’t think of her as much. Not Kallie, the girl who lost more than she won. Not Kallie, the rookie out of Colorado who couldn’t quite get ahead in the line. Her first match ever was pretty much a shut out by a man 10 years her senior in the field. Her second? An almost win in a championship deathmatch. Very different worlds. Very different times. She never expected to be the most amazing thing to walk out of the world with her head held high like she had something shoved up her ass to make it that way. She learned. She grew. She became. And thus, she slowly, but surely, became a name.
Bravery met its fate with her, and slowly, she became more confident. Pushed herself, and went out in front of the world to put down the name of a multi-time women’s champ. A world champion. Fearless. Ferocious. And then, it culminated. She beat the lead bitch of the company.
Then the company closed, as it seemed all the good ones did down the line. She was the contender for the women’s championship and then all of a sudden, it was no more.
So much for longevity.
But it was fine, because unlike many, Kallie had a penchant for being rather gifted in the area of positivity. It was a rare occurrence for Kallie to get extremely upset over something in this world. She frowned, but then she got back up again. She joined another company -- OATH Pro Wrestling, and since, she’s learned. She’s not the greatest, she doesn’t always win, but she does keep her head up and her eyes focused. With her friend, she decided that it was best to walk with a friend, and so, the tag scene was where she focused. For that time.
But Kallie wanted more. She wanted more for herself. She did not begrudge Alex, because she knew both of them were fighting for it together. They fell, it was on both of them. They rose? The same. But she still wanted more, a path for the future that she could hold in her very palm, one that she dictated. One that she did not feel the need to try and bury in shame and degradation because she couldn’t do it on her own. She would do this on her own, and she would succeed. She would make her gym, her family, and everyone that supported her proud.
She wouldn’t be a stain. She wouldn’t be her namesake.
She wouldn’t be a fool for choosing this life.
No matter what.
WOLFSLAIR TRAINING FACILITY, MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NOVEMBER 26TH, 2020
Kallie pressed her feet into the ground as she leaned forward, her eyes focused on the television with a curious expression crossing her plaintive face. She turned her feet inward, the back of her heel lifting softly as it bounced up and down, a product of her Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. As a kid, she was never able to keep still and it took years upon years for her to figure out how to find some coping mechanism to save her wandering mind. Her black chucks barely made sound upon the rug. She rested her chin between her hands, her palms touching and her elbows planted into her knees. Her blue eyes, full of joy, were rapt with interest as she followed the coloured lights as they moved within the screen.
“I think you missed one.” She murmured, her light voice nearly elfin like as she spoke quietly to the person sitting next to her on the couch in the lounge room of the gym. She’d spent the first half of Thanksgiving calling her blood relatives and making sure they were safe. The second half, however, was within Wolfslair. She was renting some little room for what seemed like an astronomical amount for six hundred square feet that didn’t even have a proper one-bedroom set up and was probably run by the mafia, but she didn’t want to stay home on her own. And she found, upon her arrival, that she wasn’t the only one.
“Ja, the shitty one on the riser near the monastery.” With her feet propped up on the table, Johanna Kreiger lifted an eyebrow as she sifted through an unnamed wrestling gear supply magazine.
“I saw it.” Aiden cut himself off as he grit his teeth. The figure on the television, a rather blonde and gruff looking man swung a greatsword in a wide arc and promptly cut off the attackers head in exquisitely gory detail. Blood went everywhere and the head flew off screen. “Ha! Little bitch.”
The Non-Americans of Wolfslair seemed to think the same thing. On a holiday in which the Americans celebrated what they were grateful for, they found themselves congregating together without even planning to meet with one another. Sure, they’d been invited for various food sources, but neither of them seemed to want to go. Instead, they found camaraderie in their refusal to celebrate American traditions. Johanna Kreiger, the German and Aiden Reynolds, the Australian, were not interested in turkey and mashed potatoes.
Kallie didn’t want to be alone. And this was preferable.
“I haven’t gotten Valhalla yet,” Kallie said, turning her head to look at the slightly older Australian, her jaw still held by her hands. “It’s really pretty on the five, but I doubt it would render that well on the four.”
“There’s quite a bit of changes in the graphics between the systems. But,” Aiden shrugged his shoulders and cricked his neck as the game’s character blew his raiding horn, “it’s still playable either way. Lots of bugs.”
“Well, I mean, yeah...with the fact that their team was kinda cut down, you know.”
“True.” Aiden agreed, setting his eyes on the blonde-haired young woman. Kallie looked back to the television, hardly noticing that the Australian hadn’t quite looked away just yet. But Johanna did, and quite suddenly, the magazine she held met the back of his head. “Oi!”
Johanna initially said nothing, but her furious stare said everything. She grit her teeth as he whipped his head behind him to look at the German woman. “Denk nicht mal darüber nach, Dummkopf.” She snarled, her voice quite alarmingly low and annoying.
Aiden raised a hand with a well-placed middle finger in her direction. “Calm down, Sissy Sour-kraut.”
If Kallie had noticed the small altercation, perhaps she would have inquired as to why it even arose. But she didn’t, and truly, neither of the other two brought attention to it. She wasn’t always the astute person in the room, and often times, a bit oblivious to the world around her. Especially if her head was in a book, or if she was focused on something else. It definitely didn’t help her, but it also didn’t hinder her always. When her mind was so in depthly attuned to one specific thing, she could see everything. The reasoning for it. Why it existed. What it meant for her and what she needed to do in the future.
She leaned a bit further forward, and then wrinkled her nose and tilted her head further. Her ponytail bobbed as she did so, and she tapped her finger against her jawline. “So, is it pretty true to fact then?” She asked Aiden, finally lowering her hands and shoving her hoodie sleeves over her fingers. “Like the story?”
“Somewhat,” Aiden replied, his eyes narrowed at Johanna before he returned to the game. Eivor, the character, moved across the screen and jumped into a long boat. “I mean, all the Assassin’s Creed games are off in some way, but it’s at least entertaining. Unlike Johanna.”
Kallie giggled, but looked at her best friend and smiled. “I think out of all of us, Mojo Jojo is the only one that can really say she’s entertaining right now. She does have a championship currently.”
“I could, but my partner and I decided to bounce and move onto greener pastures.”
“You lost it to a sixteen year old.”
“You lost your virginity to a sheep and some shitty dark ale, so I don’t really want to hear about it.”
Kallie giggled, smacking the Australian national lightly across his abdomen. “Be nice to Jo.” She chided, smiling as she looked back at her best friend. Johanna was somewhat like an older sister for the only child, and often enough, she would rise to defend the young recruit.
Dramatically, Aiden rolled his eyes and sighed rather ostentatiously. “Fine.”
“Besides,” she quipped, her cerulean eyes darting back to look Johanna in the face while still trying to keep a gauge on Aiden. She bit her lip, and she blinked furiously as Johanna’s eyebrow raised in suspicion. “I kind of joined the Project: Honor roster and I need all of the supp--”
“YOU DID WHAT?!” Johanna yelled at the top of her lungs.
“I think you missed one.” She murmured, her light voice nearly elfin like as she spoke quietly to the person sitting next to her on the couch in the lounge room of the gym. She’d spent the first half of Thanksgiving calling her blood relatives and making sure they were safe. The second half, however, was within Wolfslair. She was renting some little room for what seemed like an astronomical amount for six hundred square feet that didn’t even have a proper one-bedroom set up and was probably run by the mafia, but she didn’t want to stay home on her own. And she found, upon her arrival, that she wasn’t the only one.
“Ja, the shitty one on the riser near the monastery.” With her feet propped up on the table, Johanna Kreiger lifted an eyebrow as she sifted through an unnamed wrestling gear supply magazine.
“I saw it.” Aiden cut himself off as he grit his teeth. The figure on the television, a rather blonde and gruff looking man swung a greatsword in a wide arc and promptly cut off the attackers head in exquisitely gory detail. Blood went everywhere and the head flew off screen. “Ha! Little bitch.”
The Non-Americans of Wolfslair seemed to think the same thing. On a holiday in which the Americans celebrated what they were grateful for, they found themselves congregating together without even planning to meet with one another. Sure, they’d been invited for various food sources, but neither of them seemed to want to go. Instead, they found camaraderie in their refusal to celebrate American traditions. Johanna Kreiger, the German and Aiden Reynolds, the Australian, were not interested in turkey and mashed potatoes.
Kallie didn’t want to be alone. And this was preferable.
“I haven’t gotten Valhalla yet,” Kallie said, turning her head to look at the slightly older Australian, her jaw still held by her hands. “It’s really pretty on the five, but I doubt it would render that well on the four.”
“There’s quite a bit of changes in the graphics between the systems. But,” Aiden shrugged his shoulders and cricked his neck as the game’s character blew his raiding horn, “it’s still playable either way. Lots of bugs.”
“Well, I mean, yeah...with the fact that their team was kinda cut down, you know.”
“True.” Aiden agreed, setting his eyes on the blonde-haired young woman. Kallie looked back to the television, hardly noticing that the Australian hadn’t quite looked away just yet. But Johanna did, and quite suddenly, the magazine she held met the back of his head. “Oi!”
Johanna initially said nothing, but her furious stare said everything. She grit her teeth as he whipped his head behind him to look at the German woman. “Denk nicht mal darüber nach, Dummkopf.” She snarled, her voice quite alarmingly low and annoying.
Aiden raised a hand with a well-placed middle finger in her direction. “Calm down, Sissy Sour-kraut.”
If Kallie had noticed the small altercation, perhaps she would have inquired as to why it even arose. But she didn’t, and truly, neither of the other two brought attention to it. She wasn’t always the astute person in the room, and often times, a bit oblivious to the world around her. Especially if her head was in a book, or if she was focused on something else. It definitely didn’t help her, but it also didn’t hinder her always. When her mind was so in depthly attuned to one specific thing, she could see everything. The reasoning for it. Why it existed. What it meant for her and what she needed to do in the future.
She leaned a bit further forward, and then wrinkled her nose and tilted her head further. Her ponytail bobbed as she did so, and she tapped her finger against her jawline. “So, is it pretty true to fact then?” She asked Aiden, finally lowering her hands and shoving her hoodie sleeves over her fingers. “Like the story?”
“Somewhat,” Aiden replied, his eyes narrowed at Johanna before he returned to the game. Eivor, the character, moved across the screen and jumped into a long boat. “I mean, all the Assassin’s Creed games are off in some way, but it’s at least entertaining. Unlike Johanna.”
Kallie giggled, but looked at her best friend and smiled. “I think out of all of us, Mojo Jojo is the only one that can really say she’s entertaining right now. She does have a championship currently.”
“I could, but my partner and I decided to bounce and move onto greener pastures.”
“You lost it to a sixteen year old.”
“You lost your virginity to a sheep and some shitty dark ale, so I don’t really want to hear about it.”
Kallie giggled, smacking the Australian national lightly across his abdomen. “Be nice to Jo.” She chided, smiling as she looked back at her best friend. Johanna was somewhat like an older sister for the only child, and often enough, she would rise to defend the young recruit.
Dramatically, Aiden rolled his eyes and sighed rather ostentatiously. “Fine.”
“Besides,” she quipped, her cerulean eyes darting back to look Johanna in the face while still trying to keep a gauge on Aiden. She bit her lip, and she blinked furiously as Johanna’s eyebrow raised in suspicion. “I kind of joined the Project: Honor roster and I need all of the supp--”
“YOU DID WHAT?!” Johanna yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Something, something...the dragonborn comes.”
With her hands entwined behind her back, Kallie Reznik took a step forward from the ropes of the training ring, her wrestling boot planted neatly and quietly on the floor. Like a fox, her footsteps were light, almost unheard, upon the canvas as she took another step forward, leaping forward lightly with a smile before shuffling back a little bit. Her feet danced upon the dirtied canvas, shasaying and gliding across the surface to the rhythm of a song stuck in her head.
“Oh wait.”
She paused, and she opened her eyes, blinking through a confused expression. Setting the tip of her boot against the floor, she tapped it and then lifted her hand to the back of her head, grinning apologetically. She giggled, the sound like a bell ringing for supper.
“Whoops. Kind of forgot which one of those was fiction and reality. Kind like I guess you did, Daggy-dag.”
Kallie’s smile as she shrugs her shoulders isn’t quite apologetic, but it is still sweeter than most. “Dagvald. Reminds me of Dagbert in The Angry Beavers. You know, the one that the elevator didn’t quite reach the top floor with? The buckteeth and the complete lack of societal knowledge. Always trying to one up his brother because he was what, the cool one? I dunno. Loved the show though. I thought it was amusing when I was a kid, and now I’m all grown up and appreciative of it, but I still realize that it’s fake because it’s like...a cartoon. A story. A narrative written to entertain and amuse, but at the end of the day, something you turn off on the television because you know it’s not really truth.
Fantasy. Fiction. False. All of them are kind of the same, but the difference is in how much truth and relevance is put into them. Fantasy, like folklore and mythology, was written to tell the world of the wrongs that were perpetrated by the hands of man. Why you shouldn’t trust some with traits such as trickery and deceit as their choice of path, but why you should venerate the brave and the righteous who chose to do the right thing. If you look anywhere along the lines of ancient mythology, you see that. Every time.”
She paused again, and then she held up a singular finger.
“Every story has a beginning. Every story has an ending. But the one thing you cannot do is repeat it over and over again in the hopes that restarting will be better than the first. Rewriting yourself into something else is for the weak-willed, pandering and building in the hope that their missteps and their mistakes won’t be remembered when they become gods among the walking. Your first steps are what makes you, your next steps are what builds you, and your last steps are why you are remembered forever.”
Kallie walked forwards and then leaned against the ropes, hanging her arms over them. Her bright neon pink hoodie, cut off at the top of her abdomen, hung loosely on her torso and a bright yellow tank top underneath seemed to have a Pikachu’s face across it. She let her platinum hair hang over her face as she looked at the ground.
“I suppose I should introduce myself. I mean, for a second, you saw me out there last Proving Ground with the rest of the roster who thought that the one dude who seems to be a massive problem who doesn’t think anyone else is good despite being beaten multiple times needed a reality check. There’s honestly making an impact and then making a stupid decision that has nothing to do with your wrestling prowess but with your failed as a fuck personality, but that’s neither here nor there for me to judge. My name is Kallie Reznik, and this is my first step into the world of Project: Honor. Debuts are difficult, and I’ve not done my fair share of them, but...I guess I could tell you a lot about me or a little about me and leave you guessing for the rest of the time.”
She winked, and then tilted her head to the side.
“I find it kind of funny that my first match here ends me up with an open challenge against one of the other roster members. Dagvald Riddik, He Who Walks Two Worlds...it’s a walk into mythology further than the eye can see. Now, I grew up with mythology in my mind. I blame my father for that -- he always wanted to be an archeologist, but settled for a professor when my mom became an officer in the Air Force. He would tell me stories, Classical Greek Myths to be exact, about the Goddesses turning women into spiders, and women flying away from their fortresses to no longer be captive. My father sat there and said to me, ‘Kallie, you’re going to be great one day. No matter what happens, you’ll be put into the sky one day like your namesake.’
You see, my name isn’t just some basic bitch name. I grew up in a pretty affluent family, but my dad saw something in me that was interesting, that was different. Or so we say, jokingly, as we snicker into our lattes on Facetime and talk about the latest craze about the Ancient World. They keep finding new graves in the dirt in Egypt, didn’t you know?”
She chuckled, shrugging her shoulders and smiling still. Not much seemed to pass her in the way of writhing under her skin.
“You see, my name is a shortened version of Kallisto. If you know the stories, Kallisto was either a nymph or the daughter of a king who was pursued by Zeus because he was a twit and who raped her. She lost her virginity, and in order to not be killed by the deity she followed, she was cast into the stars as Ursa Major, the bear. If you watched Xena: The Warrior Princess, she was Ares’ little bitch amazon thingy. Either or, there was power within the story of the bear herself.
I wonder if, sometimes, people think their stories are more relevant than someone’s because they’ve lost their damned mind and can’t see the world around them clearly. I know that in this business, we build ourselves as these infallible creatures. We have to. In order to argue that we’re better than everyone else, we have to make it look like no one can meet us. We have to be this person...I dunno, I guess I just find it really difficult to be something that I’m not. I can’t go out there and gruff myself up and do bodybuilding poses and tell everyone that I’m not going to fear death. That I’m the embodiment of fear or...I dunno. Something dumb like that.”
She waits for one more second, before tilting her head to the opposite side. “But that’s what you do, isn’t it, Daggy?”
With her hands entwined behind her back, Kallie Reznik took a step forward from the ropes of the training ring, her wrestling boot planted neatly and quietly on the floor. Like a fox, her footsteps were light, almost unheard, upon the canvas as she took another step forward, leaping forward lightly with a smile before shuffling back a little bit. Her feet danced upon the dirtied canvas, shasaying and gliding across the surface to the rhythm of a song stuck in her head.
“Oh wait.”
She paused, and she opened her eyes, blinking through a confused expression. Setting the tip of her boot against the floor, she tapped it and then lifted her hand to the back of her head, grinning apologetically. She giggled, the sound like a bell ringing for supper.
“Whoops. Kind of forgot which one of those was fiction and reality. Kind like I guess you did, Daggy-dag.”
Kallie’s smile as she shrugs her shoulders isn’t quite apologetic, but it is still sweeter than most. “Dagvald. Reminds me of Dagbert in The Angry Beavers. You know, the one that the elevator didn’t quite reach the top floor with? The buckteeth and the complete lack of societal knowledge. Always trying to one up his brother because he was what, the cool one? I dunno. Loved the show though. I thought it was amusing when I was a kid, and now I’m all grown up and appreciative of it, but I still realize that it’s fake because it’s like...a cartoon. A story. A narrative written to entertain and amuse, but at the end of the day, something you turn off on the television because you know it’s not really truth.
Fantasy. Fiction. False. All of them are kind of the same, but the difference is in how much truth and relevance is put into them. Fantasy, like folklore and mythology, was written to tell the world of the wrongs that were perpetrated by the hands of man. Why you shouldn’t trust some with traits such as trickery and deceit as their choice of path, but why you should venerate the brave and the righteous who chose to do the right thing. If you look anywhere along the lines of ancient mythology, you see that. Every time.”
She paused again, and then she held up a singular finger.
“Every story has a beginning. Every story has an ending. But the one thing you cannot do is repeat it over and over again in the hopes that restarting will be better than the first. Rewriting yourself into something else is for the weak-willed, pandering and building in the hope that their missteps and their mistakes won’t be remembered when they become gods among the walking. Your first steps are what makes you, your next steps are what builds you, and your last steps are why you are remembered forever.”
Kallie walked forwards and then leaned against the ropes, hanging her arms over them. Her bright neon pink hoodie, cut off at the top of her abdomen, hung loosely on her torso and a bright yellow tank top underneath seemed to have a Pikachu’s face across it. She let her platinum hair hang over her face as she looked at the ground.
“I suppose I should introduce myself. I mean, for a second, you saw me out there last Proving Ground with the rest of the roster who thought that the one dude who seems to be a massive problem who doesn’t think anyone else is good despite being beaten multiple times needed a reality check. There’s honestly making an impact and then making a stupid decision that has nothing to do with your wrestling prowess but with your failed as a fuck personality, but that’s neither here nor there for me to judge. My name is Kallie Reznik, and this is my first step into the world of Project: Honor. Debuts are difficult, and I’ve not done my fair share of them, but...I guess I could tell you a lot about me or a little about me and leave you guessing for the rest of the time.”
She winked, and then tilted her head to the side.
“I find it kind of funny that my first match here ends me up with an open challenge against one of the other roster members. Dagvald Riddik, He Who Walks Two Worlds...it’s a walk into mythology further than the eye can see. Now, I grew up with mythology in my mind. I blame my father for that -- he always wanted to be an archeologist, but settled for a professor when my mom became an officer in the Air Force. He would tell me stories, Classical Greek Myths to be exact, about the Goddesses turning women into spiders, and women flying away from their fortresses to no longer be captive. My father sat there and said to me, ‘Kallie, you’re going to be great one day. No matter what happens, you’ll be put into the sky one day like your namesake.’
You see, my name isn’t just some basic bitch name. I grew up in a pretty affluent family, but my dad saw something in me that was interesting, that was different. Or so we say, jokingly, as we snicker into our lattes on Facetime and talk about the latest craze about the Ancient World. They keep finding new graves in the dirt in Egypt, didn’t you know?”
She chuckled, shrugging her shoulders and smiling still. Not much seemed to pass her in the way of writhing under her skin.
“You see, my name is a shortened version of Kallisto. If you know the stories, Kallisto was either a nymph or the daughter of a king who was pursued by Zeus because he was a twit and who raped her. She lost her virginity, and in order to not be killed by the deity she followed, she was cast into the stars as Ursa Major, the bear. If you watched Xena: The Warrior Princess, she was Ares’ little bitch amazon thingy. Either or, there was power within the story of the bear herself.
I wonder if, sometimes, people think their stories are more relevant than someone’s because they’ve lost their damned mind and can’t see the world around them clearly. I know that in this business, we build ourselves as these infallible creatures. We have to. In order to argue that we’re better than everyone else, we have to make it look like no one can meet us. We have to be this person...I dunno, I guess I just find it really difficult to be something that I’m not. I can’t go out there and gruff myself up and do bodybuilding poses and tell everyone that I’m not going to fear death. That I’m the embodiment of fear or...I dunno. Something dumb like that.”
She waits for one more second, before tilting her head to the opposite side. “But that’s what you do, isn’t it, Daggy?”
Johanna grabbed Kallie tightly by the arm, dragging her out of the room with a stomp in her step and fire in her eyes. The German woman turned to face her as they stood in the hallway, crossing her rather bulky arms and narrowing her eyes at the young Coloradan.
Her eyes wide, Kallie stared at her friend in confusion. Johanna didn’t appear to be just concerned, she also looked angry. It wasn’t often that Johanna didn’t appear to have some form of displeasure on her expression, but she was absolutely never with an expression of concern for Kallie. Kallie did things that annoyed her, but she put up with them. The Mickey Mouse ears when going to Disney, the smiles on her face all the time, the constant need to call her Jojo. But to see her legitimately concerned…
“Did you quit OATH?” She asked.
“No. Alex and I are pushing really hard there. I’ve even got a match against one of the Daughters of Darkness and I swear to god, I’m going to kick that stupid Kevin twat in the ass.” Kallie shook her head.
“Oh.” Johanna nodded for a second, before she placed her hands on Kallie’s shoulders. “You know, you could have come to Vegas instead.”
“Yeah, but I…I didn’t think I was ready for something like that. There’s so many people there I feel like I would get lost in the crowd. And besides, I know someone at Project: Honor, and it’s a lot smaller.”
The German champion’s nose wrinkled upwards and she shook her head slowly. “Kallie, mein kleiner freund, you don’t really know anyone in Project: Honor. Not really.”
Kallie’s eyebrow raised upwards and she tilted her head in further confusion. “Aiden’s there. He is part of Wolflair, Jojo. I mean, I know he’s not you, but he is a friend. And we get along really well! I mean, through him, I can meet the main champion. Maybe I can get some tips from him about being like...cool? And stuff? Dickie seems nice, cept it’s like he kind of has a chip on his shoulder…what?”
“Aiden isn’t your friend, Kallie. Aiden is a dummkopf with some ulterior motive and I’m not about to see him do something stupid when it comes to you.”
Kallie snorted, shaking her head again. “Aiden is a friend. That’s all. We talk about video games and stuff. Like. A lot.”
“You can’t trust him as an ally at that place. You can’t. His loyalty is to Dickie, and if Dickie goes south, it’ll be seconds before he does. I’ve seen him go from place to place and I just…” Johanna looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “Did you follow him there? Did he convince you somehow?”
“No, I didn’t.” Aiden replied for the younger woman, leaning on the doorframe and appearing slightly irritated. “I didn’t even know she was on the roster until just now. I mean, I know she’d said something about it, but I didn’t know about it.”
Kallie looked at Aiden then, turning her head and looking at the wall a second later, exhaling slowly through her nose. It wasn’t noticed by Johanna, but it was almost as if she was semi hoping he’d at least seen her there before. Johanna’s nose flared, but before she could say another word, Aiden’s charming and apparently winning grin crossed his face and he reached out, pressing a hand to Kallie’s shoulder.
“But this is great, yeah? Wolfslair representation in two ways, and maybe Kallie can like, make her way up the chain to be a champion herself. We can kick some people in the teeth. I’ve got her back, she’s got mine, yeah?” He grinned, flashing those pearly whites at her.
Kallie’s lashes fluttered quickly and she smiled in response. However, Johanna reached up with her hand and flicked Aiden’s hand off her shoulder. “She doesn’t have your back. Not unless you’re willing to help her out there.”
“I mean--”
“And you’re not, so focus on you and she’ll focus on her, mmmkay?” Johanna snarled.
Aiden and Kallie looked at Johanna with a lot of confusion in their eyes. However, Kallie crossed her arms too and stared at her friend. “I’m not helpless, Johanna. I wanted to be in Project: Honor because I think I can do really well there. I know that’s difficult for you to understand but...I just, I have a good feeling. I want to be there because I think it’s a good company and eventually, I know I can reach my true potential. I just have to keep pushing, and if I don’t push, I don’t get there. So this time, I think it’ll be awesome. And besides, I have both of you to help me out. And Alex. I need all of you for support, so if you could just...you know, quit it? It’d be great.”
Johanna frowned, shaking her head for a moment. “Kallie, I just--”
“No. I get it. I know I’m new at this. I know that I don’t have the greatest track record. But Aiden is a friend and if I can bounce stuff off him, then that really will end up helping me more than yelling at me. Or him. So please. Just let me do this, okay Jojo? Let me try this. If I suck at it, then it’ll tell me really what I should be doing for the rest of my career. I need to be in this company to prove myself. Okay?”
There was a moment’s pause before Johanna exhaled slowly and then nodded. “Fine. I trust you, Kallie. Just. Just don’t do something stupid.”
Kallie smiled, leaned forward, and wrapped her friend in a hug. Johanna cringed -- like she always did -- but nevertheless accepted it. After a second, she beamed at both of them, and then turned, walking away towards the bigger area within the gym where the ring was and the other machines.
Johanna frowned, exhaling again in a deep sigh. She lifted her head to look at the Australian and began to growl underneath her closed lips as she realized he was staring after the younger woman. She lifted her hand and swiped the back of his head with it. “Don’t you even.” She warned.
Her eyes wide, Kallie stared at her friend in confusion. Johanna didn’t appear to be just concerned, she also looked angry. It wasn’t often that Johanna didn’t appear to have some form of displeasure on her expression, but she was absolutely never with an expression of concern for Kallie. Kallie did things that annoyed her, but she put up with them. The Mickey Mouse ears when going to Disney, the smiles on her face all the time, the constant need to call her Jojo. But to see her legitimately concerned…
“Did you quit OATH?” She asked.
“No. Alex and I are pushing really hard there. I’ve even got a match against one of the Daughters of Darkness and I swear to god, I’m going to kick that stupid Kevin twat in the ass.” Kallie shook her head.
“Oh.” Johanna nodded for a second, before she placed her hands on Kallie’s shoulders. “You know, you could have come to Vegas instead.”
“Yeah, but I…I didn’t think I was ready for something like that. There’s so many people there I feel like I would get lost in the crowd. And besides, I know someone at Project: Honor, and it’s a lot smaller.”
The German champion’s nose wrinkled upwards and she shook her head slowly. “Kallie, mein kleiner freund, you don’t really know anyone in Project: Honor. Not really.”
Kallie’s eyebrow raised upwards and she tilted her head in further confusion. “Aiden’s there. He is part of Wolflair, Jojo. I mean, I know he’s not you, but he is a friend. And we get along really well! I mean, through him, I can meet the main champion. Maybe I can get some tips from him about being like...cool? And stuff? Dickie seems nice, cept it’s like he kind of has a chip on his shoulder…what?”
“Aiden isn’t your friend, Kallie. Aiden is a dummkopf with some ulterior motive and I’m not about to see him do something stupid when it comes to you.”
Kallie snorted, shaking her head again. “Aiden is a friend. That’s all. We talk about video games and stuff. Like. A lot.”
“You can’t trust him as an ally at that place. You can’t. His loyalty is to Dickie, and if Dickie goes south, it’ll be seconds before he does. I’ve seen him go from place to place and I just…” Johanna looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “Did you follow him there? Did he convince you somehow?”
“No, I didn’t.” Aiden replied for the younger woman, leaning on the doorframe and appearing slightly irritated. “I didn’t even know she was on the roster until just now. I mean, I know she’d said something about it, but I didn’t know about it.”
Kallie looked at Aiden then, turning her head and looking at the wall a second later, exhaling slowly through her nose. It wasn’t noticed by Johanna, but it was almost as if she was semi hoping he’d at least seen her there before. Johanna’s nose flared, but before she could say another word, Aiden’s charming and apparently winning grin crossed his face and he reached out, pressing a hand to Kallie’s shoulder.
“But this is great, yeah? Wolfslair representation in two ways, and maybe Kallie can like, make her way up the chain to be a champion herself. We can kick some people in the teeth. I’ve got her back, she’s got mine, yeah?” He grinned, flashing those pearly whites at her.
Kallie’s lashes fluttered quickly and she smiled in response. However, Johanna reached up with her hand and flicked Aiden’s hand off her shoulder. “She doesn’t have your back. Not unless you’re willing to help her out there.”
“I mean--”
“And you’re not, so focus on you and she’ll focus on her, mmmkay?” Johanna snarled.
Aiden and Kallie looked at Johanna with a lot of confusion in their eyes. However, Kallie crossed her arms too and stared at her friend. “I’m not helpless, Johanna. I wanted to be in Project: Honor because I think I can do really well there. I know that’s difficult for you to understand but...I just, I have a good feeling. I want to be there because I think it’s a good company and eventually, I know I can reach my true potential. I just have to keep pushing, and if I don’t push, I don’t get there. So this time, I think it’ll be awesome. And besides, I have both of you to help me out. And Alex. I need all of you for support, so if you could just...you know, quit it? It’d be great.”
Johanna frowned, shaking her head for a moment. “Kallie, I just--”
“No. I get it. I know I’m new at this. I know that I don’t have the greatest track record. But Aiden is a friend and if I can bounce stuff off him, then that really will end up helping me more than yelling at me. Or him. So please. Just let me do this, okay Jojo? Let me try this. If I suck at it, then it’ll tell me really what I should be doing for the rest of my career. I need to be in this company to prove myself. Okay?”
There was a moment’s pause before Johanna exhaled slowly and then nodded. “Fine. I trust you, Kallie. Just. Just don’t do something stupid.”
Kallie smiled, leaned forward, and wrapped her friend in a hug. Johanna cringed -- like she always did -- but nevertheless accepted it. After a second, she beamed at both of them, and then turned, walking away towards the bigger area within the gym where the ring was and the other machines.
Johanna frowned, exhaling again in a deep sigh. She lifted her head to look at the Australian and began to growl underneath her closed lips as she realized he was staring after the younger woman. She lifted her hand and swiped the back of his head with it. “Don’t you even.” She warned.
“Isn’t that what you first said, Dagvald? You tell us all the story that you believe. The one that tells us that you’re some demigod here to what...lay claim to this world? Your father, Loki, was the trickster of Asgard and the brother of Havi, another name for the Allfather, the god of the entire Norse world. Odin, we’ve anglicized his name, and I’m not interested in trying to figure out all the extra symbols to write in the air around me. But I guess, I question a bit of your methods. You see, to me, Loki was the evil one, and I’m not talking some Marvel Superheroes bullshit. He legitimately embodied the negative in the world. He was the one who was a led his world astray, the one who made a blood bond with his brother and forced him to betray it. He alone stole, he lost, and when he won against a giant...Loki was foolish enough to be prideful.”
Kallie pushed herself off the ropes, walking along the inner perimeter of it as if she was focused on her very steps. She set one foot down, and then the other directly in front of it.
“Pride is enough to be anyone’s fall. Human. Beast. Half-man, half-beast, god, demigod...pride is the ultimate sin, the one you pay the most price for in anyone’s Hell. Or Helheim, whatever you decide to call it. Where the faceless walk, you know. The forgotten ones. The ones you don’t remember because they’re not interesting. When you talked, Dagvald, it seemed to be only about yourself. Why you, the demigod of this realm, were tasked with something so banal as defeating the people around you in a wrestling ring. I guess I ask myself...why wrestling? Why not go to the politicians of this world and cut them down? Make it a better place? Why spend all of your time as such an important figure in the world that you feel some desire to...what, bury the rest of us and assert your dominance?
You start your so-called reign stating you’ll create a victim. But this isn’t Ledecesetresire in eight-sixty-four, and I’m not some dumbfuck Mercian king that you’re raiding against. I’m not a monk sitting in a monastery, hoping that Jesus and God will save me from the burning wreckage of my life. You see, you sit there and talk about the Vikings as if they continue to raid and build themselves as merciless sea dogs fighting against the power, but...they weren’t conquered by anyone, they just kind of...faded in the background. They became part of England as you become part of Project: Honor, Daggy. Proclaiming death and destruction, but already, you’re pushed against the likes of Lil Petey, who hasn’t had a win in this company to save his life, and me, the rookie girl who you think you’re going to be able to push around because you want to make me fear you. Yeah. I’m five-foot-six. I weigh less than one-twenty, and you’re this monster of a fuckin’ human being -- and believe me, you bleed and you are human -- and you think that it’s going to put the fear of the gods themselves in me.”
Kallie smiled, stopped walking, and tilted her head to the side one more time, her platinum hair falling past her shoulders.
“I don’t fear death, Dagvald. Maybe I’m a little crazy myself, but I don’t fear you. You see, your words that you use try to portray this...aesthetic of gore and grime, of anger and spite. Your life has been difficult, this I know. You tell me the Aesir lead you in the ring, and it has nothing to do with ring intelligence. I’ve not been doing this a long time, but I can tell you one thing: you’re not the only smart one in this circumstance. I’m pretty...I dunno, I’m pretty smart myself. I have a college degree and I’ve read a few books and I can do some bullshit too, but you? I worry about you, Daggy. I worry about your health, your being. I worry what will happen to you when Odin and Loki come for your head because you didn’t represent them like you were supposed to.”
She shrugged her shoulders, lifting her arms upwards and stretching them. “You talk with a lot of pride. You’re filled with it. You boast and speak as if your words are the law, but my new friend, we’re not in Norway and I don’t believe in your myths. You talk about honor and glory as if they’re woven into your very being, but then...well, you relate yourself to the one being in the entirety of Asgard who doesn’t reflect those traits. You talk about pathetic and delusional, but I turn the mirror upon you and ask you the same questions: who are you, and why have you come?
I didn’t come to Project: Honor to raid the company of its riches. I didn’t come to Project: Honor because I have a false sense of ego. I came to prove myself. I came to push myself and become better every day, every moment. And if I can do that in beating you for my first match? Then you can bet that I will do it with everything in my power. So please, Daggy. Come at me. Push me. Make me try to fear you. Because the only thing that I can fear, is fear itself.”
She stopped. She paused and she looked at the floor, before raising her head upward, at the lighting rig around the ring.
“And you are not fear itself. So be my proof of superiority. Let me rise beside you, and I will make you my version of Kallisto. I will allow you to hang for nine days, like the Allfather himself hung on the tree, and then...then I will cast you into the stars. Let me guide you into your own Ragnarok. Because that, when Yggdrasil burns, when the sky turns dark with the end of the world, is the ending you so crave. Let me bring that for you. And you’ll finally know truth.”
She smiled.
“At Proving Ground, you won’t have to walk anymore, Dagvald Riddik.”
She swung her hands behind her back and sighed pleasantly.
“You will find peace. I promise.”
Kallie pushed herself off the ropes, walking along the inner perimeter of it as if she was focused on her very steps. She set one foot down, and then the other directly in front of it.
“Pride is enough to be anyone’s fall. Human. Beast. Half-man, half-beast, god, demigod...pride is the ultimate sin, the one you pay the most price for in anyone’s Hell. Or Helheim, whatever you decide to call it. Where the faceless walk, you know. The forgotten ones. The ones you don’t remember because they’re not interesting. When you talked, Dagvald, it seemed to be only about yourself. Why you, the demigod of this realm, were tasked with something so banal as defeating the people around you in a wrestling ring. I guess I ask myself...why wrestling? Why not go to the politicians of this world and cut them down? Make it a better place? Why spend all of your time as such an important figure in the world that you feel some desire to...what, bury the rest of us and assert your dominance?
You start your so-called reign stating you’ll create a victim. But this isn’t Ledecesetresire in eight-sixty-four, and I’m not some dumbfuck Mercian king that you’re raiding against. I’m not a monk sitting in a monastery, hoping that Jesus and God will save me from the burning wreckage of my life. You see, you sit there and talk about the Vikings as if they continue to raid and build themselves as merciless sea dogs fighting against the power, but...they weren’t conquered by anyone, they just kind of...faded in the background. They became part of England as you become part of Project: Honor, Daggy. Proclaiming death and destruction, but already, you’re pushed against the likes of Lil Petey, who hasn’t had a win in this company to save his life, and me, the rookie girl who you think you’re going to be able to push around because you want to make me fear you. Yeah. I’m five-foot-six. I weigh less than one-twenty, and you’re this monster of a fuckin’ human being -- and believe me, you bleed and you are human -- and you think that it’s going to put the fear of the gods themselves in me.”
Kallie smiled, stopped walking, and tilted her head to the side one more time, her platinum hair falling past her shoulders.
“I don’t fear death, Dagvald. Maybe I’m a little crazy myself, but I don’t fear you. You see, your words that you use try to portray this...aesthetic of gore and grime, of anger and spite. Your life has been difficult, this I know. You tell me the Aesir lead you in the ring, and it has nothing to do with ring intelligence. I’ve not been doing this a long time, but I can tell you one thing: you’re not the only smart one in this circumstance. I’m pretty...I dunno, I’m pretty smart myself. I have a college degree and I’ve read a few books and I can do some bullshit too, but you? I worry about you, Daggy. I worry about your health, your being. I worry what will happen to you when Odin and Loki come for your head because you didn’t represent them like you were supposed to.”
She shrugged her shoulders, lifting her arms upwards and stretching them. “You talk with a lot of pride. You’re filled with it. You boast and speak as if your words are the law, but my new friend, we’re not in Norway and I don’t believe in your myths. You talk about honor and glory as if they’re woven into your very being, but then...well, you relate yourself to the one being in the entirety of Asgard who doesn’t reflect those traits. You talk about pathetic and delusional, but I turn the mirror upon you and ask you the same questions: who are you, and why have you come?
I didn’t come to Project: Honor to raid the company of its riches. I didn’t come to Project: Honor because I have a false sense of ego. I came to prove myself. I came to push myself and become better every day, every moment. And if I can do that in beating you for my first match? Then you can bet that I will do it with everything in my power. So please, Daggy. Come at me. Push me. Make me try to fear you. Because the only thing that I can fear, is fear itself.”
She stopped. She paused and she looked at the floor, before raising her head upward, at the lighting rig around the ring.
“And you are not fear itself. So be my proof of superiority. Let me rise beside you, and I will make you my version of Kallisto. I will allow you to hang for nine days, like the Allfather himself hung on the tree, and then...then I will cast you into the stars. Let me guide you into your own Ragnarok. Because that, when Yggdrasil burns, when the sky turns dark with the end of the world, is the ending you so crave. Let me bring that for you. And you’ll finally know truth.”
She smiled.
“At Proving Ground, you won’t have to walk anymore, Dagvald Riddik.”
She swung her hands behind her back and sighed pleasantly.
“You will find peace. I promise.”
Kasey Winterborn, Arik Holt and GOTHmother like this post
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