Dead Space: Deep Space Terror

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Recovery

Chrysalis had no idea how much time had passed since she and Isaac had found the Titan Marker, finished off Tiedemann, and witnessed the death of the hallucination that had been Nicole, before things went completely sideways once her mother took control of things. She did not care how much time had gone by since the gunship that she was in, the same that they sent Ellie off in and later used to pick them up, had left the Titan Station behind, not when her emotions were a mess and her mind was tormented by truths she didn't want to know. Thanks to her mother she had the notion that, for a little over a thousand years, she was an only child and never had any other siblings, but now her memories were telling her that she once had an older sister, born five minutes ahead of her. That was why she and Amaryllis looked so similar, save for their hair and mane styles at the time, because they were twin sisters and only their mother could really tell them apart, which didn't save them when she wanted to punish one of them.

Her heart ached when she thought about the sister that she had once known, then forgot about thanks to her mother's influence, and then was forced to remember all of it in a flash of energy that was designed to shatter her mind... and the second death of Wildfire, which came after her sister coming back, had been enough to break her mind, where she would have stayed had her mother not revealed the sickening truth behind Wildfire's first death.

Chrysalis remembered the pain, anger, hatred, and other emotions that had given rise to new power she had called upon, giving her exactly what she wanted when she first entered the crystal mirror, and yet now, after all the pain and suffering she had been forced to endure once more, she realized something important. She had realized that she no longer cared about the power to topple Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the other alicorns that watched over Equestria, nor did she care about even attempting to conquer them now, which was mostly due to the fact that the other ponies had to be as strong as she was, maybe even stronger. Hell, she didn't even want to head back to the Hive and ask Thorax for some sort of position, she just wanted to lay there and do nothing but cry, because she wasn't strong enough to overcome the pain in her aching heart... just like she couldn't handle it a thousand years ago, back when she was still a princess, and needed someone to save her from herself.

"Okay, I've set our course for the nearest ShockRing," Ellie said, to which she pulled herself out of the chair she had been sitting in for the last few minutes and walked out of the cockpit area, while at the same time Chrysalis heard the sound of Isaac doing the same thing, "it will take an hour, maybe a little more, before we reach it. Once we've reached the ShockRing we'll travel through ShockSpace and de-shock near the New Horizons Lunar Colony, where we should be able to blend in and disappear."

"That's a great idea," Isaac spoke up, though as he did that he realized how tired he actually was, especially since he had to go through a lot of effort, both physical and mental, to overcome the Marker and the Necromorphs that they had fought against, before turning his attention to their other friend, "Chrysalis... are you awake? If so, do you want to take about what happened back there?"

"Isaac, I'd rather not talk about what I've learned," Chrysalis replied, though as she considered what she knew, and what knowledge had been delivered to her who knew how long ago, she sighed and pushed herself into a sitting position and stared at both Isaac and Ellie as they sat across from her, "but, well, I guess I might as well, seeing how it's either talk or pretend to be asleep... and sleeping will only make me relive some of the memories that I've been given."

Isaac figured that Chrysalis would want to talk about what happened, because her entire world had been shattered by what her mother had done to her and the majority of the childhood that she remembered was wrong now, because there was someone else there that had been reintroduced. He was glad that Ellie had put the gunship on autopilot and was keeping an eye on things, as at any moment they might be forced to change from relaxing to battle if any of Tiedemann's forces had survived the destruction of the Titan Station. Ellie also found some supplies in the back part of the ship and distributed them to Isaac and Chrysalis, where Isaac noticed that Chrysalis seemed to stare at the water bottle that was being offered to her for a few seconds before she took it, along with the protein bar that Ellie handed her. Before Chrysalis said anything she put the food items down before removing her armor, indicating that she didn't want to wear it at the moment, and set it off to the side for now... before she returned to where she had been sitting and took a few sips of water, since she hadn't had anything since she and Isaac escaped the hospital.

Ellie stopped Chrysalis before she could say anything, mostly because she had taken one of the dry towels that had been stored in the gunship and carefully rubbed her face, removing what she could from where Chrysalis had been crying, before she sat beside Isaac and nodded her head.

"Isaac, Ellie, for the longest time I thought that I was an only child," Chrysalis said, though at the same time she raised her arm and wiped the tears from her eyes, especially since she had barely said anything and she was already heading back to what she had been doing earlier, "expect for the last thousand years I've known that there were holes in my memories, as if someone else was present in all my early years and was removed for some reason. Even after my mother, the dreaded Queen Crudelis, was dead I was never unable to figure out why my memories were so full of holes and why someone was missing, until I eventually focused on my Hive and stopped worrying about myself. I spent the next thousand years ignoring my past, trying to convince myself that it was a horrible dream and that none of it had happened, but now that illusion has been shattered... and I've figured out who had been ripped from my memories; my sister."

"You mentioned her earlier, as your older sister," Isaac commented, remembering what Chrysalis had declared after her mother revealed part of the past to her, while causing an intense level of pain to her in the process, "she must have been important enough in some manner for your mother to inflict that much damage on you."

"Amaryllis was a caring and loving older sister," Chrysalis replied, where a smile appeared on her face, because the only good thing that came from remembering these memories was that she remembered that there was another pony that had cared for her, until her terrible end, "despite being only a few minutes older than me we did almost everything together, like playing games, reading books, and exploring the Hive whenever we were allowed to. When the beatings started she always tended to my wounds first, putting my needs above her own, and occasionally we would both escape from the Hive to study the ponies that were living nearby. Our mother always told us that we weren't supposed to interact with the ponies and weren't supposed to develop any relationships, as we were told to put the Hive first, and eventually we both found someone that truly made the pain go away... Amaryllis found a caring unicorn stallion who loved to explore ancient ruins, study powerful artifacts, and found her to be an amazing individual."

"And you found Wildfire," Ellie spoke up, remembering what she had been told by Isaac, what she had heard from the audio link that Isaac had no idea she had established, and what she could piece together on her own, "who made the pain go away, as if it never existed."

"Yeah, though the truth of the matter is that I didn't really seek her out to get back at my mother," Chrysalis said, to which she looked down at the weapon holder that was nearby and stared at one of the bone blades that had survived everything the Sprawl could throw at them, "The truth of how we first met was because shortly after Amaryllis and I turned sixteen, which was the same year that Amaryllis announced her intentions to leave the Hive and marry her true love, disaster struck. My mother killed my caring sister, all because she believed that Amaryllis was a 'traitor', and locked away all my memories of her, leaving me with a pain I could never truly place and made me think that I was an only child, the heir to the throne as it were. The beatings following my sister's death were more intense than those that came before it, eventually causing me to flee from the Hive with one of the weapons I had stolen from the armory, a bladed one that would put me out of my misery."

It was in that moment that Isaac realized that his earlier suspicions about the meeting between Chrysalis and Wildfire had been proven right, as Chrysalis originally wanted to kill herself to relieve herself of the pain that she was going through every single day... and the only reason she stopped was because of the one pony that gave Chrysalis a taste of what friendship truly was, and then something even more; love.

"I traveled to a lake, far enough away from the Hive so that the guards wouldn't feel my passing immediately," Chrysalis continued, not even bothering to take a sip of water or anything, revealing that she was so focused on the story that she didn't even care about herself anymore, "there I stared at my reflection for a few minutes and wondered if my mother would even care if I was gone, or if she would find someone to replace me in the future. Eventually I prepared myself and readied the stolen blade that I had taken with me, as I was determined to leave that pain filled world behind and I used my magic to slowly move the sword towards my chest. However, before the blade could reach it's target, a pegasus landed nearby and tackled me to the ground, preventing me from ending my pitiful life... and that pegasus happened to be Wildfire, who demanded to know who I was, what I was, and why was I so bent on killing myself. I told her everything, the whole truth, and I could tell that the parts about the changelings interested her, while the parts about my beatings sickened her.

Originally I did all of that just to get back at my mother for all the pain she had caused me, even if I wasn't aware of all of it at that point, and yet despite all of that happening she took me to her small cottage, locked the sword in a chest for some time, and tended to the wounds my mother had inflicted upon me that day, before letting me spend the night in her own home. Instead of heading back home when morning arrived, or going anywhere else to escape my mother, I did my best to remove myself from the hive mind, which was hard for me to do since I was inexperienced at the time, and I started wearing the form of a light blue coated pegasus to blend in. I stayed with her for half a year, somehow avoiding my mother's detection at the same time, and formed a unique bond with Wildfire that I've never been able to repeat, only for one of my mother's guards to find me one day and dragged me back to the Hive... and that meant that I was run out of the village Wildfire lived in by 'ponies', as I'm now convinced that my mother staged that as well. Just like she staged Wildfire's death, to make it seem like the ponies that ruled Equestria were to blame for everything, and I, mad at the world when I found Wildfire's body, went along with it.

Now that I've been forced to relive everything, and remember a sister that I had forgotten about, there's only one thing I should do at this point... finish what I started a thousand years ago."

Before Isaac or Ellie could even say anything, or even have a chance to think about what she was saying, Chrysalis lifted one of the bone blades with her magic and let it levitate over to her, lining up perfectly with where her heart was resting, though as the two of them started to move, however, something odd happened... another aura wrapped around the blade and stopped it from moving.

"That's enough!" a voice declared, though as Isaac and Ellie looked around they both noticed that there was a look of shock on Chrysalis' face, but instead of it being the bad type of shock, like Crudelis appearing again, it was the good type, as she seemed happy for some reason.

Isaac watched as a hallucination, for that was what it had to be, appeared near the backside of the gunship, where Ellie found the food items, though now a new person stood there, or rather a new changeling that looked younger than both Crudelis and Chrysalis. The newcomer gently used her magic to remove the weapon that Chrysalis had picked up and made sure that the other bone blade and the Pulse Rifle were far away from her, in case she tried anything funny, before she walked up to where Chrysalis was sitting and came to a stop when she reached her target. As Isaac watched all of this he noticed that Ellie was looking at the sight in shock, indicating that, despite the fact that the Titan Marker didn't seem to work on her mind at all, she could see what was happening before her, and that it worried her a little bit. Isaac, on the other hand, realized who was sharing the space with them now and knew, based on what Chrysalis had said, that the newcomer was just the person his friend needed at the moment.

"A... Amaryllis?!" Chrysalis asked, her voice almost pleading, revealing that she wanted this to be real, even if it meant that her sanity had finally snapped, while at the same time neither Isaac or Ellie said anything as they watched the two sisters stare at each other for a few seconds, "Is... is that really you?"

"Of course." the changeling, Amaryllis, replied, though at the same time she sat down near Chrysalis, while at the same time Isaac could tell that there was a concerned look on her face, "Chrysalis, what happened to you since my death? What caused my strong willed sister to even consider killing herself?"

Chrysalis, instead of replying, removed herself from where she was sitting and wrapped her arms around her sister's neck, reminding Isaac that some of the Marker's hallucinations were able to interact with the real world, especially since his friend had been kissed by Wildfire back on the Ishimura. Instead of sticking around Isaac let out a sigh of relief as he and Ellie returned to the cockpit, allowing Chrysalis to have some alone time with her sister, who moved Chrysalis to the back portion of the ship and levitated the three weapons back to the middle of the ship, once more to prevent her sister from doing something she would regret. Upon reaching the cockpit Isaac turned around and noticed that, despite all the horrors and painful memories she had been forced to endure lately, Chrysalis was looking slightly better than she was a few minutes ago, when she was getting ready to kill herself in front of them... and he knew just who to thank for keeping his friend safe from harm.

Ellie, on the other hand, was still shocked by what they were seeing and could only stare at Chrysalis as she made contact with the hallucination, spoke with it, and acted like it really was her long dead sister... while Amaryllis sat there and listened to her younger sister as she explained everything, and she meant everything, to her caring older sister.

"Isaac, is this normal?" Ellie asked, though she did so the moment she was back in the cockpit area of the gunship, allowing her to observe their course and glance back at Chrysalis whenever she desired.

"Nothing is normal when the Markers are involved." Isaac replied, to which he glanced up for a moment and smiled, as it seemed that just by having the spirit of her sister back, who had helped her back when she was growing up and had mended her wounds first, had lightened Chrysalis' mood a little, "but, since we're talking about a magical shapeshifter, I think normal for us is different than what is normal for her. So far I've seen three spirits from Chrysalis' past and all three of them have acted differently than what Nicole did, as Wildfire essentially turned against the Markers and fought the Necromorphs, Crudelis decided to use the Markers for her own personal mission, and Amaryllis... well, she came back to be the guardian angel she had been when she was alive, to help Chrysalis when she truly needed help.

Ellie, at this point all we can do is watch and pray that Amaryllis helps Chrysalis recover from her ordeals, because she deserves more than what fate has given her... she deserves a more normal existence, if such a thing is even possible for someone like her."

Ellie sighed and determined that she wasn't in the mood to be messing around with things that she knew nothing about, that being the Marker and the magic that was flowing through Chrysalis' veins, before she focused on the fact that they were nearing the ShockRing and readied the gunship accordingly. A few moments later their drive activated and they slipped into ShockSpace, where they began the journey to the ShockRing near the New Lunar Horizons Colony, which was where they could lay low until they figured out what to do next.

---

It took them some time to reach the end of ShockSpace, giving Ellie, Isaac, and Chrysalis some time to rest and recover from their ordeals, especially Chrysalis since her mind was strained from what had happened, though when they arrived at their destination Ellie eased them out of ShockSpace and revealed where they were. In front of Chrysalis rested a planet that reminded her of what she read about Earth, back when she was traveling to the Ishimura, and that information caused her to turn towards the moon that was resting nearby, what the humans referred to as Luna. Ellie said that this was the last place the Unitologists or EarthGov would think to look for them, meaning that the three of them could lay low for a few months before they started to live a normal life, or as normal as they could considering what they had been through. Isaac felt that it was a good idea, as neither group could consider coming here to look for him and what he knew, but even as they descended towards the docking area he looked off into the distance and spotted a large building that reminded him of the one they had found the Titan Marker in... and he seriously hoped that there wasn't a Marker on Luna, otherwise things would be bad real fast once it was activated.

When they reached the docking area Ellie was the first to climb out and Isaac followed after her, though Chrysalis actually made sure to disguise herself as a generic female soldier, just in case someone stopped them, and followed her friends off the gunship, while at the same time the spirit of her sister followed behind them.

Isaac knew that Ellie would never admit to it, but he felt much safer having a spirit watching over them, as Amaryllis could easily scout an area they were thinking of heading into and warn them of any potential threats that might be waiting for them, just to keep her sister safe. He knew that the reason she hadn't left, after listening to Chrysalis' abridged version of a thousand years without her sister and the pain she was forced to relive, was because someone needed to anchor Chrysalis to reality, and that someone had originally been Wildfire. With the spirit of her lover gone, for real this time, he was sure that his friend was feeling lonelier than usual, which had to be why Amaryllis was sticking around, so that way a face from her past would help her overcome the turmoil she was in and prevent her from attempting to take her own life, something that Chrysalis assured Isaac and Ellie that she wasn't thinking about anymore. Isaac, not buying that for a moment, had glanced over to the spirit that was following Chrysalis, who nodded behind her back, and knew that his friend was safe if such a thing started to happen again.

The very first thing they did, after docking and leaving the gunship behind, was Ellie setting up a new account, under a name and identity that Chrysalis created on their way here, and carefully made it so that Isaac's credits were all transferred to the new account, minus whatever had to be used for the bills that hadn't been paid. After that Ellie found someone that wanted to buy the gunship from them, as the merchant came to them and offered them a rather decent amount of credits for it, and soon the stolen gunship was no longer in their possession, which was for the best considering they wanted to disappear. From there it was a simple matter to move themselves deeper into the city and to an area that contained the apartments they were looking for, where they were able to secure a two bedroom and one bathroom apartment with the new funds they had acquired. It was there that the three of them settled into their new home, in the Red Moon Apartments, and considered what they could do now that they were free from the factions that wanted them dead, though the first thing Chrysalis said they should do is spend a few of their credits on food and other supplies they needed for their home... as well as finding a place to get Ellie an artificial eye to replace the one that had been taken by Stross, which was easier than they thought it would be, but purchased one and put it in while they were shopping.

After they went shopping, where they also picked up some normal clothing so they didn't stick out like a sore thumb, Isaac inquired as to why Chrysalis had picked the name 'Rebecca Sparkle' for the form she was wearing when she was disguised, which was an unassuming librarian if anyone were to look at her. Chrysalis replied that she intended to open a shop of some kind, to give the illusion that someone actually lived inside the apartment they had taken and stayed there when they weren't working, though it was going to be a small shop so she didn't waste their funds on something else. There was the other thing that none of them wanted to talk about, the fact that there might be another Marker in this colony, but she intended on being as ready as possible and wanted a few days of rest before she really attempted to do anything that would result in gaining the attention of Unitologists or EarthGov.

While Chrysalis worked on the store, a small mystic type store that sold things that were sold on Earth, she let Isaac and Ellie grow closer together, as while she wasn't Cadence, who seemed to have a natural affinity for finding out who loved who and that sort of thing, she could tell that they were falling for each other and gave them some alone time. It seemed to work out, because not a week after their arrival the duo went out into the city and enjoyed themselves, while lamenting that her only chance to find love again was back home, on Equus, and she was likely never to have the chance to go back. Sure, Discord had told her that he would come when she was ready, but she didn't feel ready, not when she was sure that there was another adventure to be had... and she was sure that, even if she called for Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony would ignore her because she turned down his offer to take her back home, back when she and Isaac were being taken to the Titan Station.

The three of them were sure that they would be called to action once more, especially since the Unitologists were still at large, and they made sure to keep themselves hidden, but they knew that it was only a matter of time until their fates changed on them and they were called upon to save the day again... they only had to be patient and wait for that change to come their way.

Comments

[badninja]

An interesting name choice. I can see where the Sparkle last name came from, one of her nemesis but where does the Rebecca part come from?

[Blackdrag-rose]

8910209 Honestly, the Rebecca part of the name was a random decision. Chrysalis wanted to blend in and chose a seemingly normal name so no one would find them.

[Ze1a7in]

8912744
Yours is the third comment in response to my question that occurred AFTER Blackdrag already answered. I appreciate that people are wanting to answer, but it is unnecessary, given the Author themselves has already done so.

[Black--Soul]

"That's a great idea," Isaac spoke up, though as he did that he realized how tired he actually was, especially since he had to go through a lot of effort, both physical and mental, to overcome the Marker and the Necromorphs that they had fought against, before turning his attention to their other friend, "Chrysalis... are you awake? If so, do you want to take about what happened back there?"

talk

[Black--Soul]

Damn nice new start, even when only for a time...

[Black--Soul]

I guess Chrysalis isn't secretly snacking on their love?
camo.fimfiction.net/HGKOVNTrPh_dQIegq-4XQTTfq37sBPSPcGN3_7ZAMFg?url=https%3A%2F%2Fderpicdn.net%2Fimg%2Fview%2F2014%2F7%2F10%2F671941.gif

[Black--Soul]

Once I get to Ds3 I will make a lot of changes, ds3 storyline sure is way to broken thanks to EA interventions.
Looking forward to your version its quite delightful ♡