What Have We Here [Eliane, Antonetta]

"Because I want to live my own life."

As plain, straightforward, and blunt an answer as was ever possible, and delivered with all the sharpness of a slap to the face. Eliane knew playing games with Antonetta wasn't necessary at this point, and so she wasn't going to waste her time. She could get what she wanted with plain old French.

"Even without that collar around my neck, I've always just been on her leash, and I won't be doing that anymore. A life where I'm just her lapdog, doing what ever she wants? No, thank you."

Eliane's eyes narrowed just a touch as she stared right into Antonetta's eyes, a piercing gaze that contained untold malice, yet none of it directed at Antonetta herself.

"She's weaker than any of us. Arlette and I both have more than enough money to keep her from simply crushing us underfoot. So I wonder, why should I be afraid of her? Do you think, if you take that collar off, she'll come after you herself? Do you think she'll miss you?"

Eliane's entire being tensed at those words. There were several things she felt as she heard them, and none of them were what one would ever particularly call pleasant. Irritation, disgust, contempt, all of it coursed through her being as she heard such a simple, straightforward statement of her sister's genuine affection for her.

But she knew why it made her so angry. She wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, but she knew all too well why it infuriated her so much to hear words like that said to her. Instead, she simply sighed to herself, and stepped forward to give Antonetta a hug. There wasn't any malice, no ill intent, no threat that she might snap her little sister's neck.

It wasn't in Eliane's nature to offer this sort of affection, but she'd do anything to get what she wanted. Even play the cards closest to her chest.

"One day, she'll do to you what she did to Arlette. One day you won't be replaced anymore. There won't be a backup Antonetta. When you've only got one life, where do you want to spend it? With her? Or with your sisters?"

It made her sick to her stomach, to be so forwardly caring. There was nothing Eliane hated more than the fact that her sisters meant something to her.

"Life isn't fair."

Eliane's reply was cold, cutting, to the point. But she didn't let go of her sister, because she was all too aware that Antonetta cared more than any of them about that kind of bond.

"Do you think Arlette wanted to choose? If any of us could have chosen, do you think we would have chosen a life under her thumb? I wouldn't have."

It wasn't surprising that Antonetta was so disinclined to trust her. Eliane had planned for that anyway, after all. It wasn't as if she expected anyone, even Antonetta, to suddenly imagine she was some angel who would never tell a lie.

"It doesn't matter whether you want to choose or not. I won't go back, and neither will Arlette. You have to choose. So who is it, Antonetta? Your sisters? Or the woman who will throw you into the trash one day?"

"No, we're not. I wouldn't condemn Wolfina to that, either. But we both know going back won't help her. She'll have to come to us, just like you did."

Eliane was the last person that ever could have been afraid of being manipulated by her little sister. She knew Antonetta's tricks better than anyone, and if anything, she'd helped the girl refine many of them simply by poking holes in weaker attempts. But now, when things were seriously on the line, she'd already chosen her path. She wasn't going to settle.

"If you go back, the two of you will just get thrown away together. Tossed into the incinerator, but at least you'll have each other. Right? That's a pitiful way to go."

Needling, cruel words were Eliane's specialty, but at the moment, she was using them sparingly, pointedly. She needed Antonetta to understand the reality of what was happening.

"Why do you think she'll know that I'm gone? I wonder, Antonetta, if you think I only just got these scars. As far as she knows, I'm still wherever she wants me to be, dancing to her tune and wearing that silly little collar."

Eliane could have snapped back at her sister, but that wasn't the way to handle this. If anything, it would have seemed all the more fake of her to do so. She never showed a serious side, and she wouldn't get even more stern now. Being herself was the most honest she could be, after all.

"She'll probably send Wolfina and that fake me both to find you. And I know myself better than anyone, so getting rid of her won't be any trouble."

Her eyes did, however, narrow again, her smile falling a touch as her expression became infinitely more like their mother's.

"I know how she thinks more than you. More than Arlette, more than Wolfina. I've always been her favorite, and you should be thankful for that."