Syren vs. Amelia Nevado

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: In terms of chronological reading order regarding my characters for this PPV, Amelia's CD (this one) takes place first, then Luz's is second.
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To say this past month had been frustrating for Amelia would be an understatement.

It was one thing to acknowledge that she had lingered on the loss at Apocalypse for long enough. Yeah, failing to defeat Cid Turner and become World Champion had stung, but Luz had long since pointed out all the positives that had come out of taking her shot all the same, and there had been plenty of time to truly reflect on all of it and start to move on from it.

Failing to go back-to-back for Trios was another thing, because it was hard for her to accept that loss when she knew she'd been screwed.

She had to give the devils their due, because she now knew firsthand just how slippery and conniving the Glimmer Sisters truly were. Deep down, she knew that she, Meghan and Gavin had Gina, James Evans and Enigma on the ropes. She had been personally seeing to it that Gina was out of the picture and unable to prevent what should have been the decisive moment that punched her team's ticket to the finals for the second year in a row. And yet, in the blink of an eye, it all fell apart. Chaos ensued when the Shinigami Foundation, now with David Striker among their ranks, hit the ring because they decided they couldn't wait to collect their various pounds of flesh they felt they were owed. If anything, Amelia's team should have gotten the win after Gavin was clocked by Striker, but leave it to the Glimmers to pull a stunt like what they did, with Gia pretending to be her sister to bait the DQ call from Aaron Demitra and Gina taking advantage of the confusion to slip out of sight as “proof” that Gia was Gina and therefore the call was warranted.

Deep down, Amelia wondered if this was some sort of weird karma for how her Trios team from last year won, even though she'd intentionally prolonged her cash-in as a self-imposed test to prove to herself she truly deserved it.

She wanted to be mad at the Shinigami Foundation for not having the patience to wait and let her team wrap up the match, to call out David in particular after him joining the Foundation and leaving Chris Dumont behind had been explicitly painted as necessary to leave these kinds of unnecessary desires behind. She was absolutely furious at the Glimmer Sisters getting away with this and every other stunt that was starting to push her and Luz to seriously consider pausing their singles efforts to put them in their place and take back the World Tag Titles once more. The thought of James Evans being one win away from giving the Fall of Man a Trios contract again sickened her, especially after how horribly things broke down last night that ultimately resulted in CHBK having to be sent to the hospital because of Waylon Creek and his Canary hold.

And yet, Amelia found all of her frustration towards these events being naturally directed at only one person: herself.

Somewhere in her mind, she knew she had no reason to beat herself up over the semi-final loss in Trios especially because there was nothing she could've done to prevent all hell from breaking loose. Knowing that didn't stop the voices, however... the voices of her parents still haunting her after all these years, despite them being locked up again at long last and absolutely not seeing the light of day anytime soon. She even swore she'd started to hear Selena's voice chiming in now, scolding her for failing to dethrone a 'broken-down king' like Cid or laughing at Amelia falling victim to the same shenanigans that had unfortunately tainted her Trios win the year before. No matter what form they took, though, they were voices that would not let her believe anything other than where she was at right now was all her fault because she just wasn't good enough.

It was easy to just tell her to tune them out, but that didn't fix the problem because that's not how Amelia's brain worked. For the first 18 years of her life, her parents had raised her, trained her, gotten deep in her ear about how she alone was at fault for every little mistake, every minor setback, every potential defeat that made it feel like her being in this business at all was a waste of time. Having Luz in her life, reforging old friendships and creating new ones had gone a long way in helping her, but it always felt like a band-aid solution at best in the grand scheme of things no matter how much good it did her.

Dealing with The Empire and the various ways they had tried to either force the couple into joining them and renouncing everything that made them who they were or just straight-up sought to end their lives had really added to the burden plaguing everyone's minds. If not even the recent memory of proving she could outgrapple her dad and beat him with his own hold while saving her siblings and ensuring Aleister and Ophelia Blythe were well and truly going to rot in prison for the rest of their lives was enough to actually silence their voices in her mind, feeding off of the self-doubt and pressure they had created in the first place, then she knew she absolutely needed help.

Thankfully, she was finally going to be receiving that today.

She and Luz were still in Pittsburgh, and last night's Breakdown was still painfully fresh in their minds. For Amelia, what should have been standing beside Meghan Strader to call out the team that stole a win over them last week should've been the end of it, as much as she hated the call standing more than Meghan might've believed. But trying to pry Waylon off of CHBK because of the Canary had given way to Meghan being the latest in a long list of people telling her she was too nice for this business, as if they knew anything about her and her struggle to even be able to finally be herself at all. If any good had come out of Meghan getting in her face before at least challenging Luz for her title to her face, it was the fact that she was right about one thing, and Amelia had gone and made it happen.

Come Under Attack, she would be battling Syren, and while Amelia wasn't certain about where she was at with the ten match winning streak she was supposed to pull off to be eligible for a World Title shot again (especially since Syren's Trios team had been the first victims of the nonsense of the team with the Glimmers on it), there was no denying that if she really wanted to keep her name in the discussion for another World Title shot somewhere along the line, Syren was at the top of the list of names she needed to defeat.

“It's weird, isn't it?” Luz suddenly said, breaking the silent cuddling the couple had been engaged in for the past few minutes on their bed while they awaited the arrival of a very specific visitor they were supposed to have today.

“The fact that we're finally getting some actual help?” Amelia asked, trying to hide her nerves behind an amused smile for her wife.

“Well, that,” Luz sheepishly admitted. “I was mostly referring to your Under Attack plans. Hard to think that just two years ago at this show, we beat Syren and Ravyn to finally become World Tag Team Champions, and now you and Syren are throwing down solo.”

“Huh... I don't think that even crossed my mind,” Amelia admitted, honestly surprised that she had almost forgotten about the odd symbolism hidden in her challenge to Syren. “I was just keeping what Meghan said in mind because she's not exactly wrong. Syren's built a lot of momentum back up for herself through battling Meghan, and being able to beat her one-on-one would really help bolster my case for another shot eventually. I guess my other option would've been Selena, but...”

“Yeah... I think she's a little preoccupied with her own fight she picked with those terrible twins,” Luz visibly cringed at the thought of the Glimmer Sisters. “Maybe for the best if we stay out of her way for now.”

“Part of me wants to step up and be her partner to teach them a lesson,” Amelia stated, causing Luz to fully turn her head towards her wife. “I don't know if she'll accept it with how stubborn and self-centered she's letting herself become lately, and I'd hate the thought of holding those belts with someone other than you, but...”

“Hey, I get it Ames, I really do,” Luz reassured her as she leaned over to kiss Amelia's jaw. “You don't want to feel like you're intruding on my U.S. Title run so we can kick their butts. Just don't forget that you're allowed to want things for yourself, querida. That's why you're facing Syren at Under Attack, and that's why you're going to overcome her and prove that SCW shouldn't forget about you when they try to figure out who's ready for a World Title match.”

Amelia giggled at the vote of confidence from her wife. True, Luz could just be saying that because she was married to Amelia and was supposed to support her by default, but she knew the masked woman cuddled up against her absolutely meant it, and right now? That was a big step in the right direction for grounding her in the face of what was next.

That, however, wouldn't be Syren quite yet. What was next would actually be signaled by the knocking at their hotel room door.

Both women stood up and made the walk across the room, a bit of nerves starting to settle in as they'd never truly been through something like this before. Darius had reassured them that the person he was bringing to them was absolutely trustworthy and wasn't going to suggest stalling their wrestling careers unless it was absolutely necessary, which he doubted would be the case. The nerves didn't settle even as Amelia opened the door and the figure Darius had described to them was revealed to be standing in the hallway. She looked to be a bit shorter than either Amelia or Luz, dressed in a purple blouse and black dress pants along with a fair amount of crescent moon jewelry and accessories.

“Hello!” she greeted with a warm smile. “Is this the room of Amelia Nevado and... La Pequeña Luz? Am I pronouncing that right?”

“Sí,” Luz nodded before scrambling to clarify. “To both questions.”

“Darius said someone would be coming by to help us?” Amelia added, though it ended up sounding like a question because she was being cautious. She doubted she needed to be, but that would hopefully be one of the things that they could be helped with so they didn't have to feel nervous and on their guard all the time.

“That would be yours truly,” the woman grinned as she extended a hand for Luz, then Amelia, to shake. “I'm Dr. Celine Bolton, and I've been a contracted therapist for the NCA and other major British organizations for several years now. Darius told me you ladies were in need of help but had some concerns regarding your profession?”

“So,” Amelia began as she and Luz stepped aside to allow for Celine to enter, closing the door behind her. “Luz and I are professional wrestlers. We've had our issues within the business, but we're able to handle those for the most part because it's just the nature of the sport. Issues from outside the ring, however, have been piling up and we're starting to crack.”

“And when Amelia says issues, she means anything from old wounds we never properly addressed to this deranged cult that's been haunting our lives for way too long,” Luz added for clarity.

“The Empire,” Celine sighed as she grabbed a chair from the table in the corner of the room and sat down on it, motioning for the couple to take their bed as their seats for this little hotel call of a therapy session. “Oh believe me, their wild philosophies have given me so much work that I could probably retire by the end of next year if I really wanted to. This Caleb White guy may go down in history as one of the most infamous cult leaders of all time for how devoted he's got everyone he's in the ear of, and I'm only comfortable with that in the context of it being something we can hopefully learn from. That said, Darius has already filled me in on everything they've done to the two of you, so you don't have to explain it to me unless you feel there's extra context I'm missing.”

Amelia heard Luz breathe a sigh of relief before her wife's head found its way to her shoulder.

“I think one of our concerns was in regards to our careers,” Amelia began to explain. “If Darius has already explained what all we've been through with The Empire alone, hopefully you'd understand why we were a bit worried. Wrestling means everything to us, and you have to admit that anyone else hearing about what these guys have pulled would want to pull us from competing either because we sound crazy or because they feel it'd be for either our safety or the safety of others... as selfish as that might sound.”

“I'd hardly call that selfish, Amelia,” Celine retorted as she pulled out a notepad from the bag she'd brought with her and began jotting down notes, namely in regards to the way Amelia in particular had been speaking to her thus far, hesitant with hints of doubt and self-loathing. “The two of you are just trying to do something you both enjoy doing. It makes you happy, it keeps you physically healthy judging by the incredible shape you're both in, and you get paid to do it. To me, that ticks all the boxes of a dream you're getting to live, and while I'd understand what others in my position might consider, I have enough insight at this point to tell you with absolute certainty that you shouldn't feel bad doing what you love because of someone else trying to ruin it for you.”

“Sounds like Caleb, alright,” Luz spat. “Make it seem like the wrestling business needs to put us on the shelf for concerns beyond our control for the sake of safety.”

“He isolates us from something he holds sacred and feels we don't belong in as we are now, no matter how much it means to us,” Amelia huffed.

“Usually it's not to this degree, but psychological manipulation can apply to people beyond the victim as long as it puts them in a position where the manipulator feels like the only option,” Celine explained.

“Never thought I would see the day someone would actually be worse than my parents in that regard...” Amelia lamented, earning her a hug from Luz to help ground her.

“Darius explained that to me too, as he had his own personal experiences with Mr. and Mrs. Blythe,” Celine clarified. “Still, I'd like to hear it from your perspective Amelia, just so I can get a sense for how much it's affected you.”

With Luz's hand on her back for support, Amelia took a deep breath before she went into detail about growing up as the youngest daughter, the proverbial chosen one born and molded for greatness of Aleister and Ophelia. Celine heard the confirmation of the physical and verbal abuse Amelia was put through that she'd already been tipped off to, but to hear the raw pain in the young woman's voice as she recounted the early years of her life and the burden she was made to bear purely because of unreasonable expectations... Celine honestly couldn't recall the last time she'd had to restrain herself from any sort of outburst for the sake of her patient, but it took all her willpower to avoid shedding a tear or snapping her pen in half because everything Amelia had been through? Everything her parents continued to put her through even long after she was legally beyond their control?

Even ignoring the role they had in The Empire, Celine could count on one hand the number of people she'd heard about who genuinely deserved to never see the light of day again.

From there, Celine had attempted to pivot to Luz to get some insight into her past, but Luz requested that they hold off until her mother could be present, and Celine acquiesced as she could tell that some of Luz's old wounds were likely family trauma she wanted to work through with her mom together. That, inevitably, led to hearing the two women confirm what she'd been told about their experiences with The Empire for the sake of getting their perspective on it, and to hear the story up to this point proved to be another test of willpower for the therapist. If she'd been disgusted by what Amelia's parents had done to her, then hearing about the constant fear that Amelia and Luz lived in because of Caleb and the righteously extreme agenda he pushed that were clearly fueled by a god complex the likes of which she'd never seen before made her sick to her stomach. Hearing the list of offenses Caleb had to his name from an NCA agent was one thing, but to hear the personal account of two of his victims?

“OK, I think I understand even better now why the both of you were so afraid of how a therapist would view this,” she noted after they'd finally concluded. “I'm going to be completely honest for a moment: I've dealt with so many cases of trauma, to varying degrees, over the years, but while your experiences as individual cases are nothing I haven't handled before, the fact that this has all been a compounded set of problems you've been trying to navigate up to this point... the fact that the two of you have managed to hold yourselves and each other together as well as you have is nothing short of incredible, I cannot stress that enough.”

“We've gotten a great support system around us,” Amelia replied after a moment.

“And we're always trying our best to help each other stay afloat in this crazy world,” Luz added.

“Well, I will say this initial conversation has been very enlightening for me,” Celine noted, not recalling the last time she'd filled out an entire notebook worth of details so she could figure out a plan here. “I mostly just wanted to finally meet with the both of you before you hit the road again and get a clearer picture as to what I'm working with, and now that I know, I'm hopeful that I can figure out the best way to tackle these issues in a way that truly helps you both be able to put this all behind you, because that's my end goal here: helping you both recover to a point where you don't have to feel afraid of The Empire or feel like you're broken or anything else.”

Amelia and Luz nodded. There was a small part of Amelia's brain that was disappointed, another spouting familiar voices about how much of a waste of time this all was, but Amelia tried to shrug them off, knowing full well that help and recovery was going to take time.

“I'm not going to lie and tell you it'll be an easy road ahead,” Celine continued as she stood up, “but I swear to you, on my license and on my life, that helping the two of you recover from everything you've endured is why I'm here. You both deserve to be able to lives your lives the way you want, regardless of what anybody else says, and if you don't fully believe that by the time we're done, then I have failed you as a therapist.”

It was a rather bold statement to make, but one that resonated with Amelia more than Celine perhaps knew. This woman, who had only just met them and heard secondhand about why they wanted her help, was willing to put everything on the line to make it so, without hesitation. That was the kind of woman Amelia wished, deep down, that she could be, without the attitude her parents once attempted to shackle to it. The kind of woman who could confidently tell the world that she deserved to be SCW World Champion and they would believe it was possible instead of question her drive.

In Amelia's eyes, just as the road to her recovery was beginning, so, too, was the road to proving, once and for all, that she was worthy of being World Champion without question.

And the first stop on that road required her to halt Syren's momentum dead in its tracks.

A challenge she was all too happy to take on.