Wisps of smoke seemed to drift from the corners of her eyes, removing the space around her head. It spread. An impenetrable blackness spreading outwards and surrounding a wide area around them, the two of them being the only things visible. “I hope you had fun. Enjoy your [i]Wonderland[/i].” She raised one arm and brought it down, a titanic dragon foot coming from above Alice, sending her crashing down onto the ground. She walked closer, each step sending ripples across the blackness surrounding them. Each one bringing her closer to Alice. As the walked, the crackles of energy seemed to move, travelling from all around her body to her right hand, all of it gathering for one last blow. [i]Well… fuck.[/i] Alice thought, [i]She’s cranky, and it seems I should to get out of here.[/i] She looked at the dragon claw, straining against the weight. “I really don’t like illusions.” She pushed against the claw, bracing herself as she pushed once more, straining to lift the massive weight. She panted slightly, shoving against it more, [i]Fuck this. Fuck this. Fuck it all. Fuck the weight, it’s not there.[/i] She grinned as the claw moved, flooding her body with more magic, channeling it all into getting the damned claw off. “MOVE SOME MORE ALREADY, DAMNIT!” she shouted at the foot, shoving it with all her might again and almost blinking in suprise as the claw shifted considerably, more than enough for her to kick it off and roll out. “You really need to get a thicker skin.” she called over to Lily, building up energy throughout her own body and channeling it into her sword. She flew at Lily with flames licking off her own body and let loose an arc of flame bigger and stronger than anything else she’d made that day, she wasn’t trying to kill Lily, far from it. She began pumping her wings with a fury, trying to get away from the homicidal Kitsune. She was pretty confident that sparring matches weren’t to the death. She shouted, “Hah, take tha-” only to stop abruptly as several ropes blindsided her, latching onto her legs and torso, “Oh fucking hell.” she swore, throwing another quick blast of flame Lily’s way and straining against the new illusion. Lily’s left hand clenched into a fist, the ropes she had summoned from the ground latching unto Alice and holding her in place. They didn’t, however, latch unto her arms quick enough to stop the blast from coming. Not that she cared. She was way past caring. The flames hit her dead center, and while she was forced to take a step back and use her tails to avoid getting thrown back, she continued forward. What remained of her shirt hang in tatters around her; one half of her sleeve still clung to her shoulder, but the rest was dust and ashe. Her torso wasn’t in much better shape, either. A large wound of sizzling flesh and oozing blood covered the upper half of her chest, spreading further across her left shoulder and arm. But despite that she still did not show any signs of pain save for gritting her teeth even more. With a few more steps she closed the distance between the two, standing face to face with Alice, Lily’s slitted eyes boring into the Valkyrie’s. With almost torturous slowness she raised her right hand, a large orb of swirling blue energy hovering just above her palm. With an almost animalistic scream, she brought it down. And was stopped. A hand seemingly materialized out of nothing, grabbing hold of Lily’s arm before the orb connected with Alice’ face. Barely a split second later and the orb was snuffed out like a candle, and Ikari stepped into view. With a wave of her free hand the illusions around the were banished and Alice found herself able to move again. Lily looked up, her eyes livid with barely restrained anger. It was Ikari, that much she realised, but she cared not the least for her right now. “Why did you stop me?” She demanded. “Because you would have killed her had I not,” the Mythic answered, her tone calm and collected, but with a dangerous edge to it. The furrow of her brow only deepened as Lily spat at her feet. “And so what?” What Ikari said next was in a tone that could only be described as dangerous. Even Lily in her current state gave pause at the tone, yet it was too late. “That’s enough,” she said, and barraged Lily’s mind with just enough force that she fell unconscious, then turned to Alice. “You’re not off the hook either. Her wounds will be tended to first, and then we will have a talk.” She raised an eyebrow, challenging Alice to so much as think about speaking up against her. “Got it?” Alice gave a small salute and a nod. The near brush with death had certainly shaken her a bit, but she kept it under lock and key. Ikari nodded and lifted Lily from where she lay, carrying her with one arm under her back, and another behind her knees. “Follow me,” she said, then turned her attention to the mental link. [i]”Everything’s in order here, Draco. I got Lily, but she needs urgent medical care; go get The Sister Dryads. Also, these two were the last of them. You can tell everybody that classes are over for the day.”[/i] [i]”Got it. And good luck.”[/i] ----- “And you’re not leaving here until you’ve both worked it out,” Ikari warned, closing the door behind her. Lily and Alice were currently in what—at the moment—could best be described as an interrogation room, albeit far more comfortable thanks to the small fireplace, table, armchairs and a single couch. It was, in fact, one of Ikari’s personal rooms, but for Lily it felt like she was some suspect in a mystery novel. Bandages covered her entire chest as well as her shoulder and upper arm. The Sister Dryads could have healed her completely to the point where there wouldn’t even be scarring, but Ikari had asked them to leave enough damage that she was forced to deal with the pain for the remaining few weeks it’d take to heal naturally. [i]At least they promised there wouldn’t be any scarring.[/i] She moved to the nearest chair and sat down, hands restlessly playing with her braid. Ikari had asked—no, commanded—them to work out their differences. That included an apology on both sides, as well as an explanation, she had said. She wasn’t much keen on it, if she had to be honest, so she simply stared into the fire for the time being, completely ignoring the presence of Alice. Alice, for her part, lacked any significant injuries. There was bruising here and there, and a bloodied lip, but for the most part she stood uninjured. The room was considerably nicer than she’d been expecting, and she walked slowly and stiffly towards another chair, furthest from the fireplace, sitting down without removing her hands from the pockets of her coat. She replayed the fight from earlier in her mind, analyzing it and thinking up new strategies for fighting another Kitsune like Lily, or even Lily herself again. Eyes trained on the fireplace, watching the flames dance and weave, grow and shrink, minutes passed without Lily even noticing it. Her mind was… empty; the fight was forgotten, Alice’s presence unregistered. Even Ikari’s orders were pushed to the far recesses of her mind. But even then, a question came to her, one she spoke without even realising it. “Why?” Alice looked up, over at Lily, muttering something along the lines of “Hmm?” Her mind kept replaying the fight from earlier, now having moved on to tactical errors of hers, “Sorry, what’d you say?” Glancing at Alice through the corner of her eyes, Lily said again. “Why?” Her gaze returned to the fireplace. “Why did you say what you said?” “Why do we say anything?” Alice replied, leaning back into the chair, “Why did we suddenly see fit to sling insults at each other? Why are we sitting here right now asking why?” she looked up at the ceiling, “Honestly, we were taunting each other, baiting each other. The insults got worse and hit home more accurately. It was only a matter of time before either you or I found an especially sore spot, I just found it faster.” Silence reigned again for moment after moment, until enough time had passed that Lily didn’t care guess how much. Could’ve been half an hour, could’ve been an entire hour. Her gaze was still fixed on the flames, having purged Alice’s presence from her mind as best as possible, yet… it wasn’t entirely possible. She could hear her rustling; the slight movements of someone trying to sit still. “Tell me,” She said after a long while. “What’s it like having a family? A home? Friends?” Alice looked to her and shrugged. “Does a father who makes Drill Sergeant Hartman look kind and understanding count as family?” she sighed, leaning into the chair, “Do black belts with an attitude problem count as friends? Wouldn’t a home be a place you want to return to?” Lily’s eyes were trained on the tip of her braid she was still playing with when Alice spoke, and she couldn’t quite help but give a lopsided grin, but it was empty; devoid of life. Grim, even. “Hell if I know. Sounds like you had a father, food, and a place to sleep, at least.” Alice glanced back over at Lily, grumbling, “Wouldn’t call that sick fuck a father, but you are right about the latter two.” she leaned back into the chair again, “Damnit.” she sighed. “But he was there, is what it sounds like to me,” Lily said, unable to counter Alice complaints with what might be called the silver lining. “Cruel though he may have been, but you had him… I had a cardboard box.” Alice blinked. “Oh.” she rasped awkwardly, her voice dropping off a bit as she muttered again, “Oh.” Lily couldn’t help but smile ruefully. The way Alice spoke made it easy to hear that the comment had taken her off guard. “Twenty one years,” she continued, figuring that she may as well get it over with. Not like she’d get out before she gave at least half the truth. “I’m twenty three.” Alice nodded, “I see.” “That’s why I asked you those questions. Because I don’t know. To say I’ve been lonely would be the understatement of the century. Heck, there are two people in this world I’d consider friends, and one of them died seventeen years ago. And family… It’s a word as foreign to me as the sun. I’ve heard it, I’ve seen it, but I don’t know what it feels like.” She glanced at Alice. “And don’t think I’m going to start sobbing and asking for a hug.” She looked back to the fire. Silence. “If we’re talking blood relatives you didn’t miss much, as far as I’m concerned.” Alice grumbled back at Lily, “If you want to talk family, maybe don’t talk family with me. All I’ve got from family is a contract with a private military company and this.” she waved her right leg around aimlessly for a second, before halfheartedly grabbing the pant leg and pulling it up. The dull firelight gleamed off of black carbon nanotubes in thick cords, clinging to dull grey composites underneath, a solid rod of the same composite material around the place the fibula would normally be, outside the mass of synthetic muscle. Parts of the leg resembled an organic one in shape, while others looked like something straight out of science fiction. Despite herself, Lily turned her head to look as she heard Alice move and pull up the pant leg, revealing the prosthetic. She couldn’t help but snort. “Congratulations. You have a fake leg. What’s it to do with anything?” She looked back at the fire. “If anything, I’ll agree that it’d suck to lose a part of your body.” She sighed, glancing at the door. [i]How long do I have to be stuck with this bitch?[/i] “Did you have a mother?” “The fake leg is to do with that father you think was nice to have around, he’s the one responsible for needing it.” she grumbled, “And no, I didn’t have a mother.” “Better to have something you hate than nothing at all,” Lily murmured. “You could say that’s why I stuck with Tsukiko. Hated her positive attitude to begin with, but I kept near her because she was the only thing I had. That and she refused to let me get out of sight.” She sighed, closing her eyes briefly before she stood up and faced Alice. “Don’t discount what you had just because he treated you like shit. He stuck with your for a reason, even if you don’t realise it. Regardless of how much you hate him, you have something I don’t, and what you said—” she waved her hand in the direction she hoped was to their previous fighting grounds “—out there reminded me of that. You rubbed it in my face that I had never had anything whatsoever before I came here.” She stopped, tilting her head. “Do you understand now why I reacted the way I did?” Alice nodded simply, “Yes. I can see why.” “A word of warning, then,” Lily said, her voice taking on a warning edge. “Don’t ever say anything like that to me again. I’m not going to try to make a threat, but should we be put on the same team we need to be able to trust each other, and that’s not going to happen if you don’t keep your mouth in check.” “But enough of that, I’m tired of being here. Ikari told us to apologise, so I will apologise for acting the way I did,” [i]for trying to kill you.[/i] She didn’t move for the door, but just looked at Alice. Alice nodded, “I apologize for what I said.” [i]We’re all assholes here, it seems.[/i] Contrary even to what Lily herself would have thought, she smiled; not mischievously or falsely, but an actual thankful smile, even though it was brief. “Thanks.” With that she walked out the door, leaving it open behind for Alice to exit as well. She briefly caught Ikari looking at her as she made her way out of the Mythic’s rooms, just barely noticing the small, approving nod they received. Alice rose and walked out after Lily, acknowledging Ikari’s nod. [i]Depending on the Morrigan’s attitude she’ll either be amused or kick my ass. Maybe both.[/i] she thought as she walked towards the exit, looking at nothing in particular, even if she kept her ears and general senses open as usual. Lily was already well on her way towards her own rooms, but the one who had waited for her was not. As Alice stepped through the door to the hallways outside of Ikari’s room, Tsukiko grabbed one of Alice’s shoulders and pressed her against the wall with the one arm currently not in a sling, her usually kid eyes filled with something akin to fear. “Please,” she said, “be careful what you say around her. She’s more fragile than you think.” Alice looked after her, “I’ll keep that in mind, please tell her I [i]am[/i] sorry.” she began to walk to her own dorm, muttering silently to herself, “Join the club…” Tsukiko grinned, her large canines making her look not quite as happy as she had hoped. “I will.” She then removed her hand from Alice’s shoulder and started at a jog to catch up to Lily.