Mera stared in shock, almost unable to understand what just happened. Those little roots that these people had put in her heart were being threatened to be uprooted. Kaori was... dead? How was that even possible? Mary... she couldn't hide this from her, as much as she wanted to. She couldn't stand to see how sad her sister would be, to see her lash out like she did when they thought Alari had died. But if Mary contacted her in her mind, and she so much as thought about this, Mary would know. And that bastard had taken Larel with him, threatening to kill him. She snapped out of her reverie as she heard a snarl behind her, and she looked towards Hotaru and her brows went up.
Hotaru's eyes had taken a reddish-orange hue and she had her fists clenched so tight, her nails were cutting in to her palms, "Let's go!" she snapped at them both, "We have to get Larel back and beat that bastard before he can make us forget about Kaori."
"You don't want to forget Kaori?" Saving Larel was a given, but her being so upset about the second half surprised Mera.
"Regardless of how annoying he was, he doesn't deserve to be forgotten. I'm not about to let some dumbass of a demon go around thinking he's doing some kind of favor while slapping us all in the face. I'm going to rip him a fucking new one and don't you dare hide this from Mary."
"What?" Mera balked.
"She deserves the truth. Yea, it's gonna hurt, that happens when you lose people close to you, but if that asshole thinks it's gonna do her any good, he's wrong. If you care about someone, you should know what the hell happened to them," Hotaru snapped before starting forwards.
"Where are you going?"
"We're wasting time. I'm going to kick his ass."
"With the power to put up that shield, who knows what else he can do, Hotaru."
"I [b]don't[/b] care. I'm not going to stand here and whine about it. I'll throw everything I've got at that bastard before I let him think he's gonna just get to kill Larel."
[i]This is gonna be fun/[/i] Sybil almost sounded like she was smirking, [i]If you want I can help. Just because this is so amusing to me.[/i]

Mary looked over her shoulder as they continued forwards, getting a sinking feeling in her gut. Something wasn't right. She stopped and turned back that way, reaching out towards Mera to try and figure out what was going on.

Mera gasped as she could feel Mary's reach and she quickly tried to push the thoughts back about this, but she wasn't fast enough. Hotaru's words were still lingering at the forefront of her mind and Mary caught them.
[i]Mera, what's happened?[/i]
Mera swallowed as she tried to make her mind go blank.
[i]You're hiding something from me? You've never done that before.[/i]
[i]Don't worry about it. Don't you have things you should be focused on right now?[/i]
[i]Mera, please tell what you're hiding...[/i]
[i]I can't do it... I can't tell you, not now, not this way.[/i]
Mera clenched her fists, closing her eyes before starting after Hotaru, cutting the conversation off with Mary, "We need to hurry. Mary just tried to contact me," she said lowly, her voice caught a bit, "I would bet that she'll be coming after us now."