"'And try not to let bias cloud your judgement,'" Lily murmured, chuckling to herself as she watched the clouds drift by above this new city. Cassandra, her daughter, stood beside her giving her a quizzical look. "Does that not sounds odd to you? Ironic, even." She asked, looking down at the shorter woman. 

Lily had returned to her more Fae-like appearance, with the long, wavy, silver-white hair, curvaceous form and, this time, only near inhuman beauty. She wore a frilly, white dress that hung loosely about her, but with a similarly white cloth-belt tied around her waist. Cassandra on the other hand, looked entirely human. She had adopted chestnut brown eyes and rose lips, with light brown hair hung loosely past her shoulders. The bangs kept in place by a small tiara-like headdress. She wore a simple t-shirt and high-waisted jeans. 

"Non," she admitted and looked towards the retreating angels. They were only specks in the sky at this point, and the other attendees of the so-called meeting were still leaving the grounds. "I do not know exactly what you mean, mother." She shrugged off her backpack and started rooting through it, procured a sketchbook and charcoal, and closed it up again. "I do not see irony in warning against bias," she told her mother, and started drawing a series of lines on the paper. She still glanced up at Lily every so often, indicating that she was still listening. 

Lily looked down at her drawing daughter, brows furrowed. She could not see it? Truly? She ran her tongue along on her elongated canines, thinking to herself how much they had grown apart. She remembered a time when her little girl would have readily agreed with most anything her mother had said. Knowing she was thousands of years old, had then been enough to convince the little baker's daughter, that she knew what she was talking about, and that she was right because of her age. She stepped up behind Cassandra and looked over her shoulder, seeing the first spire of Aquapolis start to take shape. The skill and surety with which she placed each line, curve, and stroke was a far cry from the awkward scrawls that she remembered seeing... It must have be a hundred years ago. She had become so much better at drawing. She had... Grown. 

The realisation brought a pang of some unidentifiable feeling to Lily. Cassandra was no longer a little girl, but a grown woman in her own right. She may yet be millennia younger than Lila herself was, but she was still mature and well over the age where most humans died. By human standards she was ancient. And Cassandra was, after all, part human. She deserved to be recognised as the adult she was. And that included realising that she was no longer a little girl who agreed with everything her mother said, but had her own opinions and worldviews. 

It brought a small smile on her lips, in spite of the melancholy it followed. 

Cassandra was now looking at her, the charcoal pen hovering still above the paper. "Did I do something, Mother? Did you not want to explain why you thought it ironic?" 

Lily blinked and met the eyes of her daughter, quirking an eyebrow. "Well if you insist. Have you noticed the one wearing the Kimono?" Cassandra looked off towards where Gormory had been, but now was gone, and nodded. "She's an agent of Hell, a servant of Mundus who desires Hell's victory over both Heaven and Earth. She was there when the first Seal was broken, fighting to defeat those of us who attempted to defend it, ultimately leading to the one previously known as Sevrin, now Vega, to being able to break the Seal. Why would someone who desires dominion so, want to defend the things that keep them from attaining it?" 

A contemplative look washed over Cassandra's features. She put her half-finished drawing and pen away, and crossed her arms. "Étrange... You make a good point, but that is no evidence of bias." 

Lily shook her head. "No, t'is not. But the angel, the one who looked like a boy?" Once again, Cassandra nodded. "He made it quite clear where his priorities lie. That he is only in this alliance because he believes it serves the great tyrant, the one they call 'God'." She chuckled, as if finding the word itself amusing. "What's to stop him from letting those he is not allied with, suffering more losses in the battles ahead? The Angels above desires dominion as much as the demons below. It would be to his benefit to let powerful humans and demons die, to make ragnarok an easier fight for them in the future."

Cassandra wrinkled her nose. "Ragnarok?" 

"Ancient belief of the Norse people. The name for their version of Doomsday, the Cataclysm, Armageddon... Every culture has their own name for it," Lily explained simply. "I simply prefer it over the others. To me, that name carries with it more of the bloodshed and horrors, that war will bring, than any of the others. Everything else sounds pretentious." 

Cassandra was silent for a spell, tapping her foot as she gazed off into the distance. "Je vois. That does make sense, the angel's motivations. But are you certain we cannot trust him?" 

Lily shook her head. "No. His bias is clearer than the sun in the sky," she said, her tone gaining a bitter edge. She fought to keep it down, but ultimately she knew Cassandra would notice. "He, like all other angels, live only to serve. They know not the meaning or value of freedom, and so will seek to squash it so long as their hearts remain beating." 

"You should know you have your own biases, Mother," Cassandra pointed out, turning to face Lily fully with something of a stern look on her face. "You view the Angels as a single, totalitarian body that wants to control every atom of existence. The Demons of Hell you see as monsters who just seek destruction, and then to rule over the ashes they have left in their wake. And humans are things to be pitied, toyed with, and protected." She crossed her arms and faced the ancient demon that was her mother, calling her out. "You accuse others of bias, yet your own shows as clear as day, non?" 

Justified anger rose within Lily. She dared to throw such lies at her? Cassandra may have been her daughter, but this... this was... It was true, wasn't it? Partially at least. She did hold Angels in low regard, and did think of them as haughty beings, that just wanted to rule and nothing more. Demons and Humans were something else. She took a deep breath, quelling her anger, and let it out. "No, you are wrong," she said, meeting Cassandra's stern frown with an impassive look. "Humans are not playthings to me. Your father should be proof of that. While I have admittedly toyed with certain individuals throughout the ages, humans as a whole are a species equal to the rest of us. They're not toys. They're people. As for demons, I view them as chaotic and varied. Fenn is one of my oldest rivals, and I daresay maybe even a friend. Demons are capable of every emotions humans are, provided they are intelligent enough. They're not just agents of destruction." 

She paused, thinking over her stance on angels, arguably the kind she hated the most. What was there to say? She thought them haughty and arrogant. They were creatures beneath her, and so many others, and yet thought themselves superior and right to rule. It was laughable. "The Angels... You are mostly right. I see them as a single body, but not necessarily totalitarian. They're haughty, megalomaniac, and seem to believe they have the right to stand on top of everything, justifying their transgressions by saying, that it was the will of their God." She fought to keep her tone neutral, but as ever she found it difficult when speaking her mind on the angels. But she tried, if only for Cassandra's sake. "I will freely admit to hating them, but not because their views and philosophies oppose mine, but because they try to morally justify the wanton mayhem and murder they commit, as if they are above morals. Admit to their nature being as bloodthirsty as that of many demons, and I would have far less issues with them." She turned back to face Cassandra, having looked away earlier to not betray her anger. "Does that explain things adequately? 

Cassandra held Lily's stare, and slowly uncrossed her arms and let them hang at her sides. She breathed out, the sternness bleeding away from her. "You have never lied to me before, so I am going to trust you. Nevertheless, should we not give everyone a chance? They have agreed to work together, after all, even if both the demons' and angels' goals are to rule over all realms, come the end war." 

Lily didn't answer immediately, for the moment occupied with toying idly with her pendant. Cassandra had a point. A very good point. She always had been the most tolerant of the two of them, which was understandable given her dual nature. She grew up knowing she wasn't just a human, but something else. Those caught between two sides often learned to appreciate all sides, was her experience. She blew air out of her nose harshly, and it soon became a weak chuckle. "You half-demons always know how to get to the heart of the matter, do you not? Always knowing what to say to convince someone else that they are not [i]quite[/i] correct." 

Cassandra stepped away and shook her head, albeit with a smile on her lips. "You know I don't like being called a half-demon. I think of myself more as a faerie; one of the Sídhe." The smile grew into a grin and she motioned towards Lily in her entirety. "Much like yourself. You look the spitting image of one of the Sídhe Queens." She closed her eyes briefly, and when they opened again they were a solid, monochrome blue. From the corner of her eyes swirling blue lines started etching themselves into her skin, spreading from her face to her neck, and then to the rest of her body. From her back also sprouted a pair of luminous butterfly-like wings, each a kaleidoscope of colours that glittered in the sun. "See," she said, now hovering a few hand-spans above the ground, "fairy." She blinked and returned to her human appearance once more, landing on the ground again. She aimed a smirk up at Lily. "For someone who prides herself on being a demon, you sure seem to have taken a liking to the appearance of a Tuatha dé Danaan." 

"It's how a certain fictional character looks," she explained. "I read a book she was in a few years back, and had the chance to try to look like her recently. I think it turned out rather well. Don't you think so, my Fayette?" 

"Petite fée, indeed mother," Cassandra said with a bright smile. "Your little fairy, forever."