[center][h2][color=F65772]H[/color] A P P I N E S S,   [color=PeachPuff]S[/color] E R E N I T Y,   H A R [color=077ae6]M[/color] O N Y[/h2][/center]

Su did not care how ridiculous she looked with her head bandaged up so tightly. Nor did she care that her body was on display in a revealing swimsuit. The heat didn’t phase her, nor did her life threatening injuries. While Helga had to guide her, Su was able to walk unassisted to her location. It wasn’t hard to pick out the voice of the one she wanted to see.

[color=PeachPuff]“Mariette?”[/color] Su approached the portal witch. [color=PeachPuff]“You said you wanted to talk to me after the battle. I’m here now.”[/color] After examining her for a moment, it became obvious that something was wrong with Mariette. Her face looked pained, which was nothing Su had ever witnessed before. [color=PeachPuff]“Is something the matter?”[/color]

Mariette held fast as Hilaria told her Eli had been taken away. She thought back to what little she’d seen. The enemies present at the time… had only been the little samurai and the pink girl (MDP) over there. Except MDP was here now, so she couldn’t have been the one. There was only… Except, the samurai had been one of her allies on the other side? She was part of Crimson Cradle, and had even been given a key…

Then something spoke into her mind. Not that she knew, because all she heard was some vague words that happened to include “Eli”, “safe” and “Djinn Sisters”. Mariette spun around, visible eye wide, trying to find who had spoken, but only found Su, who had approached her. Indeed, Mariette looked a bit pained and quite frightened, hands on her chest. Su spoke to her, but…

[color=077ae6]‘I-I… I just… wanted to catch up… but Eli… someone took Eli, but…’[/color] Mariette pants, looking past the bandaged Su for whoever could have spoken. After all, few here would know the connection between the Djinn Sisters and Mariette. They’d specifically avoided the connection for the sake of protecting them from the rest of Asengav’s champions. The ones that would know would be… those present in the restaurant that day. Su, Alexander, Lily… okay, then potentially anyone could know if they spoke… but if the samurai somehow knew the Djinn Sisters were their friends, then…

Mariette spun back to Hilaria. [color=077ae6]‘Who was it that took her? How did they look?’[/color] she asked, serious.

Helga was surprised by Mariette’s claim, and winced. [color=F65772]“Oh, that’s bad. I didn’t even notice that she was gone by the time we ran out of there.”[/color] She turned to Su with a worried look on her face. [color=F65772]“You have any idea what happened there, Su?”[/color]

[color=PeachPuff]“The last thing I remember was diving off the roof to stop Beacon’s advance. I didn’t see anything from the side of the mansion, or when you carried me away.”[/color] She looked to Hilaria. 

[color=F65772]"Hilaria saw her clearly~!"[/color] She exclaimed. [color=F65772]"She was very small and cute with her little katana~!"[/color] she looked towards the frantic portal witch with a smile and pointed. [color=F65772]"Hilaria thinks you should know the one~ Lillers went for the Hail Mariette straight towards her but she ignored it and went for Eli~"[/color]

“Hail Mariette? That’s a good one,” Helga commented with a giggle, and afterwards sheepishly smiled. “I think Hilaria’s referring to the little samurai girl. I wonder what her deal was?”

It was the small samurai. The one they call Ronin. That meant a member of Crimson Cradle had picked Eli up. Perhaps it had been a spur-of-the-moment thing seeing how Eli had been left behind and Overcity Shift? If so, Mariette needed to exit this dimension immediately… and just as she raised a hand to open a portal, she remembered that she couldn’t. Still, if she thought about it some more, why would Lily throw her at Ronin, then? If she knew Ronin was on their side, just saying it would have sufficed. She needed to talk to Lily…

[color=077ae6]‘… Thank you, Hilaria. For everything, today. If you ever need help with something, I owe it to you to help you,’[/color] Mariette said, having calmed down… just a little. Hilaria nodded in response. More things were pointing to Eli being safe, now. She turned to Su and Helga.

[color=077ae6]‘The same goes for the two of you. Thank you, so much,’[/color] she said, her intense distrust of Helga having lessened considerably now. She needed to go to the Djinn Sisters… but for some reason, she was afraid of going alone. Like, if it somehow had been a mental trap? But, she couldn’t take any of the Champions of Asengav to meet the Djinn Sisters, so… [color=077ae6]‘… Would you two consider helping with one more thing for me? Back in Penrose. I… can’t talk about it here…’[/color] she said, averting her gaze somewhat, highly aware of her information-girl-in-generic-appearance peering holes in her from only a slight distance. [color=077ae6]‘Somewhere private, later?’[/color]

[color=PeachPuff]“That would be fine.”[/color] Su let out an exhausted sigh before looking at her phone. It still had Deni’s text message on it. [color=PeachPuff]“I need to get out of here myself.”[/color] She folded the phone shut. [color=PeachPuff]“We can meet up again at the Golden Trove. Just give me a moment to prepare a room for us.”[/color]

[color=F65772]“Yeah, that won’t be a problem at all.”[/color] Helga also answered with a smile.

Hilaria frowned, seemingly dejected by all the talk of departure. She really wanted to eat a delicious meal with everyone but it looked as though she was going to be disappointed..

[color=077ae6]‘That’s fine. I have a few more things to take care of here. I’ll be there when I can,’[/color] Mariette said, not mentioning that she actually literally couldn’t leave right now.

[color=PeachPuff]“That is acceptable. I should really get back to the hotel though.”[/color] Before departing, Su turned to Helga. [color=PeachPuff]“Helga, I understand you were one of Mika’s friends. I suppose a lot of people were, actually..”[/color] The hotel manager smiled. [color=PeachPuff]“I didn’t know how to react to her having switched patrons so suddenly, but I am glad she had you as a comrade. I don’t know if she will return to Penrose any time soon, but I hope you’ll look after her if she ever returns to Penrose.”[/color]

Helga took Su’s hand, and slightly rubbed her thumb on the back of her hand. “Of course, Su. When she’s ready to come home, there’s going to be lots of ice cream waiting for her.”

[color=F65772]"Mika~? Hilaria has some unfinished business with her~!"[/color] Reaching into the depths of her bosom, Hilaria produced a bottle of sunscreen. [color=F65772]"Hilaria will make sure she won't succumb to the sun's harmful rays when next she meets Mika~ You make sure to let Hilaria know when she comes back~!"[/color]

Su raised an eyebrow, but after some thought, she giggled. Her fingers coiled around Helga’s hand. [color=PeachPuff]“That sounds wonderful. I’ll be sure to send her over when she returns.”[/color]