Within seconds she's soaked through to her bones; half with rain and half with sweat. It is the most miserable Beljani has ever felt in her life. And also the most awake. It's like being dropped into a tank of water while still half-groggy from a nap she kept trying to prolong. She has never felt less of an urge to spread herself and melt away like honey. To disappear, yes. To bury herself in a hole and never ever come back out, or to turn and with a flash and a crack disappear forever into some oasis where nobody would find her, yes yes. But in this moment she is one body. She thinks as one body, one mind, one will, that begins at the tips of her ears and ends where her toes dig into her boots. No sweeties required. Because she is completely, utterly alone. There is nobody here to help her. Nobody. Nobody at all. All of those slaves, the Lanterns, the Alcedi, and the weirdo band of misfits who'd somehow brought them all together? They weren't company. They weren't [i]safety[/i]. They were the dead, still in the process of discovering they wouldn't need to breathe anymore. Where was the hope in becoming ten thousand corpses? The Kaeri were likewise useless. For all of their gaudy terror tactics and preening, and every stupid little pissing match they got into with absolutely everything they came across, Humanity had built them from the ground up to be one of their 'warrior races'. That made them puppets, more useless than a hand crank as far as potential allies were concerned. Give them an order and they'd obey, as long as their precious chain of command was in play. There's a reason Bella was able to snap her fingers and flip who was running things between them and the mice. They were dancing in the palm of the Master now, and the most horrifying part of that idea is that they probably weren't even ignorant about it. They [i]wanted[/i] this. And there'd be no forcing them out of it except by killing them, and she wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn they'd all willingly swallowed death seeds before the fighting started. Disgusting. Horrible. Awful. Non-persons. Useless. "...Bella? Bella please, I'm scared. Take me with you when you go. I can't keep, I... don't want to, I won't, I... please. See, I'm asking nice! Me! Haha, come on, laugh! Say something, insult me, I don't care! Please! Are you in there, Bella?! Answer me!" "Ksssshhhhhhhaaaaaah." And now, Beljani knew true hurt. Now her body aches, not just from uncomfortable, chafing armor and the cold sting of this cruel rain, but from the pressure of the scream building inside of her. And the needle burying itself in her heart. Alone. Alone, alone, alone, all alone. Even Artemis wasn't listening. Bella was gone, all that was left was a stupid Diodekoi. Her eyes sting with hot tears, and the only thing around to comfort her was the idea that in this awful rain there was no need to bother wiping them dry. "You idiot! Fine then, I hate you! Go! Leave! Fu... Fuuu... F-fuck you! I never want to see you again!" She screams as loud as she wants to, now. She pounds her fists against "XIII's" armor, and screams even louder when the heat and the spines hurt her hands. There's no point in holding back. There's no point in acting the good girl anymore. She knows, ok! She's not stupid! When you're the only one your so-called mother didn't bother tying strings to, that said everything that needed saying. So now she was allowed to scream. Now she was allowed to cry and curse and say anything she felt like. Not like it would kill her any deader. Not like death could be any scarier, now that this awful garden had sprouted. "What are you doing, you stupid idiot weapon? Look, the meat's all over there you moron! Go claw it to pieces! Go, just... just go! What are you waiting for?! Does mommy need to point her finger before you get the message? Rrrrgh, just... get... away! From! Me!" A sudden bolt of lightning sends her shrieking and falling to all fours. No no no no no, please Mother no, don't kill her! Artemis, Artemis! She's sorry, no no no no please she hasn't forgotten! She didn't go and forget her oath, she swears! She promises ok? She's sorry she didn't put it in writing like you prefer, but you've seen her handwriting haven't you? Just, just, something, anything, here, just... just! Scribe squawks and nips her on the cheek. Her wings flutter with beautiful glyphs as she puffs herself up importantly and spits deadly lasers that carve markings into the stone platform they're all still standing on. Beljani's eyes open wide, and she dives to cover the dragon before the Master could turn from her insane cackling long enough to notice the little wonder her useless daughter had brought with her to the battlefield. She doesn't even stop to think about how stupid and dangerous a thing it is to do, how she's absolutely about to lose one or even all of her limbs to her own damn pet. Just cover, cover, protect! She smells something burning, and it takes her a moment of sniffling and whimpering to realize it isn't her. She glances up at the sky to see if she's safe. She heaves a shuddering sigh of relief. And then she slowly turns her head to look at Bella. At the corner of the prayer slip clinging to her thigh that's smoldering where a snort of laser must have clipped it. Scribe headbutts her chin and flashes more writing in her face. Prayers. The dragon's on her shoulder before she realizes she's moving. Beljani leaps and clings to Bella with every bit of strength the gods saw fit to leave in her soft and pampered body. Her armor gives way before Bella's: she ignores the bleeding. Ignores the heat. She's got a whole new letter to write and only her blood for ink. So she needs hold on and write fast before she gets shaken off and thrown down into her worse nightmares come to life. See? She's putting it in writing this time. Artemis, we humble assassins are your daughters, your employees. Saghakahn forsakes you. We do not. Hades, lord, never forget the coins we left where we killed, where [i]she[/i] left only seeds. Zeus. Zeus... she's got no right to ask for anything. But if that... [i]thing[/i] gets to pretend to be a parent to her, then hurry up and get this over with. Because she'd rather be an orphan, a corpse, or both than let THAT get to claim her any longer. Oh gods, she's gonna throw up. Ugh. Please. Please just let her have one last nice thing before you snuff her out. She'll savor it like it's the first treat of her life, she [i]promises.[/i]