[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9SqqbXK.png[/img][/center]
[center][color=MediumSpringGreen]Here we go again…[/color]
[color=888888]-Ashley Avenir[/color][/center]

This was it. The big joint operation to remove another finger from The Hand. While Rising Sun, and whatever The Foot was, had been defeated with surprising ease, Ashley doubted things would go as smoothly with Morning Dragon Fruit. Not only was the strange machine entity located in what was presumably a fortified skyscraper, but there was a very good chance that it would be guarded by both of the brainwashed Bates, and perhaps even Time Keeper, neither of which were particularly pleasant possibilities. Also concerning was the fact that both Doctor Webber and Faith had disappeared, taking the recently reconstructed mech with them. While she doubted they had joined with The Hand, at least based on her prior interactions with them, their departure still represented a loss of support, as well as the potentiality that they would serve as opposition to G.E.M.I.N.I.’s goals at some future juncture. Then again, perhaps they would instead reappear as allies, to lend their aid at some critical moment. Whatever the case, the Knight of Tomorrow knew that worrying about such things would only distract her from the task at hand. If the upcoming operation was to succeed, she would need to remain fully focused. Yet, despite making this resolution, it shattered the moment she left her apartment. 

[color=LightSkyBlue]“Oh! Hi Ashley!”[/color] Olivia greeted with her usual nasally-voiced exuberance. [color=LightSkyBlue]“I’m so glad I ran into you! I was just about to head back home, and I was really hoping I’d get the chance to say goodbye before I left!”[/color] Taking a closer look at the chatty girl revealed that she was wearing a backpack that seemed a bit heavy for her slight frame. [color=LightSkyBlue]“I also wanted to thank you for sending Agent Orion to look after me!”[/color] she added with a smile. [color=LightSkyBlue]“She was very helpful and kind, just like you! We actually [i]did[/i] run into the most fascinatingly adorable monster while searching the sewers, but Orion, my other new friend Elzy, and darling Xolys were able to team up and defeat it! It was so exciting!”[/color]

[color=MediumSpringGreen]“I-I see,”[/color] Ashley replied, blushing slightly at the compliment. [color=MediumSpringGreen]“And you’re very welcome,”[/color] she added with a smile of her own. [color=MediumSpringGreen]“I’m just glad you’re okay.”[/color] 

In truth, the high-tech heroine knew that she probably shouldn’t have ever worried about Olivia’s safety, having seen firsthand the staggering power of the girl’s “darling Xolys”. Indeed, in light of the eldritch entity’s impressive strength, it seemed almost foolish not to enlist Olivia’s aid in the upcoming mission. Yet, while a part of the Knight of Tomorrow was sorely tempted to do just that, a much larger part still wished to shield the idealistic girl from the full horrors of Pax Septimus. With Xolys at her side, Olivia might have little to fear from suffering [i]physical[/i] harm, but [i]emotional[/i] harm? That was a [i]very[/i] different matter. The longer Ashley had been around her, the more sure she had become that, even if the bespectacled chatterbox had fought numerous monsters wherever it was she truly came from, she’d never seen them actually harm anyone, let alone [i]kill[/i] someone, and [i]that[/i] was something the monsters of Pax Septimus were all-too-capable of…

In the less than two months she’d been in the aptly named “City of Blood”, Ashley had witnessed the deaths of more people than she had during her entire life up until that point. She had seen fellow agents die in battle and innocent civilians, innocent [i]children[/i], be heartlessly slaughtered. Even worse, she herself had been forced to kill, more times than she wanted to count, and the worst part about the seemingly endless slaughter was that she was beginning to grow numb to it. Where once she would have been sickened and horrified by such bloodshed, now, she simply accepted it, resigned herself to it, [i]expected it,[/i] and that fact was even more horrifying by far. But while it was still a sacrifice she was willing to make for the sake of helping as many people as she could, it [i]wasn’t[/i] one she was willing to have Olivia make as well. Much like her brother’s, the excitable girl’s idealism was something that deserved to be protected, and the Knight of Tomorrow would do so, no matter the cost.

[color=LightSkyBlue]“Oh! And Finn’s okay, too!”[/color] Olivia added. [color=LightSkyBlue]“He just went on a little vacation because things were getting kind of stressful for him!”[/color]

[color=MediumSpringGreen]“That’s good to hear,”[/color] Ashley replied. [color=MediumSpringGreen][i]If only it was really that simple…[/i] “It was very nice getting to know you, Olivia,”[/color] she told the bespectacled girl as they headed down the stairs. [color=MediumSpringGreen]“I hope you have a safe trip back home.”[/color]

[color=LightSkyBlue]“Thanks!”[/color] Olivia replied. [color=LightSkyBlue]“It was very nice meeting [i]you[/i] as well! I really hope I can take another field trip here sometime in the future!”[/color] she added with far more enthusiasm for that prospect than Ashley had. [color=LightSkyBlue]“And maybe I can even get Miss Fang to let me bring a few friends along, too!”[/color]

[color=MediumSpringGreen][i]Miss [b]Fang?[/b][/i][/color] Ashley wondered, the familiar name seeming far more than mere coincidence. However, she forced herself to push those perplexing thoughts aside, and, after exchanging their final goodbyes, the pair went their respective ways, one setting off to return home, the other embarking on a mission that, with luck, would go a long way towards to saving hers… 

[hr]
[center]18 | Female | GEMINI | Vision of Tomorrow
Implements of Tomorrow | Wand, Shield | Arcane | Tune of Tomorrow
Raiment of Tomorrow | Stride of Tomorrow 
Light of Tomorrow | Light | Power of Tomorrow
PRO-TEK 5000 Defensive Surgery Implement | Kevlar Coat, Kevlar Padding, Medical Supplies x 2, Flash Bang, Tazer, Clip Light
[Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Shield (4), Reflect (4), Restrain (4), Heal (6), Major Heal (18), AoE (2), Powerful (0), Piercing (2), Purify (6), Homing (2), Avoid (2), Construction (4)

DAMAGE: A | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: C | 1250

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: B | 1250[/center]