[i]Kiara[/i]
 
She stared at where Angel had been for a few moments, gathering her thoughts. When she finally spoke, it was quietly. "I don't know why Alchemists exist. I don't know why humanity has been cursed with this plague. I don't know why whatever greater powers there are thought that we should be granted powers we are obviously not ready to wield. But I do know why the Asylums exist. We are the treatment to the plague that is Alchemical powers. We may never find a cure, but we can control the disease. We fight pure madness with madness barely tempered by sanity. Fire with fire. Monsters against monsters. We sacrifice ourselves so that we can protect the world at large. Most of us are varying degress of insane. My partner, for example, is insane in the way that she sacrfices her well being, not to mention anything she's willing to sell, for that next rush. That next boost of adrenaline. Combat seems to be her best trigger, and pain seems to become intoxicating at some point. I'm insane in my constant belief in the light of humanity when I fight both as and against the dark. You're insane because you've become one of those you hunt, different only because of banner you claim to fight under."
 
She began to fade away, being freed from her own mind. "We're all monsters. But some of us fight the inevitable, and cling to our humanity."
 
She awoke in the real world once more, the party still going on around. If Eric could have hugged her, he would have, as it is, he stuck close to her and didn't cease talking. "Yes..I know...No...No! What in the name of all that is holy would make you think that? You know what? No. I don't want to know. Be quiet. I said, quiet. The act of being silent and not talking. You should develop your skill in it!" Evidently, Eric complied and shut up, allowing Kiara to ascertain what she thought she had felt, beneath his babbling. She couldn't feel Maeve. There was a barrier blocking their minds from linking. It wasn't like the normal barrier Maeve put up, so Kiara wouldn't be able to feel what she was feeling when she was...intimate. That was wild, unruly, and purely Maeve. This barrier was cold, clean, and impenetrable. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Kiara was out the door and running full pelt towards the beacon, stopping only to dart in an alleyway and turn into a flying bird. She saw the explosions and signs of combat from a mile away, and began flapping her wings harder. [i]Maeve..if you die, I'll resurect you just to kill you.[/i] It was going to be bad. She knew that from what she could see and what Angel had told her.
 
It was far worse than she expected.
 
Kings, Kings were everywhere. Fire was exploding, lighting crashing, and earth being thrown. Chaos couldn't even begin to describe it, and Kiara stopped a hundred or so yards from it, dropping to her knees on the ground, removing her cloak, and building E.L.G. The first King was raising his sword to launch an attack at someone, when the left side of his head exploded outwards in a gorey arc. Anyone who had been able to watch closely would have noticed the bullet's shadow darting up and correcting it's course when necessary, guaranteeing a kill shot. The second King just slumped over when a bullet when through his chest and heart, his sword landing point down in the sand and staying there. The third, the third was wiser. 
 
He noticed Kiara as she took aim, and sent a fireball heading her way. In her haste to get out of the way of certain death, she forgot to grab her cloak. It was incinerated. "You son of a-!" Kiara began indignantly, only to yelp and draw a quick sigil in the earth, making a stone barrier in front of her. She felt the heat a little too well through it and around her. Still, she let out a small sigh of relief that she hadn't been barbequed. Then she was launched backwards as a lightning bolt destroyed her barrier. The King was within 30 feet and closing rapidly, with Alchemical speed. Of course, Kiara didn't notice this, as she was still stunned from the blast. When she did regain her senses, the King was right above her, screaming a war cry and lifting the sword high to drive it through her chest.
 
Kiara rolled out fo the way, making a panicky grab for her pistol in the process. The sword caught her side, nicking her, and was yanked out immediately. By the time she had drawn her pistol, the King was preparing to make another downward stab. She fired four shots, wildly. Two of them caught him in the chest. The third missed, and the fourth clipped hte side of his eyeball. It was enough to kill him. The King fell backwards, blood pouring from several wounds, and Kiara laid there, gasping for breath and trying to control her beating heart.