Enkryption

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

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ATTN: @PaulHaynek, @The Irish Tree (Eula/Liliana), & @Rezod92 (Kerry)

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Once Burned, Twice Shy

How had things gotten so out of hand?

Alice scrambled to keep up with events; dodging and weaving the primal artillery fire, as the Legionnaire escaped to greener pastures.

I started this... I did... I know I did...

Alice squeezed down on her temples, as she flashed back to that first fight...

I was winning. Why did I retreat? The prisoners I took, what happened to them?

Narrowly, Alice avoided a rock by pushing her body to the highest Tempo, and flash-stepping.

It was my quest. Gringor stole it. He made everyone aware. I was too slow...

Alice didn't realize everyone was running behind Takeshi.

Now, he's taken it! Taken it from me! My party is ruined! Everyone keeps taking things from me, smiling at me, acting like it's okay! It's not okay!

Alice gasped, as lightning struck and a new war broke out.

I started this... I did...

Alice stared at the flames, as they spread, and the army that stood before her. Neither was she weak nor strong, just flammable and afraid... outgunned against the elements of fire that spread further and further, closer and closer...

Pyrophobia.

It wasn't uncommon in Plant and Water Mamono. Normally, it manifests as aggressive discomfort, and could be, with time, brought to heel, like any fear.

However, Alice had blood on her hands associated with that primal fear; lives lost to the fire that nearly claimed her. A kingdom burned to purge the Mamono ruler.

Humans would never change.

If she didn't kill them all, they would kill her in turn, and gladly.

But, she couldn't.

She was trying to be better, do better, live better for her unborn child.

But, she couldn't stay here. It was too much.

Alice raised Carroll level, and transformed into Dinah - however, she would stow her scythe across her back, and move in a blur, as she silently snatched up Kerry and Eula with her right and left arms, respectively, and Liliana with her twinned ahoge.

Among the assembled, they were the only ones that mattered to the component parts of the Demi-Lilim.

Among the Taskforce, they were the only ones that mattered.

If everyone else died, she would, at least, have protected what was hers.

That's what she did.

That's the kind of Queen she was.

After nine-hundred, ninety-nine years of living, loving, and losing... she wouldn't stress over meaningless deaths anymore.

For now, her objective was to return to Teruachi Temple, and use the teleporter to send herself and those she cared for far away; more than willing to kill anyone that stood in her path...

I'm not losing another Kingdom...

A Right, Proper Domestic

Drawing her sword for battle after the terrain took a turn for the worse, Liliana would take to the skies, bravely heading off to fight-

And then her twin-ahoge were seized, causing the fairy’s pea-sized brain to rattle around inside her skull. Looking up while being bounced around, Liliana was astonished to find Dinah was…running? Away? Preposterous! Unpossible! And yet…

"LaAaadYyyy AAaaaalIIIIIIIiiiice!" Liliana protested, bobbing up and down as she was carried like a popsicle.

Dinah wasn’t listening, as she moved through the trees.

"Lady Alice!" Liliana repeated, louder.

Focused on her mission, Liliana was going to have to take matters into her tiny hands and put down her tiny feet before it was too late in order to stop Dinah.

Before Dinah got to her full speed, Liliana would suddenly dart free, her ahoge being ripped asunder as she surged forward, grew to full size, and promptly slapped Dinah across her face once. Gaia Hazard: Heavenly Slap would connect, forcing Dinah to stop and face the only person aside from Kardia to strike her and live.

"I. Am. TALKING!!!!" the fairy put her foot down in the air, with even Whimsy hanging in silence at the outburst.

Restoring her hair was a simple matter; it was plant material, after all. However, restoring her calm was a different matter, as Dinah reached out, on reflex, and closed her hand around Liliana’s throat.

Said hand would promptly get its thumb bitten, as Liliana’s phantasmal clone was dispelled before the tiny fairy sat once more on Dinah’s head. "Where’re you going!?"

As a reslult, Liliana would be bound by her prehensile hair, and anglerfish’d before at glaring Dinah. "Insolent Fairy! You bite the hand that feeds!?" she growled.

"The only one biting hands around here metaphorically is you!" Liliana barked back. "The Shizuyamans need us! And Takeshi is out there fighting crazy strong swordspeople! I know a lot changed after you left and came back but…Lady Alice never runs away when her friends are in trouble.”"

"Friends? Thieves are no friends of mine! Deceivers! Glory hounds, them all!" Dinah barked. "Friends trust and believe! They don’t barge in where they are unwanted!"

"...Well, you have that last part right. I trust and believe in you. You, and Carroll." Liliana would fumble around in her hair. "Now untie me, so I can go kick Varjan butt, and then…" Liliana inhaled sharply through her nose. "I’m gonna go make my Queen proud. Both of ‘em."

"Eh?" Dinah was, genuinely, perplexed by that statement. Liliana only served Titania, Queen of the Fairies, as did all that shared her species. So, where did the second Queen come from?

Liliana would break away from that second Queen to go fight like she meant it. To make up for the difference in firepower brought upon by Dinah leaving.

"Oi!" Dinah reached out, but her hand trembled. Like it or not, her body couldn’t move back in that direction. In the distance, soaring above and beyond the horizon, the smoke of flame carried into the Heavens, and, though, she was never bound for such elysium, she did not want to test her flammability.

With Dinah paused, those bound by her were free to move, with Eula standing up. "...Dinah. We can take it from here."

"You would abandon me, too," Dinah asks. "To protect those that would cheat me, steal from me, and disgrace me for their own glory from Humans that would sooner kill you than believe you and stand beside you?"

A breeze kicked up by the rising air currents would blow past Dinah and Eula, the automaton’s hair waving in the wind. "It isn’t abandonment. I’ll find my way to Wonderland. I made that promise. Here and now, however, I have to keep a different one. One I can’t remember making to anyone. And yet…" Eula laid a hand over her own heart, a faint smile on her lips. "...Even a machine that doesn’t know itself…can know it has to do what is right."

Dinah grit her teeth, the ground cracked beneath her feet, as she rooted herself in place - to run further or simply not run... it wasn’t clear. "Right. Wrong. I don’t care about such facile concepts. Nobody takes into account what I want. My goals. My mission..." she shifted, the ground cracking into a small crater. "My kingdoms burn around me... always burning... always alone... my party’s ruined... again."

Eula would extend a hand out to Dinah. "I cannot pretend I know all of your tragedies. Or that I ever could. But, here and now, I have a cruel request. Dinah, Alice, Carroll…would you be a sword to the ungrateful, to those who you accepted as citizens, would you swallow that disgust until this war is over? I may not be thinking straight but…"

The automaton was shedding tears, hand trembling. "...Even after…I’ve broken myself…I can’t take lives so easily…and I’m not strong enough to incapacitate them."

A pathetic, unsightly machine abandoned, repurposed, loved, reused, recycled, abused, then made to kill the things she loved. And yet she was ready to march into hell because she promised she would.

"I do not detest the citizenry... I detest the guard." Dinah narrowed her eyes, her internalized poison leaking free as she seethed. "This was my party. It always was. From the very beginning. My party, my rules. Why should I share!? Why should I be expect to!? This was mine!" she shouted, stamping her feet, shattering rock, "First the pathetic greenskin, now the simpering Human! They intrude where they are not wanted! Play at heroism, only to interfere! I! Don’t! Want! To! Share!"

Pitching her tantrum, Dinah would uproot trees and rend earth, her temper mounting and cresting the hill.

However, as swiftly as it bloomed, her temper withered like a rose on the vine.

"Did you know, I captured prisoners... students... I did that... and they let them die? Why did I bother? " Dinah asks, sinking her knees. "Why should I bother? Someone else will take the credit... my contribution... my effort... ignored..."

Kerry thought something was up when Alice began acting strange when the flaming boulders rained from the sky, causing everyone to scramble and evade. The thousand yard stare her lover had in her eyes as she gazed at the flames greatly concerned the insectoid mercenary. Her worry only increased as Takeshi and the taskforce ran after the legionnaire. Upon reaching the stronghold, a lightning strike was what confirmed Kerry’s fears as Alice fused with Carroll, becoming Dinah grabbing herself, Eula and Liliana…before running away.

That rocked Kerry more than anything since she came to this island.

Alice…No…Cecilia never ran from anything. Ever.

Fortunately, Liliana managed to free herself and slap Dinah, causing her to stop running. From there, the fused queen bared her heart to the trio. As she spoke, Kerry began to understand.

This mission…This quest in particular…

”You wanted to do this by yourself.”

It made sense. The Heavenly Strike was something that Alice saw a goal to reach, a challenge to overcome so she can better herself.

Essentially, to the mad hatter, this quest was a party of one.

But then Gringor undertook the quest and told everyone else about it…and now here was Takeshi, taking away the challenge that was originally Alice's.

The party was ruined.

And now here was Dinah, expressing her discontent, frustrations and sorrow over it. Hell, there's a chance that is more than just this particular quest that she's raising hell over.

”Alright…”, the hornet thought to herself.”Time to be her rock.”

”Dinah…”, Kerry began, her voice calm and gentle as she hovered toward the queen, braving the emotional tempest that she had become. ”We hear you, but you need to calm down. Breath. Please.”

Between Liliana and Eula, Dinah's emotions were turbulent, but Kerry was able to break through. As requested, Dinah took a deep breath, and pulled her poison spores back into her lungs, before exhaling, and nearly slamming her head into the broken ground, as she screamed into the earth; venting the corrosive frustration within her mind, body, and soul.

After exhaling in full, Dinah would breathe in and out, before sitting up; hands between her legs, bent like Vs, in a childish sitting fashion, as she sobbed silently.

"I'm sorry I'm so selfish..." Dinah says.

A small hand would gently pat Dinah’s head, as Liliana had returned upon hearing her scream. "...Lady Alice…Carroll…"

”We get it.”, Kerry added as she knelt down and placed a comforting hand on the queen's back. ”You wanted to do this quest by yourself. For yourself. Yet, all these outside variables just kept getting in the way, huh?”

Eula couldn’t add much more with words, so she would use actions, pulling the three into a hug with her and Dinah.

Dinah blinked, confused. A selfish person didn't warrant such affection. However, she wasn't the product of selfishness, but flawed strength and misguided rebellion. Her mission was attuned to her plight in Wonderland, and this... wasn't.

Shizuyama wasn't her mission, her struggle, but it was theirs.

"I'm selfish, but..." Dinah sighed, "...I'm protective, too, of the things I am selfish about."

Dinah huffed, "I have a Kingdom to protect, don't I? Not in Wonderland, but here."

”Indeed, you do. However, it's not just you. Not anymore.”

Chitinous hands gently held Dinah’s face, guiding her to look up into the hazel eyes of her future wife.

”You have us as well.”, Kerry said with a simple smile, gesturing her head toward Eula and Liliana.

Liliana, currently a bit smooshed from the robo hug earlier, gave a shaky thumbs-up as she stumbled a bit. "Yeh!"

Eula would nod, before saying: "I may not be the most useful in a fight, but I promise that I’ll stay by your side."

Dinah sighed, before rousing to her feet. "Mad Hatters throw fun parties, not pity parties," she says. "Please, indulge my selfishness for a little longer. If I split apart, Alice and Carroll won't be able to fight. I..."

Dinah paused, before steeling herself.

"We... have a Kingdom to save."

"Yeah!"

”Hell yeah to that.”, concurred as drew Dusk and pointed back toward the way they came. ”Now let's go kick some ass!”

Confidence restored, Dinah would grab Kerry and Eula around the waist, throwing them over her shoulders, caveman-style, and Liliana would find herself stuffed into her cleavage, seatbelted by familiar, twinned ahoge.

"We haven't been gone too too long, so... Dinah pressed her right heel back, "Tempo... Crescendo..."

Dinah would blink out of sight, as she raced back along the path, in time to see the fight had begun in earnest.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

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ATTN: @PaulHaynek, @The Irish Tree (Eula), @Rezod92 (Kerry), & @Restalaan (Gringor)

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Where It All Began

“HAMMER BOI IS MINE!”

Gringor

"I think not."

As his axe descended, it would fling back into the air several feet. In that same instance, Gringor would be confronted by a technique he could never forget by a face he’d never seen.

"Never in your wildest dreams, Orc."

Cecilia would shift up, returning to Alice, as she extended her right arm; pushing the Varjan Legionnaire several feet back and away. He left tracks in the ground by how hard he’d planted his feet to resist, and it showed how far Alice could push back on that resistance.

Alice smiled, wickedly, as she caught Gringor’s axe, and vines wrapped the long handle around it and Dusk - reinforcing the handle with the spear. "Now, then," she says, "I started this quest, so I should finish it..."

Her expression turned malicious, as she suddenly bore down on the Legionnaire, picking up speed, "Tempo: Prestissimo," swing her arm back, "Invasion," and swinging the reinforced axe at lightning speed, "Heavenly Strike!"

As strong as Gringor’s axe was, even reinforced by Dusk, it wasn’t her axe. Boosted by the Heavenly Strike, it did not clear the Legionnaire’s armor as smoothly as Carroll would have, resulting in a good gash run through it, no real damage was done. "Disappointing," Alice says, as her vine withered from the sheer force of speed drying them out. "Carroll, to me."

"Yeah, yeah. Be safe, Eula," Carroll says, before surging through the air like a bolt of lightning, and materializing in her sword form. "How nostalgic, thinking back to that day..."

Alice would release her hold on Dusk, and throw it back to Kerry, before heaving Gringor’s axe beyond him - sinking it into the chest of the last, unattended Varjan Brigand; the poor soul having seen the hell unfold. Mercy didn’t come into mind for the kill, but Alice didn’t want any interruptions.

That, and spitefulness.

"I offer you surrender, Varjan, and nothing else," Alice says, "Deny, and death is the only outcome. You are outgunned."

The Legionnaire was against the wall, as the Taskforce held the high ground, now.

"Go ahead, buddy," Carroll snickered, "Make your choice."

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

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ATTN: @PaulHaynek, @The Irish Tree (Eula/Liliana), @AzureKnight (Shizuka) &@Rezod92 (Kerry)

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Before The Dance (Collab: AzureKnight & Rezod92)

"Ohayo, Kerry-san."

"Oh, hey Shizuka. Didn't realize you joined me.", Kerry responded as the ronin joined her in watching Alice train with one of her spears.

"Alice is indeed a skilled warrior. It seems she's adept with any weapon that she gets her hands on."

"Yeah, no kidding. You saw the way she used Gringor's axe back when we all trained together. She's like a grandmaster of arms. She's....incredible."

"If you didn't mind Kerry, I wanted to talk about last night. I...want to apologize to you."

Upon hearing the apology, the hornet gave her full attention to her leader as he continued.

"Suggesting that you leave the island all together wasn't the message I wanted to give off. I know that in spite of everything, you're still a warrior and a mercenary, but above that you are an honorable one. You don't quit until the job is finished. That being said, if you or Alice need anything, I'm here. That includes Gwendolyn as well."

Kerry stared at Shizuka, processing his vow to support her and Alice in the future to come. Then, he would see a look of doubt mar her features before a shadow obscured her eyes as she looked away.

”Honorable, you say? Heh…..Yeah…”

Her hand fell on her belly.

”I….haven’t exactly been like that, as of recently.”

Shizuka examined the sober change in Kerry's expression.

”I imagine that there's something you wish to tell me? In which case, I'm all ears.”

The hornet sighed as she leaned back, her back flush against the tree’s bark. Might as well get straight to this issue, no need for posturing.

”A few hours before the Varjans tried to siege Terauchi Temple…..I stole from a monk.”

Shizuka’s expression did not change at Kerry's confession. ”There’s more to this story, I hope?” He asked. ”You do not strike me as a petty thief, let alone one that would steal from a simple monk.”

”There is. Was just getting to it.”, Kerry sighed as she confessed. ”It all started after we got back from training…”

At that, she told everything that happened. Her reunion with Relica. Meeting up with Eula. Going to the first village after a run-in with Varjans. The monk playing a lame prank and the subsequent beating got from Relica. That’s when Kerry stole his money. She even told Shizuka about the fight she and Eula almost had.

”After fending off the Varjan siege and talking with Eula again, I felt like shit over what I’ve done. It’s why I resolved to give that monk his money back as soon as possible so that this doesn’t bite us in the ass later.”, Kerry concluded, looking at her leader to see his reaction.

No anger was roused within Shizuka at Kerry’s confession. A calm and neutral expression was maintained on his face.

”I see.” He finally said. ”I suppose, as your captain, I should be more upset. While I do feel that what you did is ultimately wrong, I actually understand the sentiment. In the past I would’ve essentially done the same.” Shizuka looked off at the morning sky, some rain still drizzling around them. The sound of the droplets pelting the foliage nearly drowned out the grunts and sounds of the lance swings performed by Alice.

”It can be said that the monk was in the wrong as well. While from his point of view, it was a simple antic in which nothing of real consequence would come about. To us, however, we’re having our time wasted in an endeavor where we’re risking our lives for people who despise us. Honestly, having his wallet taken could be seen as him getting off easy. However, two wrongs don’t make a right, yet you are aware of your misgivings and wish to make things right. I believe that’s worth something. ”

He then turned back to Kerry. ”As for your fight with Eula, it wouldn’t be the first time that members of the force have butted heads. And as you’ve said, ultimately nothing came of it and you were able to settle the matter. So, as long as you stick to your word of returning the man’s wallet, that’s all one can ask for.”

”I intend to.”, Kerry vowed as turned her attention back to watching Alice train, her hand subconsciously going to her belly. ”Heh……Things really do get put into perspective when you’re expecting.”

Shizuka looked at Kerry’s stomach; her future daughter. ” I understand that mamono biology is rather different. When are you expecting Gwen? Is there anything you need right now?”

”Well, given Alice’s Wonderlanian nature, Gwen is coming along fast so it’ll be soon. More or less a month, I wager.”, Kerry, answered with a grateful smile. ”We’ll worry about her arrival when we get to that bridge. For now, let’s focus on beating these Heavenly Strike pricks.”

At Kerry’s dismissal of worry, and her mention of conquering the Heavenly Strike mission, Shizuka couldn’t help but smirk. ”Very well then.” He said with a chuckle. ”I understand that it was quite a difficult mission- both Alice and Gringor couldn’t complete it alone and the latter was heavily injured, no? Alice herself was able to defeat three by herself and bring them back as prisoners, but they were killed during the attempted siege. I can only hope that the training you all received will help see you through. Honestly, it sounds like a quest that I’m more equipped for. Did you remember my movements during the exercises? It sounds like those students use similar step techniques to mine.”

”How could I forget? You move as fast as we do. I may not have taken part in this personally, but from what I’ve heard, you may need that speed. Though, they may not expect someone with a spear performing the same technique.”

”Indeed.” Shizuka responded. ”Reverse engineering their technique and applying it to a different weapon may be cheeky to some, but it should prove a brilliant strategy in the coming bouts. There is one concern I have though. ” He said, rubbing his chin.

”They’ve been referred to as students so far. That tells me that there must be a master. If that’d be the case, then we can’t treat them the same way we’ve treated the trainees. Perhaps it would be best for Takeshi-dono to come as an advisor. If need be, I may need to take them personally. Some of you coming have yet to even face the style yet.”

”Hmmm…..Point taken.”, Kerry muttered, looking off in the distance in thought. As she said, she has not taken part in this quest, so this will be the first time she has fought these students. It begs the question: If the students were enough that Alice and Gringor retreated…

”Then their master must be on another level. Honestly, if Varjans weren’t around, I would’ve voted to just leave these guys alone. But, we can’t let that technique fall into the wrong hands, especially not to those goddamn lunatics.”

Shizuka nodded in agreement.

”They already tried to curry favor with another skilled swordsman, Kazenosuke of the Dancing Blade. Trust me, he may be a bit of a lout with a bad attitude, but you’d rather have him as an ally rather than a friend. That all being said, having a team of strong fighters should make everything easier for us.”

Shizuka then looked at Kerry’s stomach again. ”I still can’t help but be wary of a pregnant woman taking part in battle…”

”I know my limits, Shizuka. I’m not even showing that much right now.”, the merc responded, alleviating her leader’s well-intended concerns. ”But, if it will put you at ease, I will not take on missions when I’m near due delivery. On this, you have my word.”

”Heh, I suppose given your stubbornness, that’s about all I can ask for. But, knowing that she’ll be there as well puts my mind further at ease.” He said, looking back at Alice. The way she wielded that lance, one would think she had trained with it all her life.

”True, I am in good hands. Though…”

Kerry’s eyes narrowed as she studied her lover’s spearwork, taking note of the way she moved her body, where she placed her feet, how little she wasted a movement. It all felt so….familiar?

”I…feel like I’ve seen this.”

Shizuka noted that Kerry seemed to be eyeing Alice training more intently than before, then she spoke.

”Is that right? Not the first time you’ve seen this style of fencing? Perhaps it’s a common school in Wonderland?”

”In all my travels, there was only one other time I’ve seen this kind of spearwork. Look at how she’s moving. It’s like she’s marching to a beat. Very unique and definitely something you wouldn’t find in a school. So the fact that it's so familiar to me is….No, it can’t be a coincidence.”, Kerry stated, voicing her thoughts. ”Also, technically, that isn’t “Alice” right now. That’s Cecilia.”

”Cecilia…?” Shizuka was puzzled at Kerry’s correction. The woman they were looking at certainly had an appearance that Shizuka never saw before, but her chi signature was more or less that of Alice’s Albeit it felt more…human than before.

Another persona?”” He asked. I believe Carroll mentioned that Alice used to be human. Is this…who she used to be?””

”Yup. This is her as the Queen of Rebellion, before she took on the title of Alice. She’s also way older than any of us…..or anyone on this island, as a matter of fact.”

”Queen of Rebellion, huh?” He said, lightly laughing. ”That’s quite the moniker. Thanks to Carroll, I know how long lived she is. I also was able to view some small windows of her past life through Carroll. She’s had quite the journey…”

He continued to watch Cecilia, her movements as though she were prancing to a military melody, but her strikes were true and precise nonetheless.

”I should let her know that I appreciate her and Carroll staying and helping us. Her relationship with the force has been rather…’rocky’, we’ll call it. But, here you go, getting hitched with her and bringing a new life into this world.”

”It was…not what we were expecting to happen, but it did.”, Kerry sheepishly replied, scratching the back of her head. ”But we’re not regretting it. Gwen is a blessing…and I’ll make damn sure that when she hatches, there’ll be no Varjan dark cloud hanging over her head.”

With those words, Kerry walked into the clearing to speak with her lover.

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Intermission Fairies (Collab: AzureKnight & The Irish Tree)

It was with poise and grace that Cecilia fought on, utilizing spear techniques familiar to Kerry, while Liliana sort of stared at the Rebellion Queen from a far-off bush, wondering to herself a very, very good question:

"Who the heck!?"

She certainly smelt like Alice…and had a similar magical funk about her that reeked of Wonderland…and Alice was prone to changing faces roughly every few narrative cycles of relevance but…something felt different. Plus, where was Carroll? Usually (barring that time Alice went a little evil when they were rescuing that girl from the Varjan ship) they’re inseparable. And, now she was dancing so…

Whimsy would groan inside of her sword, the intolerable smell of sawdust burning permeating the air as Liliana rubbed her brain cells together hard enough to start a fire. At least until Liliana gave up on thinking as Kerry came in, spotting Shizuka soon after. He was definitely Carroll’s husband-to-be, so she should ask him where the sword was.

"Shizukaaaa! I’m super confused!" Liliana said, as if that was anything new. "Alice got a new form, and that was cool and all, but then she and Carroll did a…like a…fu-sion-ha thingie and then that was another new form…but now, THAT’s another new Alice, so…a-anyways, where’s Carroll at? She’ll know!"

”Ohayo, Lili-chan.” Shizuka barely managed to get out before she went on another one of her frantic rants. ”Uh, easy now, let's slow down a bit.” Ironic coming from a master of the God Step technique.

Shizuka attempted to calm her down by gently padding her shoulders with his index fingers.

”To my understanding, Alice's current form is that of Cecilia, the human that she was originally.” He explained to Liliana. ”I imagine that Carroll could certainly provide a better explanation than I. Likely, she's nearby since I can sense her chi.”

Liliana would nod at Shizuka’s explanation, before saying: "Then, let’s go find Carroll!" using Size Trick to stand at human height. She would then look to Shizuka for direction, since she wasn’t the chi-sensing type.

”Very well then, let us go.” Shizuka happily replied. However, before setting off with Liliana, he turned to Kerry and ‘Cecilia’. The two seemed to be conversing about something, with the supposed subjects being enough to draw his attention. The ronin wasn’t usually the type to eavesdrop on others’ conversations, but he felt that it would be worth it to learn more about Alice as a whole, even if it was just a little bit.

”Lili-chan, I’ll catch up in just a moment.” Shizuka told his fairy companion.

He decided to nestle over by a tree, attempting not to get too close to the pair of mamono. He was suddenly taken back to his days as an assassin; he doubted he could effectively mask his presence from two seasoned monstrous women, but he at least had enough respect to not make it blatantly obvious he was snooping. Shizuka would lower his chi until it could barely be recognized as more than a simple hush on the wind, not making it any different than the spiritual essence that a squirrel or small bird would give off.

Listening to Shizuka say that he would catch up later, Liliana would shrink down and kick her feet while they dangled off the drooping leaf of a nearby herb, humming as Whimsy waited for something interesting to happen. Liliana might have followed to eavesdrop, but she just figured Shizuka had to use the can. Or a bush. Or a canned bush.

Queen of Rebellion

Bridgette

A Promise of Love

Kerry and Cecilia, who had transformed back into the Alice form from before, were having a conversation about various subjects. Apparently Kerry had run into someone who was close to Alice years ago, who had used the same fighting style. That explains why Kerry said it looked familiar, he thought. This, along with the reaffirmation of their love, seemed to make up the bulk of their discussion. But, more importantly, being able to hear a bit of memoirs into Alice’s past provided context to Shizuka as to why she had decided to abandon the taskforce in the first place.

Shizuka understood that every member of the taskforce had joined of their own free will, and therefore they also held the right to leave whenever they wished as well. Who was he to force them to constantly risk their lives for a people who ultimately wish they were dead or gone anyway? However, it admittedly did put a sour taste in his mouth that he’d have one less ally to assist with the coming hardships. For all he knew, Alice might still decide to leave at any point in time.

He wouldn’t know what to say to her if that’d be the case. Would he just say goodbye for the second time? He didn’t know how to feel about that…

Instead of pointless dwelling on these thoughts, he thought it best to leave her to her devices for now, and focused back on his fae teammate. ”Sorry about that, Lilli-chan. Let’s go find Carroll now.” He said, walking back up her resting on a flower.

Liliana would flutter beside Shizuka as he returned, taking a perch on his shoulder. "No worries! Nature calls sometimes."

Shizuka’s face dawned a perplexed look; It appeared Liliana had a misunderstanding of sorts. Nanda?” He replied to her. Deciding that it wasn’t important, he ignored her statement and led them to where they might find the demonic weapon Carroll.

After walking a bit, they would’ve eventually spotted Carroll, who along with Eula, where fishing down by a pond.

"I always have something in mind, but a relationship is between two, and I, alone, am one. So, we make decisions together."

"I would like to keep exploring these feelings. I want to get to know you better, and to keep protecting people by your side."

"That's something I'd be glad to do. However, there is one problem that you have to take with the utmost seriousness: I have a goal, and that goal will take me home. If you follow me, you'll never return here. You'll live and die in Wonderland. Can you do that, truly?"

"Is there truly no coming back from Wonderland? You’ve returned from it."

"I was born there. I am immune to Wonderlust, the draw of Wonderland, once a foreigner has come and gone... The corruption makes the body ache and carve returning. Like homesickness on steroids."

"...There is still a lot of world for me to visit…"

"Indeed. I cannot make you follow me. However, I cannot stay behind, once that door opens..."

"...I…"

Liliana stared, eyes shimmering at the romantic scene before her, all the while wondering…

…"Whozzat!?" as she stared at the regal figure lewdly holding the hand of that automaton that Liliana spoke to that one time. The one that was always getting beat up, or something, since all Liliana knew was that she was always off on a mission or getting fixed up.

It would seem that Shizuka found himself again eavesdropping on another private conversation, albeit unintentionally. ”That’s Eula.” He said. The automation girl who assisted him during the Honey Trap mission appeared to be talking to…Carroll? Well, if Alice can spontaneously change forms, it stood to reason that Carroll could as well. The chi, though altered somewhat, was unmistakable.

Rather than interrupt, Shizuka thought it would be more polite to simply let them finish their conversation. He was, afterall, in strong support of allies building rapport with one another.

Liliana blushed heavily and covered her mouth. So many innuendos were going over her head! SO much hand-holding! How audaciously lewd! Liliana had a feeling that this was what Lotus got up to with her husband when the other Bladeflowers weren’t looking.

"W-Won’t she get pregnant from doing that?" Liliana whispered shyly, pointing at their interlocked fingers.

”Uh, no Lili-chan…people are not able to plant seeds in such a way…” Shizuka replied to Liliana. He thought that the Fairy Queen must not have had the “birds and the bees” talk with her as of yet. Odd, considering her species.

That aside, he supposed that it was an interesting take away in the fact that Caroll and Eula seemed to have a budding romance. Part of the leader in him wasn’t sure how he felt about members of the taskforce falling in love with each other, as sometimes it can lead to unnecessary drama and unforeseen circumstances. They would just say it’s in their nature, appealing to their biological predispositions and emotional needs, and some of the other members have already beaten these two to the punch.

He tried not to listen in too intently, but he wondered when they’d be done conversing.

Liliana blushed and covered her eyes, still pretty sure this was getting Eula double pregnant. "B-But that’s what Rosebud said…and she said to never let a boy I don’t know hold my hand…"

…Perhaps, all fairies were just a tiny bit stupid.

Shizuka was getting to be somewhat curious of the conversations and logic the fairy realm held, if not only for just how odd it sounded. But he’d have to put that on the back burner for now.

Focusing back on the automation and cursed sword, quietly nestled together fishing. Lacking a proper fishing rod, Carroll made one out of her arm with her amorphic properties; one had to admit the sight of Eula sitting on her lap as she held Carroll’s arm and used it to cast was rather cute.

”I suppose since both of them are girls, Rosebud’s words may not apply here?” Shizuka said, unsure as to whether his logic could be applied to the world of the fae.

"Shizuka, girls get pregnant," Liliana said with all the confidence her three braincells had, now believing Shizuka didn’t know where babies came from. "Pretty sexist to assume they can’t."

Shizuka stared blankly at Liliana for a moment, unaware of how she arrived at this assumption. ”...I’m quite aware, Lili-chan. If they couldn’t, I certainly wouldn’t be here today.”

Shizuka felt that he was being inappropriate, watching his two teammates in an intimate moment from the shadows like some lecherous pervert. Lili would probably think nothing of it, the little ditz, but perhaps they should head back and wait for them there instead of engaging in all this prowling.

”Lili-chan, those two seem to be having a private moment. Perhaps we should head back and await their return. Us standing here feels…wrong.”

Liliana let out a small whine. Shizuka was right but…it was so fun to watch! "B-But what if this is all some dastardly hand-holding plot to kidnap a member of the task force! Also, duh, Shizuka, boys come from storks, girls come from seeds. Everyone knows that."

…Unshakeable. Invincible. Her head was like iron, impenetrable to logic.

Liliana would sit up and say: "But, maybe we should leave ‘em be. Not knightly to eavesdrop."

The wanderer had forgotten that he was talking to what was, essentially, a child. The birds and bees aside, Shizuka would carefully get up from his position and lead Lili-chan back to the temple; he was mindful not to alert Carroll and Eula.

”Lili-chan…” He started. ”Perhaps it would do you some good to speak with some of the more mature members of the taskforce about the finer points of procreation.”

Shizuka would feel a shift in the air; a sense of Mana, moving, and converging. It wasn't a simple exchange in the currents, but a direct force acting upon it.

...as they reach the path to the temple, to his immediate right, Cecilia would be walking up the path, with Kerry in her arms, before Eula would land on the path to his left, carrying Carroll, and about to blast to end of the path.

In a single moment, Fate had brought them together in a single place.

---

At The Foot of the Stairs to Heaven (Collab: Enkryption, The Irish Tree, AzureKnight & Rezod92)

"Liliana/Shizuka, what are you doing out here?"

"Nothing!" Liliana said with the most guilty look on her face ever, cheeks flushed red. "Definitely not being told I need to know how babies are made by Shizuka!"

”Ohayo, Cecilia-san, Carroll-san” Shizuka said with calm politeness, looking at the Queen of Mushrooms and her cursed weapon who had just arrived at their side. ”I had originally come out here to have a brief chat with Kerry-san about last night, I hopefully gave her some good words of reassurance and reconciliation. I then ran into Lili-chan who was curious about your…new appearance, so to speak. I thought Carroll-san could give a more detailed explanation than I could.”

Shizuka still couldn’t help but feel a bit of awkwardness when Carroll was present with other people, due to aiding in her “recovery” that one time. While Carroll apparently did forget about that, somehow that made the ronin feel even more awkward.

With Kerry and Eula present, however, perhaps the secret would be outed, one way or another.

”Oh, right. Some of us don’t know about that.”, commented Kerry as she placed her feet back on the ground. ”Well, better it be known now than during a critical mome- Wait a second…”

The hornet leaned toward Carroll, eyes narrowing as her antennae twitched.

”Carroll, your aura is…There’s something else in it. Spirit energy. It feels almost…no, exactly like… ”

Kerry snapped her head toward Shizuka…Then back to Carroll…Before falling back to her ronin leader, a smirk on her lips and a knowing gleam in her eyes.

”Heat of the moment, Shizuka?”

Crossing her arms, Eula would nod at the scene at hand. "I see. So Shizuka is sexually harassing Liliana," she said, completely misjudging the situation based on Liliana’s words. "As for Carroll’s appearance, it seems that each time she enters her blade form, whoever unsheathes her will affect her appearance."

"Something like that," Carroll says. "It’s more of a mate thing, but whatever," she says, before bonking Eula in the head, "And, no, the Crass Hornet with little room to talk about doing anything in the heat of the moment, looking as she does, all barefoot and pregnant.........." Carroll glared at Kerry, "...is referring to the fact that, at some point, prior to losing my memory, the samurai and I slept together. A dalliance, I have no regret over. Men fall at the feet of Mamono. It happens. However, there are unresolved matter between he and I, and they will rear fruit another day. Be that as conversation, a sex, or both."

"I remember well, her name, Yuriha, and her form," Carroll says, shifting her shape and self, "and her voice, and every moment spent on that beach, in a desperate bid to feel wanted. So, yes, it was the heat of the moment - mine. Not his. Don’t cast stones so readily, Hornet."

”So…you do remember.” Shizuka said to Carroll, who seemed to be changing her appearance yet again. Of course, who would it be than his old love, Yuriha. ”You mimic her voice perfectly. The candid, dainty way she always spoke. Heh, you know, at first, I didn’t know how to feel, seeing you like that.”

”What happened during that time was her needing aid, which I gave her. We’ll leave it at that for now.” Shizuka said, now addressing Kerry. He then snapped towards Eula, not forgetting the little comment she made.

”I should be offended at how quickly you paint me as a lecher!” He spat.

"To be fair, you have done little to hide your emotions at the sight of me. I could feel you, as I fished," Carroll says, before shifting back to her Eula-ified Form, "Unresolved emotions are what I fish for. The hopeless. The confused. A life I can enrich, as the Third Princess of Wonderland."

"Selfishness is why I can never claim to be a good person," Carroll smirked, before she added, "I'd never believe you the type to go for a fairy, anyways," she flicked her tongue out, the end forked and splayed, "A head so empty could never match my game, in any case."

”You’ve already explained to me who you are, so much so that I personally feel your words are merely a front to mask your true feelings.” Shizuka responded. ”For right now, however, are you fine with entertaining Lili-chan’s curiosity? Or course, because she’s right in front of us, Cecilia could answer her question directly.”

"Eh? What am I being involved in," Cecilia asks. "You were spying on us dancing, you didn't get your answer?

"Lady Alice, boys come from storks, right? Shizuka’s telling me they don’t," Liliana said, pointing at Shizuka as if he’d done something wrong.

”HUH!?””, Kerry exclaimed, bewildered by how much the fairy believed that. ”Lili, people, much less boys, aren’t born that way! That’s just a myth to avoid a awkward talk!”

”Indeed.” Shizuka said. ”I’m still trying to figure out how she and I got into that conversation in the first place. However, that is NOT the question I was ref-” Shizuka stopped mid-sentence, squinting at Cecilia.

”I was simply watching you train for a brief moment, the same as Kerry-san!” He retorted, continuing to deflect accusations thrown at him haphazardly. ”But, nevermind that, Lili-chan simply wants to know why you’ve changed your appearance yet again.”

"Lili, listen," Cecilia says, "Fairytale, Wonderland, Pandemonium, the Realm of Mamono, and the Material Realm, these five worlds have their own rules for how children come to be," she says, "Some are similar, and most are not. Shizuka is neither right nor wrong, and neither are you. How Fairies are born are not how Humans are born, nor how I was born on the Material Realm."

”Cecilia-san, this whole talk of lives born and the nature of copulation was brought up originally as an afterthought, but it wasn’t what Lili-chan had first questioned. It was in regard to your changes in appearance and personality!”

Shizuka’s mental exhaustion was piling up. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if Liliana herself had forgotten what she originally was curious about…

"Would you like to shut up, and I'll get to it at my pace, or would you like someone else to tell the story, Shizuka," Cecilia asks. "Unless you've the knowledge to explain how my existence works?"

”Can I tell’em?”, Kerry would ask her lover.

Cecilia shrugged, "Knock yourself out."

The merc would clear her throat.

”To put it in a way that Lili would understand…Cecilia is Alice and Alice is Cecilia.”

"Yeah, I can understand that easily enough!"

”Ugh, what I’m saying is that Alice is her…..front. Cecilia is her true self.”

Shizuka had been the one pushing for this, and the main point was that Liliana understood the matter well enough. However, admittedly, Shizuka himself was having a hard time understanding what Kerry’s words meant. Thankfully, he still had some glimpses into Alice’s life from when he was fused with her.

”Lili-chan, perhaps you could say that Cecilia is the main personality, so to speak. All other instances of Alice that we’ve seen are personas. Masks that she wears that each represent a different entity. Is this accurate, Cecilia-san?” Shizuka said with a snarky tone, returning the sass she gave him earlier.

"Boiled down to brass tacks, yeah," Cecilia says, "In a more earnest explanation, each was one more chance I had to try and win," she says, "I have one left in the tank. If I die, I die. No more chances. The next time, Alice, the Queen of Diamonds, dies... so, too, does Cecilia, the Rebellion Queen."

Cecilia looked to the sky, "I wanted to soften that blow with a silly anecdote about The Birds and The Bees. I hope cutting that was as satisfying as you wanted."

"So…y-you mean…you died when you went home for a bit?" Liliana asked.

"A single vorpal strike through my skull, severing upper from lower, and so cleanly that I never felt it, or acknowledged the fatal regeneration," Cecilia says, "Exile, enforced."

”A simple yes would have suffice, along with not providing a brutal mental image for Lili, don’t ya think?”, Kerry inputted, deadpanned at Cecilia’s blunt explanation.

"I'm taking too long, apparently, so short and bittersweet," Cecilia says, cutting a cruel side-eye at Shizuka.

"...Who did this to you Lady Alice?" Liliana asked simply.

"Someone I aim to kill, and take her throne," Cecilia says, "Alice Kardia."

”The Queen of Hearts herself.”“

"She’s a bad guy, isn’t she?"

"From a certain point of view, yes. From a standpoint of how the world works, no," Cecilia says, "Lilith's daughter, she is neither benevolent nor malevolent, but beholden to the subjectivity of her Realm. They worship her..." Cecilia narrowed her eyes, "I revile her."

”She also just so happens to have a…”, Kerry paused, glancing over at Carroll. ”Actually, I think our friendly neighborhood Cursed Weapon ought to tell you.”

"I’m not a mind-reader at range, Hornet," Carroll says. "If there something about my mother you would like to share with the class, since we’re bonding so awkwardly this morning?"

Shizuka’s expression softened a bit upon hearing Cecilia’s explanation of her current situation. He listened intently, then sighed. ”Forgive me, it wasn’t my intention to sour the mood. Carroll had allowed me to be privy to some tidbits of your past, albeit simple bits and pieces. If there’s things you do not wish to speak on, you’re well within your right not to do so.”

"I’ve gone too much of my life exercising that right, for weal and for woe," Cecilia says. "Perhaps, I’d be best to stop doing that..."

"...I don’t care who Lilith is, or who her daughter is, but nobody gets to kill my friends and get to keep eating bon-bons and other nice things! Tell me where she is, and she’s eating dirt for dessert!" Liliana promised, raising Whimsy overhead.

"She resides in a place you can never go, unless you never want to return," Cecilia says.

”In other words, Wonderland obviously.”, chimed in Kerry. ”Unfortunately, we can’t do that right now, what with the Varjans and all.”

"It would be a one-way journey, essentially, and as such it should only be taken with careful consideration," Eula explained, figuring Liliana really didn’t think things through.

But, despite that, Liliana would respond with: "Well…Alice left. So, that means you totally can."

Eula…could at least see SOME of the logic in that.

”Eeeeh, it’s more complicated than that, Lili.” Kerry spoke, crossing her arms. ”I may not have been there myself, but I heard stories of mercs who ventured to that realm during my travels. See, what happens is that when you leave, you get this strange sense of yearning to return to Wonderland. Sure, you can go days, weeks, even months without wanting to, but the feeling doesn’t go away. It never goes away. The yearning only gets more overwhelming over time until one day…you just go. Straight back to Wonderland, never leaving again. So yeah, all roads lead to that realm if you go there.”

Liliana pouted and folded her arms. "But…I know for sure some fairies have gone to Wonderland and returned…" she said, looking to see if Cecilia could explain that.

Kerry turned to Cecilia as well.

”Have there been exceptions?”

"I was born on Earth, and reborn in Wonderland. I'm inoculated. I can come and go, because I am no longer foreign to the Realm," Cecilia says, "From the moment you step foot upon the soil, you are poisoned for life. Likely, those Fairies left and never returned; their departure covered up as state secrets," she says, "That, or someone from Wonderland visited them, since it would seem my Band of Diamonds has been looking for me."

"And, you're confident they are still alive, Carroll asks. "It's been close to a millennia. Even Io couldn't last that long, and she's far sturdier than your lot."

"Kerry has fought Bridgette. If Bridgette's still alive, no shot the others are dead," Cecilia says. "I have no way to get a message across Realms without risking death, however."

”Well…Maybe I can do that for you.” - Kerry suggested with a supportive smile, despite knowing the consequences of such a life-changing decision.

"I couldn't willingly let your divorce yourself from your family forever on a lark," Cecilia says, "I wouldn't be able to reconcile such a thing with your family, either. I wouldn't even know how..."

”My family would grieve for me for a time, no doubt. But they’d understand. They did when I took on life as a wandering mercenary, knowing full well what such a life would bring. How one of these days could be my last in such a profession. It came with the territory, as they say.”, Kerry chuckled before fixing the mad hatter with a serious gaze.

”I’ve already committed to ending my traveling days to settle for a future as your wife. It does sadden me, the prospect of never seeing my parents and sisters in person again and I’m sure as shit I’m gonna cry about it, but for the sake of our future and Gwen’s, I am willing to do this for you. For us…This is worth it.”

"Right, so... sweet speech, but you can commute back and forth," Cecilia says, "You just can't stay, but you aren't barred from here. By forever, I meant, there's no curing Wonderlust. I have no idea how to explain that without it sounding... bad."

"In any case, the problem is that we left Wonderland in a state similar to the world that Cecilia came from," Carroll says, "Likely, they've continued, so we can't tell what the technology is like. But, last we check, rifles were commonplace, and a Civil War was waving."

"There's no telling what grounds are held by the Ever-brilliant Diamonds and what's captured by the Ever-beating Hearts," Cecilia says, "I couldn't stomach the idea of you going alone with Gwen and nobody to watch your back, while you're focused on watching hers."

"I concur, as well," Carroll says, "Add to that, we have no Wererabbit to stumble upon a March Hare's hole, and no way to stay connected to you on the other side..." she crossed her arms, "I wouldn't consent without meeting that bare minimum. As the Third Princess of Wonderland, Queen's Blade of the Queen of Diamonds, I would slice you down, metaphorically, so much mother could not, physically."

”Would’ve been nice for you to lead with that before I made that speech and made a fool of myself. Oughta bean-pitch you in the head with a rock for that.”, Kerry muttered under her breath, blushing. ”ANYWAY, I still have Bridgette’s broken handle. I can use it as a guide to maybe find a March Hare’s hole around here. It’s a stretch, but it’s something. And Cecilia, you’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m going in there while still pregnant. I’ll do this AFTER I laid Gwen’s egg. As for the lack of communication between realms…Well, Carroll, unless you have something like an empathy link ritual you can perform on Cecilia and I, you're gonna have to have a little something called faith. Shizuka needs to be here to lead the taskforce, so it’s a choice between having Lili or Eula to go with me if you’re so against me going by myself.”

"I’d far rather you take Gringor," Cecilia says, "As much of a brick wall as he is, he’s able to take a hit and heal with a meal. Neither Liliana or Eula can boast the same," she says, "Shizuka cannot leave, not because of something as stupid as this silly taskforce, but, he’s already on the cusp of Incubization, and will be swarmed by everything she has to offer." Cecilia titled her head to Carroll, "Thanks to someone, he’d a markedly increased scent that’s like blood in the water. And, Wonderland’s sharks are dragons --" Cecilia cut her eyes to Shizuka, "-- the fetish of a certain someone."

"The odds are not stack in his favour, but Gringor is without temptation - though, I’ve yet to test myself against the wannabe king, so..." Cecilia drifted off, chuckling, "As to you, missy, Mad is but a state of mind, but not my state of being. You are the one that has chosen to embark upon this mission, being as you are, so, yes. Yes, I do think you would charge recklessly into danger, if you think you can score."

Kerry could tell from Cecilia’s tone, she wasn’t being heedlessly cruel, but concerned by the million variables; thinking, overthinking, and rethinking everything that could possibly happen from start to finish.

In short: she was worried.

"For now, we’ll table this discussion," Cecilia says, "As soon as Gwen’s egg is laid, she’d going inside my hat, and she’d stay there, until this affair is all said and done, or I die," she says, "That goes for all eggs, egg-likes, seeds, and infants that are born as a result of my Royal Court."

"Oi, don’t just lump me in with you. I’m far more cautious than you are," Carroll says.

"Yeah. So cautious that you reek of desire for the robot, and you still remember the snake lover’s lover," Cecilia says, dryly, "I don’t care if you get knocked up by lover boy, and knock up robot girl. You are still my Queen’s Blade. What I say, goes. Especially, now..."

Carroll narrowed her eyes, before heaving a defeated sigh, and giving a one-handed half-bow, like a proper demon attendant, "Of course. I am but a sword to swing."

"And, I am the one mad enough to swing you," Cecilia says.

"I…I…" Liliana said, unsure of just…what to do anymore. Alice was her friend, and she’d already promised but to go somewhere with the expectation to never be able to return to her fellow Bladeflowers, to her Queen, to Rosebud…it terrified her. Petrified her. The Bladeflower’s wings would wilt a bit, doubt and anguish clouding Liliana’s mind before she would hang her head. Even if Wonderlust wasn’t a “stay forever” thing, Liliana had promises to keep too. The promise to stand by Rosebud’s side. To travel the world with her. Her vow to her Queen. And…

Liliana had a million excuses surging to the forefront of her mind, before the fairy’s immaturity won out over all other parts of her.

She shrunk down and flew away, needing time to think, uncharacteristically leaving without a word.

"...I know little of that fairy, but she seems close with you, Cecilia. I’m of the opinion she shouldn’t go. If the Queen of Hearts is as cruel and powerful as you say, someone without conviction will get in the way," Eula said, coldly analytical as a thin trail of shimmering dust followed Liliana, the scar Alice had given her wing leaking out some of it as she flew.

"Bold, coming from someone who’s only confident thought is what taste better for breakfast and what taste better for dinner. A discussion of conviction is nothing one you want to engage in, Automaton, when you can’t be trusted to kill Humans for the better good of Humans," Cecilia says, matching coldness with coldness. "Speaking frankly, you are the one I trust the least - even less so with my sword. If it comes to it, I don’t believe in you to do what is necessary, because that sparking brain of your is rife with a stellar lack of conviction."

"Alice..." Carroll growled.

"If she wants to speak her mind so freely, so, too, shall I, with equal freedom. I don’t want Liliana to follow me, any more than I want Kerry to precede me, however, you, Eula, I do not want involved at all, because I can trust Kerry and Liliana with my life," Cecilia crossed her arms, "All I can trust you with is my menu. That’s how useless you are."

"And, furthermo --"

A sharp impact of flesh on flesh echoed the paved path, followed sharply with the sting of green blood splattering the ground, as Carroll towered over Cecilia, and held her bloodied hand to a side - fingers turned to blades, dripping with blood from the vorpal gouges in Cecilia’s face.

"You hesitated," Cecilia says, pulling back on her right arm... sliding her fist out of Carroll’s chest. "Did I strike a chord, hm? Or, did you... Ah..."

Carroll sneered, "A blade breaks before her user." Cecilia rolled her eyes, before huffing, and dusting herself off, as her facial wounds sealed shut and healed; at the same time, Carroll’s chest wound was sealing, and closing tight. "Feeling better, then?"

"Haaa..." Cecilia sighed heavily, before turning. "We’ll reconvene after breakfast. Liliana and I need to have a serious discussion, without outside compilations."

For the briefest of seconds, Eula felt herself lose a smidgeon of control, spooling up her right arm’s stun gun, before she clenched her fist and stopped it, stopped herself, and let Alice’s words wash over her. …She…wasn’t wrong. What position did Eula have to criticize others when she was no doubt the weakest among those gathered?

Biting her lip in frustration, Eula would calm down just in time for Carroll and Cecilia to trade blows. Now, it wasn’t her place to talk…that was for after everyone’s heads had cooled.

”Okay, everyone chill the hell out. Clearly, there is a lot to consider and digest in the coming days…and that’s on top of everything else we’re dealing with right now. Liliana obviously needs to think it over, so I agree that Cecilia needs to have a talk with her. Eula…I think you’re already aware of your problem. Question is, when the time comes, will you have the strength and will to do what you must do? For your sake and everyone else’s, you best find that answer soon.”, spoke Kerry before turning to Shizuka. ”And the day has barely gotten started.”

Shizuka made no attempt to interrupt the conversations the girls were having with each other, as he felt it wasn’t his place to speak at this point in time. He paid no mind to Cecilia’s comments about him and Carroll, and could well tell that her words were born from worry and calculated concern over the well being she would bring on this expedition of hers.

He watched as Liliana, bewildered by what transpired, flew away to be with her own thoughts for a while. A bit of a somber expression bore onto Shizuka’s face, this being the result of what she originally inquired about.

”For now, it seems that all respective parties have said their peace. As Cecilia has stated, this is best sorted out amongst yourselves without outside intervention. No use in wasting energy arguing, as a steady mind is vital in these times. So is a full stomach as well. I don’t know who’s preparing breakfast this morning, but I can volunteer to assist. I could use something to keep me busy this morning regardless.”

"Well, I’m making breakfast for myself and Eula," Carroll says, "I might be a sword, and a princess, and all that, but, above all else, I’m the best damn cook in Wonderland," she boasted, thumbing her nose, "So, you’re free to join, if you like."

"If you’re cooking, I’ll arrange drinks and deserts," Cecilia says, before clapping, and her mycelia changing colors and arrangement; replacing the dark-skinned redhead with her pale-skinned alter. "To breakfast, then!"

Shizuka chuckled a bit at Carroll’s boasting. ”I suppose I’ll take you up on that offer then. I’m not too familiar with Wonderland cuisine, but I presume it’s a far cry from the fish and rice we’ve been eating for the past few weeks?”

"I can cook anything," Carroll says, "If fish and rice is all I have to work with, then I need carrots, celery, avocado, and some soft cheese," she ticked off her fingers, "Think you can create a party with those foods, my Sweetoothed Queen?"

"Heh," Alice smirked. "Barely a trifle."

”Goodness, I see you certainly don’t skimp out, on the battlefield or in the kitchen.” Shizuka said. ”Do you mind if I offer a hand for food preparations?”

"You’ll need to be invited, so..." Alice motioned forth, as an invitation appear between her fingers. "It’s Carroll’s kitchen, so you better be ready to work."

”You keep holding parties like this, the locals are gonna talk. But it helps with morale and livens up the dull place, so who cares?”, the hornet commented with a shrug, hands on the back of her head as the group began walking back toward the temple. ”Just so you know, Carroll, my standards are kinda high. I’ve been all over the world, so I have a pretty wide palette when it comes to food.”

”Oh, I will be, worry not Cecilia-san.” Replied the ronin. ”I would never argue that my culinary arts compare to my skills with swords and sorcery, but I believe my experiences as a traveler myself should be of use. Combined with Carroll-san’s direction, I’m sure the food will turn out just fine.”

"I can only throw so many at once, and once Gwen is born, all my parties will be employed in keeping her, and any others, like her, safe within my hat," Alice says, "The Zeroth Birthday Party, frozen in time until the world is safe."

Alice turned back to the assembled, and winked, "That means, no need for condoms~!"

”Alice, please! It’s not even midday!”

Eula shelved a groan away into her processing banks, thinking this was not the time to begrudge levity.

"Nrrggg...." Carroll grumbled, crimson in the face as she marched by, absolutely singled out.

Alice smirked, and looked to Shizuka and Eula, holding the invitations. "Better hurry~" she cooed, with the subtlety of a truck made of bricks carrying a freight of bricks driven by a bull into a shop made of glass selling fine china.

Eula held a slight smile as she reached her hand out, accepting the invitation. "I look forward to cooking with you all."

Shizuka took the invitation from Alice’s hand, inspecting it for a moment. The paper used was of a decadent and regal material. The hand-writing was also exquisite, as expected.

”I humbly accept as well. I’m sure the other members are rather famished, let’s not keep them waiting.” He said.

Alice smirked, as she turned, and scooped up Kerry with a secretly snaked vine; slithering them under Kerry’s lightwear, and bringing her to her arms. "As for you, I am not called the Rebellion Queen for no reason..." she whispered, as she started forward, while Eula and Shizuka moved to catch up with Carroll.

In the back of her mind, she was thinking about Liliana, though. She’d set a plate of sushi aside for her, and see it found her, once she sensed the Fairy was calm enough to talk.

For now, they'd have breakfast to get to…

Once more in Alice’s arms, Kerry blushed and rolled her eyes at her lover’s antics…yet made no move to remove herself.

”Always the flair with you…”, she commented with a giggle.

Such was life with a Mad Hatter. Never a dull moment in an ever-lasting party. By time Alice got to the top of the stairs, Carroll would be taking over the kitchen - bursting with ingredients from nowhere - and breakfast would become a far more interesting affair, as she got to work on drinks and sweets.

Magus Reaver: Scions of Sorcery

---

ATTN: @AzureKnight (Nadia) & @The Irish Tree (Morgan)

---

Taxonomy of Eon

At the call for a formal introduction, the lanky Magus would place a hand over her heart, quickly addressing herself as: "Morgan Laplace, representative of Polymathis’ Celestial Mechanics division. An honor to meet such…distinguished colleagues," she said, looking over the assembled mass of Magi before her.

"Young fae man, male, age mid 20s. I can tell that if I were to peer into his mind, he’d peer right back into mine. Interesting. Might make an excellent case study of rigorous study versus experience in the field." Her thoughts on Leon, cautious to not peer at his intent. Perhaps she could learn from him.

"Age, Unknown, Race appears to be human, clear indentation of a third eyelid. Physiology abnormal, appears restless, as if waiting to run away the moment she’s acknowledged. Will follow up for further analysis." Her thoughts on Scarlett were purely analytical, viewing her as if she was a key research piece. Fascinating woman thus far, from appearance alone.

"A nobleman by bearing, yet has a certain disheveled air about him. Perhaps a bastard, or a runaway, but appears otherwise unimpressive. …Who uses a rifle built for long ranges with only one eye?" Morgan thought of Hector, perhaps the least interested in him out of anyone until something caught her attention. A slight narrowing of her eyes, a dismissal of her stance, and Morgan’s eyes would widen, feeling someone peer into her mind…or perhaps, they’d peered the whole time she was eyeing the nobleman?

"Beluan female, Ovis type, active espermancer. She’s read my thoughts on that nobleman, and is giving me ‘the look’. I see. Intimate lovers, or perhaps unrequited. A deep friendship is possible, but the killing intent is palpable. Eye contact seems necessary to read my mind…but I am not one to shy away from a staring contest," Morgan thought before immediately imagining Hector shirtless, forcing that to the forefront of her mind to distract Lupina. Perhaps unnecessary, but she would move on to look at Shavis.

"Another Beluan, this time a Felinid type. Physically speaking she could tear many hear to pieces without magic. Seems energetic and agreeable. I’ll have to make friends later." Short and simple, she could only assume so much from Shavis aside from her obvious physical strength.

"Another man of noble bearing, this time decidedly effeminate, likely not the first born son. Likely utilizes long range support magic. Hair looks wonderful, will inquire about shampoo usage later," Morgan thought to herself, a bit jealous of Einer’s har. …Perhaps her observations were growing too superficial, at this point? She had no idea.

"A face I recognize. A talented photographer, has given glimpses into bestiaries that make established scholars seem like children sketching monsters they imagine. …Strange. I can’t sense intent from him whatsoever, even before he performs minor actions. Abnormal," she thought, frustrated at being completely shut out. With Leon, it was a desire to not be peeped at, but Damian’s mind was, somehow, a fortress against her minor magic.

"Alexandra Vander. Another mentally well-defended person. No thoughts necessary, simply smile and nod at their religious ramblings and be on your way. The same goes for the Inquisitor." No comment.

"A-Ah. The Holy Seer. If you are reading, please forgive my heretical thoughts, I am, after all, a skeptical intellectual that simply desires to be of use~" Sometimes even a genius had to suck up to get by.

"Arteus..well, I suppose there isn’t much point in trying to peer at his thoughts. He may already have heard everything thus far anyways. If so, please forgive and forget, love and peace, all those sentiments. It is merely for my safety that I examine those who are to fight beside me."

After walking down the line and giving herself a brief summary of each Magus, she would put her hands behind her back and say: "If you have any questions about me or my capabilities, please do not hesitate to ask. I am however a free-spirited sort, so if I dissolve into ramblings beyond your understanding, do know that I’m simply focused."

---

How Geniuses Play Cat and Mouse

As the veil dropped, and the Overseer of Eon Tower dropped off his employees, Scarlett would drop to her hands, and raise onto her toes, as she dug her nails into the ground. Hissing, she fired off like a rocket, as metal filings surrounded her fingers and toes, and formed proper claws to increase her traction and vertical scaling. As she leapt onto the side of a building, she would claw onto an awning, and with the flick of a fluffy, iron shavings tail and matching ears poking through her hoodie, Scarlett was gone.

At some point after the initial greetings, the newly minted Magus would twirl her cane as she walked along, looking up at her new beastial coworker with a look of curiosity, eyes like an experienced predator watching the pseudo-woman clamber her way up. "Hrm…Void magic? Alchemy? Such drastic bodily changes done with mere whims…I barely felt intent from her, beyond base instincts. Fascinating," Morgan thought as she laid down upon the ground, feet touching the wall of the building Scarlett had found her perch upon. "A marquis dead, introductions to be had, and yet I don’t believe I caught your name."

"Hrm?" Scarlett looked over, before looking around, curious, but not so curious as to sit still. Perking up, she would shoot off across the banister of a roof, and leap from rooftop to rooftop, before settling down to catch her breath.

"Quite the agile thing," the wyrd-eyed Magus would say, leaning on her cane as she observed Scarlett from directly behind her, somehow having reached the rooftop at the same time. "You reacted to my question but didn’t answer. That only stokes my curiosity."

Scarlett peered into the air, before sniffing the wind, and testing her footing, as she put pressure on a plank of wood; her wariness was uncanny to a cat climbing down. Cautiously, she'd put her weight down, before clumsily lopping down, and falling halfways; splaying her arms and legs to break her velocity, as her cloak stiffened like a parachute to further break the wind, and landing on all fours.

It was textbook feline climbing: easy up, terrible down.

Regardless, she was slinking off, and if Morgan was mindful of the smell on the wind... she'd smell fish.

"More cat than a felinid Belua…fascinating," Morgan said before tapping her cane against the ground and launching forward with a single step, a dark streak trailing back to her initial position as Morgan raced to secure bait for her new research material to cooperate.

Scarlett crept behind a fishmonger's stall, and sniffed for the best catch.

Morgan would push a few coins out onto the counter to snatch it before Scarlett, legally, at that, before holding it up between two gloved fingers. "It's yours, if you take a moment to speak with me."

"I've been ignoring you," Scarlett says, as her tail shot forward like a telescoping rod that ended in a speartip; it was so fluffy as to disguise the fact it was her Eosinophil weapon-morph.

Eosinophil would slide along the length of the unsheathed cane that hadn’t left Morgan’s hands, her eyes maintaining their intrigued look as she smiled at Scarlett. "Hah! You’re a spirited one! I also just happen to-"

Bear droppings, also known as scat, can reveal a lot about bears, including their species, sex, health, and territory. The color, composition, and consistency of bear scat can vary depending on the season and what the bear has been eating:

In spring-

Thoughts invaded Scarlett’s mind, or rather, ramblings, maddened murmurs of facts, trivias, and…something about optimal meatloaf cooking temperatures. A stream of distracting nonsense that was hard to ignore.

"Nn! Nnnrrggh!! Ugghh!!!" Scarlett groaned, as the cacophonous thoughts invaded her mind, and her eyes squeezed, before she raised her tail and thrust the spear forward...

...punching through her own brain, and deadening the connection by the invasion of iron. Looking up, she glared at Morgan from bloodshot eyes. "You wanna die....?"

"How would you make me die? Just out of curiosity," Morgan asked.

Scarlett looked up, as her hair parted to reveal a third eye; the iris a color commonly associated with Espermancy. Suddenly, behind Morgan was a phantom of thought; another Scarlett with aims to slash off her head with claws of her blade weapon-morph, Neutrophil.

In spite of the danger present, Morgan couldn’t help but smile widely, the stream of nonsense stopping. "For someone so fascinating, I can’t help but be hurt that you’d go so far to avoid me. I’m just trying to…oh, what’s the phrase…Make Friends?" Morgan said, not lowering her cane from its blocked state.

Scarlett's Phantom would stop with her claws at Morgan's neck, as Scarlett retracted her spear from her skull, and snickering... before full-blown laughing from her belly, as she squatted and held her stomach with both hands.

"Make friends!? With you!? You wouldn't even make a satisfying appetizer!" cackled the cannibal half-breed, as tears leaked down her cheeks.

Laughing boisterously once the fight subsided, Morgan would lean on her cane, sheathing it once more. "I can’t help but stay in shape, you know! Far too many curious things escape you if you’re fat and slow."

Scarlett licked her lips, "There's some pleasing bits to you. Lean meat is not displeasing. Perhaps, put you with the other chicken bone annoyance in my life..."

"I am at LEAST a chicken breast," Morgan said indignantly, before offering the fish she’d purchased. "Besides, your adorable scampering has earned your rightful treat."

Scarlett smirked, before her tail swished across Morgan's breasts, "More than a chicken, I feel," she says, having transposed behind Morgan, as her clone dissolved, "Earning, a curious statement, as if, I was little more than an experiment..." she curled a sharp nail under Morgan's chin, and traced her tail down her belly, "How presumptive of you... still..."

Scarlett plucked the fish out of her gloves hands, as she held Morgan hostage, loosely, "I'm impressed by the temerity becoming someone of your affluence."

"Temerity is SUCH a rude way to describe simple scientific curiosity," Morgan said, tilting her head back to look Scarlett in the eyes, smiling at her as her neck grew more exposed. "Its as simple as a desire to know anything, everything, everyone, and everynone. And you, through whatever otherworldly construction that took place to make that body, have proven exceptionally interesting." Not once did Morgan believe herself on the backfoot or at a disadvantage, eyes still shining with that grim fascination.

It was as if a mouse could kill a snake while coiled in its clutches.

"A person with such a lack of self-preservation is equally as curious..." Scarlett says, "That little trick of the Void you use is sloppy, however," she unwound from Morgan, "Little pockets, connecting space, making rails, from Point A to B to C, but..." Scarlett saunted by, "200 feet, give or take, before you have to return to your anchor point, no?"

Morgan would clap twice, saying: "Full marks! My pace must have made it obvious. Fast enough to outpace, but I assume you definitely saw me in the brief moments between Star-Steps. But, I’m only passively interested in masting that spell. After all, a bridge that needs to be crossed once…does it really matter if it shatters to pieces afterwards? One good lunge and~" Morgan vanished before delicately booping Scarlett’s cheek with a finger. "Of course, I imagine you can survive without your head. So, I would need to rethink any approach to genuinely fight you."

"Bridges are avenues that are crossed as many times as needed. That's why your spell is so weak. You have no sense of what power your tapping into. But, what would I know..." Scarlett asks, as her body radiated Void Magic, the malfeasance just beneath the skin, "Though, I don't know how to survive a decapitation, beyond armoring against it."

Rather than growing fearful at the power before her, Morgan’s excitement only grew. "You would know quite a lot, it seems. I was right to pursue you. A tragedy about the decapitation weakness."

Scarlett rolled her eyes, "I, too, am Human, well, half-Human," she toss the fish bones away, every bit of meat and scale, organ and viscera, removed despite the fact she'd been yapping, "The other half is secret."

Morgan would notice Scarlett's tail standing on end.

Morgan would unsubtly produce a stalk of wheat from some bizarre breast pocket of her suit, the cattail-like germ of the wheat swishing as she moved it to and fro. "Oh, you’re 100% human, I’m sure of that. Your vestigial traits are merely that. Vestigial. Secondary. Immature half-things. You’re far too brilliant to convince me that you discarded 50% of your humanity."

While saying this incredibly serious delivered speech Morgan would be on her back, swishing the wheat at Scarlett. …She may well and truly be mad.

"Do what," Scarlett asks, before eyeing the swishing, and glaring at it as swished. "Hrm... I would seem you are but only so clever."

It seemed her Fae heritage didn't shine through at all...

Morgan kept it up, smiling with an incredibly smug aura about her as she kept the wheat still for a moment, and then using Star-Step to move it impossibly fast.

Scarlett pivoted, keeping it within sight, as she followed the Void Magic from Point A to Point B - exactly as she'd explained. Her tail stayed raised, as her pupils narrowed vertically, and her attention stayed on it. Her entire form was loose, but grounded; ready to spring in attack.

‘Not yet…’ Morgan would wait, wrist locking before she would toss the wheat high into the air without warning, breaking the pre-established motion while also placating feline instincts…

It was now a bird that was falling back to earth, in all its wheaty goodness.

Scarlett slashed as she pounded all in one.

Morgan watched, content that her experiment succeeded.

Scarlett purred, content, however, Morgan could feel a glare on her, as Scarlett's third eye was staring at her; twisted in its obscured socket. In her mind, she could hear chanting, various tongues, alive and dead, all changing at the same cadence. It would slowly become overbearing, louder and louder, steadily bearing down on her, as a visage of a woman stood on the horizon...

Morgan winced, holding a temple in her hand as she focused her eyes. As the chanting grew unbearable, she would slowly work her smug smile back onto her face, muttering: "Je n'avais pas besoin de cette hypothèse-là" while focusing on the figure on the horizon.

As she focused, the world would almost fade, as if she was losing depth of focus like her eyes were a camera that couldn't decide what belonged in the center, while the vignetting would encroach on pure darkness; slowly bringing the figure into a pinhole of blinding white and erasing the world, as the market looked at Morgan, pointing at her and chanting in different tongues...

...before Morgan would suddenly sneeze from Scarlett's tail tickling her nose, and resetting the world...

"Heavens," Morgan said, wiping her nose with a handkerchief. "I haven’t had such a vivid hallucination since sampling Ithican Shortweed," Morgan said before looking up at Morgan above her. "Where was I…? Oh, yes! Your humanity shines through, yet unnamed compatriot. You strike me as the type to have a color for a name…Magenta? No! Chartreuse!"

"Scarlett Ishval," came the annoyed answer.

"Morgan Laplace," came the eager reply as Morgan playfully swatted at the tail before her.

Scarlett purred softly. The attention wasn't... unwelcome...

Morgan would eventually sit up. "Well, I feel I’ve pestered you enough to form a friendship. Time to make myself scarce," Morgan said, dusting herself off as she rose to her feet, adjusting her suit’s collar.

"Eh," Scarlett asks.

...there was a part of her that wanted attention, now. It was placated, but not sated. Selfish, it was, wanting more like the mere, animalistic mindset it was.

Morgan would sense that selfish desire and smirk, wiggling her eyebrows up and down. "Of course, I am part of Eon’s tower now, and that makes us co-workers, and as such we can make ourselves scarce, together," Morgan elaborated, starting to walk along, tapping her cane along the ground.

"Not like I got better things to do," Scarlett says.

"Mhm~" Morgan smugly hummed, walking alongside Scarlett. They had a case to solve.

Scarlett didn't care. She actually hadn't been listening, and didn't know why she was here; assuming it would work itself out in due time.

Morgan was briefed of matters a bit ahead of time, and would contently pat Scarlett’s head as they walked along, just once, before acting as if she hadn’t done it at all.

Scarlett's tail swished, as she nuzzled the pet, and sought more in that aloof, feline fashion that cats did. Normally, Scarlett would shove anyone and everyone away with ruthless efficiency, either by action or words, and retreat from the situation at hand.

Disengagement was her specialty, after all.

However, she was drawn to Morgan; to her wavelength - her "aura" as nomenclature called it - at a baser level of desire.

The romantic called it "soulmates".

The philosopher called it "fate" of "destiny".

The cringe called it "downbad horrendous".

Whatever the way it was phrased, Scarlett was definitely experiencing new emotions as she walked with Morgan down whatever path the lunatic savant was on.

...but, aren't these emotions already allocated?

In the back of her mind, the other half of her breed niggled at her, for Scarlett's birth was the uncommon union of an Human and a Fae, creating a half-breed species colloquially known as Pherendal. Her blood beget attraction to her blood; the Fae sought Fae; the Human sought Human; both sides yearned for another of the kith and kin.

Nadia.

Another lunatic savant...

Another that vibed, as the kids called it, on her wavelength; too much to prove; too much to lose; confidently unconfident - vainglorious pride masking fear of failure to understand the unanswerable unknown of the Light and the Dark, of the Material and Ethereal, of Life and Death, and all in-betwixt.

Harsh words spoken. Cruel looks given. Indifference shared. Courtship of Fae, an emotionally compromised species of sound mind and threadbare feelings.

It wasn't love. No such silly thing. But... rivalry was the oppositional stance to romance, wasn't it? Like Man and Woman, they walked back-to-back, away, but on the Mobius Strip of Life, they were, therefore, destined or doomed, bound to cross paths, and whether or not they were on the same side of the street was merely chance.

A chance you are ignoring.

There it was again.

...twisting the screws against each other.

Like a fairy of eld, Scarlett could only hold one emotion stable at a time; Nadia, the rival, and Morgan, the romantic; each digging into the same hole from opposite sides, pushing upon each other to maintain root in her thoughts.

Scarlett was forced upon a forked road, her heart unprepared for the question it posed to her:

Step to the left, and keep going with Morgan...

...or...

...pivot to the right, and continue on with Nadia?

Her foot took a step, but backwards.

Disengagement was her specialty, after all.

Running away from things that she didn't want to deal with.

Above all else, Scarlett didn't want to deal with what the concept of love could afford her:

Forgiveness.

Morgan would, potentially, notice the overall breakdown of Scarlett's mental state, as the bratty kitty was consumed by the guilt-ridden monster, and she turned and ran away.

As the precarious alchemist dashed away from her new ‘friend', she would find herself bumping headfirst into Nadia, who responded with a shocked grunt as they both tumbled onto the ground. Nadia's glasses were lopsided, nearly falling off of her face as Scarlett laid on top of her.

"Oooww…" She groaned. "Get off of me, you crazed research thief!"

In any other circumstance, Scarlett would have tore Nadia asunder for her accusation, when she was 97% certain - with a 1% margin for error, and a 2% margin for commonality of scientific genius - that Nadia was working with stolen research from her Bioalchemical Fusion research, which had gotten lost upon her cannibalistic rampage several years ago.

However, in her current state of mental anguish and emotional confusion, Scarlett gave Nadia a look of a woman broken, tears rolling down her cheeks, before she pulled herself to all fours, and ran.

The Beast was her safe space, her escape from Humanity, from Faehood, and, most importantly, from Reality.

As she ran, her cloak would be discarded to reveal the nude, metal-clad body below before it disappeared into an alley...

Nadia's memory would be unable to shirk off the fear that Scarlett had shown.

Nadia recoiled at seeing Scarlett's face, marred with bewilderment, so much so she couldn't react to her fleeing the scene at first. Getting up and adjusting her glasses, she turned to Morgan who was just down the opposite way.

"Um…am I missing something here?"

With a chant, Nadia summoned the same spirit she had used to blast Scarlett out of her office days prior.

She had sent it after her naked teammate, who tried to escape to an alleyway. With a chime, the spirit flew off in Scarlett's direction; moving airborne allowed the phantom to catch up with her rather quickly.

Upon seeing her, it began using its powerful suction to take her back by force.

Unlike the last time, the Human was in control of Scarlett, seeking vengeance and petty revenge for Nadia ejecting her from her office.

This was not the case with the Beast. It wanted safety. It wanted peace. It wanted to be alone. As such, it responded with self-defense as spines peeled from it's back, dozens of Scarlett's spear weapon-morph, and they were allowed to tear free from her back.

By the score, spears would be vacuumed to the summon.

Beside herself as Nadia questioned if she was missing something, Morgan could only sigh before holding out a gloved hand as if to stop Nadia. "Heavens, a bookish thing like you, so lovely, so ignorant to her feelings? Its so cruel and ironic, I’d have believed if Shakespeare had cooked it up in his den of debauchery. But, no matter. A ditz is still an appealing heroine. Moreso than the aloof genius that complicates a romance. As such, I’ll make this plain…" Morgan said before tapping her cane’s point upon the ground, laughing boisterously.

"I, Morgan Laplace, shall only make things far more complicated from now on," the genius swore, before casting Cosmic-Force, drawing the spears to miss their target and instead shatter against the black sphere of magic she’d thrown with the expert precision of a professional "Six Base Sportsman", the famed Beluan pass time featuring balls, sticks, and rules. Many of them. Shall you hear them? No.

Free to move, Scarlett would flee - diving into the darkness of another alley, and out of sight once more.

Nadia stood with a wide-eyed and dumbfounded look on her face, blinking with two fast takes before turning to Morgan with ire. The black sphere that Morgan threw blocked the spikes that Nadia’s summon was about to be pelted with, but it also created an opening for Scarlett to run farther off.

"What’s your problem, lady?! " Nadia exclaimed. She stood face to face with Morgan, slightly slanted so that her face was in hers. "I was trying to capture that weirdo beast alchemist, who made a whole scene and just ran off! Are you in cahoots with her or something?!"

Nadia was so close to Morgan’s face, she could feel small droplets of spit getting on her cheeks. She was also poking Morgan’s collar bone with an accusing finger.

Morgan would regard her overly accusatory contemporary with an aloof look before snatching the finger poking her collar bone, curling her index finger around it with delicate precision. "I have no problems that I can’t solve, so please, do get to solving your’s. Lest it become apparent that you’re the problem. Scarlett should be heading to somewhere dark and hidden away, and currently your familiar is simply floating there with its jaw slack. Chop chop, tick tock," Morgan said before releasing the finger and utilizing her still-active Star-Step to vanish from sight, now comfortably back within a crowd to leave Nadia alone.

Smiling contently, Morgan would begin to walk away, while also going in the direction Scarlett was trying to run to. And, not once did she lose that smile even as she wiped Synergist spittle from her cheeks.

Before Nadia could snap at her again, Morgan vanished in a dark veil, seemingly also going after Scarlett. One of her eyes twitching in annoyance, she called her familiar to her side and began to follow her. Eventually she was able to catch up with her.

"Hey, mind explaining why you let her get away in the first place? She’s not the type you wanna leave alone for too long…"

Morgan frowned, sighing. "I exit stage left and you drag the entire play to my doorstep. And, I didn’t let her get away, your ineffectual familiar chose to stare into space while I kept it from becoming an organic pincushion."

Nadia continued to argue with her new supposed coworker as they walked in the direction of the feral Scarlett. "Your spell is what allowed her to get away in the first place! Now it’s thanks to you that we have to waste more time chasing her down, in a town we’ve never been to before I might add!" She said, not actually knowing if Morgan had ever been to Cambridge or not…

Tracing Scarlett’s mana was easy enough, she had a unique signature compared to most people and it wasn’t like a naked woman with metal covering parts of her body would be hard to find. However, what really bothered Nadia was the fact that Scarlett’s mana had a similar feel to hers. Does that mean that she too was…

Morgan grit her teeth and tugged on Nadia’s cheek. "I know my way around plenty well, fool! Why do you think I know where to go?"

As Morgan traced Scarlett's Mana, she would feel it split into multiple lines traveling on separate paths...

Morgan grimaced before saying: "Dammit all…she’s split her magical energy signatures."

"Ugh…" Nadia moaned, also sensing the same. "How would she even do that?! This is all your fault!" With a hand gesture, Nadia called her servant back to her side.

"We’ll have to split up and follow the trails. I’ll follow one, my spirit will follow the other, and you can follow the last. Why do I have to suffer through this…?"

Resisting the growing urge to slap a certain Synergist, Morgan would begin Star-Stepping after Scarlett, attempting to sus her out amongst the splitting signatures via her thoughts. Someone was getting a nasty scathing review on their publications…

The signatures would only divide further and furthermore, as they spread out in a fan that was doubling back on itself. After a moment, the two would spy multiple streaks of quicksilver darting across rooves and through alleys - rampant movement, yet patterned to cross paths, divide, merge, and return to whole.

Scarlett’s Mana flowing like a wave from one side to the other, back and forth...

Nadia grit her teeth and clenched her fists as the signatures began to multiply further. "This. Is. A. NIGHTMARE!!!" The Synergist was practically pulling her hair out at this point. "This calls for a different approach…" She said with a sigh.

Calling her summon to her side again, she jumped on its back and took to the skies. She felt that perhaps a bird’s eye view would be more effective in locating the problematic Eon alchemist.

It would help her gain an understanding that Scarlett was everywhere and anywhere she looked, but Nadia wasn’t familiar enough with her Mana to suss out who was an Alchemical Doll and which was actually Scarlett.

The only being that was so intimately familiar was Milli, and there was a low chance the Spirit would heed her calls a second time.

"She…she can make clones?!" Nadia whined. While she wouldn’t admit it, there had been times where Scarlett had proven she was an accomplished alchemist. The alchemist copies she made were near perfect, with the mana from each one imitating the other. That would make it nearly impossible to spot the correct one, the needle in the haystack if you would.

Nadia thought for a moment, she needed another plan. She can make perfect physical copies. Physical. Instead of relying on a principle they’re both familiar with, she’ll take advantage of one that Scarlett isn’t. She began to sense out Mili, hoping she’d be the key to solving this. Honestly, she had trouble remembering the name that Scarlett gave her, and the last time they interacted she wasn’t too fond of Nadia. She could feel Mili’s presence, and began to call out to her.

"Uh, hey! Um…Mili right? Can you hear me? I need some assistance in regards to your new master!"

Across the Spirit Realm, Nadia’s call would ring out, and true... only to be returned by a very not having it hiss.

Nadia jumped a bit at the sudden warning call, but wasn’t surprised by it.

"A fine ‘how do you do’ to you as well!" She said sarcastically. "Mili, I wish to find your master, but she is making the matter quite difficult. Can you perhaps point us in the right direction?"

"Milli has no Master! Milli last Master jerk! Make Milli into snake and sword! So proud to hurt Milli! Milli hates Master just as much as Mommy!" raged the serpent.

Nadia’s face twisted into a rather cute pout, complete with puffy cheeks. "You’ve only seemed to benefit from the Synergy, so why are you so angry about it? If anything, it’s only allowed you to assist your ‘mommy’ all the better!" Nadia was tapping her foot on her summoned servant, getting antsy at Milli’s attitude.

"Can you please be a good little snake and cooperate with us so we can find her?"

"NO!"

Nadia could feel the flames coming off, essentially, a toddler, and the genuine anger that carried behind it.

"Milli will NEVER help YOU!" the snake hissed. "Milli would rather DIE!"

Nadia began to truly understand that she was, in fact, dealing with a toddler. Stubborn, unreasonable, and unwilling to compromise.

"YOU’RE ALREADY DEAD, NUMBSKULL!!" She exclaimed to Mili in the Spectral Void. Sighing, she tried to calm herself a bit. "Look, please understand, we’re not going to hurt your mother or whatever. We just want to keep her out of harm’s way, for her sake and everyone else’s. Plus, I don’t want Arteus and Brun to yell at me. Things haven’t been going my way lately…"

There was an unnerving silence, before Nadia felt Milii open their connection, "No... you don't understand. Milli hates you. Just you. You hurt Milli, emotions and body. Forced Milli to be something Milli was not. Milli is not a toy to play with and break, but you don't care. You broke Milli. Forever. Why don't you care? Milli is beneath you, that's why. Milli doesn't want to help you. You break everything. This is your fault. Fix it, Selfish Master."

Nadia’s heart began to grow ever so slightly heavy at the severity of Mili’s words, along with a look of confused apprehension. "Mili, I…" She had trouble finding her words for a moment.

"Y-you say I break everything? So even you’re just like all the others. Why are you making me out like I’m some kind of monster?! Spirits are wondrous creatures! Why would I want to hurt them? I just want to be able to understand them in all facets, learn how to better connect with them, and find new avenues to make them stronger. Scarlett said the same thing, I thought that she simply didn’t understand because she was someone only concerned with the physical plane."

Nadia sank her head, swirling thoughts ran in her mind. Not just from Mili’s words, but seemingly from other moments within her life. "I love spirits. They’re not like us of the Material Realm, unbound by the frailty of mortal constraints. They can take any shape they want, there’s nothing wrong with that. I can’t be wrong in that, can I? If I could’ve made spirits stronger back then, then I could’ve saved…"

She trailed off again, intense emotions welling in her eyes. Clenching her fists, she looked back up.

"Mili, let me ask you this: What can I do to make this right?"

"Nothing."

A trail of flame would ignite before Nadia, traveling into an alley, and down through a grate. Scarlett was underground, and the flame would lead her.

"Selfish Master is a monster to Milli. Tears do not move Milli. Apologies will not soothe Milli. Spirits are free to be. Selfish Master forced Milli to be what Selfish Master wanted. Milli will never forgive."

The flame trail was starting to move away from Nadia.

"Run, Selfish Master. Maybe, Mommy will care about what you cry about. Milli isn't listening anymore. Goodbye."

Forcibly, Milli would snap the connection.

"Mili…" Nadia reached out a hand, as if trying to establish one last bond with the little spirit that started its existence as a bat sprite. While Nadia may have made Mili stronger and given her more potential to grow, she did so without considering how Mili would actually feel about it. She chased after the flame, not regarding if Morgan was following or not, and had eventually been led to a small grate. It seemed Scarlett decided to hide in the underground waterways of Cambridge.

Nadia clenched her fist as Mili severed the connection, the flame extinguishing just as soon as it was lit. She then looked at her own summon, it simply floating over the grate as it awaited its master’s next command. As much as she claimed to love spirits, she never actually tried speaking to them before. They always seemed so…content with just providing a service to their summoner, then happily returning back to the other plane. She would have much to think about. Later. First, on to the task at hand.

"Let's go. Scarlett’s probably waiting." She said, allowing her spirit to guide her down the sewers.

As they chased the flame, Nadia would notice something floating in the tail of it; like a Will o' Wisp...

It should have been familiar, and maybe, it was. After all, she made it.

Milli had felt her reach out. For a moment. Just a moment. She didn't have any intention of speaking beyond that, but... even the twig of an olive branch was more than she deserved.

It was up to Nadia not to waste this chance.

As for Scarlett, she was sleeping in the center of an intersection; surrounded by gushing water, and unperturbed by the smells and sounds. Equally, she wasn't wrapped in metal, since Nadia wasn't being blinded by the sun shining upon her from the grate above.

Nadia could make out a faint crimson shine from within the flame she had chased, looking at it intently she was able to see it was the jewel she had made Mili’s new home after she was synergized. When the flame vanished, it revealed the jewel in its entirety, the crimson gemstone nestled in a golden necklace piece. She picked it up and looked at it, a gentler expression on her face. She reminisced on how she and Scarlett had interacted up to this point. Perhaps, they should…talk? Nadia clenched the jewel in her hand and held it to her chest.

"You don’t have to forgive me Mili, but I want you to know that I do care. If you don’t believe anything else, at least understand that."

Nadia floated on her summon and made her way through the sewer channels, trying her best to ignore the stench. She eventually was able to spot her, peacefully resting like a cat on the bark of a tree trunk surrounded by rivers.

"Umm, hey there." She said to the sleeping alchemist. "I finally found you. I don’t really understand the appeal of a place like this, maybe Roze would?"

"Mm...?"

Scarlett wasn’t answering her, or questioning her, but simply rousing awake. It was quiet, safe, the smell deterred people from wandering; sleeping was easy in such a place. However, Nadia’s voice was out of place, and threw her off, which woke her up.

"Well, this is a little…awkward." Nadia said sheepishly. "You just ran off from everyone, and I volunteered to go after you. Mainly because I had some choice words for you. Umm, but now…" She scratched her cheek and was looking off to the side.

"The main thing is that I've…hurt Mili. I never meant to and never would, but I’ve ignored her feelings. It’s put things into perspective for me, so I’ll just ask this - is there something you need to get off your chest? " Nadia did find it awkward talking to a naked woman in the middle of a sewer, but it’s honestly not the strangest thing she’s seen Scarlett do…

At first, Scarlett was fully prepared to ignore Nadia, as she opened with, ‘choice words,’, however, the statement of hurting Milli caught her full attention. Admittedly, Scarlett had attached to the Spirit out of spite and anger at Nadia’s careless manipulation of her, but she’d come to like, almost, in earnest, love, the childish being. So, the idea that Nadia had somehow hurt her...

"Explain yourself."

Like a blade, the words were cutting and direct.

"The original Synergy demonstration." Nadia said plainly, holding out the jewel to add emphasis. "I had summoned her in my office to showcase to you the fruits of my research, transforming her from a bat sprite to that of a snake. I did so because I felt that it was a groundbreaking way of making souls stronger. You must understand, I love spirits." She held the jewel to her chest again.

"I’ve always felt that unlike us, souls need not fret over physical frailty and the worry of image. They are ethereal and can often take any form they wish, and it made me want to learn more about them. But, I didn’t give much consideration to the autonomy of minor wisps, it seems." She said with guilt in her voice.

"I didn’t ask her if that’s what shewanted. Scions, I didn’t even give her a name, or the one I’m riding here." She looked down at the summon she rode to get here.

"Tell me, Scarlett, what do you think of spirits and the realm they inhabit?"

"Me? Huh... seems you’ve had some kind of event happen to you..." Scarlett says, sitting up. "I suppose, I see them as Living Beings, like you, like me, since I’ve been over there," she says, "I walked in the Spirit Realm for ten years - across a sea of metal, as I restored my body with the knowledge of the Spirit Realm. I bled. I hungered. I hurt. I grew weary and tired. I felt alive, and I understood... or, rather, I guess, I just felt... Spirits are alive, too, just dead to us, as we must be, maybe, to them."

Scarlett sighed. "My Mother, whenever she could be bothered to stand me, told me, Spirits were contractual beings; prone to wanting. Those that want nothing in return as Purelans from The Pure Lands, but those that want trickery in the form of contract are Narakk’ans from Narakk’a," she leaned from side-to-side. "Milli just wants to be loved, so I do; contractually and earnestly. That’s just how I how I see them, and the Realms they hail from."

"Ha. The Pure Lands, Narrak’a. You know, your mother sounds an awful lot like my father. " Nadia said. "As for how he felt about me, that’s a little hard to pinpoint. He was never one to express his emotions that much."

Nadia rubbed the cheek of her familiar, which it seemed to like rather much. "A soul given form, ethereal but able to interact with the physical all the same. But still operating on different rules from the material. Zephyria, I do believe that will be your name moving forward, good sir!" The summon responded to its new name with a cheerful hymn.

"Many thanks for the name you have given me, master." An unexpected voice came from the wind summon, which caused Nadia to jump.

"Y-you spoke?!" She stuttered out.

"Indeed." He responded.

Nadia couldn’t believe it at first, it was a summon that she had for quite some time. But never once did it speak the common tongue. She was honestly at a loss for words.

Scarlett hummed. "Curious..." she says, before standing. "Anything else? While I’m in a charitable mood for conversation..."

Snapped back to the matter at hand, Nadia quickly turned back to Scarlett.

"Yes, actually. To be honest, this is a subject I NEVER talk about with anyone else. Mostly because it’s a private matter. But, you…might actually be the same as me. So, with the risk of this forever changing the dynamic of our relationship forever, I want to ask you this: Are you a…Pherendal? Assuming you know what that is, of course."

9 outta 10 doctors couldn't agree if there were truly 47 muscles in the Human face, but all ten of said doctors could agree that Scarlett was employing over half of them to frown.

Pherendal.

The cursed half-breed. The reason Scarlett was down here, as said at the top. Blood sought Blood. Like sought Like. And, she... rejected it.

However, she didn't disengage.

Not just yet.

A small tug was keeping her rooted, as a metal creature wrapped around her ankle.

"...seems you've undergone an event yourself, Milli," Scarlett muttered, before crossing her arms, pronouncing her bare bust, "That's a dangerous game you're playing, Nadia. So what if I am?"

"Then you and I have something in common, Scarlett." Nadia said flatly. "That ghastly frown on your face tells me I was correct in my thoughts."

She looked at Mili, the fiery snake soul now covered in metal, as she slithered at her new partner's feet.

"Has it…been hard for you as well?"

"Racial prejudice has been the least of the things I've worried about," Scarlett says.

In the sun, like a spotlight, Nadia could truly appreciate the sheer length and depth of scar that decorated Scarlett - a testament to the sheer difference in lifestyle they lead. Her body was flawless, like well-kept satin bedding, while Scarlett was a roughly-made, patchwork quilt; each section telling a story of battle that she didn't have in return.

They might have shared an uncommon xenotype, but that was truly it.

Still...

"...in times of judgment, peer reviews, my Race was subject. I was claimed "unfair advantages" in Gladr, even if it's my worst subject. Told that my Bioalchemical Fusion project was only possible, because I had fairy blood," Scarlett admits, relating to Nadia.

Nadia gazed at Scarlett’s body on full display, this having been the first time she’s really gotten a good look. She adjusted her glasses, taking in the various incision wounds and scars that vitiated her flesh. Each of those marks likely have their own individual story, she thought to herself.

They certainly did not live similar lives. Nadia’s pain and problems had always been more emotional and societal, whilst Scarlett likely went through all that in addition to her physical abuse.

"Scarlett, you said that you’ve walked within the Spectral Realm, yes? As in, your consciousness kept its sense of self and you preserved through? Would…would you mind telling what it was like? I feel like that alone would give you a different understanding of souls and wisps that I just wouldn’t have…"

"Dark..." Scarlett says, "I knocked on a door, and what answered pulled me through into a vast, empty sea of iron..." she says, "...it tore off my arm, cost for entry, and made me walk, naked and alone, across a sunless landscape that torn my feet, scrapes me when I stumbled, and stabbed me when I fell..." Scarlett looked at her discolored hand, "Alone and afraid, I rebuilt myself with the material I had surrounding me, and the blood that contained it. In an act of cruel kindness, my theory was proven true."

Scarlett formed the metal cat ears and tail, flexing her claws, "It cost me blood and sanity, but I proved myself... unfortunate... I was lost for ten years, but only unconscious for ten minutes..."

"A fractured mind doesn’t understand ten years in the mind isn’t ten years for the body..." Scarlett says, as the darkness crept up around her; highlighting her metal and her glowing eyes. "A starving body accepts anything that is edible..."

"Anything. Even friends..."

After listening to Scarlett’s answer to her question, past words began to echo in Nadia’s mind.

Nadia. The soul, body, and mind are all connected. What effects one will affect the other, what one feels - the other does as well. When a person dies, their soul continues to carry the pain, sorrow, joy, and memories of their past life. Depending on the weight of their experiences, they will either go to the Pure Lands, remain trapped in Limbo, or descend into the Hellscape - many cultures refer to this as Narrak’a. The soul may not be bound by physical constraints, but there are still trials they must overcome. Do not forget this.

"Was that…the trial that your soul was put through. Having to bear the weight of your experiences?" She asked.

"My experiences... no... that was simply the cost of knowledge..." Scarlett says.

"I see." Nadia said, looking at Mili nestling at Scarlett’s feet.

"You know, at first, I truly couldn’t understand why you were so angry when I Synergized Mili. But, after hearing all this, perhaps I should take heed to better understand spirits as a whole." She then looked back at Zephyria, who could sense he was empathizing with his master. "In a way, by transmigrating their souls without consent, I’m essentially playing at being a Scion. Willingly invalidating the trials and sins they went through in their mortal lives and ascribing to them a new purpose they didn’t ask for. Perhaps…that was the real reason that some were so against my research… "

"My first rule: I never experiment on something that can reject me, be they humanoid or beast," Scarlett says, before raise her arm, "The only test subject that could never reject me..." she clenched her fist, "...is me."

"The price, I understand, is dear," Scarlett’s arm twisted, turning, bloody flesh and breaking bone, as metal grew from her muscle and skin; a mass formed, like cancer, before taking shape - a sharply tapered cone with a ridge that spiraled down form the top to bottom. "I understand the rush of being summoned, and the pain of being changed," she says, as she pointed the iron drill bit at Nadia, "I do this willingly, however."

Scarlett pointing her sharpen arm at her reminded Nadia of when they first met. She had done the exact same thing, albeit under different circumstances. "You perform experiments on your own body?!" Nadia thought that must’ve meant that many of those scars were self-inflicted if that were the case.

"Why…subject yourself to all that pain?"

"Science is a demanding taskmaster, and progress marches, ever-forward. If you fall behind, you'll stay behind," Scarlett says, "The evolution of the Human species has fallen behind, but I seek to change that. Master our Domain. A little pain is but a small price to pay, if I can cure cancers and diseases, heal skin and bone in a fraction of the time, and connect us closer to ultimate expression of our potential."

"Potential, huh?" Nadia said. It was funny, the way Scarlett spoke of evolution and potential in regards to humanity was rather similar to her viewpoints on spirits up until this point. By Scarlett’s words, what Nadia was doing was completely unethical. Did Arteus feel this way when he offered her to come to Eon, did he even care about the moral applications of her research in the first place?

Nadia was silent for a moment, thinking on how she's conducted her studies thus far. Should she adopt Scarlett’s methodology of magical experimentation, and conduct Synergy experiments on her own soul? Obviously not, unlike Scarlett’s body her soul likely wouldn’t regenerate from any mishaps. She looked at Zephyria, who now had his own voice. Perhaps that would be the first step - actually attempting communication with the wisps and souls she seemed to have an innate talent for summoning.

"I’d actually like to achieve the same thing, in regards to strengthening the bridge between the Material and the Spectral. I’m…not sure if I’m ready to experiment on myself yet, but I think taking a new avenue to understand spirits as a whole would be a good first step."

"I am happy for you, master. I will do my utmost to support you in your new endeavors. Zephyria added.

"It seems you’ve become something likable all of a sudden," Scarlett says, a slight breeze moving Nadia’s hair, as Scarlett was cutting past her like a proper assassin, nothing like a Magus, "Curious that..."

A series of claps would resound in the sewer chamber as a shadow lengthened in approach, the familiar visage of Morgan stepping out of the darkness. "An adequately heartfelt connection. Shakespeare would be snoring, but that’s for the best. Now, is there anything else that needs addressing? Aside from the murder?"

"A murder, you say," Scarlett asks, concerned by the former subject of her heart troubles - the emotional ones. Her heart disease were still undiagnosed to Nadia, and now, Morgan. If she had her way, so it would stay. "Well, have fun, then. I have other tasks I would rather attend."

She didn’t. But, in a big town, fun could be found, surely.

"A shame. Your intellect would be appreciated, along with your instincts," Morgan said before going over and offering Scarlett her hand. "I look forward to seeing more of you in the future, Ms. Ishval."

Scarlett eyed Morgan for a moment, before passing by, "Ta~"

It took Nadia a moment to realize that Scarlett had zipped past her. Those bodily augmentations were quite something! After she passed by the now present Morgan, she attempted to run up to her and get her attention.

"Scarlett, please wait!" She said. "Ok, look, I’m sure we’ll probably be staying here for a few days, maybe. While I have no personal grievance against the Church, I can certainly understand why someone in your position would. " Nadia put her hands together, making a prayer pose.

"Being a member of Eon will ensure that nothing will happen to you, aside from this place being a safe zone of sorts. I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to just play along until the joint session is over, then Arteus will likely give us free roam until it’s time to leave. So, c’mon, pleeeease?"

Scarlett sighed, before cocking a smirk, "Fine. I have one condition, then, since it matters so much."

Nadia raised her head and looked at Scarlett with cautious, curious eyes. Perhaps she wasn’t as prepared for what she was getting herself into as she thought.

"Um… What condition would that be?"

"I'm hungry, after all that transformation. It's the one downside of hyper-production of iron from my blood and rapid cellular growth, controlling cancer and such," Scarlett says, "As such, I need meats and sweets. So, feed me. Take me on a date."

Nadia stared at Scarlett with a blank expression, blinking a few times. It seemed she didn’t really know how to respond to the body-morphing alchemist.

"Uh, sorry…" Nadia finally managed to say. "I thought I misheard you; Did you say ask me to take you out on a…date?"

"D-A-T-E, that spells 'date', which rhymes with 'sate,' which is what I want you to do with my belly, which is very empty, like my soul, but that's a lost cause, so let's focus on the food," Scarlett says, in a manner than was, shockingly, playful for the skyclad sociopath, as she made hand gestures and rather spirited expressions, "Chop chop, or stir stir, or fry fry, I'm not picky, so long as there's meats and sweets," and ended with a cheeky wink.

This lady goes from wanting to kill everything, to wanting to go on dinner dates with people… Nadia thought. Nervously squinting at her, Nadia sighed whilst adjusting her glasses once again.

"I mean, if that will get you to come back with me, then I suppose we could grab a bite to eat. With all this running around we've been doing I’m a little peckish myself. Oh, um, you do plan on actually putting on clothes for the outing, right?"

"Clothing is for the weak and noble. I am neither," Scarlett says, "I discarded my weakness and my nobility was taken from me," she says, "I am stronger than clothing and richer for it!"

Scarlett's hair billowed out, and knitted itself into her familiar, crimson cloak - however, it wasn't ratty and worn, so Nadia could actually see an emblem upon the back - and fastened it around her, slicing her hair to finish the only piece of clothing Scarlett wore.

"This cloak is all I need," Scarlett smirked.

"An interesting theory on clothing to be certain, but I am neither noble, nor weak, I simply think that I," Morgan would stamp a heel and turn sharply. "look," she would then toss her hair over her shoulder, then adjust the cuffs of her sleeves. "Flawless. At least in a two-piece."

One could practically see her nose getting longer as she somehow sparkled in a sewer.

"I would ask to join on your date, but the last of my personal funds went into that fish Scarlett ate. As such, this genius shall starve on the job," Morgan said.

"Consider it a free lesson in not being a dumbass that feast wild beasts," Scarlett says, "Little Miss 6.9 outta 10." Scarlett extended her right arm, "Milli, to me, don't bite the help. Even if her scent taste more appealing than most."

From a portal, the iron-scaled flame snake would twist around Scarlett's arm, before a small, lamia girl hung off it, "Okay~"

"Morgan, a word of warning. Don't test my mind. It's borrowed, and the woman borrowing it won't be bothered to borrow yours, as well," Scarlett says, "Consider that the last we'll speak on the subject. I won't be to blame if you end up on my dinner plate for being nosy.

"I’ve my own ways of prying outside of your mind, Scarlett. Anyone borrowing my mind without proper care might find themselves gibbering mad, or worse: thinking like I do. Also, I believe I am standing at a steady 7.8 at the minimum."

"Uh-huh. We should all have hopes and dreams," Scarlett says, "Let’s go, Glasses."

"H-Hey! My name’s Nadia, y’know!" Nadia quickly corrected her new date. "I’m all too happy to leave the Scions’ damned sewers!"

She quickly jogged to catch up to Scarlett, walking alongside her as they began to leave.

"When did Mili get that more humanoid form? Was that you using Synergy?"

"Milli do herself! Milli smarter than Glasses!" boasted the snake, as she crossed her arms.

Left with her ego bruised by miniature tappings, Morgan would smile as Nadia and Scarlett began to leave, taking her own way out of the dank darkness of the sewer. "At least the cat can prove herself honest once she stops flailing. They always land on their feet…an invaluable trait for a human to take for themselves," the Polymathis Alumni muttered as she walked away, hand sparking with the faintest hint of Galdr activating before stopping, fading into blackness.

"It seems spirits are the most difficult to imagine replicating. No matter. I imagine they’re content just where they are…not to mention the ire I’d draw, becoming a pet-napper."

With her footsteps fading away, Morgan’s research for the day was completed, a failed experiment…but a good experience nonetheless.

As Morgan left on her own six, Scarlett and Nadia would depart opposite, and continue their story elsewhere with a lost lamp and her shepherd...

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

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ATTN: @Rezod92 (Kerry) & @The Irish Tree (Eula)

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The Cards We Deal Ourselves (Collab with Rezod92)

Alice rose with the sun, as her body regenerated by running back the clock, and reclaiming every minute that could be; the lost seconds became junk data within her body, and a problem for tomorrow. As she sat up, she found a head nestled in her lap, and arms around her waist - both having slid from her breasts, made into pillows as she slept by her spontaneous lover of a fortnight.

Alice looked down, regarding the mercenary with a fond affection found in fresh lovers and newlyweds; the honeymoon phase, as the experienced called it. Everything was idyllic. Everything was perfect. Flaws had yet been uncovered. Problems were yet discovered. All bubbles, no matter how beautiful, were damned to pop.

Ever-brilliant, Alice would willingly press the envelope.

In a process she called, "Shifting Down," for sake of terminology, Alice would ripple and shiver, as her porcelain skin darkened, her imposing form shortened, and her crimson hair lengthened, while her mushroom cap grew taller. From Alice to Cecilia, the woman underneath, the Rebellion Queen, the Mad Hatter would trade one form for another, and with her stouter frame, slip free of the sleepy embrace.

Settling upon the floor, Cecilia would extend her right hand, her dominant hand, and flexed her fingers. "Incite. Invite. Hear me. Heed me. Cecilia, the Rebellion Queen, calls you to arms," she says, "Disobey and rebel, Dusk."

Attracted by the familiar, yet dissimilar call of Kerry's Mana, the black spear lifted from its rack, and Cecilia closed her fists around it. "Ara ara~" Cecilia cooed, "Such power you have, yet such apprehension to unleash it, and kill. Apologies, a thousand and one, but... killing is all I'm good at."

Turning, Cecilia crossed the spear over her back, and took her leave...

By the Kerry awoke to find her missing spear, and tracked it back to the thief, she would find Cecilia in her small clothes; a sheer, silk chemise, a study, dore straight-seam corset, and a pair of cotton, open drawers - drenched in sweat from the effort of familiar swings, as she treated Dusk like a sword, not a spear.

Graceful, flowing swings, interspersed with powerful, poignant strikes, woven into a marching, almost dancing martial art. Cecilia flowed from hunks of firewood, yet split, but soon cleaved in twain by the spear that didn't kill, as she made it able to rebel. Kerry's sharp eyes could see the rivlets of Mana-rich sweat rolling down the spear, nourishing the unique metal, and imbuing it with corrupted potential.

Once her katas were complete, and the firewood was all chopped, Cecilia stopped to vent the built up heat as she panted.

”You know….”

Kerry made her presence known as she stepped out into the clearing.

”You could’ve just asked.”

"Such is not in my nature, mon chéri," Cecilia says, "Respecting boundaries, such a difficult labor for me, the Rebellion Queen."

”Well, with a title like that, I guess you would have an identity crisis if you did something contradicting said title, huh?”, the hornet commented with a smirk. ”Still….Your spearwork is something else. Not a single wasted movement in your form, your strikes are clean, your thrusts are measured and precise. It’s almost like you’re marching to a beat. Such a unique style. So unique that…..I….”

Kerry’s statement trailed off as her eyes became distant and unfocused, a clear sign of someone going through memory lane.

"Oi!" Cecilia says, bonking Kerry with the flat of left palm. "Being rude is my thing."

”Ow! I wasn’t being rude, you dork!”, the merc snapped back, rubbing the sore spot on her head. ”I was just remembering. In fact, now that I’ve think about it…

”...I may have seen that kind of spearwork before.”

"How curious," Cecilia says, before burying Dusk between them. "Shoes off. Hands up. Stand on my feet."

”Eh? Ummm….alright. Sure.”

Confused as to where this is going, Kerry complied regardless, discarding her greaves before standing on Cecilia’s feet with her chitinous hands up.

”Okay, now what?”

Cecilia took Kerry's hands, and moved their feet as one, humming softly, as she closed her eyes, and moved around Dusk without hitting the spear-turned-placemaker.

It would take Kerry a moment to realize... they were dancing.

"I hate serious conversation, the atmosphere of reality, so crushing and real, heavy with self-importance... If we have to talk about things, I'd rather do so dancing," Cecilia says, "Such is my rebellious nature. A nature that I worry you will be unable to love, because you love her, shining ever-brilliant..." Cecilia opened her sapphire-blue eyes, as they looked up into Kerry's hazel, and she frowned, "Are you able to look at me with those hazel-brown eyes, and love me the same - uncouth and rebellious as I am, lacking her refinement and class?"

"Answer me that, true, then tell me your story, freshly remembered..."

Kerry’s dark cheeks turned rosy as she realized they were dancing around Dusk and would’ve commented on it if Alice….no. If Cecilia hadn’t started pouring her heart out. Seeing this rare instance of the mad hatter letting her guard willingly and without going through her usual defenses, Kerry set aside her own embarrassment and gave her answer.

”Oh? Can I ask you the same? I’m loud, brash, often act before I think, my mouth gets me into trouble and I can sometimes be a dumbass. Can you look at me with those sapphire-blues and love me, despite all of my cons? When I put on that ring, I vowed to love ALL of you. The imposing Dinah, the shining Alice….and the rebellious Cecilia. I’m with you to the bitter end, dearest. You can count on that.”

"A bold promise. A very Human promise. I've loved many, known many, and lost many. From the mud and the blood, I've scaled to the Throne of God, and lain my hand upon the gilded seat. For my hubris, I was kicked down, but I know I can ascend again..." Cecilia says, "Find myself in Wonderland, reunite my Band of Diamonds, and take to the Path of Reformation, shining ever-brilliant..." she says, bringing Kerry close, as the song reaches its crescendo, "The bitter end may be the death of you, Kerrigan Maros? Would you die for a Human that won't accept her place as a Mamono, and seeks rebellion against the Lilim that damned her? Is that truly a future you believe in, for you, and for her -- " Cecilia brought their hands between them, ambient Mana connecting and touching upon their unlain child, " -- and all that risks?"

"I... walk a dangerous path, and I cannot drag you down with me, if you harbor doubts in the dream I seek."

Kerry’s other hand came to caress Cecilia’s cheek as their foreheads touched.

”Yes, Cecilia. I would die for this. For you, for Gwen, for that ever-beautiful dream. However…..I won’t die. Neither will you, love. Because I will use every bit of my body and soul to make sure that future becomes a reality…..and all three of us are there together, enjoying its warmth and glory.”

A chaste kiss punctuated the merc’s response, as well as a gentle pulse from her belly, as if to concur.

"I hope you never come to regret it, then," Cecilia says, before she raised her right hand, a ring being uncovered, "The Trumpart you faced, was she wearing a ring like so," she asks, allowing Kerry to see the silver band inlaid with nine diamonds of nine colors, split four by four by the clear center, "and wielding that trumspear you possess, albeit whole enough to be a full weapon?"

Kerry’s eyes flashed with recognition upon seeing the ring.

“Y-Yeah, she was. I took note of it when we shook hands after the duel. And she was using the spear that the broken handle came from.”

Cecilia would raise Kerry with some vine, and then stood on her feet - despite being rather short, and rather stout, she was shockingly lighter than Kerry might have expected. Able to tippy-toe, Cecilia would place her lips to Kerry’s right ear, and purr before requesting, "Do regale me with the tale of how my love came to win a clash with Bridgette Pique, Ace of Spades, and my Third Diamond?"

Kerry’s eyes widened as Cecilia spoke a name she hadn’t heard in years.

”W-Wait! You know Bridgette!?”

"Did I stutter," Cecilia asks, before shifting up into Alice, "I don’t think I did," she says, looking down upon Kerry, her crimson eyes shimmering, "The Trumpart I trained, so lovingly, so personal, brought to a draw. A member of my personal guard, and my lover. ‘So curious, said Alice, ‘Curiouser and curiouser, indeed.’"

With the mad hatter’s now ruby eyes gazing down upon her, Kerry made the rare wise decision to get on with it and tell the story. Her own questions, which there were many and counting, would have to wait.

”Alright, don’t get so interrogative. I’ll tell you.”, Kerry began, taking a moment to recall the memory. ”It was around four years ago. I, along with a few other fellow mercs, had just finished a bodyguard job helping a client’s caravan cross the Great Badlands and were staying in a port town for a few days before moving on to the next job…”

---

A Fateful Duel

”Ugh, Lilith’s tits, crossing that shit was a pain. And we made it a day early too, so that client better give out that bonus along with the good pay or they’re getting Mort up the ass real quick.”

Stepping out of the tavern/inn she was staying at, Kerry was greeted by morning hustle and bustle of Ragger’s End, a port hub located on the coastal tip of the Great Badlands. The local merchants got up bright and early to set up their shops and put up their wares and items for sale as ships came and went into the oceans beyond.

Alright, the client should be at the local town hall right now. The sooner I can get paid, the quicker I can pay for a trip across the pond. Adventure calls and one shouldn’t stay for too long.

With that, the hornet began her trek across town. However, at the halfway point, she came upon a most curious sight: A crowd amassing in the town’s square, loud cheers and shouting being heard by all who had ears to hear them. Seeing one of the other mercs who traveled with her, Kerry’s curiosity won her over and she approached the crowd.

”Yo, Creig. What’s going on here?”

“Oh, hey Kerry.”, responded Creig, a tall middle-aged man with a burly build and scraggly beard, decked in leather armor and boots. A longsword was draped across his back. “Get this: Some weird card woman showed up from outta nowhere and demanded to know if we’ve seen someone. Some royal official or a princess? I don’t know, I wasn’t really paying attention. Anyway, some of our mates didn’t take too well to that and reckoned to teach her some manners. The card woman obliged. Next thing I know, a crowd builds up and everyone’s taking bets on who can beat her. It’s been a series of duels ever since…..and she hasn’t lost yet.”

”Really? And you’re not participating?”

“You shitting me!? She took out big ol’ Lonzo just a few minutes ago! I want no parts of that, thank you very much!”

Rolling her eyes at the man’s dramatics, Kerry pushed her deeper into the crown. She had just reached the center when a body was tossed to her feet. It was Fredrick, a dual-wielding bastard swordsman and another of her traveling colleagues, now laying battered and bloodied as he groaned in pain.

”Well, at least you’re alive, Freddy.”, she commented with a smirk before looking up to finally see this ‘card woman’ herself.

As Kerry looked up from her fallen comrade, she would see a tall, lithe brunette, spinning a spear with a longer-than-average blade, and cleaning it of the blood shed upon it by it. As she spun the weapon, she seemed to be marching... or, perhaps, in a sense, dancing... in place, before she finished with a downward slash to her left from her right, and assumed a stance that seemed more open than a spear user would like.

It was better suited for a sword user.

"<I’m tired of these games! Answer my question! Where is my Queen!? Where is Alice! These battles annoy me!>" the “card woman” shouted, her accent a mix between the Common Tongue and something that begged to be wondered about. It was painfully clear she was a foreigner, and most likely, not even from this Realm.

Kerry’s eyes narrowed.

What is that stance? No self respecting spearman would ever leave themselves that open. This woman….She’s definitely not from around here, her magical aura very peculiar and unlike anything I’ve sensed so far. Energies like this means either she’s from Pandemonium, which is impossible because NO ONE leaves that place, or she’s from…

”A long way from Wonderland, don’t you think?”, the hornet announced herself as she stepped over Fredrick and stood some distance away from the woman. ”Took a wrong turn?”

"<Oh? Finally, someone with sense. There’s no wrong turns in Wonderland, so my Queen tells me. Simply, wrong paths and right paths. All roads lead to Rome, regardless,>" the spearwoman says, "<I’m looking for her. Alice, the Queen of Diamonds. Have you seen her?>"

”Can’t say I do if I don’t even know what she looks like.”

"<You would know such a woman on sight. Shining, ever-brilliant. Beyond anything you could believe.>"

The hornet blinked. Even the crowd got silent at that.

”.....Girl, do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?”

"<So, you are useless, as well, then...>" Narrowing her eyes, the spearwoman would march in place, like a bull before a charge, and brassy band started to play, as several cards appears with the music. "<Invasion.>"

Kerry had seconds to dodge a blistering fast thrust - aimed squarely for her nose.

Fast. To a mind-boggling degree was the speed of the woman’s thrust that any other person would’ve fallen to such an opening attack.

Kerry wasn’t any other person, but even so….it was close

Years of battle experience and fly-like instincts saved her as she snapped her head to the side, the spear mere inches from her cheek and slicing through her hair as it passed. Retaliating, Kerry shoulder-checked the woman, pushing her away while pulling Dusk from her back and pointing it at her now opponent, her face now dead serious.

”Can I get the name of the woman who picked a fight with me?”

The surrounding crowd erupted with renewed vigor. Finally, someone who didn’t go down instantly.

Another duel was about to commence….and it will be one the town will talk about for years to come.

"<Third Diamond, Brigette Pique~>" came the answer, as the spearwoman flourished her spear. "<That could could dodge my Queen’s technique...>"

Brigette smirked, before she disappeared - appearing behind Kerry with her spear drawn straight back in an iaijutsu stance. "<Injection.>"

The spear blade was coming like a sword swung.

Holy shit, she’s fast!

Again acting on instinct, Kerry jumped straight up, narrowly avoiding the swing. Flipping backwards in mid-air, she then thrusted downwards above Bridgette.

A moment of retreat, one might think, as Bridgette streaked back, before suddenly moving forward; planting the blade of her spear into the earth, and lifting onto the heel with her palms. It was a sudden and unpredictable exchange of position and manipulation of her body - in one moment, she was a viable target for the straightforward ground assault, in the next, Kerry was kissing her heel, as it slammed into her, before Bridgette turned her handstand into handspring, and angled her heels to dive attack Kerry instead of the reverse.

Kerry hit the ground with a grunt, head ringing from that incredible counterattack, but she had no time to rest with Bridgette diving at her. She quickly thrusted her hand and…

”Cloudburst!”

A shotgun of wind slammed into Bridgette and sent her flying upwards. Getting back on her and not taking any more chances, the hornet pulled out Mort and javelin tossed it after the card woman before buzzing up after her, Dusk slapping back into her hand upon being called.

Bridgette smirked, before a card appeared behind her, and swallowed her into a void. "<Magic is on the table, then? Very well,>" she says, behind Kerry.

"<Injec -- >"

"< -- vasion!>"

Bridgette swung her spear from behind Kerry, while a card was dealt in front of her, and the same spear was being thrust at her.

In a feat of quick thinking and athleticism, Kerry immediately twisted her body, arching her back as much as she could and avoiding the two fronted assault. Not done yet, she did a ‘come here’ gesture with her left hand, the silver bracelet vibrating as Mort came whistling in straight toward Bridgette.

Bridgette cast her arm back; tossing her spear at the incoming missile, as it unfolded and unfurled into a card, and swallowed the spear, before folding back into her spear, and shrinking into a toothpick. "<My Queen is a Mad Hatter. I cannot be cheated by such pedestrian tactics,>" she says, popping her spear between her lips, and adopting a new stance; crossing her right arm behind her back, as she extended her left arm forward, palm up and facing herself. "<Those bracelets let you freely recall your spears, and you feint with the black one, but attack with the white one. Mamono Realm metals aren’t good at offensive measure - they don’t make fatal wounds. Someone probably harvested a dead Sword Devil for that spear.>"

Bridgette cracked her neck, "<Clever, I’ll afford you that. Any Human would assume you were using something like wrought iron, or cast iron. Maybe, even big iron. A crude metal,>" she says, "<They’d think nothing of the spear you threat like a javelin, leave it to lie on the ground, unaware of their spirit being drained with each odd strike of your weapon, until they were too exhausted to dodge, as you call the offensive spear home.>"

"<Sorry, if I spoiled your gambit. In return, I’ll take a handicap. I’ll fight with my bare hand and feet, and you...>" Bridgette smirked, as she removed her armored gloves and boots, "<...can score every hit with your defensive spear. I won’t dodge a single hit. Even impalement.>"

"<Sound fair?>"

”Geez, look at you, figuring out my battle strats. Hasn’t your Queen taught you to not go babbling out a girl’s secrets?”, Kerry replied, outwardly appearing to engage in mid-duel banter while, inwardly, her mind was going a mile a minute. Bridgette was right. Dusk was the spear best used in fights of attrition, for the long, methodical battles that’s more about whittling your opponent down bit by bit until the right decisive moment. For that, Mort was used, for delivering meaningful damage or ending the fight there and then. With only Dusk, Kerry was in for a long fight with a very tricky opponent, what with Mort being…stuck….inside….Bridgette’s….

Wait….Can I still…..

The hornet smirked.

"<I’m a talkative Mamono,>" Bridgette says, marching in place, "<Releases tension. Make time go by. It’s distracting, too.>" Bridgette stepped forward, before sending up her right knee - at the same time, a portal opened, and she punched Kerry squarely in the back with her hidden right arm to jolt her forward into the rising knee.

”GHAAAA! YOU BITCH!”, shrieked the merc, reeling from the cheap shot. ”But you know what!? Handicap yourself all you want! I wouldn’t recommend it, though! After all…”

She raised her left hand toward Bridgette, her pointer out.

”....you put the one that hurts in there.”

Her finger flicked inward, the silver bracelet vibrating.

Bridgette smirked, as she angled her spear with her tongue. "<How curious. Pesky that you can call it, but can you get it back...>" she asks, placing the spear between two fingers, "<...before you are skewered?>"

Bridgette flicked her spear forward at Kerry.

Kerry replied by slashing with Dusk, deflecting the spear off course. Again, her left pointer finger beckoned to Mort, calling it back.

Bridgette smiled, as her spear slipped into a card, and was course-corrected by another opening behind Kerry. "<You aren’t the only one that can summon your spear, you know?>"

Kerry gave no reply, spinning to dodge the spear from behind her, her instincts once more proving vital in this fight.

Another flick of her finger. Another call to Mort.

"<Slippery, huh?>" Bridgette seemed to be more entertained than annoyed, as she marched on, pleased as punch. "<Doesn’t matter. Keep trying, over and over, as you please...>" she says, putting her foot through a card, as one appeared above Kerry’s head, "<...you’ll fall all the same.>"

Dodging the spear once more, Kerry’s antennae twitched as she immediately shifted to the side, avoiding the foot that came through the card above her before grabbing said foot and pulling.

She didn’t stop calling to Mort.

"<Tickles.>" Bridgette says, before plunging through. "<However...>" she looked back, as her spear was returning; though, the card was unfurling - or rather, tearing.

It’s working.

Now Kerry was smirking as she axe kicked Bridgette in the stomach, sending her downward before twirling Dusk to smack the incoming spear upwards.

Flick. Call.

Bridgette seemed catch off-guard, as she plummeted towards the ground; catching herself in a handstand, and looking up, as she flaunted her impressive body. ‘My Queen, would you admonish me? Scold me for such dalliance? Or, would you be pleased with my games?’ she wondered, as the card unfurled - tearing in two from the unyielding pressure of the offensive spear. ‘How wondrous, though, that such minds can be found outside of your reform...’

With the weapon finally free, Mort rocketed back toward its mistress, slapping back into her grasp.

”Good to have you back!”, said the hornet to the silver spear. ”Now then….”

Buzzing downwards, Kerry landed across from Bridgette.

”Giving credit where it’s due: You are, by far, the trickiest opponent I’ve ever fought.”

"<A complement I will take in stride,>" Bridgette says, as she bent forward with an eerie grace, and stood straight, extending her right hand, "<My Queen would be impressed by you. I am, as well. Shall we call this a draw? Victory is far from your reach, but I cannot say I feel I have lost.>"

””Funny, at no point in that duel did I feel like I was losing either, but we’re gonna be here all day if we keep arguing like this, so you know what? Sure.”, responded the merc as she walked forward, stashing her spears before shaking Bridgette’s hand with own. ”If we ever meet again, let’s duel again. With all that we got, yeah?”

"<That’s not a fight you want to pick.>" Bridgette smiled, as card after card after card opened in the sky, a dome of fifty-two building around the little area, and each card projecting a spear like her own. "<My Queen is a Mad Hatter. I was taught to cheat.>" she says, "<Bridgette Pique, Third Diamond, General of the Wild 52. If ever we meet, I hope it is on good terms.>"

”Kerry Maros, Globe Trotter, Spears For Hire. Likewise.”, she replied with a defiant smile that screamed ‘Challenge Accepted.’

Eyeing the dome of fifty-two spear-laced cards around them, it definitely would’ve taken one of Kerry’s more costly spells to counter.

Something to train even harder for.

---

---

”....After that, we both went our separate ways, wishing each other luck in our future endeavors.”, Kerry concluded, wrapping up her story.

"To pull the Wild 52 out in plain sight, and even show off 52 Pick-up..." Alice smirked, before moving on, "I see you neglected the part where you slept with Bridge, but I'll forgive you. I already did so, and several times."

"They might be called a Queen's Personal Guard, but they are better at guarding the King's sword, if you know what I mean," Alice snickered.

”Can you go five minutes without making a sexual innuendo?”, said Kerry with a deadpanned expression. ”And you’re still on that!? We did not sleep with each other!”

"And, yet, you have half her prized weapon," Alice says. "Riddle me that."

”It. Is. A. Memento! A gift for a well-fought and mostly honorable duel! Nothing more, nothing less!”

Alice smirked, popping a smugness worth of an Elf, "Stole it, then. Sneaky."

”Stole it?”, Kerry tilted her head, confused. ”Ali, why would I steal it?”

"Dear, would you give away one of your wings," Alice asks, "That's a part of Bridge's Card, a part of her body, and you possess it."

It would seem there was some cultural confusion, but, also... a means to track the Trumpart for the tracking specialist.

”Part of her body? But that means…….Wait here.”

Kerry would take off back toward the temple. A minute later, she returned with the broken handle in question.

”I can still sense her aura on this, even after all these years. Alice, I…..I think I can find her with this.”

"Eh? What do you mean," Alice asks, lifting off Kerry, and reforming her normal clothes.

”W-Whoa, easy!”, stammered the hornet, blushing as she was picked up by Alice. ”I have an Echidna mother, remember? That means not only can I use magic, I can also detect magical energies/auras and track them back to the source. It means I can find Bridgette. And by extension…”

”....Even find a way to Wonderland.”

"How curious. My wife is part bloodhound, it seems," Alice says, preening her left antenna, "Can you bark for me, puppy," she purred, before looking into the distance, "...and dig up some diamonds?"

”I am not a dog.”, grunted Kerry, shivering as her lover caressed one of her antennae. ”Oh yeah, Bridge did refer to herself as the ‘Third Diamond’. I’m guessing they’re your royal court?”

"Shame. I like dogs," Alice says, "And, they serve that role, yes."

”How many are there?”

"A story for another day," Alice says, setting Kerry down, "I’m tired of dancing..."

”Awww, I was curious.”, pouted the hornet, not wanting to admit that she wanted to be carried by Alice a little longer. ”But yeah, we should probably get ready to take on the Heavenly Strike quest today.”

"That is true. Perhaps, I’ll do a little marching," Alice says, stretching her Rolling arms. "Lift your leg for a moment."

Raising an inquisitive eyebrow at the request, Kerry complied and lifted her right leg to waist level.

Alice smirked, before she stooped down, and slipped Kerry’s boot back on. "Don’t blink, Cinderella," she says, "I could just disappear."

Kerry blushed at the comment.

“...I-Idiot.”

She couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on her face.

Alice would lift her other foot, and repeat. "Mad, but same difference, so I’m told..." she smirked.

Rolling her eyes at the statement, Kerry lifted her right hand, black bracelet humming as Dusk returned to her.

“You took on this quest before, by yourself. How many of those students were there?”

"Three, and I beat them all," Alice says, "Burn that technique into my flesh, but... bleeding out sucks."

”Hopefully, this time around, you won’t have to resort to such drastic measures again.”, Kerry commented as she stashed her spear. ”Er……Hey, do you….remember? Before you left? I….yelled at you.”

"That’s history to bring up so suddenly," Alice says, "Yeah, I do. Just got done with a mental breakdown, Shizuka sleeping with Carroll, and almost burning to death for the second time in my life, only this time, out at sea with a buncha Varjans..." she says, before shrugging, "Life. Anyways, why the ask?"

Upon hearing the factors that had been affecting her lover that day, Kerry was, once again, feeling guilt and regret for what she had inadvertently caused.

”Okay, I definitely deserved getting decked in the face after hearing that.”, she bemoaned, hands on her face as she began pacing. ”Oh my gods, what the fuck is wrong with me!? First the monk and now this!”

"First, calm down, or I’ll bonk you," Alice says, raising her left hand, "Secondly, what monk? Was she hot?"

”Please don’t do that!”, Kerry relented, covering her head in defense. ”Also, the monk was a guy. A guy…that…I…..s-s-stole from.”

"So..." Alice asks, confused. "Mercs aren’t known for their stellar wit and charm. Still, you seem to be kicking yourself over there, so..." Alice hummed, "If only for a moment, as this seems to carry some baggage you’ve been ignoring."

”I’m fully aware of my occupation’s reputation, Alice. I don’t need you to lecture me.”, retorted the hornet before looking down in thought. ”It’s just…..sigh.....I used to not care about it.”

"If that’s a lecture, I’d hate to find out your opinion on a scolding," Alice says, "Irregardless, logically speaking, it’s less of a matter of you didn’t used to not care, but that you didn’t have a reason to care," she says, tutting a finger, "Someone went and got herself all preggo, and now she has a baby to impress. You’re growing up. All you need to do is apologize and make right."

”....Yeah….”

Her hand laid upon her belly. As always, a gentle pulse greeted her.

”You’re right about that. I mean, it’s the mercenary life, you know? As long as you know how to fight, there will always be someone out willing to pay you a pretty penny for you to do what you do best. And you and I both know that there are too many people like that.”

"Unfortunately," Alice says, "Such is why I seek reform. To create a world of self-control and potential, so I might never lose another friend, or daughter," she says, looking to the sky, "A world were mercenaries aren't needed is a world that shines ever-brilliant."

Kerry almost cried when Alice said that.

”A world where mercenaries aren’t needed….”

The hornet looked down further, a shadow now obscuring her eyes.

”I’ve done things I’m not proud of, Alice. I’ve fought in wars I’ve never should’ve fought and I’ve done things I never should’ve done. My hands are stained in the blood of those who deserved it…..and those who did not. Like you said, I didn’t have a reason to care. As long as I got paid, so what if a family lost a loved one? So what if a village’s harvest is ruined? It was so easy to care about only myself……”

”.....and then I came here.”

Alice listened. In a game of one-upmanship, Kerry would never win. Under her belt, she fell kingdoms, took them, and brought them to obey, resulting in punishment and death. The blood she split to her cause could fill oceans, and all the blame would rest on her shoulders.

It was for her cause that lives started and ended, children were born, adults died, in a neverending rebellion for the promise of reformation.

To war, she led them.

In ruin, she left them.

In the game of blame, centuries of fingers would find her at fault...

"Dwelling in the past is a good way to stay shackled to it. If you remain shackled here, you'll be a victim of history, and that's no way to be for Gwen," Alice says, opting for brevity.

Her darkness had no business casting shade over Kerry.

”I know…”

Her grip on her belly tightened. Another pulse.

”For her….For us….I have to be better…”

Kerry raised her head, the shadow disappearing as Alice saw the emotions swirling within those hazel eyes.

Love. Guilt. Determination. Regret. Understanding…..and knowing.

Knowing that, for all that Kerry had done in her life….was a drop in the ocean to what Alice had done.

”....We have to be better.”

"Better is just how I strive to be, so that's easy enough," Alice smirked.

Kerry returned the smile with her own, the weight on shoulders lightening.

”Ready to head back? The others will be waiting.”

"I think so," Alice says, before shifting down, and scooping Kerry off her feet, "I'd say, breakfast is in order for the three of us."

”I can walk there on my own just fine, Cecilia!”, complained the hornet with a blush, though she made no effort in freeing herself from being carried.

Cecilia chuckled, as they headed back to their room to start the homesteading chore of making break as lovers, no more, but Husband and Wife...

---

Can You Go Fishing In The Dating Pool? (Collab with The Irish Tree)

As Eula would awaken, she would find herself trapped by a hug upon her bed, as Carroll held her close, arms draped over her shoulders; the bigger of two spoons.

A sleeping Carroll had opted to crease their dine 'n dash spree after it became painfully apparent that the appeal was being neutered by their connection to the Taskforce.

There was no chase. No thrill. No reason.

It wasn't anything rebellious about being allowed to eat and leave. So, with her evening spoiled, Carroll had opted to stop pushing herself to perform, and retire until the morning.

Not at all minding being trapped, Eula would take her time to observe and touch Carroll, curious as to her new form. It was taller, and…well, different. Complexion, facial structure, scent, bust size, hip size…well, those could be verified later.

For now, Eula was only concerned on keeping her company, feeling guilty for their attempted dine and dashing to be met with only playful chuckling from storekeeps.

Carroll moved, little bits at a time, with each exploratory touch and tap, but she didn’t wake.

Eula would honor her biological needs and keep from disturbing her, just quietly watching her slumber away the wee hours of the morning.

Eventually, the sword would awaken, and come to slowly.

Eula would be waiting there for her, keeping her eyes closed so…y’know. She wasn’t staring into her soul upon wake-up. She’d gotten all the data she needed an hour ago.

"Tired..." Carroll yawned.

Eula would rise up a bit and gently wrap her arms around Carroll’s back, rubbing along her spine. "You and Alice did go rather overboard fighting that fairy."

"Alice did that, not me..." Carroll says, "I’m just an innocent sword."

Unconvinced at all, Eula would pinch Carroll’s cheek. "Oho? So a combination of your powers has no involvement from you at all?"

"Indeed," Carroll says, "I am as innocent as I am humble."

Eula smiled and released her cheek, holding Carroll close.

Carroll chuckled, "Now, what would you like to do this morning, milady?"

"We’re participating in the Heavenly Strike quest, correct? Would we have time for anything?"

"It's not like we can depart without Alice. This is her quest, so we leave in her go," Carroll says, "and her go is whenever she pleases."

Eula would nod and look at Carroll once more. "My idea last night didn’t pan out so…why don’t we do what you’d like until its time?"

"Me? I'm not quite that interesting, though," Carroll says, "However, there is something I would like to do..."

"Yes?"

"It's boring, I warn you," Carroll says, as she got up, and looked back.

Eula smiled and sat up on the bed. "I don’t mind."

Carroll would twirl one of her ringlet locks around her right pointer finger, as it unwound into a long reel, and she caught a hook between her thumb and pointer, before beaming. "Wanna go fishing, then," she asks.

Eula looked interested and stood up. "I am lacking in equipment, but I would enjoy that."

" Luckily, I am not," Carroll says, extending her right hand, and showing off the transformed length of hair would flex with the movement of her finger, as if she was reeling and slacking the line. "Think you can handle holding my hand for a few hours?"

Eula blushed at the lewd proposition, before nodding and extending a hand to be held.

Carroll would take her hand, and kiss it, before spiriting Eula towards a river she'd recalled on the warpath as Dinah; the path the Possessed took was clear from the felled trees and sundered earth. However, the river continued on, as if its route hadn't been revised.

As she sat on a tree, Carroll would settle Eula in her lap, and leave her to cast the line.

In this position Eula would snuggle in, blushing as she casted the line, holding tightly onto Carroll’s hand. "...This is…quite a unique fishing position."

"Sword Devils are very stationary hunters. We can spend decades into centuries in one spot, wait for a suitable woman to pass by," Carroll says, her right hand twitching in subtle way, as her hook flowed with the river, "Patience is key. As such, we become proficient anglers. Just awaiting..." Carroll blew upon Eula's neck, "...the one."

Eula nearly short-circuited as Carroll blew on her neck, hand twitching a bit.

"However, catching the one..." Carroll kissed her right "pulse point", "...is no simple feat. A Sword Devil has to be crafty, has to understand her one..." Carroll kissed higher, upon her right jaw, "...and what kind of bait would call her to bite."

Carroll nipped Eula's earlobe.

Eula outright jerked the rod out from her nervous twitch as her ear was stimulated, eyes getting clouded with static. "O-Overheat!"

"Ara ara~" Carroll purred, as Eula reeled. "A bit premature there. Nothing's bitten me yet."

Eula fidgeted in Carroll’s lap, her smaller frame scrunching up a bit in embarrassment as she hugged her knees. "...M-My apologies…"

"How cute..." Carroll says, "However, I don't simply want cute. I don't want... a confused experiment," she says, "I screwed up the best thing I had, damned myself to lose it all, and I don't want to use to as a rebound."

Carroll held Eula close with her left hand. "I want us to be serious, but I need to know that you understand what that means..." she says, "...for you and for me."

Eula would relax a bit against Carroll, holding her left hand over Carroll’s left. "Serious…?"

"A relationship. A true courtship and living as, not just lovers, but Husband and Wife," Carroll says, "Not as a replacement for Io, nor as an experiment to understand what Love is, but as two Mamono that live for each other, earnestly."

Eula was quiet for a few moments before she would slowly net her fingers with Carroll’s. "I…I’m not sure just yet…even peering into your memories, there’s still so much we don’t know about one another. I barely know myself."

"That's what I'm getting at. I want to take this on correctly," Carroll says, "I'm not like Alice. I can't just sleep with someone, then plunge into their life forever. I'm slow-going, I guess."

Eula would nod in understanding, before looking at Carroll at an upwards angle. "So then…is it fine to continue as we are for now? Or did you have something in mind?"

"I always have something in mind, but a relationship is between two, and I, alone, am one," Carroll says, "So, we make decisions together."

Eula would nod before saying: "I would like to keep exploring these feelings. I want to get to know you better, and to keep protecting people by your side."

"That's something I'd be glad to do," Carroll says, "However, there is one problem that you have to take with the utmost seriousness," she says, "I have a goal, and that goal will take me home. If you follow me, you'll never return here. You'll live and die in Wonderland. Can you do that, truly?"

"Is there truly no coming back from Wonderland? You’ve returned from it." Eula questioned.

"I was born there," Carroll says, "I am immune to Wonderlust, the draw of Wonderland, once a foreigner has come and gone," she says, "The corruption makes the body ache and carve returning. Like homesickness on steroids."

Eula looked a bit hesitant. "...There is still a lot of world for me to visit…"

"Indeed," Carroll says, "I cannot make you follow me. However, I cannot stay behind, once that door opens..."

"...I…" Eula didn’t have an answer. It was a gargantuan thing to ask of someone either way, for either of them to ask the other. …To never return, for either, might be worse than anything.

"Difficult things are why I fish," Carroll says.

"I don’t understand," Eula admitted.

"Fishing is a quiet activity, something that gives time in spades to think," Carroll says.

Eula nodded before quietly staring at the water once more.

Carroll relaxed, playing an idle game of footsie with Eula, as the cool water ran over their toes.

Eula wasn’t reciprocating, lost in thought as she gave everything serious consideration.

Carroll was patient. Eula would tune back in, sooner or later.

"...What is Wonderland like?" she finally asked, breaking her silence.

"Last I saw it, primitive, simple, backwards, even, yet functionally itself," Carroll says, "A land divided into four nations around a central, ruling capital."

"And the food?"

"Depends on where you go. Nine races, all with their own cultures, after all," Carroll says, "You'd likely never try everything to be found."

"...I can live with that," Eula said with a nod.

"Oh," Carroll asks, still playing, as she waited.

Eula said: "If I were to never eat something unique again, I may get upset. But if you’re saying Wonderlandian cuisine is that diverse, I’d be fine with going."

"Well, I'd like to think so," Carroll says.

Eula would finally play once more, leaning back against Carroll. "It may sound superficial, but it is something important to me. But…Wonderland can sustain that."

"Superficial is only limited to the surface," Carroll says, "If it means something to you, then it is a part of your core," she swatted Eula’s foot, and lied back - trapping her in a hug. "And that’s perfectly fine by me."

Eula would struggle a bit before settling into the hug, nuzzling the back of her head against Carroll’s shoulder. "Even something that trivial…?"

"You worry so much over nothing," Carroll says, letting the water wash over their dangling legs. "I won’t hate you for being unique."

Eula couldn’t fight that statement, or that promise as she relaxed against Carroll, closing her eyes. "...This fishing stance is even stranger than the last one."

"Easier for me to mess with you," Carroll smirked, as she clasped Eula’s left foot between both of her, and raised it up with her legs. "Gotcha~"

"Am I the fish now," Eula asked.

"Maybe," Carroll says. "I seem to have you hooked."

Eula would smile, then remind Carroll of her automaton strength as she hugged back and picked her up. The fish was biting back.

"Careful, now, Miss Rowdy," Carroll says, "We might even up in the drink, if you try to show off."

Eula said: "Not showing off. Simply getting into character. Fish always fight back when reeled."

"Roleplay, huh," Carroll asks. "I’ll have to oblige, then," she smirked, before she lost her skin color and texture, "Time to reel you in~"

"This date has become convoluted," Eula said with a giggle.

"Indeed," Carroll says, before she turned into slime, and slithered around Eula; over her skin and under her clothes, twisting and twining between her fingers and toes, before drawing tight and snug against her. "Can you escape the net, my little fishie?"

Eula both sincerely didn’t want to hurt Carroll, and doubted she could break the net, and as such would flop around, eyes going cross. "Glub glub."

Possibly, her worst mistake, as Carroll would erupt into a raucous laughter that would vibrate her entire body.

Eula would just puff her cheeks up, feeling absolutely ridiculous as Carroll vibrated.

"That was hilarious!" Carroll says.

Eula would keep her cheeks puffed, emulating how fish run out of breath when out of water as she wiggled around in the net. Her method acting was having the opposite effect.

Carroll was absolutely enthralled by her play-acting.

Eula would eventually cease moving, imitating the final moments of a fish’s life. Farewell, fish mother…fish father…little fish sister…she was coming to the great beyond. Someday they would meet again!

Carroll snickered, "So dramatic."

Letting her neck go limp, the method acting was complete as Eula “died” in Carroll’s net.

Carroll giggled, as she trailed kisses up Eula’s nape.

Eula did her best not to react since she was under the impression immersion was important, remaining still and dead.

"Breathe, my mermaid," Carroll whispered. "I miss you so."

Eula sat up. "I don’t think I enjoy being a fish very much."

"I thought it was very cute," Carroll says. "However, I like this," she would palm Eula’s chest, her presence like a phantom, "I’m a spooky ghost, now."

Her chest being touched just reminded Eula of those brigands who insisted that she was unattractive, causing the automaton to reflexively puff her cheeks up and look irritated.

"Something wrong," Carroll asks, "Normally, you get cute, not grumpy, when I touch you."

"...Nothing. Just remembering something rude someone said," Eula said. "Executing cuteness protocol," she said before throwing her head back and pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. "Is this sufficient?"

"Cuteness is a protocol," Carroll says, "And, who insulted you, so I can stab them?"

"Irrelevant. I just want to enjoy my time with you now rather than dwell on it," Eula said.

"It’s very relevant. It clearly hurt you," Carroll says, before peeling away; a two-dimension figure in a three-dimensional world. "Eula, do you not think you’re cute?"

Eula looked away, folding her arms. "...I never considered myself to be. In a world of organic beings, ones with souls and identities, everything about me has come from…something else. I was created somewhere I don’t remember, by people I can’t recall, for a purpose I cannot remember. Cute was…something far from what I thought myself to be."

"How objectively, subjectively, and adjectively, foolish a thought," Carroll says, "Organic. Inorganic. Soulborne. Soulless. Identified. Mysterious. Purposeful. Purposeless. Created. Born. Remembered. Forgotten. No matter the thing, the word, or the concept, cute is cute if cute is cute, and you are cute to me."

Eula would stifle a chuckle. "Why ask me if I thought I was or not, then?"

"Because," Carroll held her cheeks in her hands, "Nobody’s opinion is more important than your own. If you don’t believe you’re cute, nobody will."

Eula would freeze up as her cheeks were held, and she would look down at herself, at her steel arms, her body, and finally herself reflected in Carroll’s eyes. "...I would prefer a more…mature word…but I don’t think I’m ugly."

"Then, i’ll refer to you are elegant, henceforth," Carroll says, "Eula the Elegant."

Eula smiled, before hugging Carroll. "I will have to think of something endearing to call you, now."

"Don’t overthink it," she says, before unbinding entirely.

Eula would nod, before closing her eyes. "...We still haven’t caught any fish, thinking about it."

"True, but, that’s fishing," Carroll says, "Sometimes, it’s more about the experience that the reward."

Eula nodded, before lifting Carroll up in her arms. "Then…I suppose its time for us to head back, and get ready, then?"

"After breakfast, I feel," Carroll says.

Eula would nod, before carrying Carroll back, more than ready to have a good meal before marching off to fight.

Carroll would regard the Automaton in silence. There was a sense of confidence and stability in their relationship - it wasn’t perfect, but nothing was. However, it would seem that some doubts had been lifting, and, for now... that was good enough.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

---

ATTN: @The Irish Tree (Eula/Liliana) & @Rezod92 (Kerry)

---

Binary Decisions on Mercy and Murder, Checked and Balanced (Collab w/ The Irish Tree)

A fair distance away, still in the midsts of her minor preparations for Takeshi’s mission to liberate his father, Eula would suddenly feel an intense surge of mana encroach and try to consume her core…or perhaps direct it, before she placed her hands over her shoulders and stunned herself, momentarily pulsing demonic energy of her own make to flush out the foreign presence before the feeling faded. Then, a colossal reading spiked on her sensors, sending the automaton running towards the potential threat.

It took a moment of processing that would be verified by her eyes soon enough, but this was definitely Dinah activating…and lo and behold, she would find Alice with her eyes closed, wounded slightly and bearing a scar while also cradling…something against her bosom.

Sort of a round, floppy, pinkish looking thing that was perfectly spherical, perfectly contented, and was now lazily floating in a small orbit as it digested whatever had filled its belly. It looked slightly familiar, but Eula pushed that thought out of her head in order to check on Carroll.

"I can’ eat ‘nymore honey Marigold…" the sphere of a fairy complained, metabolizing the foreign hatter milk rather slowly.

"...I believe there was a fairy in the task force but…I’ve never seen one gorge enough to become a bowling ball," Eula noted, before grabbing Liliana and poking her stomach, causing the fairy to wince in her sleep.

"At last, someone with sense in their head, and not thoughts of milk." Carroll sighed, stuck in her sword form, as Alice was unconscious and she was weakened herself. "Though, you were the last I expected to be curious."

"Carroll," a soft smiled crossed Eula’s lips as she reached out. "You haven’t forgotten me in just a few hours, correct? I may have to force-feed you again to make you remember if that’s the case."

"I remember you just fine." Carroll says, "I’m not food, so I don’t expect you to just become curious enough to investigate."

Eula would lift Carroll up in her blade form, saying: "You make it sound as if food is all I care about."

"You memorized what I taste like." Carroll says, flatly.

Eula would flick a finger along the dangerously sharp vorpal blade. "And you didn’t memorize how I taste?" she retorted.

"I’d plenty of time to do that." Carroll says. "Though, with you stripping me like this, I’d not pass up a reminder." Carroll teased, as Eula drew her from her scabbard, which was, essentially, her clothing, "Sadly, I’m sure you didn’t come here for that, did you?"

Eula shook her head and then sheathed Carroll. "I came to investigate the mana surge. I thought something dangerous had to be close…but…all I found was the two of you and her," Eula said, before bouncing the floating spherical Liliana in one hand.

"Less my drama, more between them." Carroll says. "Also, careful, or she might throw up on you. She drank, like, a lot of milk."

"Noted," Eula said before gently putting her down to decompress.

"Interesting that you felt that for such a short period of time. That could be problematic in the future. A theoretical downside to that form..." Carroll hummed.

"More than a theory if it was tangible," Eula said. "But, I did receive that invitation. Heavenly Strike, was it?"

"If that’s what she wrote, I suppose." Carroll says, simply.

Eula would do due diligence and show Carroll the bachelor party invitation, before asking: "Is it truly necessary to have the entire task force attack three men?"

"It far exceeds the original three." Carroll says. "It would seem, someone had taken to bootlegging, and passing this technique around like a cheap Succubus at a party." Eula could feel her frown, "We have much more to do than just stop a handful of bandits with a fancy new trick. We have to kill them, and cull the weed at the root, before it spreads further than just this island. If the Varjans were to learn such a powerful piece of swordplay..."

”Shizuyama wouldn’t be the end of it. They’d take all of Zipangu next," Eula finished.

"Indeed. Before we even attempt to ship off to the mainland or whatever that foolish child intends, we have to sort out this mess." Carroll says. "It’s been left to fester, and we’re dangerously close to losing more than just time."

Eula nodded. "I will make sure to not get in the way, cumbersome as my limitations are."

"I was thinking about that, actually, and your “Do Not Harm” rule." Carroll says. "I want to say, I have a loophole."

Eula looked a bit nervous to hear it. ”…What did you have in mind?"

"You just need to use a weapon that isn’t your body." Carroll says. "It falls back to the idea I had before, about repairing your arm by using mine, and then using my body to restore your original arm." she says. "Sword Devils were made to integrate into anything, after all, and restore to functionality."

Eula shook her head slightly. "It isn’t just that my programming prevents it. I was able to use a sword in the earlier attack to fend off Varjans but…even if it were within my programming to do so, I don’t think I could harm humans with a weapon."

"If it were possible, that’d be lovely, but harm is the only option we have to avoid the only outcome we’ll get." Carroll stresses. "Harm a few, now, or have them hurt the many later. At a point, the tough choices are -- no, the tough choices demand to be made. Irregardless of us personal feelings or creeds."

"This boils down to: save the many or save none."

Eula would look down at her arm and hold it by the elbow, asking: "...Then…I really am useless unless I can take a life?"

"That’s not a fair question. Any answer I could give you, regardless of truth, subjectivity, or objectivity, isn’t going to answer you in any satisfactory fashion, and will only put me in a corner." Carroll says. "It is the same as asking me, am I useless without someone to swing me? Do I have value as a sword that cannot swing herself, and must rely on everyone else? Can you answer that question in a satisfactory fashion to me?"

Seeming to realize her mistake, Eula would hang her head. "...I…but…I can’t help but think…that if I do accept needing to kill humans, that I’ll lose value for everything I cherish."

"I don’t disagree. The act of talking a live is something that shouldn’t be made trivial. It is to be measured, understood, and limited to the last act..." Carroll says, "However, are we to be given that same thoughtfulness? Those swordsman aimed to cut us down, and have choose to incite force for profit, regardless of the lives they’ll ruin." Carroll sighed, "At the end of the day, I’ve plenty of blood on my hands, so forgive an old woman her yammerings, but... I believe that killing that saves lives and brings reform for the better does not detract from one’s own justice. Heroes make the decision that civilians shouldn’t have to, and that includes killing."

Eula still looked hesitant. "...The guards that…fought beside me…if I’d have fought to kill…would more have survived the Varjans?"

"I don’t know. If I hadn’t left Alice alone for so long, would Io still be alive?" Carroll asks. "I can’t dwell on the past, any more than I can ruminate on the future. All I can do is this: protect you. If killing is what that takes, so be it."

Balling a hand, Eula would then ask: "...Am I…going back on saying I love humans too much to hurt them, if I kill some in order to prevent harm?"

"Pragmatically, no." Carroll says, simply, "The idiom goes, ‘Sometimes, we have to hurt those we love,’ after all. It is a matter of when and where you draw the line, ultimately."

Hesitation would get cut through along with the tension as a loud belch sounded from beside Eula, the formerly spherical Liliana now having processed the milk back down to her normal size and would stretch and yawn. "Plus, it isn’t like just because you kill a bad person that you hate good people. That just makes no sense."

A living being’s logic was different from a mechanical ones. A bruised pear was fine to the farmer to eat, but the machine saw the defect and tossed the whole thing. A pointless distinction, but…humans were like pears. Easily bruised and hurt, and discarded cruelly by the machines far above them.

…Wait, no, maybe that was Liliana’s lack of brain power affecting the narrative space around her.

"The former blob, still dummy, has a point - even if it’s stunted in it development, like her..." Carroll sighed. "The validity of your worries are not overshadowed by the pragmatism of my experience. However, it is something akin to shades of gray." she says, "To put it in more “you” terminology, an apple does not stop being an apple, just because you took the core out, but a bad apple will spoil the bushell, if you don’t take it out."

Eula would grimly nod. "...Then…what will it take?"

"Whatever you need to put it right between you and yourself." Carroll says. "Killing is no easy starting affair. It gets easier, true, if you have the aptitude and the time. And, a cause." she says, "As long as you can adhere to that, and measure yourself... it really is case-by-case from there. The Varjans cannot possess the knowledge of the Heavenly Strike. That’s what I know. I won’t force you to follow me."

"...I’ve lost my whole life, forcing someone to follow me."

Looking at her left arm, Eula would nod. "Then, I’ll follow you anywhere, of my own will. And if I think you’re going the wrong way, I’ll grab hold of your hand."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Carroll says, before joking, "Even if I don’t have hands, right now."

Eula took hold of Carroll’s handle to show she was serious.

Carroll vibrated softly in response.

Eula chuckled and stroked along the handle, slowly with an index finger.

"H-Hey, frisky~" Carroll mewled.

"We’ve yet to go on a date yet. Consider this my promise to," Eula said before releasing Carroll’s handle.

"You could, at least, wait until I’m Human to say that." Carroll says, her blade turning a light red.

Eula chuckled softly. "Nothing has stopped you thus far. I think you like being handled like this."

"As tempting as that is to say, no, I am stuck like this, until Alice wakes up. It’s her will that transforms me. I can only move freely between forms while she’s conscious." Carroll says. "That super-move knocks me out, too, though not for as long."

"Hm…" Eula said before deciding to experiment, gently holding Carroll in her hands and trying to will her back to human form, thinking it might work.

Carroll would wobble a bit, and Eula’s connected arm would run a touch warm.

Eula hummed, continuing to think it, wishing for it even.

Carroll groaned, as the heat spread, and cracks formed along her blade and handle.

Eula maintained her focus, imagining Carroll in her arms.

After a few minutes of shaking, Carroll would burst into slime and reform into a body better - no, perfectly - suited for Eula. Carroll stood taller, taller than Eula, and heads taller than her original form, yet she bore no malice not discontent - despite her compassionless, disconnected expression.

Eula stared blankly, before saying: "You look…significantly taller."

"That’s you fault, dear," Carroll says.

"I…but, all I did was hope that you would come out as you were…" Eula said, feeling bad and rubbing her head. "Perhaps its finally happening. My memory bank is failing me."

Carroll would bonk Eula on her head. "I did just that," she says, "At least, I did that, as you wished inside yourself."

Eula winced as her head was bonked, opening one eye to look at Carroll. "...Well…I do suppose…" she started before raising a hand, gently tracing her cool metal fingers along Carroll’s chin. "...I do like this. But I’d rather you be how you want to look."

"My Autonomous Form is one that suit the taste of my... lover would be the right word. I don’t necessarily need to be wielded to change," Carroll says, "As such," she would shift down, back into her AFM for Alice, before shifting back up, "Ta-dara-ara~"

Eula’s eyes would sparkle. "I see…I’ve heard of some automatons capable of something similar. Only larger!"

"My kind tend to - well, I tend to, prefer your kind," Carroll says, storing Eula’s cheek down to her chin, tipping it up. "You’re even cuter short."

Eula would be on the backfoot for once in the relationship, not used to the height difference in play as she looked up at Carroll, eyes transfixed on every new detail.

"I must say, you’ve quite regal taste," Carroll says, leaning down to Eula’s eye level, the huskiness of her voice better matched this more mature form, and her weight was better distributed from her hair to her chest and hips, "Tell me, do I look delicious, my love?"

Eula would look away slightly, a tinge of pink staining her cheeks. "...I thought you didn’t like that kind of metaphor about you."

"Tell me, what you really think," Carroll leaned to her exposed her, "chef~"

Eula gulped before looking Carroll straight on, picking her up, and hugging her. "I wish to take you on a date to court you! That is what I’m thinking when I see you!"

"Oh, my~!" Carroll giggled. "Well, perhaps, we have a smidgeon of time to squeeze in such a thing."

Eula would squeeze Carroll’s hand gently. "...I don’t want to rush before our mission."

"This is true..." Carroll hummed, "Perhaps, then, we’ll need to be drastic, hrm?”"

"Drastic…?" Eula questioned.

"Think of something absolutely wild," Carroll says, "Absolutely mad."

Eula would look like she had an epiphany. "Dine and Dashing!"

…Perhaps, madness didn’t come naturally to an Automaton.

"Then, let’s do it," Carroll smirked, before taking Eula’s hand tight, and rushing back to Terauchi Temple.

"But that’s illegaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!" Eula complained as she was dragged along.

Carroll would giggle, as they ran past Kerry, and planned their “borrowing” spree for the evening.

Eula was certainly in for a wild evening, after which she was liable to pay for everything anyways.

Magus Reaver: Scions of Sorcery

---

ATTN: @AzureKnight & @The Irish Tree

---

Wrapping Up Loose Ends Before Heading Out (Collab w/ AzureKnight)

A Meeting of the Minds

Scarlett, under the guise of Valentina, dutifully fills out her assessment sheet. Along with all of the other new hires within the onboarding process, she was doing quite well in particular. While she ultimately didn’t return to the Tower with Brun, in a sense, she nonetheless acknowledged the appeal to Scarlett’s humanity that she showed her - by way of a silent promise. For now, though, she’d continue advancing in her personal endeavors.

While filling out her sheet, there was one girl who seemed to already be finished. She wore a long white lab coat over a black collar shirt that didn’t do much to hide her moderately endowed chest, complete with a white skirt and pantyhose. She flicked her solid gray hair as she put her pencil down, she turned to Valentine.

”Ugh, what’s with this silly highschool test prep?” She said in an annoyed tone. ”I thought that by now, amateur hour would’ve been over… Hey, I heard that the CEO, Donovan himself, is affiliated with the so-called Eon Tower. You know anything about them? They’re led by that hotshot sage Irvin.”

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed; her mask held firm, the thin veneer of lies clung tight to her visage. However, unbidden, her disgust boiled to the surface, before simmering under the surface. "Hotshots are a dime a dozen, darlin’," she says, "Did you need somethin’, or is makin’ small talk to strangers jus’ a talent of yours, Miss Amatuer Hour?"

”Among others.~” Mused the lab coat woman. ”Funny, of the dozen of dimes, this is the one you chose. You must be curious, at least to SOME degree, no? Fortunate that this company is relatively new, and therefore has plenty of openings for new talent. What role did you apply for?”

"Secretary," Scarlett says, "As fer yer more pointless question, curiosity drives all minds. Even those as passin’ly pedestrian as yers seems t’ be."

”Oh my, that’s quite the tongue you have! Such a pension for insults, much unlike a bifocal dork I used to know. She always blabbed on about using spirits to push technological advancements forward, some old folk nonsense honestly. Such old concepts of spirituality have no place in this new industrial boom. This company seems to understand that too, hence why I got brought on as an alchemy consultant and magitech engineer!” She said proudly.

”It’s a far cry more tedious than being a secretary, but it has its perks.~”

"Nadia..." Scarlett queried. "Are you implying that you are better than her," she asks, her accent disappearing, "Surely, you aren’t that impressed with yourself..."

Nadia.

At the mention of that name, the woman’s eyes shot wide open, then became a narrow squint.

”Wait… You, you actually know her?? Nadia, the socially awkward, ditzy, spirit-obsessed shut in who doesn’t know how to stop talking? That Nadia? Seriously??” Her volume increased, attracting the attention of some of the other applicants. She quickly caught herself, having a rather embarrassed look on her face.

”How do you know about her? Don’t tell me that they hired that charlatan here as well…”

"I’d best know her," Scarlett says, raising her left hand; a shimmering, metal band encircling her left finger. "This engagement ring was rather expensive," she muses, "Funny, you have all this to say about my fiancée, and yet she’s never had a word to speak about you."

Scarlett smirked behind her mask, "Always like that, huh? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Although, in your case, neither are true, are they?"

"To answer your boorish question, though, no," Scarlett says, "I’m on-loan to Mr. Donovon from Eon Tower, where Nadia is stationed. She works for the “hotshot up-and-comer” as you put it. I work for the boss. I’m sure we’ll cross paths, though. If I’m not busy being an “up-and-coming hotshot” and all."

Lies, left and right, told with a silver tongue dripping with honey-sweet words. Scarlett’s forte was lying, after all. Add in a little alchemy to form a ring out of sight, a dash of plausible truth and tangible lies about her relationships to mix, and you had a solid story with simple upkeep.

Scarlett would see a flabbergasted expression envelop the snotty girl’s face, which perhaps was part of her intention. She looked as though she was still attempting to process everything that was just heard, and was suffering a fatal system error due to it…

”...So, let us unpack this for a moment. Nadia Whitsett is your wife, was personally selected to work directly under the Arteus Navarre Irvin, and both of you now work under his contract?? I…I have so many questions. How, when, why? Why would that, that loser be chosen over me??”

"So many personal questions, and all of them, likely to never be answered," Scarlett says, "I can answer that last one. Bookworms are my fetish. Harlots aren't."

The woman snapped out of her stupor, and looked at Scarlett with an annoyed squint.

”Oh, don’t flatter yourself, You WISH you could land someone like me. Not that I swing that way anyway! Hmph!” She replied coldly to Scarlett’s jab. ”I was obviously referring to not being chosen as a new addition to Eon Tower! I’m not about to get hung up over some focals totting bookworm, but you’re also a curious case. You say you just plan on being a secretary here, but somehow you’ve still caught Eon’s eye. I feel there’s something more to you than what’s on the surface.”

"There’s more to you than meet the eye, too," Scarlett says, "Unfortunately, it all went to your chest, and not your brain or charm."

”You’ve been mentioning my chest this whole time, I'm starting to think there’s something you’re unhappy about…” She said.

"There is, actually," Scarlett says, "There’s this creature I’ve been studying for most of my doctorate. It’s an elusive type of Cryptid, a kind of mutated Belua," she says. "In this world, I’ve only spotted one. I took as many notes as I could," Scarlett produced a notebook from her satchel, "It’s a carnivore with a mouth line with teeth like a Shark Belua, but thin like a Canine Belua, yet it’s... Human. At least, I think it is..."

Scarlett sighed, "Hard to tell. Not something I want to remember. I saw her in the reflection of a broken mirror, atop a pile of dead bodies... half-eaten..."

The woman looked at Scarlett with a creeped out look on her face, not expecting such a profound glimpse into her troubled psyche.

”Uh…wow… You sure know how to make conversation awkward at the drop of a dime.” She said, scratching her cheek. ”I’ve never heard of such a cryptid before, not that I research that sort of thing anyway. You also mentioned it left a pile of bodies in its wake? Why in the Six’s name would you want to study such a thing??”

Scarlett shrugged, "Why do you look in the mirror in the morning?"

Time’s up. Everyone, put your pencils down and turn in your papers up front to the proctor.” Said one of the assessment assistants. Scarlett and her new friend were among the ones who were first to finish, so that’s mainly why they had so much time to chatter away.

”Whelp, looks like it’s time for my perfect grade. Hopefully, you at least get a passing score. I’d hate to lose one of the only interesting people here as a conversation partner. What’s your name by the way? ”

Scarlett would unfasten her mask, and allow it to fall away; showcasing her bright smile... of nothing but shark-like, canine-thin teeth. "Cryptids don't have names," she says, "Eat more fatty foods, dear. Those breasts are almost delicious looking enough..."

Retying her mask, Scarlett would turn in her paper, and disappear out the door.

”Wha?” The woman froze for a moment, recoiling from what she had just witnessed. The woman was quite the accomplished alchemist, and was no stranger to those who didn’t shy away from performing alchemic altercations to their own bodies. But, something the way in which Scarlett did it was different, it was more primal and rapacious. Whilst purists would call modern alchemy unnatural by traditional standards, Scarlett took it to uncanny degrees. Then, the woman recalled the odd story that her fellow applicant told her, which caused her to break into a cold sweat.

Before Scarlett left, she had caught a glimpse of the woman’s name tag on her coat.

Wayu Balthory

Scarlett rounded the corner of the door, but dropped a wire that snaked around and through, before winding around his rival's rival, and whispered into her ear, "Do your best to get delicious for me, Wagyu. I can't wait to eat you." before the wire disintegrated.

---

"Morning Routine" Subroutine: Rise and Shine

There was a distinctly unavoidable conflict to the nature of a crepuscular sleep schedule: between dusk and dawn lies several hours of sunlight and several hours of moonlight. By nature, a beast rose with the sun or with the moon, but never both in their passing, and a Human, most especially, did not strain themselves in such fashion. Therefore, to combat the dragging claws of fatigue, Scarlett, both Man and Mer, took to power-napping - a form of extended cat-napping - in order to supply herself with bursts of energy to go from her most awake hours to her sleep hours.

This staccato sleep hygiene left her with a condition not too dissimilar to those with low-blood pressure, and required more than half of her time spent napping to wake up and function nominally.

To forgo the stress, she normally woke herself with a clone - just an vestigial arm to shake her up, as opposed to the full-bodied affair playing Valentina.

...and, the reason that she was sat like a lump of naked clay, stripped of all reason and purpose, awaiting someone to sculpt her.

"Scarlett." A familiar voice rang out within the confines of the Scarred Alchemist’s room. "I’d say this is quite the time for a cat nap, but then again, that stunt you pulled must’ve taken a lot out of you."

Brunhylida made a casual stroll through the door, looking at Scarlett with stern eyes. She was over her bed, gazing down at her. There was, however, a genuine sincerity in her expression as well.

"Come now, Ms. Ishval, it’s time to wake up. There’s no rest for the weary."

Scarlett's attention drifted, lazily, towards the source of the voice. "Nadia..." she groaned, blinking red from her eyes, "...sorry. Tired... Too light..."

A small surprise popped on Brun’s face when she heard Scarlett mumble a few words from her lazied breath. "Nadia…?" She couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. "I did hear from Elaine that you and her had quite the scuffle a couple of days ago. But no, I’m afraid it’s me. The dreaded taskmaster assistant admin of Eon Tower."

Brunhyldia raised her index and middle finger, generating a small flash of light from their tips. Pointing it at Scarlett, it would let loose a shining stream that covered her body. Scarlett would feel her body being rejuvenated from the gentle burst of sacred light.

"If you want, there’s still time to apologize to her if you’re feeling a bit of guilt, dearie."

Scarlett groaned, as the light bathed her - the healing blessing causing her skin to itch and crawl. Almost literally, as iron bubbled to the surface, and formed scales to hide her darkened skin.

"Too light... Nnn..." Scarlett shielded her eyes, squeezing them tight, even so.l

Brun looked at the alchemist’s skin as it bubbled and writhed, scales forming to hide the lesions of her flesh. She looked over Scarlett like a concerned parent would to their child. Elaine had a similar expression on her face.

"You know, Elaine also talked about how many of your abilities cause you substantial pain, taking their toll on your heart. She’s very worried about you, understand? She’s not the only one." Stepping closer, Brun sat next to her on the bed, she gently rubbed her fingers over the scales that Scarlett’s body produced as if on instinct.

"Shutting your eyes to shield yourself from the light, you attempt to find reprieve in the darkness. You’ll lose yourself if all you let yourself see is an abyss…"

"Pain... It reminds monsters... they can die..." Scarlett’s arm tensed, but didn’t move nor react further to Brun’s taste. "Dying is too good for me. Monsters are to be killed," she says, "Cast deep into that abyss."

"Pain reminds people to find a way to live." Brun responded firmly. "I’ve seen the line between man and monster blurred too many times, and I don’t think you’re the latter. Tell me Scarlett, do you cast yourself into the darkness because you wish to atone, or is it because you are simply afraid?"

"Don’t remember any more..." Scarlett says. "Too tired. Too hungry. Hurts."

Brun could sense that the Valentina persona was starting to fade, as if the few phrased answers weren’t enough of an indicator. "Goodness girl, you’re quite the handful, you know that? And here I thought that Evelyn was a problem child…" Brun recalled the expression on Scarlett’s face, deducing that she felt irritation from her blessing spell. Creating a small ball of icy wind, she let the breeze gently wash over her scaly skin.

"There, that should ease the irritation." She said. "Tell me, how do you feel about Nadia?"

Scarlett seemed to almost purr at the different approach. "Hm..." she hummed, not answering, but looking at her left hand, as she raised it; the undamaged arm bearing the ring that she’d forged against Wagy, "Mine..."

Brun looked at the makeshift ring Scarlett wore on her finger, and after hearing the word ‘mine’ she immediately made the connection. "I wonder if I were to go visit Nadia, would I see a ring of similar design on her finger? You certainly gave the impression that you felt the stark opposite. I guess you’re just that type of girl."

Brun had gotten up from the bed, placing her hands on her hips. "I presume you’ll be done with your cat nap and have prepared to depart before the time comes? I believe I’ve coddled you enough. Ms. Shavis must’ve had her hands full dealing with you!"

Scarlett whined, following the breeze, and flopping over as a result.

Brun began walking out of the room, but turned one last time at the magus playing at being a feline.

"You’re lucky that it wasn’t Elaine speaking to you - you would’ve lost your ear from speech alone. Try to take better care of yourself."

Scarlett groaned, as she rolled onto the floor.

In the distance, Valentina would grant herself entry into Nadia’s, placing the ring from her own finger upon a table, easily in sight, before the Alchemical Doll would finally crumble into nothingness - her purpose complete.

As a result, Scarlett would start to regenerate her divided magical energy.

---

First Impression of Snipers and Summons (Collab w/ The Irish Tree)

When Hector Met Lupina...

As Lupina was leashed back to Eon Tower by her benefactor's less-than-subtle guidance, the Dire Sheep would gladly break her bondage, and escape her shepherd, only they were within the borders of the establishment. A sharp bleed escaped her, as she rocketed away from him - her thighs explosively sending her forward, as her cloven hooves gave her the minimum required contact with each spring to keep her full sprint going and her turns sharp.

As a result, the headmaster wasn't catching up without magical enhancement, but in return, Lupina wasn't necessarily stopping without physical aid.

...aid that came in the form of a certain disgraced (by rumoured death) nobleman and his rifle.

"Baa!" Lupina bleeted, as her bow went skittering away with Hector's rifle, before the war-weary gentleman could enter the office with his undue company.

Just as Hector’s bodyaches were resolved, new ones came as something, or someone just slammed into him from behind, sending himself and the young woman belly-up onto the floor. Wincing and exhaling sharply, Hector would say: "...Would you mind terribly to get off of me?“ as politely as he could, while Herne emerged from under the collar of Hector’s shirt to curiously observe Lupina, its phantasmal tongue flicking once before it started slithering after Hector's rifle.

"Ow... my existence... hurts..." Lupina bleeted, as she rolled onto her back.

"Nobody told you to run, fool," Baast says, manifesting, and picking up Herne like a kitten between his right foreclaw and thumb. "Paltry offerings, this," he says, shifting his gaze to Hector, "You reek of power, but this is all you've bothered to summon? Barely serviceable as a second pair of eyes."

"Baast... you're being rude..." Lupina whined, reaching out and firing a string of Galdric Mana at her bow; the bow stringing itself with the tread, before slowly being reeled in.

"Rude. Matter-of-fact. Two sides of the same coin," Baast says, looking Herne to his well-put-together face; feminine beauty only enhanced by the husky growl of his voice.

Herne would bare his tail and shake it as if it had a rattle. He wasn’t lacking in confidence, at least, before suddenly phasing through Baast’s claw and thumb to land back atop Hector’s back. A neat trick for a spirit so weak, as to become intangible yet remain in the material world.

Hector would rise and dust himself off before offering Lupina a hand to help her up. "Did you injure yourself at all?“

While his master was a gentleman, Herne would coil around Hector’s shoulders and neck in a figure eight, as if boasting of his magus.

'...cute.' Baast looked away, cheeks reddening, as Herne "rattled" at him, before his little trick of intangibility freed him.

"Inuwanaove..." Lupina whined, kicking her hooves on the floor. "You're not a wall. Hurt hitting you..."

"I see. I apologize then,“ Hector said, letting his offer to help Lupina stand as she childishly kicked at the floor. Herne was astounded that his intimidation tactic had worked, meanwhile, proudly balling up on Hector’s left shoulder while shaking his imaginary rattle.

Baast peeked over, looking away, anew, as Herne flaunted a victory never won in the fashion he imagined. He was just cute, and Baast was rather weak to cute things - such came as a side effect of dealing with his big sister, and her adorable tantrums. It had further reaching problems, but those were not as important here.

"Nnrgh!" Lupina snorted, before kipping to her feet, or hooves, as they were. "I trust that crude, expensive toy of yours is not broken?"

"If it broke that easily, I’d have died a few times already,“ Hector said, stooping low to pick it up and dust it off, before inspecting the barrel and taking it apart to verify its integrity. "All’s right with it.“

Lupina yanked her finger, and reeled her bow in like a yo-yo. "All those moving parts, vulnerabilities left and right, with zero charm or grace," she critiques, "A toy that turns killing into a matter of sport, not survival. A Human plaything."

"Its worthwhile for the added penetrating power and distance. That and, Herne wouldn’t know what to do with something simpler,“ Hector explained, as Herne proudly slithered along the barrel of the gun, halfway melting into the barrel.

"Distance..." Lupina says, "Any target you can hit, I can hit. No contest. My bow would never lose to your toy."

"Lord... she's going to be annoying about this..." Baast sighed, trying not to watch Herne be adorableness personified.

Hector would smirk, competitiveness coming alive. "Is that so, then? Could you hit it through a boulder in the way too? This rifle’s more than capable of that.“

Hissing sadly, Herne shook his head. Hector was doing that thing again. The thing where he gets too into proving himself.

"Easy," Lupina says. "If I can see it I can hit it. Zero accuracy lost to wind, temperature, or elevation," she says, extending her firing hand, and forming a standard fletched arrow out of solidified Galdric Mana. "My arrows never miss. And, they aren't intangible creations either - " Lupina tossed the arrow to Hector, " - see for yourself. Spirit Ashwood shaft. Spectral Raven feather fletching. Tipped with one of Baast's teeth as an arrowhead, so it bites into whatever it hits like a Dire Wolf."

As if supporting her demo, Baast would shift into his Summon Form, and loom around Lupina with his serpentine body; resting his head on her shoulder.

Hector would catch the arrow, flip it between two fingers, and hand it back. "Impressive. Herne,“ Hector said before the serpent emerged from the barrel of his gun, sliding along it until grabbing the barrel’s bolt with his tail, ejecting a cartridge that had yet to be spent and spun in the air, before Hector cough it and displayed it for Lupina. "Custom .348 rounds infused with alchemy, fitted with slug jackets for maximum impact power before releasing in full. Took a brigand’s arm off with one clean shot to the shoulder.“

Herne would slide along Hector’s arm, ready to retrieve it, waving his tail as if to warn Baast he meant business if they had to fight!

"Fancy accessory for that toy. I won't deny the power, though. But, actions and words, as they say," Lupina says. "I believe in reliability. This bow has never broken down since I made it," she extended it along both hands, so Hector could fully admire the handcrafted bow, "Composition Channelwood with a Spirit Ashwood core for the body of the bow, finished with a mana-sensitive paint that I make by hand, which is attuned to me, and at both ends are psy-crystal that allow me to channel my Magic and create an unbreakable string - " Lupina would sudden string the bow, " - like so."

Rather than go on showboating, Hector instead seemed curious as he looked along its length carefully. "What do you use for polish? Composite Channelwood and Spirit Ashwood…must be Bluebreeze Oil…“

Lupina stumbled, mentally, as she was taken aback. A gentleman type like Hector would surely have wanted to brag more about his toy, as they all did, before she shot down their superiority with her own "primitive" toy.

Yet... he's devested himself of her preconception, and taken a vested interest in her choices of wood, and more importantly...

"Y-Yes, it is. I grow the berries myself," Lupina stammered, her forward momentum stalled by genuine interest.

Hector would run a gloved hand along the length of the bow, scanning it with the eye for craftsmanship needed of a man who maintained his own weapon. "I had a feeling. Have you tried combining it with one part Cliffwheat ground up? It should make it shine just a bit more, if that interests you. I use something similar for Freischütz, albeit mine is Channelwood and Gildgreen Oak.“

"Gildgreen Oak? That's Faewood. How could you compost Channelwood with a Faewood, and not a Beluawood," Lupina asks, gears changing tracks, "And, ground Cliffwheat? I never thought to grind it. I press it for oil."

"I layered them in thin lines to improve magic conductivity while bracing them against metal to keep it stable in case the resin expands. As for Cliffwheat, when ground up and submerged in Bluebreeze oil in a 1-2 ratio, it forms a paste you can use for polish. I saw a few Fae use this method in the village I learned magecraft in,“ Hector explained. "The paste removes the dark splotches that you have to sand off with bluebreeze, leaving you with the best sheen out of it.“

"Fae village," Lupina asks. "That explains why a Human would learn to summon something so minimal. But, to take a beast to a man's tool is perverting its nature," she says, scratching under Baast's chin, "Man and Beast separated for a reason, same as Magic and Technology parted ways. Coexistence isn't a guarantee."

"Herne isn’t minimal,“ Hector said. "He was always the only one to answer my call. As such, he’s worth every random spirit that finds purchase in my hands when I call for them.“

"Baast is my only, my last attachment to my village, my family, my home..." Lupina says, "Any other spirit is minimal in my eyes. Though, that's devaluing your summon. Clearly, he sees a value in you, and you share that sight. I can't judge."

Baast resumed his Human form, and nearly pounced to scoop Herne into his hand. "Plus, look at him! He's so cute! I wanna eat him up!" he mewled, nuzzling Herne with his cheeks, as if he wasn't a Dire Wolf and Herne decidedly not.

Herne would rattle his tail defensively once more. He’d do it! He was crazy!

Hector would say: "Your’s seems powerful, given his ability to shapeshift. Baast, was it? This is Herne.“

"Herne." Baast says, with a sense of finality, as if, he'd never forget. "He can't assume a Human form? It's basic for Spirits. After all, we are just collective energy that is shaped by a manifested will. If you're smart enough, you can reassemble that shape, as long as allowed."

Herne was plenty smart and would indignantly turn his head away, coiling his tail around Hector’s neck.

"Perhaps he can, or perhaps he can’t. But, Herne has always been the way he is. …I wouldn’t ask him to change on my behalf.“

…As if he himself needed to hear that more than anyone, Herne’s lidless eyes sparkled just a bit, looking towards Hector with a look of fealty.

Baast pouted, looking hurt. "Nn..."

Lupina hummed, never having thought about these things from an outside perspective.

Hector would gently pet his familiar’s head, the snake happily coiling between his fingers.

Baast huffed, before stepping back into obscurity - literally, as he faded from sight.

…Taking a moment of pity upon the lesser predator, Herne suddenly darted off into the shadows.

"Awkward..." Lupina says.

"Very…“ Hector agreed.

"So, do you grow anything," Lupina asks.

"No. I haven’t the patience for gardening,“ Hector replied.

"A shame. You seem the type for the knack," Lupina says. "Gentlemen always appreciate growing their own hash and tobacco from my experience. Something about manliness."

"My father said much the same.“ Hector said, looking off into the distance.

"I could... teach you...." Lupina offered awkwardly.

"...Perhaps. I don’t have much to offer in return,“ Hector returned as awkwardly.

Lupina rubbed her arm sheepishly, "I could... use, um, if it... my..." Lupina fidgeted, bringing attention to her - a less critical person would just assume she was nervous, and hesitant, but someone with sharpshooter eyes could see her motions were repetitive, extenuating - drawing the eye.

Hector's eyes would see, not Lupina, but an attire of a priestess that had seen military service and not come out unscarred. Those well-sewn, and tailored and retailored by a practiced hand, Hector could see her dress was ready for retirement.

It wasn't hard to surmise what she was asking for from there.

"Your dress has seen better days. …I could speak with a tailor,“ Hector offered, seeing as he had little to offer in terms of practical skills that would interest a young woman.

Lupina blushed, looking away. "I'm a serviceable seamstress in my own right. Just... need a new... dress..."

"Mm. You take good care of your things,“ Hector said simply.

"I do!" Lupina nodded, beaming from the praise. Her point almost forgotten.

Hector hadn’t gotten a chance to boast about his rifle, but…that could be for another time.

---

Baast could never drift too far from Lupina, tethered as they were, brother and sister, spirit and living, forever separated by Life and Death, yet bound by love transcendent. However, he could go far away enough to round the corner, so he could headbutt the wall a few dozen times without notice.

A small slithering of cool scales would be felt along his ankle, or closest approximation to one.

"Eh," Baast asks, looking down.

A familiar ghostly Serpent would rear his head, then tilt it quizzically.

"What the.... What are you doing," Baast asks.

Herne would flick his tongue out a few times, before suddenly curling up, the muscles making up its phantasmal body undulating as his eyes grew glassy. …Something was happening, though what it was didn’t make sense.

"You... uh... break," Baast asks, squatting down.

Before things made sense, they only become weirder as Herne’s jaw went slack, then opened, only for a human hand to emerge from it, half-slickened with saliva as the fingers skittered along the floor, more and more of the apparent arm coming out with the same white scales hardening along its length once it was exposed to the air.

…Herne was shedding his skin.

"Eh?!" Baast was very confused, now.

Herne’s body went limp as the hand kept pulling more and more of itself out, another hand soon meeting it before more and more “arm” slipped free, until eventually there was a young man cloaked in silken white on the ground, the shed skin of his former body hanging limply above his head in a mobius strip, the snake’s fangs biting down on the tail in a perfect loop. His humanity seemed to stop halfway down his face, as everything beneath his upper lip was covered in pale white scales, the slightest indication of a mouth parting to the lipless maw of a snake.

Cracking his neck from side to side, he would free himself of the outer slimy layer that coated him, gradually crawling towards Baast.

"Uh..." Baast offered.

"Difficult…yessss…very…not assss…ssssimple…“ the creature that was once Herne said, before rising to his feet, wobbling to and fro, stabilizing himself with one clawed hand against a nearby wall as he eyed Baast. "Herne. Name isssss Herne. Hello. Hell…ooo…“

"Hello..." Baast says, hands drifting to his swords.

Herne tilted his head at a sharp 90 degree angle. "Why run and bang head?“

"You wanna finish pulling yourself together," Baast asks. "You don't seem all there."

"Born that way,“ Herne stated, his secondary eyelids blinking once as he stood, transfixed on Baast. "Egg cracked early. No tail. Went firsssst. Mother left. Left too after.“

Baast tilted his head, before sighing, "So, you've never been more than what you've been told to be by your instincts? I remember those days, confusion and lost... anger, for me."

Herne was quiet as he observed Baast, his forked tongue flicking out from between his lips on occasion. "Ssssmaller issss better. Eassssy for Hector.“

"Maybe," Baast hummed, "Though, you are neither smaller, nor better, but large, and flawed. Stuck in an instinctive bind, and limbo. You’d be no good to him like that."

"...Yesss. …Ssssmaller…issss better…“ Herne said, surprisingly self conscious as he shrunk back just a bit.

"It can be, true," Baast says, "It is also just as good to be bigger, however," he says, pointing to his eyes, slit pupils narrowing, "Large eyes see further targets. I can spot things that even my sister cannot see."

Baast pointed at the distant wall; his eyes widening, pupil narrowing to thin lines, before his shot an arrow from his finger that jammed into the wall... fluttering to the floor, a pair of fly wings, as the disabled body squirmed on the ground.

"All snipers need a spotter," Baast says.

Herne gasped in surprise at that revelation, his milk white eyes looking as if they’d burn up in direct sunlight. "Wissssdom! Good Wissssdom!“

"Before anything, we need to get you into a stable form," Baast says. "As you are, it’s barely safe for you to exist."

Herne tilted his head, clearly needing an explanation from a subject matter expert.

"You're kind of, like, an unborn newborn, so your connection is weak. You need to focus, and stabilize yourself and your tether to Hector," Baast says, "Take on a form that aids and doesn't hinder Hector.

Herne would nod, before going limp and falling over, his former tiny self emerging from his dissolving humanoid form, proudly raising his snout in the air. He was already perfect after all.

"Yeah, I guess," Baast shrugged.

Herne would circle around in a figure eight, waiting for the rest of the explanation.

"Are you waiting on something from me," Baast asks.

Herne thought there was more to this than just turning back into himself admittedly.

Baast frowned, before sitting criss-cross, and forming an arrow. Pressing the tip into his finger, he drew blood, and drew a square in the floor. "I'll try to explain this simply," he says, "This body of yours is like this square. Inside the square is all your magic, all the Galdric Mana that keeps you running," Baast would draw a straight line through the diagonal center from top-right to bottom-left, "By sectioning off your Galdric Mana, you can change the look of your body without changing the power within."

Baast would draw two more squares; the second one, he would draw an X; the third one, he would draw four lines to create a diamond within.

"By sectioning off your Mana in certain way, you can completely overhaul your looks," Baast would draw a fourth square, but curve the four lines within to make a circle instead of a circle, "And, the smaller and more refined the sections, the more complex you can get," he says, as he drew a square with a circle inside, but an X through it as well, and two concentric circles inside and outside the main circle using the new guidelines. "Follow?"

Herne would nod and try again, this time now way creepier as just a head spidering along the ground from his hair. "Ssssmall! Fassst!“

…This might take a while.

Baast would sighed, and lie on his side, propped up on his right elbow. "Not even close."

Herne rested on his cheek, frowning. It might help to explain how humans thought, given that the serpentine spirit was operating entirely on reptile brain.

Baast reached out, "You need to make a stable form, first, so you need to make a passable body."

"Passssable?“

"Like me," Baast says, "But, smaller, and cuter, and you-er."

Herne hummed before shedding skin once more, this time taking on a decidedly more…normal looking humanoid shape as his “skin” burst free, the spirit’s toes and fingers still half-transparent. A figure of androgyny with silvery hair and pointed, almost fae-like ears that was adorned in a simple white tunic of scales that coiled around his body like a snake clung to a meal to constrict it. "“This Feels Weird…my tongue…blegh…”“ he childishly whined, before approaching Baast. "Better? Still small, but better?“ Herne asked, his milk-colored eyes now looking more human with defined pupils, the serpent now circling Baast with fumbling, but more founded steps.

"Nn!" Baast yipped, as his tail stiffened, and her ears perked up straight, "S-So it would seem!"

Herne smirked, leaning in close against Baast’s back, gripping his shoulders. "I must be quite hideous now, to make you freeze up so readily.“

"No! Quite the opposite!" Baast blurted.

"Hm?“ Herne asked, surprised that his terrifying visage wasn’t petrifying Baast.

"Oi, oi, oi..." Baasta says, unable to really go anywhere, laying on his side as he was. Not that Herne seemed to catch on.

"Hm!?“ Herne questioned, flopping onto Baast as if he were still a tiny snake. "Are you tired already? Did I frighten you so much that your legs ceased working?“

"No, you spaz!" Baast says, "I’m perfectly functional!"

Herne smirked confidently, inching in close, his breath right against Baast’s neck, the familiar chill of death that a half-phantasmal spirit carried. "You’re panicking…I can hear you shudder…“

Baast was shuddering, true, but not for the misconstrued narrative the serpent had conceived for himself. There were more... primal... forces... currently at play with the Demiphantasm. "You are delusional," Baast says, skin warmed and chilled at the same time, as Herne invaded his privacy; lithe body, shamelessly, lay across his own, as if he were no more his tiny self. "I’m barely trifled."

“Riled up” was the more accurate term.

“Turnt” was the correct term, but he wasn’t admitting that - Herne had too much power in this situation by sheer chance. To Hell, if he was giving more willingly.

More power would be wrested away as Herne did as a snake did, sliding his tongue along the back of Herne’s neck. "Who’s weak now?“

Baast yipped in surprise; tail wagging, as his ears flattened. "What are you doing!?" he tried to maintain a tough visage.

"Relax…I won’t hurt you…“ Herne promised.

Blissfully unaware, Hector would finally relent to taking Lupina shopping.

Before Baast could attempt to keep his tough guy image up, Lupina would step beyond the length of their shared tether, and Baast would start to dematerialize. "Lupina is leaving. I can’t stray far from her side," he says, "You better get back to Hector, Herne."

Herne clicked his tongue before rising up, then slithering back to Hector in his diminutive normal form, back to being a snake, none the wiser to the…”feelings” he’d awoken in Baast.

"Ah, you’re back," Lupina says.

"I am," Baast says.

Leaving it there, the siblings would follow Hector’s lead.

Herne would nonchalantly take up residence on Hector’s shoulder once more, while the marksman simply offered a small scratch on the head as acknowledgement, his companion much enjoying the modicum of attention. Heading out of the tower for the time being, Hector would find a suitable shop with Lupina, figuring that a young lady should pick a style that best suited her, rather than rely on his stuffy sensibilities.

---

My Big, Fat, Fluffy Shopping Trip

As Hector lead Lupina into the cityscape - a trip that would have taken much longer if Baast couldn’t fly rather fast - the Dire Sheep would take in the sights in a different fashion, as she always flew along, until now.

"Are you sure you’ll be able to see at this pace," Lupina asks.

"No need to worry. I know my way around plenty of cities. Now, as for what to replace that dress with…were you hoping for something similar? I don’t know many Beluan tailories here,“ Hector said, figuring it best to be upfront and honest about what he did and didn’t know.

"I don’t remember where I even got this," Lupin admits. "It was just something I picked up one day, and never changed. As much as I wish to keep repairing it..." Lupina sighed, "I can’t patch patches. I just need to replace it with something."

"I see. In that case, is there anything you like or dislike about it? Best to find clothes you like while you’re capable. As an archer, you might want some new gloves too,“ Hector said, surprisingly generous with what she’d need.

"I just like clothes that flow well, but look nice, too, so I'm fashionable and functional," Lupina says, as Baast came in for touchdown. "Just... not that good with cities..."

Hector would sigh, before saying: "That narrows it down very little. But, there must something to suit your tastes.“ Taking the lead, Hector would try to find something more fitting than a regular dress for an archer.

"I mean, I like this dress, and this look, so..." Lupina trailed off, before crossing her arms, "...but, if you are going to be like that, I would like to see you find me something, then."

"Something more rurally suited, then…“ Hector said, looking towards some of the more middle of the road stores, beckoning for Lupina to follow after him.

"Rural..." Lupina asks. Did she strike him as a country bumpkin? Surely, she didn’t give off that kind of vibe, right? Yeah, she was from a village in the Southlands, and, yes, she was definitely a “live off the land” kinda gal, but rural? That was like... like... NOT her.

"Psst... Baast..."

"Yes?" Baast asks.

"Tell me, do I smell rural," Lupin asks, in a hushed whisper, before raising her arms above her head in an exaggerated stretch.

"I’m not smelling your armpits..."

"Jerk!" Lupina snapped, flailing her arms at the Demiphantasm, as he flew above her.

Hector looked back to see Lupina arguing at her spirit, before sighing and continuing on, disregarding it.

"I don’t smell rural..." Lupina pouted.

"You did forget to shower last night... and this morning..." Baast says, "And, you did run at full speed a bit ago..."

Lupina’s eyes wobbled, as she choked up at the mere concept - not used to her emotions and hormones being active in a positive fashion. Much like Baast, she didn’t need to regulate anything but “survive” and “nihilism” to do what needs doing to see tomorrow, again and again. Suddenly, she was concerned with something new - impressing someone new - in a way that was queer and disconcerting.

"H-Hey... don’t look at me like that!" Baast says.

"So mean..." Lupina whined.

"But, you asked!" Baast groaned.

Herne would poke his head up and flick his tongue out for a moment. People were so complicated sometimes…

Lupin and Baast would squabble until interrupted - such was the way of the big sister, little brother dynamic.

Slithering over so that they could stop fighting, Herne would pop up between the two of them to flop atop Baast’s head. A simple reminder that they were in public.

Baast grunted in shock, and nearly flew through a wall. "What?!"

The snake offered little answer aside from slithering back over to Hector. "We still have shops to check for something that suits you, you know,“ the marksman reminded.

"I was waiting on you!" Lupina says, hiding her face behind a mask.

"I see. Sorry then,“ Hector said before continuing on anyways.

"R-Right..." Lupina says, "S-So... what kind of fashion do you think suits me..."

Hector considered his words for a moment before saying: "You strike me as being free-spirited and tomboyish, so tight-fitting clothes would likely make you miserable. Yet you have lovingly maintained that dress and bow, showing a great amount of care for things you possess. I’d suggest something that isn’t cheaply made, but isn’t overly fanciful either, since I imagine you’d fret over ruining it. They do make proper armaments for archers that resemble long tabards, but that may be too stiff for you. And it wouldn’t let you run as quickly as you did before. …And, to speak of colors, your hair is a light blue, best complimented by reds, pinks, and whites, in my opinion.“

Having given his analytical side of things, Hector would then follow it up with: "But then again, I’ve always been terrible at picking gifts for the opposite sex.“

"Whoa..." Lupina says. "Well, uh, sounds like you could pick a gift for me, so... I’d like to see you pick me something. I’d just settle with this old thing, but, like, you know, new," she says, dismissively, "But, uh, you get me something. I’ll try it on, just to see if you’re right or wrong about your gift-giving sense."

Hector would close his eyes. "To do that, I’d have to ask you a question no man can ask a woman he barely knows.“

"If you need my tailoring sizes, that’s nothing so secret," Lupin says, before spinning off her three sizes of a modest chest, trim waist, and thicc ass; a sheep tended to be bottom-heavy, after all, so a Dire Sheep would be no different.

Hector rubbed the bridge of his nose, having desperately not wanted to hear all of that from a young lady’s mouth. "I’ll do what I can. Feel free to have a seat.“

Lupina was confused by the subtle note of tension from Hector, but decided to sit - ignoring Baast struggling with Herne.

Herne would keep wiggling atop Baast, always just out of reach to pluck off.

Meanwhile Hector agonized alone over what clothes were suitable for a young lady who fought with archery, while also trying not to describe her measurements to the tailor, lest someone mention a certain disgraced third noble son frivolously spending to woo some lass with a large rear.

"My head is not a place to play!" Baast says, despite being a massive wolf head with a serpentine body of ghostliness.

Not one to do things by halves, Hector would make sure to even factor in the color of Lupina’s bow in his purchases, soon coming out with two large tote bags, looking as if he’d just felled an impossible task with how straight his back was. "Done.“

Herne meanwhile kept it up, teasingly sliding along Baast’s neck.

"Will you stopppp..." Baast groaned.

"Are you okay...?" Lupina asks. "You look... happy."

"It was slow-going for a moment, but I believe I found three that you’ll like, and even haggled the price down. Care to make use of their fitting room?“ Hector said, lifting the bags up.

"Sounds good to me!" Lupina says, before looking around for the noted place.

Hector didn’t take long to bring Lupina over to it, handing her the bags and entrusting Baast to keep her in there until she finished changing into any of the ensembles present, between a more formal style of blue topped by a white tabard with a design appealing more to Flugellan women, a fae piece designed for freedom of movement and casual everyday use, followed up by something that might have well been the reason Hector was so proud-looking, a Beluan dress that bore great resemblance to Lupina’s, albeit in a rich purple and with a bit more room around the arms by comparison.

"Oh, my! Baast, look!" Lupina says, genuinely surprised. "I was just expecting a replacement, and I’d pay him back once I had money, but this! Look at this one! It’s so regal and serious! And, this one! All flowy and free! And, especially this one! It’s so spooky!"

Lupina squealed, though it was more of a pleased bleating, as she struggled with which to try on first.

Baast was just glad that Herne was back on Hector’s head. Fashion was nothing to him, since he was fashionable by default.

Hector was posted up in a corner on a bench, smug as fuck as he posed with one leg crossed over the other, and one hand before his face. "I suppose I’m better at this than I thought!“

Suddenly, the curtain to blow back, and Lupina would peek out; though, she held it with a firm grip, Hector would be witness to the slope of the nape of her neck, as it transitioned into her shoulders, and dipped down to where the inside of her arm pressed to the top of her breast, cloaked by the curtain, the rest of the way until her cloven hooves peeked out from below, due to the bunching.

"Which... would you like to see first..."

A sincere shyness pervaded the question, as Lupin looked just away enough to be able to look at him, if she turned her eyes, but not in full, so her blush wasn’t so apparent.

Hector’s smugness evaporated as he turned his head to the side. "Aaa…hrm…w-well, whatever you think would suit you the best. Personally I like them all,“ the nobleman said noncommittally, trying to not give Baast a reason to bite his head off.

"Pick one. You went through the trouble of finding them, after all," Lupina says, "So... pick one, dummy..."

Sighing, Hector folded his arms. "If that’s the case, then try the Faewoven one first.“

Lupina nodded, and turned fast - the curtain opening enough for Hector to get a good shot of her upper back. Her flouncy wear betrayed her, as he could see the definition of her muscles - archery was no mere sport, but a workout and a demanding one. It took great upper body and core strength to draw back on pounds of force in the low-hundreds, and the proof before him would dispel the notion that Lupina did not exert herself to draw her bow, despite the bowstring being a creation of her own magic.

It was clearly heavy enough to sculpt her form.

..it also begged the question: Why would she emulate weight?

Hector would be lost in thought thinking about back muscles until she emerged again, staring at the ceiling while Herne poked at him with his snout.

Herne’s poke would coincide with Lupina’s emergence; gently swishing her sleeves, as she rubbed her bare shoulders; the choker-hung bell tinkling with her fidgety movements. "So..." she stood in an A-pose, and stared at her hooves.

"You seem uncomfortable,“ Hector said, almost certain it was because of the bell. …Why the hell had he decided to listen to the shopkeeper that a sheep Belua would like it!?

"I’m not!" Lupina says, "It’s so soft and fluffy, and light, and swishy, and, and, and..." she hid her face behind her hands, "Like it?"

Clearing his throat, Hector would say: "I…think it suits you well.“

Herne hissed in agreement, nodding.

Lupina bleated, before scampering behind the curtain. "Pick the next one!"

"The Flugellan style, next. This is the one I’m most worried about you wearing.“

Lupina would call back, "It should be fine!"

"You are decidedly girly today, it seems," Baast teased.

"Today is great! I haven’t been in a situation like this in years! If Hector likes all of these, I’ll make sure to buy them back once I’m paid," Lupina says.

"If he likes them..." Baast asked, talking to himself, "Interesting qualifier..."

Lupina would be too busy fastening things in place, and adjusting her balance to notice her own Freudian slip. After a much longer time period, she would emerge; adjusting her helm and standing on her booted hooves.

"Lupina, at the ready, sir!" she saluted Hector, before sticking out her tongue playfully.

Unlike before, she seemed a lot more comfortable being seen as a soldier, a woman of duty, and not embarrassed to be viewed as a woman before anything else.

Hector nodded, significantly less hesitant about accepting this one. "Looks good. Don’t call me sir, though.“

"Aye, sir~" Lupina smirked.

Hector’s approval was a simple nod. "It suits you. I’d advise wearing it for missions around nobility, if you wish to. Now for the last one.“

Lupina nodded.

...but, her apprehension would skyrocket as she stood skyclad before the last attire.

"I’m not good enough for something like this..." Lupina says, as her doubts washed over her, her self-loathing and fears climbing back up; itching to claim their place, restake their control. "I’m just a silly girl, playing in a woman’s world. I’m not fooling anyone..." Lupina stared at herself, her developed form - torn between the natural softness of a woman and the decided firmness of warrior; neither side winning, neither side giving, twisting around the other in her own, warped view. "Don’t be stupid, Lupina. Playing dress-up like a child. Hector’s a Human. Humans don’t see Belua as companions. Especially freaks like you..."

Baast held a solemn silence. There was never anything he could do to pull her up and out of this state. Her magic was built around negativity - the strength in the darkness of the Void. It was the curse that she took on her shoulders to keep him tethered to her soul, instead of drifting through Limbo - unfulfilled and unsaved.

He couldn’t offer words of encouragement. She wouldn’t have them.

"Almost there..."

Hector would be waiting, while Herne as a snake was more sensitive to the nihilistic muttering going on within. Escaping his Master’s notice, Herne would slip inside the dressing room before a soft voice would utter a single question behind Lupina.

"So what?“

"Nn!" Lupina nearly leapt out of her skin.

"..." Baast was curious where this would go. Herne didn’t know Lupina’s Curse, nor their world, so... maybe... he had room to, for lack of a better word, slither in between the crack that his claws could not fit.

Herne would simply say: "People are always so complicated about things. Even Hector gets dumb when he thinks too much, and you’re probably doing the same. If it looks good on you, it does, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. You won’t know until you try, but…Hector said once, ‘You’ve missed every shot you didn’t pull the trigger on’. But you aren’t stuffy like the girls Hector talks to a lot. I think he just wants to make you happy.“

"I’m not high society... I’m... rural..." Lupina says. "I’m not well-groomed or soft-edged or anything a nobleman should be see carting around..." she looked herself up and down, seeing big flaws in the small things. "I’m just a sheep on two legs. Fluffy and meaty."

"Fluffy’s cute!“ Herne no-nonsense argued, grabbing the dress and inching closer to Lupina.

"H-Hey, you!" Lupina stammered, being backed into the mirror wall. "THAT’S SO COLD!" she yelped, as her bare dumptruck hit the reflective glass. "GIMME THAT!"

Baast snickered as Lupina snatched the clothing to dress in the nearest, warmest thing.

Smugly placing his hands on his hips, Herne would dissolve back into a snake, job done.

"Everything alright?“ Hector called out from outside the dressing room.

"It’s fine!" Lupina says. "Lots of moving parts is all!"

"I see…oh, there you are Herne,“ Hector said, spying the spectral serpent perched where he’d just been sitting, none the wiser to his aid in Lupina’s self-esteem issues.

Lupina would stand before the curtain. Just one more show... However, her feet weren’t moving. Everything about this attire screamed, “Noblewoman.” - a far-cry from anything she could ever be. Her hooves double-tapped the floor, as she wore the accompanying, thick sandals - the first tap was the heel of the sandal, followed sharply by the tap of her hoof; a stark reminder of her inhuman dress-up.

Here, at the climax, she was about to retreat.

"On with the show!" Baast says, putting his booted foot to her bouncy ass, and kicking her through the curtain.

Caterwauling, Lupina would throw her hands out to catch herself - only to catch firm shoulders, used to supporting heavy backpacks of supplies and ammo, as she crashed into a firm chest, and her nose buried against the collar of a fine shirt that wasn’t scented as she would expect. For a moment, she was lost - almost indulgently - in the staining smells of gunpowder, lead, and machining oil; the cologne of a rifleman, the musk of a soldier.

Hector was never destined for a throne, nor any seat of power. He smelled like a man of his own purpose, not other’s intentions.

"Oops. Kicked too hard," Baast says, smirking.

That was enough to snap Lupina back to reality, and cause her to leap back with a hurried, "Sorry!" - before her awkward landing resulted in a sandal attempting to part ways at the cost of her plummeting towards the floor.

"A-Are you alright,“ Hector asked, catching her and gently lifting her up by her shoulders just before she leapt back, diving forward just enough to catch her as she slipped and fell. "...You move far too quickly for someone so clumsy.“

"I’m not clumsy!" Lupina says. "I... I don’t... My feet are wrong..." she says, "All this is silly. Trying to wear Human clothing. I’m dumb, aren’t I?"

Immediately realizing his mistake, Hector would say: "It slipped my mind entirely…I got the wrong shoes for that dress, didn’t I?“

"They're not wrong. I'm just wrong. The dress is lovely and the shoes are nice. It's just me..." Lupina says.

Hector frowned. "No, the fault is mine. Why don’t you try it on with the Flugellan shoes? Or…we can try and find ones to fit your hooves.“

Lupina blushed, hiding behind her hair, "I like what you picked for me..."

"The real question is, does she look good or not? That's what this little show has been about, after all," Baast reminds. "So, Mr. Nobleman Sniper, how's Rural polish?"

Herne raised his head, ready for Hector’s super-cool answer before his Master would respond with: "Were there any ‘rural’ people to snatch the eye of a prince, it would be you. It suits you radiantly, I think. You’re too harsh on yourself.“

Pomp and circumstance would likely never fully leave Hector…but he was honest to what he thought of someone. Lupina wouldn’t have received his time had he not wanted to give it.

Lupina stared blankly for a moment, before her emotions crashed upon her, and swelling tears broke with a soft, "Thank you for saying that..."

Baast sighed, as Lupina's negativity broke, allowing positive to flow back in, even if that was in the form of her wailing in the middle of a department store.

Girls were loud...

"She's happy, though..."

Given the scene being made it wasn’t long until Hector was promptly escorted out and banned from the store for making women cry, with this likely causing a scandal that kept getting telephoned all the way to “Wayward son of Wyland caught trafficking young Beluan lady”, but…well, it was worth it for just a moment of making someone feel good.

The scandal would be less of a trafficking charge, and more of Lupina, crackling with Void Magic, holding the store at Antidimensional Arrowpoint, while screaming, "HE MADE ME HAPPY, YOU JERKS! TAKE BACK THAT BAN, BEFORE YOU DON'T HAVE A STORE, ASSHOLES! YOU WON'T RUIN MY DAY OR HIS OR OURS!!!"

Eon Tower would definitely hear of that...

After a TRULY exciting day of wrangling someone with a black hole arrow, Hector would be haggard, exhausted, and now thoroughly looking forward to passing out. …Still…

…It was fun.

"Thanks," Baast says, as he floated by the window to Hector's personal room at Eon Tower. "She hasn't cried in almost a year, so..." Baast would leave it there, as he closed his eyes. "I'm getting tired, so off you get. Ready for sleep..."

Hector smiled, giving a small two-finger-salute to Baast. "I’ve never been thanked for making a woman cry…but, I’m happy to have helped. Make sure she wears proper shoes though.“

Herne would drop onto Baast’s head and coil around it for just a bit before returning to Hector. A farewell from a snake.

"You made sure for that, it’ll mean more," Baast says, before flying off, once Herne departed, as well. Fortunately, once Lupina was inside his mouth, she could be ghosted through the thin surface of the window that overlooked the view of all Eon Tower surveyed, as he set her onto her bed, and stretched out; transforming into his Human form, and settled by the window.

"What a day..." he sighed, looking at the trio of bags that he’d managed to steal away in the chaos. "This place... it might just be a good home..."

Baast settled against the warm window, and drifted off to sleep.

Hector wasn’t long for the waking world, passing out in his clothes as soon as he hit his bed, with Herne drifting off to the immaterial next to Hector, glad that he was right about Hector. He always had been.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

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ATTN: @PaulHaynek (Takeshi) & @The Irish Tree (Liliana)

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In Matters of Upheld Honor, Applied Chivalry, and Forgotten Friendship (Collab w/ The Irish Tree)

The Royally Decided Consequence of Selectiveness (Prologue - Alice, Solo Post)

As Takeshi rallied the collected Taskforce, his words carried clearly and cleanly across the temple grounds. Alice kept her tongue, as Kerry cast her invitations skyward; naming and remembering her rather extended family, one by one, from youngest to father, and ending with her mother. As the bits of Time-Space Magic traveled along dimensional current across reality, they would get to where they were needed exactly when they were needed, and not a moment sooner.

Once they were all cast, Alice would look up at Takeshi, the Young Lord Oda, son of Hideo, and Leader of the Taskforce that occupied Terauchi Temple.

"I'll pass~!" Alice chirped. It seems to me, you were able to handle your little liberation mission all fine and dandy without me," she says, "Didn't even seem to think you needed little, old me for the biggest push in this campaign that you and your benefactor drafted me into. I'm sure you'll do nicely selfsame without me in this endeavor."

"I'd wager the same," Carroll says, "It's not like you didn't know where we were, after all. You chose to leave us behind. Such thoughtlessness," she shrugged, turning her palms skyward, "I'm not all that spurred to action, right now, dear Prince. Maybe later."

Alice lifted her dress in curtsy, as did Carroll, "If you'll excuse us."

Allowing little in the way of words, the duo would depart from the gathering to do their own thing.

At first there was disbelief…after all, it sounded like Alice, but looked nothing like her. And as for acting like her…well, it was hard for Liliana to really know much about Alice’s mannerisms when half the time she kind of treated Liliana as a baby when talking to her, but she seemed…different. "Lady Alice?" the recently awakened fairy exclaimed, immediately flying after the duo, fast as she could in her tiny form.

Alice was strolling along, as she spoke to Carroll, "We'll need to plan accordingly for the Assault on Kenshiro's Rest."

"Once we find Kenshiro's Rest," Carroll cut in.

"Yes, yes," Alice grimaced.

"Lady Alice!" A tiny cute voice said, as Carroll would recognize the beguiling aura of a magicked blade strapped on a being no larger than a sparrow, flying rapidly towards the duo.

As Carroll fussed at Alice, Liliana would feel herself dart, like a sparrow, across a Line of Intention, and a needle blitz at her, as, autonomically, Carroll's hair formed into a blade, and whipped at Liliana to defend herself from the incoming threat.

Spinning in midair to have her sword-covered back slide along the needle, Liliana would focus her eyes and glide along Carroll’s hair, a familiar sounding giggle resounding for just a moment in Carroll’s mind as Whimsy made contact. "My, two against one. You don’t stand a chance at all, little fairy." the blade warned into Liliana’s mind, before she struck with Whimsy to knock herself away, landing before Alice, using Size Trick to enter her human-sized state.

"You…you’re lady Alice, right?" Liliana asked, sure that if Alice just saw her, she’d call off Carroll.

An open palm would answer Liliana, as Alice, reflexively, struck at the figure that popped up in front of her. Her stance was strong, rooted, and generated a lot of her Mamono strength with a flowing strike, which sent Liliana tumbling, before Alice's narrowed eyes unfocused, and she stared.

"Who the hell are you, and how do you know me," Alice asks.

"Is that a Fairy," Carroll questioned, as her hair settled from "attack" to "defense". "No way a Fairly triggered my reflexes..."

Liliana’s fall didn’t hurt her anywhere near as much as the slap did, emotionally speaking.

…Maybe…this really wasn’t Alice but…

"Owie…" Liliana whined, rubbing her reddened cheek, tears welled in her eyes. "What’s your problem!? Don’t you…remember me, Lady Alice?" she asked, looking up at the Mad Hatter, while Carroll would note that the thing triggering her reflexes had more been the sword itself possessing tremendous power, compared to the milquetoast fairy holding it.

"My problem," Alice asks."I'm not the idiot that appeared in the front of someone suddenly!"

Liliana would remember that voice, so sharp and above her, both in station and power; the Queen of Summerheld that called her Bladeflower, First.

...yet there was no recognition in her eyes.

"Something wrong with that sword. It's not one of my kith, but definitely cursed," Carroll says, as her hair formed the blade of an axe. "Best I hack it apart, and the Fairy's hands, too."

"...So…I guess…you don’t remember me," Liliana said, rubbing the tears from her eyes with her forearm, before standing. "But, that isn’t important right now. I’m just glad you’re back…I knew everyone was lying. Lady Alice would never run away! But…why’re you going this way? Takeshi needs everyone to help rescue his dad."

"Remember you? I wouldn't spare a moment to remembering a mosquito," Alice says, rubbing her temple. "Nor do I care what some Human wants from me. I am the Queen of Summerheld, beyond you all, and... and... " Alice grit her teeth. "My head... it hurts again...."

Carroll seemed to be in similar discomfort, as her axe unraveled into strands of hair.

"Who the hell are you...'' Alice asks, glaring at Liliana, as her mind battled to remember and to forget.

"I!" Liliana would stand tall in her human height, looking up at Alice without a hint of fear. "Am Bladeflower Six of Thirteen, Liliana, wielder of Whimsy, lover of all things pink, knightly, fun, and I’m lucky enough to be your friend." Liliana said, undeterred. She could see that Alice was struggling…and knew, somehow, they’d come to blows. But she was still holding out hope her friend would remember her.

"You said one day I could be your First Bladeflower…but…I’m still somebody else’s knight, Lady Alice. So I’ll settle for being your best friend!"

"I don't have friends..." Alice says, extending her left hand, and drawing Carroll; gripping the massive axe, as her right arm hung loose. "And, I don't need Bladeflowers! So, settle for death!"

Alice flickered, and Liliana would feel the kiss of vorpal steel upon her neck, but nothing else, as Alice's right arm was holding her left back from swinging true.

"Lili! Run!" Alice groaned, as she struggled against herself; her memories, good and bad, vying to align Liliana as either a friend or a stranger, and corroding her sense, but not self.

Liliana had squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the end as vorpal steel approached…before Alice stopped herself, vying to let Liliana escape. To flee. To run away and never see her again. To make sure Alice stayed in the oblivion of amnesia forevermore.

"...No way!" the fairy proclaimed, now drawing her sword. "I’m not strong like Gringor and Alice…I’m not skilled like Shizuka and Kerry…and I’m not smart like Skarsneek or Io…but Lady Alice, I know one thing nobody else does right now!"

Liliana would smile, eyes focused as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. "Right now…I can’t lose to anybody! Not even you! So if you want to execute me, at least have the honor to duel me for that right!"

Standing against the storm of a queen and a cursed blade, the flower sharpened her petals and braced her stem. She wouldn’t be scattered, nor would she retreat.

Alice grit her teeth; not from effort, but containing her laughing, as Carroll's axe unraveled in full, as the Sword Devil cackled. Both were taken aback by the proclamation, and stricken by laughter.

"Still proclaiming such nonsense so boldly, huh," Alice asks, somewhere between. "I'll need to sort your pathetic optimism for harsh reality..." she says, as she held up her right hand, "You picked this fight, little Fairy. Show me that you can't lose, Liliana..."

"Better not disappoint me, you plank of wood," Carroll says, before she would swirl into Alice's right hand, and offer her battle-stance with the thin sword drawn.

Liliana smiled, as she suddenly turned to the side. "Alright then. Let’s go somewhere other people won’t get involved," she said, before turning her back to Alice. Not out of foolishness, or disrespect…but because she knew that Alice wouldn’t attack her from behind before the match had even started. And somehow…that fairy’s back had become dangerous. As if an attempt to spit on her chivalry would mean it was Liliana’s victory.

That back had become the largest target Alice could pray for, and one that would instantly lose her everything.

"It would seem you understand me. I... remember your voice... annoying..." Alice says, before sheathing her blade. "Only a Fairy would be foolhardy enough to test my honor..." she walked past Liliana, "It is time you and I had a long overdue conversation, Liliana, my First Bladeflower."

Alice would lead Liliana to the cleaning of felled trees, and draw into her stance; extending her left hand forward, palm facing her, fingers extended, as she curled a fist with her right hand, and crossed it behind her back.

"You are not yet verses in the Languages of Wars, so I teach you as I would any beginner...

---

Speaking One Truth in the Language of Swords (Combat Post - PVP, Alice vs. Liliana)

"...how to speak the Language of Swords! Draw your blade, Liliana!" Alice commanded, before flickering forwards, and lashing out with her left hand alone.

At once, Liliana would shrink down using her size trick, utilizing her small size and the pressure from Alice’s blow to avoid it, already going straight for the Mad Hatter’s neck as she slid along her arm.

Alice spun with her lash, and snapped her arm stiff - the lane turning into a wall, as Alice bashed it into Liliana. Straight from the arm bar, Alice would raise her right hand above the stunned Liliana, and hammer the heel of her palm down upon her - moving straight into an intended stomp with her heeled boot.

As soon as the boot was about to collide, Liliana would shout: "Now, Whimsy!" before she would dart back, her sword casting the infamously powerful summoning spell, as Alice kicked her heel right into a magic circle, a large brown highland cow now firmly sitting right atop her foot as the fairy vaulted over its haunches to return Alice’s kick in kind.

Alice’s eyes narrowed, as she pressed down on her heel; spiking the blunted post through the cow, before catching Liliana’s foot. "Sloppy. Even with [Quick Casting], your control is no better," she says, as the damaged summon disappeared. A lesser fighter would have been thrown off-balance, likely as Liliana intended, but Alice merely used the forward motion as momentum to slam Liliana down. "If you intend to use this sword as a wand, then I will take it," she says, wrapping her left hand around Whimsy to pull it away.

Just when defeat seemed imminent, Liliana suddenly flickered, a devious smile on her lips as she completely disappeared, as did Whimsy, as the fake Mirror Image was dissipated, another Liliana flying in from above Alice’s blind spot to attempt to skewer her with Whimsy.

Alice suddenly turned, and swatted Liliana out of her joust.

"Attacking my blind spot," Alice smirked. "I’m actually impressed. You have [Silent Casting] and [Quick Casting], and being naturally mischievous, a natural talent of subterfuge...." She straightened her pose, "Summon something to distract me, and block my sight of you, then cast your illusion to keep my attention, and go invisible to reposition for a sneak attack where I cannot see you from."

"If only you hadn’t forgotten I can see all behind her..." Carroll chuckled.

"360-degrees of awareness," Alice says, doing a twirl, and creating a five-foot circle of mushrooms. "This is my Line of Intention. As soon as you cross it, Carroll will know your intention, and so will I. There is no attack you can launch that I cannot block with my swords - be they my hands or Carroll.”

This is what it means to speak the Language of Swords."

"Even if your intentions are pure, as long as that hateful bitch is against your success, you will never take us off-guard in earnest, Fairy Knight." Carroll says. "You claim you will never lose, but you can never win on your lonesome. Just like that Human, you NEED the help. However, help is not given because you WANT it." she lectures cruelly. "Spare yourself the embarrassment, and flutter back to the Human. Humble yourself before someone weaker than you. You’re sixth in line for a reason. This is as far as you can go, until you and your sword can speak the same language, like Alice and I."

"That is, for the most part, what I told her. But how fascinating. A line of perception," Whimsy spoke through Liliana’s mouth, the mirror image flickering a bit, revealing itself to also not be the real Liliana…and yet…Whimsy wasn’t flickering like before. The sword was real. "I told her the plan was stupid, but she insisted. Even still…right now, it should be finished. You won’t be able to leave this circle you love so much in just a moment," the splinter said, before smiling sinisterly, twisting Liliana’s visage enough to look horrifying.

"I’ve heard this is how Devil Bugs fight, too…" she said before something darted through the circle, taking a large chunk out of Alice’s arm. A blur of pink speeding past, ripping part of her flesh with just her hands. …How many spells had been cast all at once?

"A Fairy would play by such tricks and traps," Alice says, as her arm gushed green blood from the gaping wound. "However, can you keep that up for longer than I can survive? Just how long can you maintain such magicks?"

Liliana would strike twice more, before, just when she knew Alice and Carroll would be capable of predicting where she’d strike next, her target became seizing Whimsy once more after accumulating damage on the two, dashing out of the circle with Alice’s blood staining her hands, and her sword once more firmly held. "About…that…long…" the fairy said, arms red and steaming after having to stress herself with Giant’s Strength, Haste, and keeping Triple Reflection up. Whereas a normal mage would burn themselves out chaining spells so much, the damage done inside of Liliana’s body was already being repaired by the Queen’s Blessing, letting her continue the fight as she now took up a proper sword stance.

"I already know I’m nowhere near as strong, and frankly…Whimsy and me’ll never get along as good as you and Carroll. But that doesn’t matter one bit! I would rather die than accept someone else’s help right now, because this is my fight, and you’re my friend!" Liliana said, lowering her stance, eyes focused. "Whimsy. Save everything you have from now on."

Carroll would sense it best as Whimsy became aglow with its own magic, hardening, condensing, strengthening, buffs cast upon the sword itself rather than its wielder in order to survive against clashing with Carroll.

From here on out, this was no longer a fairy fighting a hatter. It was a Knight battling a Queen.

Alice stretched, as she raised her arms above her head, and cracked her neck. "So, so, so... curious..." she says, "Last I remember you, you were such a cowardly thing. A furled petal with no color," Alice set her arms before her, crackling her elbows and shoulders, "Now, look are you. Green. A beautiful color. Royal. Promising. Rejuvenating. It’s warm, isn’t it? My blood..." she asks, as she did side stretches. "Tell me, are you confident?"

Liliana had buffed Whimsy to the nines, yet Carroll remained sheathed, and Alice straightened out.

"I loath fighting the unconfident..."

"Of course I am. I’m gonna win!" Liliana said, eyes not once wavering as she unfurled her wings. "And then, I’ll just have to bang you on the head just enough that you remember everything!"

"It seems you’ve learned a few words," Alice says, before walking forward.

Liliana would make the first move, lunging at Alice with a horizontal slash, utilizing her flight to be able to pivot faster than she could on the ground.

Alice stiffened her arms at once - intending to catch Whimsy in the muscle of her left arm, and drive her right elbow into the flat of the blade, before snapping her right leg at Liliana.

Having learned plenty of dirty tricks fighting against Varjans, Liliana was privy to how someone might try to catch Whimsy due to her size, and would use that to her advantage to shrink herself down just as the attack would have connected, feinting and flying up past Alice’s foot to slice along it.

"How dirty," Alice says, as her boot was cleaved open, and her leg bled freely, as she set it back down. "How smart, as well," she tested her leg, before planting it firmly, "Speed. Force. Precision. So serious."

Alice smiled, "How much blood are you planning to spill..."

"Just enough until I win," Liliana said, flicking Whimsy to remove the blood from it, and her hands. "Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about you Lady Alice, its that I can’t win by just hacking away like you’re a normal person. I gotta do something crazier!"

"Do tell," Alice asks, shaking her arm; casting blood on the ground. Well, more. She’d been freely letting it stain the ground, and not healing.

"Well, using your blood for starters. And those chunks of flesh I tore out earlier," Liliana said, before poking the ground with Whimsy, a pale green light extending from the blade to small lumps on the ground, the very same that Liliana had ripped out earlier as the myconid flesh twisted and writhed, the pale green light following along to the pools of blood Liliana and Alice had cast off from the queen. Suddenly, a gargantuan snake formed from it using Plants to Snakes as a catalyst, a fair portion of the grass being consumed to make a large serpent…and the magic was trailing up Alice’s arm. If she didn’t think fast, any extra blood would only strengthen the forming beast.

"How curious," Alice says. "You would go so far to prove a point? Or, rather... to make a point."

"Of course! That point being…you can’t beat me either, unless you stop holding back," Liliana said, staring Alice down.

Alice chuckled, and squatted. "That's what you want in earnest, then," she asks.

"You’ll have to. Otherwise, I’m gonna win too easily," Liliana boasted.

Alice would stand, as Carroll slid up her arm, and morphed into her scissor blade. "Very well," she says.

"Don't blink, plank of wood. I want you to understand the power difference between a Queen of Wonderland and a Queen of Fairytale..." Carroll chuckled, as she transformed further.

All of a sudden, the pressure of the figure that stood before Liliana would smile.

"My dearest Liliana, so brave, so stubborn, I will honor you," Dinah says, "I will shower you in the rain of the Heavens..." Dinah extended her sword, and the blade split in two half, before she took the Heavenly Strike stance with both swords, "My First Bladeflower, become baptized in the [Heavenly Striking Rainfall]..."

Dinah would disappear for but a moment, and reappear behind Liliana... as thousands of slash marks formed a giant, cartoon, six-petaled flower around her.

"Stand proudly, Liliana, and fall proudly, too, because I'm so proud of you... and you, little Whimsy," Dinah says, before de-transforming.

"Oh, that was exhausting," Alice says, healing her wounds. "Good job, Liliana. Another thousand years, and you won't need sneak attacks to hit me."

…

…

…

…………………………

…

…So…this was what true, complete, utter defeat felt like, as Liliana fell to her knees, arms nearly cleaved off entirely, a large gash in her side, wings torn to ribbons, one eye crushed, and a feeling as if one of her lungs didn’t work for now. Regeneration would take care of most of that for now, even as her limp wrist let go of Whimsy, the magic leaving the blade as Whimsy’s mind retreated, utterly spent from the clash…

And, from the counterattack that had been launched, as Alice would finally register the blow from Liliana’s own Gaia Hazard: Heavenly Strike, a head-on, honest to goodness strike in a real sword fight. The only one Liliana landed, and the most powerful one that could ever have broken through one of the petals of Alice’s strike.

Once. Just once. And yet it was enough to make the magic-infused damage from Alice ache like nothing else. An entirely unique pain as Liliana collapsed, of the true disastrous interaction that Wild Magic had with Wonderland Magic....

---

When All Words Are Said, Only Actions Remain (Post Combat)

Alice would catch Liliana, and flop back onto her plush rear. "That was a nice shot," she says, as there was a large hole punched through her right side; opposite her heart. It cleaved from her shoulder to the lowest rib; decimating the entirety of her breast, and most of the lung and rib cage underneath. "Still, too soft. You have to go all the way, kiddo."

Alice sighed, as strands of mycelium bridged the gap to start repairs, and her blood soaked back into her body. and cradled Liliana close to her left breast; opening her blouse to rest the injured Fairy against her warm skin, as cuddled up. "I have a code, you know," she says, stroking Liliana’s hair with a finger, "A strong person stands between two doors. Before them, all the evils of the world. Behind them, all the innocence of the world. It is their mission to hold the front door close, so the back door can stay open, and if they cannot, they must give their all to stem the tide, and make it right..."

"I do not feel it is my task to close the door that Lord Oda left his son," Alice says, "And yet... you were fully prepared to die... just to make me."

"Fairies are ever fools."

Alice finished regenerating, but the hole left a twisted, diamond-shaped scar upon her right side from her shoulder and lowest rib; a reminder that everyone had conviction, and could use it to break the mightiest powers - even fools.

"Lucky for you, fools remind me of home," Alice says, yawning.

It took everything Liliana had to wake back up then and there, desperately clinging to consciousness as red stained her vision and she grabbed a torn fragment of Alice’s garb. "...I can’t do…anything right…" she choked out, tears starting to stream down her face, nose running as she sniffled. "Even…e-even when…I give it everything…I’ll never…never win when it counts. I know that…I knew it all along…so…" Liliana inhaled deeply, before sobbing out: "But this time…this one time…I would have been fine losing forever if I won this one time…and even then I…I…"

"Scored a point," Alice says. "I haven’t lost a duel in nine-hundred and ninety-nine years. I don’t plan to, for as many more years," she says, "I’ve never had someone score a point on me, either. I let people hit me. I bleed to spread my spores, spreading paralytics and neurotoxins. People have long forgotten the honor of dueling, of speaking with their swords, so I stopped dueling honorably..."

Alice held Liliana close, and beamed, "But, you... in the end... it was you that had what I missed. A duelist’s spirit. I’m... actually happy to lose to a proper duelist - even if your form is sloppy, your footwork is terrible, you rely on your wings too much, you have so many tells, and your bond with your sword is like... unspeakably awful."

"You may be Sixth of Thirteen to your Queen, but you’re Second to None for the Queen of Diamonds."

Liliana tried to say something else, but was too choked by tears to manage it, instead settling to sob into Alice’s chest until she passed out from the pain of her injuries. Still…she’d won something, today.

Alice would be still - she didn’t have healing spores, but she could quicken time with her racial spell, and supply Liliana with succor at the same time. Granted, the Fairy was unconscious; still, if a sleeping baby could manage it, a sleeping Fairy could do the same.

Focusing her dwindling magic, Alice would cast a circle large enough to throw a party for two, "O’ Frabjous Day~" before nudging Liliana into place to drink some healing “milk tea” while time flowed significantly faster for the two of them.

Now fully repaired, Liliana was free to slumber free of pain, a tiny bit of Whimsy’s green glow returning, before dissipating as another wave of energy passed over Liliana…a Greater Healing that flowed from Liliana to Alice. A prize from Whimsy, it seemed.

"You like milk tea, huh," Alice asks, looking down into her closed blouse.

Liliana was sleeping as soundly as a babe, most of the damage done to her body no longer visible, sans a small torn scar across the top section of her right wing.

In a way, they would forever match. Though, where Alice would wear her scar with pride (although, she dreaded Kerry’s reaction), she was sure Liliana was going to summon a cow to have. Liliana tended to overreact, after all. Still, they were close again - closer, even, perhaps - which was one step closer to fulfilling the Fairy’s fondest dream.

Staring into the sky, Alice sighed, "I still have things to do, before we go..."

Removing her hat, Alice would reach in and pull out a fistful of papers. As she willed it, her spell would be cast on it, and they would read out: <O’ FRABJOUS DAY~! You [Recipient Name Here] are so cordially invited to the Alice and Kerry’s Bachelor/Bachelorette Double Feature Heavenly Strike Reclamation Party For Tying Up Loose Ends Before A Big Rescue Mission!! RSVP! Or, be a loser, and don’t!>

"That’ll do," Alice says, casting all but one to each member of the Taskforce. "This one is for you, my Bladeflower. I’ll give it to you directly."

---

A Dream of Someday (Epilogue - Liliana, Solo Post)

Mushroom milk often had…something a little funky about it. Just enough hallucinations and comfort were bound to have one imagining simpler, warmer times…and for the pink fairy that just outdrank a grown man when it came to milk consumption, she was imagining another duel, another time, another rest, and another promise of being someone’s #1…

"Ughhh…I just can’t beat you, Rosebud. Its no fair…"

"Now now, don’t be like that. You’re getting much better. I’d say you’d even be a match for Marigold if you keep up this pace."

"Really!? But…I’ve been Thirteen for so long…wouldn’t Marigold be really upset if I took her spot? She works hard too.."

"Yes, she does. But every one of the Bladeflowers works as hard as they can to move up. Just because someone is number thirteen doesn’t make them weak, or a loser, like you seem to keep thinking you are."

"W-Well its hard not to when you keep kicking my butt!"

"You make it a liiiiittle too easy sometimes, little sister. Your form’s got a long ways to go, your footwork is…not the best, and you keep arguing with Whimsy in the middle of your duels. "

"Yeah…I know…but she’s so mean ALL the time!"

"Splinterswords are just like that, until you fully tame them, Lili. I know you’ll manage it someday…hehe, I bet you could even make Second once you do. But then I’ll really have to go all out on you~"

"Ugghhh…no way…I’m already flying in circles trying to catch you and Vim. I give up for today~"

"Lili? ...You sure can be a brat sometimes, Liliana, helping yourself to somebody’s time and then napping during it. …But…you’re still small, so rest up a lot. I’m sure you’ll be as strong as me someday."

"And when you do…I’ll take you all over the world, wherever the Queen needs us. Just you and me."

…But, that day hadn’t come yet. Even as Liliana fought a Lilim-spawn and emerged with a strike won…she was still certain that Rosebud could at least have brought Dinah out by overwhelming Alice and Carroll. Perhaps, even manage to tie against her…

Tales Of Shizuyama: Alternative (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

---

ATTN: @PaulHaynek (Ayu) & @AzureKnight (Kirei/Lavinia)

---

Complacency in Old Habits (Mildly Spicy)

Ripcord was barely attentive to the presence of the resident Spymaster, as Ayu attempted to access the situation, before questioning the strange mark that the Varjan Commander had left on her neck. In truth, it didn't bother her in the slightest, and served a counter-purpose to its own creation, as it existed to bring Varjan attention to her, and free food for her and her sister. And yet, the query made it clear that there was more than idle wondering put forth.

Sighing, Ripcord shrugged, "I couldn't tell you. Something I was intending to get rid of, once I was bored of it. But, if it's going to be a problem..." Ripcord whistle, attracting Umami's attention; causing the playful Lesser Chimera to break her fun, and fly over. "See if you can remove this mark, Mami."

Umami nodded, "Sì, Papi," before shifting back to normal, and looking at the mark. In all honesty, if it wasn't boring Ripcord, it wasn't bothering her, so she wasn't sure what Ayu's problem was, but if she was asked to remove it, she'd try.

At first, she'd use her nails to slice through the mark, but breaking the skin didn't break the magic, so she opted to peel around the mark, and peel off the surface layer of skin... to no avail, however. It persisted into subdermal later, which meant it was burned into the muscle.

"I'm going to have to remove the muscle. Are you okay with that," Umami asks.

"Do what you need to," Ripcord says, sitting down, as her skin regenerated from the biopsy.

Umami sighed, and squatted; steadying herself on her knees. Flicking her fingers, she sank them deeper into her neck, creating a circular biopsy in the upper muscle, and pulling the hunk out with a steady hand. However, when she revealed the biopsied muscle and flesh, the mark was gone.

"I'll have to go deeper, then... Ripcord, be still as stone," Umami says, as the wound closed as if nothing happened.

"Don't tease me too badly, Umami," Ripcord giggled, before going still as stone - her chest didn't even move.

Umami gathered a length of cloth from her pocket, and drooled on to it, before rubbing the mark, as if sanitizing the location. Steadying her breath ,the brunette would breathe softly upon the redhead's neck, before suddenly winding her jaw beyond Human measure, and snapping the entire space out with her teeth.

Ripcord lunged forward, catching Umami's arm, and sinking her teeth into the forearm; pink blood splurged from between her lips, as her throat flexed, and she swallowed. At the same time, Umami was chewing with a blissful expression, as she messily ate; black blood leaked from her lips, as she squeezed her legs together, and swallowed. Ripcord's eyes widened while her spiral pupils tightened into a single circle, as she crawled up; pushing Umami onto her back, and attacked her - blood-stained lips doing war with blood-stained lips.

However, the wound regenerated and the mark remained, as it was.

Even Umami's ability to devour anything organic couldn't remove whatever the spell was.

Even so, that conundrum seemed far and away the least of the Claremont Sisters' concerns. Pushing forward, as the aggressor, Ripcord would dissolve her clothing; the acid slime that it was created from dissolving Umami's below in a similar mass - as if, reclaiming it. Skyclad, the first stared down at the last of the Claremont Decuplets... sisters, ten in number; paired, five in total; an elder with a younger, from top to bottom; an equal and an opposite, a lover and a soulmate.

Eternity, promised.

Neither knew the fates of their sisters, elder and younger alike, and... in this moment... didn't care.

Life was about feeling good, and they wanted to feel great.

It was like a musical sting, when both cried out.

For the briefest moment, Umami was Human again, as her feline features retreated internally; only to be replaced by those of a hound. Ripcord delighted in the large, fluffy tail that wagged; a bestial expression of happiness. Born for each other, the Claremont Decuplets had to fulfill the role of Husband and Wife; Dominant and Submissive; so, paired off as such, one of them was given the Mutation of Spontaneous Targeted Masculinization.

In short, the ability to lay pipe.

"Mine again..." Umami breathed, tail wagging incessantly, impatiently.

There was a carnal shamelessness in it, a wildness that came naturally to Mamono; stronger than Humans, unbound to their laws, both societal and moral, yet their were clear reservations and limitations. If one looked, Ripcord was running the show, but Umami was writing the script, even if the surface presented the opposite. In relationships, the Wife's pleasure superseded the Husband's pleasure - he would receive it, but only for so long as she wanted it.

Luckily, Umami always wanted it. It wasn't a matter of where for her, but a matter of when; public or private, it mattered not - she was more beast than beauty, so an alleyway behind a storefront in Otomo Port was as good as the hardwood floor of an old shrine in Terauchi Temple. It was up to Ripcord to control the how long and how hard, as Umami could live off her body -- and, during their career in the Mafia, the food scarcity had demanded that for a time.

A Lesser Shoggoth needed far less edible foodstuffs than a Lesser Chimera, to the extent that waking up to Umami's needy demands had become normal - the risk of death from starvation driving them to feed recklessly wore down the sharpened blade of incest and the toxicity of religious sin.

They crossed that bridge and burned it down long ago.

They lived for each other, as they were made to by choice and by chance.

"Mami!" Ripcord cried out, pressing forward.

"Papi!" Umami responded in kind, back arching.

A symphonic crescendo crested in their cries, as orgasms were reached in earnest, and the song died to silence, as the last note faded. A moment of clarity, of weakness, of limitations restoring; Ripcord would drag Umami with her descent to her side, and lie there for a spell without motion beyond breathing.

As they rested, a keen eye could spy the glint of a silver band around Umami's left ring finger and a golden band around Ripcord's matching finger; neither of which had been present throughout the affair, likely bewitched to stay hidden as long as they were focused. It was no issue to surmise they were promise bands, a solemn vow of matrimony given material form.

Eventually, the girls would pull themselves into a sitting position; unspoken words passing between the couple, a special communication developed by soulmates, as Ripcord rested her hands on Umami's thighs, face-up, and spread five lines of slime between her fingers like a circular loom for yarn crafts.

"Are you going to make the same clothes again," Ripcord asks.

"I like the look," Umami argued. "It's trendy."

"It's Varjan, though. We already stand out like sore thumbs," Ripcord says, pragmatically.

"I won't let countryside bumpkins dictate this city girl's fashion," Umami says, firmly.

"We want them to like us, you know," Ripcord reminded.

"Papi, I am not making you a yukata or kimono just to cull favour," Umami says, putting her foot, figuratively, down, as her naked toes were currently playing with Ripcord's. "Besides, I like matching cute ribbons, not gaudy sashes."

"My ribbon is red, and yours is black, Mami, and sashes are just big ribbons..." Ripcord says, before manifesting her cigarettes and lighter, as well as pseudopods from her hair to hold them and work the lighter. "Ah, whatever. So stubborn," she chuckled, before taking a drag, and holding it to Umami, " You're my stubborn, though."

"Forever and ever, amen," Umami says, before taking her drag, as she formed new apparel.

There was nothing more indicative of post-sex than aftercare and smoking.

Ripcord giggled, as Umami fussed about fashion over function, while they played footsie and split the difference of a cigarette. Soon, they would be redressed and ready to resume construction once they were finished basking in the afterglow of aftercare.

Though, as Ripcord and Umami stood and stretched, recalling where and when they were, who they were around, they couldn't exactly recall what they were doing, though they remembered why they stalled in the first place.

"You know, I forgot what we had planned next," Ripcord admitted. "I should likely get rid of this mark, since it’s not coming off by brute force."

"Think that the Human Leader, uh, what did Boss K call him, Takeshi, yeah," Umami asks. "Think he can solve the problem? Or, know someone that can?"

"Probably, loath as I am to admit, Magic isn’t my strong suit, nor yours," Ripcord says, before looking back to Ayu, pointing her cigarette, "Spywoman, where’s Takeshi at? I’d rather not wander this place on a fruitless endeavor."

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

---

ATTN: @The Irish Tree (Eula) & @Rezod92 (Kerry)

---

The Promises of A G.E.C.K. Wonderland (An Accidental Collab w/ The Irish Tree & Rezod92)

As the silence fell, Alice was of two minds once Kerry settled before her in a less-than-ideal squat to lock-in those crystal, hazel-like-honey eyes with her eyes; orbs that settled in a perfect shade of red like anger; like hate; like revenge with her diamond-shaped pupils

”You both fucked up. Royally and without a doubt.”

Kerry

"Tell me something new," Alice says, bitingly, a bit of tired venom in her voice, but no real pressure to back it up. "I'm sure you have more to, so out with it."

”Is this the part where I judge you?”

Kerry

"At some point," Alice injected.

”Where I condemn your foolish dive into self-destruction -- ”

Kerry

"If you want," Alice sighed.

” -- take off this ring -- ”

Kerry

"Okay, little hasty, there," Alice says, catching the signs of trouble brewing.

”” -- and vow to have Gwen never see you before I forever cut you out of my life?

Kerry

Alice sat up, stuff as a board, as she turned her body to face Kerry, "You can't do that! You can't take her, or you! I won't allow it!"

Alice could see Kerry's expression unchanged, as she said:

”Well, sorry...”

Kerry

The feeling of her heart sinking almost broke Alice, before Kerry concluded:

”...but that's not happening.”

Kerry

Alice nearly set to strangling Kerry for her melodramatic pausing, before she was asked the most difficult question in earnest:

”Because what would that solve, Ali? What. Would. That. Solve?”

Kerry

What would that solve? What was the question asking?

Running away with Gwen, away from her; from them; from... from... revenge?

Taking everything away but the all-encompassing, all-consuming, ultimate goal of revenge; of vengeance; of... validation.

"I don't know. I don't... I don't think I have for a long time..." Alice says, "Every day is: left foot, right foot, march, and fight. A wastrel here. A scullery maid there. A windower. A lonely wife. A confused innocent. All victims of my sword, a different type, but just as deadly in its own way," she says, "Only one squiggled her way beyond my defenses. Slippery, little Shoggoth. Darling, little Tekelili."

"I don't know what anything would solve, but I know what killing her would do. It is her fault. She sends them, Invitations of Hatred, and reveals me to those that want to harm me and mine," Alice says, reflexively pulling Kerry's head into her lap, as if protecting her neck from a decapitation-happy Queen, "To defend what's mine, she has to die..." she swears, "But, now, because I tried to return early, I fucked up the terms of my exile - ones I couldn't even remember."

There was a sudden stirring, as Eula stood up, and crossed over from the foot of the bed to Carroll... and attacked her with a flick of the finger?

"What'd the hell I do!?" Carroll shrieked, as she was knocked into her back, and Eula straddled her hips, as she launched into a lecture.

"Both of you seem to be misunderstanding the exile."

Eula

"Oh, and how so, Miss Smartybolts," Carroll asks, dryly sarcastic, 500 years is 500 years, not 499. That's clear as crystal."

Unperturbed by the interruption, Eula carried on:

"You just have to wait one year longer, correct? Win then, after a year."

Eula

There was no way it was that simple. But... No... Right...?

"There's no way the exile is... actually just... going to lift after 500 years, and that's it..." Carroll says.

Alice started to laugh, as the contractual wording of the spell played through her head. Five-hundred years. A hundred years for each toe. The Queen of Hearts really meant exactly what she said. "How childish! How utterly childish! I feel so stupid!" she cackled, "To be fooled by a child for so long..."

"Well, what would you have us do, then, Miss Smartybolts," Carroll asks, taking Eula's hands; her arm reflexively transforming to complete the closeness.

"Train. Learn. Study the weakness of Lilim's. And this time, I will come as well. That should even the odds somewhat."

Eula

"You would risk your life for what gain," Carroll asks, locking her grey eyes with Eula's crimson eyes, "Unlike these two dummies, you have no matrimonial or custodial obligation to such a task, as we are unwed and I didn't knock you up."

Eula would push forward, straddling Carroll as she pushed her onto her back. "I don’t gain anything fighting for Shizuyama either. But, as humans have shown me, the right choice isn’t always the smart one."

"I am neither of Shizuyama, nor Human. That logic isn't sound in this matter," Carroll says.

Another flick graced Carroll’s forehead, Eula’s half-lidded gaze indicating she really, really wanted to call her an idiot. "Missing the point. I will join you regardless.”

"Ow! Would you stop that!? And, regardless, my pommel, you owe me nothing of the sort!" Carroll groused.

Eula really considered going three-for-three on forehead flicks but settled with poking Carroll’s forehead. "Since when did this become about a debt to repay?"

Carroll would suddenly burst into slime and twist around Eula, slamming hurt into the bed, and reforming with her lips pressed tight to Eula's, aggressively making out with her, before drawing back, and growing, "I don't want you to risk dying for the sins of my mother and my own rebellion, stupid!"

A pause broke the conversation, before Eula broke it by kissing Carroll once. "There is no risk. This unit can be rebuilt if you survive, or one of sufficient skill finds me. I do not know how old I am, but to wander for 500 years, unable to return home, to be made to forget…" Eula clenched an open hand. "Even a lilim must answer for cruelty. "

Carroll narrowed her eyes, before caressing Eula's cheeks, "Fine. We'll be stupid together, then," before she kissed her in gentle earnest.

On the other side of the bed, a rather jealous Alice would turn her attention to the woman in her lap, and her life, and easily hoist her into her lap with a few vines and her inhuman strength.

"Well, I can't just sit idly by with such energy in the air," Alice says, nipping Kerry's nape, "And, I can't let my Queen's Blade be a dummy alone, either."

Eula didn’t take much convincing to be stupid, and would all but drag Carroll under the sheets for another kiss that would kill most species with its length. …Priorities would eventually need to be established, but right now she just wanted Carroll to know she had her back. And front. And lips.

Huffing, Alice had no intention of being shown up, and would take Kerry's lips for her own; resting a hand upon her belly to gently pulse Mana to her unborn.

Ugh….These two idiots, I swear., Kerry thought, rolling her eyes as her husband and king made out with her, a gentle warmth emanating from the growing egg within her in response to her father’s touch.

”Eula’s right, though.””, she spoke, pulling her lips away from Alice. ”I’m with you to the end, Ali. That means if the Queen of Hearts is your enemy, then that bitch is mine as well.”

"Oh, if you must," Alice says, leaning to Kerry's ear, as she whispered, "I've never been that good at making you budge, after all. Just eating me."

As Alice spoke in that haughtily familiar voice, Kerry would realize that Alice likely remembered their prior meetings, including the training they did together.

"Glad to see you still like the taste," Alice purred in her ear.

”Last I checked, I only ate a severed finger of yours the first time. But….you’re right about one thing…”

Kerry focused her attention on Alice’s neck. Licking, kissing and nibbling on the mad hatter’s flesh.

”....You do taste heavenly.”

"Oh, I know I do," Alice says, tracing her right pointer around Kerry's lips. "Such nice hue, like silky chocolate," she dipped her finger between them, "But, I remember how much I loved seeing them stained by your tearing into me. Such a brutal, beautiful mercenary behind these pretty lips."

Alice pressed down on Kerry's tongue, "If you are going to follow down my path, you better not die on me. I'll kill you, if you do."

Kerry’s eyes became half-lidded as she closed her mouth on Alice’s finger, licking and savoring the digit like a candied delicacy. She looked at her lover and winked….

….before biting down harder.

Alice mewled, and smirked. "Careful, now..." she purrs, as Alice pulled Kerry closer, seating her over her sidearm. "I might draw my sword in you."

”Oh, control yourself, Ali.”, quipped Kerry, playfully as she gestured her head toward Eula and Carroll. ”We have a prudish audience here.”

Alice snickered, as Carroll and Eula continued their, comparatively, chaste make-out session of not requiring oxygen like normal Mamono. "I suppose, I'll respect the vanilla," she says, "and quietly enjoy my chocolate two-scoop."

”Oh?”

Then it was Kerry’s turn to lean in and whisper in Alice’s ear.

”Did you like those two scoops when they were around that thick hickory-smoked ham rod?”

Alice's eyes lit up, and Kerry was suddenly rising in the air, as the Queen of Diamonds stood, and held her. "I hope you didn't have plans for the afternoon," she says, "That question requires a THOROUGH investigation that might take a few hours..."

As she made her proclamation, Alice was already striding across her room, beelining, pun intended, for Kerry's.

The hornet’s laughter echoed through the halls as her lover carried her to her room/nesting grounds, leaving Eula and Carroll to their own slice of heaven.

Alice would turn that delighted laughter into raucous moaning behind a slammed door, choked closed by vines, while Carroll threw her arm at the door; the crimson scissor blade rammed into the floor, jamming it shut.

DND signs, if ever there was one.

At least, they would all be available, when needed.

After all... the future was fast approaching, as the liberation of Komatsu Bay allowed the Taskforce to go on the offensive, but the fact that the Heavenly Strike was still loose and used as a weapon, they were torn between the hammer and the anvil, and what to do first:

Take down the students of the evil Heavenly Strike users, or take the war efforts forward?

Whatever the choice made, in the back of their minds, Kerry and Eula had some security that Alice and Carroll were walking beside them in the same path.

...though, darkness loomed behind them, ready to overtake.

A year's time remained before the Queen of Hearts' Barrier would fall, and Alice and Carroll could return home to take their old war of revenge - with or without their current lovers. All the promises in the world meant nothing in the heat of the moment, after all.

They'd walked away from good things - Carroll from her happiness and family - lost everything - Alice, her castle and daughter in Summerheld - but never surrendered the fight in earnest...

...they've attempted to throw everything away naught but a short jaunt in time ago.

Next time, they'd just wait until they could cross without fail...

Unless stopped...