Y.Z. Act III [PG-16]

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"Alright then. For the sake of me being able to keep an eye on the lot of you so that there isn't too much death, the training will take place two at a time. Those who aren't participating will wait inside. The windows will be shut so you won't be allowed to see what's going on, and the only two people permitted to watch are your partner, and Violette, who I'll have on standby in case anyone comes close to kicking the bucket." Stahn briefed the group before jumping from the tree branch he was standing on and landing like a gymnast with his hands in the air. "First up are Auricia, and..." If you had blinked, you would have missed Stahn's movement in which he ran over to Sanako and grabbed her hand, attempting to lead her away. But she clung onto Armon's hand, not wanting to do this at all, and stared back at him worriedly. Stahn made another tug, and her grip faded. "...Sanako! The rest of you, aside from Armon and Rita, can go inside."

Christian sighed as he wandered back inside in a depressed manner. He had lost, he knew that, but still. The doors finally closed behind him, and he was only left to worry.

"Alright, you two ready?" Stahn asked the two combatants as they stood at opposite ends of the courtyard. It was obvious that neither of the two girls wanted to fight each other, especially Sanako who had suffered enough the past few days. Although, Auricia didn't liek to fight with people she considered friends, so it was just as hard on her.

"Miss me?"

"Mistral! You can communicate with me again!" Sanako exclaimed. Good timing for her fael to reawaken from whatever slumber the syrum she had been drugged with placed her in. Sanako flicked her wrist, and wind flew by. Good, her wionus was working again as well.

"GO!"

"Wait, wha-" Sanako only had a second to grasp the situation before she was met with Auricia's foot to her head, sending her flying. As she flew, her vision blinked on and off like lights flickering in the thunderstorm. Normally, that sort of attack would have been easy to recover from, but it felt almost like someone had dropped a piano on her head. Tears fell instinctively from the amount of raw pain that kick had delivered, and she was met with pain once again when her back finally hit the ground. She rose shakily, barely able to move as she made a futile attempt to regain her composure. How the hell was this fair?! Stahn sent a glare Armon's way. He wasn't allowed to interfere, only watch. "I... I... I... I won't let that happen again." She stuttered, unable to formulate her sentence properly as she wiped a bit of blood from her face. Deep down, however, she knew it was futile. She couldn't beat a skill before, how would now be any different? Especially with no weapons!

Auricia sighed as she pulled her right hand behind her back in a manner that suggested she was stretching. "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to go easy on you, Sana-chan..." As she brought her hand back into plain view, the truth that her arm had changed into a blade became known. Sanako would have shouted 'crap' or something similar, but she wasn't permitted the time. To put things bluntly, one second she had both her arms, the second her right arm was on the ground beside her, completely severed from her body. Blood spewed out, and Sanako's eyes rolled back into her head before her body hit the ground on her back. Auricia ran over to the fallen girl, worried, and took her pulse. "She... she's dead... STAHN YOU HAD ME KILL HER!" The Skill was completely horrified at the thought of having killed her friend, and she collapsed to her knees. Rita stood. Crap, was this Stahn's intention? Did he want Armon to kill him?

"Relax. She's not dead." Stahn said matter-of-factly before sipping from a teacup that had shown up inexpicably. He pulled his right sleeve up, and looked at a watch. "If she doesn't come to in five minutes, then yeah, she's probably dead. You all knew coming into this that there was a chance of this occuring, so..."

---

"Huh? Where am I?" Reid murmured as he found himself staring up at a blue sky, not the light purple sky he was used to. He had been here once before, he was sure of it. The day he met Mistral? Yeah, that seemed about right. Something suddenly grabbed onto his hand and pulled him up. "Mistral? What is this place?" He mumbled, after realizing who had put him upright.

Mistral shook her head, revealing her lack of knowledge. "I remember meeting you here. In a way, I think this is where I was born, Maelstrom too. Other than that, I'm not too sure." Her attempt of an explanation was followed by a sigh. They seemed to be on an invisible platform in the sky. But... the sky was everywhere. There was no world below them; nothing of the sort. They were just suspended in an endless sky.

"This is the Garden of Eden. My home, if you will." A motherly voice rang amidst the sound of the wind as a peculiar girl appeared before them. Her short brown hair was hidden beneath a peculiar silver helmet that wound round and round itself in a twisting fashion. It had strange black decals on it as well. She sported a suit of armor with the same colour scheme, and a pair of shredded metallic wings that also followed these colours. The girl closed her grey eyes and blushed before bowing to the reila and fael. "My apologies! I am what your kind calls "Ophelia." Reid blinked. As in the Goddess? THAT Ophelia? "A piece of myself lives inside of you, which is why I can communicate with you like this. I've caused you quite a deal of trouble, I'm sorry." For a Goddess, who were subject to worship, she really didn't seem willing to let him have a word in. "A dear friend of yours died because of me, and because I'm not present, much misfortune has fallen onto the world. You have a great deal of pain in your heart as a result..."

"I'm fine." Reid stated bluntly, and the Goddess brought her right hand up to her mouth the giggle in a refined manner. "...What?"

"You're a very straightforward person! But you can't lie to me, you know. I live me life through your eyes and the eyes of everyone else who carries me inside them. What happened this morn-"

"ENOUGH. I'm fine."

"Reid..." Mistral said quietly as she took his hand. "You need to stop doing this to yourself. It's okay to feel angry about the things that have happened. Stopped trying to push everything behind you, it's unhealthy..."

"I... don't do that..."

"You do. Everyone worries about you, so you try not to burden them by pushing the problem away. You're caring to a fault, and a big fault at that. That's why you didn't tell Adela after you left, isn't it? You thought it would be better to leave her wondering than to tell her 'Hey, I'm doing really dangerous stuff'!" Mistral was right... "Even now, when your remaining life is so short, you're still doing it! Rosaline died, Reid, yet you're trying to pretend as if you aren't sad about it! You were nearly raped this morning, and you're trying to pretend as if you aren't shaken by it! I thought you said you were going to change!"

"I... I AM."

"When!? You don't have a lot of time left! If you can't do it for yourself, at least do it for Adela! She may not seem like it, but she probably cares the most for you!" Mistral was downright furious now. Had she been bottling her anger because he had been? Reid's eyes sunk to stare at the abyss of clouds below him.

Ophelia stepped between the two, and placed one of her hands upon Reid's shoulder. "If I may intrude... From what I've seen, Reid Davies, you have family, friends, and a fael that care for you. You should rely on them more for emotional support. I believe, from what I've seen of you, that you can change."

"...Yeah... maybe you're right."

---

"Five minutes is up." Stahn said solemnly as he put his hand down. "You might as well discard her body or something so we can have room for the next group."

"...She's breathing..." Auricia announced after going to pick her up. There was suddenly a flash of light, and when it cleared, Sanako was standing, with her arm attached, ears pointed, and a bizarre set of wings portruding from her back. The right one was white and feathered, while the other was black and demonic; both were quite large. She didn't say a thing as she barely managed to walk over to Armon, before collapsing into his arms.

"I'll... change for sure this time. I promise..."

"Well, it seems she came to terms with her darkness..." Stahn muttered to himself.

OOC:
Ophelia
 
Dieter hopped up and down, a half emptied soda bottle in his left hand. He was grinning, talking to himself as he stretched his body at all the wrong angles. Gil stood with her hands clasped behind her back, the two of them waiting silently. She let her eyes trail over to Violette, who clutched her shoulders, shaking. Hmm, so it was that bad, huh? Gil blinked back to look at Dieter whose grin had spread even wider, crueler, eviler. She squatted down, preparing herself.

"Ready?" Dieter's eyes dilated for a second at the sound of Stahn's voice. He squat down as well, his arms hanging loosely at his side as he swayed back and forth. He mouthed something and Gil frowned, "Go!"

She immediately moved to the left, pressing the button on her boots and beating the giant metallic wings once to send her out of the huge crash that would've hit her directly. In the precise spot where she'd once been standing, a huge crater with Dieter standing in the middle had formed. From the impact of his attack, Dieter's entire arm had mangled into a disfigured broken mass of flesh, but it immediately whipped about to become a regular arm again. He laughed, and Gil furrowed her brow. Creating a burst of wionus at her feet, she hurtled down towards Dieter, putting her hand right through his abdomen. The skill kept laughing, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He reached around and grabbed Gil's head, wrenching her aside with the vice-like grip of his hand and throwing her head first against the ground.

"THAT'S IT!?" Dieter cackled, before taking a deep breath, his maniacal smile turning into a calm smile when his personality sudden took another swerve, "Ahh," He complained, "This isn't fun at all. Knowing that this is just some stupid training thing makes it boring." He sighed, scratching the side of his head and dodging a kick that would've scraped what was left of his face off, thanks to Gil's wings. He licked his blood that was dripping down his cheek before wiping the saliva off with the sleeve of his shirt. Dieter spat another mouthful of blood from his mouth as the punctured flesh and stomach quickly turned whole again, bending his back at a 90 degree angle to dodge a kick that would've scraped his face off. That was one useful thing about her wings being on her feet instead of her back, he realized.

"No good." Dieter shrugged, bending his spine back into a normal angle and pointing his finger at Gil's forehead, "I don't really want to take another shower, so I'm going to make you move away before I kil- keep attacking you." He swiftly moved his fingers back and forth, making a pentagram before flicking it with his middle finger- all in the span of a second. Gil was thrown back with merely the force that was created by Dieter's finger, crashing into a wall and falling limply to the ground. The second she hit the cobblestone, she burst into flames that spread from her forehead. Neither Levi nor Gil had ever felt the sensation of being burnt to death. Neither Levi nor Gil had ever felt the sensation of having all four limbs punctured by someone's fingers. Dieter took a swig of his grape soda while his free hand continued to put holes through Gil's body, his elongated fingers snaking around like spider legs. Gil shrieked, the first sound she'd made since she'd started this death-like sparring session.

Levi opened his eyes, feeling the cool sensation of being locked up inside his mind again. He always felt this way when Jazrelli was romping about in his body, though lately it had been Gil, instead of Jazrelli. He wondered where Jazrelli had gone. It was a little lonely, without his crude remarks, and it wasn't like Devitell ever said anything.

A little girl stood in front of him, about his height due to the fact that he sat on an empty bench inside his prison. She wore a torn green sundress, her blonde hair clipped away from sad blue eyes that watched Levi very carefully.

"Yo." Levi managed to say before she contorted her face. She burst into tears. He blinked in surprise, but made no move to comfort her- a stranger. Who the heck was she? He racked his brain, trying to think of having ever met any girls about her age other than his own little sister, whom this girl most certainly wasn't. She wasn't nearly as elegant, as perfect, and she was dressed like a commoner. He recognized the face, but he didn't know her name. Disregarding the fact, he continued to speak to her as normally as he could, "What's up?"

She buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. It was obvious by the way her mouth was moving that she was making sound, but only silence came to Levi's ears. After a moment of this silence, Levi sighed, moving to stand up and find some crude way to comfort her or something, but he was surprised to find himself rooted to the spot. "What the-!?" Levi pulled at the bony hands holding him to the bench, and he let out a startled cry at the rotting flesh and face of an old man who stared up at the thief with black empty sockets. He recognized the old man by the 'LIVE' etched across his forehead in blood. The old geezer? He turned to look at the girl, finally remembering who she was. She was still crying, but thankfully her face was still whole. He took a step back at the sight of 'LIVE', suddenly etching itself across her forehead too, and he looked around. Liza. Solomon. Rosaline. Anyone.

Anyone to get him out of here. Anyone to get him away from these people that were supposed to be dead. Gone.

"G-Get your hands off of me!" Levi stammered, not realizing that he was suddenly speaking like the gentleman he'd been trained to be for nearly 15 years. Trying to wrench his ankles out of the old man's grasp, he paused in his struggle when the half-skeleton wheezed, as though it was trying to speak. Levi double his efforts to free himself. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear the words of someone who was supposed to be dead. He couldn't attack the man's hands, he couldn't use wionus at all and chains made from gold coins pinned his wrists to the wall.He had to get out. Away from these people whom he never wanted to see again, whom he was never supposed to see again.

Suddenly they were gone. He stood in a rich and lavish building, and was dressed in dark red suit. The open ceiling showed a light purple sky with birds calmly floating across it. It was peaceful, and Levi relaxed. No more dead people. He stiffened at the sound of a familiar voice though. He would've preferred the dead people over that voice.

"This is my daughter, Liza." The dark figures across the room said, their voices dripping with affection.

"And the boy over there?" The strangers pointed at Levi who tried to pull his hands up to cover his ears. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear the words he knew were coming. But gold coins chained his hands to the ground and his hands couldn't reach his ears. The couple who had been asked the question didn't even look at him, answering with a wave of the hand as though it were completely irrelevant.

"Oh, a servant's child."

"That's a lie!" Levi shouted on cue, shrinking away at the same time, embarrassed by the fact that he was even there. He was supposed to be up in his bedroom, where nobody could even see him. Not a single person seemed to hear his outburst, the black shapes laughing at a joke his father had just cracked about his wings on his ankles. His head felt like it was splitting in half, spinning with all the worst memories. The shortest figure looked towards him, the only constant thing in his memories that were playing in fast forward, her black silhouette watching him for a moment before turning to walk away with her mother and father, more slowly than every other person that spiraled around him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out unwanted recollections to no avail.

"Go back to the Underneath, wingless wretch, cursed by Tylonstus!" Mr. Pace snapped, shaking off Levi's hand.

"He's probably the God's punishment for the Jaquez Family. After being in the human trade business for so long." A couple whispered to each other during a ball, glancing at Levi.

"What a disappointment." Mr. Jaquez snapped, looking over Levi's calculations, "They're all wrong."

"Hey kid, move outta the way 'less y'wanna get stabbed." Kiljaro roughly shoved Levi aside, "Yew rich bastards ain't got no business down in these parts."

"That girl is such an angel compared to her brother." A woman praised her, and Liza smiled at Levi, self-satisfied.

"You want to leave? You want to leave after I've given you a place in the world, a home, food, and everything that keeps you alive right now?" The Boss inquired, amused by Levi's worthless desire, "Don't make me laugh."

"Pay with your life kid, that's the way y'get outta a gang in these parts! SPOILED BRAT!" Bruner stabbed a needle through Levi's eye, "I KNEW YOU'D BACK OUT ON US! I KNEW YOU WERE SPINELESS, USELESS, WORTHLESS!!"

I can hear you. Levi gripped his hair in his hands, pulling down and trying to hide his face. I can hear you.

"A parfait?" Levi looked up in surprise, revealing the tears of agony streaming down his face, his face breaking into a shaky smile at the voice he'd been sorely waiting for, the face that looked utterly confused as it scrutinized a glass of yogurt, granola, and fruit, "What's that?"

"It's what's in your hand…" Levi replied in relief, realizing that the tears that had wet his cheeks were gone, speaking more confidently and grinning, "Doofus."

"Can you hear me?" A voice interrupted.

Levi didn't take his eyes off of the 13 year old Solomon sitting across from himself, 12 years old. If he did, then he'd hear them talk about how worthless he was. They would compare him to Liza again, pity him for not being able to exceed the standards set by someone five years younger than him. By a girl, in a world dominated by men. If he looked away from the timid and shy Solomon from five years ago that was having his first taste of what would become his favorite food, then he would go back to those horrible memories.

"I see. The hatred you feel causes you to be unable to see me, or the Garden of Eden."

Levi opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't make a sound, because the hand of a skeleton had tightened its grip around his neck, cutting off all sound and air.

"You killed people? You told me you don't do that kind of stuff! That's why I came with you in the first place! You're screwed man! Why the heck did you do that, Ivel?!"

Levi hung his head, looking down at his own feet and the metal floor of his prison. He remembered what he'd said in response to the last memory that had hurtled itself into his aching head that had been on the brink of recovery, "That's not my name anymore Sol. Stop calling me that already."

The steady sobbing of a little girl reached his ears, and he brought up his eyes, a tired and defeated look on his face as he managed a smile for her. He was such a loser. He wasn't any different from all those rich people who played their stupid games day and night, who had only spoken to him because of his last name. Liza would've rushed to comfort this girl. That's why Liza was perfect. Sol would tried to think of a way to make her laugh. That's why Sol was so well known in Carn. Reaching over, Levi patted her on the head, the gold coins shattering into sparkling dust. "Hey. I'm sorry, for everything."

She looked up, blood sliding down her forehead, the word 'LIVE' becoming so disfigured that it was almost impossible to read it.

"And, I'm sorry for your old man." He pulled his hand away and laced his fingers together. "I'll make it up to you. What's your name? I gotta know the name of the person I owe five hundred, right?"

She smiled too, and the bony hands around Levi's feet turned into clouds, the iron bars of his prison fading away, "Hanna. Hanna Everard. Me and Grandpa are in the Cemetary of Tealia."

Levi nodded, and didn't take his eyes off her until she'd disappeared into clouds as well. He looked down when she was gone. What the heck? He was definitely standing in the sky. Or at least, some kind of sky. It was blue, which was all wrong. He looked up and saw another girl. He definitely didn't recognize her.

The sky Levi was floating in ended abruptly behind him, leaving an endless black pit. One step backwards, and he'd fall forever.

"You still insist on condemning your family?" The girl asked, with a soft smile.

Levi looked up with a frown and stubborn look, "They're the worst kinds of human beings."

"And yourself?"

Levi paused for a moment before he took a step back in late surprise, when he registered her implications of his past deeds. His foot definitely slipped off the edge, but he found himself standing upright at a safe distance from the edge in a second. Old bony hands disappeared into clouds again, having pulled Levi to safety. The girl's smile grew as she laughed lightly, "You seem to regret and hate everything, Ivel." She stood up, brushing herself off before saying kindly, "You can see me because you have come to accept what you did to the remaining members of the Everard Family, but you fail to see the rest of the garden. Do you know why?"

"I'm holding onto those memories, to remind myself that the world hates me and I hate it back." Levi said, clenching his fists, "I don't need you to call me Ivel to remind me. So don't."

"So the people you care about, your sister and your other friends… they aren't apart of the world?"

Levi blinked, and a chunk of black disappeared, revealing my blue sky and white clouds.

"They're different."

"And the phoenix and wyvern people. They don't deserve your sympathy because they're valued less than everyone else, even though that's just like you?"

Another area of black disappeared, "My father never locked me up like he locked them up."

"Do you want to see Liza?"

Levi's expression registered shock, "Y-…." He stuttered, trying to gather his bearings, "Yes."

He looked around for Liza, but saw no one. He saw the great expanse of sky, and was suddenly hit with a realization. He looked down.

"Isn't this the sky you ran away for?" The girl smiled, "Though it's a different color, don't you think it's just as beautiful?"

The corner of Levi's lips twitched upwards. It was true enough "Whatever you say, lady."

"My name is Ophelia." She replied calmly, and Levi's eyes widened in surprise. He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly he was alone again, in his prison. The only other person was Devitell, who stood on the other side of the iron bars, smiling at her reila. Levi was still for a moment before taking a breath to speak. Instead of words however, he scoffed and sat back down on the bench, crossing his arms. Shaking his head, almost in disbelief, he wasn't surprised when he felt a strange tingle all over the left side of his body. Forgive his parents? No way. They were the ones who brought him into the world. That was bad enough, but they were the ones who made his life suck even more after they figured out that there was no point in keeping him around. Forgive? He smiled to himself as he shook, the sheer difference in the normal conditions of his right compared to the sharp sting on his left causing him to be able to feel the very line that was being drawn down his body, the spiteful side of him and the forgiven side. He closed his eyes again, and Gil took a sharp breath.

"MAN YOU'RE LIKE A COCKROACH!" Dieter shrieked with laughter, having discarded his bottle of soda to concentrate on Gil's body, which had suddenly become whole again. "Thought only skill's could do that! Y'hiding something from us?! Wait don't tell me, I'll shoot you through your heart and then we'll know! Just gotta move your heart if you're a skill!!"

He ripped his hand off, excitement gleaming in his eyes screen by red lenses, the limb turning into a mahstion gun as soon as he had a good grip on it. But he paused in surprise when he found a bomb floating down into his line of vision. Alarm crossed his face as he quickly slid back to avoid having his head blown clean off, the explosion merely making fireworks in the end and sending black gunpowder onto Dieter's T-shirt. He curled his lip in annoyance, straightening while he reattached his hand. Gil's unconscious figure lay sprawled across the burnt ground underneath her, and Dieter suddenly appeared beside her, sticking his foot under her and kicking the limp human into the air, "If you're unconscious, then just admit you lost already. I'm not gonna fight someone who's freakin' sleeping." He caught her by the back of her shirt, her feet barely scraping the ground. Dieter took one good look at Gil, preparing to give a finishing blow even though he wasn't supposed to. He immediately dropped her upon getting a clear glance, "Oh, yuck!"

Violette stood up in alarm. Anything that made that terrible, terrible skill say 'yuck' was not good.

"The whole freaking left side of your body- Uuughhh!!" Dieter slapped a hand to his mouth. From the neck down, a very defined line was drawn down Gil's body, the left side's skin burnt and raw, while the far left side of her face looked as though someone had held a torch to it. Honestly, Violette didn't think this was as bad as what it could've been. She was breathing, anyone could see, and Violette was glad of that. Even if it was Gil. She looked over her shoulder with a curious look at Rita as Dieter gagged, trying to keep his breakfast down. He stumbled back and shook his head, his hand still clamped firmly over his mouth when he ran back into the house, away from Gil.

Rasch looked up from his book and was surprised when Dieter didn't even start blabbing about how it went; merely ran right past him and up the stairs. A moment later, Rasch flinched ever so slightly at the sound of a door slamming. He was utterly confused at Dieter's peculiar behavior and began to worry for himself. Hmm… He closed his book and ran a hand through his hair, even the few strands of white disappearing as he grew even younger, to about his mid 20's.

"It's probably my turn." He said, in a casual voice very different from the usual stiff and proper way the old man version of himself spoke, "Better not take any chances." He peeled his blazer off and tossed it lazily over his book, pocketing his hands and waiting for Gil to come back inside for the final signal that he could go outside.

----------------------------------

Armon's hands were sheet white from gripping the bench he'd been sitting on so tightly. He hated this. He was right there, and he wasn't even allowed to do anything. He bit his tongue sharply, tasting blood when Sanako's arm was severed. The kick had almost made him as dizzy as she probably had been, and he practically shrunk away when Stahn announced the five minutes were up. He stood up, halfway through reaching for his mahstion gun to shoot Stahn until his was just a pile of flesh, but Violette grabbed his wrist to stop him. She said something, but Armon couldn't hear it. He wrenched his hand out of her grasp, not wanting to ever see another girl in the entire period of time that he was himself. She said something again, but before Armon could reach his gun, Sanako fell into his arms. The tortured look on his face faded ever so slightly, as he felt himself smile ever so slightly in shaky relief.

"S-Sanako…" His legs shook a little. He didn't notice her wings. Who cared? All that mattered was that she was alive. He barely noticed when someone ushered him into the house to make room for Gil and Dieter. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Armon held Sanako with shaking arms. He didn't want to crush her with his desire to hold her tightly enough so that he could make sure that she was really alive, but he didn't want to hold her so loosely that she might be in danger again, "That was… a real ordeal, huh?" He laughed nervously. What was wrong with him? The feeling from earlier was different from anytime before. Even if she had the plague, she was alive. Even if she was kidnapped, she was alive. Even if she left without a word, she was alive. Even if she loved someone else, she was alive. Armon swallowed a mouthful of his own blood, making a face and looking up at Rasch, who was sitting calmly on one of the couches near the door to the courtyard.

"Excuse me…" Armon said quietly, trying not to gag when a tendril of Lionus roughly shoved itself into his mouth.

"I can smell it." Rasch explained without looking up from his literature when Armon looked at him quizzically, "It's on your hands too."

Armon looked down at his palms, but it was already healed. "Th-Thanks…" Armon stuttered before looking back at Sanako, "I don't mind if you want to change but… be a little more careful… nex-next t-time." He had trouble getting 'next time' out. There shouldn't be a next time. But there had to be a next time, if anything was going to change. He couldn't manage a smile for her anymore, it just wasn't possible. Armon gave an apologetic look, looking down. Whatever hell he'd get from Christian if that guy ever found out would be well deserved.

"I really… hate this training sometimes."
 
Sanako stared up at Armon, feeling guilty for worrying him AGAIN. She could tell just by the way he looked at her, and the words he was speaking, that this event had left him a little more than shaken up. The look in his eyes was familiar. Sanako - Reid - had seen it in the mirror once, when his mother died. Even though she was alive, she had given him enough of a scare to look like that? She leaned in and kissed him upon the lips for a time that exceeded their normal elapsed time for such a gesture, and she spoke once their lips parted. "Don't worry, I won't leave you again. Not like I just did, and not like what happened five years ago, that's a promise from Sanako AND Reid AND Mistral, Xaviae." She was trying her best to ignore the convulsions her wings were experiencing, sending waves of pain through her body. It was to be expected though. You just don't throw a pair of wings on someone's back and expect their body to instantly adjust. Even though she was ignoring it, her eyes previewed the pain for most people who looked unto them. "But... I realized I can't just accept dying anymore. Because there's you, because of all my friends, I just can't up and disappear. When everything is over, could you... help me find a cure?" Ophelia was right. Reid did have friends that cared about him. Family, too, even though Ailia was the only family he had. That was why he had to live on.

"Aww, they're so cute together, I wish you would do more romantic things like that~" Auricia chimed to Rita, who was on her shoulders once more. Auricia's face was marked where tears had fallen. She had most likely been sobbing about having nearly killed Sanako. The skill looked over her shoulder at the little girl on her back, who blinked with unamused eyes.

"Pedophilic lesbian." The little girl barked bluntly.

"That's not what I meant..." Auricia sweatdropped.

"Gil!" The little girl barked again, although this time it sounded more like an order. Did she want Auricia to take her over? The skill let out a sigh as she did as she was told. But when they found Gil, Rita just looked the girl over, before staring intently. Did she not want to initiate conversation? Rita was pretty quiet for no real reason...

All in the meantime, Christian had chosen the darkest corner of the large living room to sulk. He was being immature, he knew, but the fact that he was losing to some guy Sanako had ditched for five years... And then there was Violette. What he felt as Christian for Violette was barely present with Ellianne in regards to Lazarus. Did she need to break away from Reid somehow? Was that the best solution.
 
Rasch tapped his foot impatiently. What was taking so long? He loosened the tie around his neck. What was wrong with his older self? This stupid red tie was practically suffocating him. And ugh, his shirt was tucked in. Disgusting! Rasch looked considerably less professional by the time he was finished altering his outfit for his younger self's preferences, messing up his long black hair. He was the spitting image of the man Auricia had met in Beta, as he paced back and forth. He didn't want to read about some boring thesis. He wanted to go take a nap, or take a nap, or maybe even take a nap. Yawning, he sat back down on the couch, folding his arms in annoyance. He'd noticed Gil's burnt body, but his new personality told him that he didn't have to do anything unless they asked. Besides, it was a disfiguration thanks to her own issues; why should he have to heal it for her? Rasch sighed again, his younger self obviously considerably more impatient than usual, barking in an aggravated voice, "Forget it!"

He stretched out on the couch, putting his blazer and book at the end and folding his arms under his head, "I'm going to sleep, wake me up when it's my turn." He yawned again, turning around to face the back cushions.


----------------------


Armon smiled, a very little smile.

"A cure?" He seemed highly amused by a memory in his mind. He kissed Sanako's forehead, "The letter I sent to the Commander already requested for the efforts to find a cure to be doubled in the research labs under my jurisdiction. Of course, Adela probably doesn't want me to tell you this." Armon took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She'd said all the right things. "But of course, we should look for one ourselves… we're probably more useful than those lazy bastards down at the lab anyway."

Armon suddenly frowned again though.

"I'll tell Xaviae, but…" He sighed, "I don't know where he's up and gone off to. Jeckt won't tell me either, all he's been doing since meeting Maelstrom is sulking in the tree and he only answers 'yes' and 'no' questions. If even. See look. Jeckt, will you help me out when I spar with Christian later on?"

'No.' Jeckt's voice was muffled through thick layers of wood, but obviously hoarse, his response filled with irritation as though daring Armon to keep trying to provoke him to say more.

Armon shrugged at Sanako, shaking his head at the hopeless case.

----------------------

Gil chewed on her words, her left arm flinching involuntarily every now and then. Between her half closed eyes, she could see Rita and Auricia. She'd woken up the second she'd smelt that putrid scent coming from the flytrap that Violette had accidentally mixed up with a healing flower, much to her annoyance. Rita was about Hanna's age, Gil thought to herself. Hanna was about Liza's age. Just a little younger, maybe.

"Yo... What's up?" She formed the words with considerably difficulty, sleep trying to pull her eyelids shut again. Damn it all if Rita started crying like Hanna had. It'd be like another bad nightmare all over again. Gil mentally slapped herself for automatically starting the conversation the same as she had with Hanna. Way to be.

----------------------

Blood drained down the sink, diluted by the water that was steadily running. His head bent over the ceramic bowl, Dieter blinked, his good eye watching the swirling red tendrils with light interest. His left eye blinked too. But it's eyelids were turned 90 degree's from normal, so that his eyelids formed a vertical line between each other when it closed. Though it was really only bleeding, it looked as though Dieter was crying blood. He sighed, swirling his finger in the icy water. His stomach felt like crap. It was good that he'd reached the bathroom before his stomach had done a complete backflip. It wasn't a problem if he could see his own mangled face, but seeing it on someone else was just gross. He'd already memorized every last groove and flaking flesh on his face, but cutting someone and peeling their skin away was a completely different story.

There was a reason why Dieter did not accept skinning people as a method of torture before killing them.

He turned off the sink and blinked his eyes as quickly as he could. The flow of blood slowed. Securing his eyepatch, Dieter glanced up at the mirror and confirmed that he had no problems with looking at his own face. He pulled the black bobby pins holding his long bangs away from his face out, discarding them on the edge of the sink and wiping his mouth. Bleck. He sifted through the empty soda bottles in his room and downed two sodas in five minutes, before lighting a cigarette.

"Bored." Dieter announced to no one, second-hand smoke blowing out of his mouth at the same time.
 
OOC: This post is done by both Loki and I. XD

Stahn yawned with discontent as Laeina finally took the stage with Rasch. She looked slightly disturbed at the idea of engaging in combat with someone inhuman. It was a feeling she had expressed to Stahn prior to the day, but he had told her it was necessary. She was aware that she possessed some kind of weird power she couldn't control. Nobody had ever told her, but she knew. She killed her own parents. All of her memories from before that moment were gone, but that much she remembered. Just what exactly was it that gave her this strange power? She was intent on finding out, and because of that she would fight this man.

She bowed politely. "I'm... sorry if I hurt you. I don't have a choice, Mr. Rasch." Stahn eventually signalled for the training to commence, and Laeina made quick work of levitating a nearby tree from outside of the coutyard, and throwing it towards Rasch like a dart. Stahn watched on with curiosity. Whatever it was that had her, if it was a fael or not, under it's control, he needed to draw it out. He was hoping against it, but if all else failed he would have to kill her.

"No problem at all." Rasch replied, expressionless as he rolled up his sleeves calmly, "I'm hard to kill, that's the precise reason I'm here, and injuries are no problem to me."

Rasch's canine's grew and he ripped a cut down his right arm, sharpening the dripping blood into a whip-like knife that seared through the tree. The trunk and leaves sped past him, a breeze whipping his black hair into his eyes. He leaned to his right, as though falling. Rasch lifted his finger and pointed at Laeina, right between her eyes. The whip of blood split into five different rays, each one tearing through the air at Laeina. Rasch's eyes blinked very slowly as he watched the whips pierce her heart, lungs, stomach, and windpipe. Stahn's idea that these people had any sort of chance against the monsters that they were was absurb.

Laeina fell to her knees slowly after the whips pierced her organs. She gasped for breath, but received no air. Just as she thought she was dead, something suddenly healed her wounds. Her heart beated extremely quickly, unnaturally so, as she suddenly lost control of her body. Laeina's body growled at Rash as an unfamiliar energy radiated from her body. The air was thick with her killing intent as pupiless eyes stared Rasch down. In a flash, the earth around her began to erupt, hot magma flowing up from the surface. Stahn stood on the tree, taken aback as he glared at Violette to get a safe distance away from the battlefield. She had enough power to pull magma up from Alta's earth? What the hell was this? He had no choice, he had to do something.

The girl growled again as she leapt at Rash, only to be met with a flying kick from a small, green haired girl with horns and a whip-like tail. Laeina's body flew and met the tree Stahn had previously been standing on, before the tree collapsed onto herm knocking the body unconscious. "...Well, I didn't want to kill her, and I guess I succeeded." Melody murmured as she restrained her inhuman features, before looking over at Violette. "You can repair the holes and damage, right? With your eation?"

---

"We're up next." Christian said coldly as he approached Armon, who was still with Sanako. He eyed her wings with worry, but said nothing, sensing her despair. "I don't intend on going easy on you, especially since you're a mahstion gun wielder as well. This'll settle things." He was intent on settling the matter that had begun just before this gruesome event. Sanako eyed the two boys with worried eyes. She had her suspicions earlier, but this was reinforcing them. Were they fighting over her..? Did Christian - Ellianne - have feelings for her?

"Christian..." She began, deciding it would be best to end it before someone got severely injured as a result of her. "I... don't love you. Not like that. You're like a brother to me, so just... back off! I chose Armon! Besides, you have Violette, don't you? You can't obsess over me when you have her!" Christian was shocked, so shocked that he scoffed and turned his back uncharacteristically. It was true, he did like Violette, but Sanako had been his number one.

"Now it seems I really have something to settle with you, Armon."

"N-no! Please don't! Guys! Nobody needs to get hurt! Don't make me cry again!" It was almost like a threat, but she was serious. She didn't want to cry again.

...Exactly the situation Sanako had wanted to avoid.
 
"Y-Yes…" Violette stammered, watching as Rasch walked past her, running a hand through his hair as he sighed.

"Definitely not worth being in this form." He shook his head, his hair growing pure white and wrinkles appearing on his young face that had once bore handsome features. Just before the last of his black hair disappeared, he commented on himself with his signature expressionless face, "I'm covered in this stuff…" He held his arm away from himself, the gash having healed up long ago. His normally spotless white hair had fallen out of it's neatly combed look, making him look tired and weary. Covering his mouth and nose with his hand to avoid the strong scent of his own blood splattered over the right side of his body, he wasn't surprised to see Dieter hurtling down the hall and practically dangling over the edge of the open loft of the second floor when he walked back inside.

"Rasch!!" Dieter cried, looking much better than before, "What the heck did that ugly wench do to you?!"

Rasch shook his head silently, pointing to himself before picking up his blazer and book in his clean hand, still holding his arm away from himself.

"Why'd you do that to yourself?" Dieter asked following Rasch as the now old man scaled the stairs to go wash off the blood, "You don't like blood, right?"

Rasch didn't answer, merely walked past Dieter silently. He lightly knocked Dieter's head with his book when he passed, shaking his head again before disappearing into the room he had all to himself. Dieter blinked and looked back down at Auricia, "What was that?"

Violette wobbled on her legs, sitting down on the bench again after she'd set the ground and trees back in place. She caught her bearings and looked up at Melody, "Sorry, I'm just going to take a quick break. I haven't used Eation on real earth that much in awhile." Standing up again, she swerved into the building and looked around for Gil, and after seeing her still immobile on the couch, Violette looked for Sanako. She smiled at the girl giving her a thumbs up as though to tell her 'good job' on her training session before retreating up the stairs. Dieter eyed her as she passed, though she said nothing to him, only smiling silently to acknowledge his presence. He blinked in confusion but shrugged it off. Maybe it was just in her nature to be polite to anyone. Moments later the sound of a door closing was heard, and Armon let go of Sanako. Turning from her, he stalked out the door and pulled the safety catch off of his mahstion gun, discarding it on a coffee table as he walked outside. He glanced over his shoulder at Sanako, before glaring at Christian.

"Nobody's going to get hurt Sanako, don't worry about it. If anything happens, then we can just have Violette heal us later, it's not a big deal." It was, actually, Armon was telling himself. They both used mahstion guns, and those did a whole lot more damage than swords or any other less advanced weapons. If either of them got hit, there'd be some serious consequences, what with this triple the pain nonsense.


"Aww," Dieter whined, jumping off the second floor and heating the air underneath him to cushion his landing as he stepped onto the floor, "I want to watch this. This whole not-allowed-to-watch business stinks." His eyes avoiding looking at Auricia and Rita, or more accurately, Gil, "I'm bored now, let's play a game or something!"
 
"Throw things at the doofus." Rita said in an emotionless tone that seemed almost like she was making fun of Dieter as she threw a vase at the skill in response to his desire to be entertained. Auricia blinked as Rita then proceeded to throw a small clock, and she became intrigued. So intrigued that she suddenly had the urge to throw something at Die-chi as well. "Waaah!" Rita exclaimed in surprise as the violet-haired skill whipped the small girl at Dieter unconsciously, sweatdropping as the girl faceplanted against the wall and fell onto her back on th eground below. "Mean... ie..." She murmured, her head spinning. She sat up, preparing herself to strike back, but wasn't given the opportunity, as she watched Stahn drag Auricia away, muttering something about using her to heal anyone who got hurt in the next match.

---

"I won't go easy on you." Christian shouted over to Armon, mahstion guns in his hands. He had no intention in losing this. Sanako wasn't at stake anymore, but now this was a battle to at least keep some pride. On the bench at the side, Sanako was shaking as she watched the two with worried eyes. This was her fault, wasn't it? If she had noticed Christian's feelings earlier, this probably wouldn't have happened. Her attention was redirected as an arm wrapped around her shoulder and brought her in close to Auricia's body. She looked up at Auricia, and the girl smiled.

"Friends fight sometimes, right?"

Stahn eventually signalled the beginning of the battle, but his eyes kept wandering to the base of a tree where he had tied Laeina for now. She wasn't visible, but if something were to happen... His train of thought was snapped back to the battle as Christian's guns fired at Armon, shooting frosty bullets that would hurt and freeze on contact.

Armon pulled up a sheet of Dation from the ground, engulfing the bullets. He didn't need to dodge projectiles. As soon as the sheet had swallowed all the bullets a hole opened up in the middle for a few seconds. Armon pulled the trigger to his gun four times, while a semi circle of dation spun around to settle behind Christian, releasing the icy bullets they'd just eaten up towards him while the dation bullets hurtled at him from the front. Black goo puddled around Armon's feet, slowly evaporating into thick black clouds that circled around him. Armon pulled the trigger again.

Wation flew up from the ground and froze instantly, creating a shield that absorbed the bullets from both sides before shattering from the impact. When this had been occuring, wation had also froze around Armon's feet in an attempt to hold him in place as Christian run up closer and rapidly fired ten bullets, five from each gun. He was aware that this was bad. Armon could teleport, he couldn't. There had to be a way to secure his movements. Sanako watched on, even though she didn't want to, wincing at every bullet fired, as Auricia held her head. The skill couldn't think that this was incredibly sad for a friend to watch such a thing.

Ouch was an understatement. Looking at the smallest cut that he'd gotten on his cheek from one bullet that had scraped past his fog of dation, Armon pressed the heel of his palm against it, gritting his teeth as ice spread from the cut. It stung. He wrenched at his feet, a futile effort. He was getting irritated now. If he forcibly broke the ice on his feet, it would hurt enough that he wouldn't able to walk. That would be a problem.

"Tch." Armon snapped, putting his mahstion gun back in the holster. He held out one arm, tightening his fist as the clouds around him seeped into his grip. As soon as he opened his hand, the Dation formed a pure black bow. Pulling back on the string, Armon fired five dation arrows. He could control the paths of these arrows like heat seeking projectiles, it was easier to change their trajectory than it was with Mahstion bullets. Armon pulled out his gun again, looking down at his feet. He pointed the gun down, pulling the trigger on each foot. The ice shattered, enough for his feet to be free from the ground. The force of the blast sent Armon to his knees though.

Whatever. He didn't need his feet. He disappeared into a Dation warp, and the left over puddle shot across the ground, sending tendrils up around Christian's legs while the thickest vine of dation wrapped itself tightly around his neck. Bullets showered from above, and Armon had taken the battle into the air. He was sitting on a black disk because his wings were hardly used frequently enough to support his weight. Adela's weight maybe, but not his.

Christian had a short lived taste of victory after the bullet hit Armon's face. It all happened so fast that he wasn't prepared. First came the arrows, that Christian narrowly dodged as Armon freed himself and disappeared. There was a sharp moment of silence, before something pierced his shoulder with excrutiating pain, and numerous more hit his head and upper body, sending Christian'd bloodied and either unconscious or dead body to the ground. Sanako left. Auricia ran over to Christian's body, casting lionus over the unconscious form as Stahn spoke.

"All of the training is done for today. You should get cleaned up."

Sanako crashed face first on her bed, hiding her face. Why could nothing go right? But she promised she'd press on, and she would. She wasn't going to cry anymore, but she could still be upset.
 
While Dieter had gracefully leaned back to dodge the flying Rita, he fell back onto the floor after she faceplanted, laughing his head off. That was entertaining! Dieter sat up moments after Auricia had left, catching his breath as he stood up, almost like he was in a drunken stupor. The Lieutenant had just smacked right into the wall, and Dieter wouldn't miss a chance to laugh at him. Or, in this case, her.

"Aww," Dieter sighed, still smiling while he laced his fingers and put them behind his head. Leaning back on the balls of his feet, he paused for a second before shrugging, "That was starting to get fun, too. Come on, let's wait for Auri-chi to get back." He plopped down on a couch, crossing his legs and resting them on a coffeetable, "Maybe we shouldn't throw Stahn's stuff though...?"

It looked like Armon was walking, even though his feet felt as though they'd been shattered. He swallowed the lump that was blocking the air from getting into his lungs, saying nothing to anyone while he slowly made his way inside. Clouds of Dation supported him, and he immediately threw himself beside Dieter on the couch, the clouds evaporating, "Can you melt this ice?" Armon asked, "You use Fionus, don't you?"

Dieter blinked slowly having stood up immediately when he realized that Armon intended to sit down on the couch. Like he was going to sit on the same piece of furniture as a human. A sappy one at that. Dieter folded his arms.

"Just because I have red hair doesn't mean I use Fionus." Dieter said, the ice on Armon's feet bursting into flames, "And really," Armon gripped the edge of the couch as he felt the searing heat on his legs. He flinched but waited patiently for the ice to disappear, surprised that the flames didn't disappear even after the ice was reduced to a puddle of water on the floor, "Don't you think a burn is gonna hurt as much as frostbite?"

Dation engulfed the flames on Armon's feet as he snapped, "I was expecting you to melt it from an outside source, not set me on fire."

Dieter laughed, genuinely amused at Armon. The skill managed to speak through his bouts of laughter, "Man, did that guy whack you across the head or something? Hahahaha! Who are you talking to? Because I don't think it's me, if you expected me to do you a favor and not get a show out of it. And you still owe me, because it's not like you can melt mahstion ice with a blow-dryer or anythin'. Keh, unless you want to sit there for a day or two." Dieter smirked, pocketing his hands when he looked over his shoulder at the door, "What's takin' Auri-chi so long? Just make sure the dude's alive and get outta there! Honestly!"

Armon tuned out, looking down at the blackened ends of his pants. They were charred but still in one piece, thank goodness. He wasn't really sure if he was welcome back in the bedroom he shared with Sanako right now. Which meant… ugh. He was stuck with this stupid skill.

----------------------

Rasch sighed, clutching the shower curtains with his free hand as hot water doused his arm and shoulder. He wasn't interested in taking a real shower, and thus had merely opted to peel off his bloody white shirt and stick his arm in the shower. That would be too much of a hassle. He blinked, remembering the last time he'd actually seen his blood go down a drain. He'd avoided looking at it for more than a decade now. The very reason why replayed in his head as he watched silently, even after the red liquid had been washed away.

"Mihael!"

Rasch looked down at the boy in the mirror, no older than 7 with wide emotionless red eyes. Actually, he wasn't even sure if it was him. It could've been Erik, for all he knew.

"Wh-What are you-?! MIHAEL!!" Rasch picked up a towel, ignoring the sounds of the young boy in the mirror screaming at the top of his lungs, the sound of ripping flesh, the sound of Erik shrieking for Mihael to stop. He calmly soaked up the water droplets on his arm and shoulders, clicking his tongue in annoyance when he noticed that the white towel had turned pink. He'd missed a spot, damn it.

He dared to glance at his reflection again to see if he could discern the location of the blood, but instead of a younger self, or even his current form, he was looking at Mihael. The two stared each other down, blinking at the same time. Rasch tore his gaze away from his little brother and turned on the shower, waiting for the water to heat up again. "You're a monster." Rasch was halfway through reaching his arm out to get rid of the streak of blood on his under arms, but he froze. "I'm going to get rid of you. If one of you is gone, then the other one won't be so scary, right?!" Mihael laughed nervously.

"Ouch." Rasch muttered to himself as his shoulders and legs began to ache in all the places that Mihael had hacked them off with a kitchen knife. His twitching hand lowered the toilet seat cover with difficulty, and he collapsed onto it, his legs giving out underneath him. How irritating. Rasch turned the shower off, sitting to wait for the memory to pass, like it usually did.

"Mihael, stop stop!!" Erik cried, tears streaming down his face, "Don't kill him!"

"Mihael," Rasch's voice cracked, tears streaming down his face, "Stop-"

"DON'T SAY THE SAME THINGS!!!" Mihael shrieked, an edge of hysteria in his high-pitched voice, raising the butcher knife again, "YOU'RE NOT TWINS!! YOU'RE NOT MY BIG BROTHERS!! YOU'RE CLONES! IF I GET RID OF ONE OF YOU, THEN YOU CAN'T BE CLONES ANYMORE!" Erik screamed in both anguish and fear, running out of the room at the sight of his most important person's mangled, destroyed body. It looked like him, the wide red eyes and the long black hair. Was it him or was it his brother? He couldn't even tell anymore. Was he Erik, or was he Rasch? Was he the one who was 'dead' or was it his beloved brother? Which one was dead, and which one was alive? Erik cried even harder.

Mihael stared down at the blood soaked body in surprise before having just enough time to look down at the knife sticking out of his heart.

"Why thank you," Said the voice of a man, who extracted the knife from Mihael's heart, "For providing us with our next specimen."
 
Nagging. What was nagging at her? Sanako couldn't figure out what was wrong. One minute, she was completely worried and distracted about Armon nearly killing Christian, and the next she couldn't help but think something was missing. Something wasn't in her line of sight that needed to be. Something that would probably get into trouble if she wasn't there to supervise. Her daughter? No, she was only fifteen, wasn't she? Why would she have a daughter? But... wasn't she twenty five? Confusion overtook Sanako, and she finally looked up, removing her face from the pillow for the first time in at least ten minutes. She stood up, and came to the conclusion that something felt wrong. She was taller, notably so, and she probably wasn't much shorter than Armon now. And, her chest, it actually bulged from her shirt! Her clothing had changed as well, into a short, sleeveless, light pink dress with a v-shaped neck that showed not skin, but a white shirt underneath. A black belt rested around the waist of the dress, and a black hood, fastened to the white straps, fell down her back. The hood sat beneath her hair, which was now down and just slightly past her shoulders. On her left wrist, she had three wristbands. one white, one blue, and one black, and on her right ring finger a wedding ring sat. A wedding ring? Oh, that was right, her name was proudly Sanako Ciaccio now. On her feet rested a pair of bubblegun pink running shoes, with a black band wrapped around each ankle.

Sanako Ciaccio pondered for a moment. Something didn't fit. Rita was her daughter, right? But for that to be true, she would have had to have been pregnant at age fifteen. Oh good lord. Was that the truth? It was one of the things she couldn't recall. She certainly didn't look like she had ever given birth, in fact she was quite attractive now, having lost her childish figure and taken on a more womanly one. So maybe it was an adoption? Deep down she knew this was all a farce though. Melody was screwing with them. Oh well, she'd better find her good for nothing husband!

---

Melody giggled wildly. Surely everyone needed to lighten up after such a hard training day, and this would be the perfect way to accomplish it. She couldn't wait to see every wide-eyed at the bizarre Ciaccio family!

---

Rita had felt dazed for a little while now. Something wasn't right. Where was her mommy? Her daddy? Was she lost? She was kind of afraid. She'd never been separated from them before... "Mommy!" She exclaimed as Sanako came down the stairs, running into her mother's embrace. "Where were you mommy? I was scared and I couldn't find you or daddy and there's all these scary people!"

Sanako kissed her redheaded daughter on the forehead gently. "It's okay, sweetie, Mommy is here. We'll never go away again." She meant it too. Part of her was sick with herself.

"Really?" The little girl asked innocently.

"Really. Now go help me find your Daddy, okay?" She very much loved her husband. It hurt her to be parted from him as well. Though it was hard, she relied on him so much for money, since she had to spend of time looking after Rita. Not to mention cooking and such.
 
Dieter laughed. He laughed and laughed, and he'd never laughed so much, so genuinely. Armon sat patiently, leaning his cheek into the heel of his palm as he waited for Dieter to stop laughing. He fully understood why the skill found Armon's predicament so amusing- after all, if it were the other way around, Armon probably would've died of laughter now. Dieter weakly brought his fist down on the ground once or twice, still breaking out in uncontrollable laughter. He looked up at the new Armon and the cycle started all over again.

"AHAHAHAHAHA, HA, HAAAHAHAHAA!!" Dieter rolled around on the ground, shaking his head and trying to ignore the stitch in his side. All he needed to do right now was pay attention to laughing at the Lieutenant's predicament, which had jumped to #1 on the scale of strange happenings.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Armon dug his foot in Dieter's stomach, only squeezing out more laughter as the suddenly older man turned beet red. He removed his foot and looked down at the gold ring on his finger before shaking his head, "It's not- WOULD YOU STOP LAUGHING!?!"

"Oh- My stomach!" Dieter choked out between bouts of laughter. He was laughing so hard that no sound was even coming out of his mouth anymore. Armon sighed, sitting back down and folding his arms. He looked down at his new clothes, even though they didn't feel new at all. Actually, he didn't feel as old as he was, dressed in a black shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows under a white graphic T-shirt with black tribal markings going up the side and around the sleeves. The stainless steel rectangular earring in his right ear felt like it'd always been there, and so did the black Gatsby hat that flattened his burnt orange hair. Armon made a face in thought. Last he remembered, he hated hats. He turned the dogtags around his neck over in his hands. They were blank. Dieter finally recovered, gasping for breath.

"I never thought I could die from laughter." He sighed in relief before looking up at Armon again. He snickered and Armon planted his fist in Dieter's face.

"You've already laughed enough." Armon snapped, standing up, and hooking his fingers in the back pockets of his gray pants, now almost a half head taller than Dieter. He turned to go back inside, but let out a startled cry when Dieter grabbed his arm and dragged him in like a stuffed animal.

"We gotta go show Auri-chi and Rasch!" Dieter cried in excitement, "Rasch can't not laugh at this!"

Halfway through the door, Armon wrenched his arm out of Dieter's grasp and snapped, "I'm not a zoo exhibi-…" He sweatdropped at the sight of Sanako and Rita, and quickly looked at Dieter, alarmed. He flinched when Dieter practically fainted with laughter. Wasn't he friends with this guy? Or at least, he was…? No, the real question was, why was he so immature? Armon slapped a hand to his forehead before dragging it down, grabbing Dieter's collar and trying to put the skill back on his feet, "Calm down Dieter, it's not that funny! Seriously! And don't make any unesseccary comments." Armon added quickly when Dieter pointed at Sanako. Maybe Sanako might not have known what he was pointing at or opening his mouth to say, but Armon did, and it was most certainly a comment on her newfound chest.

"I think this is Stahn's doing…" Armon reached up to scratch his head but remembered that he was wearing a hat halfway through. Sighing he dropped his hand. He wouldn't be able to get the hat back into this position later on, he knew it. Looking over at Rita and Sanako he smiled, "Feels pretty normal though. What are you ladies up to?"

-------------------------

Rasch opened the door to his room, stepping out to get a cup of tea. He heard Dieter's wild laughter and froze for a minute, his emotionless gaze staring down the door opposite his room.

He changed his mind and closed the door. Tea would have to wait until Dieter had calmed down.
 
"Not a lot. Rita just couldn't find us, and she was scared." Sanako said as she approached Armon, Rita trailing behind. She hadn't noticed earlier, but her voice had matured as well. It wasn't so high. So, this was the man she had married. Just as charming as he always had been. She leaned in, pressing her body against his, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. She eventually unlocked their lips, and heard Rita go 'Eww!' which made her smile as she stared into Armon's eyes. "Would you like me to cook dinner? I'm a little bit hungry, and I think Rita probably is as well. Then tonight, we could-"

"Whoa, what the HECK?" Auricia exclaimed out of shock after finally arriving from outside, an unconscious Christian on her back. Sanako became confused again. That boy... he had feelings for her? A crush on an older woman wasn't very healthy. She laughed mentally at the thought, before being snapped back to reality after Auricia got close and examined her chest. "How'd you make them bigger so fast?" Sanako sweatdropped, and Rita looked up, confused. "I take it Stahn pulled something again? You look so much more attractive like this! You should stay this way!" Sanako sweatdropped again. This girl was really... open. Immaturaly so. "Hey, Rita! Remember when he turned you into a cat-person!?"

Rita shuffled behind Sanako, hiding behind her legs. "Who... are you? I don't know you." She tugged on the skirt of Sanako's dress in indication that she was nervous. Auricia almost passed out.

"Suddenly... this is less funny." Auricia whined.

"I don't think so." Stahn's voice suddenly rung as he walked through the front door, greeting the others. "I think this is probably good experience for both of them. Sanako, you really love him, don't you?"

"Well, yeah. We ARE married, after all."

"Then see? I didn't do anything wrong, I just made their bond stronger~"

"I guess you're right." Sanako said thoughtfully, before taking Armon's hand with her own. "So, what do you want to eat?"
 
Dieter watched quietly. The exchange between Rita and Auricia had silenced him, and his face spelled out slight displeasure. He wasn't sure if he was still entertained or not. That Lieutenant had had the nerve to forget Auricia? He grit his teeth and made a very quiet sound as he averted his gaze, "Tch." This was why love was no good. He stormed upstairs without a word when Sanako kissed Armon- he didn't want to see it, and it wasn't entertaining at all. Humans and their weird ways of extracting pleasure from other humans. The only thing other people were useful for was dying and suffering. He hated anything that reminded him of the red light district.

Armon watched Stahn with a wary eye, before turning to Sanako with a smile. He ignored Dieter's departure. During the ten year jump, Dieter had probably told him most there was to himself, so it wasn't a surprise. However, Armon failed to remember that this Dieter wasn't the same as the Dieter he was accustomed to. This Dieter wasn't yet accustomed to PDA. "Hmm, anything sounds good to me." He answered Sanako, tilting his head to the side to look at Rita, "What do you want to eat Rita?" It was obvious that he was pointedly avoided looking at Christian, or even acknowledging his existence. It was… awkward. Very much so since he knew the reason why the boy was unconscious. It seemed like that had been ages ago though.

"Oh," Armon looked around, "Is everyone else going to eat too? You might have to make more than usual Sanako…"

---------------------------


Everything ached and stung. Even after sparring, Piper Dian had never felt this miserable before. Crumpled on the ground, Piper opened his eyes, feeling as though weights were trying to pull them back down. He struggled to sit up. He should never have sent his bodyguard away. If he hadn't sent him away, then maybe this wouldn't have happened… No. Piper fell back against the cold stone floor. It would've happened, but Evaline would be fine. His guard's purpose wasn't to guard Piper. It was to make sure that Evaline went unscathed if Piper couldn't save her himself. Solomon was good at disappearing, after all. Where was he..? At such an important time, too.

"Ugh…" Piper realized that though he was more sore than before, any of his life threatening injuries had been healed. Why? He sat up this time, getting to his feet only to come crashing back down when his knees unexpectedly buckled under his weight. He looked around. Evaline, where was Evaline? He scrambled to his little sister's side, gingerly lifting her shoulders off the ground. She was almost as bruised and battered as he was. Who the heck… would do something like this? "Evaline." Piper said quietly, trying to summon up a disk of wation to soak the dirt and blood off of her face. He looked in shock at the mahstion bracelet around his wrist, trembling at the thought that he was officially completely useless.

"Where are we?" Piper asked no one, looking around at the room that could be labeled as nothing more than a prison.
 
"You're in Wershtenstein, the highest security prison in Carn." A voice called from the darkness beyond the cell. Everything was dark, really, except for the dimly lit hallways. "You've been brought here under the accusation that you two are false heirs to the throne. In fact, you're the real ones." There was definately someone in the darkness. A man, and he most likely wasn't a guard by the sounds of it. "It may sound hard to believe, but you two were born after Rosaline Dian, and kept hidden away in secret in case something ever went awry with the family. The new 'Prince' is a fake set in place by someone. That's why the Carn Liberation Force has been created, we'll get you- URK!" A blinding flash of light flew from the right, beyond the view from the cell, and struck the man in the head, before his head exploded into a bloody mess, his body falling to the ground. From the direction the arrow had shot from, a violet haired girl appeared, blank eyes glowing a magnificent orange as she looked at the prisoners before throwing the black bow over her back.

"Silence."

---

"Pasta! Pasta!" Rita exclaimed, being sure to keep her distance from everyone but Sanako and Armon as she ran circles around them, arms flailing behind her. Auricia let out a depressed sigh as she left to take Christian up to his room, completely exhausted. It wasn't fair. Her Ashton was off frolicing with other people now! Hopefully it was only temporary though. She wasn't sure how long she could go without him.

"Pasta it is then!" Sanako said with a smile, before looking at the number of people in the room. "But... there are an awful lot of people to prepare food for. I'm not sure there are enough materials here to prepare such a meal..."

She looked over at Stahn, who nodded, before adding in his own two cents. "We have the supplies, but it would be much easier and faster if one of the staff here cooked it all, don't you agree? You guys should just relax. It's been a very long day after all, and even in that form, you're still feeling the effects of awakening the core, aren't you?" His concern was genuine as he eyed Sanako over. Her wings were still shaking, meaning she was still masking her pain.

"No, I'll be-"

"Armon, take your wife and sit down. She looks unwell." Was all he left them with before heading towards the kitchen.

"Really... I'm fine!" Sanako protested, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. Stahn was right, natural, she still wasn't feeling 100%.

---

"Violette?" Auricia called as she entered the room of Christian and Violette, before laying Christian down on the bed beside the girl. "You should come downstairs and eat something! Armon and Sanako are adults now, and Rita is their child, and- Well, Stahn is just being mean."
 
Hearing Sanako referred to as his wife seemed to be out of the ordinary. Maybe he was still adjusting to the sudden jump between time frames. Armon shook the thought out of his head though, sweeping Sanako off the ground and looking down at Rita, "Come on, let's go back upstairs and let mommy rest." He scaled the steps, walking slower than he usually did so Rita could keep up with his long strides. Once out of sight of everyone else, Armon narrowed an eye at Sanako, silently berating her for walking around even when she was in pain. He'd been so caught up in everything else, he felt bad for not noticing first. Armon didn't really even know what it felt like, and that bothered him. It bothered him that he seemed to have a habit of skimming over the finer details, ten years later.

He didn't say anything in regards to her wings though. If she didn't want them to know that she was in pain, then there was a reason- even if it was a stupid reason, which he was pretty sure it was. Something like not wanting to make people worry, probably. Armon gingerly laid Sanako on the bed they shared before folding his arms, "Sleep." He commanded before walking into the bathroom, picking up an empty glass and filling it with water. "I'll stay here," He spoke, putting the glass of water on the nightstand and kissing her on the cheek, "and wake you up when its dinner time, okay? I really think Stahn should've waited a little longer before putting this into effect." Armon sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at Sanako while hoisting Rita up to sit on his knee for a better view, "Are you okay? It's not too stressful or anything?"

------------------

Violette sat up, running a hand through her hair to flatten it, even though it looked just as neat as it always did. She was a still sleeper. "I think I'll just get something to drink. Thank you though." Violette said, smoothing her skirt before standing up. She'd hardly even thought about changing into pajama's or anything, having been overcome by a headache. How she loathed using Eation on dirt. It was so heavy to move around. She blinked halfway through standing up, "Wait." Violette stared at Auricia, as though suddenly registering what she'd said, "What was that about Sanako and Armon? Their daughter is Rita? But- what? That…"

Violette hooked a strand of hair behind her ear, "That doesn't make sense." She glanced over her shoulder at Christian before walking out the door, "Well I'm going to go to the kitchen. Would you mind walking with me for awhile? I think I've missed quite a bit, if you'd be so kind as to fill me in."
 
"I'm fine, I'm just a little tired, that's all! I can go help, honest!" Sanako rebelled against being imprisoned in bed. She refused to look Armon in the eyes. He'd know something was wrong. She was obviously lying. She was older, and the plague had reacted to that. There was the possibility her health was at a much greater risk now. As she attempted to sit up, she was tackle hugged by Rita back down to her laying position, and Rita was quick to point out to Armon that her mommy felt hot. "You can just go eat, I'll be fine sleeping here!" She finally submitted before Armon could worry or question her condition. She was further saved as Rita dragged Armon downstairs to eat. With that, she fell asleep.

It must have been at least three in the morning when she stirred again. She glanced over at her side, and found Adela there, glistening in the moonlight, half- "CRAP." Reid exclaimed in a whisper as he snuck out of the bed. Why the hell wasn't she covered!? She'd kill him if she found out he saw what he saw. He hadn't noticed it before, but she was actually quite attractive, especially when she was peaceful like this. He quickly and quietly moved to her side, before draping a blanket over her and leaving the room after throwing on his usual cloak, although he had to cut slits in it in order to fit his new wings. He was feeling a lot better illness wise, but the new additions to his back were still painful to move. It had been so long since he had wings now. Even though they were completely different shapes and sizes, they were probably still good enough to fly with. Deciding it'd be best to get some fresh air, he crept his way out into the courtyard.

The moon, the sun's ghost, hovered eerily in the sky, casting a white glow across the forest before him. Maybe a walk would calm him? And so that's what he did. He wandered the forest trails for about half an hour, before overhearing the sound of a flute somewhere in the distance. It was nostalgic, and somewhat depressing to hear, but... he recognized the song. And so, he sought out the source. Eventually, he stumbled across a clearing amidst the sea of trees. The flowers he had shown Adela the night before littered the clearing. So, they appeared here as well? In the middle of the flowered clearing sat a lone stump, and upon it a green haired girl played a black flute, her black horns and half-closed, golden eyes reflecting the moon's light. She was practically naked, wearing only a dark purple stripe of leather around her upper body, covering her essentials, and an incredibly short, tight pair of leather shorts of the same colour. Melody's black tail swayed back and forth to the song of the flute. The music suddenly stopped, and Reid fell to his knees, coughing up blood. Crap! Twice in three days? "Eat this." A voice said as a strange leaf was shoved into his mouth. He had planned on spitting the bitter green piece of nature right away, but when he recognized the voice as Melody, he did as he was told. Miraculously, the coughing subsided. "It's something I'm working on developing. It won't cure you, but it should suppress it and maybe give you a little longer to live if I can complete it." She didn't make eye contact with him. Was she embarassed about something? Most likely the fact that he overheard her playing.

Reid was a little surprised that she had made such a thing. He stood, and lost his balance for a moment, barely uprighting himself as he glared down at the flute the demon girl possessed. "That song... Rosaline used to play it a lot..." Melody looked as if she was about to reply, to try comforting him, but she just smiled as she took her seat on the stump again, and began to play the same song over again. Reid smiled contently. She wasn't an idiot when it came to reading people. To hear that song was just what he needed. He couldn't help but notice, however, that bloodstains were all around her mouth. Had she been feeding on something? When she noticed what he was looking at, she blushed after completing the song.

"It's gross, right? I hunt animals and eat them in this form. It's kind of like an instinct, I guess. It just adds to my overall unpleasantness." An opportunity wasn't presented for Reid to say otherwise. "Did you need something? I wasn't really expecting company. We could break in your new abilities now if you'd like." She held out her hand to Reid. "And, would it be okay if I called you my friend? I haven't had one of those in a long time." It was kind of sad, really. He barely knew about this girl, but it was easy to see she had been through a lot.

And so, they trained. In the end, the boy learned a lot more than he would have on his own. That little bit of lionus and dation he now possessed: he learned how to utilize that. How to move quickly, how to attack effectively, the training was good. He had a good teacher, despite her lack of self esteem. Things went a little awry at six in the morning, however. "Reid... I smell blood." The demon girl said as she raised her nose to the breeze that had just started. The morning sun had just broken the horizon. "We should probably check it out." Hesitant, Reid agreed, and it took them on a short journey through the forest. "Suicide attempt. She's still alive." Melody murmured as she looked over the red haired phoenix girl who's body was scattered across the grassy ground. Blood was everywhere, and multiple gashes were scattered all over her body. Two daggers were embedded in her flesh. One near the chest, the other near her stomach.

Reid grit his teeth as he lifted Flaire's unconscious body in his arms. What the hell was she thinking!? "Melody, you can save her, right!?" For the love of god, she was going to get it when she woke up again. For being such an idiot!

"Yes, but should I? Isn't this the second time she's done bodily harm to herself? Maybe she truly wants to die?"

"She doesn't!"

"..." Melody thought for a minute, before turning in the directing of the estate. "Fine, let's go, but be fast. Use that technique I showed you to increase your speed." Reid grit his teeth, before focusing the wionus around his feet and dashing off after the girl. It wasn't long before they arrived, and Melody practically threw Levi out of his room so that Flaire could be set down. Then she glared at Reid, before throwing him out as well.

"So, Levi. How are things?" Reid made a sad attempt at starting a conversation in order to distract himself. His friend had commited another act of self harm. A suicide attempt nonetheless. He needed all the distraction he could find. Where was Adela? He could use being yelled at right about now.
 
Between all the commotion, Levi giving a yelp when he was suddenly ripped from his very comfortable bed and sent soaring face-first into the opposite door to give Dieter and Tsukasa a rude wake-up call, Adela had obviously woken up. Especially when she added to it by letting out an ear-splitting shriek. It was never a good thing when you were in a queen-sized bed without your shirt- or bra on. Wait. She grabbed a fistful of blanket and pulled up. At least pants were in place, even if they were a million times too big. Grabbing the waist to keep it up, Adela sifted through the closet to find her regular pajama's that she'd used at Ella's house, donning those at light speed for her own security. If Sanako, or Reid, whichever form he was in, wasn't by her side, that meant that he- or she- had already gotten up and seen. Especially with that out-of-place blanket on top of her. Even if it had been Sanako, Reid would still remember after he woke up. Adela flung her fist into the wall in embarrassment, her face an unhealthy shade of complete red. She let out another strangled, incoherent yell of frustration as she stamped her foot. She dearly wanted to kick someone- mind you, someone, anyone, but not something. It had to be a person.

But she didn't have the nerves to face Reid right now. She clutched the collar of her tank top irritably. Damn.



"Ow…" Levi rubbed his nose as Dieter pulled open the door, glaring down at whoever had rudely interrupted his beauty sleep. Of course, beauty sleep couldn't really be applied here, because his tousled hair was not doing it's job of covering the inhuman side of his face, so as Levi and Dieter stared/glared at each other respectively, Levi opened his mouth to comment on how similar their skin looked, while Dieter turned positively green and slammed the door shut again, the sound of another door slamming shut as he practically threw himself into the bathroom, retching at Levi's skin.

"…Well that was rude." Levi said, having not noticed Dieter's earlier reaction to Gil's skin due to the fact that she'd been completely unconscious. Levi looked over his shoulder with a pout, addressing Reid's question at last, "How are things?!" He complained, "I got thrown out of my room without an explanation and then some skill decides that my face must be absolutely grotesque even though his face is missing pieces of flesh and slams the door in my face! Then, not only that, but I was having a very beautiful dream about-"

"AUGH!!!" Levi's sentence was cut short as a male voice let out a startled cry and Lazarus tumbled out of the room he shared with… well… Ellianne, now. At first, he was more concerned with what he'd just barely caught a glimpse of, "SORRY!!" He practically yelled, blocking his eyesight with his hand, blushing hard as he stammered, "I-I didn't see anything so-…." Lazarus blinked at the sound of laughter and looked over at Levi, who was on the floor with laughter, oblivious to the reason he'd been kicked out of his room. Lazarus didn't register why Levi was laughing at him, assuming that he was probably aware that Christian had not found the need to wear a shirt before going to bed. But connecting the fact that Christian was a guy and Violette was a girl- and a girly one who didn't wear pants at that, Lazarus remembered the garment that she'd worn to bed. "AHHHHH!!" He yelled again.

"YOU LOOK GOOD IN IT!" Levi called after Lazarus, who had slammed the door behind him shut as he hurried to change before anyone else saw him in a black-itchy-lace-silk night-gown. He was so lithe and twig-like that not even with all the movement had Lazarus managed to make a single rip in the dress. "Cross-dresser!" Levi yelled loud enough for Lazarus to hear, forgetting that it was the dead of night. Or, morning, really.

"SHUT UP!" Lazarus' voice replied.

Levi chuckled at the memory of Lazarus in such a girly dress before turning to reid, a stupid smile still stretched across his face. Ah, he was fortunate that Gil slept in a baggy T-shirt and boxers to begin with. "So, why am I not allowed in my room? Somethin' up or something? I mean, we're back in our normal forms and everything, is Stahn messing with us again?"
 
"We found Flaire." Reid said coldly to Levi after finally recovering from the chaos that had ensued in regards to Lazarus. Chances are the same thing had happened with Ellianne that had happened with him with Adela. And... he had definately heard Adela screaming a few moments earlier. It'd be best to stay on guard at all times until she had calmed down. The last thing Reid wanted was a mahstion bullet in his flesh again, especially over something like this. It wouldn't have been a big deal if he was in Lazarus' shoes. He had seen Ellianne nakes plenty of times, since she was a high maintanence person who had always been frail and always got herself into trouble. But... he wondered if she'd be okay with him today, after what happened the day before. Would she hate him now? And what would Adela be like with him? This was totally different when they were in their other forms. "She... tried to kill herself."

---

Even as Lazarus dodged back into her room, a pillow was thrown quickly at his head. "GET OUT!" Ellianne cried as she tried to cover her upper body with the bed sheets. She was completely red, to the point where she looked like she could break out crying at any minute. That wasn't too far from the truth. She was crushed by the events that had occurred the day before. She had lost to Adela. Of course she had. Adela was a lot stronger than her... "Just hurry up and leave! I won't be coming out of my room today!" She covered her head with her sheets and sobbed quietly to herself. Was this what it was like to have a broken heart? She'd never experienced it before...

---

"Hey! Hey! It's morning! Want to play a game?" Evaline's eyes crept open to the sound of the voice of a young girl, probably not much older than herself. She sat up, and as she became more aware she remembered everything that had happened the day before. She was in a jail cell now, she could tell that for sure. Piper was sleeping beside her, and she was in a great deal of pain from all of the wounds all over her body. Her arm looked gross, the bullet wounds beginning to become infected. She then noticed the source of the voice. A young girl with white hair and orange eyes, clad in a crimson dress. She was probably Evaline's age. "So, do ya wanna?" When no reply came, the girl raised her eyebrow impatiently. "Oh well, let's play anyways!" Before Evaline had a chance to reply, she had a needle in her stomach. Then another, and another, as the young girl whipped them at the target. Evaline screamed and coughed up blood, eventually falling to her hands as she attempted to catch her breath. She wasn't aware, but the needles now portruding from her chest were in the shape of the black rose tattoo almost every Carn citizen bore. "You're a boring girl~"

"Cease." A cold voice came from beyond the cell, and the archer girl from the night before appeared, glaring blankly at the white haired girl.

"Fine, I'll stop. You're no fun Tildie!"

"Aware."
 
Lazarus let the pillow smack straight into his face. Dodging it probably wouldn't have helped much, and it wasn't as though it were a particularly dangerous projectile. He looked down at the object in his hands before dropping it, reaching over to a pile of his clothes that Violette had neatly folded on a stool inside the closet. As he stood between the door and closet, buttoning his pants, it was obvious that Lazarus was debating between staying, even if it was against Ellianne's wishes, and leaving to ask what was going on. Books didn't tell you how to deal with crying girls- or more like, the books he read didn't. He pulled on his vest, buttoning two in the middle before picking up the pillow and pulling out a random shirt from Violette's vast collection.

"Here," Lazarus put the pillow back onto the bed and laid the maroon v-neck on top, averting his eyes from Ellianne's chest even though it was already pretty much covered up, "If you're not coming out the room today, then at least get some sleep- And I'm sorry I wasn't there to heal you right away, Violette is just..." Lazarus scratched the back of his head, trying to gather his words before sighing in frustration, "Forget it, she's just really irritating. I won't bother you anymore." Lazarus turned on his heel, wrenching the door open again. As soon as he stepped out, there was definitely something wrong. When Lazarus looked to his left, Levi wasn't laughing anymore.

"Uh-" Lazarus uttered before Levi stood up from his spot on the floor. He pulled his goggles off of his neck and put them back in place, glad to see that they'd come back after he'd transformed. They were like an extension of himself, so it made sense.

"Guess I'll hang out with you here for awhile then." Levi remarked, crossing his legs and leaning on the wall beside the door to his room. He was silent for a moment before banging the back of his head on the wall, frowning, "Damn I messed up on this job. Three times now." He heaved a disappointed sigh, squeezing his eyes shut with a frown on his normally grinning features.

"What's going on?" Lazarus asked, following Levi's disgruntled comment. Closing the door behind him as he stepped out, he absentmindedly buttoned the rest of his vest, waiting for an answer.

"Flaire." Levi jerked his thumb at the door next to him without opening his eyes or moving his head.

Lazarus quickly picked up on the vibe as to why Levi would've been thrown out. He pieced together the main details he needed to know, and didn't ask anything else- it was obvious that something was not going well, by the look on Reid and Levi's faces. "I see..." He glanced at the sheet of wood that he'd just closed, somewhat glad that he'd done so. He didn't think Ellianne was fit to hear that Flaire was back and not in good condition. But, Lazarus felt like that wasn't his decision. He hadn't known her for nearly as long as Reid. He looked up at the person in question, "Are you going to tell her," He inquired, referring to Ellianne, "or should we wait until everything's calmed down?"


---------------------

"Hey Alice," Audi crooned, swinging her stuffed animal back and forth by it's arm, swaying in time with the cotton object, "Don't you think that boy is really cute? I love cute things! He's kind of scrawny though… Oh well! He has pretty eyes!" She threw the stuffed animal into the air and caught it in a deathly tight hug, grinning down at Piper, who was staring at Evaline in shock, completely ignoring Audi. After having tightened his grip on her after seeing the man who'd been from the Liber-something group, it was like there was a big empty blank. Like someone had erased part of a chalkboard. The next moment, Evaline's scream burst into his ears the unpleasant sound causing him to freeze. He looked down and she wasn't in his arms- how? He looked around before hurrying to her side, worry written all over his face.

"Evaline-" He stared desperately, fighting tears before Audi's foot smashed into his chest and threw him across the cell. He made no sound when his shoulder crashed into the stone wall, biting his tongue to keep himself from yelling out. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"Excuuuse me!" Audi dropped her cigarette on the ground and crushed it with her heel, pouting at Piper, "I just complimented you, you faker! At least say thank you or something! Tch. You're cute but you don't have aaaany manners! And I was even contemplating making you one of my stuffed animals! Right, Alice~?"

The bunny stuffed animal began to bleed from its mouth when Audi kissed its ear, smirking at Piper who was pulling himself back into a sitting position. She glanced at Tilde, "You never said we couldn't play with this one, right?" And before Tilde could say her one-word response telling her no, Audi pressed up against Piper, her nose only a centimeter from his, "Maybe he'd look cuter if he didn't look so beaten up." She giggled, "You look really pathetic!" The chain smoker sat back on her heels, easily dodging a swipe that Piper had flung at her, "Too cute!" Audi laughed in glee, "You think you can put me out of commission when you're more than half dead?" She stuck out her tongue at him before standing up again, strolling casually back to her sisters' side, "So why are we here again? Well I mean, I know why we're here," Audi waved her hand in the general area, "But why are we here, with this ugly excuse for a stuffed animal and the cute boy? Aren't we just supposed to make sure the execution goes right? Isn't that like, tonight?"

Piper pressed his lips together, furrowing his brow. Execution tonight. Carn's heir's? That definitely made sense because Father had been the King's brother, Juliet and Rosaline his cousins. It was of course common knowledge to Piper that he was born after Rosaline- he was younger than her by a few years. A fake prince? Set in by whom? Piper squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn't care.

Somebody just had to come and save Evaline! He slammed his fist weakly into the wall. He was so useless.

"Aww," Audi smirked at Piper, "Look guys, we made him sad. I'll let you live, if you want to become one of my stuffed animals. I'm sure Alice would appreciate the company~"

"Shut up." Piper's voice cracked as he glared at Audi as though everything was her fault, "And don't touch my sister."

Audi clutched Alice tighter, smiling. She was highly amused when she glanced at Tilde and Saral, "You know…" She began turning a conceited look on Piper, "I don't think you're really in the position to be giving orders. Anyway, like I was saying, why are we down here? It's dark and musty and I don't like it."
 
"Cease and desist. Our job is merely to watch them, not torture them." The ghostly voice of Tilde spoke. Saral raised an eyebrow. It was a rare occurance that the silent Tilde spoke more than one word at a time. However, what the archer was showing now is what Saral considered her weakness. Tilde followed orders right down to the very last detail. No less, no extra. A year or two ago, they participated in a training operation that involved protecting a man. Things were going fine until the man attempted to kill them. However, Tilde nearly died because she wouldn't participate in self defense because her orders were to 'protect him'. In the end, she had to be knocked unconscious by the other two, as she had engaged them in battle because of those orders.

Saral sighed before kicking Evaline's bleeding body against the wall, the girl letting out a squeak before more blood started running out of her mouth. She fell on her stomach, shoving the needles in farther, and she screamed again, unable to move in fear of further pain. "Fine. Let's go, Audi." Saral murmured as she made her way out of the cell door, muttering something most likely offensive as she walked past Tilde. The witch wasn't even who she considered her leader. She'd listen to Audi over Tilde any day. But, they'd been told time and time again not to fight with one another. That wasn't a particularly easy task to accomplish.

---

"Later... I'll tell her. I have things to talk to her- to both of them about anyways. I need to... Nevermind." The last part involved Reid thinking aloud, before catching that he was doing it. He needed to apologize, to both of them. And... he needed to tell Flaire about his disease. Even though Deon had broken up with Sanako, Reid and Flaire would still very much be friends, and it was her right to know. Still, it'd be hard. Then, there was the fact that she'd attempted suicide in the first place. What drove her to such lengths? It bugged him. "I'm going outside." He murmured, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked off, his feet dragging. "Get me if anything happens."
 
Audi looked over her shoulder at Saral, sighing with a shrug, Alice flopping by her arm up and down with the movement. Blood oozed from the stuffed animal's eye as it stared at Piper, who watched the somewhat inanimate object with repulsed eyes. Audi had mentioned something earlier about making him into a stuffed animal. He broke his gaze with the cotton bunny, crawling over to Evaline, and gingerly pulling her off the ground, being sure not to add more pressure to the weight that he was trying to alleviate. He glared at the remaining two girls over his shoulder, and Audi flipped her hair over her shoulder, pulling out a cigarette and lighting a match. The distinct smell of second-hand smoke filled the room when the purple-haired girl flicked the ashes on the end with her ring finger, smirking at Piper as she turned on her heel as well.

"Lighten up Tilde, they never said we couldn't torture them either." Audi dropped Alice carelessly, the stuffed animal landing on it's feet with a small 'squeak' sound while Audi laughed, switching her smokes from one hand to the other, "Come on Alice, Tilde~!" The girl chirped cheerfully, "It's gotten boring down here anyway. You think we should send for a medic, in case the little girl dies before the execution...? "

The stuffed animal stood where it was, immobile for a moment before standing up straight and rigid, turning from the cell without looking at Piper even once. It hurried after its master, leaving a trail of blood behind it, turning around to pick up a dagger that had fallen out of the destroyed felt over its chest. These people were strange. Strange, as in, terrifying. Piper tore his gaze away from the stuffed animal a second time. It was like a bad nightmare, and he'd wake up in a few minutes or so and his butler Lucas would be trying to drag him out of bed in his strangely polite and calm voice that contrasted his attempts to forcefully drag Piper to his morning studies. Then, he'd ditch morning studies to go look for Evaline while dodging Lucas, and then when he was finally caught by the old man, Lucas would tell him that Evaline was locked up, finishing the self-portrait she'd told him about. And then he'd go find his Father to alleviate some of his loneliness, and after his Father finally remembered where Piper was supposed to be, he'd be shooed off to the library for a few hours to study about boring things like politics. Maybe if he got lucky, Judell would be there to teach him a new trick with wation, or maybe spar a little with him and undoubtedly make fun of how twig-like Piper was.

Then everything would be okay again. He made a mental note that when he woke up, he'd ask Judell whether, when faced with a situation where someone had a sharp object stuck in them, would it be better to remove it so that it wouldn't worsen with movement, or keep it where it was so it could block some of the blood loss. Piper's mind was a blank, but he felt at ease with the delusion that he was just having a bad nightmare. Some of his common sense came back into play.

Piper was at a loss to say anything though. Everything he wanted to say was an apology for being so useless, for being so weak. But he didn't want to say that. Right now, he didn't want to be comforted by Evaline, because he was in better condition than she was. He needed to say something to her. His mind reeled, thinking of different ways he could get her out. If he could bet on Solomon showing up for the execution, he could have him get her out of harm's way whenever they were revealed to the public. That would be the easiest time to escape. But if Solomon wasn't there, then having waited and done nothing for… how long had it been now? Piper had lost track of time. It felt like everything was surreal, and time wasn't even moving anymore, inside the cell. He opened his mouth to speak to the girl who'd stopped the others from attacking them, desiring to ask her how much time he had left before the execution. He didn't want to call her back though. It'd be better if she left and he didn't know when he'd run out of time, than if she stayed and he did.

"We'll get outta here soon." Piper mumbled, steadying his voice and trembling hands. It was easy to put on this strong front, because he didn't want to trouble Evaline with worries about him, his pathetic existence that had just been branded as fake, "I'll think of something." He stated aloud, more for his own assurance than Evaline's.


--------------------


"You'll be the…" Levi glanced at Lazarus who shrugged, "Third or second to know." He called after Reid, "Depending on whether Lazarus hangs around or not. Don't wander too far."

"I doubt that lighting would strike the same person twice." Lazarus commented on Levi's warning that was obviously directed at what had happened to Sanako only about a day before.

"Yeah well, he's not really the same person." Levi shot back, and Lazarus swallowed a lump in his throat, glancing uncomfortably at the room where Ellianne was. An awkward silence settled over the two of them, Lazarus shifted from foot to foot while Levi made almost no movement whatsoever. This continued for quite some time before an irritated female voice inquired as to why Levi and Lazarus were standing idly about in the middle of the hallway. Her voice was disapproving, almost as though she was a hall monitor or something.

Levi sighed, disgruntled that he had to explain it again, "Reid found Flaire, which is why I'm out here, I don't know why Loz is out here, but I guess it's got something to do with Ellianne."

Adela's face registered light surprise before she replied with a sort of uninterested, "Ohh."

"Are you looking for Reid?" Lazarus piped up, a pathetic start at keeping the conversation going. Adela ignored his statement entirely, looking at the door behind him out of the corner of her eye. She'd already made a point not to show up until Reid's mahstion signature had disappeared. And Flaire? She didn't care. If Reid had found the phoenix girl, then she wanted nothing to do with the whole scene. She didn't want to know why Levi wasn't allowed into his room, she didn't want to know what state Flaire was in, heck, she didn't even want to know if the girl was alive or not. …Okay, well she wanted to know, but only because another blow to Reid's emotional state would probably leave even the kind, caring Violette at a loss of things to say, and Adela was far from Violette. But she wasn't about to ask.

Adela closed her eyes to block her view of the door. She had nothing to do with what Armon had done to Christian. Ignore it, she commanded herself. Turning around, Adela held herself like an official even when she was wearing a pair of cotton shorts and a yellow plaid jumper-shirt, her back straight as she walked away without a word to either Levi or Lazarus, before anyone else could figure out that she'd left the confines of her room. Upon reaching the kitchen, where she'd planned to get herself a drink of some sort, she blinked at a dark haired child who was wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses that looked as if they belonged to a man three times his age. They were too big for the little boy's face, so the little hands held the glasses up to his eyes so that he could see properly. He glanced up from his book to identify the person who'd just walked in before ignoring Adela, turning the page of the book. Well, Adela reasoned, if he didn't have anything to say, then she didn't either. Plodding over to the fridge she was halfway done reaching out to open the door when she noticed that the boy was staring at her. She glared at him, and he made no effort to hide the fact that he'd been watching her hand.

After a moment, he decided it wasn't interesting anymore, and continued to ignore her.

Adela raised an eyebrow before shaking her head. Whatever. She opened the fridge door and immediately closed it again. The cold bit at her legs like clamps, and she decided that she'd get something warm to drink. The boy raised an index finger and pointed at a mug of hot water standing next to the sink without lifting his gaze from his book.

"What's your name?" Adela finally asked warily.

"I don't know." The boy shrugged as if it were nothing that he didn't know his name, turning his head to look at the next page.

Forget it. Adela sighed, tromping out of the kitchen. Weird kid.
 
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