Y.Z. Act III [PG-16]

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Adela sat silently at the small desk, having found paper and a pen inside the drawer. It was definitely a traveler's stop, for these two things to be so easily acquired for letters and such. After writing out the order, she looked up at the sound of a knock. She opened her mouth to tell whoever it was that they were free to open the door, but Reid spoke first. She glanced back to the letter as Reid spoke before she turned to finish it. He was gone anyway, she'd heard him running off to the front porch.

She didn't write anything personal in this letter. Well wishes for her mother, hopes that things were going well, that she was still on two feet. Those petty things weren't included in this letter. By its simple existence, it meant that she was perfectly fine. And she knew that her mother was perfectly capable of handling herself. Folding it into thirds, Adela sealed it shut and stood, picking up one of the various jackets hanging in the closet. It was a simple, washed out blue hoodie. By the fact that it was hanging in the guest closet, and by its color, Adela deemed that it was probably a second-hand clothing article that Ella had hung for travelers to wear when it grew cold at night. Oh well. It would have to do, as she certainly wasn't walking outside at 9PM wearing just her PJ's. As she walked slowly through the house, she hardly even registered that this place was once Alicel's home, and that she'd lived and died here. It seemed like just another pit stop to her. She paused beside the kitchen and glanced at Rod when she slipped on a pair of sandals.

Well, whatever. He would come if he wanted to, it wasn't like Alta was forbidden territory. Adela sighed, continuing to the deck with one hand in the pocket of the blue zip-up hoodie and the other with an order in hand. She wrenched the door open, surprised that it didn't squeak. It was one of those screen doors that seemed like it would make a racket, especially with how old the house must've been.

At first, she ignored Reid, pulling her hand out of her pocket and making a fist, tighter and tighter until she finally let go, revealing a black figure resembling a crow the size of a robin. The Dation clamped the letter in its beak and took off, gliding much too smoothly for a normal bird, not flapping its wings even once. It landed on the mailbox on the other side of the garden, wrenching it open with its talons and shoving the letter into the metal container. As soon as the door was closed and the red flag raised, the crow disappeared into a tendril of black smoke. Adela finally turned her gaze to Reid, the smoke slowly falling into her hand and dissipating.

"Do you need a lantern?" She asked plainly, referring to the dark, but stepped off the deck without one anyway. She didn't really have much problem seeing in the dark, and the moon was enough to give everything a faint bluish purple glow anyway. Adela stopped to wait for Reid at the bottom of the three short steps, sticking her hands in her pockets.


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

The back door swung open, and Lazarus stepped inside, pulling his shoes off and heading to the kitchen to get a glass of water. For the past three hours or so, he'd been wandering around the garden out back, weeding, turning soil, and either picking dead flowers out and replanting them or concentrating nutrition at that spot. Give the garden another half hour or so, and it'd be back to the condition it was when he'd left this place- top notch. An hour was dedicated to cleaning off the two rectangular slabs of stone that stood out back, each with a name engraved on the side. Eation had truly been useful, for shaping the huge boulders and moving them to their proper places.

He stopped in the kitchen doorway upon seeing the man Reid and the others had called Rod. A skill, they'd said. His face broke into a calm smile as he held his hand out, "I don't think I ever introduced myself. I'm Lazarus Javor. It's a pleasure to meet you."
 
Reid refrained from commented on the sweater Adela was wearing, but it took all of his willpower. Maybe it was just because he hadn't really seen her in casual clothes... ever, but it just seemed so out of place. He watched from afar as she released the majestic dation bird into the sky, most likely carrying a letter to who he assumed was her mother. Again, no comment. Come to think of it, had she ever mentioned a father? He couldn't recall ever hearing of one, even from Commander Milo. Did he pass away? Or was he a good for nothing like Reid's father? Maybe he'd never know. Oh well. When confronted with the question of a lantern, he shrugged it off and didn't reply as he followed her down the steps. What, did she think he was incapable of navigating in the darkness? He finally did reply after trailing after her for a moment, she'd probably be angry if she was ignored. "Nah, it's much nicer without carrying a light around." Well, it was true. Natural light screwed up the view, like the dancing fireflies and the night sky.

He didn't finally submit to Rod's idea of taking Adela for no reason. After all that had happened, there were questions that he had to ask her. "I'm sorry. As of late, I've been the center of attention, I role I hate to take..." Technically, he was acknowledging that he was a burden, but he was also acknowledging that he hadn't taken the time to actually dedicate a bit of time to Adela. After earlier, despite what she said... "Listen, I'm going to just come out and ask." He held his hand out, allowing a firefly to perch on his finger. The night air was refreshing, and the starry sky was breathtaking. With all the lionus pollution in the big cities, it was rare to see such a sight. "Do you... Do you hate me? It wasn't until you found out that I was sick that you actually started calming down on the verbal abuse, so I'm kind of thinking that maybe... it's out of pity. If I wasn't sick, you wouldn't be nice to me at all, let's face it... That assumption is right, right?"

---

"Rod." The Skill said as he extended his hand to shake, his emerald eyes glistening in the light of the kitchen. "My last name is unimportant. Let's just say I belong to family with a greater military power in Tealia." Rod looked Lazarus over. He was dirty. Had he been gardening? Was there a reason to garden at someone else's house? He darted his head to the door, implying that he wanted to go out. "Is Alicel buried out there, by any chance? I did know her, ya know, so I wouldn't mind paying my dues. I don't mean to open closed wounds, but is there any chance you could show me where her grave is?" There was silence for a moment as he recollected his thoughts, but decided to add something onto what he had already said as he crossed his arms across his black cloak and leaned against the kitchen wall. "I've actually been saving this question for Reid, but I guess I can ask you. Do you hate what I am? A fate I didn't choose, but a reality that exists anyways. A Skill, that's what I am. Do you hate me for it?"
 
Adela sat down and watched the fireflies. She really did prefer the darkness of the city, where it was little windows of light that spotted the expanse, not bugs. She liked the sound of airships moving all night, it gave her less time to think about things she didn't want to be reminded of. Her expression was blank as she looked up at the stars. The real thing was different from the stars in Jeckt's sky. But her mind wasn't fixed on the stars at all. Instead, she was thinking about what Reid had just said. True. She'd changed only after he'd revealed his illness to her. She frowned, believing that it wasn't true that she was acting out of pity.

"First, I don't hate you. I wouldn't have taken a walk with you if I did." She spoke flatly, bringing her legs up to her chest and leaning her elbows on her knees, "If you don't pity yourself, then there shouldn't be anything for anyone else to pity. I do care that you have the plague. My list of people who I've ever considered real friends is really small. Shiraume, Kallen, you, and maybe Kirden. Even if I hated you for five solid years, what happens to you is still important to me, because I don't hate you now. If I did, then I wouldn't have stopped Jeckt from shooting you earlier. If I did, I wouldn't have told you that I cared that I felt like I wasn't important to you, and I certainly wouldn't be wearing pajama's in your company- that's highly unprofessional. Trust me, the only thing your disease has done is help Armon realize how crappy his attitude was. I know mine has too. So I'm working on it. Do you not want me to? I don't really know many people who enjoy listening to me talk the way I usually do, so I just sort of assumed…"

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

Lazarus glanced at the back door and motioned for Rod to follow him, "It's no problem, I'm glad you want to visit them. I'm not going to bring a lantern, because I don't want to disturb any of the flowers that close up when it's dark, I hope you don't mind. It shouldn't be a problem for you though, walking through the dark."

Lazarus stepped out of the back door, carefully inching around gardening tools, gloves, books, shears, brooms, and just about every other necessary cleaning utensil for as clean kept a house as the Florinen's. "That brings us to your question. We've only really just met, so I don't expect you to know. I'm a scholar, and anything that presents a mystery or something for me to learn about is interesting. I don't care whether they're good or bad in the general view. I think your species is absolutely fascinating. But I don't usually say this, because it makes it sound like I'm talking about lab mice or something. You seem like a good person anyway, after all, you did stop Reid and you told us all this stuff about Gregar that we never knew. I'm really interested in the controversy of skills because " Lazarus stopped for a split second, remembering that day in the mansion, the whispers of flowers hushing in his ears as he glanced behind him at Rod, "But I do hate this one skill that we met. I don't like people who can't think on their own, and he seems to exist only for Gregar."

"Here, this one is Alicel's and this one is Reks' grave." Lazarus pointed first at the grave on the left, then the one on the right.
 
Reid listened with interest at what Adela had to say. Was she being honest? Yeah, she was. Adela was by far one of the most honest people he knew - to the point where she was brutally honest. Her reasoning was rational as well, he supposed. He smiled as he sat down beside her, crossing his legs in a childish fashion. "Hey, I think the pajamas suit you. The sweater, however, probably isn't your smartest choice of attire..." He braced himself for the almost certain punch he'd get for that, before looking up at the sky with curiosity. "Seriously though, you should wear casual clothes more often. You looked great in that dress the other night, but I didn't want to say anything..." He paused. It was time to talk seriously again. "No, no, change isn't bad. If changing is really something YOU want to do, then I guess I won't try and stop it. Let's... change together then, since we both want to improve ourselves!" He stood up once more, and grabbed her hand abruptly as he leaned in to kiss it. The cheek would have been something a girl or a kid would do, and the lips probably would have gotten him beaten. Hopefully, this would get the point across, even though it was weird.

He didn't bother giving her a chance to respond to the gesture, he really didn't want to know how she'd respond. He was SCARED to see how she'd respond. This wasn't Sanako dealing with Armon, this was Reid dealing with Adela. Those were two totally different scenarios. He grabbed her and started running. "Hey! I just remembered something! When Alicel and Rosaline found us that morning, I caught sight of something really awesome when I stirred in my sleep while being transported. It should be somewhere around here- AHA." He stopped suddenly in front of a clearing amidst a group of evergreen trees. Amidst the clearing was a field of strange purple flowers that were glowing mysteriously amidst the moonlight. "Pretty sweet, huh? I did a bit of research and they're called Starspan. They only bloom at night."

---

Rod laughed. "You're talking about Dieter, right? I've only met him once, but yeah, he's like that. The others don't seem too bad, though. I just wish there were more girls, y'know? Auricia is cute and sweet, but she's head over heels for that Ashton guy." At times, Auricia was the only girl he had a chance to look at, so of course he had the highest opinion of her.

He knelt down before Alicel's grave, removing something from beneath his cloak. He placed whatever he had removed onto the grave, and when he took his hand away, it revealed a small white stone that glowed mysteriously in the moonlight. He proceeded to do so with Reks' grave. Assuming Lazarus would be confused, he explained. "Ah, these are special rocks that act as family heirlooms. They're supposedly good luck charms meant to send the dead off to a happy life. Since I have no use for them at this point, I figured they'd be better off with them. It's unfortunate that I might have to give one to my best friend soon, however..."
 
Adela peered down at the jacket she was wearing before being pulled along. It's not like the jacket was hers to begin with… Awkward, she'd never been kissed on the hand before. It was like a gentlemanly gesture that died with chivalry. She said nothing- or more like, didn't get the chance to say anything. Being pulled along, Adela bumped into Reid as soon as he stopped, wondering what the heck had gotten him so-

"Pretty sweet, huh? I did a bit of research and they're called Starspan. They only bloom at night."

She stared down before stepping forward, squatting down beside it. They reminded her of Lazarus' healing flowers, somehow. Placing her chin in her hands, she said, "They have a strange pigment, but they're beautiful." Adela reached out and stuck her hand in the midst of the flower buds, feeling the velvety petals knock against her hand. Standing up, she turned to Reid with a light laugh, "Look, you're being nicer to me too. Come on, let's go back." She reached out and grabbed Reid's hand in hers again, "I bet Stahn has hell in store for us tomorrow."


ooc; My turn to give a really short post. xD;
 
Reid blinked curiously as Adela let out a laugh. He hadn't heard her genuinely laugh in five years, and he assumed she probably didn't do it that much. He didn't receive a chance to reply to her first comment as he was surprisingly grabbed and dragged away, but he was able to get a few words in about Stahn. "I'm sure he will have things in store, but not really for US. Armon and Sanako is more like it." Despite the fact that the truth didn't really warrant it, his voice was full of enthusiasm. It was weird, but maybe he didn't mind the experience as much as he probably should. Exploring life from a different point of view wasn't all bad...

---

The morning light stung Reid's eyes as he awoke the next morning. He raised his right hand to block the sun, and found that thankfully he still possessed his own hand, not Sanako's. That meant Stahn was probably true to his word and wouldn't return them to their other forms until noon, whether they were back or not. He sat up, and looked around at the unfamiliar room he was in. It was Reks room, and it wasn't particularly unique in any way, but it took him a minute to regrasp this fact. Right, they had come to visit Ella. Unfortunately, thanks to him, she had been bed ridden for the entire day.

He eventually threw the sheets off his body, revealing that he was only wearing a pair of black boxers. Too lazy to get dressed, he threw on a white housecoat he had borrowed from the bathroom and made his way to the kitchen, which was empty. Was nobody up yet? Or were they elsewhere? Either way, he ended up putting the kettle on so that he could pour himself a cup of tea. He really was more of a coffee person, but tea would suffice for caffeine stimulation. His drink in hand, chocked full fo sugar and cream, he went into the living room where he sat down on the couch.
 
Lazarus was not a morning person. His hair, a complete mess of black locks sticking up as though a bird made a nest of it the night before, was completely unaccounted for as he stumbled down from the attic with his shirt draped around his shoulders, buttoning up the split-tailed vest as he nearly face-planted from missing the last step.

"Good Morning Lazus!" Ella's cheerful voice came. Lazarus looked up with bleary eyes, blinking away sleep. The flower must've shriveled up through the night, "I only just finished getting dressed and cleaned-up, I'm so sorry I don't have breakfast already set up! Is there anything you'd like?"

Lazarus rubbed his face and shook his head, "No, anything will do, thank you." She hurried off and busied herself in the kitchen, catching sight of Reid in the living room opposite the kitchen and calling good morning to him as well. She obviously gotten over her fit, or completely forgotten it altogether. Lazarus sat back down on the last step of the house, completely ready to fall back asleep as he leaned against the wall of the stairwell. His eyes were half-closed as he continued to clumsily button up his shirt, pulling up his socks before standing up on unsteady legs. He wanted to go back to sleep. Yawning, Lazarus snapped his finger and a seed hurled itself out of Ella's room and into Lazarus' waiting hand just as he sat down at the table. It took all his might not to just completely fall unconscious on the table again. After awhile of hearing only the sounds of Ella clattering around making the morning meal, he heard another door open, peering up at Adela who was standing in the hallway between the living room and kitchen. She was fully dressed, her hair neatly brushed into the usual style and looked fully alert. She first glanced at Reid in the living room before turning into the kitchen. She frowned as she took a seat across from Lazarus.

"Don't you look your best." She spoke sarcastically, before biting her tongue in retaliation. Old habits die hard. So much for change.

"I think he actually looks rather nice, compared to usual!" Ella said cheerfully, turning around with a spatula in one hand and her other outstretched to Adela, "I'm Ella Florinen, I don't think I got the chance to meet you yesterday!"

Adela peered at Ella's hand. How strange, being introduced to her host after having stayed one night. She shook Ella's hand, "Lieutenant Adela Ciaccio. Thank you for allowing us to stay the night, I apologize for all the inconveniences we've caused you."

"Oh don't worry about it, you learn to go with the flow, with all the travelers that used to stop here!" Ella turned back around to finish cooking, "Breakfast is going to be ready in just a little bit! There's tea, milk, and juice over there. Unfortunately we don't have coffee, I hope that's no problem."

"Not at all." Adela said, glancing over her shoulder at the beverages lined up like soldiers on the counter. She wasn't really one who ate much when it came to breakfast, but a fried egg and plain pancake would do fine for balance.

Lazarus lifted his head from his arms, "Hey, where's Rod?"
 
"He slept outside! Said he'd be in whenever he decided to get up!" Reid called into the kitchen, not particularly feeling like getting off the couch. Morning, especially early morning like it was now, wasn't particularly his favorite part of the day. He was famous for staying up late even though he was aware of the early day ahead of him. Of course, Rod was the same, which was why he was still snoozing behind a tree. Caffeine... he needed caffeine. Tea... He stared blankly at the teacup in his hands. Sip. Blink. Sip. Blink. Sip. Blink. Yawn. Sip. Blink. Morning was for the restless. He finally moved his lazy butt off the couch and wandered into the kitchen, only to bump into Ellianne, who was still dressed in a satin, pink nightdown that fell down to her ankles. Apparently, she had just woken up as well. That much was obvious by the fact that her normally straight, silver hair was scattered and tangled all over the place. "Ahh, sorry Ellianne, wasn't paying attention."

"That's okay!" She offered a smiled as she took a handful of her hair and pulled her hand down it in a pitiful attempt to organize it once more. She turned bright red, remembering why it was such a mess. "Ella... I'm sorry to ask this of you, but is there any way you could help me do my hair? Flaire usually did it for me, so..." She looked at Reid worryingly, hoping she hadn't upset him by mentioning Flaire. He didn't give her a reaction. Maybe he was too tired?

Reid slowly made his way to Reks' room, deciding he better get changed. After arriving, he couldn't seem to find his clothes. Even after searching for five minutes, there was nothing!

---

Stahn grinned childlishly before sticking a chunk of chocolate cake in his mouth. "Let's run a little social experiment... I won't be able to watch, but I'm sure I'll hear about it later."

---

"Hey, guys? Have you seen my- What? What are you looking at?" Reid was obviously referring to Ellianne, who stared at him blankly, before panicking and looking at herself, finding no difference. "Wha- Crap." Sanako brushed a bubblegum pink lock of hair away from her blue eyes as she stared dumbfoundedly down at the bathrobe that had fallen off of her, showing her naked. She was extremely quick to cover up, since Lazarus was in the room, and hid beneath the robe she once wore. "Ella?" She squeaked. "Are there any clothes you have around here that might fit me?"

Ellianne sweatdropped. "Lazarus... I think it's better if YOU explain this one to Ella." It would probably make more sense if someone she knew told her... maybe.

---

"I had a good time last night, thanks to you Ashton~." Auricia sang as she followed closely behind Ashton, who was sweatdropping. Bad choice of words on her behalf, bad choice of words. Tsukasa sweatdropped, most likely interpretting it the way Ashton had hoped he wouldn't. "But I'm sad! You'll be going back to your little girl form soooooon." Her tone took that of a whiney little kid. It was true. They had left bright and early from the motel they were staying in so that they could get back to Stahn's before noon, with time to spare. Chances were, after two days of no training, he was really going to crack down on them today.
 
Underneath the table, Lazarus was nursing a newly grown lump on his forehead from having whacked his head against the edge when he tried to dive under it. Ella was halfway through scraping a pan of scrambled eggs onto a plate, the spatula stopped halfway through it's motion while the eggs fell onto the plate with a resound 'plop'. Adela didn't even turn around at the sound of the voice. Frozen in the spot, she at once wrenched a handful of her hair in her fist, pulled it about so that she could see it. It was still teal, thank all the goodness in the world. But... her still being a girl, and Reid being a girl too... awkward!!

"E-Ellianne!" Lazarus whined, "I think I should be the one getting out of here ASAP, not explaining!" Regardless, Lazarus couldn't resist the chance to share his knowledge as usual, and regardless of his complaint, proceeded to explain to Ella, "That girl over there is Sanako, she's the female form of Reid created by his plufael. This has something to do with the training we're going through, which is why we're all in Alta to begin with, but... there should be at least another five hours before we change back...."

Ella wasn't listening though, "Sure thing, I'm sure some of Alicel's clothes would fit you. It's just like before, except with... different people!"

Adela poured herself a glass of milk, not understanding what Ella was referring to. Probably something from the last time she'd met with Reid. She was very careful to leave a strand of teal hair in the way of her eyes, remembering now that they'd be changing back into those ugly forms. She needed to savor this time in her real body before all hell ensued, Armon taking over again.

"Here you go!" Ella reappeared in an instant, carrying a plain brown skirt and a cream long-sleeved blouse, "Maybe you'll need shoes and socks...? Oh!" She spun around and clapped her hands together, "I would love to do your hair Ellianne, but why don't we have breakfast first? It'll get cold if we don't eat soon!"


---


"That was so much fun!" Dieter stretched, his yellow T-shirt replaced with a neon blue one for no apparent reason. The skill seemed to have completely forgotten about the scene at the butchers, having seen the huge stock of cigarettes behind a convenience store counter, the huge stock of soda, and the candy stalls that had rainbows of sweets. He grinned at Rasch and pointed at himself, "I didn't even have time to think about killing anyone I was so busy! It was weird!! And the new brand of cigarettes I got from that store is great, and then I saw a melon soda which was amazing, and then-!"

Rasch tuned out, considering he'd been with him the whole time. However a certain word brought his interest back to what Dieter was saying.

"-So Lieutenant Tappen," He was saying as Rasch wondered whether Dieter had completely forgotten about the collar around his neck after being let back out into society for the first time in over half a decade, "I decided that if you'll let me go around town every once in awhile, I won't say anything about your traitorous ideals and plans, even if I go back to Gregar. Is that okay?" He asked, his red sunglasses perched upon his head as he walked backwards. The comment Auricia had thrown in earlier flew over his head entirely, his happiness crushing it under its weight, and perhaps it was for the better. This way, Dieter didn't get the chance to make a snide remark about Tappen's other form while he was still in the process of being unaware of the collar around his neck.
 
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Sanako and Ellianne both sweatdropped at Ella's lack of attention to the entire ordeal. Somehow they expected, well... a more confused and surprised reaction. Sanako sweatdropped again as Ella made a reference to the last time she saw her. Had she just been compared to Rosaline? Would Alicel's clothes even fit her? They just barely fit Rosaline back in the day, and Sanako- She sweatdropped mentally. That's right, Alicel had been pretty flat, and well... she was too. A wave of depression washed over her. She stood back up, taking care to keep herself covered with the robe as she stood, she waited for Ella's return. There was no further waiting as Ella reappeared, carrying an outfit that Sanako quickly scooped out of her hands, offered a word of thanks, and dashed off. Ellianne followed after, hoping to get a word with the female Reid. If he was going to be the only one stuck that way, at least for now, she might as well befriend the girl as Ellianne.

Sanako went into the closest room to her, which was Alicel's old room, before dropping the clothes down on the bed. Why here? Why only her? This was too awkward, far too awkward! She didn't even feel any attraction when she looked at girls like this! A chill ran down her spine as she heard the door open and close behind her, but she was able to identify the intruder as Ellianne by only the sound her feet made when she walked. Ellianne walked quietly, gracefully. It was okay if it was her. She was a girl too, after all. "Um... are you okay, Sanako?" The silver haired girl inquired warmly as she walked in front of the younger girl, forcing herself into Sanako's view. "The change was pretty sudden, so I wanted to make sure you were feeling alright."

"Ah, sorry to trouble you~" Sanako replied, completely comfortable with her company as she dropped her bathrobe, exposing her entire body. She began to twirl her hair with his right finger unconsciously as she laid out the outfit to have a look. "I feel a little funny being the only one who changed, but I'll deal." This comment was followed by a heavy sigh as she made an important discovery. "Was she expecting me to wear this without underwear?" It was a feminine sort of whining voice that she was using, and it brought a giggle out of the wyvern. "W-what?"

Ellianne giggled again. "Despite how you act in front of Armon, you're really quite feminine, aren't you?" She got the reaction she expected from the miniature-bat winged girl, as Sanako's face lit up bright red. Deep down, Sanako knew it was true. "Although, you're still pretty undeveloped, aren't you? Your bust is tiny, and-" Sanako didn't tell her to shut up, nor did she provide an angry glare, Ellianne just stopped on her own, deciding it wouldn't be best to hit a sore spot if she was self conscious about her appearance. And judging by the fact that she turned even redder, chances were she was.

"H-hey! I'm only fifteen! You have three years on me! I bet you were like this too at my age!" Oh yeah, she definately was self conscious.

"Nope~" Was the only answer Ellianne left. "You're just behind~"

Sanako sweatdropped. She was in despair. The thoughts of her underdeveloped body had left her in despair! "Just... help me find some underwear, okay?" Ellianne giggled at the sudden, intentional topic change.

Rod, perched in a tree, finally stirred from his long night of sleep. The morning was a fine one, and this accusation was quickly supported by the fact that he could see a pink haired girl, COMPLETELY NUDE, in the window nearby. He didn't know who she was, she was pretty young, and pretty flat, but still COMPLETELY NUDE. She was with Ellianne. Was she going to get naked too? Would it be a sexy party? He intended on finding out using the simplest trick in the book: spying. The obviously hadn't noticed him yet, after all.

Sanako stared down at the undergarments. Plain, white, very little lace at all. Alicel hadn't been very feminine, had she? She would have preferred something a little more decorative, but oh well. And... the bra... it was her size. She cried mentally, almost doing it out loud at the sad truth. In reality, Reid had given up trying to fight Sanako's personality. It was much easier if he followed it. She pushed aside a "What? Are you dissatisfied?" comment from Ellianne.

She made quick work slipping on the panties, but suddenly came across a strange, yet familiar feeling. She was being watch- "YOU BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Rod didn't have time to react as a blade of wionus crashed into his side, knocking him clear off the tree. Damn, busted. Sanako quickly recovered from her fit when the enemy was removed, and she through her bra on, only to end up dodging a brush that had been thrown at her.

Ellianne had somehow completely gotten change amidst the ordeal, however her hair was still a mess. "You're a girl, right? You should know how to do hair, right? Do mine and then I'll do yours!" Sanako was about to tell her that she wanted to finish getting changed first, but Ellianne insistingly forced the brush into her hands and knelt down before her. Sanako had no choice but to do Ellianne's hair. She enjoyed doing hair, but she didn't want to make a habit of doing it in underwear. It didn't take long to do, and Sanako knelt down in front of Ellianne, still in her underwear, so that she could do her hair. Sure they were both girls, but it was somewhat embarassing.

---

"Deal." Ashton replied, sounding somewhat shocked. That was too easy, and as long as the collar was around Dieter's neck, he'd have absolutely nothing to worry about. "Now, do any of you remember Rod? You met him once. He's joining our unit soon." Auricia sighed. She remembered all right. The stupid lecher had been staring at her the entire time. Even after Tsukasa told him to stop, he just kept doing it! He was frigging creepy! "So, yeah, hopefully he'll be on board as well.
 
"Hmm... They're taking awhile." Ella spoke as she set the table, breakfast set across the table.

"I'm sure they won't mind if we start without them."

"Why don't you go check on them?"

Adela looked up at Lazarus like he was crazy. "Well, you're the other girl, I can't exactly waltz in there while they're getting dressed and stuff. Maybe they need help finding something... or something." Adela ignored him for another five minutes, focusing her attention on dragging the tip of her finger around and around the edge of her glass. Awkward silence.

"So what was that earlier?" Ella asked, Lazarus sweatdropping as he asked whether she'd even heard his explanation. Adela didn't want to hear it twice. Being reminded of their fate in five hours wasn't her number one wish. Scooting out from the table with a short comment on where she was going, she stepped up to the room she'd deemed as Alicel's- since she knew what every other room was. She knocked twice before opening the door, sticking her head in.

"We're waiting for you two-......."

Adela stared at the two girls, Sanako doing Ellianne's hair. In underwear she assumed was Alicel's. O-kay then. The number one thing was the fact that she'd technically kissed Sanako, even though she'd been Armon at that time. The second thing was the fact that Sanako was actually Reid, and now they were the same gender.

Adela never understood why anyone would need someone else to fix your hair. She personally would never leave styling her hair in someone else's hands, and so she couldn't comprehend the two girls in front of her.

"... Forget it." Adela sighed, "We're starting without you."

She closed the door and stalked back to the kitchen, "They're playing dress-up." She stated bluntly, sitting down at the table and stabbing a fried egg onto her plate as Lazarus sweatdropped. Damn. Time for a quick recovery, though she couldn't think of anything positive to say, "Just let them be."

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

"Rod?" Dieter looked over his shoulder to see where he was going before turning back around, "Nope. Don't remember him." He listened to Auricia's description, and as soon as she said 'creepy', he snapped his fingers in realization, "That one guy that totally ignored the brat?! Yeah he was pretty awesome, sounds cool with me."

Rasch stroked his beard in thought. That one guy was of course, Rod. The brat? .... Ah. Tsukasa. The fact that Rod had disregarded Tsukasa was probably the only thing Dieter remembered about him.

Rasch said nothing in response, his way of showing that he couldn't care less either way. He had no problem with perverts, because he never ever changed into a female. Too much trouble. And whatever he did to Auricia was none of his business, as a gentleman.
 
Sanako blinked, completely confused. What had been wrong with Adela? Had she done something wrong? She eventually decided it was nothing, and proceeded in finishing Ellianne's hair, humming sweetly to herself. After doing so, she finally engaged in getting changed. She slipped the brown skirt on first, running her hands down it afterwards to straighten out any wrinkles. She was still very obsessed with her appearance, obviously, and Ellianne noticed the contrast between Sanako and Reid, who usually would care less about much of everything. The cream blouse went on next, and she soon realized that she had no socks or footwear. She eventually found a pair of plain white socks hidden in a random drawer, and a pair of short black boots under the bed. They would have to do until they got back to Stahn's place. When she was finished, Ellianne grabbed her by the wrist gently and dragged her out to the others. "Tada~" She chimed as she came came in before Sanako, moving out of the way to reveal the smaller girl. She waved her arms in a presentational fashion.

Sanako turned bright red. Judgmental eyes, all watching her. She was scared of Lazarus' opinion in particular. He was a guy after all. "I think I look fat in this..." she squeaked, despite the fact that she was extremely thin. Way too self conscious, waaaay too self conscious. Nervous, and not knowing what else to do, she absent mindedly twirled her pink hair with her right index finger. She really was a different person without Armon around, which lead to the obvious conclusion that she had some degree of feelings for him. She then took a seat for breakfast. She wasn't particularly hungry, but it was a long walk back, so she could use the energy boost. "I'm sorry to trouble you, Ella, but do you have any juice? Tea and coffee is too strong for me." Ellianne sweatdropped. She was such a kid.

"Hey, guys, who's the violent, flat, pink haired girl upstairs? Think she'd date me?" Rod asked as he came in the back door, not yet aware that Sanako was now sitting at the table.

Sanako's hands twitched as violently as her eyes did. Her eyes had a violent glint as she quickly grabbed a fork and whipped it at his head. "LIKE I'D DATE YOU, YOU PERVERT! YOU SERIOUSLY THINK YOU CAN SPY ON ME WHEN I'M GETTING CHANGED AND HAVE ANY HOPE OF DATING ME!?" Unfortunately, Rod dodged the fork.

"Umm... Rod? That's Reid..." Ellianne squeaked, a little bit shocked by the change in attitude. Apparently it wasn't just Armon that triggered her violent side.

"Tch, I could care less. Reid or not, she's still a girl, and she still thinks like one. Plus she's attracted to guys~" He replied indifferently. Ellianne sweatdropped.

---

"Right, that's the guy." Ashton replied, not feeling like sparing too many words for Dieter. He almost fell over at the random comment Auricia followed up with. It was absolutely, completely, indefinately, ultra, super random.

"Die-chi, Rasch? Do you think I'm attractive."

Tsukasa sweatdropped, especially because his opinion wasn't requested.
 
Lazarus chuckled when they walked in, fully awake at this point as he lifted his mug of coffee to his lips, pausing before taking a drink, "You both look very pretty. But Ellianne, aren't we changing back in 5 hours anyway?"

Adela bit her tongue to keep from commenting. She had so many crude things to say to Sanako right now, she couldn't even count them all. Absentmindedly eating her egg, she stared at the surface of her milk and seemed to pay little attention to everything else. In reality, she was paying too much attention to everything else, and so she was somehow able to keep her face straight and uninterested until Sanako flung a fork at Rod. At the moment Sanako moved her arm to throw it, she moved aside, almost like a reflex. She blinked in surprise when she realized the fork hadn't been flying towards her. That felt like a first.

"Violent...." Adela began, her expression somewhat surprised as she tried to gather the words in floating in her head.

"...Ts-...." Lazarus stammered in a strangled voice, "Tsundere!"

He burst out laughing, only to get a knife flung at him by Adela, who snapped, "Shut up!"

Ah, thank goodness Adela didn't fit the term Tsundere towards anyone other than Reid. Otherwise, Lazarus would've been in big trouble. Actually, he would've been in more danger from the knife, which had lodged itself with deathly precision in the cabinet right beside where Lazarus' head had been but two seconds earlier.

"Why don't we all sit down and eat breakfast?" Ella suggested, sweatdropping at their antics, "Deep breaths!" She breathed in and then out before speaking in a lofty way, "Calm yourselves." She turned a bright grin on Sanako, her voice returning to a bright and chipper tone in a split second, "Juice is next to the icebox! We have orange juice and lemonade!"

Adela sat back in her seat with her arms folded. Hmph. How could she like Sanako? Even as Armon? Then again, he didn't really like her 50% of the time... She shook her head. Only a few hours left of being normal.

Better make 'em last.

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

"You're a lifesaver." Levi grinned, organizing his bombs into different zippered pockets.

Solomon chewed on the end of a toothpick as he examined the blue bags under his eyes in a handheld mirror, turning to look at himself from different angles, "I can't say the same about you."

"You want to hang around and see what Stahn does to us? I get to turn into a girl and nobody gets on my case if I look down my shirt. It's like a free show." Levi said, buckling the bag onto his belt before he stood from the hotel bed across from the one Solomon sat upon.

"Not really," Solomon replied, "I'm not interested in girl's."

"Oh, right." Levi shrugged as he sarcastically mocked the blonde who sighed and traced his blue eyes, "You're more the 'android-no-gender' type, aren't you?"

Solomon looked up, somewhat offended, holding his nose in the air as he jokingly ran his hand through his hair, "Of course not! I'm narcissist, get it right Live."

Levi laughed, opening the door, "Yeah, right something like that. Anyway, there're a few cuties around if you want to scope out the chick's I get to hang out with everyday from now on."

"No means no." Solomon replied, throwing himself back onto his bed and pulling the covers over his head. He raised his voice so that Levi could hear him through the blankets, "Those would require long-term relationships. I can't stand the same girl for more than an hour, you want me to spend my life with the same girl? Might as well kick the bucket now."

"Hah, yeah well, I'm gonna go before I suddenly turn into a girl out of nowhere. Probably get a few weird looks for that."

"Not like you don't get weird looks for your wings already!" Solomon yelled after Levi before he shut the door.

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

Dieter's cigarette dropped out of his mouth when he frowned, and he crushed it under his foot before turning around. He pulled his sunglasses up and perched them on his head as he spoke with his back to Auricia, "I hate most women, and I've never thought a single one of them was attractive except this one girl who I ended up killing when she got too close to me, so, no I don't think you're attractive at all. I guess you should count yourself lucky. Besides," He shrugged, pocketing his hands, and craning his neck around, "You're constantly hanging off of Tappen, you think I want to get mixed up in some soap opera that's at my disadvantage thanks to your weird psychological attachment to him? No thanks. I'm not about to fight Tappen for you when I can find any other woman I want on the streets of the Underneath."

Rasch sweatdropped. Not at Dieter's blunt response, but at the fact that she'd asked him; A 50+ year old man to everyone but the scientists who had made him into a skill, instead of Tsukasa, who was... well... Considerably younger. Still, he had to patch up Dieter's fall-out.

'Please consider an old man's sentiments when he says he truly has no opinion. Perhaps, ask me again at a later date. I will try my best to formulate an answer before then, if it aides you.' Rasch doubted he'd even give her an answer in his real form or later on though. As an old man, she just looked like a little girl who buzzed around Lieutenant Tappen like an annoying fly. He was just glad she wasn't hanging off of him the same way Dieter did. A tag team assault would be too much. And anyway, who the heck came right out and said 'You're attractive'?

... Oh. Rasch had completely forgotten the person who had spawned this subject to begin with.

"Betcha Tsukasa thinks you're hot as hell." Dieter threw the comment out in the open without a second thought, "And don't even get me starte- Oh, but I guess I shouldn't say anything as long as this collar thing is on. Luck is on your side, Lieutenant!" Dieter laughed.
 
"She's more like an older sister to me than anything, Dieter, so don't say such halfassed things." Tsukasa, more irritated than usual, spoke. Dieter had apparently hit a sore spot, but there was justification behind it. Tsukasa was almost killed after watching his mother cut his older sister into pieces with a meat cleaver, so upon meeting Auricia he tried to fill the void in his heart with her. Then Dieter and Rasch were thrown into their little squad, and ruined everything. In the meantime, Auricia had entered a spell of depression, walking behind Ashton with her head hung low. She hadn't been acknowledged at all. Were skills really meant to live lonely lives? Were they really just weapons? They still had human emotions, so she couldn't see why they were just referred to as weapons. But still, they were told that they weren't permitted to associate themselves with normal people. Was it in fear that they would leave Gregar? It was a little late now...

---

Sanako blushed at the compliment Lazarus gave her, as did Ellianne. "Well, I didn't want to spend those five hours looking horrible. Besides, wasn't it Violette who said one should always look their best? Or something like that..." Ellianne joked as she sat down at the table beside Sanako, before pulling a stray hair that had fallen over Sanako's eyes off of her face. "We should have Violette doll Sanako up some time! I'm sure she'd look cute in all sorts of outfits!" Ellianne, at this point, was obviously having WAY too much fun. Well, there weren't many other opportunities where she could express thoughts like these, since she had only just gotten her voice back, so it was excusable.

"Suntair?" Sanako attempted to repeat the word tsundere, but for some reason she couldn't grasp her lips around the pronounciation. She would have had to read the word before saying it properly. Obviously, she had no clue what the word meant, which made it funny. She was also confused as to why Adela whipped a knife at Lazarus after saying it. She took a mouthful of egg, before getting up to find the juice Ella had mentioned. "What's a suntair?" She looked innocently over at Lazarus, who had said it, before retrieving the lemonade and pouring some into a small glass. She sat back down and took small sips, cringing cutely a little bit at the sourness. It wasn't obvious at first glance, but like Reid, Sanako's eyes had also taken on different shades. One eye was dark blue, while the other was light blue. "Hey, do you guys think I look like a kid? I mean I have these tiny kid-ish wings," she turned her back for everyone to see the cute little bat wings portruding from the blouse, "And my frame is pretty small. I'm not very curvy, and my voice is pretty high." It was amazing the garbage she spewed without Armon around. Rod was having problems keeping from saying something that would get him injured.
 
Lazarus blinked as he ate a folded plain pancake, trying to remember what Violette had said and when, "Really? Did I say that? I don't even remember. Tell me this when I'm female though, I'll probably be more inclined to acquiesce. "

"You look fine," Adela sighed, irritated by the constant beration Sanako was exuding about her appearance, "And it's not like it's going to change anything just by talking about it. Besides, there's a modified human over there who's about to explode with pervy comments if you keep it up."

"Tsundere," Lazarus interjected quickly, digging up the definition in the back of his mind, "A character stereotype that is applied to someone who's brash actions do not reflect their gentle intentions. We all have reasons to believe that's the character model that Mistral molded you to, and it's quite common for a tsundere to have violent tendencies towards someone they care about or have romantic feelings for. That's why when you attacked Rod we all reacted like that, because it fits your character traits." He helped himself to another pancake, adding butter to this one as he pulled a newspaper that was dated from nearly a month ago and flicked it open, "Tsundere are usually cute and childish in appearance but this isn't always the case. In terms of your last question, there are plenty of girls twice your age with high voices, maturity is completely unrelated. The only way you'll appear childish is if you carry yourself in a childish manner, so if you're worried about that, you should focus on your mannerisms rather than your appe-"

"Excuse me." Adela stood from the table in the middle of Lazarus' speech, "I'll be outside."

She spun around on her heel and disappeared through the front door. Lazarus sweatdropped, "Did I…. say something?"

"You were babbling again, Lazus!" Ella said cheerfully, "You always end up spreading the subject."

"… It's not like I'm trying…"

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

Dieter sweatdropped as he tried to make a quick recovery from seeing Auricia hang her head in depression. He realized that her question had been different than how he'd interpreted, 'attraction' being that other more subtle definition he'd read when they were trying to see whether they could put him into society or not. He had to make up for it! "Au-Auri-chi!! Don't worry about it, I mean, my opinion doesn't really matter! You have a great personality, and you're nice to humans even when they don't deserve it, so don't look so… so serious! It's not like me and Rasch and the brat are the only guys in the world anyway~."

"The Lieutenant is very fond of you Auricia. You need not trouble yourself further." Rasch pointed out, stroking his beard as he looked pointedly at Lieutenant Tappen. Dieter's jaw unhinged and hit the floor. "Not fair" was written all over his face as he tried to set his jaw back in place, fake tears cranking out of his good eye like a waterfall.
 
"So what you're saying is that I'm violent towards Rod because he's my friend and I care about him? But I care about you guys too, and I'm not violent..." Sanako tried to reason with her behaviour, completely forgetting to question why Mistral gave her such a personality. She cocked her head to the side as Adela become aggravated and left. Again, had she done something wrong? Something to upset her? She was being polite, so she couldn't figure out what it was that was setting the older girl off. Curious, she rose from the table, before setting her dishes on the counter. "Thank you for breakfast, Ms. Florinen, it was delicious." She said politely before curtsying, and running out the door in the direction Adela had gone. "Um... Adela? Have I done something to upset you? I didn't mean- ...Armon?" That was definately Armon... in Adela's clothes. "I... didn't know you were a crossdresser."

---

"This is an intersting way of showing them time is running out~" Stahn, satisfied with himself, chimed after the activation of yet another pill. He looked across the dining table at the girl he was babysitting. Laeina stared back, her eyes fixated on nothing in particular. She hadn't spoken a word to him in the whole few hours they had been alone. What was she thinking about? She certainly was a hard read. Though, she was cute, hard read. There was a chance, based on the conditions of her parents murder, that she was under the influence of her faels somehow, despite the fact that they hadn't awakened yet. He intended to figure out if that was true, and he'd find out today.

---

Evaline hummed quietly to herself as she walked down the grand hallway of the estate she lived on, a pencil case hanging loosely in her right hand. Today, for sure, she was going to finish that painting! She was sure of it! But first, she had to check on her father to tell him that she had gotten up and ready. She eventually found the large, intimidating looking door that held her father's quarters, and opened it enough so that she could sneak her way in. "Good morning, father~" She exclaimed in song as she caught sight of her old man, sitting peacefully on the chair before the window, his back turned to her. There was no reply, so she moved closer to him. Maybe he was just sleeping. "Father?" She called again. Still no response. She moved to go around to his front, and suddenly noticed it, there was another presence in the room, and it was standing right before her father. "Who are you!?" She called at seemingly nobody, as she looked around feebly for something to defend herself with, but found nothing.

As if out of nowhere, a young woman appeared, her white hair tied into a bun a top her head. She was dressed in the uniform of the Carn military, and she held two mahstion guns. It was then that Evaline noticed the blood dripping from her father's body - his corpse. Her eyes grew wide with shock, and tears started to fall, but she couldn't make a sound. "As per order of the rightful Prince Tertia, you and your brother are to be executed on the grounds of posing as heirs to the throne." The girl spoke, and rose her guns to Evaline's head. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, all she could do was barely breathe and cry. What was this woman talking about? The woman's fingers began to push down on the triggers, Evaline shut her eyes, and gunshots were heard. When she opened them, she found herself on the floor, her father's body on top of her, all bloodied up, making her clothes and body bloody as well. She knew what had happened. He had been alive still, ad he threw himself in the line of fire. But now...

The young girl's eyes were still wide with shock, and grew wider as she found the guns pointed at her again. A gunshot was heard, she felt something extremely painful enter her right arm, and then there was darkness.

---

Auricia froze in her place, as did Ashton and Tsukasa. "R-R-Rasch? Did you say something to me?" The only person who Rasch ever really spoke words to was Dieter. He had never said anything to Ashton, Tsukasa, or her until now. "Does that mean you consider me a friend? Does it? Does it?" She ran up to the older skill, her eyes bright and energetic. Ashton and Tsukasa sweatdropped. This was going to be a long day.
 
Armon?

Adela looked over her shoulder irritably, "What are you-…" She froze immediately at the sight of orange hair. Not blue, not teal, not green. Orange. No, that wasn't all. Her voice- her voice! Her shock was quickly overtaken when Armon's personality kicked in. He peered down at the dress Adela had been wearing and sighed.

"Well damn." Armon said, as though not even caring as he moved indoors, pinching Sanako's cheek tauntingly as he smirked, "You haven't done anything Sanako, don't worry about it. Adela's just a prick." Poking his head into the kitchen again, and speaking with manners that really didn't equate with his usual carefree and teasing ways, "Sorry to bother you Ella, but I have to borrow some clothes as well. It seems that Stahn is just out to make more trouble for us."

Ella laughed. Seeing as tall and striking a man as Armon in Adela's dress was too much. "R-Reks' clothes might not fit you…" She stood, trying to recover from her bout of laughter, "Ohhh dear. I'll bring out an extra set just in case you guys change back as well." She motioned to Lazarus and Ellianne as she retreated into different bedrooms. Armon followed her into Reks' room, staying put as she left with another set of clothes which she brought into the kitchen and handed to Ellianne. Lazarus sighed, unbuttoning two more clasps on his vest while stopping Ella from going into Alicel's room again.

"Don't worry about it Ella, I doubt Alicel's clothes will fit me if I change back to a girl anyway. These clothes will be fine, Violette is just going to have to live with not looking feminine for a few hours or something." Lazarus said, completing his preparations and turning a page in the newspaper, as though having finally relented to the idea that he was going to be stuck changing back soon anyway.

"Oh," Ella looked up, "That was quick!"

Armon smiled calmly as he walked back into the kitchen, wearing one of Reks' old sleeveless T-shirts that looked as if it had been bleached too many times over and a pair of black denim work jeans that were smeared with random stains from both Reks' hobby of tinkering with Underneath machines and his old job of rescue missions in the mountains. He'd gotten stuck with a pair of hiking boots because all the other shoes were too small, and still, even with the fact that the boots had been huge on Reks' strangely small and agile feet, Armon's toe still bumped into the front every time he walked. Ah, what a pain. He wanted his old clothes back. Pulling on the half-turtleneck collar, Armon thanked Ella and apologized again, "I'm sorry for the trouble, it's incredibly rude of us to ask this much of you."

"It's not a problem at all, they're just hanging in closets and gathering dust," Ella replied quickly.

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

Piper's lungs felt like they'd deflated as he scrambled around the house, trying not to look at the shocked expressions of death on the bloody corpses on the ground. No, no! He tripped over the body of his butler, a man who he'd known for the better part of his life and had been like his second father. The young boy didn't even give the old man a second thought. He wasn't important right now. There would be time to think of him later. There would be time to mourn for him later.

He'd known there was something wrong when nobody had woken him up for the morning meal. He rarely got up on his own, and so there was always a battalion of servants trying to drag him out of bed and get him dressed for the day. But he'd opened his eyes and ears to a deathly silence. Strange in itself, but he'd not questioned it. Perhaps there was an important person here to visit father, and all the servants were busy working to keep things organized. He'd dressed in this complete silence, washing his face and brushing his unruly hair in the quiet. Picking up his book to go and read under the oak tree like he always did, Piper opened the door to his bedroom, only to meet the first thing that hit him like a frying pan across his horrified face. The dead corpse of his butler, a kindly old man whom Piper had known for the better part of his life. Silence?

But a few minutes ago, Piper couldn't find it in him to spare a second thought for the old servant. He was too busy running around, looking for the most important person in his life. She wasn't in her room. Where was she?

"Father!! Where's Evaline-! …" Piper cried as he burst into his Father's room, the sight of the dead body that belonged to his beloved Father, then Evaline underneath him, unconscious, stopping the flow of words as his brain suddenly shut down. "Ev-…" He choked out, his expression that of immeasurable amounts of torment, terror, and disbelief. "Evaline…" His voice cracked, but he realized that he was not the only one conscious in the room. He instinctively dodged a bullet shot, moving aside to earn only a bloody gash across his forehead rather than a complete hole.

Piper crumpled to the floor with an agonized cry of pain, pressing the heel of his palm into the deep cut that splurted blood and flowed steadily into his left eye, blinding his vision as he looked up at the woman who had fired. Damn. He wiped away the blood with wation, moving aside as another shot hit the place where his head had been seconds earlier. He tried to stand, but only succeeded in putting the shot through his stomach, rather than his heart.

What… was going on? Piper crashed into a bookshelf, noticing the weight of the bookshelf on top of him as he lay crushed between the floor pooled with his blood and the heavy furniture piece, the smell of dusty old books all around him. He held on to his conciousness for only a few seconds longer before the blood loss turned his vision black. He needed to save Evaline.

'What an unreliable brother…' He thought in regret.

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

Rasch blinked in surprise at Auricia's excitement. Friend? He didn't understand. He knew what the word meant of course, and what it's meaning to a human was. But he'd never considered anyone a friend before. There were outsiders, and Erik. He'd never really labeled his relationship with his brother the way Auricia had, though he was quite sure it fit the definition. He patted the younger skill on the head without a word and continued walking.
 
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OOC: This is one of those posts that excersizes the PG-16 in the name. Read at your own discretion.

Sanako covered the cheek reddened by Armon's pinching assault with her hand as she wandered back inside. He had called Adela a prick, but didn't that mean he was calling himself a prick? She figured she wouldn't disagree. Even so, nothing really had been resolved. She still didn't know what she had done to upset Adela. It must have been something, rather than the nothing Armon was telling her about. She stood against the frame of the door, watching as Armon mingled with Ella. She stopped watching after a while though, irritated by the thought that he had said very little to her and then moved on to have a full out conversation with that older woman. He always was complaining about Sanako's body, though. Maybe he liked the developed type? Her overall mood took a nosedive, and she wandered back out the door when nobody was watching, before wandering around to the grass outside the front of the house, just before the road, where she sat down, looking ever so depressed.

"Hey, you okay?" Sanako looked up suddenly to meet the face of a person she had never met before. It was the gentle face of a boy who seemed genuinely concerned, his long black hair brushed over his left eye. She had to admit, he was kind of cute. He was tall, probably at about six feet, and he wore a pair of blue jeans and a tight black muscle shirt that kept in view his strong, well toned arms. She stared blankly at him, wondering why he bothered coming off the road to see her. She looked away suddenly, her face slightly red, not exactly sure what to say. "Ah, I apologize. I was just coming back from the next town over, and I saw a cute girl that looked a little sad, so I thought I'd offer my concern." Whoever this guy was, he knew how to use his words right. Unlike with Armon, whom she would have looked away from if he had said such a thing, what this boy said caused her to lock eyes with him. He was gentle, caring, cute...

"I-I-I'm sorry to worry you. I'm just a little distracted, that's all." She replied quietly, not pushing him away as he sat down beside her.

"Boyfriend problems?" He inquired. Was it that obvious? No, such a thing was predictable with teenaged girls. He was guessing. His brown eyes surveyed her with curiosity. He then held out his hand, revealing a red candy wrapped delicately in plastic. She accepted it without a second thought. She really needed a candy right now.

Sanako let out a sigh as she began fiddling with the wrapper, trying to break the candy free of it's plastic prison. "Something like that..." She wouldn't admit to this stranger, as nice as he was, that she was jealous. She finally broke the candy free, and stuck it in her mouth, before she began sucking on it. Mm, cherry.

"That's a shame. You've got a really cute face. It's a waste to see it looking so sad." She didn't notice the smirk on his face when she stuck the candy in her mouth, nor the way he was impatiently looking at his watch, as if he was waiting for a certain time to come. He smiled, and looked up at her. Whatever he was waiting for, it had happened. "Besides..." The boy's cute face grinned creepily as he jumped on top of Sanako, his lefthand reaching up her blouse while his right hand injected something into her left wrist. She wanted to scream to protest, but for some reason she couldn't vocalize any sounds as his left hand felt around in inappropriate places. "That candy can temporarily make anyone mute. Pretty clever, huh? You won't be screaming for help. And what I injected into you..." He leaned his face up close to hers, and licked tears away from her right cheek, causing her to try and flinch away. "...That will prevent you from using any mahstion on me. That helps create the perfect situation for me to have my way with you." Sanako tried again to scream, to call for Armon, for anyone, but no words came out. She could only try and struggle as he lifted her up by the right wrist violently. The struggling stopped abruptly as the boy smacked her hard with the back of his hand, leaving her in a state that was barely conscious. With that done, he took his leave.

Unluckily for him, someone had been watching the happenings from behind a bush, and the young boy ran up and into Ella's house without a second thought, coming across the strange group of people in the kitchen. "Miss Ella! Miss Ella!" The boy, Fremal, and twelve years of age exclaimed. He was obviously panicked. "A girl out front was just abducted by someone! I think it's that guy who's been kidnapping, raping, and then killing the girls that have been turning up in the stream downtown!" Rod couldn't help but think this kid knew some interesting words for his age. Ellianne on the other hand, found this more alarming.

"We're all here, right? So it isn't our problem." Rod remarked coldly. They didn't really have the time to waste with some random girl. He glanced strangely over at Ellianne, who was looking out the back door worriedly. "Something wrong, Ellianne?"

"...Sanako isn't here..."

"...****..."

---

"Hey, you two?" Ashton asked Rasch and Dieter after deciding to take a break at the edge of town. He looked quite irritated. "Auricia was behind you, right? ...Where is she now?" He knew that should would never, NEVER leave his side without telling him where she was going. This was a problem.

---

Sanako finally came to in a room that smelled of blood and other, disgusting things. A familiar creaking along with the trickling sound of water outside lead her to believe that she was in a building alongside a waterwheel, most likely close to town. She tried to cover her nose, but found she was tied to a large wooden bed with extremely thick rope. She had been stripped down to her underwear, and her wrists and ankles were red with blood from the rope rubbing against them. To make things worse, the sheets, which she assumed where once white, were all stained red with blood as well. In fact, even the walls were splattered with the stuff. She grimaced. What the hell was this place!? "I see you're awake." That familiar voice from before chimed. She tried to use wionus, but nothing came of it. She couldn't even contact Mistral! What the hell had he injected her with exactly? The boy from before stepped out of the shadows, holding a meat cleaver that was stained with blood.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Sanako shouted. She had gotten her voice back, at least. "LET ME GO YOU SICK SON OF A-" She stopped midbreath. The cleaver was held up to her throat so that even one false move would end her life. The boy tore some of the bloody sheets from the bed and gagged her with them. The taste of blood filling her mouth. He tore the cleaver away as the door opened, leaving her with a minor cut on her neck. Another boy came into the room, looking exactly like the other, aside from the large sack he dragged behind him. They were twins?

"So? Did you get a good one?"

"I'll say, check this out." The new boy pulled the string off the sack, allowing for the material to fall away from the contents. Sanako's eyes grew wide as she saw that the contents were an unconscious Auricia, bruised and beaten badly. She hated blood, right? There's no way she'd last even if she woke up in this place... Her train of thought was interrupted as the first boy came back, bent over her stomach, and licked it. She couldn't protest, but only make grunts from beneath the bloodied gag as his tongue ran up and down her flesh, as his hand worked it's way towards her chest again. She cried. It was all she could do. And then the worst of it came as the meat cleaver found it's way INTO her stomach. She stared down in absolute pain and shock as he used it to peel the flesh from her body.
 
Ella jumped up, "Fremal, it's not safe to be out here now, we'll take care of the girl, you stay put while I call your father to come take you home. What if they knew you'd seen? Don't be so reckless!" She ushered him into the living room and pulled the shades while Lazarus stood up in alarm, stopping them as he tossed his newspaper aside.

"Kid! Which direction did they go?" Lazarus grabbed hold of Fremal's shoulder, interrogating him urgently, "Did you see??"

Rape….? Armon's face registered plain disbelief as he rushed from checking the front patio to the back. The kid was lying. He was definitely lying. Armon stood outside of the back door, grabbing the back of a patio chair to support himself. The kid wasn't lying…. Shoot. What the heck was Stahn thinking, switching them early? He would shoot his head off when they got back. He really would. If Sanako had still been Reid, this wouldn't have happened. He turned back in doors, to find that Rod had already used his abilities as a skill to smell out their trail. Damn it!

"Ellianne, you have to stay here." Lazarus was insisting, "If you go, something could happen to you too. Stay here." He repeated, gripping her shoulders as though to finalize his request, before turning to catch up with Rod. The fact that he could turn back into Violette at any second hardly crossed his mind.

Armon grit his teeth as he hurried to catch up with the others, grabbing Lazarus' wrist and throwing him back to where Ellianne was, "And your female form is perfect material for creeps! Stay put, I already have enough to worry about, and I'm not adding you to it!" He slammed the door behind him, catching up with Rod after sliding into a Dation warp and popping up right beside the skill, who ran considerably faster than Armon. He couldn't think of anything to say. What could he say? He should've dragged Sanako in with him. Worrying, he told her he would. But it wasn't enough, just worrying. He picked up his pace, though even at his fastest he still trailed behind Rod. Damn, he should've never let her out of his sight. Damn. Damn. Damn!!

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

"Auri-…" Dieter turned around and blinked. Auricia?

Rasch frowned and furrowed his brow, 'She was indeed right beside us but moments ago. Perhaps we were separated in the crowd?'

"Last week, you know the Edwin girl that disappeared?" Dieter looked up, tuning in on the conversation between two women on the other side of the village while also glancing at Rasch to do the same. The two skills listened with heightening dread, "She showed up in the river just earlier. Dead. The doctor said she was raped."

"But she was such a fighter!" The other woman insisted, "She could use mahstion and she was perfectly healthy."

"She had strange toxins running in her system, I heard."

Dieter stopped listening, smelling the air for the familiar scent of Auricia, "I smell her." Rasch nodded in agreement, his face relaxing for a split second before a new smell caused his face and Dieter's to contort.

"I don't recognize this smell." Dieter stated in escalating fury, "It smells human." He glanced at Rasch who closed his eyes, "Like blood, and women." He frowned, "God damn humans. The hell are you doing to a skill?!" Dieter grabbed his wrist and was just about to rip off his hand before gritting his teeth. He wasn't allowed to do that here. But this was-… Dieter clenched his fist in frustration before running off at an irritatingly slow human pace, grabbing Tappen's collar as Rasch followed. The scent was faded, what with the mingled humans everywhere. Not everyone smelled like blood, but women smelled like women, and humans smelled like humans. It was hard to pick out Auricia's scent in the middle of it all. Rasch's cane pressed across Dieter's chest lightly as he took the lead. He could distinguish the smell of blood and humans more easily than Dieter, who had never been forced to be in such a crowded place. The old man nodded towards Tappen, whom Dieter was pulling along.

"Auricia's been kidnapped by psycho human rapist." Dieter explained bluntly, before they swerved out of town. Once safely out of civilian sights, the black, dead-looking wings that were littered with holes on Rasch's back opened, and with one great beat of his wings, he was thrust forward, closely followed by Dieter who had Tappen on the back of his skyboard.

"Rasch!"

The elderly man nodded. He could smell it too. There was another scent that he'd smelled before, not just Auricia. But if Dieter knew it as well as he, then who was it? A recent smell, for sure. One of the other girls that were meant to be training?

"Tappen, I'll take care of the filthy humans," Dieter barked as he turned up the acceleration on his skyboard, catching up with Rasch, "You and Rasch grab Auricia. I can smell her blood, it's everywhe-" Rasch smothered his nose and mouth with his gloved hand at the sudden smell of blood that washed over them. Dieter looked up, completely used to this smell, "That's not Auricia. That's the smell from yesterday morning, Rasch. Wouldn't that be the bubblegum girl, then? One of those shard people, right?"

Rasch sped up, but soon let Dieter overtake him as the boy hopped off the skyboard, leaving it to Tappen's control as he propelled himself toward the cabin hidden under the shade of trees. Screw trees. Dieter could smell them as though they were right in front of him. He smelled something else. The Lieutenant. A skill? That Rod person they'd been talking about earlier.

"You-!" Armon's voice came, but Dieter gave him only a glance before grinning. Switch. Dieter burst into the cabin.

"BYE-BYE, FILTHY HUMANS!" He yelled, half in glee at being able to kill someone after so long, and half in fury at the insult they'd given to a skill. Unlike usual, Dieter spent no time talking, immediately grabbing the twin closest to Auricia and thrusting him up against the wall of the cabin, "YOU LIKE FUN, RIGHT?! THAT'S WHY YOU HAD THE NERVE TO EVEN TOUCH AURICIA, RIGHT?" Dieter screamed, crushing the human's stomach between the wall and his foot, for lack of having his other hand to pin him against the wall. The human coughed blood up, splattering the crimson across Dieter's face as the skill licked it off his chin and spat it back in the dark haired boy's eye, "Yeah…?" He whispered with a smirk as he leaned down to see the dying expression that was different for everyone he killed, "You like fun? WELL SO DO I! YOU'RE DEAD!!"

He cackled as he ripped the human's head clean off, the same way he ripped his hands off like it was nothing, just in time for Rasch and Tappen to pull Auricia out of the bloody building before she woke up.

"AND YOU'RE THE OTHER ONE, RIGHT?!" Dieter turned as the remaining twin put the machete right through his stomach, Dieter's blood spurting across the ground. The skill pulled his sunglasses off very calmly. He didn't care about a sword that missed his heart by a mile. Dieter stuck his tongue out and ripped his eyepatch off, "GO TO HELL!!" He shrieked, blood flooding out of his once covered eye and propelling at the human with such speed that it put four holes in his body: One point blank, one through his heart, another through his stomach, and the last through his neck.

Dieter carefully draped his hair over his eye before turning to look at the male version of the Lieutenant, who had cut the bubblegum girl's ropes with Dation.

"Sanako!" Armon said desperately, "Sanako!!"

Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Dieter stepped over the dead body of one of the humans.

"Tch. Rasch!" Dieter called as the old man stepped back inside to heal the wounds Dieter had sustained, "The get the human, my injuries won't kill me."

Rasch glanced at Sanako, who's entire abdomen looked destroyed. He put his hand lightly on Armon's shoulder for a moment before engulfing Sanako in blinding Lionus.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I wasn't there Sanako… I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." Armon said, over and over again, holding her delicately while trying to brush away his tears, "I'm sorry…"



OoC: It's really messy, I know. D: Really sorry, but I had to speed finish it because of my mom. Hope I didn't go further than you wanted me to, I just think it would be right to have Dieter half-slaughter them and not finish...? xD;
 
Sanako's eyes were wide with shock as the entire scene unfolded before her. Have her stomach dug up, the others coming to her rescue, Dieter absolutely slaughtering the two captors. It all passed over her wide, shocked eyes. No more. She couldn't take any more. "Armon..." She brought her left hand up to the shirt by his neck and gripped it tightly. She wanted to die. Life wasn't fair. Why live? She was going to die anyways, wasn't she? Why not just die now? She wanted to just tell Armon to stop Rasch from healing her, to just let her die, but instead she ended up burying her face in his shirt, crying. "...I don't want to be alone anymore. Please, don't leave me ever again! I want to be with you! I LOVE YOU! Don't leave me again!" She screamed into the shirt, and it came out muffled, yet understandable. "I've had enough! Why is all of this happening to me all of a sudden!? What did I do!? Why do I have to live the last of my life with these hellish events!? If this is what it's going to be like, I should just die now!"

"...Ashton?" Auricia mumbled as she finally came to. She found herself looking up at his face for only a moment before she sat up and threw up to the side. She... wreaked of blood. Everything wreaked of blood. She threw up again. "...What happened? The last I remember, I was walking with you guys, and then I think I was hit with something..." She was crying, unconsciously, at the thought of worrying everyone. Whatever she did, she hadn't meant to.

Ashton sighed as he brought her up to his knelt down level and hugged her. What kind of bastards would do such a thing. To Auricia, to anyone? They deserved what they got in the end. "I'm sorry... I didn't even notice you were gone... And then... DAMMIT." He threw his fist down at the ground. In the end, he wasn't even the one who saved her. "I'm usel-" He was cut off by Auricia's lips locking with his. They tasted of regurgitation, but he didn't let go until she did.

"...Don't be an idiot. I was careless. Besides, I'd love you even if you killed me. Because it would have had to of been for a good cause, since you're just that type of person." She smiled at him meekly, and they embraced again, just as the bloodstained buildings went ablaze at Rod's hand.

Tsukasa scoffed at the Armon + Sanako and Ashton + Auricia moments. He was surrounded by ill-fated, naive couples it seemed. What was love, really? A few words that meant nothing. A few words meant to deceive until one day the user of those words turns around and kills the other. That's what love was to Tsukasa. That's what love was to his mother. "Something wrong?" Rod inquired, his back turned to Tsukasa's as the fire raged behind them. When he received no response, he decided it best to walk away. "Don't blind yourself, kid. That's the reason I'm a skill." Tsukasa scoffed again.

"Sanako, are you okay!?" Christian inquired after appearing out of seemingly nowhere. Ellianne had changed back shortly after the others left, and Christian had quickly left in pursuit after donning a pair of jeans and a white blouse. The girl finally brought her head out from it's buried location amidst Armon's shirt, and looked at the source of the the voice with bloodshot, wet eyes. Christian reached out to touch her, but found himself repelled by her words.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! ONLY ARMON CAN TOUCH ME! GUYS ARE... GUYS ARE... Guys are... guys are..." She buried her head in Armon's shirt again, crying. Christian was completely taken by surprise, and backed off hesitantly, his heart shattered at what this event had done to her - to Reid. Psychologically traumatizing events often had these kinds of effects, but what would happen the next time she was Reid? Be scared of herself? Hopefully they could help her recover before then.
 
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