Chloe took the items from the serving girl, listening to Maria's explanation, and seeming to completely ignore Eponine's outburst. In truth, she was now more interested in the mental state of the uptight girl than the political proceedings happening in front of her, but it wasn't the right time to shift topics. It seems like her terms had been accepted after all. It was a bit of a relief that she was even still alive. Maria wasn't happy. Eponine wasn't happy. Chloe was on the fence, as usual. She'd fight against Alexandra and her law enforcement. She'd give this info to Oscar back at the safehouse. As much as it made Chloe happy to knock down buildings by herself, there was too much work to do. Work better suited to humans and their bombs.

"Cooperation really is something, huh?" Chloe remarked casually, as though she was coming across some kind of revelation. Ever terrible at reading a room, she was back to her usual casual demeanor. "My name... your knight's got the priveledge of that info already... but it's Chloe. Chloe Hartmann." She scratched her head lightly with a huge steel finger. "Dunno if maybe you're overstating my accomplishments there, but whatever floats your boat. Good to be working with you. I look forward to the day you try to bump me off. Might just be the best day of my life, heh." Just a little gallows humor as she stood staring past such a dangerous situation. "I hope we can get along until then. Though I guess maybe that's just in the definition."

There was a moment where Maria was starting to lose her cool and turn uneasy, feeling like she has lost control of the situation. However, the moment Eponine defended her Maria once again felt relaxed and reassured. She definitely needed to consult the recent turn of events with her once the rogue left, not only to secure her loyalty, but also to clear her own feelings on the matter. Though she had planned for this to happen, having it actually happen is a completely different thing, and something she also needed to cope with.

"Cooperation really is something, huh?" Chloe remarked casually, as though she was coming across some kind of revelation. Ever terrible at reading a room, she was back to her usual casual demeanor. "My name... your knight's got the priveledge of that info already... but it's Chloe. Chloe Hartmann." She scratched her head lightly with a huge steel finger. "Dunno if maybe you're overstating my accomplishments there, but whatever floats your boat. Good to be working with you. I look forward to the day you try to bump me off. Might just be the best day of my life, heh." Just a little gallows humor as she stood staring past such a dangerous situation. "I hope we can get along until then. Though I guess maybe that's just in the definition."

Feeling like the situation was in her grasp again, Maria returned back to her cheery self, like her previous episode was just a dream. For a moment, she thought of rewarding Chloe with a chance to leave the city once she has become queen, but knew that it would be pointless, and there was nothing she could do to avert their eventual confrontation. She smiled.

"Chloe Hartmann...let's do our best together." She then turned around on her wheelchair, not wanting to see her face for a moment longer. "You may now leave," she said, and made a call to confirm that order to the guards at the gate outside.

Chloe nodded. Their business was finally concluded. She didn't say another word, smart enough to realize that was probably the best course of action in the tense room. Her self-defense instinct told her than any wasted words might chip away at her life. Instead, she turned and left the room, leaving the other two magi alone to discuss what would surely be some sort of plot. But that, as she had told Maria, was not any of Chloe's business. She knew these political types enough to know they were never trustworthy, but Chloe herself was just as bad, if not worse. Chloe had never met a predictable magical girl.

The guards at the gate had been told of her arrival, and she waved jovially to a few who were standing stiff, their fingers on the triggers of their guns. Now free and uncaring as she was of being followed, she reverted back to human form and grasped her soul gem tightly in her hands. She would need a grief seed, and soon. But for now, she had a delivery to make.

Knocking on the door of the safehouse she had so recently left, she forced her way in the door after giving all the proper safe words and planted the items she had received on the table.

"Brought you a gift, to solidify a new friendship. Up for a little sabotage?"

@SevenStormStyle

Kyubey didn't react as Yume calmed down from her anger, his purpose essentially accomplished by that. While he was busy, as were his brethren, the means and methods were still in place to harvest despair from this world. The Incubators shepherded along magical girls to their inevitable fate and they became Witches, as they had for so long. One might wonder why Yume had no inquired as to the exact reason for her friends fall to despair, but Kyubey would not complain.

It is no problem, he replied calmly from where he was. I had nothing immediately pressing to deal with. Thus consoled, he would wander off as she turned to address the man watching her, vanishing back into the shadows from which he had come from.

---

@Krauxis

Oscar looked back up as Chloe returned, surprise evident on his face as she entered the safehouse. "Welcome back. I'll be honest, I didn't think you'd come back, much less in one piece." He'd known that there hadn't been a fight, since a full on battle between magical girls would have been a relatively hard thing to miss if not in the confines of a Witches Barrier, but there was no way for him to know of the deal she had struck. As far as he was concerned, she was either very lucky, or very crazy. Or both.

He picked up the flash drive after giving the cell phone a look, examining it for a moment before moving over to a nearby laptop. "I'm just not going to ask where you got this," he said without looking back as he booted the thing up. If it was a trap, they would not be caught unawares and ratted out. But as Chloe knew, it was not a trap, which would be the better for them all.

That would become apparent as he opened the first file and practically froze, simply stuck reading what was there before him. "Okay then, if this is legitimate then I'm definitely not going to ask where you got it from. But my apologies for doubting you. This is going to be very helpful. If it was legitimate. But only time would tell that.

"My name... your knight's got the priveledge of that info already... but it's Chloe. Chloe Hartmann." She scratched her head lightly with a huge steel finger.

After Chloe left, those words burned inside Eponine's mind. Eponine would have let Chloe go if she had simply given her name, but if Chloe had told Maria to ask Eponine for it, Eponine would have punished her for her insolence. Chloe had instead skirted between the two options, fulfilling the option of introducing herself, while simultaneously demonstrating extreme rudeness. Eponine couldn't let it go, but by her own logic, had to. Her grip tightened on her hammer, but once Chloe was far enough away, Epoinine released her pent up rage and threw her hammer. It swung around vertically several times as it traveled across the hall, its head smashing into the wall next to the door Chloe had left by, causing the room to shake slightly. The head of the hammer was embedded into the stone wall, its handle sticking out at an odd angle amid the cloud of powdered stone. Eponine took deep, slow breaths as she disabled her magical girl form, transforming back into her original clothes and causing the hammer to disintegrate. With the hammer no longer taking up space, a few bricks fell out, crumbling to the floor.

Eponine turned back to Maria and knelt. "I apologize for the property damage I have caused. Please allow me to atone for this transgression by letting me pay for the repairs, and to receive any additional punishment you deem necessary." Eponine looked up at Maria, blood trickling down from the corners of her mouth.

While Maria did expect some kind of reactionary action or word from Eponine once the rogue left, she didn't expect that. She must have also kept a pent up anger inside her during the entire duration of the meeting, which was understandable given her newly-met acquaintance. While in a normal situation she would have scolded her of acting so violently inside the house and demanded she would go hunt some witch seeds or otherwise recompense, there was a more pressing subject at hand. Besides, she was also close to throwing her tea cup at the wall at some parts of the conversation.

Eponine turned back to Maria and knelt. "I apologize for the property damage I have caused. Please allow me to atone for this transgression by letting me pay for the repairs, and to receive any additional punishment you deem necessary." Eponine looked up at Maria, blood trickling down from the corners of her mouth.

Did she bite her tongue? She is not as devoid of emotion as I assumed of her, then.

"I will be lenient this time and forgive you for your act of transgression," Maria said. At this point, she didn't mind if the entire mansion crumbled, since she would be moving up into a much better building soon.
"But there is something that troubles you. Could it be related to the discussion I had with the rogue? You seemed uncomfortable during it."

"Your clemency is more than I deserve," Eponine replied. When Maria asked what was troubling her, Eponine looked away for a bit, then looked back, "My lady spoke of rebelling against the queen and conspiring with Shadow Compact. With all due respect, that is an act of treason. Ever since you took me on as your knight, I have served you and Aurora with utmost loyalty to preserve our fragile peace and the rule of law. Given your position ad rule, I never suspected you would harbor such thoughts. I am...conflicted. To you I owe much, but how much of what I owe you do I also owe to Aurora and the order it symbolizes?"

Maria's voice turned pleasing and comforting as she spoke.

"Oh Eponine, I understand how you feel," she said, and with her magic, slowly rose into the the air from her wheelchair. She floated slowly towards Eponine and then around her like an angel without wings. " But I must take this drastic measure to preserve peace in Aurora. Alexandra is too vacuous to rule her. She simply twiddles her thumbs and acts like a figurehead while the neighboring cities and nations gain in warriors and land, ultimately bringing war and suffering to Aurora and its people too. Were I to become queen, I would bring order to Aurora and all of those lands, until the entire world is in eternal peace and rest.

She now stopped and caressed her cheek as she floated before her. "Don't you remember the dream we had, my dear Eponine?" She then whispered into her ear:

"A world of absolute order. We can achieve that, you need only to believe in me and we will have it, together."

Something clicked in Alice's mind telling her to stop what she was doing. Her head started to hurt a bit but Alice pretended it was nothing so that Violetta did not notice it. She was about ready to activate her scythe when the pain started getting worst. She moved her hand away from her necklace and the pain started to subside.
Just what was that? It was like...I was trying to stop myself. That's right. This can be solved peacefully. All I need to do is lead her to that abandoned lab. If anything happens, then I will activate scythe...yes, I will do that

Alice took a deep breath in and let it out to calm herself down. If I had activated my scythe, it would to a battle which can be avoided. There was no need for pointless violence. Alice recalled her dislike for pointless violence and scolded herself for giving in too early to her thirst for battle. However, she would just remain transformed in case she needed to bail quickly as she knew Violetta was probably not alone and her allies could just come rushing in with just a call from her cellphone. Alice then giggled at the other girl for admitting herself being a dog of the Authority. The other girl had a sense of humour...maybe there was no need for a fight...maybe. Alice then crossed her arms.

"Since I'm a such a good citizen, I will help you fulfil your role as a government dog by leading you to something I found some days ago. It was something I never seen before. The place was deserted when I found it so I'm not sure if its what you are looking for. Follow me if you want to check it for yourself."

Alice then jumped onto a building roof. She looked down at Violetta.
"We will take the scenic route aka jumping over rooftops."
She then went on her way to the place she found the lab.

@TrixyTrix

Well. That was anticlimactic. Violetta had something on the order of fifteen battle plans and was already working on the sixteenth, most of which involved abusing her powers for fun and profit and stalling until her reinforcements arrived. But to win without fighting was the greatest victory, and the girl had decided to come quietly, after all. What was the term again? "Help the Valkyries with their inquiries?" Violetta idly scratched at herself with the tip of her flamethrower, and took a few leaps up the building. The concrete bent and left footprints for her as she passed by it. If she'd wanted to, and didn't care about leaving a trail, she could've walked up the wall. But she took leaps up, perching on windowsills and glazing bars, careful not to use too much of the supernatural power that fueled most magical girls.

Up above, the air was smoky, and almost dingier then the floor. A billion fumes and gases leaked out here, before mixing in with the wind and drifting somewhere far away where they could cause some other natural disaster. She dismissed her weapon, out of fear that it might start a chemical fire, and turned to her companion. For now, she seemed... Accepting. She'd guessed that the whole "anti-authoritarian" palaver had worked. The only girls who survived for long were lone wolves, and people like that were easier to manipulate. All you needed to do was convince them that what you wanted them to do was somehow hurting da man. Even if da man said that, they bought it. And in this case, da man was one Crown princess Alexandria Hertz.

"Well?" She began, once she'd caught up. "Lead the way, Missus...?"

@The book of bad juju

Alice nodded and led the way.She had purposely chosen the 'jumping on rooftops' route as it would take a longer time to get to the site. She would get there faster on the ground since she was familiar with the roads and knew certain short cuts. However, she wanted to talk to Violetta and Alice knew once the both of them reached the site, Violetta would be too busy snooping around to have a decent talk. The talk they had before could not be considered as one since it was more like a showdown with words which could have escalated to fight. While still jumping and running along the building rooftops, Alice turned to the blonde girl.

"So...what's your story, Violetta? Why are you with the Authority and a magical girl?"

It was just a simple question to start the conversation. Eventually, Alice would ask Violetta a question related to her true goal of co-existence. She needed to see if the other girl would at least open up a little so she could guess where she stood. If Violetta was opposed to the idea of co-existing with the normals, then Alice would have to decide to finish her off or not at the lab. However, Alice would rather not resort to that.

"Sorry, if I suddenly asked. It's just been a while since I met another magical girl....you know...yeah."

@TrixyTrix

Half a dozen alarm bells went off in Violetta's head as the other girl chose that moment on the rooftops to start a conversation. It would've been so much easier to use the streets, where the wind didn't get in your ears and make you miss half the conversation. Why had she decided to talk then? Was this a trap? There was no real way out of it, she realized, without talking about herself. And she wanted to avoid that at all costs, but the alternative was offending a teenage girl whose petty doubts and worries were amplified with alien science from the far future. Whatever happened wouldn't be solved with a heart-to-heart on the opposite sides of a bathroom stall, not here. But between the devil and the deep blue sea, the only real option she had was to be as vague as possible. She stepped on an old brick chimmeny, on the face of it to gather her thoughts, and pushed away again.

"My parents died when I was pretty young, around when I contracted." That seemed vague enough. No reason to tell her the whole truth, after all. "And they always said I had relatives in Germany. After that, I just kinda tried to find myself, y'know?" With any luck, she didn't. "And then I got something useful where I can be ignored 'till I fall into despair."

She paused, circling an old antenna dish, and went on.

"What about you, mystery girl? You haven't even told me who you are. The authority might even have a file on you."

Chloe shrugged at the man's apology. "Nah, I'd doubt me too. You were in the right. But my stance hasn't changed. You guys can do you and I'll do me, and as long as our goals are the same, we'll make strides together." Was she just bashful? In truth, things like compliments and apologies didn't sit well with her. She had been reviled her whole life, after all. Sudden changes in tone like this caught her off guard.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted. I'll be off again. If my contact needs your help, I'll be in touch again, but I'm sure y'all can handle yourselves with that information. I look forward to seeing some fireworks before long. Good luck, fellas."

With a brief wave, Chloe threw her headphones back on, streaming sound into her brain with great force, and drowning out the world around her as she left. She was tired from the day's events so far, but at the same time, it wasn't like she had any particular place to go. The 'home' she had set up was quite a ways away, and it wasn't much more than an abandoned, bloodstained warehouse in the first place. When it came to sleep, anywhere would do. She knew of a park nearby that had a few trees; if nobody was around, that would do nicely. The weather was clear enough, for now at least.

After some time walking, however, she was disappointed to see that somebody was, in fact, there. Making a disappointed noise under her breath, she was about to turn away, but something about this girl caught her eye. And the smell around her was unmistakeable. There had been a witch around here, and this was a Magical Girl. Chloe had had just about enough of her own ilk for one day, but something inside her head demanded she engage this girl. It was an impulse that would not have made sense or had any purchase with anybody else, but to Chloe, this was just the natural order.

"Hullo miss. I couldn't help but notice you sitting there all by your lonesome. You'll get eaten up by witches if you stay out too late, you know."

Maria's voice turned pleasing and comforting as she spoke.

"Oh Eponine, I understand how you feel," she said, and with her magic, slowly rose into the the air from her wheelchair. She floated slowly towards Eponine and then around her like an angel without wings. " But I must take this drastic measure to preserve peace in Aurora. Alexandra is too vacuous to rule her. She simply twiddles her thumbs and acts like a figurehead while the neighboring cities and nations gain in warriors and land, ultimately bringing war and suffering to Aurora and its people too. Were I to become queen, I would bring order to Aurora and all of those lands, until the entire world is in eternal peace and rest.

She now stopped and caressed her cheek as she floated before her. "Don't you remember the dream we had, my dear Eponine?" She then whispered into her ear:

"A world of absolute order. We can achieve that, you need only to believe in me and we will have it, together."

"I-I thought we would work within the system, that we would support the structure of Aurora until it was ready to expand..." Eponine said, clearly losing her composure. But then the question struck her, "When would Aurora be ready to expand? Hadn't things already stabilized enough to widen the city's ambitions?" At the rate the city was going, it would choke itself out in a slow death.

"But the world, Maria?" Eponine asked, addressing her without the usual title of 'lady', signifying a certain degree of intimacy as well as a temporary collapse of her emotional barrier. "I had begun to lose hope. I...I thought that it would never happen, given how slowly this city does anything. I thought...that you were comfortable...so I thought that maybe...maybe you didn't want it anymore...and I would be fine with that...maybe I just had to protect you and Fantine...make sure that your lives were comfortable...maybe I would be satisfied with that." Then she thought of Chloe, and realized that the fact such a person could exist was evidence enough that the world, not just Aurora, needed order. "Alexandra has truly failed us...hasn't she?" Eponine asked with a certain grim finality.

@Stern Algorithm

"Indeed she has," Maria answered with certainty. "But soon she will pay for her crimes, and we will start an eternal age of prosperity."

She landed back on her wheelchair. "But I can't do it without you, Eponine. Aurora needs us. The world needs us." She held her hand towards her.

"Take my hand, and let's make our dream come true."

@The book of bad juju

A vague answer...well that is to be expected. No way she was going to give one whole sob story of her life to someone she just met and did not trust. When Violetta asked the question back at her, Alice did not give her an immediate answer.

I still have not given her name...and I intend to keep it that way. I don't doubt the Authority may have a file on me even though I'm the type who do not really stand out since I usually would corner a target alone and kill her without anybody witnessing the deed. Its best if I give her false information since if they really do have a file on me, they may trace any living relatives I may have. Since, I am not with the Authority, they may force me to join them using those relatives as hostages. Even if I am in the Authority, I would have follow the rules they set. They was no way I was going to follow those rules or becoming some other magical girl's dog like this girl.

Alice stopped running, placing her hands behind her and turned to Violetta with a sad smile on her face. Well at least I should tell her some kind of sad story...and hopefully she would be satisfied with it.
"Me? There is nothing special about me really. I'm just an orphan trying to survive in this new world. My whole family died due to an accident when I was young and left me all alone. I have been wandering around doing my own thing ever since."
Alice then looked over at the dull horizon of the industrial sector. She did not want to ask the question so soon but it would better if she just get it out of the way. She wanted to know where Violetta stood in all this. The other girl may be from the Authority but also must have her own opinions. Alice then turned back to Violetta still having a sad expression on her face.

"Say...Violetta, what do you think of the state of Aurora right now?"

@TrixyTrix

Violetta's eyes narrowed, trying to pick at the story for any glimmer of the truth. Special? That was self-depreciation, but it was an interesting choice of words. She thought herself as "Special", that might be important enough to keep in mind later. She was an orphan. Well, who wasn't, in this day and age? Her parents died in an accident, slightly suspicious but not worth investigating over. She'd paused before giving her vague story. Almost as if she was going to before something stopped her. So, not good at the lying game. That line didn't sound prepared, either. If she had a lie prepared, it would've sounded like it came from a cue card, not from the heart, like this. The girl just sounded like there were things in her life she didn't want brought up.

So, what could she draw from that? This girl was simple, kept to herself and was clever enough not to let things slip. That meant she was hiding something, and was taking waaay too much care not to let it slip. She thought herself God's Gift to something, but to what? The state? Did she fancy herself queen? Actually, that wasn't all too bad an idea. Now she came to think about it, the girl definately had a smidge of the local accent about her. She smiled, just for a moment, and lept off another building. Bingo.

"The state? Personally i'll be happy once we give it back it's proper name of Germany. Why, what about you?"

@The book of bad juju
Alice just stared at Violetta for a moment then she chuckled.
"Personally, I find Aurora a much nicer name. Germany sounds dull by comparison now."
That was the truth. Alice found the name indeed much nicer to hear and say but nothing about the country resembles one. The country just was not fit for such a name which was used for a beautiful phenomenon akin to a spectacular light show. However, that was not the issue here and not the answer Alice was expecting from Violetta.

Maybe she did not understand my question.Is she really fine with the current state of affairs with the Authority and resistance fighting each other daily? Is she fine with the magical girls fighting with each other even over petty things? Or is she the type not to think too much and just follow orders from the top? Is she really okay with that?

Alice leapt off the building and stopped again.
"Chaotic..." Alice needed to be careful not to be too antagonistic to the Authority or revealed her desire for co-existence. "Witches and petty territorial disputes are bad enough. Moreover, we have two sides fighting for god know's how long. Things don't seem to be changing any time soon. If only someone would just step up and do something..."
Alice realized what she was just saying and stopped herself. She quickly turned to Violetta and started to panic like a teenage girl who just revealed some dirty secret.
"I-its not like I want to be that 'someone'. I mean, I'm just one of the people caught up in all this like many others and just wished someone would just save us. I just want some peace..."
A tear trickled down Alice's cheek. She just partly talked with her heart after all. She quickly wiped the tear and laughed.
"Hehe...silly me. I don't know why I'm talking to you about this. We should continue on...we are almost there."

Alice did not realize she would actually cry. She only meant to come off to Violetta as a friendly magical girl who was not an enemy.
I really suck at this...I really hope Violetta does not start to prepare to take me down...

@TrixyTrix

Violetta glared. Behind her eyes, a thousand voices clamoured out in sheer mindless rage, and they were all her voice, and they were buzzing like a swarm of bees. "Traitor!" called out one. "Liar!" said another. "Theif! Infidel! Pre-cinder! Degenerate! HUMAN ROAST!"

She reined it in, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. She could burn the lying twisty purple fiend into a pile of ash somewhere where she wouldn't be a problem, like in this lab she was meant to investigate. Or something. It was getting hard to think, with all the little bits of yourself that usually did the thinking screaming bloody murder. It was worse, because she agreed with them. Labs! Think about labs. White coats. Chemicals. Test tubes. Acids that would tear faces away as little girls screamed in terror, curling up into balls like cockroaches leaving nothing behind but wisps of white smoke and a convenient little grief seed she could suck the soul out of. Violetta tried her best to stay calm as she jumped from parapet to parapet, but surely her companion must've noticed something by now?

No, it seemed like she was still talking. Violetta just managed to hide her true feelings as she turned and flapped on about something relatively unimportant, in her eyes. She nodded, and tried to seem empathic, even making a half-hearted "There there" as the tears began to flow. Not that a german-hating fiend like the girl in mauve had any real feelings, Violetta privately observed, but it was good to keep up appearances. Thank god she hadn't asked her a question, otherwise she'd looked like a real fool. But the girl seemed to have just told her some mundane secret about herself. It couldnt've been too important, and anyway, the dead didn't tell tales.