[hr]ATTN: [@PaulHaynek], [@The Irish Tree] (Eula/Liliana), & [@Rezod92] (Kerry)[hr][hider=Once Burned, Twice Shy][color=976f29][i]How had things gotten so out of hand?[/i][/color] Alice scrambled to keep up with events; dodging and weaving the primal artillery fire, as the Legionnaire escaped to greener pastures. [color=976f29][i]I started this... I did... I know I did...[/i][/color] Alice squeezed down on her temples, as she flashed back to that first fight... [color=976f29][i]I was winning. Why did I retreat? The prisoners I took, what happened to them?[/i][/color] Narrowly, Alice avoided a rock by pushing her body to the highest Tempo, and flash-stepping. [color=976f29][i]It was my quest. Gringor stole it. He made everyone aware. I was too slow...[/i][/color] Alice didn't realize everyone was running behind Takeshi. [color=976f29][i]Now, he's taken it! Taken it from me! My party is ruined! Everyone keeps taking things from me, smiling at me, acting like it's okay! [b]It's not okay![/b][/i][/color] Alice gasped, as lightning struck and a new war broke out. [color=976f29][i]I started this... I did...[/i][/color] Alice stared at the flames, as they spread, and the army that stood before her. Neither was she weak nor strong, just flammable and afraid... outgunned against the elements of fire that spread further and further, closer and closer... [i]Pyrophobia.[/i] It wasn't uncommon in Plant and Water Mamono. Normally, it manifests as aggressive discomfort, and could be, with time, brought to heel, like any fear. However, Alice had blood on her hands associated with that primal fear; lives lost to the fire that nearly claimed her. A kingdom burned to purge the Mamono ruler. Humans would never change. If she didn't kill them all, they would kill her in turn, and gladly. But, she couldn't. She was trying to be better, do better, live better for her unborn child. But, she couldn't stay here. It was too much. Alice raised Carroll level, and transformed into Dinah - however, she would stow her scythe across her back, and move in a blur, as she silently snatched up Kerry and Eula with her right and left arms, respectively, and Liliana with her twinned ahoge. Among the assembled, they were the only ones that mattered to the component parts of the Demi-Lilim. Among the Taskforce, they were the only ones that mattered. [center][i]If everyone else died, she would, at least, have protected what was hers.[/i][/center] That's what she did. That's the kind of Queen she was. After nine-hundred, ninety-nine years of living, loving, and losing... [i][b]she wouldn't stress over meaningless deaths anymore.[/b][/i] For now, her objective was to return to Teruachi Temple, and use the teleporter to send herself and those she cared for far away; more than willing to kill anyone that stood in her path... [center][color=5d7947][i][b]I'm not losing another Kingdom...[/b][/i][/color][/center][/hider][hr][hider=A Right, Proper Domestic] Drawing her sword for battle after the terrain took a turn for the worse, Liliana would take to the skies, bravely heading off to fight- And then her twin-ahoge were seized, causing the fairy’s pea-sized brain to rattle around inside her skull. Looking up while being bounced around, Liliana was astonished to find Dinah was…running? Away? Preposterous! Unpossible! And yet… [color=f49ac2][b]"LaAaadYyyy AAaaaalIIIIIIIiiiice!"[/b][/color] Liliana protested, bobbing up and down as she was carried like a popsicle. Dinah wasn’t listening, as she moved through the trees. [color=f49ac2][b]"Lady Alice!"[/b][/color] Liliana repeated, louder. Focused on her mission, Liliana was going to have to take matters into her tiny hands and put down her tiny feet before it was too late in order to stop Dinah. Before Dinah got to her full speed, Liliana would suddenly dart free, her ahoge being ripped asunder as she surged forward, grew to full size, and promptly slapped Dinah across her face once. Gaia Hazard: Heavenly Slap would connect, forcing Dinah to stop and face the only person aside from Kardia to strike her and live. [color=f49ac2][b]"I. Am. TALKING!!!!"[/b][/color] the fairy put her foot down in the air, with even Whimsy hanging in silence at the outburst. Restoring her hair was a simple matter; it was plant material, after all. However, restoring her calm was a different matter, as Dinah reached out, on reflex, and closed her hand around Liliana’s throat. Said hand would promptly get its thumb bitten, as Liliana’s phantasmal clone was dispelled before the tiny fairy sat once more on Dinah’s head. [color=f49ac2][b]"Where’re you going!?"[/b][/color] As a reslult, Liliana would be bound by her prehensile hair, and anglerfish’d before at glaring Dinah. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Insolent Fairy! You bite the hand that feeds!?[/b][/i][/color]" she growled. [color=f49ac2][b]"The only one biting hands around here metaphorically is you!"[/b][/color] Liliana barked back. [color=f49ac2][b]"The Shizuyamans need us! And Takeshi is out there fighting crazy strong swordspeople! I know a lot changed after you left and came back but…Lady Alice never runs away when her friends are in trouble.”"[/b][/color] "[color=5d7947][i][b]Friends? Thieves are no friends of mine! Deceivers! Glory hounds, them all![/b][/i][/color]" Dinah barked. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Friends trust and believe! They don’t barge in where they are unwanted![/b][/i][/color]" [color=f49ac2][b]"...Well, you have that last part right. I trust and believe in you. You, and Carroll."[/b][/color] Liliana would fumble around in her hair. [color=f49ac2][b]"Now untie me, so I can go kick Varjan butt, and then…"[/b][/color] Liliana inhaled sharply through her nose. [color=f49ac2][b]"I’m gonna go make my Queen proud. Both of ‘em."[/b][/color] "[color=5d7947][i][b]Eh?[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah was, genuinely, perplexed by that statement. Liliana only served Titania, Queen of the Fairies, as did all that shared her species. So, where did the second Queen come from? Liliana would break away from that second Queen to go fight like she meant it. To make up for the difference in firepower brought upon by Dinah leaving. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Oi![/b][/i][/color]" Dinah reached out, but her hand trembled. Like it or not, her body couldn’t move back in that direction. In the distance, soaring above and beyond the horizon, the smoke of flame carried into the Heavens, and, though, she was never bound for such elysium, she did not want to test her flammability. With Dinah paused, those bound by her were free to move, with Eula standing up. [color=C48BD3][b]"...Dinah. We can take it from here."[/b][/color] "[color=5d7947][i][b]You would abandon me, too,[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah asks. "[color=5d7947][i][b]To protect those that would cheat me, steal from me, and disgrace me for their own glory from Humans that would sooner kill you than believe you and stand beside you?[/b][/i][/color]" A breeze kicked up by the rising air currents would blow past Dinah and Eula, the automaton’s hair waving in the wind. [color=C48BD3][b]"It isn’t abandonment. I’ll find my way to Wonderland. I made that promise. Here and now, however, I have to keep a different one. One I can’t remember making to anyone. And yet…"[/b][/color] Eula laid a hand over her own heart, a faint smile on her lips. [color=C48BD3][b]"...Even a machine that doesn’t know itself…can know it has to do what is right."[/b][/color] Dinah grit her teeth, the ground cracked beneath her feet, as she rooted herself in place - to run further or simply not run... it wasn’t clear. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Right. Wrong. I don’t care about such facile concepts. Nobody takes into account what I want. My goals. My mission...[/b][/i][/color]" she shifted, the ground cracking into a small crater. "[color=5d7947][i][b]My kingdoms burn around me... always burning... always alone... my party’s ruined... again.[/b][/i][/color]" Eula would extend a hand out to Dinah. [color=C48BD3][b]"I cannot pretend I know all of your tragedies. Or that I ever could. But, here and now, I have a cruel request. Dinah, Alice, Carroll…would you be a sword to the ungrateful, to those who you accepted as citizens, would you swallow that disgust until this war is over? I may not be thinking straight but…"[/b][/color] The automaton was shedding tears, hand trembling. [color=C48BD3][b]"...Even after…I’ve broken myself…I can’t take lives so easily…and I’m not strong enough to incapacitate them."[/b][/color] A pathetic, unsightly machine abandoned, repurposed, loved, reused, recycled, abused, then made to kill the things she loved. And yet she was ready to march into hell because she promised she would. "[color=5d7947][i][b]I do not detest the citizenry... I detest the guard.[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah narrowed her eyes, her internalized poison leaking free as she seethed. "[color=5d7947][i][b]This was my party. It always was. From the very beginning. My party, my rules. Why should I share!? Why should I be expect to!? This was mine![/b][/i][/color]" she shouted, stamping her feet, shattering rock, "[color=5d7947][i][b]First the pathetic greenskin, now the simpering Human! They intrude where they are not wanted! Play at heroism, only to interfere! I! Don’t! Want! To! Share![/b][/i][/color]" Pitching her tantrum, Dinah would uproot trees and rend earth, her temper mounting and cresting the hill. However, as swiftly as it bloomed, her temper withered like a rose on the vine. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Did you know, I captured prisoners... students... I did that... and they let them die? Why did I bother? [/b][/i][/color]" Dinah asks, sinking her knees. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Why should I bother? Someone else will take the credit... my contribution... my effort... ignored...[/b][/i][/color]" Kerry thought something was up when Alice began acting strange when the flaming boulders rained from the sky, causing everyone to scramble and evade. The thousand yard stare her lover had in her eyes as she gazed at the flames greatly concerned the insectoid mercenary. Her worry only increased as Takeshi and the taskforce ran after the legionnaire. Upon reaching the stronghold, a lightning strike was what confirmed Kerry’s fears as Alice fused with Carroll, becoming Dinah grabbing herself, Eula and Liliana…before running away. That rocked Kerry more than anything since she came to this island. Alice…No…[i]Cecilia[/i] never ran from anything. Ever. Fortunately, Liliana managed to free herself and slap Dinah, causing her to stop running. From there, the fused queen bared her heart to the trio. As she spoke, Kerry began to understand. This mission…This quest in particular… [color=fff79a]”You wanted to do this by yourself.”[/color] It made sense. The Heavenly Strike was something that Alice saw a goal to reach, a challenge to overcome so she can better herself. Essentially, to the mad hatter, this quest was a party of one. But then Gringor undertook the quest and told everyone else about it…and now here was Takeshi, taking away the challenge that was originally Alice's. [b]The party was ruined.[/b] And now here was Dinah, expressing her discontent, frustrations and sorrow over it. Hell, there's a chance that is more than just this particular quest that she's raising hell over. [color=fff79a][i]”Alright…”[/i][/color], the hornet thought to herself.[color=fff79a][i]”Time to be her rock.”[/i][/color] [color=fff79a]”Dinah…”[/color], Kerry began, her voice calm and gentle as she hovered toward the queen, braving the emotional tempest that she had become. [color=fff79a]”We hear you, but you need to calm down. Breath. Please.”[/color] Between Liliana and Eula, Dinah's emotions were turbulent, but Kerry was able to break through. As requested, Dinah took a deep breath, and pulled her poison spores back into her lungs, before exhaling, and nearly slamming her head into the broken ground, as she screamed into the earth; venting the corrosive frustration within her mind, body, and soul. After exhaling in full, Dinah would breathe in and out, before sitting up; hands between her legs, bent like Vs, in a childish sitting fashion, as she sobbed silently. "[color=5d7947][i][b]I'm sorry I'm so selfish...[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah says. A small hand would gently pat Dinah’s head, as Liliana had returned upon hearing her scream. [color=f49ac2][b]"...Lady Alice…Carroll…"[/b][/color] [color=fff79a]”We get it.”[/color], Kerry added as she knelt down and placed a comforting hand on the queen's back. [color=fff79a]”You wanted to do this quest by yourself. For yourself. Yet, all these outside variables just kept getting in the way, huh?”[/color] Eula couldn’t add much more with words, so she would use actions, pulling the three into a hug with her and Dinah. Dinah blinked, confused. A selfish person didn't warrant such affection. However, she wasn't the product of selfishness, but flawed strength and misguided rebellion. Her mission was attuned to her plight in Wonderland, and this... wasn't. Shizuyama wasn't her mission, her struggle, but it was [i]theirs[/i]. "[color=5d7947][i][b]I'm selfish, but...[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah sighed, "[color=5d7947][i][b]...I'm protective, too, of the things I am selfish about.[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah huffed, "[color=5d7947][i][b]I have a Kingdom to protect, don't I? Not in Wonderland, but here.[/b][/i][/color]" [color=fff79a]”Indeed, you do. However, it's not just you. Not anymore.”[/color] Chitinous hands gently held Dinah’s face, guiding her to look up into the hazel eyes of her future wife. [color=fff79a]”You have us as well.”[/color], Kerry said with a simple smile, gesturing her head toward Eula and Liliana. Liliana, currently a bit smooshed from the robo hug earlier, gave a shaky thumbs-up as she stumbled a bit. [color=f49ac2][b]"Yeh!"[/b][/color] Eula would nod, before saying: [color=C48BD3][b]"I may not be the most useful in a fight, but I promise that I’ll stay by your side."[/b][/color] Dinah sighed, before rousing to her feet. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Mad Hatters throw fun parties, not pity parties,[/b][/i][/color]" she says. "[color=5d7947][i][b]Please, indulge my selfishness for a little longer. If I split apart, Alice and Carroll won't be able to fight. I...[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah paused, before steeling herself. "[color=5d7947][i][b]We... have a Kingdom to save.[/b][/i][/color]" [color=f49ac2][b]"Yeah!"[/b][/color] [color=fff79a]”Hell yeah to that.”[/color], concurred as drew Dusk and pointed back toward the way they came. [color=fff79a]”Now let's go kick some ass!”[/color] Confidence restored, Dinah would grab Kerry and Eula around the waist, throwing them over her shoulders, caveman-style, and Liliana would find herself stuffed into her cleavage, seatbelted by familiar, twinned ahoge. "[color=5d7947][i][b]We haven't been gone too too long, so...[/b][/i][/color] Dinah pressed her right heel back, "[color=5d7947][i][b]Tempo... Crescendo...[/b][/i][/color]" Dinah would blink out of sight, as she raced back along the path, in time to see the fight had begun in earnest.[/hider]