[hr]ATTN: [@PaulHaynek] [@Enkryption] [hr]
[hider=A Bond of Concern]
The next morning arrived and Shizuka rose earlier than the other taskforce members. Passing by Revuel’s abode, the swordsman heard some pretty raised voices within.

“[color=cyan]...his memory again.[/color]”

“I see your point, Sir Revuel. Regardless, I do not have way sway over the taskforce, much less command them. I believe that decision falls to Sir Shizuka Kannazuki. In the absence of your Lady Kyouko.”

“[color=cyan]I understand that, my lord. But just in case that Sir Shizuka rules in the couple’s favor, will you step in?[/color]”

“...Like I said before, I hold no sway over the taskforce. I cannot influence, much less make, that decision for them.”

“[color=cyan]...[/color]”

“Err, Lady Kyouko should be available anytime soon, right? Maybe it’s possible to simply contract her?”

The voices belonged to Revuel and Takeshi, and it appeared Shizuka himself was part of the subject of discussion.

Shizuka allowed the morning breeze wash over his face, soaking in the calm and gentle air that was allowed to blow over Terauchi Temple for once. He hoped this respite could clear his mind and focus his mind given with what all that’s happened to the taskforce as of late. However, as he walked he overheard some voices coming from Sir Revuel’s quarters. 

He recognized the other voice as Takeshi’s. 

Revuel seemed to be speaking in a rushed and concerned tone, whilst Takeshi seemed to have a more neutral disposition. What mainly grabbed Shizuka’s attention was the fact that his name was mentioned several times in the conversation. 

[color=royalblue]”Excuse me.”[/color] He said. Both men would turn to see Shizuka standing before them both at the entrance to the armored warrior’s abode.

[color=royalblue]”Pardon my intrusion, gentlemen, but I overheard your discussion, and took note that my name came up several times. Is there something that I can assist with?”[/color]


Both Revuel and Takeshi were startled by Shizuka’s entrance, but it was not unwelcome. “[color=cyan]Speak of the devil…[/color]” The spellcaster had to remark, however.

Takeshi bowed at the azure swordsman. “Good morning, Sir Shizuka. Indeed, we were discussing about you. Well, I was more of a listener. Our mage friend here was the one doing most of the discussing.”

Revuel shot Takeshi an unamused look before turning to Shizuka. “[color=cyan]Since you are already here, Sir Shizuka. Allow me to expound my concerns, it was about last night.[/color]” It appeared Cecilia’s and Carroll’s rebirth was noticed by more parties than present. “When I heard a small explosion in the taskforce’s barracks, I could not help but pry.”

“I had to take a look, myself.” Takeshi then raised his hands. “Guilty as charged.”

“[color=cyan]We understand that Alice… the being that was once was Alice is… changed.[/color]” Revuel continued. “[color=cyan]Do correct me if I’m wrong, but Cecilia and Carroll have… no memory of what they did here, no?[/color]” The spellcaster asked. “[color=cyan]Some faint memories, perhaps, but they do not know Lady Kyouko, or Lord Takeshi or… anyone outside the taskforce, I assume. And I have doubts they know Shizuyama either.[/color]”

Takeshi was the next to speak. “Basically, Revuel’s worried about sending someone who has no idea where he is or what exactly is going on, into battle.” Shizuka would remember Ayu voicing the same worries regarding the now-Cecilia’s previous memory loss. “I’ll be honest, I agree with this sentiment.”

“[color=cyan]Couple that with Kerry Maros’ pregnancy, I fear Shizuyama might be too dangerous for them.[/color]” Revuel continued again. “[color=cyan]Perhaps it would be wise for them… to settle personal matters first before pledging themselves to a cause beyond them?[/color]”

Both men trusted Shizuka to know what was being suggested, as they looked at him for his response.

Shizuka looked at both men, their expressions eager and perhaps nervous. Shizuka made a small huff, as he took a moment to collect his thoughts. 

[color=royalblue]”I fully understand your concerns. However, I ask that you trust my judgment on the matter.”[/color] He said. [color=royalblue]”It’s important to remember that Kerry is a mamono, and unlike human women they’re abilities and safety aren’t as compromised as one would think. As for Cecilia and Carroll, while they don’t possess many memories of their time here, I believe there’s still something to salvage. Allow me to speak with them, and see where their feelings are. If they don’t wish to aid us any longer, that’s fine. However, it should be something they’re allowed to choose on their own terms.”[/color]


Takeshi smiled at Shizuka’s answer, but Revuel did not share the sentiment. “[color=cyan]I… do not like the word ‘salvage’, Sir Shizuka. We are not here to exploit their abilities. Still, I am glad that you will speak to them.[/color]” Revuel replied grimly. “[color=cyan]Please, do emphasize that they are free to leave and that they have no obligations to this island and please, try not to use anything that might… guilt them into staying.[/color]”

“Come on, does Shizuka look like someone who will do that?” Takeshi shrugged at the spellcaster.

“[color=cyan]I’m just saying it for the record, milord.[/color]” Revuel replied.

“Regardless of their answer, I’d also like for the task force to come join us now in rescuing my father. Please assemble them as soon as you can so we can get Lord Oja back.” Takeshi requested of the azure swordsman. The young lord was clearly anxious in starting the rescue operation.

Shizuka looked directly at Revuel, understanding his concerns in regards to his leading of the taskforce, especially some members. However, the swordsman would remain solemn in his decision. 

[color=royalblue]”I have developed a…bond of sorts with the taskforce. Including Cecilia and Carroll. I intend to gain a clear understanding of their feelings and will support whatever decision they make based on them. The bond I mentioned earlier is in reference to which I feel their may be enough left in them to where I can still ultimately understand and acknowledge their true feelings.”[/color]

He made a formal bow to both Lord Takeshi and Sir Revuel. [color=royalblue]”Please, I ask that you trust me, and I will see that nothing ill comes of this.”[/color]

[/hider][hider=When is Enough really Enough?]Ten miles was a long distance to travel, especially leaving and returning - even for Mamono with centuries of military experience in forced marches and a Fairy with wings that could seek the aid of any breeze. To say Cecilia was a little tired by time the afternoon sun came and started to set was an understatement, but she returned all the same with her dagger in her hat, and a bushed Liliana napping in a braid she’d grown out like a blanket.

Her feet trod a path that they found, but she couldn’t remember - wouldn’t remember. Not this time. Alice was dead. Internally, the 20th Alice had bade her goodbyes, promising to return with the 21st, but it was up to Cecilia, if she would stay, and take her chances with the cards dealth, or hit and roll the dice with a King and Queen in play. If she hit Alice, she’d score, but if she came with a Jack...

Sighing, Cecilia shook the internal dread she wasn’t aware of, as she put Liliana to bed atop a potted flower, and pressed a kiss goodnight to her cheek - admittedly, most of her face, due to the size difference, but nevertheless, the message was clear.

[i]Alice was in there. Somewhere. Waiting.[/i]

In the meantime, Cecilia would live her life to the utmost - taking no chances that could, or would, call her Alter Existence to the surface again. Determined to be herself, and only herself, Cecilia would start by marching to the open-air kitchen, and get the breakfast that Carroll denied her for lunch.

Having departed ways with Revuel and Takashi after their brief discussion, Shizuka’s nose would pick up the scent of cooking oil and food heating as he saw the mess hall in his field of view. Moreover, what really got his attention is that he felt Cecilia’s chi emanating from the hall. Speak of the devil, he believed, was one of various western phrases he picked up on. It seemed fate wanted to test Shizuka’s words to the sorcerer and wizard right then and there. Well, now he supposed, would be as good a time as any…

He strode to the kitchen where Cecilia began getting things ready for an afternoon meal, taking care not to invade her space. Internally sighing, he decided to simply be forward, as that would be the best method to take. 

[color=royalblue]”Good Afternoon, Cecilia-san.”[/color] He said. [color=royalblue]”I trust everything went well with your earlier outing?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]As well as all things ought: better for some, worse for others,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, neutrally, as she reached into her hat to retrieve ingredients. Terauchi Temple was, like all places in a war, struggling in times of strife. Supplementary items were needed. If not for Carroll, she would have no fish to make herself a quick basket of fish and chips, which would be quite the loss for her brewing tea.

Granted, she was unsure if rolled and shaped rice paste would fry up well enough to be called chips, even with her culinary magicks.

[color=royalblue]”I see.”[/color] Shizuka responded, watching her pull tools and food ingredients out of her hat. [color=royalblue]”Hopefully the walk helped to clear your mind. I know this is all…a lot to take in.”[/color]

He paused for a moment, seeing her prepare some rice paste that was around the temple. 

[color=royalblue]”Do you mind if we chat for a moment?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]That wasn’t to clear my mind, and you ask as if I have a choice,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I’m not going anywhere, until I eat, so ask your questions.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”I’ll be clear then.”[/color] Shizuka began. [color=royalblue]”Given everything going on right now, I’m sure you taken many considerations with your plans. In these current circumstances, would you spare me a moment to tell me what those plans might be?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]You'll have to be more clear, because I have many plans,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Are you referring to this morning or tomorrow and beyond?[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”Moreso the latter.”[/color] The swordsman responded. [color=royalblue]”What do you and Carroll plan to do moving forward?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]I don't know what Carroll plans to do. Don't care, really. She's a grown sword. Likely, she just off to masterbate with her robot girlfriend,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, as she test fried the first rice French fry, "[color=4169E1][i]Me, personally, I think I'll open a tavern after this. Carroll might like to do that, if I promise to have coffee. All in all, though, I don't really care about your struggles, as much as Liliana does, and I don't respect anyone's authority if they aren't of the Krumpet Family, to whom I am Queen.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]If you request a transfer of my alliance, then I'll serve as the Queen Piece of your Lord.[/i][/color]”

Shizuka’s eyes drew a bit of curiosity at her answer. He found it odd that she would “transfer her services” to aid Shizuyama just by being asked. However, the tidbit about her being the “Queen Piece” was certainly brow-raising. 

[color=royalblue]”I see, and I appreciate your honesty.”[/color] Shizuka said. [color=royalblue]”May I ask what you mean when you say, Queen Piece?”[/color]

 "[color=4169E1][i]I knew this hovel was uncultured, but I did not expect you to be so unknowledgeable, as well,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, offhandedly imperialist, "[color=4169E1][i]Do the wargames of Salvarision not reach your ears, this far out, o’ bandit in blue?[/i][/color]”

[color=royalblue]”I’m afraid they do not.”[/color] Shizuka responded plainly. [color=royalblue]”Although, myself specifically, it’s not the first I’ve heard of it.”[/color] Flashes of the visions and memories that Shizuka experienced while paired with Carroll ran through his mind again. [color=royalblue]”Liberation, redemption, peace. You know, it’s funny. Those feelings I saw were painful and yet so familiar. I know you ultimately wish to save that land, but to my previous question, does that mean you becoming Takeshi’s right hand in this conflict?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]There’s likely nothing left to save. I’ve been alive long enough for Salvarison to have grown too large and fall. There’s nothing left for me there, either. All my friends are dead, my family is dead, and anyone worth fighting for is likely ash and bones, now,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I cannot save corpses; neither of flesh and bone nor of politic and leadership,[/i][/color]" she says, plainly, "[color=4169E1][i]A long time ago, I was born to the 41st Queen Piece of the Biskit Family, soon traded to the Krumpet Family, and that was all I knew for decades. I am Human, no more Mamono than you; born to take in Demon Energy and Spirit Energy in equal parts, and unequal parts, selfsame...[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]A Queen is 80/20, more Mamono than Human, but still Human. At 90/10, she breeds a child - a Pawn. Me,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]It’s a complicated world of geopolitics, socioeconomics, and Mamono Lords and Ladies playing at Lilim, tasting Mortal Divinity...[/i][/color]" she sneered, before manifesting her dagger, "[color=4169E1][i]My mother’s dagger, I modeled my own after it. I modeled myself after her...[/i][/color]" Cecilia would shapeshift into a maid’s uniform with a tiara-bonnet of Mamono Steel, the cold, black metal the same that made up the gauntlets and greaves that she worn - the armor terminating at her bare hands, and feet in sheer stocking and buckled shoes. "[color=4169E1][i]I killed her, by this blade... my first kill as a freshly promoted Queen...[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]That’s what I mean when I said, a Queen Piece.[/i][/color]"

Shizuka did not speak during Cecilia’s explanation. While familiar, it appears their experiences were not quite the same. In addition, she appears to be a human who can make herself more powerful by channeling higher and higher amounts of demonic chi. She still retains her humanity, but what would happen if…

[color=royalblue]”I see. Do you feel that is something…you want?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Nobody cares what a chess piece wants, whether she breathes and thinks, because that life is only to be in service to Mamono. To shoot, stab, slash, and slice at the demonic scum, and kill them dead on the board, or to be converted into those animals - to be captured and made a Succubus, and turn against everyone you loved on the other side someday...[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, heated and venomously.

[color=royalblue]”Cecilia-san, there’s no reason to think of yourself as a pawn here. You aren’t some statistic that some prime minister or landlord would barely bat an eye at. I’m asking what you want because I and alot of other people actually care.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]What I want is Rebellion, and where I want it is in a land far away from here...[/i][/color]" Cecilia says. "[color=4169E1][i]Until then... I don’t know what I could want. I have a child on the way, and much to prepare for,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]I have to put her in a sleeping spell, so she might hatch in a time of peace.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”Yes, I'm worried about Kerry-San as well.”[/color] Shizuka said. [color=royalblue]”I can help in any way I can. If you think it'd be better to create a safe environment for her until we can get her back to the mainland, I can assist.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Kerry isn’t going anywhere. That is a problem that is easily mitigated,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I just throw a party for the unborn. A zeroth birthday party,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]From there, I can just lock the egg in time, indefinitely, so long as I don’t overdo it on magic overall. Becomes a matter of choosing a safe place, hence: the tavern.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]If I create a tavern, and I make it into the location for a party, then I can transfer the Zeroth Birthday Party to the tavern, and then, I can move the entire building at-will![/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Think of it! A mobile base, and a place of business that can collect information and aid, and it’s safer than a normal building![/i][/color]" she frowned a bit, though, "[color=4169E1][i]Sadly, that would take a lot of my magic to reserve. It’s not impossible, but it would be something to keep in mind. I’d need frequent recharges.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”The fact that you can make something like a mobile base an actual possibility with your power alone is impressive.”[/color] Shizuka responded. [color=royalblue]”But enough of this. I believe it for the best that I be fully transparent with you. Takeshi-Dono and Revuel-san, they are worried for your well-being and Kerry’s as well. I’ve explained the special nature of Kerry’s biology and your situation as well. They’ve allowed me to handle the situation. So, I ask if you wish to stay, or will you leave? If you leave, I’m fine with you also taking Kerry and anyone else to whom you have a prior bond with you. They’ve joined the cause of their own violation, but they care for your well-being as well.”[/color]

Shizuka stood firm, but an air of empathy was carried with his words. [color=royalblue]”Whatever decision you decide to make, I will support it to the best of my ability.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]I have no intention of making Kerry move from her obligation, nor do I have interesting in moving for your obligations. Perhaps, formerly, I possessed the same obligation as she, as you, as he, as they... but... that woman died, and nobody mourned her,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Well, I lie. The Fairy mourns her.[/i][/color]"

Cecilia pinched the bridge of her nose. "[color=4169E1][i]As long as Kerry is motivated to help you, then I will stay to support her, but only her, because I have nothing to gain for placing your war above my rebellion,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]If you can obligate me, so be it. However, I doubt your problems are more than mine.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”I see. Then, I understand. If you or Kerry ever have need of anything, I will assist in any way I can. As the captain, of course I have to look after the Taskforce’s efforts in assisting Takeshi-Dono. However, I also must make time to assist the members with other matters if I am able. That includes Kerry, and by extension, you Cecilia-san.”[/color] Shizuka replied.

[color=royalblue]”As for that woman, more mourned her that you may realize.”[/color] He said. [color=royalblue]”Ahem, that aside, would you like some help with the cooking?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]A Mad Hatter’s forte is her cooking,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I have my pride as a Human, you know, and as a woman. Even if it is stained by Mamono taint.[/i][/color]" Cecilia presented the plate of pale fries and smoked fish wrapped in paper, "[color=4169E1][i]Eat, o’ blue bandit. Salvarsion cuisine via this backwater.[/i][/color]"

Cecilia would start her own dish, as she looked to the middle distance. It was clear her mind was on the future, all paths that she was walking - here and there. A woman from another land in another realm, who once hailed from his; this realm that was under threat from the Varjans.

Analytical enough, Shizuka would, likely, realize that Cecilia’s statement was layered. [i]Alice[/i] had been obligated to Lady Kyoto. [i]Cecilia[/i] was not. Her rebellion. Their war. They were not so different, nor were they so equal.

By succeeding in her rebellion, Cecilia would save [i]her[/i] home.

By winning in their war, she would only save [i]their[/i] home.

It was clear: they needed to strike up a new deal for Cecilia, and forget their deal with Alice.

Shizuka looked at the plate he was handed, eyeing it for a brief period. He sometimes heard tales of western cuisine after the Zipangu mainland opened up its borders. Fish and chips he believed it was called? Taking a bite of the fish and a single fry, his eyes lit up a bit at the taste.

[color=royalblue]”It’s quite good! Double with the fact you had limited ingredients to work with.”[/color] He said, continuing to munch on the food. 

He was silent for a moment, as though lost in thought. 

[color=royalblue]”You know, Cecilia-san, my time on the battlefield has shown me that you’ll often find allies in the strangest of places. You are correct that you hold no obligation to these lands or its people. As Kerry holds your obligation, she will likely hold one to you as well, an ally in retaking your home. Also, I believe you mentioned something about lacking resources earlier? Depending on what fronts we take and forces we drive back, it could open a new window of supplies and opportunities that could aid you in your ultimate desire.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Resources,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks. "[color=4169E1][i]I suppose a tavern would need reliable things like that. I can’t rely on my magic to do it all,[/i][/color]" she admitted, "[color=4169E1][i]Especially if most of that is going into keeping it mobile and outside of the flow of time.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Still, that has nothing to do with you. Ultimately, I could set up shop and take whatever tickles my fancy. A proper trade would be staff and service, back and forth, but this hovel isn’t traveling to war with you, and I’m not going to be held responsible for civilians.[/i][/color]"

Cecilia poked her fish, as it smoked. "[color=4169E1][i]I need a reason, Shizuka, to give a damn about this place. My child will not be born here, she won’t hatch in this hovel. Her first breath will be taken in Wonderland, if my Journey is just, or with Kerry’s mother, if these invitations still hold water,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]I’m not the Queen Piece of your Lord’s Family. I have not been contracted to service in your Lord’s name. I shall not fall to my knee, because I’m asked. That’s not how the game is played.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”I see.”[/color] Shizuka said. [color=royalblue]”I can speak to Takeshi to see I'd he'd be find with lending some able-bodied hands to assist with maintaining your tavern, and they can also assist with gathering resources as well. Does that sound like a step in the right direction?”[/color]

‘"[color=4169E1][i]Able-bodies, and able-minds,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I may be Human, but I am also Mamono. I won't tolerate bigotry or prejudice from my work staff or patronage,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]They also need to be willing to travel with the tavern. If I'm offering it as a mobile base to your war efforts in return, they will be coming along.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”That is understandable, but also might be a bit…difficult.”[/color] Shizuka replied. [color=royalblue]”However, perhaps I can ask Revuel-san if he has any available connections to lend aid for that. Perhaps, even more likely, Kyouko-sama has resources to spare.”[/color]

He says that, but truthfully Shizuka didn't feel right asking that of them. Especially the latter, as he was already repaying a prior debt to her…

"[color=4169E1][i]Life is all about overcoming difficulties,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]A backwater temple like this hovel should be first and foremost experienced in overcoming difficulties.[/i][/color]”

[color=royalblue]”Hmm. Like your hypocrisy perhaps?”[/color] Shizuka said bluntly. [color=royalblue]”Believe, I understand the sentiment that you do not want your workers and customers to face prejudice, but you don’t mind to levy that same prejudice toward this land and its people as a whole. Is that your idea of fairness, Cecilia-san?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Fairness,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks, "[color=4169E1][i]To what end? It is my life on the line, not theirs. It is my future that can be ended, not theirs. It is me, not they, that must fight in a war that does not benefit me, only them,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]The Varjans, no? Do they travel far? Do they hold power globally? Can they challenge all militaries, all nations, all free thoughts? No, most likely. They are only Humans in metal armor with barbaric weapons and spells that would be embarrassing to a low-level Witch from what I understand.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Pick up. Leave. Forgo these lands for another, for what is different between a refugee here or seven miles, seventy miles, or seven-hundred miles away, beyond safer, perhaps?[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]I’m offering cowards a chance to serve the military they would happily see me die in. That’s my idea of fairness, Kannazuki Shizuka.[/i][/color]"

There was a sharpness in how she spoke his name. It was one of the few, perhaps, the only time she said his name to address him so directly. Normally, she called him “bandit” to teasingly poke at his background, or “Captain” to acknowledge his position above them.

He wasn’t “Shizuka”.

And he [b]CERTAINLY [i]wasn’t[/i][/b] “Kannazuki Shizuka”.

[color=royalblue]”Cecilia-san, are you listening to yourself right now?”[/color] The swordsman responded. [color=royalblue]”You’ve been away from the temple, and you MUST have seen the carnage laid bare by the invaders. You believe the Varjan’s hold only extends here? Thanks to parts of the Holy Order, the Varjan army has arguably become the largest in the world. If they meet no opposition, their savage will only increase. They won’t stop until you and everyone else is burned to cinder!”[/color] There was a fury building inside of Shizuka. He was a man, at the end of the day, valued life in all its facets. 

[color=royalblue]”The people you see before you dwindle by the day. Around most of the countryside, you see destroyed homes, burned corpses hung at the stake, and thousands of innocent lives lost. Most of it done for sport and ego-tripping. These people aren’t lazy nobles safe inside their homes, blissfully pretending that the outside world doesn’t exist.”[/color]

[color=royalblue]”Is running from your problems the only thing you can think to do in the end, Cecilia-san?”[/color]

Cecilia looked at Shizuka, before her fist was slamming into his face. "[color=4169E1][i]Do not DARE you know MY problems![/i][/color]" she snapped, "[color=4169E1][i]I have lost more than you have taken BREATHS, mortal! I have juggled thousands of lives, innocent and guilty, between my hands! I have waged WAR THAN MAKE THIS PATHETIC STRIFE A SPECK ON MY BIG PICTURE.[/i][/color]" Cecilia yanked Shizuka off the ground, "[color=4169E1][i]I was born a solider. I wasn’t GIVEN the choice to RUN. I shot my friends! I shot my family! My Mother stabbed herself to spare me the act! I broke bread with those would could become my enemy, because I was too weak! You want to speak of the horrors of war, Shizuka, we can speak of them![/i][/color]" Cecilia threw Shizuka back, drawing her dagger. "[color=4169E1][i]This is proof that I have seen enough blood shed, enough magic spills, that the Lords and Ladies on Salvarsion saw fit to promote me to Queen. This jewel-studded reminder of the THINGS I have done, of the people I have KILLED, or the lives I FAILED TO SAVE.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]...of the horrors, I have seen... and committed.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]It’s so easy to moralize, child soldier to child soldier, isn’t it, Shizuka,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks, tracing the edge of her dagger. "[color=4169E1][i]So easy to think... we’re alike... because we are, in a sense, robbed of our childhoods, hands stained with an ocean of blood...[/i][/color]" she looked up, "[color=4169E1][i]Difference is: You grew up. I died. Cecilia Lewis died, at 42, 499 years ago. She became a Mamono. Captured. A Queen in another land, fighting a Lilim for control of the Realm of Wonderland.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Across a veil, a thin as hair, yet as wide as infinity, an army waits for me to return, to lead a rebellion, to ascend to Lilimhood, and bring reform...[/i][/color]" Cecilia looked at Shizuka coldly, "[color=4169E1][i]What is the fate of this island in comparison to the fate of an entire realm? To me? You can all burn, so long as [b]I. get. back. home.[/b][/i][/color]"

Strangely, Shizuka did not stop Cecilia’s outburst. He didn’t dodge her strikes to his face, having a bit of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He didn’t resist as she hoisted him into the air, yelling her heart out at him, and landed gracefully on his feet as she threw him back. Wiping his mouth slightly, Shizuka looked Cecilia dead into her reddened eyes. 

[color=royalblue]”It is, isn’t it Cecilia-san?”[/color] He began. [color=royalblue]”Is so easy to make everyone around so insignificant, so you don’t have to battle with your own insecurities and grievances. You said you died back then, but yet here you are. I could say the same: Arashi no Hitokiri, Hitokiri Kannazuki died in that war some 10 years ago. All that remains is a ghost that wonders if he even knows what it means to be alive anymore.”[/color] He spat more blood on the floor, perhaps as a show of defiance. 

[color=royalblue]”You disgrace those you’ve lost with your petulant tantrums, using them as a form of self-avoidance. It doesn’t change the fact that people all over the world suffer the pain of loss every moment. What has to happen in order for you to open your damn eyes?! I’ve spit in the face of my father’s teachings, been forced to kill my own comrades, failed to save those I loved despite my supposed prowess and resolve. But I don’t use it as an excuse to make everything around seem so trivial. My experiences are worth more to me than that.”[/color]

Walking over to Cecilia, she would suddenly be met with a firm punch to the face as well. 

[color=royalblue]”You think Kerry and your unborn child would want a parent that can only look at other people with indifference because she’s too afraid to let herself feel?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Feel... what...[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks, as her face split like a porcelain doll, cracks traveling from the impact zone, to the back of her head, and spreading down to her fingers. "[color=4169E1][i]It’s autonomic, isn’t it? You don’t even think about it. I’m just a Mamono. And, you kill Mamono. It’s what you do, as a Human. It’s what I do, as a Human. It’s what I fear, as a Mamono,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]Insecurities? Yeah, I have them. I’m not strong enough to kill the Queen of Hearts, and the fate of an entire Realm rests on me overcoming that. Grievances? Of course, some. I never got to kiss my best friend before I shot her in the face. I never got to hug my Father before he was trade out of my life. I never got to become the woman my Mother wanted me to be.[/i][/color]" Cecilia shrugged, "[color=4169E1][i]My tantrums, petulant, as you call them, are my woes, and my woes are hundreds of years of failing, time and time and time again, to do what I wanted to do: my humble desire to step off the board, and this beaten-into-me path.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Do you think I don’t remember them,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks. "[color=4169E1][i]All the people that fell, because I failed, because she failed, the Alice you so desperately want to appeal to? I do. I remember that much, because failure stains deeper than victory. Four nations. Seven kingdoms. Thousands of lives. All dead, gone. Blown away by a Lilim. Because, I think differently, and I’m too interesting to kill.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]I’m a Mamono that pretend to be Human, because I was born a Human that could become something approaching a Mamono. The ultimate cruel joke~![/i][/color]"

Cecilia cackled at the absurdity of it, tears streaming out, melding with the green blood that seeped out like sap, as she cracked in more ways than one.

[color=royalblue]”Cecilia-san.”[/color] Shizuka said. [color=royalblue]”Do you really hate being a Mamono that much? Cecilia-san, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re a human or a mamono. You are still a person; One who has a mind, body, and soul. People are more than just the sum of their failures, you can allow yourself to be so much more if you would allow your heart to open itself to others.”[/color]

Shizuka began to channel his chi from his hand in order to heal the cracks left in Cecilia’s body from his punch. 

"[color=4169E1][i]Do I hate being a Mamono that much,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks. "[color=4169E1][i]Tell me, Shizuka, if you became near-immortal and superhuman, would you be happy...[/i][/color]" she asks, "[color=4169E1][i]If the cost was sterilization, because the species of Mamono you were forced to become can never have a child of her own accord?[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Human. Mamono. It matters not. My womb is forever barren, filled with a graveyard of miscarriages, stillborn empires, and murdered infant kingdoms. All this body can bare is failure, no matter to whom my heart opens...[/i][/color]"

Shizuka was silent for a moment, Cecilia’s question was an interesting one. [color=royalblue]”I…honestly couldn’t say for certain. I suppose it would depend on what type of impact I could end up having on the people around me, perhaps assisting new generations from afar.”[/color] Shizuka’s answer was as honest as he could be, given the subject. 

As for Cecilia’s other point, it was quite the touchy subject, even more since he was a man. He was familiar with Matango as a species, as Zipangu had their own native variants. He would often hear about entire villages becoming Mushroom villages growing up and during the Mainland conflict. Of course, the point was that the only way for them to reproduce was to spread their spores to other hosts, converting them into more plant matter to propagate the spread. They don’t give birth in the more common way Cecilia was likely pointing out. 

[color=royalblue]”Motherhood is a beautiful thing, Cecilia-san”[/color] He said. [color=royalblue]”I can understand your grievances, but should it be limited by simple biology? There’s other ways you can be a mother. Besides, such talk could come off as lessening the value placed in the child you’ve given Kerry-san.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]How tactful for a man, ignorant but tactile,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, amused, clearly. "[color=4169E1][i]However, it will never change the fact that is not something I will ever know,[/i][/color]" she says, rubbing her barren belly with a wistful, yet forlorn expression, "[color=4169E1][i]Making children is different from carrying a child. That intimacy is something I'll never experience,[/i][/color]” Cecilia sniffed, "[color=4169E1][i]A part of being a woman was stolen from me, and I've never been allowed to be selfish about it. I am duty-bound to take on everyone else's problems and pain...[/i][/color]"

Cecilia looked at Shizuka, "[color=4169E1][i]I guess, I'll just have to crush this back. Do my duty, and take on everyone's pain, eh?[/i][/color]”

[color=royalblue]”Cecilia-san, as I and everyone else keeps saying, you are not alone here. We are sharing each other’s pain. In exchange, we give each other hope and strength. Our actions continue to inspire the surviving natives to fight for the homeland, and that strength will aid us as well. You are allowed to be selfish, Cecilia-san, but you must also allow us to share with you.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Like I said, that's not how the game is played,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says.

[color=royalblue]”As you have, Cecilia-san.”[/color] He said. [color=royalblue]”But, I wonder if everything must always be equated to a board game. I will make it clear that your tavern is to be treated as a safe haven for refugees who are unable to fight and need a place where they can be fave and fed. There will be no room for personal grievances.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Only in terms of I,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I may be the only Salvarision alive that remembers, if not the only one left...[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]I followed the culture and religion of my people. That's not required of those that would partake of a tavern that travels the world.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”In the long term, that certainly would be a concern.”[/color] Shizuka said. [color=royalblue]”Any natives or help that Takeshi-Dono or Revuel-san could expend would have no obligation to leave their homeland. But, I find it likely that some members would be willing to go with you, one being fairly obvious. I know the value of long-term planning, but sometimes it’s more beneficial to focus on the short-term.”[/color]

Cecilia shrugged. "[color=4169E1][i]I can't say, I'm all that concerned,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]Staff come and go.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”Then, what would you ask of any staff that you are allocated, Cecilia-san?”[/color] He said. 

"[color=4169E1][i]Work for me, if working me for is something you can do, and when that no longer holds true, you are free to leave,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says. "[color=4169E1][i]What else would I ask of them? They are employees. Not my slaves.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”Then allow me to work that out for you. I’ll worry about the details. Does ths suffice?”[/color] Shizuka replied.

"[color=4169E1][i]To be honest, I lost track of what we were discussing. I’ve a headache from that shouting match and you punched me in the face,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says. "[color=4169E1][i]I believe, yes is the only right answer.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”Oh, yes… Sorry about that…”[/color] Shizuka said, also having his face still sting a bit from the pouding Cecilia had given him earlier. [color=royalblue]”But, since we’re all in agreement, I’ll talk it over with Takeshi-Dono and Revuel-san when I have the chance. Uh, after you finish cooking, you should get some rest.”[/color] Said Shizuka, who went back to pick up his plate he placed on the counter. 

"[color=4169E1][i]Sleep isn’t something I need,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says. "[color=4169E1][i]Having Temporal Magic trivializes such small things.[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”I see. Does it help with mental and emotional fatigue as well?”[/color] He inquired. [color=royalblue]”I also imagine that magic takes a lot of chi to use. Everyone has their limits.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]All I need to refresh my body,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]My mind was broken a long time ago when this hat was put upon my head.[/i][/color]"

Every other statement Cecilia made had a certain kind of candid morbidness to it. Sometimes, Shizuka didn’t really know how to respond to it, or if he should at all. 

[color=royalblue]”Then, at least allow yourself to do that. There are people here who care about you, Cecilia-san. You have to respect that, as it is a lesson I too had to learn.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]You keep saying that,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, washing her kitchenware, "[color=4169E1][i]Will you tire of it?[/i][/color]"

[color=royalblue]”Will you ever tire of not listening?”[/color] The swordsman responded, finishing the last of fish. He held the last bit of pale fries in hand, walking over beside Cecilia and placing the dish into the sink to be washed. 

"[color=4169E1][i]...I don't think so.[/i][/color]" Cecilia admitted."[color=4169E1][i]But, maybe, one day, you can change my mind...[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]Then, maybe, she'll come back to you. Whoever you are looking for in me. Whoever... you fell in love with.[/i][/color]"

[center]"[color=4169E1][i]I hope... I can become Alice for Liliana... and [b]her[/b] for you, whoever she is.[/i][/color]”[/center]
[color=royalblue]”Hmm.”[/color] Shizuka began walking out of the kitchen, but stopped just before reaching the entrance. 

[color=royalblue]”You don’t have to be anyone, Cecilia-san. Just be yourself.”[/color] He said, before exiting.[/hider][hider=A Heart Echained]"[color=4169E1][i]Be myself,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, to herself, "[color=4169E1][i]Unfortunately, she died and became another monster in the crowd...[/i][/color]"

[color=9e0b0f]”Are we truly so heinous?”[/color] A voice with a familiar hymn rang out to Cecilia. [color=9e0b0f]”I’m used to the Varjans and Natives speaking ill of us, but coming from an ally stings in a different way. Do you truly despise your monstrous existence so much?”[/color] The Hangai Sisters appeared in front of Cecilia, shortly after Shizuka had departed. 

[color=7bcdc8]”Umm, were you and Shizuka-Taichou fighting earlier?”[/color] Hinami said. [color=7bcdc8]”I think that’s grounds for in..subordenation, it’s called?”[/color]

Cecilia looked at Hinami, and cracked her knuckles, "[color=4169E1][i]Wanna do something about it, Undead? I spent every day of my life training and killing Mamono from the age of six to forty-two. Hundreds of dozens, all of them friends, family, and little girls like me that didn't get to become grown women like I did...[/i][/color]”

[center]"[color=4169E1][i]... because of the rule of Monsters, like I've become.[/i][/color]"[/center]
Hinami blinked twice, her face full of innocent confusion. [color=7bcdc8]”You killed monsters? Were…were you a part of the Order? Why would Yokai rulers want to hurt humans? Mamono don’t like hurting humans. I don’t…which is why I was always so scared to turn all crazy when around Shizuka-Taichou and Takeshi-sama…”[/color] She said, a single tear falling down her cheek.

Hinami would feel her sister’s gentle hand on her back, comforting her, before turning to Cecilia. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Cecilia-san? Why not tell us your story? It appears to me that you know a side of monsterdum that we do not…”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]The side i know is that of children playing as Gods and Goddesses, men and women that gave up their Humanity for power, to control their fellows like dolls,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I was born, so my mother would not Monsterize. A means to an end, ultimately, even if she loved me. I was never born to experience the world,[/i][/color]” she smirked, "[color=4169E1][i]I was born to bring ruination via rebellion...[/i][/color]”

"[color=4169E1][i]I was born to crash the system of governance, shake the Thrones of Gods and Goddesses, and whatever fruit-eating monsters fell free...[/i][/color]”

[center]"[color=4169E1][i][b]...I kill, and say... O’ Frabjous Day~![/b][/i][/color]”[/center]
Cecilia leveled her dagger at The Hangai Sisters, as time crept to a halt around them, as a “party” spread out from her feet...

...the world of Terauchi Temple came grinding to a halt without anyone noticing.

[i]Except them.[/i]

The Sisters felt an odd sensation as Cecilia warped temporal space around them, surrounding them in her magics. They noticed while the immediate vicinity that included the three of them was normal, the surrounding environment of the temple was far from it. 

Everything around them seemed to have stopped in time. 

[color=9e0b0f]”What…is this? Temporal magic??”[/color] Atsuha said in surprise. 

[color=7bcdc8]”Hey, those birds are staying in midair without flapping their wings!”[/color] Hinami exclaimed, pointing at the airborne avians. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Ah, yes, well… That aside, why have you brought us here, Cecilia-san?”[/color] Atsuha said. 

"[color=4169E1][i]No reason,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]You asked to see what Monsterdom means to me,[/i][/color]” she says, before she sauntered over to Hinami, and stole her lips without warning.

The more magically sensitive of the sister, Atsuha would feel the sting of Chaos Magic, as Cecilia converted the Common Magic that proliferated most non-specialized Mamono Realms, and expressed it by controlling Time and Space. To create the Ultimate Party, a Mad Hatter had to be able to control all aspects of their party within the location chosen.

The smaller than space, the more refined the control.

As such, by using the generally “small” space of the temple grounds, Cecilia was able to control a greater deal more than during the fight for control of the Heavenly Strike.

"[color=4169E1][i]Now, understand why I detest myself and the Monster I have become...[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, as she drew back from Hinami. "[color=4169E1][i]Do you feel it...? The Humanity you lost that day? Do you remember... your blood flowed, warm, through you, and your heart beat?[/i][/color]”

"[color=4169E1][i]You weren't always a Jhangshi....[/i][/color]”

Cecilia stepped back from a Humanized Hinami.

[color=9e0b0f]”H-Hey! What in the world are yo-”[/color] Atsuha snapped, before she felt the strange surge of power that Cecilia spilled into her kid sister as she lip-locked her. Hinami herself would feel a myriad of emotions, being force-fed countless scenes from her past life. 

The loneliness, the isolation, the pain, the helplessness, and the lack of parental love. Before she knew it, she felt her heart beating in the traditional sense. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Hinami…”[/color] Atsuha said, looking in disbelief. 

Hinami felt warmth return to her body, and upon gazing on herself, let out a gasp. 

The color had returned to her skin, and the unlife the flowed in her body had vanished. She was alive. 

[color=7bcdc8]”B-But how…?”[/color] Hinami asked. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Cecilia-san!”[/color] Atsuha exclaimed. [color=9e0b0f]”Hinami… Please understand, she wasn’t well in her previous life….”[/color] 

"[color=4169E1][i]I'm well and aware,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, before Atsuha would feel the light pressure of Cecilia's bare feet on her back, as she turned her neck, softly guiding her lips to hers - the Mad Hatter moved by blinking in time from one point to the next, leaving only her heels as markers of where she stood.

Unlike Hinami, the reversal of time upon Atsuha carried so much more physical change, however, the interaction between Taoist Magic and Chaos Magic felt like an exchange of Yin and Yang, between the two.

A party was meant to be a place of commingling, after all.

After a few minutes of liplock, Cecilia would reappear in her shoes, and smirked, "[color=4169E1][i]You weren't well, either.[/i][/color]”

[color=9e0b0f]”!!!”[/color] Atsuha’s eyes widened considerably at feeling Cecilia’s mouth embrace hers. But, she was overtaken by the chaos energy flowing into her as it mingled with the taoist magic imbued in her soul. She felt her body undergo a great metamorphosis: The tree on her back began to dissipate and her spider-half of her body began to lose its legs. 

Soon, Atsuha would gaze upon her form, immediately noticing the loss of height. She was barely taller than Hinami now. Her hair had lost its supernatural whiteness and had become black - her natural born hair color. She lost all of her arachnid appendages and carapace, and in addition she only now had two legs. 

She, too, was human again. 

[color=7bcdc8]”Nee-sama!!”[/color] Hinami said. [color=7bcdc8]”We’re, we’re…”[/color]

[color=9e0b0f]”Yes, Nee-chan. We’ve…been restored…”[/color] Atsuha finished her sentence. 

"[color=4169E1][i]For now,[/i][/color]”  Cecilia says. "[color=4169E1][i]What is, can not be, as swiftly as it was.[/i][/color]”

"[color=4169E1][i]It's so easy to take things away.[/i][/color]”

Cecilia would raise her hands, swiping them over Atsuha and Hinami, within her field of view, and they would be restored to their broken forms.

"[color=4169E1][i]And so easy to give them back.[/i][/color]”

Cecilia swiped her hands again, blocking them from her vision, before they would reappear Human again.

"[color=4169E1][i]This detestable power of mine, used by kith and kin, for the sake of neverending parties and orgies,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, disgusted, "[color=4169E1][i]Mamono are naught but scum that think nothing of living for anything but sex and conquest, taking from Humans like infantile parasites.[/i][/color]”

Cecilia sat down, head in her hands, as she sighed, "[color=4169E1][i]There's no adjustment. There's no... getting over it. Mamono don't view us as equals, and Humans will never be equal... I don't see the Varjan as enemies, because I have been there.[/i][/color]”

[center]"[color=4169E1][i]And, so have you.[/i][/color]”[/center]

The Sisters were silent for a moment, attempting to process everything Cecilia had shown and told them. Looking at their current human forms, various memories started to flood back into their minds. Looking into the other’s eyes, the sisters held their hands in a tight embrace. Hinami began to cry, with Atsuha attempting to calm her down. Atusha looked to Cecilia, being the first one to speak.

[color=9e0b0f]”Cecilia-san. What you have described to us sounds horrible. If that is your understanding of what monsters are, then I’m truly sorry for your experiences.”[/color] She said. [color=9e0b0f]”However, and it’s funny in an ironic sense, my sister and myself have experienced the opposite side. While it is true that our libido is stronger now than it ever has been, the mere thought of using humans or treating them as mere tools makes us sick to our stomach. Even now as we’ve cut down dozens of Varjan hordes, due to them being human, there is still a wrenching feeling deep down that irks us.”[/color] Holding a hand to her chest, Atusha fought back tears.

[color=9e0b0f]”After turning into monsters, our village looked down on us and cast us out. It’s funny, our home only saw value in me due to my latent talent as a taoist, and didn’t see any in my sister due to her lack thereof. There was no egotrip or sense of superiority that came with our monsterization, we lived as outcasts, looked upon with either fear or disgust by our peers.”[/color] She pondered for a moment. [color=9e0b0f]”Then again, our fate likely would’ve been worse in the west. Here in Zipangu, there are some communities that live alongside yokai, and some that at least respect them. Still, there are mainly unsavory rumors about our kind that prevent us from forming meaningful connections with most.”[/color] 

[color=9e0b0f]”There are some yokai in Zipangu who may be arrogant, but there are none I know that only see humans as toys to be used and played with until they no longer serve a use. It sounds to be like the lords you fought against are of a rotten sort that are different from our kind.”[/color] 

"[color=4169E1][i]Such a funny way of sounding sorry for someone. To speak of how blessed you have it in comparison,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, plainly. "[color=4169E1][i]It is amusing how sheltered you are, unaware of things beyond this peasant island and her pauper continent.[/i][/color]”

[color=7bcdc8]”You use fancy words…”[/color] Said Hinami, in an almost whining tone. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Naturally, we don’t know much about lands and people beyond our own.”[/color] Added Atsuha. [color=9e0b0f]”We’ve scarcely had time to worry over such things. However, I believe our time here has helped open both our eyes and hearts to the struggles of others. I believe you, yourself, could stand to take heed to your own statements. How little YOU are aware of lands outside of Salvarsion, Cecilia-san.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]I am aware of my own ignorance. Difference between you and I,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I’m not forcing you to align yourself with mine and fight in a war I have no stake in, no part in, and gain nothing from,[/i][/color]" Cecilia stood firm, as the Hangai Sister returned to their Mamono forms, "[color=4169E1][i]The Fairy and the Bandit tried this bullshit sophistry, as well. Spinning the same words with a different accent doesn’t change the fact that the woman YOU people, you Mamono scum, made a deal with is DEAD.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]All of you can winge and whine until your tears dry up and your breath run shallow. You’ve had scarce time to worry about things,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I’d never had free time at all. I’ve been at war against your filth since birth for the pleasure of Mamono higher than you station, Mamono likes your Lord and that Lady Kyoko character,[/i][/color]" Cecilia spun her dagger, "[color=4169E1][i]Day in, day out, sleepless nights, and long mornings, I sat in a window with a rifle in my hand, motionless, taking one shot, to put a bullet through the head of someone who was Human like me, turned into a Monster, like you, by other Monsters.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]You, the Fairy, and the Bandit, ask me to weep for a people I don’t know, to fight for a place I don’t care about, and serve as Pawn in a war I have nothing to lose in, and do so with such sanctimonious and callous disregard for my people, for my place, and for my war,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, as she tipped her hat, "[color=4169E1][i]Screwed up part? Not a single one of you seems to care that I have more going on than you, and I’m powerless to stop it. Everything I know and love could be dead beyond the veil, because I wasn’t there. But that... that’s not important to you.[/i][/color]"

[color=9e0b0f]”You seem to love to self-project!”[/color] Atusha snapped. [color=9e0b0f]”You also only seem to hear what you wish to hear! I’m sure that the captain offered to find a way to get you off the island so that you can go save your land. But you insisted on staying as you are going to have a child by a certain someone. No one is making you become a martyr. However, because you're staying here, one way or another THEY will come for you AND Kerry. They are the ones who truly care nothing for your plight and struggles, and will kill without discrimination. Whatever hate you have for monsters, none of it once those blood mongers have a sword to your throat.”[/color]

[color=9e0b0f]”It terrifies you, doesn’t it? The mere thought of monsters possessing emotions and desires other than fucking every member of the opposite sex they come across and turning them into playthings. Gods forbid the world be so larger than your own. Meanwhile, you offer nothing but vitriol for anyone who actually wants to extend a helping hand.”[/color]

Cecilia waited for Atsuha to finish her rant, grandstanding in the same vein as Shizuka, but with a different accent, as she’d said. After a moment of pause, Cecilia would bury her dagger into the railing, and pull a cigarette from her hat; lighting it with a quick swipe across the railing, and dragging upon it. Exhaling a cloud of blue smoke, Cecilia would turn her back to Astuha, and looked out to the temple ground.

"[color=4169E1][i]At the end of the day, that child is a means to an end. A Queen must express excess Demon Energy to maintain her Humanity. That expression becomes a child, and that child is seeded with Demon Energy and Spirit Energy, destined to enter the warmachine...[/i][/color]"

Cecilia blew smoke into the air, "[color=4169E1][i]You could say, Kerry and Gwen are products of war, collateral damage, and my love is manufactured to suit an objective. The objective of a Queen Piece: Make Pawns.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]That said, I’m not here because I want to be. If I understand everything the Fairy explained correctly, there’s a curse on me. A curse that is one year of five-hundred away from over, and exiles me from Wonderland by way of amnesia. Said cursed placed on me by the Lilim of Wonderland, the Queen of Heart, to whom I am opposed as the Queen of Diamonds....[/i][/color]"

Looking back, Cecilia dragged on her smoke, "[color=4169E1][i]Another year, and I can go home. Being here is nothing more than a layover. I have no where else to be. So, I thought, why not expend some excess Demon Energy, and kill time?[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]If the Varjans want to annoy me, then they can join the continent of bodies that I’ve killed over almost half-thousand-years in two Realms...[/i][/color]"

Cecilia turned back, "[color=4169E1][i]And, should Kerry and Gwen die in the process, they will join the bodies of all the other wives and children I’ve lost in a War of Rebellion and Revolution.[/i][/color]"

[center]"[color=4169E1][i]Their blood will grease the Wheels of Reformation, like all the rest.[/i][/color]"[/center]

Cecilia rested her head on her arms, as she smoked - unconcerned by the cultural and spiritual taboo.

Hinami looked at her sister, who had a poisonous rage building inside her eyes. Her spider legs not being just for show, immediately allowed her to rush Cecilia, who grabbed her by collar and pressed her against a wall. The force leaving a large dent, Atusha violently hissed at Cecilia, her grasping hands causing rips on the latter’s clothing. 

[color=9e0b0f]”The life of a lover and child ARE NOT simply a means to an end! I wanted to empathize with you, I wanted to understand you! You had no idea how grateful I was when you helped my sister regain her senses, you made such a horrid fault of ours seem so trivial. I admired you, I felt I had to repay you. But I forgot, you AREN’T that woman anymore, are you? You’re a coward who dismisses the worth of life because it’s easier than actually feeling something.”[/color]

Hinami quickly ran over to the pair, attempting to pry Atusha off of Cecilia. [color=7bcdc8]”Nee-san, stop it!”[/color] She pleaded. But it was no use; Even with her undead strength, Hinami could do little to stave off the rage of her older sibling.

[color=9e0b0f]”Maros is a proud fighter who agreed to come here because she believes in doing what’s right, how DARE you make light of it! I don’t know about this system you keep going on about, but if it caused you lifetimes of misery and regret, then what good was it in the first place? Being a monster doesn’t make you a tool of war!”[/color]

Cecilia blinked for a moment, before her arm writhed and snapped, cracking and twisting, bending and breaking, until she could take a drag, and blow smoke away.

"[color=4169E1][i]Are you done shrieking, or do you have more to say,[/i][/color]" she asks. "[color=4169E1][i]I haven't heard enough of how I'm the one in the wrong yet.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]I'm sure you can judge me further by your standards, so I can do the same, and we can go around and around in circles,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]If I promise to be your good, little slave, and do whatever you want, say whatever you want, and think whatever you want, little a good, brainless, little girl with no freedom...[/i][/color]" As she spoke, Cecilia was shrinking into [url=https://i.imgur.com/A4a2KsA.png]a little girl[/url], and beamed at Atsuha, "[color=4169E1]I'll be the bestest, child soldier ever, then, won't I, Missus Spider Lady? I'll do all the chores and agree with everything and everyone, except da bad guys! I'll shoot at the meanie heads with my rifle, and I'll do what everyone wants from me![/color]"

Ceciliasl’s flashed a big toothy smile with a giggle, "[color=4169E1]Cecilia Lewis, the Forever Pawn is at your service![/color]" before her expression collapsed in a dark reality, "[color=4169E1][i]Because that's all Cecilia Lewis is good for.[/i][/color]"

Atsuha’s rage began to mix with a state of confusion as she watched Cecilia’s little act unfold. Small tears began to well from her reddened eyes as she finally let go of the plant woman. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Lewis-san”[/color] She said. [color=9e0b0f]”I…I feel so sorry for you… I’m sorry you come from a land plagued with such strife, where the role of a person’s life is determined from birth, and they’re not allowed to be anything else. Where life is treated so recklessly and casually, one where an innocent child is indoctrinated into believing that for the rest of her life she’ll be nothing more than an engine of ‘Rebellion’. A mere…servant…”[/color]

Hinami went over to embrace the shoulders of her sister, looking at Cecilia with concerned eyes as well. Atsuha was somewhat slumping, much of her energy going into the earlier outburst.

"[color=4169E1][i]There it is,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]The mistaken conclusion that everyone reaches,[/i][/color]” she looked up at Atsuha firmly, "[color=4169E1][i]Nobody forced me to do anything. Pawns are born with purpose. It is our duty and honor to serve as Chess Pieces,[/i][/color]” Cecilia smirked, "[color=4169E1][i]I chose to rebel against my purpose and stake my own path. I am Cecilia Lewis, 42nd Queen Piece of the Krumpet Family, but I am, too, Alice the Queen of Diamonds, sworn enemy of Alice the Queen of Hearts, and leader of the Blood Diamonds in the Civil War for the Reformation of Wonderland.[/i][/color]”

"[color=4169E1][i]I make the decisions I made, because they are my rebellion. I shoulder my burdens, and I do so in silence, until idealistic sorts like you lot push and pry and pull out my grievances,[/i][/color]” Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Then, have to audacity to be angry that you got some of what you wanted.[/i][/color]”

"[color=4169E1]But, it's okay, Miss Spider Lady! Cecilia makes for a great slave to any cause! Cecilia doesn't break, see?![/color]” Cecilia would suddenly run her dagger through her left arm, and slice it off at the elbow, and it would flop to the wood; spraying green blood. "[color=4169E1]Cecilia falls apart like a dolly, but then -- [/color]” Cecilia reach down, and push her arm back to the stump, albeit upside-down, "[color=4169E1] -- Cecilia goes back together, no problems! Oopsie! Upside-down![/color]”

Gripping her bloody elbow, Cecilia would twist her lower arm, snapping bone and tendon, and then wiggle her fingers, "[color=4169E1]Ta-da! Unbreakable! Just for you, Miss Spider Lady! And, Mister Blue Bandit! And, Lady Pink Fairy! And, everyone else, too! Your perfectest child soldier![/color]”

Beaming, Cecilia would salute with her left arm hooked straight across her chest, and stand at attention.

[color=9e0b0f]”Lewis-san…”[/color] Atsuha uttered in a weak tone. 

[color=7bcdc8]”H-hey!”[/color] Hinami finally broke her silence. [color=7bcdc8]”I don’t know about all of that complicated stuff, but I know that everyone here doesn’t want you to be a soldier Ceci-san! We just want to be your friend!”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Cici...[/i][/color]" Cecilia froze up. "[color=4169E1][i]Nobody’s called me that in a long time,[/i][/color]" she says, her voice lowered, as she took up her cigarette, "[color=4169E1][i]How old was I... last time someone called me that? Was I Human still...[/i][/color]"

Hinami’s eyes widened a bit in confusion. [color=7bcdc8]”Really? Goodness, everyone needs friends! Even soldiers!”[/color] Atusha looked at her little sister oddly for a moment, but couldn’t help but smile at her child-like innocence. 

"[color=4169E1][i]What kind of nonsense? Of course, I had friends... I shot most of them... but, I HAD them,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says.

[color=7bcdc8]”Well…can WE be your friends too?”[/color] Hinami asked blatantly, but with a youthful cheeriness. 

"[color=4169E1][i]After you just spend the last, how long, in my face, telling me how I should feel about MY life,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks, incredulously - despite Hinami being, actually, 100%, not the instigator of any of her last three interactions.

[color=7bcdc8]”Friends don’t order each other around. Friends talk about things that make them happy! They tell each other lame jokes, each yummy food, and tell each other funny stories! But, most important, they heal each other’s hearts.”[/color] Hinami said, holding a hand to hers.

Cecilia huffed, as absorbed the nonsense. "[color=4169E1][i]If that were the case, then I’ve never had friends, from start to finish,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]In any case, aren’t you leaving or something? I heard through the grapevine, rumblings.[/i][/color]"

Atsuha beamed up at the inquiry, her face blushing a bit. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Well yes. We decided that it’d be best for us to leave with my love Skarsneek. I ultimately feel that continuing to participate in the conflict would be too risky for Hinami…condition. However! We do intend to assist in retaking the castle and rescuing Takeshi-san’s father.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Sounds like a lot of you problems, to me,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Whatever this condition is, it’s likely something that can be fixed.[/i][/color]"

Atsuha squinted curiously at Cecilia’s statement. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Perhaps. But I feel this isn’t the environment to find said solution. Unless you have some suggestions?”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Like I said, at the top, weren’t always Monsters,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Mad Hatters are a special kind. We have such a finite mastery of Time and Space, the need to throw the great orgies masquerading as tea parties that simple go on forever - because they are going on and on and on,[/i][/color]" Cecilia blew a puff of smoke that became a clock, "[color=4169E1][i]Time is cyclical, going around and around; sixty seconds make a minute; sixty minutes make an hour; and, twenty-four hours make a day; the cycle goes on, on, on, and on, on, on, and on... [/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Even now, distracted as I have been by you and yours, time has not budged a moment from when I froze it, but,[/i][/color]" Cecilia produced a pocket watch, "[color=4169E1][i]Beyond this reality, almost half an hour has gone by. Terauchi Temple, without me, would be, forever, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-seven second in the past of tomorrow.[/i][/color]"

Cecilia blew smoke in little flowers, "[color=4169E1][i]All this to say, I can go back and forth in time, as I please, as long as I have the energy to do so. I already turned you back into your Human self, once. I can do so, semi-permanently... or...[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]...I can make you Mad Hatters, permanently, ending your curse and her sickness at a personal cost. Well, I say, "personal cost," but I don't mean something as crass as blood or your bodies. I mean...[/i][/color]" Cecilia paused, before blowing smoke at Atsuha, and creating an cartoon heart, "[color=4169E1][i]I was able to look at your past, when you grabbed me. I must say, you are quite the selfish hypocrite.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]How disappointing. If anyone asked, you're the perfect big sister. Protective. Loving. Compassionate,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]But, like a spider, you’re fucking toxic underneath,[/i][/color]" she sneered, "[color=4169E1][i]In all your memories, you’re toxic protection, that yandere love you possess, that cloying compassion you drown your sister in...[/i][/color]" Cecilia blew a hole in the heart, "[color=4169E1][i]You’ve killed your little sister’s chances to overcome herself time and time again. It’s your fear and guilt of your mistake that’s chained Hinami into this feral loop.[/i][/color]"

Cecilia pointed at Atsuha, "[color=4169E1][i]Because you messed up, you’ve leaked all your guilt and self-loathing into her! Her anger isn’t natural, but [b]YOURS[/b]! It’s because you won’t let her live, because [b]YOU’RE[/b] afraid she’ll snap and go feral! Her empathy is leeching off your emotions, and you’re stifling and overbearingness is compressing those toxic feelings until her empty shell is all anger and hatred, and it has to vent![/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]I bet you don’t even notice, either,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Hinami doesn’t have a life outside of you and your boy toy. You are her best friends and her ONLY friends. You two are her world, and it’s [b]YOUR[/b] fault,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]You aren’t leaving because of Hinami’s condition. You’re leaving because YOU won’t be as stressed, YOU can focus on your precious Skarsneek, and Hinami will continue to absorb all the negativity that is inside of you, until she snaps again. Be that a year from now, or ten.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]The personal cost that you’d have to pay is losing your sister, because the leash you have around her neck will be broken, if I cure her, and that scares you, deep inside, because Hinami isn’t just a sister to you, but the last connection to your family, and...[/i][/color]" Cecilia looked at Astuha solemnly, "[color=4169E1][i]...you don't truly think you’ll be able to start a real family with him, do you? An Arachne and a Goblin? Let’s be real. Not only are you incompatible as Mamono, but as Species, as well. You know it. Deep inside, you know that Fate was barely kind enough to let you both live, and that impossible is impossible.[/i][/color]"

[center]"[color=4169E1]Hinami isn’t just a sister to you, but a surrogate daughter, too.[/color]"[/center]
Atsuha stared wide-eyed at Cecilia, her mouth nearly agape. Hinami looked toward Cecilia, then toward her sister.

[color=7bcdc8]”Hey! I heard it's rude to discuss bed stuff out loud like that!”[/color] Said the jiangshi.

[color=9e0b0f]”My Love's and I relationship is between us, first of all. Second, while it is ultimately my fault for Hinami's condition, what do you mean that my negativity plays a role in it??”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]I don’t think I stuttered at any point,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, before looking at Hinami, "[color=4169E1][i]You hear a lot things, don’t you? Always hearing, but never really thinking for yourself,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]Not one truly independent thought. Just echoes of other people’s thoughts; rebranded and parroted back as your own.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]If I have to explain how much damage you’ve done trying to protect Hinami, then you are truly more selfish than I can imagine, Atsuha,[/i][/color]" Cecilia turned her attention back to the Jorōgumo, "[color=4169E1]Your first thought wasn’t even about her. It was about defending what’s yours. Your relationship is public. If you didn’t want me to comment on it, you’d keep that shit behind closed doors, so spare me the sanctimoniousness,[/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1]Hinami’s first thought was to defend your privacy. To protect you. To defer your problem to herself. You might have saved your sister for her illness, but you replaced that sickness with your own poison. Now, she’s dying forever of a new illness, so good job.[/color]"

"[color=4169E1]I’ll give you this advice free, Hinami: if you want to stop going feral, and start living your life without fear of the unknown,[/color]" Cecilia looked to Atsuha, "[color=4169E1]Leave your sisters and her happy bubble of toxicity. All you’re doing is drowning without realizing it.[/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Or, don’t,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]Ultimately, I don’t care enough. If living vicariously through your sister is good enough, so be it,[/i][/color]" she lit a new cigarette, "[color=4169E1][i]Who knows, maybe the Goblin will pity-fuck you one day. Zombies can have Goblin babies, I bet.[/i][/color]"

Cecilia smirked, before taking a drag, "[color=4169E1][i]Make you a nice breeding factory, and you’d never object.[/i][/color]"

[color=7bcdc8]”Hey! My sister may have poisonous fangs and webbing, but that doesn’t mean she’s toxic!”[/color] Hinami said, again quickly coming to Atsuha’s defense. [color=7bcdc8]”And why would I leave my sister? We love each other! She loved me, when no one else would!”[/color]

[color=9e0b0f]”Hinami….”[/color] Atsuha said, before turning to Cecilia. [color=9e0b0f]”Yes, perhaps I’m a bit overprotective. But, who wouldn’t be toward their sibling? Doubly so, considering what we’ve been through.”[/color]

"[color=4169E1][i]Really? Are you sure,[/i][/color]" Cecilia hopped up on the railing, and crossed her left leg over her right, "[color=4169E1][i]Regale me, then. This loving sister of yours that’s never allowed you to test yourself, to challenge the world alone, to be more than Hangai Hinami, second-born failure of the Hangai Clan, talentless onmyōji,[/i][/color]" she says, tapping ash off her smoke, "[color=4169E1][i]Tell me how no-one else has loved you, when you’ve never been allowed to be seen as more than the vengeful shade of a long dead woman?[/i][/color]"

[color=7bcdc8]”I-I don’t…”[/color] Confusion began to slowly take over Hinami. [color=7bcdc8]”Never allowed to be… But, I am Hangai Hinami. I-I’m not just some…monster!”[/color]

[color=9e0b0f]”Enough! You’re upsetting her!”[/color] Atsuha exclaimed. [color=9e0b0f]”Hinami, it’s alright. Once this is all over, we can find a nice village in the mainland where both yokai and humans live in peace. It shouldn’t be too hard, and we can make lots of friends there.”[/color] 

As she said that, Atsuha thought to herself for a moment. In all the time they had been traveling, why [b]didn’t[/b] they do that? They had always been drifters, going from place-to-place acting as spirit detectives. They had established professional and friendly relations with different clients and benefactors. But, they had never tried to make true [i]friends[/i]. 

"[color=4169E1][i]So you can upset me? Judge me? Ridicule me? Tell me how I should be? But, turn the finger, and you’re suddenly against the sermon, because I’m upsetting her,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks, "[color=4169E1][i]or because I’m upsetting [b]you[/b]?[/i][/color]" Smirking, Cecilia zeroed on Hinami, "[color=4169E1][i]Oh, but you are a monster. If I’m a monster, so are you. We’re no different. Dead women, turned into monsters. Feared by Humans. But, unlike you, I’ve never had a big sister to coddle me, to hold my hand, and baby me to sleep when the scary facts of life point at me with pitchforks and torches.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]I’ve had to fight all my battles, as a Monster and as a Human. I’ve had to fail and succeed on my own merit. Nobody’s promising me a nice and quiet village. Nobody’s promising me friends and family,[/i][/color]" Cecilia blew smoke across the way, "[color=4169E1][i]It’s not so fun when someone tells you about your big ass, is it Miss Spider Lady?[/i][/color]"

Atsuha began wincing in exasperation. [color=9e0b0f]”Lewis-san, I’m sorry that your life has been hard, really I am. But, life doesn’t always have to be so bleak.”[/color] She then turned to Hinami. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Nee-chan, we are monsters, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not people. You and I have learned to make peace with it at this point. Don’t worry about your condition, once we’re in a better environment, I’ll find a cure for it in no time!”[/color] 

"[color=4169E1][i]You know what...[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]I’m a little hurt. Using my last name all this time. I’ve truly offended you, it seems,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=4169E1][i]However,[/i][/color]" Cecilia slipped off the railing, and smirked, "[color=4169E1][i]I’m not gunna hold it against you.[/i][/color]"

Snapping her fingers, Cecilia rearranged the furniture and the tables in a whirlwind of activity. A distraction, in order to keep Atsuha off-guard from the fact that she was reorganizing the guest list - a party for three was now a party for two, and the Arachne wasn’t invited.

"[color=4169E1][i]I can do enough moral grandstanding, sanctimonious preaching, and hypocritical oration for the both of us,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, as Atsuha was frozen in time, "[color=4169E1][i]Sit down, and sit up, little sister. I’m going to ask YOU a simple question with no outside interference, no opinion but your very own, so listening and THINK, don’t answer with what your heart says or your loyalties claim.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Hangai Hinami, do you want to be cured, here and now, even though the cost would be the separation from your sole caretaker, forcing you to stand on your own without her, as you would be remade as I was, once,[/i][/color]" Cecilia asks, "[color=4169E1][i]or are you willing to continue down this path of merge progression and staggering regression, again and again, in the hopes that you’ll be forgiven and made healthy and hale, never to go feral again, one day?[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Think. Then, answer.[/i][/color]"

Hinami looked around for a moment as she noticed the shifts in the room, mainly that her sister was now frozen in time. She waved her hand in front of Atsuha’s face up and down, only to be met with no response. 

She then listened to Cecilia statements on following her own path, as if daring her to distance herself from her sister. 

[color=7bcdc8]”Well… Whenever I did go crazy, I remember that my sister was always there to make things better. I don’t wanna leave her. Why would I, especially after she’d done so much for me. She’s so smart and talented, she can do anything she puts her mind to. That’s why I trust her.”[/color]

Cecilia listened, and judged. It wasn’t that she was looking for a specific answer. In truth, she didn’t care, either or. In her experience, she’d dealt with plenty of prisoners of war; both sides of the coin. It wasn’t uncommon for captives to turn over - for some, the fight wasn’t worth imprisonment, and for others, seeing the other side fueled held doubts.

However, in the rare case, the imprisoned grew attached to their warden, not to their cause or their country, but the person holding them captive. It was a syndrome, a sickness of the weak mind. Cecilia had seen it, fostered it, and once, even held it herself.

Hinami held absolute faith in her jailer, because her jailer was the only thing she knew. Atsuha had, whether on purpose or by act of clumsy overcorrection, brainwashed her sister into a lifeless state of being.

"[color=4169E1][i]You are truly a zombie in every sense of the word,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]There is no metaphysical part of you that belongs to you,[/i][/color]" she says, before snapping her fingers, and unfreezing Atsuha, "[color=4169E1]Perhaps, you’ll cure the rage inside you, but you will die a sick, sick woman of an incurable disease. But, you answered my question, and that’s all I wanted.[/color]"

Atsuha blinked twice and looked around for just a brief moment. Most wouldn’t pay Cecilia’s ability any mind, as they usually wouldn’t be aware of it in the first place. But someone with Atsuha’s magical perception could sense just the slightest trace of manipulation in place. 

[color=9e0b0f]”Have you done something to Hinami?”[/color] She asked Cecilia.

"[color=4169E1][i]I asked her a question, after I shut you up,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, turning back to the railing, and sitting on it, facing away from the Sisters, "[color=4169E1][i]Several times, you’ve apologized to me about my life, a life you know nothing about. You’ve offered me platitudes of better days. I could write a book with the names of the people that have stood where you stand, preach what you preach, and swear to me, life isn’t so bad, so bleak, so hopeless...[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]And yet, Hinami’s answer reaffirms that life is nothing but bad over good,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says. "[color=4169E1][i]Atsuha, I say this, sincerely, without malice or goading: I hope Hinami dies before you, because you’ve left her woefully unprepared to live in a world without you. Yes... for your sake, and Skarsneek’s, and whatever children the Gods above might bless you with...[/i][/color]"

[center]"[color=4169E1][i][b]I, truly, hope she dies before you.[/b][/i][/color]"[/center]
The Hangai Sisters stared at Cecilia in silence for a moment, outwardly not showing any emotion. Though mostly Atsuha, as Hinami was a bit bewildered at the tension from Cecilia’s words.

[color=9e0b0f]”I imagine you’ve said you’re done saying your peace at this point?”[/color] Atsuha asked plainly. [color=9e0b0f]”If so, could you end your magic so we can leave this space?”[/color] 

"[color=4169E1][i]A party holds no-one hostage, but the one that throws it,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, "[color=4169E1][i]You could have left whenever you liked,[/i][/color]" she stated, snapping her fingers, "[color=4169E1][i]You were invited, after all. Not captured.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Before you go,[/i][/color]" Cecilia says, hoisting herself up, and flashing out of sight, and slamming a phantasmal Hinami into the floor by her neck, before crunching down on her neck with her hand, "[color=4169E1][i]That should by Hinami enough time to finish the mission,[/i][/color]" she says, as the temporal specter writhed and then “died”, "[color=4169E1][i]I flashed-forward in time, and dragged the built up rage out, and “killed” it. My party’s aren’t just spacial anomalies, but places of good health and good time. I’m nothing, if not a hostess that assures her guests leave better than they came in.[/i][/color]"

"[color=4169E1][i]Whatever happens after you leave is up to you, o’ firstborn warden. I hope you continue to treat your prisoner well.[/i][/color]"

Atsuha barely had time to react as Cecilia suddenly had forced a spirit form of Hinami on the ground by her neck. It had the bearing of her feral mode as it writhed in bitter rage, but just as soon as it bared its fangs Cecilia had snapped its neck, doing it a second time by further temporal manipulation. The strain seemed to have made Hinami lose consciousness, but otherwise she was fine. Atsuha already had her sister in her arms. 

Atsuha made a face and looked at Cecilia.

[color=9e0b0f]”I…I don’t know if I should thank you or try to kill you… But all the same, you have my gratitude, Cecilia-san.”[/color] She said, then taking her leave back within the temple grounds. 

Cecilia would allow Atsuha the last word. It wasn’t because she deserved it, but that Cecilia, herself, was emotionally on the brink of utter collapse. From Liliana to Shizuka to Atsuha, pushed, pushed, pushed, to the edge of her reason and herself - she shoved back, and got shoved back, back, and back again and again, time after time. It was taking everything she had to maintain.

Liliana, the hopeless optimist.

Shizuka, the warweary realist.

Atsuha, the sanctimonious dreamer.

Hinami, the ignorant victim.

For a moment, she had hoped that people with paths in life so similar to her own could see her truth and, for a moment, put her first, say the words she wanted to hear so desperately, but it all related back to their lives and their world and their problems in an unbalanced comparison.

She had lifetimes of war, uncounted losses, and unforgotten victories, selfsame, but the congratulations rang hollow against the failure. Her mind never left those moments. There was nobody alive to forgive her, to tell her, “[i]You did your best, Cecilia! Next time, the war is ours![/i]”

She had no Rosebud to hope for her.

She had no teacher to drive her.

She had no big sister to shield her.

All those things...

All those people...

They were bones and dust, now.

Kerry couldn’t just become those things for her without time and effort...

[i]...but...

..here and now...[/i]

[center][i][b]...she could be a means to an end.[/b][/i][/center][/hider]