Member
Kero
Einherjar 906
Festive
Lunamaria Hawke
Villamvihar
Sep
Divorarel
hanzo
TheWendil
Ivar
Hilarious & Fake fey & Maybe More
No Banner
Gotta play Muv Luv
It’s what famished would want.Instead of a header image.
Head, Kek!
Fear.
That was what Faith felt at the moment. Mia and Connie were nice, but they were no replacement for Lotus. They had each other’s backs since escaping from Binky’s lab. That wasn’t the sort of experience you could forge with others on the fly. She wasn’t even sure how much longer Mia and Connie would want to be her friend. If Lotus could be taken from her so easily, why not them?
But it was a little more complicated than that.
Faith needed to be strong. Lotus had called her the true queen of Penrose. She needed to take up that mantle. Sanctuary was something she knew about, but just because you built some shabby shelter over the course of a few weeks didn’t mean you got to call yourself queen. No, you needed charisma, favor, spectacle, the things only a demi-goddess like herself could bring to the table. She hadn’t told Mia and Connie about her intentions yet. Part of her didn’t want them to get involved and hurt. Another part of her didn’t want them to tell her she couldn’t do it.
Presently, Faith was disguised as that blond doppelganger that Mia and Connie had mistaken for her. She was safe here. There were plenty of normal people around. An attack on civilians were rare these days. With the civilian population so low, it was easy for magical girls to come together and protect them. At least the ones that still lived in society. There were less fortunate ones who had lost their homes and had no means to leave Penrose. They were living on the streets, preyed upon every night by vicious monsters.
Faith sat on a bench. She let out a sigh and watched her breath disperse in the cold air. There would be no taxi arriving. There was not enough going on in Penrose that a taxi driver could stay employed. Especially with services like ‘uber’ available. The bench was as obsolete as a phone booth.
Heavily contrasted to the gloomy Faith, an effervescent, white-haired woman in a coat strolled on by, taking rather long and goofy steps as though she were trying to entertain herself. It was only after she walked past the girl on the bench did she notice Faith, stopping with one leg still in the air and reversing her step until she was back in front of her, even licking her lips before Faith had noticed her. “Eh~? Why the long face, Hilaria wonders~?”
There were a lot of responses Faith could have used.
I lost my best friend.
I was supposed to replace Cindy, but someone else snuck in before me.
I can’t get in contact with the rest of my alliance. They might be dead too.
The only people I can rely on are two people I met about a week or so ago.
But Faith didn’t respond with any of those. She stared at the abominable woman with wide eyes. She wasn’t use to people taking notice of her when she looked so plain.
”Well.” Faith hesitated as she struggled to think. ”Why, are you, so happy?”
“Hilaria just ate, so of course she’s in a good mood~!” she stated as though it should be obvious. She inspected Faith with a curious glint in her eye, then as if discovering the truth behind Faith’s unhappiness, clasped her hands together. “Oh, Hilaria sees~! Yes, she understands~ Mmhm~ Mmhmm~” she nodded repeatedly. “You must be hungry, yes~?”
Faith wasn’t hungry.Though Connie mentioned she had made a lot of friends at the rave. It was hard to believe. The thought of the masked girl approaching rave goers made Faith smile. Perhaps the reason why she was so successful was because she tried.
”I could go for something to eat~!” She nodded along with Hilaria. ”Do you know of a good place?”
Hilaria nodded with even more enthusiasm. She had not been here particularly long but she had been around Penrose’s restaurants enough to know the good from the mediocre from the bad. However, it would first be prudent to understand Faith’s tastes before giving her advice. “But of course~! Within the depths of Hilaria’s consciousness lies an ever-expanding library containing records of each and every dish Hilaria has ever tried and their caliber~! Penrose cuisine is merely the latest chapter, and Hilaria thinks that it shall reach its conclusion before long~! Thus, when it comes to food, you can count on Hilaria~! But... Hilaria would like to know what manner of food you fancy, miss, umm~?”
”Faith!” She clapped her hands together. ”As for my preferences, Hilaria, I’m pretty easy. Well, easy to feed at least~! Though I really can’t get enough bananas. I eat them on cereal, pancakes, ice cream, almost anything! I suppose I prefer more, um ‘organic’ food?” She rested her chin in her palm. ”I don’t think too hard about what I eat, beyond bananas. Oh! And blueberries! Strawberries are good too!”
A shadow suddenly hid Hialria’s features as she began trembling. Through the darkness, Faith could see two glowing eyes before Hilaria then erupted. “Strawberries~!?” she took Faith’s hands into her own. “Hilaria loves strawberries too~!” she told the girl excitedly. “Say, do you like Sundaes~? Hilaria hasn’t had one in quite a while~” Quite a while was really more like a few days, but still. “Hilaria also knows some places to get smoothies, or some vegan restaurants if you’d prefer those~” Despite her fancy for meats, it wasn’t like she didn’t eat her vegetables, too.
”What’s with this woman’s fearsome aura?” As fearsome as the woman’s aura was, it sounded like she wouldn’t mind eating together. Not that a menacing individual was enough to scare away Faith all by themselves. Lotus had a similar aura about her too. ”If you haven’t had a sundae in a while, let’s go enjoy one of those~!”
Hilaria cheered. “Absolutely~!”
…
…
…
The two would begin walking but the shop Hilaria had in mind wasn't just sitting two seconds away, unfortunately. The ancient led the way with a skip in her step and, perhaps, was even more excited than she was earlier judging by her humming something. But not too long into the walk, she turned to face Faith while walking backward and posed a question out of the blue. "Does Faith not have people to eat sundaes with~?"
”Well, I do actually!” Of course, having ice cream in the dead of winter was kind of strange. Most ice cream shops closed this time of year because people usually wanted to have warm meals. There was never a bad time to have ice cream though. ”I just don’t have a lot of friends. Maybe two or three. I don’t want to impose on them every time I’m feeling hungry.” Replace “hungry” with “emotional” and her statement became a lot more honest. ”B-besides! Sharing a meal is a great way to make even more friends~!” She took Hilaria’s hand and began skipping in sync with her. ”Do you have many friends?”
She thought for a moment. “Hilaria has met a lot of people recently that she can eat with~” she answered in a vague way, her eyes seeming to wander off briefly. When they returned to Faith, she nodded. “Armadillo, Micky, Sopha, to name a few~” she closed her eyes and remembered the taste of the chicken she shared with the two magical girls. “Meals after fights always taste better in Hilaria’s opinion~!”
”Really now? That sounds like something one of my old friends would say.” Faith clapped her hands together. ”You must be a magical girl! We should transform and fight some monsters before our ice cream! And just to make it a little more special, we should transform with our backs to each other. And then when we turn around, voila~!”
Hilaria beamed an even bigger smile than before. The fact that she was entirely on board with the idea written on her face before she ever opened her mouth to speak. "Hilaria thinks that sounds fun~!" And honestly, any proactive movement against monsters was likely to be appreciated considering how rampant they'd been due to the incident with Dan. Hilaria was doing this for the food, though, so that really didn't matter. "Alright~ Hilaria will count to three, then we transform and turn around, yes~?"
”Yup!” The two girls backed up to each other. ”Start us off!”
”One…”
“Two!”
”Three!”
”I would ride with you upon the wind, run on the top of the disheveled tide, and dance upon the mountains like a flame.”
"Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixture dementia fuit.”
After a surge of magical energy, both girls turned to look at each other. ”Haha!” Faith blinked when she saw Hilaria’s magical girl form. It looked familiar. She couldn’t place where she had seen it, but it was impossible for her to move. Fear held her in place.
Likewise, Hilaria did not move from her spot right away, but instead curiously inspected Faith. She licked her lips instinctively. A sense of familiarity washed over her but she wasn’t quite sure where she might have seen this girl before. But this sort of feeling wasn’t anything new to her since she had a habit of forgetting people, so she assumed it was just that. “Why, don’t you just look like a treat~” she teased, only now noticing Faith seemed to be troubled. “Mmm, is something wrong, Hilaria wonders~?”
”Ah!” Faith hugged herself and averted her eyes, ”I, um, I don’t know.” she looked back at Hilaria. ”I’m just a little shy I suppose!” She looked familiar, somewhere, Faith remembered being attacked by a shadow the other night. What did Mia call it? An edgy knight? Edgy swordsman? She hugged her shoulders. ”So um, monster slaying. I’ll follow your lead.” She wiggled her wings.
Hilaria shrugged. It was weird that she’d be shy considering she suggested it, but oh well. It was more important to figure out where they should go to get a nice fight in. There was an abundance of monsters in Penrose so it should not take long if one was attentive, but they were equally as likely to run into violent magical girls, too, given how things had become after the Rave. But as they moved, Hilaria noticed the girl behind her hadn’t been too talkative. “Hey~ Are you still alive back there, or did someone gobble you up~?”
”W-wha?”
She vaguely remembered something. A dark shape moving at high speeds. A collision. A fall. Then she was rolled over, and on her stomach the only thing she could see was her attacker’s teeth…
”Hilaria.” Faith took a single step backwards. ”Do you ever eat people?”
Hilaria’s steps slowed until she stopped. “Mmm~?” The aura around her seemed… darker, somehow as she turned around, flashing an unsettling smile. “What are you asking, Faith~?”
That was all she needed to hear.
Faith turned around and ran back towards civilization, believing in safety in numbers.
“Eh? Eh?”
Hilaria was certainly caught surprised by her sudden and hasty retreat. Had she said something wrong to Faith? Well, this wasn’t good! How could they eat sundaes together if she wasn’t there to enjoy them?!
There were faster girls than Hilaria when it came to running. Many, in fact. Her sprint speed was nothing to be proud of since her area of expertise and focus was centered around being an immovable object that you could not ignore. Thus, when it came to running, she was rather lacking.
But running wasn’t the only method of maneuvering around that was afforded to her. With her strong, thick thighs and her gravity spec, it was not hard for her to jump where running would be too slow. So, Faith would hear a period crashing behind her as Hilaria made leaps to keep up. “W-wait~! What’s the matter~?” She called out. If Hilaria had intentionally made her flee she wouldn’t have bothered chasing Faith, but this was really confusing for her. “Hilaria promises you that she hasn’t eaten anyone~! Not in a long time, at least~!”
That just made Faith run faster.
To a bystander the chase might have looked like a frog chasing a fly. Faith was swift and nimble, but Hilaria’s powerful jumps enabled her to keep pace. Faith would need obstacles if she wanted to stay ahead of Hilaria.
Their chase brought them between two buildings, each one covered with snow. The path was narrow and there was little room to maneuver. But as soon as Hilaria set foot in the place, Faith strummed her harp. The vibrating harp strings resonated with the metal roofs, which shed their payload. While the snow fell, the fairy attempted to lose Hilaria by turning a corner and running down another street.
Hilaria had summoned her scutum and brought it in front of her, pushing forward and attempting to use it as a makeshift snow plow, regrettably incapable of making use of a leap in the tight space she found herself in. The snow descending from the rooftops clashed with her shield but she won out in the end, powering through and reaching the other side. This did not prevent her from losing sight of the girl she was chasing, unfortunately, but she wouldn’t give up just yet. There were other senses one could use aside from sight to locate someone.
“It’s a very bad thing to do, Hilaria knows~! That’s why she doesn’t do it anymore~!” she tried explaining. “Even if it tastes really good, people don’t like other people who eat people, so Hilaria doesn’t do that~! She swears~!” the girl started heading down a street she thought Faith might’ve gone as she called out.
Faith watched Hilaria run down the street. She had crouched behind a garbage can and waited for Hilaria to pass her. She kept her voice down, and even breathed as slowly as she could. Once she was sure the giant had gone away, Faith crept back into the alleyway and started to back track. That was until she felt a tickling sensation at the end of her nose.
”Ah-choo!”
Hilaria paused, turning back towards the direction of the sneeze. She lingered for a moment but, perhaps assuming it was more snow falling down, continued down the path, disappearing from view shortly after.
Once Faith thought the coast was clear and decided to backtrack, she found that she was mistaken in assuming she’d lost the ancient. A strong gravitational pull snagged her, and although it did not drag her from where she was standing, it made it difficult to move away from its origin that, of course, was Hilaria, who was leaning against a wall, arms crossed and her eyes focused elsewhere. "If Hilaria ate people, then there'd be nobody to eat with," she sighed. "Hilaria doesn't want that. She doesn't have much else she can enjoy anymore, so why would she ruin it?"
Faith groaned. Being stuck like this was terrifying, but if Hilaria had this kind of power, then she probably could have eaten Faith already if that was what she wanted. But Hilaria had to be the person who attacked her. At least, it was the only person who made sense. Though Penrose was the sort of place where little of anything followed a logical thread.
”Okay.” Faith surrendered to the pull of gravity and allowed her body to drift to Hilaria’s side. ”I got in a workout. Let’s get something to eat.”
…
…
…
Hilaria and Faith found themselves sitting at a table in a small place called Sweet Victory. The store had no particular identity, but the color scheme was this unflattering mixture of brown and pink that was not too easy on the eyes. If there was a silver lining to this place, it was that that probably meant people only came here because the eats were good.
The two had placed their orders, with Hilaria making sure she got a banana split. But as they waited, Hilaria seemed interested in Faith. “Hilaria wants to know… why you suddenly ran away like that~” she was sure she’d have to keep an eye on Faith on the way here but that proved unnecessary.
”Well, you said you ate people. You ate a magical girl in the past.” Faith’s arms remained folded on the table. ”I figured if you ate ‘her,’ you were going to eat me.” She lowered her head into her arms. ”You also look like someone who bit me yesterday. I’ve been told I’m quite the dish, but I’d rather not be consumed if I can help it.”
Hilaria nodded in understanding. “Oh, Hilaria supposes that makes sense~ But Hilaria hasn’t done that sort of thing in centuries, you know~!” she tried recalling the exact circumstances of her last bout of cannibalism but drew yet another blank. “And she never did it intentionally, either~! Eating people is very bad~!” She opted against adding, “even if they taste good” because somehow, she imagined, that would probably upset Faith more. “But you got bit yesterday~? How horrible~! Since you mistook Hilaria for them, Hilaria assumes they got away~?” She inquired as she found her finger impatiently tapping on the table. Given her occasional glances towards the employee of the joint, she was eager to have her sundae. “Where was this~?”
”It was at the park, if memory serves.” Faith brushed back her hair and showed Hilaria the back of her neck. ”I don’t remember what happened, but the following day I woke up with a sore neck. Or I suppose it hurt when I rotated it a certain way.” She moved off of her chair and onto Hilaria’s lap so that she could take a closer look. ”You can’t really see the mark now, because my friends healed it all up~! But yes, this part of my neck was all sore, that must have been where they bit me.” She traced the area with her finger.
While they talked the bell would chime on the rare occasion as other patrons came and went. No one paid the two girls chatting at the table much mind. The luxury of the vail.
Back at the table, Hilaria inspected the faded remains of a scar closely, admiring the work of whoever healed it as the wound probably would have been fatal otherwise. She was not sure what Faith would have done to evoke such a brutal reaction from someone, especially since tearing out a throat was something a wolf or beast would do. But a magical girl? She must have been beast spec'd.
"Oh, aren't you a lucky one~?" Hilaria wasn't bothered by Faith's closeness one bit until she found herself almost licking her lips yet again. It must have been because she hadn't had her ice cream yet, or so she reasoned. "Hilaria knows that sort of thing can be scary~" she said, deciding to trace her own finger over it. "Oh, how often Hilaria has woke up with no recollection of the night before and small wounds on her neck is just too much~!" Well, 'wounds’ was an exaggeration for love bites, but...
”If I was truly lucky, it likely wouldn’t have happened to begin with, haha~!” Faith found herself hunching as Hilaria felt around the area. The sensation wasn’t entirely unwelcome, Lotus would do this sort of thing to her as well. She found herself relaxing until the counter person waved their hand. ”Oh! I think the ice cream’s ready~!” She hopped off Hilaria’s lap and darted for the front counter. When she returned, she placed the banana splits on the table.
They were a thing of beauty. A ripe, firm banana had been split down the middle, and the gap between the two halves had been filled with ice cream. A scoop of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate had been mounded in whipped cream and topped with a cherry. Faith had ordered the “breakfast” version, which was topped with nuts, granola, peanut butter syrup, and garnished with strawberries and blueberries. Hilaria’s split was instead garnished with sprinkles of every shape, mini chocolate chips, and chocolate syrup had been drizzled over the entire thing.
”They look rather tasty! Good thing I didn’t know about this place until today~!” Faith took her spoon and carved off a little bit of her split. ”If you’d like to try some of mine, just let me know~! I don’t know if I can finish it.”
The two dug into their respective sundaes, with Hilaria letting out small squeals of enjoyment just about every time she put her spoon into her mouth. One need not ask what her opinion on it was and soon she finished almost the entire thing, shutting her eyes and sitting in silence as if to savor the treat. Once some moments passed, she opened her eyes and smiled. “Hilaria really enjoyed that~!” She exclaimed as she looked at Faith to see where she was in all of this. Maybe she’d get lucky and Faith’d get full?
”Yes! It may be a bit cold out, but you really can’t go wrong with ice cream~!” Faith had managed to eat all of her strawberry scoop and the banana, but her split was mostly intact. ”I think if I eat too quickly I’ll get a headache, but it is very good!” She lifted a spoonful of vanilla to her lips. ”At least it won’t melt~!” With a sigh, she looked at the rest of her treat. ”I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help with this, would you?”
“OF COURSE~” her tone suddenly picked up. Realizing this, she waved her hand. “H-Hilaria got a bit too excited, sorry~” with Faith’s permission, Hilaria would start helping her finish what she had started, one bite at a time.
Though Hilaria could bite pretty quickly.
”A-Ah. I see.” Faith hadn’t actually watched Hilaria eat her own split, so she was unaware of how fast this girl could eat. It wasn’t a race, but she was certainly eating like it was. Yet at the same time, it seemed like she was enjoying every spoonful. There was something endearing about seeing someone so happy to eat ice cream, but Faith couldn’t get distracted. Just because she was sharing this with Hilaria didn’t mean she was going to let her finish the whole thing by herself. She hadn’t even tasted the chocolate yet. And why was she eating all the blueberries?
As they ate, Faith found herself getting more competitive. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed like Hilaria had the same strategy she did. She was going to finish eating all the fruit before going onto the ice cream scoops themselves. It was true that Faith had asked for help, but she didn’t need quite this much help. She couldn’t just tell Hilaria to stop, both because it was rude and because Hilaria had purchased everything. So she’d continue to compete in silence. Faith’s spoon fulls were getting bigger. She was getting faster. She was even switching between fruit and ice cream in an attempt to starve off a headache.
Finally there was only a single spoonful left. Faith was still swallowing, but there was no point in being indecisive about this. By this point she had perfected this technique of turning the spoon and then curling it to get as much ice cream off the bottom of the bowl as possible. Hilaria’s spoon came in from the opposite direction, and the final bit of ice cream was cupped between their silverware. Together, they picked it up, and together, it raised. It was clear that the first person to get it would be the first one to get their lips over to the spoon.
The race was on.
But Faith had a strategy for this. If she bent over the top of the spoons, she would just end up hitting her forehead against Hilaria. But maybe if she approached from the side, then she could suck the ice cream directly into her mouth. She had to be careful though. If either of them moved their spoon the wrong way, it would just fall into the bowl again. But Faith had abandoned indecision long ago.
She cupped her lips.
She swooped in.
She inhaled.
She could taste the vanilla ice cream on her tongue.
But in her haste she hadn’t realized Hilaria was doing the same thing, and the ice cream was the only thing filling the breach between their lips. And once that was consumed…
”!”
Faith pulled her head back. There was still a little sliver of ice cream on her cheek. ”I-I must anthologize! My mother would not approve of such a barbaric display on my part.” She set down her spoon and folded her hands in her lap.
Faith would notice Hilarai was visibly confused at her sudden apology. "~?" she yet again licked her lips free of the ice cream still on them, giving a content sigh. However, she noticed the bit still left on Faith's cheek and reached over the table to swipe it with her finger, sucking it clean. "Hilaria doesn't think that was brutal~ It was fun, if anything~!" Table manners should always come second to the enjoyment of the meal, and Hilaria wasn't the sort to really think twice about a kiss, especially if it was accidental.
"It was fun to watch though." A vaguely familiar voice would say from the neighboring table.
The two's attention would turn to see Janet and Jenna sitting at the table next to them. Where did they come from? How did they find them? How long had they been there? They both apparently had the time to not only sit, but take an order, receive it, and nearly finish before even being noticed. Since when were knights ninjas? Janet was casually munching on what remained of a cone. "I see Hilde fixed you up with the artifact we lent her. How you feeling?" Her eyes drifted over to Hilaria. "Didn't expect to find you with her though." She raised her eyebrows just a bit.
As the twins suddenly entered their conversation, Hilarial tilted her head. Context clues made it obvious they knew Faith to some extent, but they also implied they knew her as well. "Um, Hilaria is sorry but it doesn't look like you were important enough to remember~!" she gave a slight bow. When she lifted her head up, she questioned them. "But why is it unexpected for us to be together~?" she looked down at her chest, then back to Faith's, then to the twins. Two of these things were not like the others. "Hilaria doesn't discriminate, you know~!"
Faith remained silent untill Hilaria spoke up. ”I was doing a bit better before you showed up, admittedly.” She slid her seat closer to Hilaria. ”Is there a reason you’re stalking us?”
Janet made a face as Hilaria made some arbitrary connection. What even... whatever. Shaking off the confusion Janet would sigh. "No, not really. Sorry about that. We were actually looking for Hilaria and you were here too. Though we did hope to get the chance to talk with you as well." She would put her hands up for a moment. "And we're not here on any official Beacon business. This is just us." She would try and get rid of some tension. Though to be fair that might be easier said than done.
"You were looking for Hilaria~?" she asked. She then smiled at them. "Oh, Hilaria sees~ If you want to eat with Hilaria, then all you have to do is ask~! The more, the merrier, after all~"
Faith took a napkin and cleaned her face. ”What did you want to talk about?”
The two girls would split and focus on each girl individually. Jenna taking Hilaria in this case. "I would love to. I do have something important to talk to you about though..." The last part she would communicate telepathically. Helewisa.
While her sister engaged Hilaria, Janet would lean against her chair. "Cindy wanted to talk, actually. She doesn't get the opportunity to see many people she knew at the moment. You'll understand in a moment why in a moment. If you're up for speaking with her that is." She smiled slightly and waited for a response.
”Oh.” Faith blinked. ”Well, Cindy is dead. Though I’m aware you managed to fuse part of Amber’s soul to Hilde. I don’t know what type of experiments you’ve been running, but I’m not interested in participating in them.” She stood up. ”Hilaria, did you want to go anywhere? I don’t feel safe here.”
Hearing her name evoked only negative emotions in Hilaria. This girl would use her name so freely? This lackey? Who the hell did she think she was? It was enough to infuriate the ancient. "Hilaria suggests you never use that name, particularly in her company, ever again," she 'advised' Jenna. The 'young' woman's tone was a far cry from what it had been. Her ditzy-like mask shattered in an instant. She, like Faith, stood up from her seat. "To at least speak their business is something Hilaria can allow," she explained to Faith, looking then to Jenna, waiting for her to begin.
Jenna would bite her lip. She was glad she didn't say the name out loud. She would hold her hands out. "Forgive me. Had I known I wouldn't have." She would stay seated but would gesture for her to sit. "I learned of it while caring for your sister." She would explain. When they first met her it was about the only thing she would say apparently. "She was worried about you, so we took it upon ourselves to find you." Her expression was one of concern rather than fear despite Hilaria's strong reaction.
The apology looked to have propitiated the ancient if only a little, though the subject at hand was not one she enjoyed. She was, however, intrigued. "Worried? Hilaria isn't sure why she would be concerned. But it’s bold of her to treat Hilaria like a child if she needs caretakers, is it not?" she was much less hostile than she previously was, at least.
Cindy would then appear in place of Janet, watching Jenna. A slight smile appearing on her face. "Would almost be amusing to observe these two court danger were I not in some way one of them." She would regard the remains of a cone in her hand for the briefest of moments before discarding it in the bowl that Jenna had been eating from. She would look Faith up and down. "I am pleased to see you are well my dear Faith. I had hoped to be better received by yourself. Seeing as whom you were conversing I shan't blame you. Your insinuation of the twins is substantiated. They have an odd way of stumbling their way into preserving things. But I am no experiment of theirs."
Faith partially stepped behind Hilaria. ”They’re Beacon scientists.” She explained to her white haired friend. ”They captured a dangerous scientist so that they could use them to their own ends, and they’ve been doing experiments with people’s souls.” She placed one of her hands on Hilaria’s shoulder. ”Well?” She addressed Cindy this time. ”Out with it, what did you want to say?”
Jenna pressed her lips for a moment. She didn’t have much to offer in the way of what Ishtar meant. She did know one thing for sure. ”We were not allowed to speak with her very long so I don’t know the details. She wished to see you again and was rather distraught that she nearly lost that chance. She misses you. That’s it, we just wanted to make sure you knew.” She looked at the floor for a moment.
Her eyes drifted over to Faith who seemed genuinely concerned that they might do something to them. Now she looked hurt. Though they had only had chance encounters with the fairy girl and the things they did were pretty high level and bizzare. She was about to say something when Cindy raised a hand to stop her.
Sitting up Cindy appeared perturbed. This was no way to treat an ally. "I had hoped to simply 'have a chat' as they say." She raised a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I did not prepare a specific message to give you. If I must be brief then know that I intend to honor our agreement with Outer Penrose." Removing her hand she would look Faith in the eyes. "The Howell twins and I shall continue to defend Penrose and do our utmost to see that Beacon changes. I do not wish for our friends and compatriots to face the same persecution we have endured for ages. I have seen the results of others work and I believe there is hope yet for such an outcome." Despite having a new face, the eyes of one growing weary of conflict was visible in Cindy for a moment. Hilaria might have noticed it more readily than Faith depending on how long she'd been a magical girl.
Janet wanted to clear something up if she could. "The soul you were speaking of. We didn't know whos it was or where it came from. We simply gave it a home in a Soul Jar and later a patron used it to create a new magical girl." She wasn't here to explain everything though. There was a pause and in it she stood up. "Anyway, we should probably go. Sorry to have interrupted your day." She would look at Cindy who seemed hesitant to leave.
Eventually though the Lightning girl would stand and begin to step away, only to stop and revert back to Janet. She had one last thing before they parted. Given she missed some of the tension she seemed in lighter spirits when she turned to look back. Her attention went to Faith. "Thanks for helping Hilde with her name by the way. She was pretty excited to tell us about it." Smiling she would turn to follow her sister.
As soon as they left, Faith let out a long sigh. ”I don’t know who to trust anymore.” She practically collapsed onto the table with both palms. ”She sounded like Cindy, but that wasn’t her body. I still can’t get a hold of Nuncio, and without Sammy or the Rockstars, I don’t know if there’s anything left of the Outer Alliance.” She dropped herself into a chair. ”Penny has ascended to the throne, everyone seems to have left me for dead. Save for a few people, and you.” She looked at her fingers. After wiggling them a bit, she looked back at Hilaria. ”Hilaria, am I being paranoid? They are allied with the people who killed my closest friend, can I trust them?”
Hilaria could not help but feel irritated at what she perceived as Isabella's clinginess, but she also felt a modicum of happiness. Positive emotions involving things that were not edible was, of course, quite rare for Hilaria. "Mmm~" it seemed her speech returned to normal as things settled down. She glanced at the conflicted Faith with a soft gaze. "Hilaria avoids placing trust in people since that usually ends up hurting her~" she said such a depressing thing in such a nonchalant way that it made it easy to overlook.
Of course, this did not answer Faith's question. Hilaria tapped a finger to her chin. "Hilaria can relate, however~ It is difficult to place any Faith in those who have wronged you so dearly~" she wasn't aware of the exact circumstances behind Faith's friend's death so it was difficult to give advice. "But most people tend not to cause another to suffer unless they benefit in some way~ Would they gain anything by betraying you~?"
”I don’t know.” She shook her head. ”I fear they may wish to harm me after invoking Gaia’s wrath on them. Those holy types tend to shun the earth mother when she reveals herself.”
Hilaria patted her back. “Then they are ignorant~ Hilaria knows ignorant people are the most dangerous~! You need only look towards the Ascendancy to see that, though~”
Faith nodded. ”Then it was wise to let them go.” With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair. ”Thank you for the ice cream, Hilaria. I do feel better having consumed a frozen treat. I will have to treat you next time~!” A smile crossed her lips. ”Can I have your phone number? I would love to introduce you to my other friends.”
Grabbing her phone from the depths of her chest, she nodded. “Of course~!” she smiled. “Hilaria can always use more people to eat with~!”
After the two exchanged numbers, Hilaria stood up. “Hilaria wants to go check on something, though, so she’ll see you later~” and after that, the ancient went ahead and left, intending on visiting her sister.
