Dusk: Dawn

Silence pervaded.

Hisoka had long since lost interest in watching Lan throw herself a pity party, but he wasn't quite sure what else he should be doing in the meantime. He could pretend she still offered more entertainment than standing alone in the hall as he waited for Chrollo to show up with the game console. She didn't, though.

Lan found out her entire life had been built around an extravagant lie, and Lan loathed lies. This had to be devastating. Truly, this might finish breaking her.

And that irritated him.

He always said he would break her first, yet he would get no satisfaction if he pushed her over the edge right now. Her battered body wouldn't hold through even a friendly sparring match. Tears openly streaming down her cheeks as she looked through photos, her mental state was just as abysmal. He couldn't even get her to engage in unrelated conversation. No fun at all.

As mentioned, he really should find something to occupy his time. Building a card tower would be more entertaining than watching Lan mope. Her crying, while silent, somehow managed to annoy him immensely. Probably because she would keep crying no matter what. Anything he tried would come off as insincere- it would be, of course, but that wasn't the point. Yet, here he remained. Maybe it was morbid curiosity and a vested interest. After all, if she failed to pull through this, she would be useless to him and Chrollo. That would be such a shame that he could kill her out of disappointment. But whatever she had done to her aura to defeat that floor master, he wanted a taste. Badly.

How much she had grown since their rendezvous in Yorknew… If Chrollo was the cause, he swore-

"Hisoka?"

Her timid voice ripped his attention from his thoughts. "Yes, fledgling?" he answered sweetly, hopeful. It would be so boring if she sunk into a silly depression over this.

"Why didn't you kill me?" And, immediately, he could tell he didn't like this conversation. They had been over this multiple times. "You wanted to." Had wanted to. Frustrating little fledgling… She needed to learn to leave things in the past.

"I had been about to, yes, but that woman's Nen decided to make itself known." Is that what she wanted? To hear that the only reason he had spared her had been that aura? "It distracted me long enough to realize there was still plenty we could do together, darling."

"You-" The spark of anger fizzled with exhaustion. "You really wouldn't have let me live otherwise." A statement of fact opposed to a question, she knew him well. Yet not well enough to understand his fickle nature decided he wanted her again. And what, did she expect him to find that woman more interesting? He had already forgotten her name, to be honest. She was dead. She was boring.

"No," he said, frustration flattening his tone. This girl, she never ceased to annoy him… In a way he must find endearing considering he was tolerating it. He should be taunting her, tearing her down to earn her hatred, all to make her stronger, not trying to comfort her and indulge this weakness. "My interest in you," he stressed, "hasn't disappeared. Your potential is mine. You're mine."

"Yours…" She mulled over his claim, usual distaste lost in her broken, quiet voice. All the fight seemed gone, and he hated it. Where was the girl that had punched him in the face over an innocent kiss? "Hisoka, leave me alone." Said so civilly, not even a sputter of bloodlust laced aura…

Hisoka stepped back from her, pouting, arms crossed over his chest, as he turned on his heel to stalk out of the room. Nothing he did or said would help. Only hinder. Much to his already irritated irritation, Chrollo would have to deal with her. His silly little fledgling had made the mistake of trusting him once, and she was a glutton for punishment when it came to things like trust. Even after painstakingly explaining that Chrollo had been using her, she probably forgave him with a precious few words from that silver-tongued bastard. But, if Hisoka wanted her back in working order, a sacrifice would be necessary. Chrollo could coddle her for a bit if that's what fixing her required.

He didn't care about her. He cared about fighting her. He shouldn't need to keep reminding himself of that… He blamed Chrollo for making this a competition of a different sort.

Hisoka didn't like losing.

Chrollo stepped through the remains of what had once been a warehouse. The roof torn from the structure and the ground littered with debris, his Spiders had wreaked their usual havoc. On his way to a partial doorway leading underground, he passed three mounds. Fresh graves, presumably.

Sybil had escaped her end once more, hadn't she? Unfortunate.

Circe had neglected mentioning that minor detail in her report. She had sent him an elaborate text message explaining the situation before telling him when he could come collect his toys.

While a shame, the item had become of little consequence to him. He had told Lanfen the truth. He wanted her more. Fanghe's aura would have been more interesting if he could steal it. He wondered, briefly, what would happen if Lanfen had the curse exorcised; however, he quickly concluded that suddenly perceiving pain would be more of a curse to her.

Circe said Lanfen had been injured. The extent she had noticeably omitted. His brows furrowed as his eyes narrowed. Not yet a Spider, but if irreparable harm had befallen her, then he would ensure retribution against them. He could resolve a broken spirit with a bit of work. (Truthfully, he planned to use this moment to break her resistance so she would give herself to him completely. The opportunity presented itself, and he would take it.) If Machi could not repair her body, he certainly couldn't. Irreparable harm would seriously hamper his plans.

Down the hall came the familiar sound of a concrete wall being rhythmically impaled by cards. Hisoka had lingered, as expected, to return to Greed Island and continue the search. The unexpected aspect happened to be why he chose to wait in a forgotten hallway instead of with Lanfen. She would be vulnerable, right now. Enough that Chrollo had been concerned that Hisoka might take advantage of her. Their interactions almost promised that. Was her condition so poor as to make Hisoka concerned?

Hisoka leaned against one wall, smile absent as he sent another card into the opposite. Gold eyes flickered to Chrollo to acknowledge his presence. Continued silence felt almost strange. Chrollo's unsaid question lingered in the air for a time, another card in the wall punctuating Hisoka's refusal to answer.

So, Chrollo asked something worse. "Why are you not with Lanfen?"

"Hmm?" Hisoka glanced at him. A card shattered the abused wall, shards flying into their faces. "Her inconsolable sobbing had gotten on my nerves is all." A lie as it may be, as unflinching as Chrollo's expression might have been, Hisoka grinned anyway. "And here I thought you would be happy that I left her alone. She was begging me to go kill the rest of them." A flick of his fingers and unseen Bungee Gum retrieved more than a dozen cards from the wall. He shuffled the cards before making them disappear with a flourish of his hands. Slow steps, and he stood at Chrollo's side, leaning in so his mouth rested by his ear. "On her knees, she said she would do anything for me if I did."

"You didn't accept her offer?"

No response was followed by Hisoka rudely rummaging through Chrollo's bag for the console, extra sure to jerk him around as he did so. Lanfen's condition must have him truly bothered; he walked right into that remark. Usually he was sharper, or at least had a witty comeback. Now he wanted to leave without protest or insult.

Once Hisoka had the console exposed, he finally answered, "She's at the end of the hall on the left." A flicker of aura pressing down on him, a flash of energy, and Chrollo found himself alone. Brevity and Hisoka were an odd, unsettling, combination.

His footsteps echoed down the hall to announce himself. The last thing he wanted was to frighten her. He needed to be comforting, someone she could trust. He-

He froze in the doorway.

Dim light from a monitor lit an otherwise shadowed room. Sat on the floor was Lanfen. Bare back to him, her shirt abandoned, her skin revealed all. A harsh mosaic of deep purple bruises crossed by red-lined scratches and flaking blood spatter, not a piece of skin was left unmarked. Her right arm fell limp at her side, bandages hiding severe damage. Eyes narrowed, he took a few cautious steps towards her. No reaction. Her attention remained downcast, focused on her lap.

Carefully, he kneeled behind her, whispered her name softly as he reached out. She didn't flinch away. Skin cold under his fingers, the failure to respond, she seemed lifeless. He hadn't needed to approach her like a wounded animal. No, he needed the gentleness of handling cracked porcelain. He brought his arm around her shoulders to pull her into his chest. Her hair in his face, she reeked. Blood. Sweat. Everything unpleasant. As his eyes traveled down to her lap, he saw bruising around her neck. Their rather brief time apart since her abduction, she had been sentenced to hell.

Hell that he would repay tenfold.

This was probably soul-crushing enough without the physical injuries. A puppet to a lie, second in importance to something that never existed, her struggle meant, essentially, nothing without the item. Her life meant nothing. She was nothing. And finding out you were nothing, he understood the desolation in that.

A shaky whisper, an incomprehensible word, Lanfen drew in a sharp breath to choke back a sound. That last bit of control, she held onto it tightly. Breaking down into actual sobs, she adamantly refused to show that level of human vulnerability. "It," she mumbled, voice hoarse, "it was fake."

He turned his face into her hair, held her closer. "I know."

"Why did-" her voice cracked, trying to betray the raw emotions tearing at her heart. "Then why did you come?"

"For you, Lanfen," he reassured, giving her exactly what she wanted to hear. Even if she was nothing to everyone else, she was important to him. To matter, that's all she'd ever wanted. He could provide that in return- "For you."

At the compound he realized exactly why he wanted her: she was another part to integrate. As a Spider. As another piece to a whole. He wanted to explore this, them, further. He wanted to investigate why. He wanted to experiment in concepts like intimacy and empathy and love, in things he didn't consider himself capable of. His nose buried in her hair, he pulled her into him, tightened his embrace. No, he wasn't keen to let go of her now.

"Chrollo," her small voice interrupted his internal declaration, "I want to go home."

A quirk of smile, he nodded into her hair. "Of course." His hand lingered on her shoulder when she tried to force herself to her feet, her exhausted body trembling. "Let me care for you," he said, firmly but gently. Even tired and upset, she seemed to catch his meaning. She didn't need to be strong right now. It was safe for her to be vulnerable with him. Cold fingers weakly wrapped around his. "Trust me?" he added as she contemplated accepting comfort or throwing his hand away.

A tip of her head elated him.

She let his fingers slip from hers as he stood. Once in front of her, he crouched down to collect what she had been intently staring at when he had arrived: a photo album opened to the first page. She allowed him to lift it from her lap. Before closing the cover, he stole a glance. His eyes fell on a single photo. Two women and an infant. Wholly uninterested in Fanghe, he stared at the other, his breath held. Lanfen's mother… His own mother wasn't something he enjoyed thinking about. Yet, Lanfen, she kept accidentally bringing her to the forefront of his mind. Now… Now because he realized he had no photographs or keepsakes or anything to remember his mother. Just hazy memories and himself. Sentimentality was something he so rarely felt. In fact, it was one of the things he understood the least. What made something important? What gave something value? What made nothing something?

He closed the album, tucking it under his arm. That pain was for later. Right now, he had a mission.

After pocketing her phone, he offered her his hand again to help her from the floor. Tired legs gave out. On instinct, he caught her by wrapping an arm around her waist to bring her close. Her face pressed to his chest as she leaned against him. A few moments passed before she was stable enough to stand on her own. Her focus on the floor, she reached out. He returned the precious photo album to her without protest. As she cradled it to her chest like he had her, he slipped his jacket from his shoulders. Her eyes flickered to his as he draped it around her. She relaxed under it, violent shivering tapering to a tremble.

His hands freed, he caressed her bruised cheeks, brought ashamed eyes to his. Carefully wiping tears away, he hoped he conveyed some amount sincerity in his actions. It wasn't all a lie. Seeing her so thoroughly beaten, he didn't like it. No, rather than disgust or disappointment or enjoyment, his chest tightened with pity and, perhaps, sympathy for this poor abused creature.

An arm around her waist to support her, only their footsteps broke the silence of the decayed building. Passing through the rubble of a downed wall and twisted metal reinforcements, she hesitated, muscles tensing. In the dark of the room, he could make out the outline of a collapsed metal table and a single chair. Then a broken watch and familiar fabric.

"Do you want it back?" he offered, unsure. She was sentimental to have kept the silly bandana and watch from their outing. The actual question on his tongue would be too painful to ask. The abandoned personal items, the ring of cuts and bruises around her wrist… They had kept her bound in a room reminiscent of her childhood bedroom after abducting her from the site of her trauma. If that wasn't torture enough…

Minji, Circe, and Sybil, the moment he regained his Nen, he was personally-

Lanfen turned into him, pressed her face to his shoulder. She shook her head 'no' to his voiced question. "They poisoned me," she mumbled, answering his unsaid question, "and it- hallucinations and I-" she sucked in a breath, body quaking. He helplessly combed through her hair. Emotions were such awful things. "Was so scared and-" He couldn't change what had already happened as much change a predetermined future.

Crushed, his heart stopped for a moment. He hated feeling helpless. He hated that Lanfen felt helpless. "They will regret this," he promised, accidentally aloud.

Another moment to collect herself, her eyes returning to the floor, he continued leading her outside. Past destruction and graves, the evening air stung with night's chill. She shrunk into him, once more shivering. He might have dragged her to a hospital if he thought she would cooperate. Pale and a second from collapse, hidden under the bandages was likely a wound that had caused significant blood loss. Bandages… The wound had to be horrific if Machi couldn't fully close it with her Nen alone. Scars would be an inescapable reminder of her pain.

Parked on a side street leading into the area, they arrived at her aunt's car. Retrieving it had been… troublesome. Convincing the foxes to take him back to the farmhouse had been a nightmare without Lanfen- yet walking would have been worse, considering he wanted to reach her as soon as possible. When he actually got to the farmhouse and to the car, he had a shotgun aimed at his face by an old woman convinced he had killed Lanfen out in the woods- he almost had, in letting her take that attack for him. He talked his way out it, of course, but it had been something else. Lanfen would probably find the story hilarious under different circumstances. He hoped he could tell her, later. What he wouldn't do to have her smile right now… That might be enough to convince him she would be okay, eventually.

He opened the back door to grab a blanket he had spotted earlier, but she wordlessly pulled away from him to crawl into the backseat. She curled up, hiding under the blanket to block out the world. Best to let her be. He doubted she would allow herself to sleep, no matter how much she needed to, but giving her time to process while in safety would also help. He hoped.

He lied to himself when he said he would be willing to remake her. That meant she had to first break and seeing her this miserable… A whisper, the regret in his voice-

"I'm sorry, Lanfen."

A coin spun in front of her, another gift in a growing pile. The crow nudged at her hand, shill squawk piercing morning stillness. The crow on her shoulder shuffled, hunkering down into the crook of her neck. The two on her lap squabbled over a shiny chain, eager to present it to her first. Others watched from their perches, chattering, concerned.

Several days had passed.

Lan shifted, giving into a desperate plea for attention from the crow poking at her hand. Dubious control over her right arm, feeling as numbed as the rest of her, she patted the bird with her left. Warm and soft feathers soothed chilled fingers.

Several days.

In the earliest hours of morning, they had arrived home. The car ride, the onset of complete exhaustion when minimally safe, Chrollo had had to carry her inside. Auntie had been waiting. The shouting, the anger she mistakenly aimed at Chrollo… The moment Lan forced out that the item was fake, she had fallen horror-struck silent.

A beak picking at the loose edge of a bandage, she shooed the crow away.

In hindsight, she was glad Chrollo and Auntie forced her into a bath the moment hostility was set aside. Like a child, Auntie had to help her remove blood-soaked clothes from bruised skin and into the water. Water that had quickly clouded with grim. Redressed and on the edge of her bed, Chrollo had gently peeled away old bandages as Auntie fetched replacements from her stash. His fingers almost seemed to tremble as he brushed them over gouged lines of raw flesh. Then again, her vision had been wobbling from fresh tears at seeing the damage for the first time.

She didn't know. Chrollo was just… She didn't know.

Sighing heavily, she stole the chain from the crows on her lap as they started getting violent.

The duration of the week, she hadn't said a single word to him. She didn't know what to think, let alone say. Chrollo had stayed despite… everything. He'd witnessed her entire world torn away, saw her at her absolute worst, and yet… He didn't abandon her. He didn't even seem to judge her for it. No disappointment in her emotional spiral. At most, he expressed anger towards the Fan Shi. Since that night in the rubble of her life, he offered affection and comfort that she was free to decline or accept. The countless hours she spent cuddled up to him, his arm around her shoulders as she sat beside him, his fingers absently combing through her hair as she rested her head on his lap, he expected nothing from her.

That gave her time. Time to process some of the hell presented to her. It would be outright denial to say she was over what happened. She wasn't. She wouldn't be for some time. But, without expectations and some minor distance from raw emotional turmoil, she could think. Think about a future rather than a past.

She scooted the crows off her lap, the one on her shoulder hopping down as she collected their gifts. Some cawed while others wished her 'bye-bye' in copied baby-talk. Quietly, in case Auntie finally managed to sleep despite the stress of Lan's listlessness and returned nightmares, she opened the door and sneaked back inside. After shedding her coat to drape it on the back of a chair next to her bag and after removing her shoes, her steps slowed as she began her search.

He wasn't difficult to find in an already small house. Like most mornings, Chrollo sat on the couch, a cup of tea beside him and a borrowed book in hand. Her eyes went to the floor before his could flicker upward to meet her gaze. His patience, he would always outlast her in a waiting game. She feared finding a lie in his eyes.

She carefully sat beside him, tucking her legs under her as she cuddled up to him. Without glancing away from his book, he invited her closer, his arm around her shoulders. For a few silent moments, she allowed herself to just enjoy his presence, his warmth. She liked being near him, liked the affection he so freely offered, and that was the problem. It would be so easy for this to be a lie. It didn't take a genius to use a general deprivation of affection and some emotional turmoil against her. Even knowing that it was a possibility- a strong possibility given the perpetrator- she still wanted to believe him. Being around him felt so… not wrong it made her worry.

Something about having your entire reality ripped away made you question the validity of your judgement. Not that she much trusted herself to begin with.

"Chrollo?" She fiddled with the edge of a bandage, carefully raising her gaze to his face. He lowered his book marginally, waiting. "Why are you still here?"

A quirk of smile pulled his lips. "For you," he said again, words so sweet and sincere her eyes sought the safety of her lap.

Did she dare believe him? Without the imminent threat of death and the need for immediate comfort from any source, she should be thinking more clearly, yet… She still felt so lost.

She enjoyed his company, obviously. She enjoyed the fluffy cuddly stuff, too. He made her happy in a way few things, let alone people, did. No, he was more an animal. Not in the demeaning way using 'pet' would be, but more like Yan or Tai. A friend, she supposed. Yet, she could not dismiss that she had only truly known him a single month- with most of that time spent running from her worst nightmare. How much of their relationship was a lie?

Then there were the festering facts. A future would involve the Phantom Troupe. As in being a member if she didn't want to be his 'vacation from reality' whenever he had spare time. The Phantom Troupe terrified her, now. Not because of their power, either. Outcasts gathered under the leadership of one stunning individual, the Fan Shi had once been the Phantom Troupe. She had seen the aftermath of such a group self-destructing. The overlap of manipulative charismatic liar… On the surface, Chrollo was also alarmingly similar to Fanghe.

At the same time, she admired the devil she had met in Yorknew. For all his strength and intelligence, and, more importantly, that he had clawed his way from the nothingness of Meteor City to become the wholly terrifying Spider. Revenge in its own right, but nothing near as petty as Fanghe's.

Conflicted, she needed time. She needed to find a future instead of avoiding a past or drifting in the present. This decision, if she didn't want to regret it, she needed to make it herself. And, to best do that…

Lan shifted, regaining his attention with a hand on his cheek bringing his face to hers. His curious eyes, gray reflecting the warm hues of sunrise, they filled her vision. Lightly, she touched her lips to his. Her eyes fluttered closed as she pressed her lips to his in a genuine kiss. He abandoned his book to hold her closer, moved his mouth against hers so tenderly it may have once broken her resolve. Instead he just twisted her heart in the most pleasant of ways.

When they parted, her hand trailing to his chest, Lan felt a trace of a smile pulling at her lips. The smug satisfaction on this jerk's face, he thought he'd won.

"No."

A half-second delay, bemused, he smiled. "No?"

"No matter what, you'll always be trying to convince me to join the Spider. Now is the perfect opportunity." Even if it means using my breakdown to your advantage. Granted, he could have done so much more cruelly. The fact she felt grateful for such a small kindness proved her decision necessary. She needed to be away from his influence, from everyone's influence. "So, no." She shrugged, trying to brush off the severity of her decision, her fingers twisting the fabric of his shirt, her nerves singing with familiar anticipatory dread. She was saying no to the leader of the Phantom Troupe, after all. His silence would soon become scary. "Do you have an issue with that?"

He leaned back, focus on the ceiling, subtle smile still hinting at amusement. When he raised his hand, her nervous fiddling froze. As he touched his lips, she knew. The contradiction in rejection and acceptance, in repulsion and attraction. That kiss had betrayed her.

A chuckle sent her spine straight. "Not at all," he said, hand gently cupping her cheek. She immediately relaxed. He brought her closer, resting his forehead against hers. The intensity of his gaze, she couldn't avoid it. The intimacy of the moment made her stomach flip. "Rather, I like that answer more." His lips almost against hers as he spoke, his breath tickled her skin. She wanted to kiss him as much as shove him away. "I require someone that can function on their own as much as follow orders. My focus cannot, nor will it ever, be on an individual." The Spider above all else. That would be their relationship, and he had no intention of hiding that fact. "In the most affectionate sense, I still wish you to be mine." A brief kiss killed her pout at a still possessive phrase. He understood her so well. Too well. "I also promised you your freedom." He leaned back, brushing aside stray locks of hair to free her vision. A carefully devised act or genuine impulsive affection, until she knew which, this needed to be goodbye. Despite that, she leaned into his touch. "I find you worth waiting for, Lanfen."

"Is that a lie?"

"No. I can promise that, if you wish."

"You don't feel like you've wasted your time?"

"I quite enjoyed our time together."

She swallowed down another 'are you lying?' His thumb traced over her cheekbone as she scowled at the floor. Before his hand left her face, his fingers tilted her chin to bring her attention back to him.

"You didn't know the item was fake, right?" The subject incensed a flicker of anger in the numbness.

Because Hisoka did. His ignorance to the past had long lost its charm. If he had told her about that other aura sooner- A tightened grip, her fingers clutched Chrollo's shirt. What-ifs meant nothing. What happened couldn't be changed. That didn't make it hurt less.

"I thought its existence was perhaps farfetched, but still within the realm of possibility." He worked her fingers free from his shirt, holding her hand. She couldn't tell if he actually enjoyed physical contact or if it was a sacrifice to an act. "May I remind you that obtaining the item had been of secondary interest?" Pretty words in an imploring voice, she couldn't tell if he was lying.

Trust. She could only trust him. She didn't even trust herself, so trusting him… She couldn't. She couldn't do it.

"I need time."

She moved to stand, her fingers slipping from his hold. Chrollo remained as she walked away. An understood goodbye, neither said another word.

Have some fluff! Or Lan telling both guys to screw off... for now. She's off to stay in the woods with Yan and Tai for a bit. Know that she definitely took Auntie's car, that Auntie heard her car leave, and was very offended Chrollo was still in her living room. This chapter was sooooo much easier to write than the last, like, four.

I thought I was going to hemorrhage readers for last chapter… That and a few chapters more were supposed to be the original end, btw, so that might be where so much of my anxiety came from, haha… Yeah, I'm glad I rethought that too. I will be setting up another arc (send help, I don't have it all planned out yet o-o). Got some characters to develop, and not just Lan now :) Chrollo and Hisoka should be concerned.

I'm going to do something a bit weird for next chapter. It's something I've have had mostly written for a while, and, since I need time to plan, I may as well share it. It'll be set in the past in Meteor City, with Joan, Minji, and Virgil's recruitment by Fanghe, with young Chrollo stalking around. Consider it a transition from one problem to the next.

Thank you so much, StrawberryObsession, HeavensScribe, Guest, and kitcatty005 for reviewing last chapter. I really needed a response to quell some worry; you helped get this chapter done to start picking up the pieces.

StrawberryObsession: I 100% deserved your passive-aggressive revenge. While I wanted it to be devastating- because Lan needed a very harsh shove into further development- I promise I didn't do it to personally attack readers T-T That's why I was so nervous about it because it's, as you said, a clusterfuck of emotions. I think you ended up feeling like Lan, with the numb shock and all. I, ah, hope your thesis and defense go well despite my interruption.

HeavensScribe: Nothing was about as devastating as it gets and pick up the pieces Lan will. The feud is always on, but what is this? Hisoka recognizing he's losing? And admitting Chrollo can handle emotional Lan better? I'm glad you like my interpretation of Chrollo, veneer of innocence indeed. Also that you were so jazzed about the train chapter, because that was a moment I was dying to write. I think a lot of people jumped from the Hisoka train then, lol. And how did you know I considered Hisoka whisking her away? That was an idea… but Hisoka should be livid his 'dream fight' is dead because of her. Girl's too suspicious for that. She doesn't even trust Chrollo because he's being too sweet.

Guest: Lowest low indeed. Lan's going to start her journey to reinvention now! How, well, secret~ No, but really, I'm glad you enjoyed 'the item is a lie' because Lan can, you know, try to move on from her past now that its not literally pursuing her at every turn.

kitcatty005: Yeah, anticlimactic, I'm hearing that. I'm glad that you like the opportunities for growth that can come from it though! Because ~character growth~ it's not just for Lan now. I think we can both agree we missed Hisoka and Chrollo's POVs, haha! I'm working on that new, overreaching, conflict now- the details are, ah, hazy tho. Glad you checked out my drawings! How rare that someone imagined a character nearly the same. Also, Sybil's very alive ;) She ran off before the chip viewing, and Lan didn't care because it was one less Fan Shi upsetting her.

Thank you all for reading!