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She wasn't a killer.

But Mirajane already had blood on her hands. The sin was already hers, so it's not like it couldn't get any worse than this. The only difference between this situation and her last was that she had a valid reason to harm that man—it was self-defense. He was a monster. But for this…she didn't know anything at all about Laxus…

Yet now wasn't the time to be worrying about him or trying to chastise herself. Now wasn't the time to be regretting her choice—she had her reasons. She had already set it in stone, and even if she changed her mind, she didn't think she'd be given the option to drop out of this. He had already paid her a portion, all for accepting. He had the payment ready for her when she told the man in stripes her answer. A part of her told her that he had been expecting that answer, or at least, he had prepared for whatever answer she may give, and whatever she said, it would result in her accepting the job in the end. This man in charge was clearly someone with a lot of power.

He wasn't someone to fool around with.

None of those men like him were. They weren't even men. Nor were they simply monsters. They were a beast much fiercer and of their own league—they were dragons. Black dragons. They were far from the friendly kind.

If there was anything Mirajane knew, it was that one should never ever play games with any of the men from the underworld or get caught up in their dark deeds. If you ever come across one, you should run away as far and as fast as you can. But by becoming a Demon at the Roxanne La Sanguine, she had already willingly taken their hand—taken his hand. Maybe she should've reached out for a different hand to help pick herself back up because without even knowing it, she had dragged her siblings into this dark world with her. That was the last thing she wanted. But were there any other hands she could have held onto at the time?

She wasn't even sure whose hand exactly she was holding onto—whose hand she had made the deal with. She only knew his voice. Was that even a good enough reason to associate with him? No. But he was offering her something she just couldn't pass up—especially with how much worse Lisanna's condition was getting.

If Mirajane was being completely honest, she wasn't even sure what exactly she was getting herself into. Despite the night life she lived, she wasn't completely familiar with any of the dangerous men in the underworld business—or more correctly, any of those gangs and their members. While she spent so much time around them, she had no idea who any of them were or what their sins were. She wasn't even sure who in the audience belonged to the rich upper-class society. She couldn't tell any of the men apart—not that it mattered. All in all, they were the same to her: monsters. They were creatures she wanted to stay as far away from as much as humanly possible, which was why she always made sure to stay out of their reach whenever on stage. She never remained near a man in the audience long enough for him to be able to recognize her, for they might target her later in the night.

It wasn't complicated to understand, and there needn't be any grand reason for it: Girls like her weren't treated with grace, nor were they treated with kindness or respect.

Mirajane knew of plenty of girls among the Torturers that had been taken away in the middle of the night, most likely against their own will, and some of them never returned. But missing girls wasn't a problem here at the Roxanne La Sanguine, for there was always a replacement ready to take over. And nobody cared. The girls here would probably love it if she suddenly disappeared and never returned—which she just might.

This…job Mirajane was agreeing to do…in the end, it might just be Laxus who killed her before she could him. After all, he, too, just like the Black Dragon that now had her neck chained to its every command and control, held a lot of power. Even if she were to die at his hands, however, she would be content because her siblings would still have the partial payments she would receive, and that should be more than enough to last them the next couple decades or so. She just needed to make sure she survived this job long enough for that.

Who exactly was Laxus anyways? Was he a man? Monster? Dragon? And most importantly, was he someone she should be afraid of?—was he someone she could kill?

She clenched her teeth.

Death. Who was it going to be? Her, a courtesan? Or him, the billionaire? The odds weren't even in her favor, but it was a fat lie if she were to say she was actually content with leaving her siblings in death. It wasn't even a question: It wasn't going to happen. At least, not like that…

Mirajane continued to stare down at her hands that rested upon her black purse as her thoughts buzzed on. She was currently in the large dressing room at the Roxanne La Sanguine, collecting all of her things from her vanity station. The air for once didn't smell as thick with perfume and hairspray; it smelled sweet, but not too overpowering. The reason for that, though, was because she was the only one here. It was some time around 2:00 P.M., so the underworld strip club wasn't open for another few hours.

Along with the small (yet large to her) payment, the man from last night had given her another note from the "boss," him, the Black Dragon. It had instructed her to do a few things, the first being she immediately pack up everything, for she was going to be away for a while. She was to rendezvous back at the haunted clock tower tomorrow at the same time she had met them two nights ago. She had three days total to prepare. She wouldn't be returning to Roxanne La Sanguine for the next few weeks, and possibly months or even year; she also wouldn't be coming back home to her younger brother and sister, either. That was the part she was having the most difficult time with—not the killing part, even it it was always there lurking in the background.

How could she leave them? What could she possibly tell them?—she wasn't sure what to do about her siblings yet… But that was just part of the job. The Black Dragon had already explained everything to Mirajane during their first meeting about his plan and the role she would have to play. She even already knew how she was supposed to kill Laxus. If she thought about it with a clear mind, even she would ultimately choose to be far away from her siblings. That was where it was safest for them.

Mirajane finally broke out of her frozen state and slowly picked up the burgundy colored lipstick by the vanity mirror on the countertop, twisting it in her dainty fingers so that she could see the pretty design on the cap; the designs represented what expensive brand collection it belonged to. This was her last item. She'd had this lipstick since she first started; it belonged to her late mother, being one of the finer things her father had given to her. One would think it would hold sentimental value to her, but…if only they knew what purpose she was using it for… She exhaled deeply as she dropped it inside her purse, hearing it clutter against the other items she had put inside of it. She didn't have too much to pack up, mostly just makeup and some hair products and accessories; she tried to keep it simple, for she didn't have plans to stay at this place forever. At least, that was her original hope, and maybe this new job would make that happen.

Mirajane clutched her purse with both hands, and then, ever so slowly, she lifted them, shaping them together like a gun and pointed it at the mirror before her.

Inside of her, she felt calm, like a serene ocean. Mirajane then closed her eyes. She tried to imagine the black and white image she only knew to be Laxus from the newspapers and placed it in front of her—he had a fierce look. Though it was faint, she could feel her heartbeat picking up a little bit of speed. This was for Elfman, and most importantly, this was for Lisanna. She bit her bottom lip, gripping her hands tighter together: bang!—

"Mirajane?"

She jumped with a small gasp, and her large eyes flicked over to the owner of the familiar voice—"Erza?! Hi! What brings you here…um…at this time of day?" Mirajane tried to ask casually, clasping her hands in front of her. She clearly achieved normality with the strange look the scarlet-haired girl standing at the doorway was giving her. As if she could recover from being caught pointing a fake gun at her reflection with a few words of failed casualness…

"Um, I think I lost something…." Erza slowly said as she came over to her station next door. She bent over with her hand on the countertop, peering at the black, glittery ground.

"Oh? What did you lose?" Mirajane asked, watching as Erza straightened up and began to look through her items at her vanity station, picking up a small bottle of perfume with one hand before setting it down and picking up an eyeshadow palette with the other hand. If she had seen her shooting enactment, she was being kind by ignoring it…or maybe she was too diverted by something else…

"Uh…I think…I lost one of my earrings…" Erza said distractedly, picking up the rest of her items at her station to see if anything was hidden beneath or behind them.

"You mean your silver dangly ones? With the tiny-like daggers?" Mirajane asked, now checking beneath her own station—anything to stray attention from herself will do—she pursed her lips. She didn't realize how dirty it was under there…

"Yes," Erza said with a heavy sigh. Her chocolate brown eyes traveled the room, scaling it over. "They're very precious to me…. I received them as a gift from a childhood friend…" she said.

Mirajane glanced over at her friend, her face brightening up as she said: "Oh! Is this that blue-haired boy you talked so fondly about when telling me about your orphanage days?" When she received a flushed nod in response, she went on to say: "I'll definitely make sure we find it! When did you realize it was gone?"

Erza walked over to where a rack of black lacy outfits hung in the corner across the doorway, and she dropped down to her hands and knees, feeling around the ground as she searched with her eyes. "Earlier in the afternoon, when I checked my reflection after I took a shower…" she answered. "I already tore my room apart looking for it for the past two hours, so I know it's not there…"

"Hmm…" Mirajane hummed, looking around the room. "Here, you stay looking in here, and I'll go check the stage, okay?"

"Yeah, that would help a lot, thanks," Erza said, giving Mirajane a brief smile as she walked out of the dressing room.

She kept her dark sapphire eyes attached to the ground as she slowly walked down the dimly lit hallway. One of the lights was flickering like the glow of a firefly, and she could hear the soft buzzing sounds of electricity in tune with the on and off flickers of light. The only other noise accompanying her was the sounds of her low-heeled shoes clicking against the ground; its sound seemed to bounce off the walls back and forth repeatedly, as if the walls were playing catch with the sounds her heels made.

Until she came to the adjacent hall and nearly ran into the wall that ended the hallway she was walking down, Mirajane only had Erza's earring in mind while her eyes searched the black ground in a trance. She startled herself once her right foot kicked the wall, indicating it was time for her to turn right where the stage room was. When she looked over, it was dark down that way, with only the dimmed lighting of dark shades of blue, purple, and red creeping their way into vision of Upstage. She stayed where she was for a few seconds before she slowly made her way down to the eerie glow. It was getting harder to see the black ground, so she was now hunching over with her legs bent and her hands keeping her hair out of the way as she walked. The lights in this hallway had long ago burned out, and none of the men in striped suits bothered to fix it; they were too lazy to, so it was always this dark.

As Mirajane neared the entrance to Upstage, that's when she somehow caught sight of it in the distance—a small glisten on the ground, close to the wall, as if it had been kicked over there. She was running over there when she heard distant voices in the stage room—that made her come to a stumbling halt, and she had to use her hands to catch her fall—not a sound was made. She slowly released the breath she had been holding. Now crouched down, she gradually crept her way further into the grand stage room, coming into Right Wing, but she stopped short where the drawn velvet curtains hung. Now that she was closer, she was positive the silver item on the ground, just a few feet beyond the coverage of the curtain, was exactly what she was looking for. How lucky. She bit her bottom lip and looked over to Center Stage. She could hear their low voices—the men were fairly close, probably sitting in that first round booth in front of the stage.

"…are probably expecting us to do it on Thursday night, so we're going to plan Wednesday…"

"Are you sure? That stupid Fairy Tail always gets in the way…"

Why were they still here? Go do your dirty business somewhere else! Mirajane irritably thought, but she immediately released her anger with a sigh. She supposed this place was most popular for exchanging dark deeds and planning them out…but still. They were just making this a lot more complicated than it should be for her. After all, who knows what they would do to her if they ever discovered her existence… Probably the same fate you're to deliver to Laxus, a voice echoed from the back of her mind. She fisted her hands, bunching up the thick material of her dress.

With her back now facing the curtain, a few moments passed and Mirajane finally turned her head towards the end of the curtain and slowly inched towards it. She stopped right when she was at the tippy edge and inhaled deeply. It smelled like cigarettes. Gathering all of her courage, she peeked out at the dark auditorium of the stage room—that's when she spotted them, right where she had suspected them to be. There were three men.

Mirajane quickly pulled her head back behind the safety of the curtain when she saw one of them seemingly look up, and she froze for a few seconds, listening to their discussion before she decided she was still in the clear. She glanced over at the silver item of priority. She then looked at her bare arms and hands and then grabbed at her starlight hair. No good—they would stand out the most if she tried to reach over there. That's when she looked down at her other option. She wore her usual long black dress and black heels. She pursed her lips. This was good enough.

Mirajane quietly scooted down a bit so that she was on her elbows, and glancing to her left and right, making sure she was still alone, she slowly extended her right leg out, only hoping the black material and dark lighting was enough to make this look inconspicuous.

One of the men sighed heavily, making her heart jump and her eyes snap over in their direction.

"…if not them, then that stupid Dragon Team—Makarov's grandson, Laxus, is in charge of… I honestly think he's even scarier to deal with…"

At the sound of his name, Mirajane started to hold her breath, as if that would make her hearing better.

"Yeah, did you hear? Because of him, that Raven Tail gang got busted. They're all in jail, except for their leader who managed to get away…"

"So that's why I haven't seen that annoying fool, Ivan, around lately…"

"Really? I heard that Laxus actually killed him…"

"Wouldn't that be interesting—did you know? Ivan is Laxus' father."

A snicker.

"Well, either way, whatever happened, that boy obliterated them. I heard he has a rage you don't ever want to cross paths with. We just need to make sure we avoid him, if anything…"

A sigh.

"Yeah…"

"All right boys, we'll discuss how to handle them later. Back to business—so, I'll have some of my men stationed in the old sewage system. Nobody really knows, but fifty years ago, the people here used that as an emergency escape passage…"

"Hey, what is that?"

"What?"

"That over there…"

"I don't see anything…"

"But I could've sworn—"

A gun shot.

"There. I don't think there's anyone there. We should be the only ones here, and I don't want to waste time like last time when you thought there was somebody, but there really wasn't. It probably was just the smoke. What was it that you thought you saw?"

"…something pale…white…"

"It's the cigarette smoke then…"

Mirajane was now sitting on her knees, bent over with a fisted hand close to her chest. Her eyes were wide and her insides were a bundle of nerves. When she peered down and opened her hand, a silver earring rested safely on the palm of her hand. She closed her hand securely, next peering up at the small hole in the wall before her. With one quick glance over in the direction of the three men, she was already to her feet and receding down the dark hallway, with "…I guess so…" as the last thing she heard from their conversation.

When she was about ready to turn left, down the hallway to the dressing room, Mirajane paused. She felt the urge to be in a hurry, for who knew when or if those men would come down this way, but if she kept walking straight, there would be one more connecting hallway to her right, a good few feet before the stairwell entrance where all the courtesans were to enter in from. Down this hallway on the right was where two bathrooms were.

None of the girls ever went down this hallway because there were a lot of peculiar paintings that made them feel uncomfortable—apparently their eyes followed you as you walked down it. They also held a superstition about the girl's bathroom: there was a bloody courtesan you would see in the mirror once the lights inevitably flickered five times. She was said to be the past Aphrodite in the year of 1872, who had committed suicide in one of the stalls. Her name was Laura Marcel. Mirajane had never actually ventured down this hallway before, always blanking about its existence whenever she passed by it. She had no reason to go down it just like everybody else, though—the bathrooms there were said to be broken and unkempt, and there were functional bathrooms down the same hallway the dressing room was on. Those ones were closer and cleaner, and apparently had a lot more stalls.

But there was something she was curious about…and it had been eating at her ever since the happenings of three nights ago.

Mirajane glanced down the hallway to the dressing room. Then she looked straight, where the other hallway was. She started to walk, not turning left.

When she arrived at the opening to her right, Mirajane stopped and stared down the hallway. The lights were a dim yellow, and the ground here was carpeted in a crimson red, with darker red stains in certain areas. There were many paintings that lined the wall on both sides, but Mirajane's eyes couldn't bother to pay them any attention, for one had already captured her sight. It was a body painting that hung at the very end: It had a cloaked figure outstretching a skeletal, decaying hand, welcoming you to step inside their boat that floated on dark waters, which led towards even more darkness.

.

"Guess what I found?" Mirajane said in a happy singsong voice, skipping her way towards the scarlet-haired girl who was crawling on the ground at the far end of the dressing room.

When Erza looked up, her distressed face lightened up greatly. "Did you find it?!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet and rushing over. She gratefully took the small jewelry from Mirajane's hand, examining it, and sighed. "Thank goodness," she whispered, staring up at the ceiling.

Mirajane simply stood there with her hands clasped in front of her, allowing a small smile to grace her features. Maybe she should discuss her previous situation with the gun and those three men…

That's when Erza looked at the starlight-haired girl before her, her appreciative smile fading a bit, and she spoke first: "Hey, Mirajane…is it true?"

Mirajane blinked. "Hm?" was all she could do in response, completely lost on the conversation.

"You've been gone a few days now," the scarlet-haired girl went on. "Forgive me if I'm prying, but rumors travel fast around here, and I heard from one of the other Demons that you're leaving this place." Her dark brown eyes traveled to Mirajane's cleared off vanity station, all except for her purse that remained there, and Mirajane could only follow her gaze, her heart dropping once she remembered why she was really here in the first place. So…they already knew, without her even having to say anything. It really was a scary place to be in, this underworld society...

"You…you would say goodbye to me if you were to leave, right? I mean, I know I may not be your favorite person, but we're friends, right?" Erza softly said as she twiddled with her earring, almost timidly. So unlike her. "I mean…I wouldn't mind keeping in touch…"

That was when Mirajane placed a hand over Erza's. "Of course," she said, offering a breaking smile. She almost forgot that leaving the Roxanne La Sanguine meant she had to say goodbye to Erza, too. "You're probably the only friend I have, and the only other person I care about as much as I do my siblings. We've both come a long ways after all…there's no way I could just throw that all away…" Which every word she said was true to her heart.

When Mirajane first started working at the Roxanne La Sanguine was around the same time Erza had first started working there as well. They were probably the youngest ones, as well as the only two who shared the same age, yet despite it all…they absolutely hated each other. It was always a competition between just the two of them, and they couldn't seem to stand the other's presence, let alone mere existence. From vandalizing one's vanity station with rouge lipstick to pranking another one in the bathroom, their war went on. Even though they both suffered trials that were equally difficult, and they both struggled with the same financial problems, they just couldn't get along with one another…until the incident happened.

Erza was the victim, falling to the same fate that many other girls had already woken up to in an unbreathable darkness. There had been several men, all surrounding her, wanting to take her. It was daytime, so there were still people out on the streets, dressed in dirty, ragged clothes. But none of them were bothering to help. They all turned a blind eye towards her and walked on by, as if there was nothing going on because why should anyone trouble themselves with another person's problems? In the end, they were all scum, and there was no need to save trash. Save it, and the trash will just continue to build up, and there was already an excessive amount as it was in this part of town. It'd be for the better if the world could be rid of one more piece of trash…

But a soul wasn't trash.

Life had value. There were just some beings that chose to become horrifying, malevolent creatures. They chose to become monsters. And it was them who Mirajane just couldn't stand to see smiling and getting away with everything. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

So, when Mirajane witnessed the scene of Erza and these men…those monsters…she didn't even care about how much she hated that girl. She didn't even know why she hated her so much, either, but now, especially after her own incident that had happened a few weeks ago, she just couldn't walk on by like everybody else. And she knew….she knew how kind Erza really was. Despite everything, she was aware of the fact that Erza was the one who had retrieved the stolen money she had earned that one of the older girls had stolen. She was aware that Erza always watched over her things at her vanity station when she went to perform, making sure none of the other girls stole her makeup and hair things. She knew of everything that Erza had been doing for her, and she was always sure to do nothing short in return because in reality, she actually really liked Erza.

Erza was the only one whom Mirajane could actually talk to. She was the only one who listened to her and looked her straight in the eyes whenever she spoke. She was the only one who cared. She was the only one who was still fighting. She was a blazing flame. And someday, when it was time for those flames to become ashes, she would arise and become a beautiful phoenix.

Mirajane was not about ready to let those monsters put out Erza's beautiful flames—it wasn't time yet. So, the moment she saw one of those monsters raise a hand with ill intent, she acted immediately. She took no time to fight these men with all her might and strength. In the end, together with the help of an old broom and abandoned empty fruit crate, Erza and Mirajane were victorious in their fight. They didn't come out unscathed, but they were still standing, breathing, living, and most importantly, genuinely smiling.

From that moment on, all their rude words and wrong accusations stopped, turning into the opposite. They treated and acknowledged each other as what they really wanted to be from the start, and ever since, they've carried on accordingly.

Now, here they stood.

Mirajane bit her bottom lip. She wanted to tell Erza. She wanted to tell her everything…but she couldn't. She was forbidden to tell anyone about this job. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, accepting to only saying this much: "I can't say a whole lot about this right now…but I promise to tell you everything when I can. All I can and need you to understand is that I won't be gone forever. I'll write you…when or if I can…"

Erza stared. Then a smile broke her somber features, and she nodded her head. "I understand. I'm sure whatever it is, it's something you have to do…at least, that's what I'm sensing. We'll see each other again. I wish you the best of luck, and all the safety and protection in the world," she said, placing a firm hand on Mirajane's shoulder.

Mirajane could feel herself melting. Her insides were burning and something was overflowing out of her. She could hardly stand it any longer, so she threw her arms around the scarlet-haired girl and hugged her tightly. She only hoped this really wouldn't be the last time…

When they pulled apart, they exchanged smiles, and stood there for a moment in the calm silence. Then, after a few long seconds, Erza spoke, wiping her eyes a bit: "So…I heard a loud noise while you were gone looking for my earring in the stage room… I'm not sure if I'm right, and I don't mean to freak you out, but it almost sounded like…" Her face twisted up a bit, as if in an internal war on whether or not she wanted to say it or not was starting up within her.

Mirajane widened her eyes. Oh… "About that…yeah…I think…" she began, considering whether or not she should tell Erza about the three gangsters that had been in the stage room. She looked at her brown-eyed friend's conflicted face. "I think…" she slowly said, "maybe it's best for us to leave now…"

Erza nodded her head in agreement, having no questions. "I agree. We're not supposed to really be here during this time, and I don't like being here if I don't have to be," she said.

Mirajane agreed, silently questioning the scarlet-haired girl's reasoning ability, but she didn't say anything, and together, the two left in peace much to her relief. She ended up walking Erza all the way back to her dorm room, explaining what little she could about this so-called "job," as well as asking her to check up on her siblings daily, to which the scarlet-haired girl humbly obliged to do so. Eventually—much too quickly—it came to that dreadful time, and not too many moments later, Mirajane found herself saying her final goodbye for what would be a while to Erza. Hopefully not the last.

When she returned home, Mirajane stopped at the front door with her hand on the doorknob. It was about time that she told her siblings, and after her exchange with Erza, she knew it had to be done tonight. She was running out of time, and it didn't seem right to tell them the night she would have to leave. When she finally opened the door and found Elfman trying to prepare dinner, all her will abandoned her and she could only stand there and stare at her little brother. It took everything in her to gather all of her courage and sit Elfman down on the couch to talk. She sat beside him, holding his large hand. It was a wonder to her how much he had grown...

Her mind was already trying to wander away from the topic she was about ready to discuss. Mirajane pursed her lips. She needed to focus. But she wasn't sure where to begin…yet the words were eventually able to flow out like a calm river. That is, after what felt like an eternity of silence. It was a smooth river of lies.

Elfman was accepting of it. He said he'd be a man about it and take care of Lisanna properly while Mirajane was off to a grand job offering she had received to perform live and sing, which would ultimately bring them in a much better income. He believed in his sister's beautiful singing voice; he'd heard it countless times in his youth to help him go to sleep in the past, so he had no doubts that what she was telling him was nothing but the truth and a great opportunity. But that didn't stop his tears from falling like a never-ending rainstorm, and all she could do was hold him tightly, comforting him, telling him she'd be back and not to worry. It was good for them. At least, that's what she tried to make him believe—what she tried to make herself believe.

After her talk with Elfman, Mirajane went to Lisanna's room. But she never did say anything to her, for Lisanna was too weak to focus and hear the words she spoke, and she didn't want to disturb her during her rest. In the end, she left her little sister the only thing she could depart her with, which was a kiss to the forehead and the whispered words of "I love you."

That night would be the final one she would sleep and breathe under the same roof as her siblings, until after a few months were to come to pass...maybe. Mirajane took her pillow and blankets off of her bed and joined Elfman on the couch. She made sure to have him promise her that he'd use her bed while she was gone. The couch was so incredibly uncomfortable—she almost would've preferred the floor—but she was able to fall asleep easily with Elfman holding her in his arms. He never did tell her, but it was the first night in years that he was able to sleep soundly through the night and have a pleasant dream ever since their parents' deaths. It only made their farewell the following day even more challenging for him, however, and he cried even harder when she left, but he still held his ground firmly.

The next night when she departed, and the following nights to come before everything changes, he slumbered in Mirajane's bed, protecting his promise to her, as well as every other promise they had made.

.

It was dark, and she had a heavy heart fuller than the full moon that shone brightly through the smog that night. Time had hardly seemed to pass, but Mirajane was soon back at the Lovely Roseus Mort. A black glossy car was awaiting her arrival. The hatted man who had stepped out of the passenger door in a striped suit came around the front of the posh car and opened the backseat door once she was a few feet away. For some odd reason, it reminded her an awful lot of that large dark painting down the abandoned hallway at the Roxanne La Sanguine of the cloaked figure and its outstretched skeletal hand, inviting whoever laid eyes upon it to enjoy a boat ride that Mirajane could only believe led to the actual Underworld.

It really was strange how perfectly fate fit everything together like a puzzle. That was what she couldn't help but think about as the previous day's events went through her head, bringing her to that very moment and time she was currently in.

With dark sapphire eyes not even once glancing up at the starless sky, Mirajane stepped inside the black carriage. The door closed shortly after her.

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