A/N: No, this story is not ending! For those who did not get the joke, I was dramatically informing people that I was ending my poll. As that was a three way tie, I'm informing you that after I finish with the main plot, I will be attempting to write separate one-shots after an epilogue. But as we aren't anywhere near the end yet...
I do not own To Love-Ru
Lala's Room
"You look as green as a Centauri Eel, are you sure you are okay princess?" Azenda asks out of concern, "Are you certain you can go through with your plans with Lacospo?" Lala nods, much to Azenda's disbelief.
"I am just finally settling my nerves; with all those people watching I felt as if I was going to positively puke the contents of my already empty stomach onto the floor," Lala responds, covering her face with a pillow and resisting the urge to scream into it, "At least Lacospo has agreed to my demands, as shaky as the are legally speaking." Azenda nods and can only sit next to the girl as she gives her pillow a full body hug.
"Everything isn't lost yet Lala-hime, your friends, especially Rito, would not have given up on saving you," Azenda states, clutching her hand and squeezing it reassuringly, "As silly and uncoordinated as that boy Rito is, he's lucky enough to have you for a girlfriend; and he has one up on Lacospo anyway." Lala raises her eyebrow at that, with which Azenda returns with a coy smile. "Lacospo thinks he has the legendary Cutlass of the First Weapon of Chronos, something your mother's people had been entrusted with carrying as their only source of protection all these centuries," Azenda states, "Unfortunately for him, it is little more than a carbon-fiber, nano-weave replica that I had created from my memory of the real item, so if he ever came clashing blow for blow, I think Rito-dono would be the victor there; expert craftsmanship aside." Lala nods and crosses her legs, sitting up to face Azenda directly.
"I know you and my mother were close in the past, but how did the both of you end up..." Lala looks to Azenda, who grimaces slightly and closes her eyes in the process, "I mean, if it isn't too personal of a story, I don't want to intrude." Azenda sighs, and Lala quickly begins to regret her asking. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, it's just all of this with Lacospo, and I just really don't want to think about it all right now," Lala babbles on as Azenda watches, "I'm sorry, you don't have to bring it up, I'm sure we can talk about something... mmpphhh." Azenda smiles as she covers Lala's mouth with her hand, chuckling a little at the nervous girl.
"Very well, how do I explain our falling out, hmm?" Azenda starts, "It was a year or two later, after training your mother everyday for a year and a half of sword fighting and defense, I think, that we came across some shady underworld pirates that were having a bit of bad luck trying to raid a nearby mining colony..."
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
Calypsi VI
Azenda and Sephie both are wandering through the traders market as one of the planet's three suns were going down, signaling the beginning of the twilight hours leading to dusk and then the freezing night of the ice planet. Sephie had First at her hip, while maintaining the shawl she wore around her face to obscure her sinful beauty, Azenda otherwise continued to wear her normal attire of cloak clothing she had picked up in her journey with the Charmian caravan, a mix of clothes from across the Talha Galaxy that exposed her forming bust and midriff, leaving very little to the imagination. It worked in her benefit more than once leaving her developing assets exposed as they were, since it was too dangerous for anyone to take notice of Sephie for too long, Azenda played up her sex appeal to steal away their gaze to herself. Now was one such time she would be probably needing it, walking into the trading districts nearest watering hole, a slimy and grungy looking hole in the wall that was no doubt a haven of information they needed to renew their search.
Things had gone dry for the past couple of months, leads on Azenda's frame job lost near the very beginning of their inquiry, but the trail Tigris Industries had been wide and far reaching everywhere they went, before drying up around a binary star system a few weeks back. Tigris Industries had been said to have stopped their expansion efforts after something was found in a nearby system in this section of the galaxy they found themselves in, when all talk suddenly stopped as if they had ceased operation entirely. Hopefully a system as close to their target planet as possible would hold some blackheart scoundrel who would give up some new information, for a few copper pieces, anything to figure out just what it was that had made Tigris Industries go dark. And as Azenda walked into the rowdy bar, she spotted a particularly handsome looking specimen of a man in the corner, being swooned over by a pair of well endowed looking women.
"And -hic- that was when the Captain told me, he told me to abandon ship," the green skinned alien stated, puffing out the red patches of his skin, "But I said, I said, 'Cap'n, why should you be the only one to go down with the ship', and b'efore I knew it, he was tossing me in an escape -hic- an escape pod." The women cooed at his story, as he looked somberly down at his drink and snaked an arm from behind a girls back over his chest. "I swore if I survived to the next port, I would drink in his name!" he cheers, as Azenda motions for Sephie to follow her over to his table, "Too bad I don't drin- -hic- drink the hard stuff.. Waiter! Another round for the beautiful women!" Giggling the girls pull away from him, and he slumps to the table as Azenda and Sephie approach him.
"Get up fool, I recognize your species," Azenda commands, as she walks over to the man and slides into the seat next to him, Sephie choosing to sit at the opposite side of the booth, "I know your not drunk, and I doubt you told the truth, so let me ask you a question coward." The alien looks up from his arms and peeks up at the beautiful, exposed lower half of Azenda's stomach, sitting up straight at the sight.
"My, my, what beautiful... assets, have you ever thought of settling down?" he asks smoothly, wiggling his eyes at Azenda, "You look like you'd have a bountiful pair of..." Before he could finish the sentence, Azenda rolls her eyes and quickly brings out her knife, slamming it on the table between the mans fingers. "Oh, bree!" the man yells, his eyes widening in shock as the sharp edge digs just barely into the skin between his fingers, "What the fracking comets of Seleezium Seven, woman!" Azenda raises an eyebrow at his comment, before sighing and grabbing a hold of the hilt of her dagger.
"I very well know that this isn't your true form, Balkean, but I won't tell those floozy trollops that, if you answer me a few questions, pirate," she states, whispering it into his ear, "I can tell you recognize this blade, correct?" He nods as he gives it a glance. "Good, then you know that who I work for is very important in this part of the galaxy, and they're wanting to know all they can about a certain company that has been making moves on their turf," she states with practiced ease, despite it being a bluff, "Assuming you know a lot of the goings on around here, we picked up chatter that Tigris Industries hit some big score in this area, and figured some sleazy lowlife like you ought to know what and where it is." At the mention of Tigris Industries, the Balkean clams up, with Azenda ready to jump and pry them open.
"Now, Azenda dear, let's not be hasty," Sephie speaks up, putting a hand on the arm with the dagger, "This kind, generous man would no doubt love to tell us what we wished to know, if we pay him a small fee, of course." The Balkean suddenly turns to the melodic voice that possibly just spared his life. "I'm sure a few copper pieces and a gold piece or two, would surely loosen your lips," Sephie states as she leans forward and rests her chin in one hand, smiling from beneath the veil she wore, as she pushed a few coins towards the lizard man, "Isn't that right sweetie?" The Balkean sweats and smiles, a blush building up from his cheeks to his whole head, turning pale green skin fully red. Azenda gets a look of disgust across her face at the lizard man, but Sephie's kind words quickly paid off as the Balkean caved in.
"There's been some talk about some mines off of one of Kessel's moons, it's twelve parsecs from here," the Balkean spits out fearfully, "But I wouldn't go there if I were you, Tigris Industries kicked out the owners in a hostile takeover, literally, since they landed a private army there." The Balkean quickly pockets the money in his pouch, and goes to get up from the booth to get closer to Sephie. "Not only do they have forces on the ground, but ships in the area as well," he states, as he leans in to whisper, "They have a routine schedule, but if you take a small enough ship, you could possibly sneak in under the ships radar, but security is tight since they have some head honcho of theirs, a president or chief scientist or something, overseeing the operation." Sephie smiles one last time at the man, while Azenda gives him the evil eye.
"Thank you, very much," Sephie states, waving as the Balkean left them both in a hurry, before she turned back to Azenda, "See, a few kind words can make a difference, you didn't have to threaten him after all." Azenda merely balked at that and rolled her eyes, causing Sephie to pout. "Well we got what we wanted after all, do you have any idea of the planet he's talking about?" Sephie asks the assassin, "This part of space is more familiar to you, after all." Azenda nods, then calls a nearby waitress over to order some glasses of water.
"Don't drink the water," Azenda states shortly after the waitress leaves, seeing Sephie go to take a drink, and return her look with a blank stare, "Most places like these drug their glasses when they see two pretty girls like us sitting alone, they'd rather make us vulnerable, overpower us when we try and leave." Sephie gently sets her glass of water down, pushing it slightly out of reach and the temptation to take a drink from it, while Azenda smirks. "This is a pirates den after all," Azenda says, smiling, "They'd rather try and make a profit out of us than outright damage us, so drugging the merchandise is their go to plan; fortunately I've been warned to avoid places like these and taught a few of their tricks myself to know just exactly what they would do." She chuckled at the despair radiating off of Sephie, who had been looking forward to grabbing a cool drink of water. "We can leave soon and get something from one of the local vendors before we leave the city gates, I just ordered us drinks so we could chat in peace," Azenda whispers slightly, looking out of the corner of her eye to scan her surroundings, "Places like these are definitely more private, and the drinks ensure no one approaches us offering to buy us something in exchange for a 'good time', not that it would end that way." Sephie looks up suddenly mortified, eyes wide behind the veil, and Azenda immediately regretted her mistake as she realized she had triggered her Genophobia.
"You mean they would get us drunk, alone, and **** me, and push me down and **** me, and- and- and-" she hyperventilates, "But then I'd no longer be a virgin, and I wouldn't be able to let Gid **** me, and I'd never be married to him, cause he'd see me as a ******-*****, and I-I-I-" Suddenly Azenda's arm is wrapped tightly around the pinkette's shoulders, the Charmian girl not even realizing that the assassin had moved to comfort her. She stared in shock at the object currently around her, knowing the assassin forwent physical intimacy and contact due to her work.
"Hey, we'll be okay, you'll be okay, just remember you aren't that sheltered little girl you were a year ago," Azenda murmurs into her shoulder, "You're a kick-ass wielder of an ancient weapon used by legendary heroes, you aren't weak willed and chained down by your beauty; its a tool you use to make the world a better place, not a prison you lock yourself away in, you control it, it doesn't control you." Breathing a little bit more normally now, Azenda sits back a little bit once the panic attack was over, though she still sees a glint of sweat behind the girls veil. "I can tell you a bit more once we get a plan into action, but yes I know where this planet is, if it is where Tigris Industry is hiding out," Azenda states, "We can steal a shuttle from your ship, since the ship will be stuck here for two weeks once the suns set and immobile until the new sunrise melts away the freezing vapor, so we'll both have plenty of time to take a peek and see if we can get any valuable info from the place, something, anything we can use." Sephie takes a gulp of air in and nods, and Azenda smiles. "Come on, let's go get something proper from the food stalls, I think I saw a vendor offering drinks near your ship," Azenda states, as she grabs Sephie by the arm and drags her out of the smoky atmosphere, into the steadily growing, icy twilight of the planet, its second sun already falling under the horizon, "We'll need to hurry, we don't have much time left before we need to leave..."
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
Kessel System
One of Kessel's Nine Moons
The small shuttle had barely made it out of the atmosphere, when the planet's third sun set for the two week deep freeze it would go under, until the planet finished its elliptical orbit and returned to a point in space where its atmosphere would no longer be heavy with the frozen gasses that accumulate in the icy atmosphere that make ship travel out of the atmosphere impossibly difficult and unreliable. Thankfully they hadn't clogged their engines, making the journey to the Kessel system a little over three days from their location, though searching the moons for the right one would have been a little bit easier if they had been told which moon it was, until they came across exactly what they were looking for. Surrounding the fifth moon on the list, a menacing looking cruiser had been parked in orbit of the light side of the tidally locked satellite, allowing Azenda and Sephie to sneak onto the moon from its dark side, before approaching the equator and the mine in secret. Finding a spot to land that was out of sensor range, yet still in walking distance from the mine, Azenda made sure to check and see if they were fully prepared, and now came the hard part.
Azenda walked up to Sephie, who was tying First's scabbard to her belt, and the pinkette halted seeing the beige haired assassin staring her down with a glare. "Do you understand that what we are about to do is very dangerous, very reckless, and likely to get us either very hurt, or possibly dead," Azenda states with all seriousness in her voice, causing an uncomfortable tension to form between the two of them, "I don't want you walking in there, full of endorphins and adrenaline, only for it all to come crashing down when reality comes in and we have people shooting at us, you understand?" Sephie nods, and Azenda sighs as the tension slacks between them, sombering the pair up. "I'm- I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound harsh Sephie, but your my friend, and I'm an assassin," Azenda states, looking up into Sephie's eyes, "You haven't dealt with death beyond old age, but out here, things get real, real fast, and I don't want you getting hurt on my watch, okay?" Sephie nods, and Azenda smiles. "Okay, we leave in five," she states, before going over to grab some food bars form storage, "Pack up on rations and water, its going to still be a hike and we don't want to go in hungry or thirsty, and lose focus."
After thirty minutes of walking the umbra, hiding between the shadows and the light as automated patrols and manned flybys came and went, Azenda and Sephie made good timing to the mine. Approaching it from the back side of the mine, Azenda noticed what looked like some boarded up or forgotten entrances they could use, to which Sephie had whole heartedly agreed to take a look at, but only if the main entrance was unreachable or unable to be breached with stealth tactics. Sephie, of course, couldn't help but look up at the ship in high orbit above the mine, sitting just beyond the thin atmosphere that barely made the barren, scrub moon habitable. It seemed that while patrols were out and about, the mining camp itself was empty of habitation, except a giant mechanical laboratory that had either been the former owners office, or a construct the ship had delivered for whoever it was from Tigris Industries that had decided to make this place important on their radar. While they couldn't get into the building due to it being biometrically locked, they found the mine currently unguarded and some old mechanical lift at the top level, with some unattended safety gear and lights.
"Quick, put these on," Azenda states, raiding the helmets and flashlights, as Sephie looks at an electrical panel nearby, prying it open with a nearby rusty tool, breaking the lock on it, "Operation controls?" Sephie nods, as she flicks a few switches and the transportation device begins to warm up its motors. Azenda quickly balances pulling Sephie onto the lift with her, and helping the poor girl put the helmet and flashlight onto her head and somewhere the flashlight wouldn't get lost. As they waited for their ride to finish warming up, Azenda found a few control panels written in Tahalan basic, allowing her free control of the lift once it was ready.
"Spooky," Sephie states, looking back at the abandoned mine and the buildings that looked older than the newer one, "What could Tigris Industries be interested in down here, in such a remote part of the galaxy, and why only this mining complex?" Azenda shrugs, as the lift suddenly churns, bellowing out a stack of dust and signaling it had fully activated its systems.
"I guess we'll find out, won't we," Azenda states, throwing a switch and releasing a lever, "Down we go!" As the lift groans in protest to a slow start, the hum of machinery and crackling in the air grows, as they plunge into the darkness of the mine below, their stomachs dropping as they stare into the dark abyss. Trying to fiddle with the flashlights, the sudden crackling in the air begins to increase, until it suddenly gives way to light, revealing a path of archaic lighting set into the ceiling by the previous tenants, slowly lighting up to reveal the dusty mine and the lifts track as it plunged into the deep darkness. After a few minutes of travel, their ears popped, signaling they were getting deeper and deeper into the mines.
A sudden shine seems to catch Azenda's eyes, and a cry from Sephie causes her to turn to see what the girl was seeing. The look of joy on her face was astounding, as the tracks ahead them were illuminated, and the small veins of minerals and metals in the walls they had passed opened up into a flood of fresh veins of a sparkling, opalescence of colors and reflections as light pours in form around them, refracted and reflected back at them. "Magnetite, pyrite, clear quartz, acanthite, silver, iron, gold!" Sephie cries out at the geological wonder surrounding them, while Azenda stared at them in equal awe, "Amythest, Rubies, oh, oh look, celestine!" While Spehie reveled in the colors and varieties of gemstones and metals, both common and precious, Azenda took in the illogical, sporadic, and impossible formation of all these various minerals and metals, which wouldn't naturally form in such a diverse arrangement. "Oh, look at those diamonds!" Sephie states, pointing to a two meter tall spire of pinkish diamond, among spires of other crystals around them, "Are those selenite spires?" True to ehr word, Azenda realized giant four or five meter crystal formations were pillaring the further down they went, and it was then that Azenda realized that the cavern seemed to be growing taller.
Suddenly grinding to a halting stop, Azenda and Sephie both watched as the last lights lit up, revealing a massive room filled to the brim with all of these variety of crystals around them, some known and others unfamiliar, though the floor seemed to be free ahead of them, where the track seemed to abruptly end with a small platform that reached to the floor. "I don't know what they would want with any of these gems and metals, only half of them would be useable without compromising the mine," Azenda states, looking around the fully lit room, "There- there doesn't seem to be anything here of note." Sephie meanwhile ignored Azenda's words in favor of descending the platform, and it was only when Azenda took not of that, that the former assassin joined her in descending to the cave floor.
"Amazing," Sephie states as she walks up to an impressive cluster of clear quartz crystal, putting up her eye to view through the pure crystalline structure, "Huh..." Azenda goes to ask what she was mumbling about, when suddenly the grinding of gears and distant hum draws both girls attention back to the tall platform behind them. As Azenda rushes to reach the platform, she stops herself as lift ascends backwards up the track they had just left.
"$&!%," Azenda curses an alien word unfamiliar to Sephie, before the assassin turns back to the other girl, "I think the guards must have returned to the camp, and I also think they found out their lift was broken into and missing." Sephie's eyes widen as she takes this in, before gulping and taking a look at the lift as it escaped from their view. "Now, don't panic," Azenda states as she reaches for the flashlight, "But I think if the lift leaves-" Her words are suddenly cut off by a suffocating darkness that descends upon the pair of spelunkers, and pierced by Sephie's massive scream, which echoes around the crystal cavern. Azenda is quick to clamp a and aroudn the girl's mouth with one hand, while flipping her own flashlight on finally, and doing the same with Sephie. "Shhh!" Azenda angrily hushes the scarred girl, "We don't know how stable this cavern is, everything could come tumbling down on us any moment, if you scream like that; they might even hear us if they follow us down here!" The light is just enough to illuminate a small area ahead of both girls, bathing both in light as they face each other. "We need to see if there is another cavern around here, a side entrance or something, because those mine shafts in the back must go somewhere," Azenda states, as she begins to pace around the room, illuminated by Sephie's shaky light, "Anything could go, a collapsed tunnel, an obscure vantage point that would reveal an exit, maybe something hidden by the natural crystals..."
"What about here?" Sephie states, as her light moves to return back to the giant row of massive clear quartz crystal, "I 'hink I 'aw somethin' 'ehind here." Smooshing her face against the crystal pillars, she tries to use her light to look through and behind the crystals. Suddenly she yelps, as she falls down and between a crystal. "Azenda, look!" She excitedly calls from between two crystals, "There's just enough space between two of these crystals down here, I think it leads to a door back here!" Azenda is skeptical that a door would be as somewhere impractical as a a mine, but she follows where Sephie had fallen in and...
As she squeezed through the massive crystal pillars, she found herself surrounded by shale and limestone walls, cracked in some places but blocking the light enough that at first glance it appeared the crystals had been growing from the walls. Instead from Azenda's point of view, and the moistness on her hands and knees, she realized that some underground water deposit had grown stalactites and formed stalagmites around the crystal spires, creating the illusion of a wall of rock. "Amazing," Azenda muttered to herself mostly, "Is this a natural false wall, or is someone hiding something..." As she turns to find wherever Sephie had wandered off to, she notices this smaller cavern reaches deeper into the wall than she first thought. "Though if it does reach another one of those abandoned entrances, that could be why it is longer," she states to herself, "But what could be hidden here that draws these men like flies to a carcass." Gazing at the plain walls and their chalky deposits, Azenda turns her attention to Sephie, who is stopped just ahead, staring at a massive wall. As she approaches the other girl, she notices the polished ruby, something unnatural in a natural structure was quite unique indeed...
As she stopped admiring the polished gem, her mouth falls open as she gets a clearer view of the 'wall' in front of her, now that both Sephie's and her own light was illuminating the massive, stone doors that blended seamlessly in with the natural cave interior. "Okay this is something that seems to scream 'open me', and it probably warrants enough attention to attract a bunch of scientists to chase off a mining company to reach it," Azenda states, "But my own sense of self preservation and logic, tells me this is all one massive trap, and that we should just leave this here and find a way out of here without getting caught trespassing by a bunch of science goons..." As she speaks, she realizes Sephie is ignoring her, and is instead reaching for the hilt of her blade, enthralled by the gem in the door. "No, no, no!" Azenda states, grasping Sephie's hand in both of hers, stopping her from pulling out the sword, "Ancient leftover secrets pursued by some dark scientific organization, wrapped up in a mystery, and shrouded in an enigma, and connected to your blade?" Azenda forces Sephie to face her, breaking the spell of the door and causing the confused girl to focus on her. "No, nu-uh, we aren't setting off ancient traps, or solving old mysteries today, girl," Azenda states, trying to scare/glare at Sephie and wake her from her stupor, "If we get trapped down here, locked in by some nutcase goons, I swear Sephie I will break our bond of sisterhood and do whatever it takes to get out of here alive!"
Sephie shakes her head, but then she smiles at Azenda and before she can stop her, pulls free her sword from its scabbard. "Wait, Azenda, look!" Sephie states excitedly, as she moves the bejeweled hilt towards the gem on the door, "It wants us both to come in, it thinks it can give us what we need to both escape here!" Before Azenda can even question what the girl is babbling about the light in the room is dimmed, as if the light is sucked into the gem encrusted hilt, blazing a hot, fiery redthat then explodes in a dazzling shower of light that is in turn absorbed by the gem in the wall. As Azenda and Sephie watch, amazed, the doors pull apart, and the abyss beyond the door grows larger and unsure. It was then that Azenda realizes that while the doors have pulled away, the burning red light of the exposed gem still glows brightly and in place, before Sephie tugs at her sleeve. "Come on, she wants us to follow her!" Sephie states excitedly, stepping into the darkness, as the buzzing orb of red meanders slowly, floating gently as if tossed lazily about in a gentle breeze, "Come on Azenda!" As she follows into the darkness beyond the doors, she hears the grinding of gears behind them, and the shout of alien voices from beyond the cavern walls. Plunging into the darkness, guided by some ruby light, Azenda follows Sephie into the unknown, as the doors close behind them.
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
As Sephie and Azenda followed closely behind the red guide that they had awoken, she finds herself questioning the wisdom of following some ancient device deeper into mines filled with unknown dangers, perhaps even collapsed tunnels. Sephie felt the grip of Azenda grow tighter on her shoulder, but she couldn't help but feel the warmth, the love, in the light that Azenda could not. Finally the burning glow dimmed to an ember, and in turn slowed, until it came to a descent on the floor in front of them, causing both Sephie and Azenda to stop in confusion. "Is it dead," Azenda asks, fear slightly tingeing her voice, "I thought it was leading us to a way out..." Suddenly a pulse of light from the orb occurs, traveling along the floor in a small circumference, before filling up etchings and lines that in turn expand outwards and below their feet, reaching all around them, up the walls, and into the ceiling in one massive, glowing, red design. Suddenly the light begins to slowly shift in color, until the whole room is bathed in an eerie yellow-white light that illuminated the room, though the circular pedestal darkens in response.
"Wait for it,"Sephie states, as Azenda looks around them, gently, comfortingly, squeezing Azenda's hand in her own, "Just watch." As Azenda nods and turns her attention to the darkened pedestal, Sephie and her both hold their breath for whatever came next. A bright white light came from above, and in bright flash, Azenda and Sephie both blinked away tears from the assault. Then they widened their eyes and let their jaws drop, at the revelation of a woman kneeling in the darkened circle, her back towards them, messy green hair in an equally messy bun and white robes flowing down to, and around, the ground. As the woman gets up with practiced ease from her position, she turns with a ghost of a smile on her face towards both girls, giving Azenda a quick look over, a flash of concern evident, before turning her attention to study Sephie, a bright grin breaking out on her face as she glances the scabbard at her side.
"Ah, so a descendant of the First has finally arrived!" the woman speaks in an excited tone, slightly deep, as if filled with hidden discomfort behind her words, "Very well, I was promised to give you both a tool to help you escape from here, if I understand the situation clearly." She smiles as she claps, and behind her two pedestals rise above the ground behind her, before she grabs each girls hands in her own. Azenda was surprised at the physical touch of the person before her, thinking she had been just a normal hologram activated by their presence, and not a real person. "Oh, don't worry, I am a hologram... of sorts," the woman smiles, turning to answer Azenda, as if she had read her mind, "Which I did, as I did Sephie upon feeling the Tao energy within herself and the blade at her hip." Azenda widens her eyes, as the woman smiles wider. "You have nothing to fear from me, Azenda, I mean you and Sephie no harm," the woman states, "Though perhaps introductions are in order, before I entrust you each with a very potent, very tempting and dangerous device you must guard with your lives."
"A very long time ago in another galactic cluster, we were just like you: mortal, living life, fighting wars, pursuing peace," the woman begins, "But all that changed the day we found the answer to our philosophers questions, our scientists dreams, and our peoples salvation..."
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
We were alone for the longest time, so we were free to advance physically, technologically, and spiritually. We understood balance in nature and people was needed to preserve lives, and so we advanced to live in harmony within our small, confined world, learning how to utilize everything to its fullest potential on our homeland. Through quick advancements from wood and fire, to the sharp steel and bitter electricity, to utilizing the forces of nature to our advantage, we progressed from stone and wood buildings, to a civilization capable of traveling the stars. And it was all thanks to the discovery of a powerful energy source our scientists had discovered deep beneath the ground, bubbling golden energy stored and filtered from a dense, unknown material we had no earthly knowledge of. What we would learn later is that the exotic material was left behind from a dark matter asteroid, having crashed millions of years earlier into the ground beneath our island and depositing powerful cosmic energies into natural soil and altering it, and us in turn. Whereas other lands were filled with poisonous rock , stone, and metal, we had the gift of the heavens beneath our feet, which advanced us faster than the world around us.
We were peaceful civilization, of a sorts, but when we suddenly had access to a new resource capable of advancing the world around us, we chose to leave our self-isolation, having never had enough interest to leave our home but always capable of doing so. Yet what we found around us was disappointing and disheartening, a world locked in wars and blood feuds, and stuck behind their small minded views. So we made a decision to wipe all traces of ourselves from our world, and choosing to isolate ourselves once again, we created ships that sailed the solar seas, powered by the same cosmic energy that advanced us. Naming the powerful energy Tao, after the people it advanced and changed, made better, we decided to search the stars for ones like ourselves. We found nothing, star after star that we visited dead, dying, or unsustainable, until we came to a decision between us all. Our populace was split between two colony ships, both harvested from metals left by the asteroids and deep sea depositories we had excavated, and the decision was made to split up our little world. One ship would move on to the next galaxy, seeking out life such as ours, peaceful or otherwise, compatible with ourselves and the energy we sought to utilize for the betterment of the galaxy. The second ship would continue likewise, searching through the remaining stars of our home galaxy, and failing that, return home to disperse among our own people in secret.
While records of our home world, or even our home galaxy, remain lost to us, we- I am the last descendent of those who braved the journey to the next galaxy. We had searched for a few centuries, 345 years exactly, until we came across a species peaceful and compatible with our own. It was our greatest mistake to trust our own judgment of these people, as beautiful and peaceful as they were on the outside, the truth became deceptively clear as their true nature was brought forth from the Tao energy. While men were unaffected besides physical and mental enhancement, the true change came from the women, who became pheromone factories, enslaving their own men and world with but a few smiles and a glance. While it was concerning at first, such a rapid and unexpected result in the change of the populace, it became obvious quickly that we were outnumbered by those we empowered with Tao, and betrayed by those with grander plans than our own, as a leader came forward in the chaos that followed our overthrow. These Charmians, as they called themselves, became as tyrants to worlds weaker willed than they, including ourselves, stealing our technology to raid worlds for men and resources. We were outcast from our own ships, enslaved to our lust and false promises, as they tricked us into advancing them as we advanced ourselves. That was what we were, slaves, until the day a resistance force was formed upon a small, outcast world that fought back.
Called Akuma, demons by our tongue, Devil's in the darkness, they secretly rallied with strength of will and might that rivaled the slave-conscripts and soldiers that the Witch-Empress of Charmia. Taking back their planet from false gods, drunk on their own power and confident they could not fall, the Devils fought with all their might to end what we had started, using tools of science, not spirit, to fight back and end the threat once and for all. While those granted powers were cut out of the populace by force, the damage to the gene pool became evident when children were naturally born with the enhanced pheromones, though men born after the change became immune to the woman's charm, women still affected men by mere glance. Fortunately we had regained our senses by this point, and before the destruction of a planet, the genocide of its people, began, we stepped in and convinced the Devils to leave, with the promise to never again trouble another world with our energies and powers, isolating ourselves and our descendents to a life stuck within prisons of our own making.
With the first chapter of the Grand Galactic War finished, we wiped our presence from yet another world, leaving stories and myth behind instead, and the promise that one day the damage done to them would fade. Though it would be much later that we learned a portion of our sacred metal was left behind, and in time the children of our former subjects would rise to create weapons of wonder and legend, fusing the knowledge of the Devils science and Taoist spirit to forge heroes that would benefit galaxies and planets at large. Yet our story was not done.
We searched the stars to make a home for ourselves one way or another, yet every compatible world we found was either hostile, deadly to us, or taken by inhabitants who already lived there. The decision was made, then, to do what they could to preserve their legacy and lives within storage devices capable of passing on their power and their knowledge. Until the day I alone was left, the devices completed and hidden here on this moon, then set with traps and barriers of stone and crystal, grown from the last of my energy reservoirs. These were worth giving up my life and power for, enslaving this last vestige of my conscious thought to wait here in isolation, asleep, until the day someone such as yourselves arrived to take these items for yourself. Now I must teach you what they are, and what they do.
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
"And now here we are, and here they are," the woman bows with an exaggerated flourish, "You are the first Charmian I have witnessed in over four thousand years, and you have the kindest eyes and smile I have seen since going to sleep all those centuries ago." Sephie smiles in return, as the woman turns sideways and looks at Azenda. "And a woman who hides a dark past, while I see blood on your hands, I also see a fierceness, a ruthlessness that betrays your calm exterior," she almost loses her smile, but then she nods and strengthens it in turn, "Times have changed, indeed, perhaps a fresh perspective such as yours is needed to fight the corrupting darkness that has infected this, and other, galaxies." She looks them both over once more, before bowing her head and stepping back, sweeping her right hand out over its matching pedestal. "Azenda, former apprentice of Norhn, teacher of the Keeper of the First Weapon of Chronos, I believe you are worthy of the power of the Black Taoists Pearl of Form," the woman states, passing her hand over the pedestal to reveal a massive obsidian pearl held on it, "It is a both a tool and a weapon, built from both Tao energies and the Science of the Devils, a device that turns its user into their most perfect form."
Azenda stared out at the Pearl, its shimmering darkness seemed to call to her, dulling the caution she had at first glance. "Will- will it hurt?" Azenda asks, turning to look at the woman who offers the oily pearl before her, "What will it do to me?" The woman smiles at this, and brings her hand forward to grasp Azenda's and bring it closer to the pedestal.
"That is up to the Pearl, you see, the variety of the power depends on your reaction to its energies," the woman states, as she gently guides Azenda's hand toward the black pearl, "Much of my people, for instance, gained enhanced physical attributes,while others gained enhanced intelligence, some even gained unique powers, like manipulation of fire, or crossing vast distances with a thought alone; all were different cases, but the Pearl gave each powers uniquely suited to their personalities." Azenda gently ghosts her handover the pulsating orb, transfixed by it and unsure of what to do.
In seconds she had made her decision and pressed her hand firmly on to the black pearl. As soon as she touches the blackened nacre, her hand seems to pass through the shell like it was a membrane. She tries to free her hand as she notices the change in pressure, but finds her hand stuck in the membrane and unable to remove it. After unsuccessfully removing her hand from the oily substance, she suddenly felt her hand going numb, and too late, she watched as the pearl began to coalesce and begin to travel up her arm and over her body. "Azenda!" Sephie cries out, watching as her friend was consumed by bubbling darkness, cosmic ichor leaving a black, formless outline, "What are you doing to her!" Sephie tries to rush forward to free Azenda from the Pearl, when the guardian stops her with hand, causing Sephie to look up in fear at her. "Why are you doing this?" she cries out, "I thought you wanted to help us!" Sephie turned back to view Azenda, noticing it had consumed her waist, right arm and leg, before spreading to the rest of her body, as Azenda helplessly tried to move away to no avail.
"This is me helping," the woman states in a neutral tone, as Azenda screams while the bubbling liquid reaches her mouth and chokes off her voice, before the look of terror in her eyes is replaced by a black void, "She will be ready soon, and then it shall be your choice, Sephiria of the Ark of Charmia." Once she had been covered in the alien substance, it seemed to stop its rippling, its oily reflection seemingly growing taunt and almost hardening against her skin. Sephie didn't know what to do, until she watched the darkness seemingly evaporate before her eyes, as if it was being absorbed by Azenda like a sponge. The black orb tumbled from Azenda's fingers, and Sephie quickly rushed past the woman to reach her, as she collapses into the Charmian girls arms, non-responsive. She tries to feel for a pulse, her breathing, anything, and Sephie is anxious as she shows signs of asphyxiation, such as pale skin and rapid breathing, among unusual symptoms like the now silver tinge to her beige hair, and the fact her eyes were an unusually striking gold color. By the time her brain processed the fact she was awake, she nearly dropped her in shock.
By the time Sephie stepped back, as Azenda pulled herself up, the woman was already at the Charmian's side and pulling her back towards the other pillar. An ecstatic smile at the success before them, the woman pushes Sephie towards the other pillar, and she stumbles to her knees on unsteady feet, looking up in fear at the gleaming, opalescent pearl on the opposing altar. "The White Pearl of Wisdom, the collective knowledge of generations of Taoists who dedicated their lives toward their arts," the woman says, "While the black pearl was dedicated to perfection of form, this pearl is the true shining jewel of Taoists power, forged solely by a Taoists own connection to Tao energy, it allows its user to alter the very fabric of reality by presenting its user with an untold amount of possibilities to alter and control to their whim, essentially rendering its user omniscient of all choices, past, present, and future." Sephie turns to see Azenda looking herself over, a cool gaze unexpectedly gracing her face, despite the earlier panic of the situation she found herself in. Suddenly Sephie heard shouting coming from the mouth of the cavern, and she turns to see lights coming from the cracks between the doorway, having not fully sealed behind them, which causes her to realize they had been found out. "What will your choice be?" the woman asks, smiling as she watches the panicking girl switch between 'fight' and 'flight', as she struggles to make a choice that she will not regret, "Oops, too late." Eyes widening as she tries to figure out what that means as the woman disappears back into the red gem, an explosion from the door answers that question, causing the room to be blanketed with fresh dust and a spray of pebbles.
Coughing as she tries to get back up, she finds she has her answer in her own hand, and she quickly stands to grab the pearl from its pedestal. At the same time, Azenda, now fully aware of her surroundings and recovering quickly from the shockwave, has chosen to retaliate against their attackers. In swift, fluid movements avoiding stun blasters and flying fists, Azenda has stabbed three miners, cut a finger from one guard, and knocked out at least three other guards with swift kick to various sensitive organs. As the dust settles and clears, the sprawling, bleeding bodies at her feet show her enhanced skills already taking effect with her assassin training, which causes Azenda to be impressed and smirk at the damage she had done. Turning back to Sephie, she notices the pinkette just staring at her from beyond the pair of pedestals in the spot the green haired woman occupied, frozen in shock and horror as she holds something in between her hands. Azenda merely frowns at the reaction to just saving their lives, but she doesn't question it anymore than necessary. She also observes the silk handkerchief in her hands, covering the slightly exposed Pearl of Wisdom, which causes Azenda to scoff. Crossing the distance between them, Azenda merely kicks some rocks away and picks up her own pearl with little effect, having already done its job on her and making her into a better weapon.
"Come on, let's get going before they rescind their lift and regroup for a second attack," Azenda states, grabbing Sephie roughly by her wrist with a free hand, tucking the black pearl safely in her buxom, and rushing to the metal platform and activating its return function. As they patiently wait the return trip to the surface, they both catch their breath, with Sephie collapsing to her knees on the platform. "Now would be the perfect time to use that Pearl to give us some options Sephie!" Azenda demands impatiently, "For all we know they could have a bunch of guards waiting for us to come back up." Suddenly the sniffling from the floor catches Azenda's attention, and for the first time she actually steps back to see that her traumatized friend was collapsing in on herself, having just witnessed excessive violence for the first time ever.
"They didn't have to- to d-die, 'Zenda," Sephie says, her voice muffled by her arms, "Why did you do that?" She looks up from her arms, eyes red and tears flowing as she stares down the assassin. "You said you didn't want any confrontation," she chides the platinum blonde, "I thought you wanted to find a back way out, to slip away without hurting anyone!" Azenda stares down at Sephie and for the first time ever, she realizes just how weak the girl looks sitting there.
"Give me the pearl," Azenda states quietly at first, holding her hand out to her, "You can't obviously use it, so it would be better if the one with the clear head utilized it to its full potential." Sephie looks up in disbelief, a hiccup on her lips as she tries to process what her friend was asking.
"Are you kidding me?" Sephie states, suddenly turning extremely indignant at that remark, "I will do no such thing Azenda!" As the assassin is about to rebuff her, the two realize they were getting closer to the entrance, their ears both popping in response to the change in altitude. "You don't know exactly what the effects of both of these pearls, when used together, will even do!" she yells, "I'm perfectly fine, but lets try and avoid bloodshed, okay!" She gets up form the metal platform and draws her blade once more from its scabbard. "We can knock them out, but no killing, okay!" Sephie orders, leveling her gaze with Azenda, "You may be a powerhouse now, but maybe you should see if you have any non-lethal powers in that arsenal of yours, okay Azenda?" Azenda scoffs and rolls her eyes, before turning her attention to the mouth of the cave, as the blinding sunlight began to filter in from the outside. As they reach the top, both women prepare for an all out brawl.
What they get is a few dozen miners with pickaxes, a few automated drones pointing their weapons towards them, and a small, floating skiff with a very important looking man at its head. "Well, what have we got here?" the man with spiked, graying hair states from his position at the head of the group surrounding them both, "A few moloids chased out from their dens,or perhaps some pirates sent to steal from out mine, huh?" He laughs a crazed laugh, spiked hair flowing in the wind as he bellows out hot air. Azenda and Sephie merely stare down the group around them, as the men point their weapons upwards and towards the two. Azenda's golden eyes flash in the harsh sunlight as they fix on the man in the skiff, causing him to shiver in response. "Kill them," he orders in response to the unease, without hesitation, "Dispose of their bodies afterwards in a shallow grave." As half the men ready their weapons in response, Azenda merely smiles in response and the unease in the man grows. With a snap of her fingers, the other half of the miners suddenly turn on each other, blasters firing and chaos ensuing.
Suddenly the man is gripping the handles of his skiff in disbelief, as his men suddenly have turned on each other, causing him to lose track of the two threats to his operation. Staring out over the ruckus below, he finds a flash of pink and flash of silver in the dust clouds below, causing him to shout to the group below. "Get them, they must have the items we're after!" he shouts below, causing most of the men still under his control to stop and focus on where he was pointing, until they converged on the point in question, "One of them is likely in possession of the weapon!" As he watches them converge on the point, he loses track of the others, as stray blaster fire causes him to have to move his skiff, avoiding the attacks and losing his concentration. "Where are you?" he mutters under his breath, as a glint in the corner of his eye catches his attention, "Wha-?" The sudden impact along with the searing heat in his right eye, causes him to lose his balance, and the blood gushing from his newly blinded eye certainly doesn't help him trying to focus in on figuring out who his sudden attacker was.
"Thanks for the practice," the silver haired girl calls out to him, causing his anger to rise as he realizes they were slipping away in the chaos, away from where he sent his men, "Catch you later, suckers!" He then noticed the darkening bloom on her left arm, and the trail of blood that seemed to be flowing down and behind her.
The fighting below him seems to cease, and as he tries to stem the bleeding eye, with medics suddenly rushing towards him as he reaches the ground and leaves his skiff behind to follow the girls trail of blood. "Sir, do you want us to follow?" one of his guards asks, a few of his uninjured soldiers behind him, "We can track them, if they're leaving a trail." The man ignores his words, choosing to lean down on one knee and retrieve a vial from his pocket, dipping it in a particularly large pool of blood on the ground, before corking it.
"No, ignore them, I just received something much more valuable," the bleeding man states, as a doctor suddenly is upon him, stopping the bleeding eye, "Send this off to Doctor Lunatique, this blood sample may be the key we need to jumpstart Project:NEMESIS; so forget those children for know and do this immediately!" The officer nods and takes the blood sample from his hands, before returning to the ship. At the same time the doctor has stemmed the bleeding, curtailing the blood flow and quickly producing a cybernetic prosthesis to replace the damaged optic nerves. Now a silvery monocle replaces his right eye, and a deep grin on his face shows his satisfaction. He may not have retrieved the items as he wished, but the woman's blood may have the keys he needed to unlock the devastating potential within any being he wished. Now it was just a waiting game, until his own paradise, his Eden, came to fruition.
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
After two days of silence and ignoring the problem at hand, on the third day Sephie finally broke the barrier that had formed between herself and Azenda. "What the hell was that?" Sephie asks, as she turns to Azenda with a grimace, "You killed all those people, why, how did you even get them to turn on each other like that?" Azenda sighs, before abandoning her flight controls to the autopilot, and swiveling in her chair to face the anxious charmian girl.
"I'll be honest and tell you that I did it to save our lives, because that man who was in that skiff? He wasn't a good man, " she states, staring Sephie in the eyes, "I know you don't want to hear this, but I did what you asked me to, I looked for anything else I could use against them, and it happened to be psychokinesis, with a little bit of mental control, it seems." She taps the side of her head before continuing. "It seems if I make eye contact with a person, or if I focus enough, I can spread my awareness and my thoughts to others, hijacking their bodies as it were," she states simply, "It seems I have a limit, currently, since I was only able to successfully confuse them for a few moments, most of that was them actually fighting without my influence, but that last guy was their boss, so he was the man I needed to get to too throw them off our trail." She rubs the bandaged area of her arm, and looks down at it. "He unfortunately recovered faster than I expected from my attack, so when his goons fired their shots I got hit," she states grimacing, "At least we made it out alive, and with both Pearls in tact, so we can take this back to your people to prepare them." Sephie crossed her arms and gave her a look.
"Prepare them for what?" she asked crossly, "If you think I'm allowing you near anyone on my home with that Pearl, you've got another thing coming, sister." Azenda should look shocked at this, yet she felt so hollow, so indifferent, and Sephie took notice. "Oh my... you don't even really care, do you?" she states, blowing up in the assassin's space, "Ever since you first wielded that Pearl, you've changed Azenda, you've grown more distant, colder, and its only been two days at the most." She looks exasperated, but Azeda remains silent, fully aware that when she was like this, she wouldn't get a word in edgewise. "And you know what, when we get back to the ship, Azenda..." she crosses her arms and sighs, putting her hand to her face and struggling with the words, "...Azenda, I think you need to leave my ship, and never return; take this shuttle if you want, but don't even attempt to approach me or my people ever again." At this Azenda's eyes actually widen, surprise at the turn of events not predicted in any of her mental simulations.
"But, Sephie, the Assassin's Guild..." Azenda starts off lamely, putting a hand out before pulling it back and looking down at her feet. She very well knew she had the power to deal with them now, she didn't need the protection of the ship when she had her new abilities, ones she could use to not only get back in the good graces of the guild, but advance farther and faster than she would have as a normal initiate. She also had the Pearl, if she ever wanted to use it as a bargaining chip, and if nothing else she could use it to help prove that Tigris Industries was done with their expansion, now that there treasures were out of reach. So, Azenda looks up at Sephie and nods. "Very well, if it is for the best," she agrees with the Charmian, before returning to pilot the ship, "But I will be taking the white pearl with me, as compensation." Sephie looks slack-jawed at Azenda, and for good reason.
"You've been corrupted by one all powerful Pearl, and now you want to be all knowing as well?" she states with a rising bite to her tone, "I'm sorry, when did you stop playing assassin, and decide to play god?" The words should have hurt Azenda more than they rightly would have, but once again all Azenda felt was a hollow pit, where her feelings had been mere days before.
"As you know, I could just as easily force you to hand it over to me, with a mere glance," Azenda threatens softly from the seat, not turning back but looking ahead. Now it was Sephie's turn to scoff at the remarks of her former friend.
"Yes, I do know that," Spehie responds, before her smile drops into a frown, her voice cracking in sadness and brimming with tears, "B-but we both know you won't." Azenda says nothing as they fly on towards their destination. The rest of the flight is spent in silence.
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
Calypsi VI
As the snow fell in a heavy blanket, Azenda watched as Sephie exited the ship from the rear, Pearl in hand and kept in the handkerchief she had left it in. She should feel sorrow, grief as her former friend, her sister, leaves, but she feels nothing, not a single regret. This would be her future, after all, in her life as an assassin. While the princess left her all alone on a semi-frozen world, Azenda vowed that day to never look back, and to be better than she ever was. On that day Azenda vowed she would become a master assassin, no matter who she killed to make that happen. And those tears falling down her cheeks were just from the bitter frost, and not from the pit in her stomach. She wasn't crying at all.
-=O^o^O^o^O=-
Lacospo's Ship
The Present
I never knew you weren't born with your powers, but it does explain how you managed to control the Black Pearl when you sent it after Rito and Bladix," Lala says in awe, "But why still help me, when you and my mother clearly have no love for each other. Azenda stares out into the stars beyond the wall, contemplating that answer.
"Because afterwards, long after I had left her, I learned exactly what happened that horrible day," Azenda says solemnly, "The day I betrayed your mother's confidence, her trust, was the same day she lost it all." Lala merely looks back at her curiously, before Azenda gives her a pitiful smile.
-=OoOoO=-
Calypsi VI
Charmian Ship
As Sephie wandered to her ship by memory, staring at the opalescent jewel held in her hands through a thin piece of silk, she wondered what exactly she could do with it to keep it safe. As she turned a corner to her ship, she looked up in surprise to find the hatch already open in the blowing snow, and then she began to feel the dread as she realized a foot of snow hat been blown onto the ramp. The door had been left open, and the air felt cold as she boarded the darkened vessel. Tucking the Pearl safely into a jacket pocket, she pulled her blade out and kept her stance at the ready, fearing that something was wrong. Her ship had a force field after all, why would the door remain open while it was freezing cold and snowing. When she opened the door to the main hatchway, she froze in shock at the sight in front of her. Holding back the bile in her vulnerable state, she fell to her knees in the soft and rising snow level.
Blood splattered the walls like paint, bodies littered the hallway as far as she could see up and into the ship. She dared not expose her nose to the smell, only to realize that as cold as her ship was with the door left open, the bodies had grown stiff and cold, perfectly preserved where they fell. Old, male and female alike, both Charmian and Alien, lay dead and scattered through her ship, some propped up against walls, some decapitated, others hacked, and some blocking automatic doors where they fell slain. The sight was horrifying, seeing her firends and family dead among other things, but she drove it all down as she made her way to the communications system. Numb to the bodies and the blood sticking to her snowy, muddy, slushy boots, staining red quickly, she ignored the faces and the names that rushed inside her mind and memory, and chose to focus on the specific number she had memorized by heart.
After a few tries at calling, a connection was finally made, and a video link was established at last. "Hello?" the groggy male voice responded to being woke up at the time of night it was on his home planet, before he took stock of who was calling him, "You? Where did you get this number, its priv-" He stops as he takes in the body of a fallen man behind her, slumped against the wall with a deadly looking gash across his chest. "Hey- " he states shakily, "Are you okay,is something wrong?" He looks to her, and he finally notices that as she is looking down and away from him. "Sephiria Micheala Arks, look at me,"he says, using his commanding tone with her, "I'll come to you as soon as possible, you just have to tell me what is going on..." He stops as she finally looks up, hot tears trailing down her face, her red puffy eyes reignited by the sudden shock and loss, snot trailing down her nose and mixing with the tears.
"Calypsi VI, Tahal Galaxy, I'm send- sending y-you the coordinates..." she stutters out shakily, "I'll be taki-taking what I can from the ship, theirs a nearby place I can stay at, rent a room, my ship isn't safe anymore... but I can't leave them here..." Gid Lucieon Deviluke nods, and grimaces sympathetically towards the crying maiden.
"I'll bring a ship to take them with us, they can receive proper resting places on Deviluke," Gid states, as he stares concernedly at her from the viewing screen, "Be safe, Sephie, I'm counting on finding you alive once I get there..." She nods, and cuts off the transmission, before collapsing to the floor in a hot mess, taking out the Pearl, she feels the temptation to use it. Grief stricken as she may be, she knew this wasn't the answer, and she threw the Pearl away from her. She would retrieve it later, when she was ready to face it, but now she had to get her priorities straight. She need something more direct to cover her face, she was going to be interacting with people from now on, she couldn't be as loose as she wanted to. She also had to get money, food, and clothing, then rent a room for the next week, or however long it took for Gid to find her here, but until she was alone in her room, she couldn't face the terrible truth right now. Once she was prepared and safe, then she could drop her guard, be vulnerable and feel the emotions she was bottling up inside her right now, as shock set in. Then she could grieve, but now she had to survive.
Not too far off, but trudging across the icy landscape far away from the empty Charmian ship, a man with a red blade walked through the tundra. He didn't mind the cold, not really, and he could ignore the bleeding in his soles, or the discoloration in his toes and fingers, because he was so very happy, and so very full. Not the host, of course, but Bladix was happily full. He may lose the host, taxing it as he was, but there will always be another a the next port after all. He still had more Charmian's to hunt, more blood to feed on, and he could just taste them in the air.
-=OoOoO=-
The Present
Black Archives
Deviluke
Sephie Michela Deviluke was no longer the scared girl who had faced so much loss in one day. She no currently stared at the sole occupant of this secret wing of the Black Archives, where Gid stored both his most devastating weapons, used both by and against him, along with the most dangerous people he had deemed too useful to kill, and too dangerous to be left to their devices. And this single wing was dedicated to the most dangerous weapon that Gid had ever accrued for his personal arsenal: The weapon of Choice. Sephie knew that choice on its own was not inherently dangerous, but now that she better understood the tool, the weapon before her, she knew that what she faced now was more dangerous than ever before. And once again Sephie chose to ignore the temptation in the back of her mind, the taunting voice calling for her to reach out and touch the Pearl, to make a Choice. She turned around to leave the room, ignore the green haired specter that smirked as she walked by, as young as the day she had met her all those years ago, her hair just as messy. She says nothing to the woman as she leaves, not even acknowledging her existence. After all, she was the only one who ever seemed to see her.
A/N: 11,840 words! An extra long, special 'I'm not canceling this story' chapter for you guys. Much longer than normal, I know, but once I started writing it was just so hard to stop. I dare you guys to guess who the woman is, though I'm sure a couple of you will understand if you've read the previous chapters. Leave a review, like and follow my story, since I know people do read this once I post the chapters.
That's right, I check my story's views, so I know a lot of people read this story. Don't be afraid, I won't bite, even if you leave a guest review. I REEALLLLLLYYYYY want to know what people think of my story, bad or good, because it gives me a little bit of satisfaction knowing my story was worthy of the ten to twenty minutes of the day you dedicated to reading this chapter alone.