"Excuse me?" Cyclonis spat at Piper in a sour and corrosive manner that only the former master could produce.
Her face contorted in its usual display of displeasure. Her upper lip curled at one side. Her brow furrowed deeply, slightly wrinkling her nose. Her violet eyes burned through the lashes, as if fueled by an inferno of rage as she stared into the eyes of Piper.
Cyclonis sucked at her teeth. "Why am I not surprised? They're still frightened of me. I always did have that effect on people."
"Well, yeah, but the political liabilities are what frightens the Council the most," Piper chimed in.
"Sure, and I weigh as much as two wallops."
"Really?" Piper smirked. "You definitely look a lot lighter than tha-"
Cyclonis shot a paralyzing gaze in Piper's direction, cutting her off midsetence and ending her train of thought.
"Sorry. That was a bad joke," she said with a weak smile.
"Jokes are usually funny, Piper, and they rarely run on the risk of being killed," Cyclonis sneered through a disapproving scowl.
"Right, right, I'll keep that in mind," Piper said.
"Though, I can't believe that you had trouble convincing the Council to allow me a little time outside these walls. Your lack of diplomatic skill is astounding," she mocked.
"Well, I did convince them to allow you access to the rest of the terra for an hour once a week; escorted, of course. You can't be kept inside forever. That wouldn't help anyone," Piper added in her defense.
"Oh, how wonderful. Now I can look forward to my walls being replaced by a free fall drop to certain doom. Oh, joy," she said with dry sarcasm.
"It's better than nothing," Piper commented. "Besides, it took a while for me to convince the Council to allow you that much freedom."
Cyclonis looked at Piper and raised an eyebrow as a wicked smile overtook her face.
"I'm betting you gave them a small philosophical anecdote, or better yet, one of your many boring travel stories."
"Actually, no, but that's honestly a pretty good idea. I should have gone with that instead."
Cyclonis smiled a little at that, glad Piper appreciated her joke. Then the smile faded.
"What do you mean 'instead'? What did you end up going with"
Piper giggled nervously.
"Well, you see, it's going to cost you. You'll have to make an appearance at an upcoming event. You'll be speaking to a large audience, mostly Cyclonians. You'll have to publicly apologize for your actions, assure your people that you are fine and well, and most importantly; urge them to cease all hostilities and instead act calm and peacefully in your absence."
Cyclonis looked at Piper for a few seconds but eventually threw her head back in laughter. The blue-haired sky knight said something legitimately funny, or so she thought. She fell to the side, almost in tears, laughing at the nonsensical absurdity.
As she recovered from her fit of laughter, she was greeted by the confused face of Piper. Her hazel eyes were clueless, lost.
Cyclonis' expression quickly transformed, transitioning from a humor-filled smile to her usual look of impatience and anger.
"You aren't joking, are you?" she asked in a flat tone.
Piper giggled nervously while rubbing the back of her neck as she spoke. "So, I'm guessing something along those lines is all it needs to sway their opinion."
Cyclonis placed her thumb and index finger on the bridge of her nose and mumbled something that Piper couldn't quite distinguish; something about 'sky knight scum' being 'complete and utter fools'.
"Goodbye, Piper," she demanded rather than wishing a genuine farewell.
"Wait," Piper said as if to correct her mistake. "Won't you at least consider it? Maybe-"
"Goodbye," she forcefully said, raising her voice.
Piper sat, unmoving, and looked towards the former master, her former enemy. Cyclonis continued to hold the bridge of her nose, as her lips wordlessly spoke words that Piper could not decipher. She was unsure about whether or not Cyclonis was temporarily annoyed with her or genuinely angry.
Regardless, Piper decided to place her hand near the fire and see just how hot the flames burned. "So, like I said, I'm sure we'll be able to work-"
A pair of violet eyes bore into her head from behind the dark bangs that partially draped the Cyclonian girl's face. A cold chill ran down Piper's spine and her mouth became dry, devoid of any liquid.
"Ok, I'm going," Piper said while standing to leave.
She looked back towards Cyclonis, her violet eyes still focused directly upon her, unmoving. Cyclonis was practically sneering. She was as a predator before the pounce. There was something dangerous in her body language and gaze, something that warned Piper that this was her final opportunity to leave the room in one piece.
Despite her better judgment, she decided to speak once more.
"You know, you're going to keep being alone and miserable if you always push people away. You should really consider how you treat people, especially those who are trying to help you," Piper suggested.
Cyclonis responded by lifting her hand and firing off a crackling, ghostly purple thunderbolt in Piper's direction. The Storm Hawk just barely managed to jump away in time. The blast left a huge, black soot mark on the white tiles.
"Okay, okay! I'm going," Piper yelled towards Cyclonis.
The young girl sat alone for what seemed like hours, simply staring at the door through which Piper had left.