Dark, moist, depressing, these are the words that usually leave people's mouths when they are first presented with this place. Those people usually don't remain here for long, they come here to visit their loved ones, usually prisoners, but from time to time guards are also subjects of these visits. Once they're done with whatever they come here to do, they leave and with themselves carry these thoughts. But for the permanent occupants of this place, all of these things are simply reality. Some of them would start to call this place home, although those are usually the people who had spent quite some time here. So much time they had spent here that they either forgot or can't remember clearly, their time outside. It is hard to believe that the moist stone walls, that seem to stretch forever creating an endless maze, or rusty steel bars that keep them in their place could arouse such feelings in people. But they somehow do, even screams and cries of people being tortured can't seem to extinguish such feelings.

That is why for a young guard it was impossible not to notice something in the recently emptied cell. A snow-white scarf of some kind, it resembles a fox, but white for some reason. Almost like it was trying to distinguish itself from the rest of the place that bright scarf lay in the corner of the prison cell. While this clothing article looked strange for an average person, it was rather complementary to its owner. After all the enemy of the revolution Anastasia Hoshin wore almost exclusively white, so the scarf fit in. She must have forgotten it when citizen Natsuki took her out of her cell this morning. Truthfully the events that transpired then left the guard quite puzzled. It all started fine enough, reporting for duty, checking the cells out, and getting heckled by prisoners, all normal. That normalcy was interrupted out of nowhere when the head of the country suddenly burst in all alone without any of his friends or guards. Ignoring everyone who came to greet him, and violently pushing those who stood in his way, he went straight for the ex-candidate's cell. He had spent around an hour arguing with her before he ordered the young guard to open the cell. The youth complied immediately, mostly out of fear but also out of respect for the leader, and Anastasia was, almost literally, in citizen Natsuki's hands. It honestly looked like the revolutionary was seriously contemplating just picking her up and carrying her, had the woman refused to go with him one more time he would have, almost certainly, done that. Instead, she complied and he dragged her by the arm out of the prison. Those two looked more like a dysfunctional couple, rather than two bitter enemies.

But that leaves us with the scarf, Anastasia did try to bring it with her but the rose revolutionary was too impatient, hence the dragging part. The white object's position in the cell makes it look like Anastasia talked to it, and the guard could swear he heard her do exactly that. But he didn't put much mind to it, as far as he understood it was simply a woman trying to cope with a fact that she will, or was supposed to, die soon. After today's events, he wouldn't be surprised if her sentence was revoked and Anastasia started living with the citizen Natsuki after all the revolution's leader was extremely keen on getting her out of the cell so she can join him. Had it been another woman the guard would have been worried for her, but the combination of the fact that It was an ex throne candidate being taken. And common knowledge that citizen Natsuki is not a womanizer, actually it is a public secret that the rose revolutionary is rather 'inexperienced with women'.

But the young guard wasn't, he was married, and he had just found a perfect gift for his wife. " Yes, that thing will look lovely on her." He said those words with a smile on his face, thinking of his wife's cheerful reaction to his gift. He can already imagine the scene. Evening and he is returning home, after chatting with his neighbors for a couple of minutes, he enters their humble abode, there his wife, expecting his arrival, is preparing a meal. Like always he will kiss her, tell her something from his work and sit to eat. A little bit after he had finished the meal, when his wife is completely off guard, he will present her with this beautiful white scarf. She will be ecstatic, he is sure of that.

" I hate this world" a woman's voice, with the emotional state expected of her statement, could be heard in the prison halls.

This unexpected sound stopped the guard's thoughts in his track, he violently turned around but he couldn't see anyone. He spent a solid minute looking around for the source of the voice, but he couldn't find anything. So in the end he concluded that he was just hearing things due to his tiered state, and continued with his duties.

Two and a half weeks, It's been two and a half weeks since she's been stuck here. The wife was indeed ecstatic, for a couple of hours until she realized that she can't actually wear her, since everybody will ask where she had gotten her and most importantly because "needles opulence" is strictly forbidden.

"That foolish young man didn't seem to think about that when he took me." Echidna's voice was somewhat emotionless, after all, she had really had enough of people treating her like a piece of clothing. When she was with Ana it was alright, she had to keep herself a secret, and she really looked nice on Anastasia. But this was too much, and unfortunately, she couldn't change her form since they had entered the city." Just great, first Ana gets dragged out by that monster, and now I am stuck here in this closet unable to help her." She had thought about revealing to this home's occupants the fact that she can speak but ultimately rejected the idea. After all those people are at risk just for having me here, If I further complicate things they may just throw me in a fire in order to get an easy solution to this situation." No, my best option is to bide my time." She sighed and continued her monolog.

"Hopefully, somebody will soon get me outside of the city, so I can transform and run away. After that, I can find out about Ana, and find help if needed." Naturally, she hoped that It won't be needed, not only because of Anastasia's well-being but also, in smaller part, do to the fact that there is no one help that she can think of. That monster saw to it that all the people who could help are either dead or arrested. At least he is dead now. She had overheard a discussion where this pleasant fact was mentioned, at first she was happy, but soon she realized that Ana might be in additional danger. While she did shutter at just thinking of what that man wanted with Anastasia, whatever It's obvious that he needed her alive. Whoever tries to replace him will probably try to kill Ana in order to achieve legitimacy, she might be in danger but Echidna is powerless. The fact that she can't do anything but bide her time is tearing her inside. Her contractor, in all but name, is Od knows where, doing Od knows what, and all she can do is hang from a coat hanger. Simply put she felt absolutely useless, and that feeling didn't seem like it will go away anytime soon.

"I think I should wear It today." The person's voice was somewhat unsure, but ultimately very eager. She does have a really nice scarf that she can't wear, forbidden fruit is the sweetest, was her thinking. So she took the prized clothing article and put it around her neck. "It's just a few hours at the market buying what we need. What can go wrong?"

Echidna could think about a few things that might go wrong for the woman, but she kept them for herself. Ultimately what might happen to this airheaded woman wasn't her problem, If she gets taken from this woman, she'll end up in another one's closet. So her situation won't change, at least not too much." At least It can't get worse"

The day was sunny, or at least as sunny as It can get in the Capital. When the revolutionaries came to power they had started a process, of what they called, industrialization. Citizen Natsuki promised that this will give them an advantage over their enemies, and he didn't lie. Because of the newly constructed manufactories, some of which started using steam-powered machines so they are now only called factories, Lagunica was able to outproduce the rest of the world by a wide margin. Two-thirds of the world, steel, copper, lead, and coal production was from Lagunica. The same goes for clothing, furniture, and other necessities. Yes, because of the industrialization Lagunica was able to challenge the rest of the world's combined forces and, It is because of It and the freedoms granted that Laginica will prevail. After all, an army of free men fighting for ideals of liberty and equality will always outperform the slave armies led by corrupt lords. This is at least what the state newspapers say about the war.

But for an average person, the sky was darker, coal dust was common in the streets, and more or less everywhere, and previously expensive goods were now affordable to most people. So for them, all of this was a mixed bag, but one thing is certain none of them wanted the old ways to return. While manufactured goods were cheaper the same can not be said for food. While agrarian reforms were implemented, the increase that they provided wasn't enough to cover the amount that the war requires. All of this made it so that the Convent was forced to issue a law that regulated food rationing. This meant that Echidna's new wearer didn't have many options for today's trip.

In addition to rationing, the recent death of the Republics' leader had caused a great deal of instability. Violent mobs rioted across the city demanding that their hero's death be avenged, the mobs calmed down only when citizen Halibel gave a speech in which he explained to them that the Rose revolutionary had died, not as a victim of murder, but as a victim of disease maid worse by his tireless work ethic. This speech turned the crowds' mood around, from anger It wet to sadness, and ultimately settled down as a quiet realization that their leader is no longer there to guide them. But everything wasn't so sad, upon seeing the crowds state, Halibel informed them that citizen Natsuki had entrusted a Pearson worthy of succeeding him with the duty of evolving the revolution. He also told them that that person will appear when the time is right and that until that day, the Convent and the Public Safety Committee will lead the nation.

This was a week ago, while one could still see the physical damage caused by riots, the emotional damage has more or less healed. There was no tension or insecurity in the air, and Her new scarf was accepted with praise and slight envy. She naturally liked all of this, after all, such things could have never happened before. Simply put it made her feel special, and special she was, although not in the way that she had taught.

" That is quite a pretty scarf citizen" a cheerful voice could be heard speaking these words. The voice's tone and her desire for conversation made her turnaround to great Its owner. And when she did her heart almost stopped. Behind her stood a demi-human, wolf-like, man. His dark fur contrasted with lighter-colored clothes gave, like his voice, a sense of casualty. After all his clothing didn't look any different from normal Committee approved clothes. He wore a light blue carmagnole jacked, with long white pants and black tricorne hat, with red cockade. The only thing different about him was his kiseru that he always kept with himself. That was citizen Halibel, member of the Public Safety Committee, head of the secret service, and as a citizen, Natsuki liked to call him Archangel of Death.

" Thank you for the compliment citizen but this is not my scarf" her shaky voice struggled to say these words, but luckily for her Halbel cut in.

" Of course It isn't, we know to whom it belongs. I was just complimenting the way It looks on you."His words were calm and, for lack of a better word, casual. His speaking partner didn't really know how to respond, but she didn't really have to respond. " You know the comity has put a bounty on this thing."

"Realy, I didn't know that." Weakly the woman tried to defend herself. She truly didn't know about the bounty, but there was no guarantee that Halibel would believe her.

" Of course, you didn't. The reward is twenty gold coins, had you known I am certain you would have handed it over a long time ago. After all who wouldn't." Although his demeanor didn't change It was obvious that he wanted something.

"That is a lot of money." And It was, with that amount they could completely improve their living conditions. Unfortunately, due to fear, the woman was unable to say anything more.

Sensing that his speaking partner is frightened and that this conversation was leading nowhere, Halibel gave her an offer." You see I just so happen to have enough money on myself to pay for the bounty." Realizing the implication of his words he quickly corrected himself." I was given the funds, necessary to complete an important mission for the Republic. Getting that scarf would help me a lot in fulfilling my task. So If you don't mind citizen I'd like to take that thing off of you." Whit a smile, and an outstretched hand with a coin bag, he said those words to the woman.

"Of course, thank you very much." When she had composed herself well enough to speak, she gave him the scarf.

"No thank you." He took Echidna and gave her the money, after that he wordlessly left. The streets in the Capital were rather dense, so the crowding didn't really help. But that wasn't a problem for him, people would simply move out of his way, either due to respect or fear.

What was a problem was the current political situation. When the news of Su-san's death reached the Capital there were many, in his opinion too many, who wanted to use it to gain power. These sly people only pay lip service to the Revolution, their words support It, but their actions are the same as the actions of lords and kings. It is unnecessary to say that he had to kill a lot of people in other to calm the things down. But It was all according to Su-san's plan for the Revolution and the world. Truthfully Halibel didn't really like the sound of the Subaru's plan. It was all convoluted, and honestly kinda contradictory. But Subaru used lots of big words and theories that Halibel didn't follow so It was alright? Not really while Halibel couldn't understand the reasoning he knew how to understand Subaru. More accurately he could sense if Subaru thought that he had a great idea on his hand, and that was enough since Halibel fully trusted Subaru. All of Subaru's achievements prove his brilliance, so who was he to criticize him. But carrying out Subaru's plan was much harder than writing It on a piece of paper. Halibel had to kill many and had ordered his best men to kill many more in his absence. He needed to make sure that nobody gets enough power to get in the way of the plan.

" Well at least the plan is on" until a few days ago he wasn't even sure of that, he could only hope that Su-san had accomplished his part of the struggle. That hope was confirmed correct when he had received that letter. Su-san had told him that the arrival of a particular letter would be the prof that she had agreed to participate. The latter itself didn't contain any important information, at best one could call it cryptic, and even that was stretching it. The only way she would know what to do whit it would be if Su-san had told her, and he would never do that until she had agreed.

So It is looking up for the revolutionary, there are many battles to fight, but at least he knew that the fight is still on. He did fully trust Subaru, no matter how insane his plans could sometimes be, so he will follow It through." I was quite lucky to find it." Indeed he was, Echidna could help him accomplish his goals more easily. He didn't know what their relationship was, but returning it to Anastasia will probably make her more open to working with him. She already is, hence the letter, but one more reason wouldn't hurt. He finally arrived on the main road, where his carriage was waiting for him.

The already large road was further expanded in order to make it easier for men and supplies to be carried across the country, and from there to the front. Unlike the road, his carriage was rather plain, brown, made of wood, strong enough to withstand anything, within reason, that it might encounter, or as Halibel liked to say, his carriage was perfect. He opened the carriage door, throw Echidna on one of the seats, took his place, and asked his driver to get going. The man wordlessly complied and they were all set for their destination. The only problem was that Halibel didn't know exactly where that was, that information was left out from the letter."She is probably testing me." Those were his thoughts on the matter, but he wasn't really upset. He had complete confidence in his abilities, and his newly acquired Friend could probably help.

Well, it got worse, somehow it got worse. And to top it all off they had exited the city two hours ago, so they were far enough that she could transform. If only she wasn't stuck with one of the strongest warriors in the world, If she would transform now he'd almost immediately catch or kill her. Her best option is to continue to pretend that she was a clothing article, and wait for a good opportunity to escape. After all, Halibel wasn't expecting anything so she could take...

" You know this is quite boring. We are far enough from any industrialized area so you should be, at very least, able to speak now."

His words had left her stunned, she didn't know what to say so Halibel continued.

" I know you're a spirit, quite a strange one, but still a spirit."

"How did you know" now fully transformed and really confused, Echidna decided to pry the information.

" I could sense the mana in you." He made a short pause and then continued." You see industry and mana don't mix well. Factories after all destroy mana." His words could be described as almost sad, but he quickly became more cheerful."Honestly, it is surprising that you are still alive, spirits, in general, can't survive in industrialized areas."

At least now she knew the reason for her condition, and to be honest she wasn't surprised that that monster was behind it. She is kinda impressed by the amount of evil that man was able to bring to the world.

"What are you doing now. Your master is dead, and soon your beloved revolution will die with him. Why don't you simply quit?"

" Firstly Su-san wasn't anybody's master. Secondly, the successor was already determined by Su-san, and for your last question I won't quit because the revolution won't ever die."

" A successor, and who would that be?" She sarcastically asked that question, after all that monster newer showed any interest in anybody. The only time he had shown concern for somebodies life was when he was getting Ana out of her cell. And then is when the answer hit her." That man thought Ana would carry his revolution!" She had tried very hard but she couldn't stiffen her laugh at this absurd idea.

"You're quite smart aren't you." He was genuinely impressed when he gave her this compliment. " But your lack of faith in your contractor is rather saddening." Chuckling a little he continued." Even If you don't believe that She can see right from wrong, Su-san clearly did. And he was right, after all, she accepted her new role."

His last sentence was an emotional rollercoaster for her, but at the end of it, only confusion was left. " What do you mean?".

"This letter is the proof, she wouldn't have known to send it unless Su-san told her. And he wouldn't have told her unless she had previously agreed." He was rather confident in his mentor, so the spirit's reply didn't phase him.

" She must have tricked him then and is now tricking you. If you truly believe she will go with you then you are a fool."

"I know I'm not the smartest guy around here, but Su-san was quite sure of it. He often repeated how it was that woman's duty to "stabilize the pendulum", whatever that means."

" So even you admit that his ideas are illogical and yet you still follow him, even from the grave."

"I never sad It was illogical, just hard to understand. But it doesn't matter, Su-san was always correct in the past. There is no reason he would be incorrect now."

"She is tricking you" tired of this conversation Echidna repeated her statement and ley down. It is obvious that he won't harm her so there is no need for caution, at least not yet.

" I doubt that."

Whit these words their conversation had come to an end. All that was left was to enjoy the rather pleasant, scenery. Images of Thick forests would, periodically, give way to blooming fields. Such scenes inspired confidence in the Archangel of Death, both confidence in the revolution and the ability of the Lagunica's people to carry that revolution. His mentor's plan was sure to work, and when this is all over, the world will finally be free. No more slavery, no more opulence for the sake of opulence. He can almost imagine such a world, and the knowledge that with every passing day Lagunica and Volacha were closer to achieving it made him elated. Even the fact that such a world will be brought about by a former throne candidate didn't phase him much, If It didn't bother Su-san why would it bother him. All that he and the rest of the people need to do is to continue their fight against their enemies, until Lagunica and Vollachia are all of one mind, and then, and only then, will they be strong enough to defeat the foreign powers that are trying to destroy them. That is at least what Subaru had told him, he also told him that he might be forced to tolerate monarchists for a short amount of time. That bothered him a little, but ultimately, he didn't care that much, because in the end stood for freedom for all, and that idea is almost intoxicating.

While Halibel was lost in his thoughts Echidna was peacefully resting, there wasn't much she could, or for that matter should, do now. She could only rest while the carriage, and Its occupancy, followed the road. The road that all of them, except her, took all these years ago.