POV: Trigger

She was staring back at me, and I had my butterflies stop cleaning the shell surrounding her. The King of Greed frowned, as if she was some kind of pet that wanted more scratches, she tapped the 'crystal' I could see her through.

"You want me to keep going?" I asked her. She crossed her arms and seemed to be thinking about… something.

She smiled at me and materialized a weird golden circle in front of her, another one appeared just outside of her cocoon.

And opened her mouth to speak, "Hello there." Her smooth and deep voice caught me off-guard. It was like honey, sweet and heavy.

If I remember correctly, when she breached, she had the ability to teleport around. It's almost like she is using that same power to 'teleport' her voice out of the cocoon, "Hi, didn't know you could wake up." I commented, butterflies putting back the bucket and rag on the floor before going back inside the coffin.

She smiled alluringly at me, "Neither did I… it's more accurate to say, I didn't think it was possible anymore." Well, that's certainly concerning.

The King of Greed was staring with full attention to my face, "I'm not the only one here? Great! Could you be a dear and help me see 'Justice' again? It has been ages!" Uh… that's unexpected. I thought about it for a moment before shrugging at her.

"I don't know how to even begin to do that." For more than one reason, I have been able to get away with a lot without repercussions, this? Would probably have the Manager executing me on the spot.

She frowned and the circles she manifested glowed brighter for a moment, she tried reaching into it, but simply… couldn't. King of Greed stopped trying with a frustrated frown on her face, "I didn't think my prison would be this strong…" I'm actually a bit glad she didn't come out, that would have been a whole new level of problems.

Her eyes snapped to me and down to my right arm, they widened, and she smiled brightly, "You can use it too!? The feeling of ecstasy on every hit couldn't be topped by anything. I had the finest beverages in the kingdom, but none of them compared to the feeling of using my gauntlet." I could see a disturbing shine in her eyes, and that's when I grew weary.

I was about to scratch my chin when I saw my free hand wasn't free anymore, the claws of Cobalt Scar wouldn't have made me feel any better, "Yes, it does feel nice, but I'd like to think it isn't that healthy." I'm speaking from experience here.

She put both of her palms against the 'crystal' while she narrowed her eyes at me, "But you could be so much more… just letting go a little bit is fine, right?" I thought about it for a moment, looking down at Gold Rush.

Maybe…

Something weird happened, something in the back of my head growled in anticipation, while an itch that covered my whole body demanded something of me. I looked up at the smiling King of Greed and felt the need to ask something, "It feels like you are asking for validation, what's up with that?" She blinked a couple of times and huffed while looking away.

"Nothing, I just got more and more because others gave it to me." I rose a brow while humming to myself.

After a bit of thinking, I spoke again, "So you just accepted anything given to you…" Sounds like she never had enough.

And now that I think about it, I never had enough either...

The room flashed green, and I looked at her with a small smile, "Seems like I have to go, not for long though." She straight up pouted at me.

"Take that as a chance to really liven up a little." It almost sounded like a whine, but I could tell she genuinely thought that would be better for me.

I left the room knowing, from experience, that wouldn't work out...

Sighing, I glanced at the room for a moment before thinking back at how using Gold Rush made me feel. It was positive, but not exactly in a good way.

Not that I disliked it, but at the same time… thinking about how it made me just enjoy any form of violence performed, wasn't exactly a fond memory.

Going to need a second opinion here… and I know the girl that could help with that, "Hey Netzach, could I go work with Knight of Despair?" I asked out loud, he was PROBABLY hearing me.

"I was just going to let you do that, but Yesod is now bothering me to not allow you to do that…"

I hummed at that before nodding to myse-

"Let him."

Blinking at the voice of Angela, of all people, I found myself smiling fondly at the camera. 'Thanks' I mouthed, before walking off towards Information, I'm surprised the Manager didn't say anything.

Amelia was standing against a wall with her arms crossed, narrowed eyes settled on me, "What are you doing now?"

"I'm pulling a ME." I responded bluntly, to which she just gave me a 'why' look.

She chuckled to herself while shaking her head, "Just don't make too much of a fuss." Giving her a smile, I kept walking.

It didn't take long for me to reach Justine's chamber. I didn't see Beth around… if I'm correct, she seemed to be with the 'Lock', I forgot the name of that thing.

Entering the chamber, I saw Justine kneeling on the floor, praying, "Hello Justine, sorry for the intrusion." She got up after hearing my words, her single eye turning to meet my own. It was quite beautiful to look at, like a star.

She smiled while getting up, "I see you've met one of my old friends, and are using her… weapon." She didn't seem to like looking at Gold Rush, like it brought back bad memories.

"You could say I had… interesting experiences while using it." That I don't think I want to recreate ever again.

She looked down at the gauntlet and carefully touched it, "It was a tool to get the best of any moment, she called it 'living each moment like it was the last'. It wasn't often we saw her without it. The Magical Girl of Happiness… that's what she was called." I looked down at the gauntlet, when was the last time I took it off?

"What happened?" I asked and for a moment, her single eye darkened like a starless sky if you will.

She retreated from the gauntlet, like it was alive, "Like any drug… once you have a few drops, you want more, and then it becomes an addiction, and she wanted everything. It wasn't bound to end well." I looked down at Gold Rush with narrowed eyes.

Flexing my fingers in the uncomfortable feeling of the gauntlet for the first time ever, I let whatever was inside willingly… I saw myself, that dream that I always wanted, amongst friends that praised me.

A beautiful dream not beyond my reach.

…

But one can't live on a dream. I smiled and felt as if I was looking away from something really important, it actually felt kind of painful.

Opening my eyes, I saw Justine's face uncomfortably close to mine. I leaned back slightly, "Personal space?" She tilted her head to the side, like she had no idea what bothered me so much.

And well, I wasn't really bothered by it, more like… caught off-guard, I blinked when I noticed just how worried her look was. Thinking about what to do in this situation, I settled with what seemed like the best choice.

A hug, awkward as it may have been because of Cobalt Scar and Gold Rush, but a hug nonetheless. I heard an actual yelp before she accepted the hug… why does it feel like someone wants to kill me right now?

"Companion… you mustn't let her out, she won't change without a good reason." She mumbled on my shoulder, which was weird since she is clearly taller than I am. Guess she had to lower herself a lot to not make the hug even more awkward.

I pulled back, trying to ignore how amusing it was seeing the pout she tried to hide, "I know, she didn't seem very… sane when I first talked with her." I could recognize that kind of feeling, mainly because I also went batshit insane a couple of times.

Justine nodded at me and the room flashed green, a small frown of disappointment appeared on her face, "Don't worry, I'll try to come back here." She seems to have become more of a boon than a detriment for the facility… I think some changes have to be made.

At least I hope the Manager and the Sephirah listen to me before trying to tell me to fuck off. Well at least Malkuth would be on my side…then again, asking to have an Abnormality working with us is just a bit crazy, so who knows.

I left the room while waving at Justine. While scratching my chin… well time to meet the King of Greed again, hopefully everything goes right.

…

Oh, who am I kidding? Something is going to end horribly wrong.

Huh… haven't felt this in a while.

"One day, a question crossed through my mind. Where do we come from? We were given life and left in this world against our own volition"

DOUBT

The lanky robots appeared in the hallway and I stared at them for a single moment before looking at Gold Rush… time to try something. I concentrated on the desire of 'being somewhere else', like on the other side of the hallway.

A golden magic circle appeared in front of me, and I jumped through it, appearing behind the robots… right where I wanted to be.

So it does work.

My right hand slammed one with a haymaker, it became scrap metal upon contact with my fist. My new claw yearned for some action, something in the back of my head howled with violent intent, Cobalt Scar moved in an arc, removing the head of one robot with ease.

The last one just started moving, it had taken no time for me to destroy two of them, and I was about to take care of the last one. The machine was slow and sloppy, it was almost unfair.

I stared at it, and approached slowly. If I was being honest, when I'm in a fight... the sound of my heart beating in my chest was just cathartic to hear, it was a liberating feeling.

Guess that is why Gold Rush could get me going so easily, it was easy to let go when fighting someone else.

Maybe an exercise in control should be in order, there was not one time I hadn't ended any of these things in a clean manner. Why throw 9 or 10 when a 6 was enough to put down your opponent?

There is a time and a place to show that kind of power.

The machine rose its pike which I casually backhanded away, before delivering a punch on its mid-section, sending it flying with a clearly dented body. It crashed against a wall and the light in its eye went out, I looked down at it with curiosity.

It was still in one piece.

DOUBT

"Living is Painful"

That's progress, I guess. I glanced behind me to see Ryn staring at me with weariness, "You seem… different?" Giving her an arched brow, she decided to elaborate.

She scratched her cheek, "Well, you certainly are less moody, but somehow… that makes you seem more dangerous." I paused at her words and thought back to my relationship with Yesod.

What do you fear more, the mad beast or the calm one? ...Guess I shouldn't be surprised by this, sooner or later I would find myself at odds with Lobotomy Corporation. Guess that when I was having my episode, things were moving along on Malkuth's end.

I smiled at Ryn, "Only when I have to be." I think she took that as some kind of threat, by the way her eyes narrowed and her posture became more firm.

… She has killed a lot of people, her eyes tell me a lot. Ryn has seen a lot more than I have, "When do you have to be?" She asked back.

Frowning at her, I glanced at the camera once. Yesod and Ryn are a problem for the future, "Let me worry about that." I said while walking away, I have to talk with King of Greed anyway.

That… is not going to end peacefully.