Nothing can stop her, not even common sense.


A/N: Two important notes for all:

One: As an effort to make it easier to find all the fanart and art associated with this fic, I have made a tumblr page where you can find it all in one convenient place! Here it is: .com

Two, and this is Very Critical: Apparently, as a part of AI crimes against writers and artists, some ignorant readers have been purposefully feeding fanfics into AI like chatGPT to finish fics for them or give them alternate endings. This is horrific by the way. This is using a writer's product without their consent, and by feeding it to the AI, it is now a permanent part of the AI's algorithm. Someone else is now making money off that person's work. If you know of any people doing this, please, for the love of all that is holy, call them out on it. And let the author know who did it if you can, so that person can be blocked. This way the author can prevent that person from stealing any more of their painstakingly made creations. AO3 in particular has been under fire from a lot of things lately, not all of them AI related. Bot scraping, DDoS attacks from possible terrorist and/or Russian groups, impersonators trying to scam for donations, and so on. Please be careful out there, and value the contributions of both staff and authors as much as you can.

May this warning serve as a historical note for the kind of bullshit we fan creators are having to deal with.

-Tyrant Chimera, July 2023


The next day, Aile was up and running before she'd even awoken properly.

Invigorated from a good rest and determined to complete her mission, the Imp of Cinq Ville strode with purpose in her step, a spark of mischief splayed across her face via a malicious grin. Slither Inc wasn't going to know what had hit it! Aile was fully gung-ho about finding her brother today. And she would do it too, she was sure of it!

That being said, the first day out after her graffiti spree was miserably unproductive. Apart from getting to "neener neener" a few Civilian guards and insulting a few other officers when they tried to talk to her from a distance, nothing much happened. Frustrated with her lack of success, Aile sought her father's council on the affair. He simply nodded and told her that maybe it was time for a more aggressive approach. She couldn't agree more.

Day two was when she started shaking people down. Aile even trapped some people in a back alley and waved her staff around as she interrogated them, her poor victims trembling in fear. Soon after she moved on and threatened the lady at the pawn shop a little, and even tricked some Guardian lackey into revealing that they knew about Vent. Good stuff, all in all, but not good enough as far as Aile was concerned. What little info she obtained wasn't enough to give her any idea of where else to look… until the Guardian mentioned to stay away from a certain power plant in the area. She growled, but he simply explained that they'd had to secure the area, and told her that Vent had gone from the old facility long before she'd even asked about her brother.

Well, at least it was common knowledge that she was looking for him.

The Guardian then tried to convince her to come with him to see Vent, but Aile wasn't having any of it. "My terms, or not at all!" she hollered at the man as she scrambled up a fire escape, and away from the guy's partner that she'd heard unsuccessfully sneaking around a corner. She was already halfway across the rooftops by the time they managed to stumble up the ladder after her.

Was Vent working with them, and that's why they were trying to arrange a meet-up? Or was it just some false bait they'd concocted after they'd seen her messages? Aile needed to figure that one out sooner rather than later.

Coming home that evening had been interesting. She'd checked into her various vandalism spots to see if anyone had left her a message in return. Half of her artworks were cleaned up (she refreshed these ones of course), while most of the other products of her personal crusade were left alone or covered with even more graffiti. None of it was at all useful, sadly… Although there was a slightly ominous message for her at her last stop, the picture she'd made of the Model W siblings. The words, "Loud and clear, princess. Watch your step!" were scribbled in charcoal below her image. The words "handsome bastard" were also doodled near the grim reaper, some arrows pointing towards the appropriate image, and Serpent's visage had been further vandalized, making the unflattering caricature even more insulting to behold. The witch simply had a little heart added near it, at least at first glance… but looking at it more thoroughly, Aile could see that the eyes had been altered as well. It now looked like she was watching Aile's every move.

She was a little more cautious going home after that.

The next day was when her efforts finally bore fruit. Aile hit her lucky break when one civilian, looking rather more haggard than the others, admitted that she'd seen Vent at another area that had been attacked yesterday. The woman explained that he'd saved her and a few others. It figured that her goodie-two-shoes sibling would help them out, she grumbled to herself, especially when the civilian went on and on about how he and the other Guardians had been so helpful with her recovery and return to the city. This was, unfortunately, confirmation that her brother was working with the Guardians, and not just coincidentally working in the same area as them. Which… well, shit. The Guardians definitely didn't like Aile.

"Gods effing Damn it Vent," she growled to herself under her breath, "you are NOT making this easy."

On the other hand, it did mean that the Guardians were likely to know where he was. So yuck, maybe those ones yesterday hadn't been lying when they told Aile they knew where Vent was and could arrange a meeting with him. Like Hell she was doing it in a situation where they had all the power, though. Aile didn't like the thought of escalating things with the Guardians. It was one thing to mess with the incompetent goons of Slither Inc. But the Guardians? There was a reason that she, for the longest time, didn't dare to purposely aggravate the one security force who bloody well knew what they were doing. Things were tough enough now that she'd gone and pissed off Serpent; patrols in the city and forest were definitely increasing. Getting the Guardians angry and after her backside on top of everything else going on was not a fun prospect. But her dad had suggested a more aggressive approach, and it had worked so far. Tough or not, this was going to be her time to shine. She was strong enough to handle the consequences. And so, she went on the hunt.

Now that Aile was looking for the Guardians, actually going out of her way to get into trouble with them if need be, it didn't take her long to find a good mark. After eyeing up a few small groups of the peacekeeping mercenaries and finding none of them vulnerable enough to tackle, one particularly jumpy looking man finally caught her eye. He was thin, reedy, and had his hair styled in a way that it tended to cover one eye. How impractical! Judging by his cowardly posture, the man was probably just a supply guy, as he jumped at every shadow he saw. There was no way he was one of their regular soldiers. In short, a perfect target. Score! After she patiently hounded him down, Aile didn't even have to drag him into an alley to get him to squeal. He took one look at her stomping towards him and yelped as he froze up, "Imp! It's the Imp!"

If the man had a partner nearby, Aile didn't see them. Instead she gave a feral grin and prepared to shake down the poor Guardian flunky, "Just the guy I need! You look like you'll talk! How nice of you!" She sneered, following up with a callous laugh that made him gulp. "I got some questions, buddy! I'm sure you'll be helpful enough to anwer, now won't you?"

"J-just d-d-don't-t d-do any-th-thing crazy now!" He begged. Aile had to hold in a giggle when he backed away from her so quickly that he smacked his head on an open window covering. Heck yeah. She loved her reputation!

"So..." Aile paused. He trembled even more as she took her sweet time in asking her questions. The mischief maker drew out the tension and watched him sweat, "I'm sure you've heard by now, That I'm looking for someone in particular-"

"A-Area F!" He squealed. Aile's eyebrow raised. The man was turning to a pile of terrified goo before her eyes. Was she really that scary? Hell yeah! "H-h-h-he's g-g-gone t-t-t-to Area-a F! J-just-t-t now!"

Aile's smile widened. The lean male whimpered at her grin, "Now see, that wasn't so hard. So much more polite than your peers. I know a good man when I see one. Ta-ta then. I'm off. You be good and keep this our little secret, eh?" Aile commanded venomously. She turned to walk away, almost immediately forgetting the cowardly Guardian behind her. Area F, then? That wasn't too bad of a location. It wasn't too far away, but she'd still have to hurry if she wanted to make it in time.

The man she left behind was a Guardian for a reason though. Against all odds he forced himself to straighten up. Aile heard this and whirled around to glare at him. He stuttered, "A-actually, m-miss Imp, our c-c-commander asked me t-to-!"

"Politely interrogate me or convince me to come to your base, probably in chains. Save it. I'm not stupid." She harshly replied. His eyes widened and he shrunk in on himself. Aile leaned not-quite-casually against her spear, and her stiff posture portrayed clear intent as her eyes narrowed, "We both know how bad things will be for you if you try anything. Save me the theatrics. Don't bother."

He didn't bother. Conveniently for her, he knew what was good for him.

Aile chuckled to herself as she went haring off through the city and into the wilderness surrounding the settlement. Area F was a tricky, frozen mountaintop with a lake, if she recalled correctly. It was incredibly annoying to try and get into since you had to navigate the mountainous Area B first. But if Vent was there, she needed to get there too, ASAP. And so she did. Aile rushed out of town, then through the caves and secret tunnels hidden throughout the forests surrounding Cinq Ville. She'd lost pursuers here more than once, and thankfully knew of more than a few handy routes to navigate the area.

She felt a thin dusting of snow crunch under her feet as she finally arrived at the entrance to the region. A security door blocked her way into the frozen lake. The Imp of Cinq Ville would normally have avoided the darn thing as they were well fortified; the doors were put into place to keep civilians out of the dangerous area, and as such were a sturdy obstacle. But Aile knew she was on a time limit. Although she'd only seen flashes of the fight between Giro and Vent, it was more than enough to know just how quick her brother could be. Vent could move pretty fast despite the armour. With that in mind she jammed her spear into the door, pried it open despite it being frosted over a little, and launched herself into the frigid area with every ounce of agility she could muster. She'd never been into Area F before, so this felt like quite the adventure!

It doesn't take her long to realize her mistake.

Area F was freezing. The sudden cold shock to her systems made her nose run and her thin frame start shivering immediately. She wasn't unused to dealing with a little cold and damp, she lived underground after all, but the heavy moisture in the air and the icy wetness seeping in through her too-thin shoes was rapidly sapping all the heat from her body. The brutal winds that whipped around the area weren't helping either, and Aile cursed herself for not thinking to bring a jacket. It didn't take her long to realize that she needed to find Vent, fast, or she could be in very real danger.

With that in mind she rushed into the fray once more, jumping over dismembered mechaniloids, blocks of debris, and other scraps of metal left to rot left under the ice. She slogged and tripped through snow as she made her way deeper into the region. This was not an easy task as the powdery stuff was easily halfway up her shins. Thankfully, her brother seemed to have taken care of the worst of the obstacles before she arrived; judging by the occasional broken robot or melted circle from where he'd missed a shot from his energy gun, there had been some minor mavericks active in this location. The Imp of Cinq Ville mostly overlooked the scenery and took a risk, ignoring the vast, frigid, and admittedly beautiful landscape as she vigorously and single-mindedly followed the trail left by her brother.

She only chanced a look-around when she felt eyes on her as she navigated the area. This unfortunate event resulted in her face-planting the snow. Her cheeks, though already flush from the cold, glowed even brighter for a moment. She risked jogging ahead even further despite seeing the ground drop off nearby, but once more the frigid environment turned out to be her downfall. Quite literally. Aile wandered onto a patch of ice near a drop, only for it to crack and shatter into nothing beneath her feet. The edge of the cliff she was on, it turned out, was half a metre behind her. The snow and ice had spilled far enough over the rim to trick her into a false sense of security. She shrieked as the abyss below claimed her.

Thankfully, it was the same snow that doomed her that helped break her fall with a muffled ploompf. Not the most graceful of landings, but she could get up after it, and that's all that mattered. Aile looked up the cliff face despondently. It was slick and sheer. No matter how much she surveyed the wall before her, she could only come to a single conclusion; she wouldn't be climbing back up without any help. Aile tested the unforgiving wall anyways, then gulped as she realized that she was trapped down there.

Aile tried to bury the rising panic. She had to find Vent now, more than ever. Her lips felt thick and heavy and her fingers were getting stiff. Aile cursed the cliff loudly, though it didn't answer back. All in all, it was not looking good for the Imp of Cinq Ville. There was no way back up top that she could see. Thankfully it wasn't all bad news. At least she was out of the freezing winds now. Aile looked around, found more destroyed mechaniloids and chunks of ice, and then, wonder of wonders, also spotted a door in the distance that was partially hidden from her by the mist of her breath. She spared no ceremony in dashing towards the structure with a relieved whoop, hoping that it would lead to a warmer building.

Her triumph was brought to an abrupt end as she entered the door and found water. Lots and lots of water. She put a few tentative fingers into the large, taunting pool before her and yelped at the temperature. She withdrew her hand, her digits stinging. There's no way she could go any further. She'd have to go back without having even spotted her brother.

Back to the dead end.

Aile shuddered, grimacing at her plight. She could barely move due to the cold… on that note, how could she get so cold so fast? True, it hadn't exactly been warm coming up the mountains, she admitted to herself, but she'd mostly ignored that on her mission to pursue her sibling. This was clearly coming back to bite her. Aile was cold, trapped, and all alone. Oh gods. Was she going to die here? Aile couldn't stop her mind from picturing her father, upset as he found a frozen corpse huddled up and covered in ice in this lonely little corner of the world. She whimpered and shivered, though it was getting harder to do so. Her emotions broiled with fear and dread. There's no way. It couldn't be. She wasn't going to die here, no! Right?

Aile took this denial and used it to shut everything out. Her rising panic was promptly ignored; her daddy had faith in her. She could do this. Maybe there was another way back up that she'd missed?

Aile trudged back to the cliff face, ignoring the voice in her head that was telling her that there was no way back up. The definition of insanity was to keep trying the same thing and expecting alternate results. It would be insane, and downright stupid, to go back and think that things would be different. That the gigantic cliff face was going to be any more hospitable than she'd left it, and that there would be any way out of this situation she'd so stupidly ended up in.

Only there was.

Aile blinked, disbelief overtaking her. Right where she fell was the end of a rope. It was delicately curled into the hollow she'd made in the snow. The other end, Aile realized, was all the way up the cliff. The thing was thick, swaying easily in the breeze, and had barely any flecks of snow on it. Had someone dropped it for her? Her suspicions were aroused, but considering the alternative of freezing to death, Aile ignored them. Barely a sneeze later and she was halfway back up the rope already, desperation driving her as she climbed. Vent would have to wait a little longer. Survival came first! Despite her numb fingers she was able to make it to the top, the rough texture of the cord easy to grip.

As Aile neared the apex of the cliff, she noticed that the rope had been frozen at its base to secure it. It made sense, as there was little else to tie it to, but… how? It didn't help when she noticed that there was an unexpected, unwelcome surprise at the top of the rope. A Mechaniloid, its eyes red, stared at her. She froze a moment when it came into view. It looked at her, made some sort of a noise, then immediately ignored her. Aile realized that it wasn't attacking her, and took full advantage of the fact to observe the situation. The robot was… guarding the rope? What? Aile couldn't make heads nor tails of the situation. Instead, she cautiously walked past, watching it the entire time.

It did nothing.

The moment she was out of range she booked it back to the entrance of Area F and ran as best she could back through the mountains, remnants of panic and confusion driving her onwards. Once these negative energies were used up, and she'd warmed herself up a bit from all the exercise, she sat down. Aile had managed to get all the way back to the forest. Thoroughly exhausted, she took some time to catch her breath. Her mind wandered back to what had just occurred, though she fervently denied how freaked out she'd gotten by nearly dying. Okay. Hah hah, she was fine, totally fine, moving on now, ha hah hah, oh god she'd nearly frozen to death oh gods oh no…!

Aile shook her head. Focus… focus! There were more important things to worry about! Like… Where had that rope come from? Stuff that shockingly convenient didn't just happen out of nowhere… Had her brother saved her? If so, why hadn't he waited for her?

Maybe, Aile realized, it was her dad that rescued her. Yes, that must have been it. He probably followed her, like he used to when she was younger, and saved her bacon with the rope. Then maybe he left before she got there so that she wouldn't be embarrassed at having to be saved. Yes. That must have been it. It didn't explain the mechaniloid, or where he'd

gotten the rope in the first place, but Aile didn't want to think too much into her near-death experience. Things didn't always need to have an answer. Well, at least the rope didn't need explaining. The maverick, now, that was another story. Why hadn't it attacked her? Its eyes had been red, and yet it had done nothing to her? Something was afoot.

As Aile got herself together and prepared to leave the area, a new event took her attention. A blue blur passed her where she was hunkered down in a hiding spot.

Wait. Could that be?

Vent!

This was weird. It couldn't be that easy, could it? A lot of things were happening all at once, way too many convenient occurrences and coincidences for her paranoia to accept. And to make things even more suspicious, he was headed straight for… oh no. The Area H amusement park. Damn her brother's ability to be utterly inconvenient for her. And more than that, damn that park! Of all places to have a potential reunion... The amusement park. It just had to be there? Where they were first separated from each other and lost everything?

Aile didn't know if this whole situation was poetic or ironic. It was definitely a nuisance no matter which way you swung it. On that note, Aile noticed that maybe Vent wasn't actually being as inconvenient as he could be. The amusement park only had one way in or out. At least, one way in or out that most people knew about. Chances were that Vent was going to have to come out the exact same security door he'd come in, and that, Aile realized with a victorious sneer, meant that she wasn't going to have to chase him down. She could have him come to her instead! This also meant she wouldn't need to risk life and limb nearly as much since she'd done that enough for one day, thank you (no, not thinking about the ice any more, nope). She knew there were active mavericks in the parks after all, and had no desire to place her neck on the line any more than she needed to.

So Aile did exactly that. She oozed into the abandoned theme park, extremely aware of her surroundings as she found herself a nice little perch close to the main exit. A perch that was relatively safe, or so it seemed at first. What Aile hadn't really expected to happen, as she waited and squirmed, was for someone other than her brother to come across her first. Or rather, some things. Several colourful mavericks showed up shortly after she'd settled in. Aile noticed this quickly and prepared for a short battle, tensing into a fighting posture and readying her weapon. Two mettaurs waddled her way, red eyed and clearly seeking targets, and spotted her. They paused like a pair of deer in the headlights as they deliberated for a bit.

Aile made faces and taunted, "Come on you little scrapheaps! You wanna go?"

They paused at her display. They'd clearly seen her, so why bother trying to hide? It wasn't like a pair of mettaurs were all that threatening. Definitely not the scariest enemies she'd ever faced, not with their dinky little feet, oversized mining hats, and googly eyes. Yet just when Aile was ready to beat their little circuity brains in, the robots just… toddled off. They simply backed away and left her alone, much to her immense confusion.

That was. Just... Weird? Really weird.

Oh well. Gift horse and mouth. Aile wasn't about to denounce this unexpected boon. She sat back down, stretched her legs, and tried not to fuss too hard with the small object she'd brought along with her to confirm her identity. The little dog-shaped toy dangling off the half-rotten backpack had lost all the stuffing in its body by now, was missing one arm and half of a leg, and was also eyeless. Not a good condition at all, sure, but it was recognizable enough. She focused on that for as long as she could, but her mind couldn't help but wander back to all the red-eyed mechaniloids today, and, more importantly, their bizarre behaviour.

Why hadn't the mavericks attacked her? Why had they left her alone, even when she made faces right in front of the mettaurs? Then it clicked. Waaaaait a minute… she'd seen Pandora and Prometheus earlier in that confrontation between Vent and Serpent. Did it mean that they were involved? That might be it… If they were behind the mavericks, there would be no way they'd risk having their minions hurt Aile and incite her father's wrath. The two Model W users knew all too damn well what sort of ludicrous firepower her Daddy could rain down on their heads if she were hurt by them, even indirectly.

Or maybe.. . Were the mechaniloids ignoring her because they'd been programmed to attack Vent instead? Aha! That could be it too! There'd been a maverick attack outside Serpent's base too, on that day she'd rescued him. Maybe they had been there to try and defeat her brother. Then that meant… this must all be due to Pandora and Prometheus, or worse, their boss! Serpent! Perhaps he was the one controlling all the mavericks! She'd overheard him basically confessing to be behind the maverick attack on his own HQ, so it made sense that he was responsible for the ones hanging around here as well. And since Serpent was their boss… Wait. There were mavericks in Area H ten years ago as well. The ones that had initially separated her and Vent. Did that mean Serpent was behind the amusement park attack ten years ago, too?

Oh, she thought slowly as the realization dawned on her. Oh that RAT BASTARD. But then reality came back to her and she grinned viciously. Serpent was a rat bastard all right, but one that was undoubtedly afraid of her! If he was Pandora and Prometheus's mysterious boss that they'd alluded to all those years ago, then he had to know at least a little about the terror that her dad could bring down on him. Not to mention the wrath she herself could drop on Serpent's ugly head. No wonder he'd programmed his mavericks to ignore her!

Right, time to fuck his shit up and laugh at his stupid scaredy-cat face. But first! Priorities. Aile still had a brother to reunite with, after all! And so she waited all cool-like, kicking her feet as she sat on a railing and smugly smirked to herself over how smart she was to so easily realize Serpent's involvement.

Time passed. As Aile waited an awfully long while for her sibling to show up, a bit of doubt wormed its way into her head. In her mind she pondered to herself, was she sure this entrance was the only way in or out that Vent knew about? There wasn't some sort of teleporter or something that she'd forgotten existed? She would look pretty stupid if the entrance she'd staked out wasn't the only way in or out of the area… These fears were proved to be completely unfounded when the sound of metal boots rapidly pounding against the pavement began to ring out from across the park. Aile looked up to see Vent, now in red armor that bore an awkward resemblance to her father's crimson gear, making haste in her direction. Aile growled to herself at the sight. About damn time, Vent!

Once he came within sight of the exit, it didn't take him long to spot her. Aile snickered to herself. She must have been quite the sight to see! Her skin was covered in scars, splotches of dirt and grime from her home underground, as well as loam from the forest she frequented. Aile's attire was similarly blemished, stained with patches of reddish-brown. Her (slightly damp) clothes were marred and ripped in places. Brick-red grit was smeared or speckled sparingly across her entire frame. It could have been old blood or rust for all anyone knew, and Aile had definitely taken advantage of that fact. The inability to distinguish the source of these stains was more than a little unnerving to those who had never seen her up close before.

The Imp of Cinq Ville was moderately scary in the many stories told about her. The hand-drawn image that decorated her wanted posters was only slightly intimidating. Publically, she was often painted as a mere miscreant or troublemaker. In the flesh, she was far more intimidating than what one would expect, especially with her not-quite pristine weapon and lean frame. Tribal-styled decorations adorned her attire, as well as the upper haft of her weapon from where she'd painted it in fits of boredom. The forcefully carved and twisted visage of her wooden mask was none too reassuring either. It was shaped like the skull of a predatory animal, sharp teeth bared viciously at all who beheld her. Was it an amateur project? Or was it made brutally blunt and jagged-looking on purpose? No one knew but herself and her father.

Aile wasn't surprised when Vent's first reaction was to raise a gun at her. It wasn't pointed at her directly, but it wasn't passively angled at the ground either. His body language just screamed, "Don't make yourself a threat," and Aile couldn't help but chuckle a little at his obvious nerves. He tensed, perhaps even flinched, at her apparent amusement. Yet to his credit, he was the first to speak up, "You. I've heard of you. So, you're the Imp of Cinq Ville. What are you doing here?"

"Aww, no 'hello' or 'how do you do?' That's kind of rude, Vent." She huffed dramatically, pretending to be offended. He was pretty tense, not laughing at her joke or mannerisms at all, so Aile threw him a bone just to be nice. "But yeah. That's me! You've been making it pretty hard for me to track ya down, you know."

Vent tensed up even further, "Track me down? So you were trying to get a hold of me, just like Prairie said..." He blinked to himself halfway through his spiel, as if remembering something. He tried to force himself to appear less antagonistic as he made a poor attempt to be friendly with her, "I just, well, I don't know why… Why did you go so far out of your way to save me? Why are you trying to chase me down? I've had nothing to do with you up until now. Who are you, really, and what's your name?"

Aile wondered if he had been remembering orders from the Guardian commander. The soldiers she'd met not long ago had definitely been interested in getting her to their base, or finding out more about her. Vent was probably under the same orders as them. This was risky business. As things stood she was playing right into Guardian hands. On top of that, quite frankly, she wasn't exactly used to revealing personal secrets about herself. But this was her brother they were talking about, not just some random cop or mercenary. This was worth it. "Well, about that," she began haltingly, "let me give you a hint. There's a reason I saved you at Area D, and it wasn't just because I like getting under Serpent's skin." Aile sighed nervously. This was it.

Carefully, slowly, she showed him the wretchedly old backpack that she'd kept all these years. The very same one he used to wear constantly when he was a tiny kid. Its fragile straps swayed as she held it up tentatively and wondered if he would even remember the ragged old thing. "I don't know if you recognize this old hunk of junk, but… Remember what you said when you yelled at me the other day? I'll admit it. You were right. It's like you said," she explained slowly, meaningfully, "your family always loved you. I'm here to support you."

Despite her bravado, Aile's heart clenched as her brother's eyes fell onto the tiny thing clutched painfully in her grip. Would he recognize it? Would he remember his old backpack, or would he just be confused about why some complete stranger was spewing nonsense, getting unnervingly friendly, and showing him some weirdo piece of trash?

It took him a minute. A long, agonizing minute of staring blankly at the torn-up children's article Aile had presented to him. Vent didn't seem to be breathing. His posture slackened in disbelief. Then it clicked. "No…" he said, stunned, voice dwindling as the truth dawned upon him. "Is that my old…? That can't be? You…? Are you-?!"

"Having a tough time, are ya? I'll spell it out for you. My name-"

"It can't be…?!" Vent stuttered, jaw dropping. He stared at her long and hard, "It's… It can't be! It's you?!" Her brother was too stunned to move.

Aile grinned, happy tears forming in her eyes, "Yeah. You got it, bro." she confirmed. "Though I'm known as the Imp of Cinq Ville," she explained as she lifted up her mask, "my real name… is Aile."