Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Merciless Medic]

Fia Moretti

Date: April 1, 2067
Location: Nevada Desert
Interactions: Dane
Mentions: N/A

As Fia absorbed the soul, she let those memories pass through her, paying attention to how Dane lived his life in brief moments as if she were looking through a window.

It seemed that her earlier hypothesis might have been incorrect. It really was just the need to do better, to keep up in the ranks despite all others doing better than he was. And yet, he was trying to do it all as an Autonomous Weapon, a feat of achievement no other could ever hold unless they shared the same passion and dedication to being an agent as he was.

But that changed as he took the meaning of the ranks too seriously. That he was lesser and needed to do better. His fear became reality as two meister-weapon pairs subdued and killed him. If he hadn’t taken these numbers to heart and just focused on being an agent like he had before, he wouldn’t be swallowed by this corrupted sense of duty and competition.

All those friends he had and wonderful times on and off missions… Squandered because of the building pressure of others surpassing him. If only someone literally pulled him by the collar and told him that they knew what he was feeling…

Taking him in made her feel hollow. This could have been prevented so easily. Of course, he denied access to mental health care! He didn’t feel like talking about it!

It pissed her off, but it also saddened her deeply. Seeing someone so capable feel like their worth was in a number as an agent… Was it really that? Did that set him off the edge? People just doing their due diligence to be agents and help people? He was like them not that long ago…

These feelings she wrestled with, and she realized that the confusion and sorrow she felt was her own, but the anger she felt intertwined with Dane’s like a ghostly coil.

Then… It disappeared. The flashes of memories and vivid emotions through it all.

Yet, her indignation lingered.

Hearing the pop of a flare gun, she refocused herself. Should she talk about what she felt on the helicopter ride there? Should she say Cyrus was right, at least in how it seemed he lost himself due to his pride? No, this wasn’t just some pride. This was something a bit more…

She didn’t want to become like him though. She’d talk about it - to Starwulf, Az, Rieko, and finally Cyrus. She couldn’t just let it sit ther. She didn’t want to become Mad like him just because she bottled it up.

There were some things she wished she didn’t know.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Death City - Duchess of Discord
​

Listening to the tale, Nadia did seem to be paying attention, fortunately servers knew enough to ignore what important people were saying. It was unfortunately a very one-sided conversation. Though it seemed she had misjudged the man. Looking at V a bit coldly, or the way she stared at nearly everyone really, the ice blood lived up to her heritage, showing very little in the way of emotion. Once the drink was brought she took note of V pausing briefly, eyeing over the contents that the server had brought, she snorted and a brief smirk passed on her lips as she eyes the collection. It was a bit too much, even for her as much as she liked being surrounded by class and high society of the old-world sort.

Having listened to all Viraj had to say, she did find it amusing he was a 4th of his name. Then again it wasn't like her given name was much better. So, she had nothing to say about that. However, she did not understand why he would give all that up to be an agent and if he felt so strongly for his father why this family did not try to clear this all up. Why had the two of them threw it all away? Nadia could not, did not and likely, would not ever understand this. Her family had been loving, of modest means and always servants of one sort or another to someone or another. Her mother a housemaid to the rich, her father a Russian Army officer. And she was now a DWMA agent. She could not say she would do anything to bring them back, she wasn't that stupid, anything that could do that was bad news and they were precious because they were gone.

However, it seemed the conversation had come to an end. Still, Nadia would not just say nothing, coaxing her words carefully she takes the glass in hand and swirls it once before having a taste."Hmm, V I'm afraid your family may be a bit too interesting for me, though I may be curious to hear the rest of that childhood tale some other time, and I am not the one the girl needs the forgiveness of... though I still think a bit of a brawl would do them some good, have a pleasant evening."

Eying the new girl briefly, Nadia gave a brief nod before shifting her attention to Dani, "You want to try some?" Thinking back on it, this girl was there wasn't she? Nadia was much too busy with the termite witch to see how the two other battles went, but it seemed she moved up in the world judging by that dress.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul Mook-LandStrider

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - The Duchess of Discord, Death City
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

What came next was a surprise in the form of insight into the aforementioned family. Dani's face held an expression of scrutiny as she listened to V's explanation, however, it more so did the opposite of what he aimed to accomplish. Instead of drumming up sympathy for Thea, it just ticked her off more, for a similar reason as Dani found during their first meeting.

Like Nadia, Dani held family to a high degree. To turn your back on them was beyond nonsensical, it just wasn't something that should happen. While the story certainly didn't give her positive opinions of their father, it didn't give her too much empathy for Thea either. The dad was an asshole. That point was settled, in Dani's mind at least, however from V's explanation, it sounded as if Thea hated Gauss because of what their father did and didn't do. He treated her like shit and gave preferable treatment to Gauss, so she by extension started burning the bridge with her little brother out of anger for what he had and she didn't.

She was sure Gauss was an asshole in turn, but the tale didn't make it seem as though Gauss's personality was the cause for their falling out.

"...Look... You seem... actually nice, and I know how I'd react if someone shit-talked my brother, even if he deserved it." Holding her tongue was a respect given for V, not Thea. "I don't like her. Treating family like shit aside, she insinuated I was your little brother's side-hoe while I was already mega-pissed. If she cares, she can apologize herself, but I'm not going to go out of my way to mess with her or anything regardless."

Saying that, that would probably be the end of it. Dani didn't expect nor really want an apology. To her, it was just another asshole person in the world that she would encounter once and seldom, if ever, again.

Looking to the newcomers, there were a couple she knew of, albeit vaguely. Dani recognized the brunette and gold-haired woman from the fight, meanwhile the tall, Japanese guy was the one that tried to stab Cyrus on the first day if she remembered right. She recalled hearing that the spear-guy was still being treated for injuries from the witches' magic. Was that why she was with him now?

Her attention was then taken by Nadia who offered her a glass. Dani looked at the clear liquid, assuming it was some fancy person vodka. "Oh, uh... sure," She hummed as she took the bottle to pour herself a glass, and then one for Nadia. Taking a drink from the glass, her reaction was noticeably more subtle than the first time the weapon took a swig from Nadia's thermos. She had acquired somewhat of a tolerance to the strength of it, though she was hardly a connoisseur. Still, straight vodka wasn't all that enjoyable to her. "...Uh... you got any pineapple juice or something?" She asked, to which a waiter nodded and left to get some.

RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Evangeline
A trip through memories and a divide soul
DWMA Hospital - Recovering from a bullet wound.
​

Exhaustion, that is what Eva had felt as she sat up in her bed. Gazing upwards to the ceiling she took a few moments to gather her thoughts before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and putting her face in her hands. Sitting up straight she looked around, painting supplies, posters and clothing were strewn about making for a somewhat messy scene. Rising to her feet Eva got dressed and slid on her shoes before leaving her room.

Walking out into the living room she heard movement in the kitchen and saw her father setting plates on the table. A sudden wave of recognition came over her and she smiled. “Hey dad.” Eva called out to him before taking a seat at the table. Taking a seat himself he looked over as Eva’s mother joined them at the table. Looking down at the plate she saw a piece of hair and picked it out. Looking over the long strand of hair Eva squinted, it was black in color. Looking to her parents, neither of them had black hair.

“Weird isn’t it.” She heard her mother say, making her look up and stare at her “Huh?” Eva asked before her father spoke up. “It is, isn’t it.” he repeated making Eva blink hard. When she opened her eyes both parents were gone and the set table was no longer present. Blinking again the world had reset itself once more. Now the table was turned over, the chairs strewn about and haphazardly arranged. Walking forward she put her hand on the wall only to feel a wet substance meet it.

Pulling her hand off she took a look at it only to see a long blade held within. Where once her hand had been now she couldn’t recognize it. Gripping the weapon tighter she continued forward and into the living room where a scene best described as coming from a horror movie awaited her. Blood coated much of the floor, it looked as if someone had been bled to death in the center of it. Yet again only furniture and belongings lay cast about with no sign of a person. Standing in place for several moments she heard movement coming from the next room and moved to investigate.

On the floor lay a figure crawling towards another, she recognized them, yet at the same time couldn’t. Immediately everything seemed to progress, suddenly falling to the 'back seat' a flurry of movement erupted. Right hand descending Eva began to stab the figure several times. Horror rose up from within as she began to panic. She could feel it, the warm blood and slick nature of the blade in her hand. Squeezing her eyes shut she finally opened them to the world having changed once more. Looking down at her feet she could see the footprints she had left as she exited the room. Stalking down the hallway another noise seemed to catch her attention. Turning to a closed door Eva slammed into it once, twice and a third time before it gave way.

A figure within the window had just finished crawling out it causing Eva to rush over and throw herself partially through it in an attempt to grab at the figure. She felt hatred, anger and a sudden fear. Turning to leave the room she ended up looking straight into a mirror. Where Eva had expected to see herself she saw a figure draped in shadow with two red eyes staring back at her. Letting out a scream the world seemed to fall apart around her.

Walls moving away she felt disconnected before another sensation took over, one of despair and grief. She couldn’t see anything yet experienced the rest. “Do you need anything?” a calm and kind voice asked. “I can't begin to understand what you must be feeling right now.” Another voice asked, this one attempting to be kind. “You need to talk about it, you can't keep it repressed.” It continued. Feeling the void around her jolt another voice rose out of the darkness. “You’ll be paired with a partner soon, you'll find someone at the gathering I am sure.”

The last sentence seemed to ring a bell somewhere in Eva’s consciousness. The darkness gave way to a large room with a party being held within. Looking around she ended up mingling and speaking with several of them, feeling somewhat good about herself and the fact that she was getting an opportunity to actually move forward in the DWMA. Yet as the day began to come to an end she still hadn’t found a partner. Many of those that had been without a partner began to gravitate towards a young woman with white hair. Watching her she felt a small sense of awe about the woman, as if she was looking at a diamond. She watched the women's eyes flash a different color several times as different people spoke to her.

After staring for perhaps a lot longer than would have been socially acceptable the white haired woman’s eyes suddenly lifted up and settled on her own. Standing where she was, the woman approached her, leaving the others behind.

“Hello, I’m Evangeline.”

The woman spoke up before tilting her head to the side. Feeling like the woman was staring into her very soul the girl finally spoke up again, breaking the intense eye contact.

“What do you want to do? Why are you here?”

The voice asked in a silky yet prying voice. “I… I don’t know what I want. I’m here because I had to be, yet I managed to do something with myself despite it all.” Eva spoke.

A long conversation followed before the white haired woman grabbed her hand “The average person lies twice in a day and those earlier did so more than twice in our short conversation. You spoke honestly.” The feeling of acceptance swam through her before she experienced a tearing sensation.

Her mind reeled as she suddenly viewed the exchange from both sides. The disassociation made her mind scream before she was thrust back into the darkness of her soul. “We finally got it Eva.” She heard Denni say from around her. “What does it taste like? I never asked… but this bastard killed them and I want to know what it tastes like.” the voice continued and made her shiver.

“Cold.” Eva responded.

Exhaustion, that is what Eva had felt as she sat up in her bed. Gazing upwards to the ceiling she took a few moments to gather her thoughts before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and putting her face in her hands. Stopping dead in her tracks she froze solid. Finally the noise of her surroundings made her lift her head up and look around. She was in a hospital and she could remember how she got there. Picking up her phone she saw a few texts for Sara and finally saw the date. She had been… where ever she had been for a day and a half solid.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara & Eva

Date: April 10, 2067
Location: Duchess of Discord, Death City
Collab with Mook-LandStrider
Interactions: Dani, Nadia, Adrian, V, Midori, Elly, Annika
Mentions: Maria, Ark, Raphael
Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper

A party?

While Sara loved parties and was willing to go, she still felt an empty pang in her heart. The consolations Noah, Eva, and Raphael did throughout the week helped somewhat, but she still felt… Terrible, for a lack of a better word.

Cafe of Skulls will never be the same again… They took that from her, and while her optimism screamed at her to make something of it and to not let Allie down for feeling this down, she couldn’t help it. Maybe a soft party can help reignite her spirit, or at least… Parts of it.

So, to a lesser extent, this was what Eva felt? Well, she saw that during their soul exploration, but it took her feeling it and then seeing that and then giving it some time to digest it all.

Since it was a party, she was going to make herself look pretty. She had on a long blue dress held up by a straps that crossed her back, a dark blue choker with pastel yellow flower charms, and a couple brass bangles on her left wrist. The dress had a sort of wrap that was held by a pastel yellow ribbon around her back, her tail having a tiny hole to come out of without completely showing off her lady parts or her behind. Coupled with flats, that’s all she really felt like wearing. It was soft, and it partially hugged her.

If she could, she’d demand hugs from everyone…

Looking at the kitchen, she softly sighed. “Should I make food for everyone…? How many are gonna be there?” She began listing off names. She knew Dani, Nadia, Gauss, Noah, and their new partner were going to be there. Then there was Elly, Annika, and Adrian. She didn’t know if the magical peeps were going to be there either, but Sara knew that people were still on edge about them.

While she didn’t hold any ill will towards sorcerers or witches who were actually on their side - especially with the witches helping the DWMA in their damages despite their embassy being leveled - she hoped the others behaved… Especially Raphael.

She looked around for Eva, sighing softly, energy subdued. “They have food at the party, right? Would they care if I brought food? I dunno… I’m honestly burnt out, and I’m never like that…” She said softly, her tone depressing to hear. She always loved cooking.

Eva’s morning had been a somewhat rough one. Her shoulder was still healing and she had struggled to sleep the whole night. Nightmares had become somewhat prevalent for her in recent days. The events that had transpired following her hospitalization only added to that struggle. It had taken her several days to fully explore what she had experienced both when consuming the witches soul and the following… episode? At Least that is what she was calling it.

She remembered the Jovial Jongler, the corrupted soul that had killed Denni’s parents years earlier. Yet, she didn’t just remember… she experienced it. She experienced it like she had experienced portions of the witch's life. Yet, it was far more than that… she lived it. She even saw Denni escaping out a window. She had met herself through her ex-meisters eyes… and experienced the emotions of the woman she once loved.

It was like an emotional rollercoaster, and everything still hurt and she was miserable. Letting out a loud groan she rolled off her bed and flopped onto the floor, having been laying there for the past hour rather than getting ready. Rolling back and forth a few times the pain finally forced her to stop and sit up. Running her hands through her hair she looked towards the door as she heard Sara speak up. “I think there will be enough food there. Don’t stress yourself out overthinking it.” Eva said back before finally getting up. Opening the door she looked at Sara before hugging her. “I'm sad and I know you are too.”

Sara’s werewolf ears twitched upon hearing Eva’s words. She tried letting them into her heart and mind and just do it, but she still felt just horrible. How could she not cook right now? She heard Eva get closer and a part of her just wanted to curl up into a ball and die. Feeling arms wrap around her, Sara immediately pulled Eva in and clutched onto her like she was some liferaft, her face screwed in trying to keep her sobbing down, but she couldn’t contain it anymore. Tears streamed down her face in fat rivers and she gritted her teeth to keep the sobbing to a minimum, which were just pitiful whining and some sniffling, her tail curled between her legs and her ears pinned back.

Eventually, she let out a whisper after having calmed down some. “Th-thank you…” She let loose a soft smile, her tail now wagging softly..

Letting go of Sara she smiled. “That was definitely needed. I think you look great as well. I’m not going to dress up at all, just not feeling it. Probably fix my hair and wear this.” She said motioning to her sweatshirt and pants. Eva’s eyes looked tired, she hadn’t slept a whole lot in the past few days but knew that going out would probably be good for both of them. “So, whenever you want to head out I should be ready in like twenty minutes.” Eva added before heading towards the bathroom.

Having been let go of, Sara pouted, but felt happier that Eva was coming with, her tail wagging a bit faster. “Yeah, thank you for coming with me. Need help or you got it?” She asked, wanting to aid her in any way she can. Maybe helping others will get rid of her aches.

Feeling her shoulder, Eva looked back and nodded. “Honestly yeah… I could also use some help with rebandaging it before we leave as well.” She said with a small wince of pain. Her hair looked like it had been hit by a static charge, it was somewhat obvious at this point that all Eva had done was lay in bed all day.

Bouncing on her tiptoes, Sara happily cheered and ran into her bathroom. “Okay, okay, c’mere!” Feeling a bit better, she got out a brush for her hair, then pulled out bandages, some antiseptic wipes, and a square pad of cotton. Once Eva sat down, Sara got to work on changing out her gauze, cleaning the wound, and redressing it with the pad and wrapping the gauze around. Then she went to work on brushing her hair from the tips first then up along her lengths so she didn’t pull too hard when brushing it.

Once she was done, she patted Eva on the head. “There we go~! How you feelin’?” She put the stuff away, then paused so Eva could answer before they left.

“A bit better, thanks for the help.” Eva said with a smile.

“Good!” With that, Sara helped Eva up and walked at a slower pace for her to keep up as they left the apartment and out to the Duchess of Discord.

Walking through the streets had Sara dipping right back to Spirit Park and the Fool’s Festival though, really putting a damper on her mood she tried to bring back in helping Eva. Making sure Eva was close by, Sara spent the time walking to the place without using her parkour, not really having the energy or spunk to do so. So when they arrived, most of the people were already there.

Getting through security was easy enough, and the inside of the club was rather quiet compared to what it normally would be. Off to the side, she saw Raphael, Maria, and who she realize was likely Ark from what Raphael said about him. Making sure she didn’t lose Eva, she climbed up those steps, got through VIP listings, and waved at them all with a “hi, everyone” as she was met with a familiar sight and scent of the people who fought alongside each other that day. As well as V and…

Her eyes widened upon seeing Midori and she let out a happy squeal she tried her best to suppress. “Ohhh, Midoriii…!” She skipped up to him, eyes beaming up at him as her tail went rather quickly, but not as quickly as it would normally be. Despite not being friends with Midori, their resonance at the tournament certainly made her feel like they were good friends. “I haven’t seen you in a while. How’ve you been? How is Zosar and Adra? Uh… If you saw them after my visit at his cell.” She hadn’t known where Zosar went, nor Adra. She didn’t even know if Midori was the one who took them, just that Midori was in charge of escorting visitors to Zosar sometimes and since Zosar’s partner was Adra, it only made sense he might know something of Adra. Oddly, her volume was just as subdued as the quieter atmosphere of the club - not that the club was quiet but that it’s normal atmosphere juxtaposed what it would normally sound like and she was trying to keep it down. Her soul was rather bare to the world, all those who looked were able to see her frustrations and sadness welling up inside from the Fool’s Festival event, all buried under some thin veil of happiness. She wasn’t trying to mask it from others, but herself while trying to deal with it the best way she knew how.

Eva had followed Sara’s lead, keeping just behind the werewolf as they made their way into the Vip section. She recognized the rest of her team members as well as those that had been in the park yet couldn’t recall a few of the faces. “Hey, nice to see you guys again. And uhh.. to those few I don’t know yet I am Evangeline but you can call me Eva.”

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Duchess | Rings: 3/3

He picked up Maria's approach almost as soon as she'd entered, from there to watching her grab some food and make her way over her comment honestly, got a small snort of amusement. "That's one way to get payback." He mused. "Stalking me would certainly make for an interesting day though what with me knowing how to move the ground and all." He said with a hint of a smile.

"What have you been up to aside from all the rebuilding work we've had to do around the city?" He decided to ask. After all, he hadn't really hung around the others much when work was done and instead had dove right back into his own research on recent events and what he could find when he had the time.

Seeing Raph's approach, Ark nodded to him in greeting- at least till he heard the last part of his response. "Booze?" He quirked a brow. Eyeing Raph with a change in expression. "Bad few days I suspect if that's what you're looking for right off. What's happening with you?"

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

Maria could understand Rand's confusion. This magic was second nature to her and even she had never once considered using it for communication, it was so simple only the mind of a child would consider it, but the fact they could do it... Wouldn't that make them indigenous life to the Island? This prompted a lot of questions. Though she was still pissed with them for what they did to her dolls, some of Mirai's curiosity was rubbing off on her. Looking at Rand she communicated what was going on. Or rather how.

"It's akin to my enchanting of command lines into my dolls, where my Mana flows and imbues them. The spiders wish for peace talks, it seems there is some flying foe here that they thought of us as... How interesting... But ah, I digress, the point is, they are sending emotions and messages through the vines with the same system I use, it just never dawned upon me to use it for communication, it's akin to using a string cup.

Either way, they wish to parlay, they seem..." There was a pause as she shifted uncomfortably. "Sentient. Their language is primitive, but what is more troubling is the hivemind has some individuality... Either way, it is as Raph says. They are offering a ceasefire and to bring us to the queen. I informed them why we were here. How should we respond?"
It all ultimately depended on Rand. Part of her wanted vengeance, but another could let that go if it meant they could get through here without a hassle.

"I am curious if the witches are the flying beast they are warry of... But if so why haven't they already won the race?"

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Dall Island | Rings: 3/3

Maria's question at the end was a good one. If the Witches were this flying beast, they'd already have won- they would have noticed the Dead Zone and easily cleared it with flight. "If I might," he proposed aloud, "I'd like to see this Queen of theirs." Ark stated, with no reason to hide his shameless request. In his mind, it was the easiest one to end this. Fighting a group that could manipulate the environment like he could was not going to be easy- he had to stick solely on defense just to handle the ones they'd been facing, and if they had reinforcements joining, it'd make this fight even more difficult. He had not interest in this drawing out.

He wasn't sure what Rand might be thinking, but as the only one- aside from Chanterelle, who couldn't understand a word of what was being said, making his own point aloud seemed at least, sensible if these things could understand him- somehow.

In case, his gloves glowed out of caution.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Death City - Duchess of Discord​

With the arrival of Raph, Maria turned her head, and motioned towards the back wall. "At the bar more likely than not, though there are workers with trays of party favors, maybe some of the drinks at the food tables. It's not what I normally eat. But alright." If not for how anxious she seemed to be, or the constant glancing about, it could be said she was taking this even quite well.


And to speak of that, as she heard Ark's response she seemed to freeze up for a bit. "Ah, did I say that out loud?" Still, someone that could shape the earth, as had been seen at times, a half crazed smile passed on the face of Maria as she inhaled and then with the exhale the face was gone, as blank as ever. She was considering it wasn't she? Still it seemed she had nothing more to say on it as topic turned to what they had been doing.

"I've been constantly working, mending wood to metal, metal to wood, in the dark of night I carry out the rituals, then I sleep among my creations. The water drips and drops from the bird to the glass, the hours tick away, then I awaken to mend and construct, to study, to speak with dearest Mirai!" The last bit she sounded rather happy for the girl as she exhaled. "Training, work, work, training, though I did have two wonderful breaks with my friends, I made them play Mario Party, among other things."

"Then work, rebuilding, nails, nails, in the skin in the head, nails all around." Looking away she found a tray with what seemed to be two glasses of Orange juice. Setting them with her she started to eat, then took a drink of the orange juice. "Bleh, a little bitter, but I'll do it, don't want to throw them away."

"But yes, I got a lot of people wanting me to go, now here I am. Such a waste of limited time. I could be dancing with my dolls or alone for health."


Interactions: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Wavelength 101​

Tags: RedArmyShogun

---

April 5th, 2067​

”You come off the recommendation of Tanaka, Reiko. Not an easy thing to acquire, especially at your level,” Starwulf told her. He was quite stern. His eyes still like statues, yet burning like fire. Just off the tails of a mission with Reiko, to have a student thrown his way for personal training–in the Fate Program no less–was something that piqued his interest.

Ice Blood. Russian. Stoic. Drinker. Not necessarily the type he typically looked for. Should she be a formal member of his dojo, there would have been plenty of adjustments required. Given the nature of the program and the recommendation, not to mention their recent performance in Death City, some of this he was willing to overlook.

The DWMA needed more agents in the field, not less. And, they needed to be stronger.

The confines of his dojo were as on point as the Tanaka house. Black★Star spared no expense in the construction of this dojo. The wooden panels for the floor which itself was inset in cobbled stone was about as traditional as it could get, though it did hide more modern construction techniques underneath. Despite its size, it was quite dim and technically a lower level. Some found it claustrophobic–if they thought about it. Mostly, as it lacked any real windows. Regardless, it was no less fit for training and fighting.

”Fate Agent. Gruff. Heavy drinker. No history I can see in martial arts or following the Amazing Star style,” Starwulf said, mostly matter-of-fact, though his comment about her drinking did fail to hide a tone of judgment. His arms were crossed and his attire matched the traditional Amazing Star Gi found all throughout the city, tho his specific one was embroidered with the highest patch a sensei could have, second only to Black★Star himself.

”Why come to my dojo and what do you expect to gain?” he asked plainly, trying to gauge Nadia for himself. Many came to him. Many sought shortcuts to strength. Many thought he could unlock some hidden ability, as he did do dedicated training for non-standard wavelengths. Most were turned away as he only offered to train those willing to work hard and bleed for the benefits of his tenacity.

“Hmm, not strictly true. I was in a Black★Star dojo a good part of my life. I just fought with instinct rather than style.” She said in a small way of correction, though not one that seemed so much prideful so much as tired if not a little defensive. On the mention of drinking, she heard that one more than a time or two. And she wasn’t about to get into that argument, even Dani was starting to give her a little shit for it. First was having to wear spats as she wasn’t modest enough, now was the drinking. She may drink a bit on duty but it never got in the way, though she could admit she wasn’t drinking for the best of reasons, nor had for a long while.

Still, his question was met with a quick response, in accented english.
“To get stronger of course.” Then a pause as she continued.
“Or so I would say, but strength is taken or earned, it is clawed for and bitterly gained. I am unsure why the Shrine Maiden sent me to you, but if there is something I honestly needed the help of another in, it is learning how to carry out an enhanced wavelength. I cannot call upon but a portion of my partner because of it.”

With that said she stared at the mentor and his dojo.
“It's not my first time in a place like this, if anything it may have saved me. Simply put I wish to grow stronger so that I can…, no, I can’t say to protect things dear to me. I am not that sort. I wish to grow stronger so none looks down upon me, or Dani, so that I can rip apart the threats to come, to always be on the attack, to prevent the ghosts of yesterday, tomorrow. I also wish to utilize my partner to better reach this. I cannot say I know what this program has in store, but she is my sister as I see it. If we fall it shall not be from a lack of putting up a fight.”

Starwulf listened. Intently. Stoic in appearance, but hanging on every word. He soaked in her body language. Her tone. Her rate of speech. Even his Soul Perception was active so that he could see any flare in her soul. If anything, he was looking for a reason to decline her. In his mind, she lacked the discipline necessary for his training. He was quick to judge, but his judgment derived from her lifestyle.

Her words spoke of conviction. He could discern she didn’t lack that; from what he could tell, she had more of it than his current Fate Agents. Still, those were assigned to him. Those, he had less of a choice over. In fact, he scared away more of them than had any desire to train under him. Nadia was not scared, that much he could tell, but there was so much about her that he simply personally disliked.

A small grunt echoed from the man. He was conflicted. He knew he ought to give her an opportunity. The entire program was about being the final chance here. About overcoming all of the other problems they had, most of them habitual. Coming to him despite the intrinsic difficulty of his training and given how many of them were on their last thread of hope was, for all intents and purposes, a brave leap.

”I don’t doubt your potential to grow stronger,” he told her, his voice stern and matching her own tone. ”I don’t doubt that your intentions have some base in a care for others,” he added, ”and, I know factually you have faced many trials and tribulations on your path here.”

”There are many stipulations to my training, but there are only two that I believe you may struggle with,” he told her, shifting his tone and the direction of his explanation.

”The first is a simple acknowledgement. It is written that you value strength–and clearly, not just of the physical kind. If I am to make you stronger, I want a demonstration of humility. You possess Ice Blood. You are naturally gifted due to it. And, while you have survived plenty and trained hard, you have many natural advantages that others simply do not. I know many great warriors that possess a soul that cannot be channeled like ours, yet their skill and dedication to martial arts are such that you would eat the mat–if all things were equal.”

”All things are not equal. Some are born without the potential to grow stronger like us no matter how hard they train. In a world where your strength can be the result of a role of the dice, I want you to acknowledge that. Show me humility. Admit you won the dice roll of fate,” he told her, summing up his first demand.

”The second is a standard request. In this dojo, unless your life hinges on a medication, there are no drugs. No liquor. No cigarettes. I don’t even condone caffeine. What you do outside these walls to ruin your body is your choice, but I expect a clear mind and sound body,” he told her, outline his second and much more simple demand.

“Hmph, someone has never needed to make a sudden fire I see. And no caffeine, guess I won’t invite you to a tea party.” She says flatly to his later bits, reaching into her pockets for the flask she tosses it up and down, catching it in turn.

“I’m well aware of what my body gives me, or my blood. However, how to humble myself is it? I’ve crawled though nightmares, I’ve ate rats, I helped those people, I’ve done many things and I’ve lost on the mat to those people as you put it.” Staring him eye to eye, she pauses.

“You are right, I respect the strong. But I’ve also started to see, those who are strong owe something to those who are not, or should at the least try and uplift them. They may never be my equals, but, since Paris, the training with Emmet and Zelda, dealing with Dani, coming clean with my deals with Maria, helping those people, all these fucking interviews and rebuilding, the memories of those I had little choice in leaving, yet chose to ignore… I’ve decided to not just throw them all away like trash.”

With that said, she opened her vodka bottle, took a sniff and then closed it. “Want me to get on my hands and knees? Prostrate myself? Way I see it, this program has been doing a lot of things to humble me.” She said Throwing the flask up into the air she catches it. “I’m not one just to change as others demand it, and I was drinking well before the legal age. It helped keep the winter off of us. I need your help to the point that I’ll stop bringing this, not only here, but to missions in general. I swear that upon my honor as a warrior and that of the Ice Giants. Something not even Black★Star or his trainers could break from me.

If me willingly giving up one of my major comforts for even the chance to train isn’t humbling enough, I don’t know what is.” With that she got on one knee and held out the flask.

“It belonged to my father. The hairband to my mother. I’m offering you one of them till you trust me enough to give it back.”

”It seems you have missed the point,” Starwulf responded to her. Quickly. Flatly. Statuesque. No amount of pleading nor stories of her past would shatter the marble stone that surrounded his form. He was as hard as the ice was cold.

”Humility is accepting that I don’t want your flask or some token. It is accepting that I can acknowledge what you survived and still stand by my claim,” Starwulf explained. ”I know your allies. A werewolf is born stronger and faster. Few human agents can ever compare. Some are born with powerful wavelengths. You had one such ally that could burn through your wavelength by a mere touch. You had one that was a Bloodsucker yet a Demon Weapon. You have one born with riches beyond their wildest dreams. All of them trained to some degree, but they were born with their potential.”

”No one does anything to earn the potential they are born with. Only a one in hundred souls can even train up to pass the One-Star test, did you know that?” he asked rhetorically. ”The other ninety-nine have no chance. Their souls won’t get stronger–not really. They go on to become mercenaries or join the preliminary forces, but they will never wield their soul in the palm of their hand like we do,” he told her.

”I don’t ask that you prostrate yourself. I ask simply that you admit how lucky you are despite every misfortune your life has given you up to this point,” he told her, demanding and authoritative.

Nadia quickly rose up at that, with a hateful gaze to her face, but one that seemed surprisingly distraught. “Do you think I don’t know that?!” She said in a shout, “You say all this shit on me surviving! On how terrible the past has been?! What in the fuck do you know?! Cheekist bastard! I recall the faces of several more who had fallen! Who were not strong enough, lucky enough! I see them every night and I force myself to sleep! If you read my sheet, did you ever question why I helped the other Russian Orphans like me? Because I wanted them to survive! I joined the DWMA because the dojo taught me not to steal! Do not just mug people! I was very lucky! I had a warm place to sleep and food! I joined to be of use, to have a purpose! I’ve watched the DWMA sink, to stray! To replace those like me with machines and yet I still stay! I helped those people because I didn’t want any others like me and Dani! I could have left them, I could have ran… I am lucky and by all Death, that is one strength not all have and I’m going to use it to do what that Dojo taught me and this damn DWMA!”

He had to listen closely. Wrapped up in her tirade, that temper tantrum that came from unraveling her trauma and her relationship with the idea of strength, was a touch of humility. A hint that she understood that despite what considered strength, it was not solely in her hands that she survived. He questioned it, though. She mistook the good fortune of a bed and food for luck. There was a slight difference there. Pure happenstance, genetics, things that are entirely outside of human control. That is what he wanted to hear. She said all the right words–if he was a softer man. Honeyed words slipped in his ears by those seeking to be trained.

She didn’t seem the type to honey her words. She had a temper. She had pride. A lot of pride. It was to see how that had likely gotten her into as much trouble as her criminal past. There were many, many things working against her. Every fiber of his being told him that she was not yet ready to embrace his teachings.

Silence continued. He was contemplating. The look on his face said it. He weighed his own ego and the value of his training and expertise, wondering if his stringent demands were ill-placed here. If it was true that she was on the right path and that this program had been teaching her humility, then denial here could simply serve to stunt that. To demonstrate that progress in the right direction did not merit the results she desired.

”Had you been born with a weaker soul or different blood, you might be that frozen face haunting someone. I am sure you have seen more than ninety-nine corpses, so it is not difficult to imagine a world where your luck was swapped with any of them,” he told her, still fairly calm despite her uproar of a response. ”We have no control over the circumstances we are born under. That is the essence of luck I want you to acknowledge. It is only by accepting how fortunate your circumstances are–again, despite all the misfortunes you have faced since–that you can appreciate the strength you may have in this lifetime,” he explained, seeking a very specific and deliberate clarity that would be the deciding factor on his acceptance of her as a student.

”Weakness is a misfortune. Your strength is the culmination of your fortune and your ambition. My teaching is that the strong defend the weak so that we may distribute that fortune fairly,” he told her, again, bluntly. ”So, again, can you demonstrate humility and acknowledge how fortunate you are for the circumstances that made you strong?” he asked her, pointedly making sure his question was open ended. If she took the bait and went on another tirade, she would not be ready. But, if she understood the assignment, approval was just a sentence away.

Calming herself from her rage and getting her emotions back under control, she had to admit she was having second thoughts, but right now he was the quickest way to what she needed for the sake of Dani, herself and countless others. She did not speak for as equally long as he did. Her every breath is a slow steady step. “My strength is what I was born with. As you said, most of them did not survive as they were not fast enough, strong enough, calm enough, or smart enough. I have no purpose in questioning that. For if I worried on every hand I could be dealt, I could not play the hand I have. I owe it to my father. But do not make it all sound like luck. I did not have the luxury of wondering if that could be me, because I must live for those who did not.”

Pausing for a bit she shook her head, “It is like my blood, allowing me to withstand magic. If I did not have it, could I have died? Is it unfortunate that others on my team have? Perhaps, but if we get into those what haves and maybes, I could have just as easily been killed by one of you as I became something else. It sucks to be them and I know I have gifts. However, should your school of thought be that of the shield, I cannot abide by that. I find I best protect by destroying that which waits in the dark. I am a sword, and though I could have been a dagger or a statistic, if I let such thoughts slow me now, then I’ll never catch up. There is always someone or something stronger. I don’t have the luxury to wait on what I am alone, never have. I could have died, sure, I still can everytime we go out. Do you think I thought myself invincible? I am no true Jotunn.”

Nadia was the type of person, it seemed, to miss the forest for the trees. Starwulf admittedly was slightly annoyed at her desire to explain every little facet of her thought process. While it was insightful, it also wasn’t all applicable to the question he asked. Succinct seemed not to be a word in her dictionary.

Regardless, he gleaned enough from her answer to be sure that at core, she understood the humility he was referring to. She had difficulties expressing it. Communication was clearly not her strong suit. Her environment was not exactly friendly or open, he surmised. The sheer idea of weakness or not clinging to these ideas of strength likely spelled doom and death for herself and those around her. Asking her to express it now likely went against everything that felt natural to her.

What she did was likely her best. The Meister decided her best would have to do. Over time, she may come to truly accept and admit what he demanded in a more open manner. Even if not, he was certain that she was aware her strength was not entirely in her hands. There was a natural potential she was born with. He wanted all of his students to see and appreciate their potential so that they were truly grateful and understanding when his training drew it out of him.

Her potential was the crude iron in a forge. It needed to be heated, formed, tempered, over and over until it was an even deadlier weapon than it was now. She had been through the fire and the flames, but she had yet to experience the form it could take under a more skilled blacksmith. Former sensei at the dojos obviously did not make the most of her potential and her survival oriented perspective never afforded her an opportunity to appreciate what she had. The difference to him was plain as day. Iron could be turned into steel, sharpened, hardened, quenched, and honed into a blade worth wielding. Copper could be shaped and formed, and while it could be sharpened, it would never be as durable or reliable as steel.

What he wanted was her to appreciate that was born with a soul of iron, not one of some soft copper.

”In the front room on the left is a dressing room. In the first two rows of lockers are an assortment of female Gi. You will take two in your size and those will be strictly what you wear while here after today,” he instructed her, skipping over the point of telling her she was accepted. ”You will refer to me as either Flynn-sensei or Starwulf-sensei while in the dojo,” he told her, continuing to give her instructions.

”Lastly, if you mouth off to me again now that you are a student as you did a moment ago, I won’t give you the chance to finish what you say. I will shut your mouth forcibly and answer to Cyrus later,” he told her, again, quite flatly and matter-of-fact. ”This dojo is a place of respect. Just as I respect Black☆Star-sensei, you will respect me and all those above you in rank. You will bow, you will remain silent unless asked, you will listen when instructed, and you will follow instructions until your body fails,” he told her, outlining the stringent conditions of his dojo.

A look of surprise was first to come across her face. She had expected to be denied, then she would have just taken the slow path of winning what she needed, still his terms were another matter, but it would not be the first time she was under them. And she had held her tongue with Cyrus when the collar was attached to her neck. Well, for the most part. Though she was curious about those titles, She had only ever heard of him as Starwulf, though she wasn’t surprised that was not the only part of his name, still, it would be the one she used.

“As you wish. Starwulf-sensei.” Though she was curious who else trained here, and how they matched up to her… Though, no, setting that thought aside, she would need to climb up, she was also expected to lead, or rather she would be, and unless she wanted a bloody legacy, she would need to figure out how to make use of those that may be weaker or even stronger. She had made up her mind to accept that offer.

“Though if you do not mind, when should I go get the gi and should I ever need to bring my partner here?”

”The gi for my yukyusha are always located in the same place,” he answered her, ”though, I’m sure it will be some time before you would need your partner here for training. I assure you, every fundamental you have learned, you relearn and be better for it,” he added. Starwulf valued the fundamentals, and insisted such were taught correctly–with his methods.

”You will begin as a Kohai. I only have eleven personal students, though I teach large classes. Until you prove more capable than any individual, they will be your sempai. In fact, you fought alongside one that is now your sempai. Her name is Annika Lindstrom. Inside the confines of my dojo, should you two speak, she is to you a sempai just as I am a sensei,” he explained, continuing to educate her on the terminology as she searched for the most fitting gi.

”You asked of ‘enhanced’ Wavelength Amplification. I am not sure where you heard that term, but it is inaccurate. It is not the technique that is enhanced, but the application,” he explained to her, switching back to the subject of which she asked about. ”Once you are prepared, I want to see what you are capable of as it stands. Amplify yourself to your fullest, then strike my palm,” he instructed her.

Pausing to listen to him, she recalled this Annika girl, she and the Irish, Elly wasn’t it? They took out the final witch didn’t they? She didn’t have time to watch the battle and only had the after accounts to go on. Still, she had taken out a witch, that was worth something. And not too many students. Though starting from the fundamentals was a drag. ”Just so you know, I never really stuck to any style, I’ve always relied on my battle sense, but eh fine, can’t hurt to review the basics.”

Next was the correction on the technique, which she wasn’t about to argue, she just knew that learning it would mean she could make use of Dani’s ranged feature, which they needed. ”Huh, that’s interesting, and different from how I was going to go about it, Starwulf-Sensei.”

Then next came him asking for her to amplify herself to the max and hit his palm. While some may second think this, or given an, ‘Are you sure?’ Nadia's response was to carry out the request. It was unlikely she would wound a three star Meister, the difference between them was much greater than a single star point, civilians made that mistake often, but it would be akin to a one star fighting herself. Powering up to the maximum she could, Nadia a few short instances later threw a solid punch with her right arm, fist closed as if she were aiming to break through a wall, aiming right for his outstretched palm.

Starwulf observed her technique with extreme prejudice. Everything from the flow of her wavelength to how she sparked to life inside of her soul. His eyes could even differentiate the frigid nature of her wavelength with her ice blood. Nothing was a secret to him. Even before her punch impacted him, he had worked out just about how much force it would do so with. In truth, she really needn’t hit anything; it was simply easier to give her a target.

Her technique wasn’t terrible. It was based in the Amazing Star style, though her original mentors never taught her how to do so optimally. As it stood, she had a lot to learn still and a vast amount of room for improvement–which fundamentally was a good thing. It meant results would come sooner. Unlike Annika that spent months training on raw control, Nadia primarily needed more refinement.

The punch would come and make contact. Starwulf would in fact withstand it. Not unexpected. What might have caught Nadia off guard is that he did so with minimal Amplification of his own. Her fist could have broke through concrete, or at the very least cracked it harshly. Starwulf caught it no different than a tossed baseball, and the flare up from his own wavelength was barely noticeable through soul perception.

”Much as I expected,” Starwulf commented, calm and collected after that strike.

”Your mentor never taught you about all of the traits of a wavelength. Only how to use it to strengthen yourself,” he told her, pushing her fist back toward her. He was not so cruel as to keep her caught in a vice grip.

”Let’s go over the basics before we push you into the greater applications,” he suggested, ”A wavelength is called a wavelength for a reason. It is the spiritual energy that is released from your soul. Most say a wavelength is like your thumbprint, but that’s not true. It exists on a finite spectrum with specific qualities. There are a few thousand common combinations with tens of thousands total possible, by estimate,” he went on to explain.

”Generations ago, before we understood how energy worked, sensei and student would go back and forth trying to figure out the exact qualities of your wavelength. Now we know that just as our eyes seem to reflect galaxies in the sky, nature has its way of making spiritual energy similar to most others. You will have a frequency, amplitude, crest, trough, so on and so forth–I don’t need to teach you physics. I just need you to understand that your wavelength is a measurable substance,” he told her, avoiding going into the complex theory behind all of this. It seemed to even bore him.

”This is important. Wavelength Amplification sends your wavelength to your muscles, your cells in some cases even. Your body in most cases reacts best when your wavelength is closest to its original form. You, like most that don’t know this, lose a significant amount of power simply by not preserving all those defining traits of your wavelength when you send it through your body,” he told her, though now he opted to walk off to the back left room through a stone archway. He needed to acquire something.

Luckily, he wasn’t gone long. Starwulf returned with an item composed of two engraved wooden handles of a pale white wood connected via a tightly woven fiber of sorts. Thin and narrow, a straw-like color, and nothing like the synthetic ropes used so often today. He presented it to her.

”Pass your wavelength through this, then watch it closely. Memorize it. Not just how the flow feels, but use your eyes to see how high it spikes, how low it drops, how close each spike and drop are, and the distance between the spikes. Take as long as you need, but commit it to memory. That tool will allow you to channel your wavelength through almost effortlessly, so it should be pretty damn close to a good representation of what your wavelength actually looks like,” he instructed her, moving on to just how he intended to rectify this situation.

Looking at him with thinned eyes in concentration, some of this was not what she expected, or counter to what she had been told many years ago. Though this was not the first she had been told she was using her wavelength inefficiently. Having the three star catch her blow with a minimum amount of effort was not that surprising, but it did show the differences between them. Though there was an unspoken theory of sorts in his words as she seen it, or rather that wavelength strength alone was not enough for advancement.

”Hmm… I never thought of it that way till now. I have always gone full force into a battle. By Death, I didn’t even commonly have to take and redirect from a weapon till Dani.”

As Starwulf walked off, she pondered if she needed to follow, but she stayed put for now, soon after he returned, with a… What was that? A tool of some sort judging by how he explained it. Maria would likely be very curious about wood that could do this, or no, fabric. Either way she would have to tell this to her. Grabbing hold of the device, she recalled dimly that the DWMA entrance reqs had a something that would sort of do this.

”Very well, Starwulf-Sensei.” Doing as instructed, it seemed she needed to put her wavelength through it, her wavelength seemed to be akin to what was depicted in her soul space, or when she first met and later joined with Dani. A very aggressive pattern that maintained a universal low with high angling spikes, they differed, sometimes seemingly pulsing with a repeating pattern that was tight together, one could almost see it as the banging of War Drums if it were to be laid over sheet music. Pausing to take in the sight, she turns to look back at the Meister.

”If you think you have it memorized, set down the handles and channel your wavelength to your fist. Channel it normally and you will see it varies from what you saw in the cord,” he told her, going over the next steps and what to expect.

”Shift it until it matches what you saw. It can be tricky. You may need to make it faster or slower, but most likely, you will need to adjust how forcefully you send it. You said you simply try to strike as hard as possible. I imagine you force it too much, and that results in large spikes with peaks and valleys that don’t match your natural wavelength,” he explained to her, outlining how to proceed.

”Hmm… Well enough I think, let's see.” With that, she enhances herself, pressing more and more power through the tool. The markings were more frenzied, more jerking in nature with the tempo differing here and there. Adjusting her wavelength she continued this for a few minutes, if not longer, she was unsure, becoming more and more irritated, till she upped the force once more. Thinking of her union with Dani, or rather the times that Nadia gave or slowed herself rather than taking, pressing, pushing, it became more akin to the drum beat when she needed to do such, finally making it match up.

Starwulf watched closely, realizing the fault Nadia had in nearly an instant and allowing it to continue only for the moment of learning it would provide.”Slow it down, Nadia. Your error is plain as day, but simple. You push too hard, too fast. You are using nearly twice the amount of energy to accomplish the same feat,” he explained, ”I won’t pretend that I know if it is due to the ice blood or some other trait, but as an outsider watching… it’s best to describe it like a music note. You have the right pitch, but at the wrong octave,” he told her.

”Drop it down and I believe you’ll see what I mean,” he instructed.

Drop it down?

Narrowing her eyes at the suggestion, she listened to his words, ”Hmm..” Did he mean start it up slower, to to call her wavelength to a slower speed? The octave was the so-called miracle of music.

This was more difficult than expected, still if it was the key to match her tempo while powering up, or to start up slowly, both could be done to keep with the sharpness of her own wavelength. ”Echelon after echelon, the roads are wide…” Akin to a train she started up once more slowly but at a constant accelerated rate, akin to a train. She was unsure if that was what he had in mind or not.

It was most certainly a delicate balancing act. A wavelength had so many factors to it. The window of control most Meisters had truly was small; in most cases, the energy couldn’t deviate that much from the soul. Those minor deviations within that small window, however, accounted for a lot. By all likelihood, more than Nadia had ever considered feasible.

The challenge was not merely slowing down her wavelength, but keeping everything else in line as she did. Peaks and troughs, amplitude, all those other words that were skipped over in favor of just being told ‘make it look like this’--though, they mattered nonetheless. They were the type of thing Gauss researched for his own edification, not necessarily something Nadia needed for practical applications.

It did come, though. It wasn’t easy, but it did come. And, with it came a whole new sensation with the amplification. Once Nadia finally made the wavelength in her hand match her soul, there was a shift that could be both seen and felt. It became easier. The flow of her wavelength itself was less draining. It took more concentration, sure, but it was less taxing on her stamina. Far from effortless, but the resistance was lowered so dramatically it was almost refreshing.

More importantly, the raw increase in power. The muscles in her fingers twitched. She could feel them almost close autonomously. Not from some weird type of seizure, but from the dramatic increase in strength. For a brief moment, she genuinely did not recognize her own capability. What was once simply the thought to curl fingers in a hand suddenly became a clenched fist. With just a simple readjustment in thought, this could be accounted for, but the leap in raw strength was fairly dramatic.
This is where the comparisons could be drawn. It was not a leap akin to Soul Force, but it certainly felt like a zone between her Amplification and her Soul Force. She could even feel the icy nature of her wavelength course through her body and into her hand, leaving it slightly chilled–an effect never present prior to this.


”Oh, it seems you got it,” Starwulf commented nonchalantly at the realization. ”Some people take days to just get where you are,” he told her. Granted, he was aware that while she wasn’t particularly gifted with wavelength control, she was quite experienced in the field. Her adaptation made sense, he just still expected it to at least take a few hours of attempts. Regardless, he was pleased.

”The real problem now is unlearning all of those bad habits you’ve had up to this point,” he explained, now outlining the actual challenge that laid in front of her. ”You’ve spent years doing it your way and now your body and mind are used to that. It’ll take… quite some time to make this your default,” he told her, enlightening her. What he really meant was that these behaviors are somewhat subconscious after so long, but he wasn’t sure how to word that–especially while she was still concentrating.

Glancing at her hand as she opened and closed her hand, there was something pleasing about this. In all honesty she put down getting the attempt right to how long she had been doing this, and the fact she listened to music that dealt in such details and tempos in a chunk of her free time. She wasn’t about to feel too proud over this when the spirit of success was a Russian Civil War song from well before when she was born. Still he had more to say on it, as she powered out of it, the key was to do that again and again.

”Do not take this the wrong way, Starwulf-sensei… If this is the correct way, why was the DWMA content with letting me do it the wrong way for so long? I can tell the difference to not doubt your words, it's just I would have been more useful, maybe more stable with this.”

He chuckled at her, then shook his head slightly. Not necessarily in disapproval of her, but it may have come across that way. ”Consider where you stand and with whom you stand with,” he answered. ”You are in one of the few places in the world that can even spot the difference in how you use your wavelength. You need keen eyes and experience. Not every teacher out there, even in the Amazing Star Dojos, can just identify this. The techniques I use are from Black☆Star and refined with help from some Hoshi I have befriended in my years, and on top of that, I’ve found ways to make them work for training more people because I’ve been a sensei for years…” he told her, though he started to ponder some of this himself.

”I guess a better answer comes from history. Spiritual techniques date back thousands of years in cultures across the world. They’re a source of power. Long before guns and bombs, the most powerful warriors used techniques like these. So, they were kept secret… Death knows how tight-lipped the Hoshi are,” he told her, shifting the perspective of the conversation to a larger scale. ”The DWMA tries to educate its students, but one-on-one training like this is hard to pull off. Most high-ranking Meisters go on missions, not stick around and teach. I’m a married man, I have a family–I want to stay here, and acting as a sensei lets me do that. If the circumstances were different, I’d be out in the field and you may have a different sensei that might not be as knowledgeable themsel–” he stopped his explanation, realizing yet again, there was a simpler way to explain this. He hadn’t been asked a question quite like this before.

”Those that can’t do teach,” he said, sounding like he was just reciting the line. ”The Meisters that know all of this are out there doing it, not teaching it. The ones that teach are most often the ones that aren’t the best at it themselves,” he explained, ”and even then, sometimes, the best Meisters are shitty teachers. I know Fredrick Stein, my direct superior, is an impatient man that basically refuses to teach. I’m not sure if he could; teaching is honestly a skill in and of itself.”

”So in short, most of them didn’t know either.” she says with a snort at the history lesson, though waiting till the end of what he had to say, showing she clearly had listened to it. ”Surprised he’s your superior… Well no, makes sense, but still if the Steins don’t know it, makes me wonder what kind of monsters the other three stars would be if they knew all this.”

”I…”A pause as she searched for words, an unusual situation for the Russian. ”I’m being given a role I did not ask for. But one I must rise up to. I am me, so some stuff will never change.” She seemed to be trying to work up a request, or a confirmation.

”If I do well in this, will it affect my placement in the program? I can't recall exactly why, but something happened in Paris, and I owe a lot to me just being able to even listen to you, to Dani. I want to make sure that they wouldn’t let me return without her. Cause if they would, I’m just going to do something to keep out. I’ve had a lot of partners, but, for once I am starting to see I cannot just leave them behind to advance myself. I want to change that… Not as in leaving her, but in not. She is like a sister to me, and I know there are eyes on me now. Will I have to worry about this pressing me ahead?”

”I’m a sensei. I don’t deal with the internal politics of the DWMA. I teach, I go on missions, I go home to my family. That’s it. I want for naught, and I’m content with life,” he told her, ”I won’t give you some reassuring answer about the program because I neither know nor care. You came to me to get stronger.”

”I should clarify that most of the agents that make it beyond Two-Star have somehow stumbled onto what I am teaching you, whether it was through an apprenticeship or their own experimenting. It is the sensei below me that train the young blood or act as DWMA recruiters that aren’t as refined,” he informed her, his tone shifting to a more judgemental one. ”I too find it a disservice to all the kohai, but we don’t have the sheer numbers to put highly-capable agents in every gym and dojo,” he explained with no small amount of disappointment seething through his teeth.

He sighed slightly. That topic was a particularly touchy one for him. He was not supportive of how widespread his sensei had made the dojos, but it was ultimately not his decision. ”I am a simple man. I suggest you take a keynote from Buddhism. Desire and ignorance are the bedrock of suffering. I won’t tell you to douse all of your desires, but you seem like a conflicted person. Keep it simple, desire only a little, and you’ll suffer only a little. Learn all you can, even if it seems useless. Someday, what you learn may ease your suffering in a way you can’t possibly predict,” he told her, offering a more philosophical answer.

Snorting at that last bit she decides to address each point in turn. ”I can’t say that surprises me. I was looking at some jail time for what I did when the judge handed me over. I’m not angry at the DWMA using me. It was likely one of the best things that happened.” Catching his subtle shift in emotions at the notions of training she shrugged. ”Maybe so, but you and a few of the better ones might get a general basic training to set some of this to the others. Though, who can say.’

It was at the mention of letting go of things that she laughed. It was hard to tell if it was ironic or some other form of emotion. Whatever it was, it was not a fun laugh. ”I’m afraid I’m a materialistic person to a point, I like supporting the local artist for furniture and I enjoy my records and Vodka, though maybe I can do with a little less of the Vodka. My history may weigh me down, but, let us just say I’m trying to deal with the ghosts, one at a time, some things may keep me from Death City for a day. Still, I have no plans to be a monk. Surely you cannot begrudge me a few creature comforts when you have a dojo.”

Starwulf tilted his head and simply stared at the Meister. She had a lot of audacity. She spoke to him without the formality of others. Openly, as if he was some equal. It seemed to him that she didn’t understand the sensei-pupil dynamic here. He wasn’t her friend. He wasn’t a confidant. He wasn’t even her mentor, really. He had no reason to honestly soak this information in.

”Do you know anything about me? Who I am, what I do, the long list of people that want my training?” he asked. For most, that type of question might have came across as condescending. Arrogant, even. With Starwulf, their was such a blunt honesty behind it and a lack of actual condescension in his voice that made it come across as more factual than anything.

Sighing at that, so much for being friendly. ”I know enough about you from your achievements Starwulf-Sensei. In what the DWMA shows about those in the top brackets in anycase. Given Reiko recommended me to you and the fact you only have 11 tells me there is likely a lot. There is also what I observed, or rather heard of your training in the DWMA field. If you wish for me to not be friendly I will do such. Other than that, I only know of your type from my training before, though I did not come here to make friends. So what would you next ask of me?” She said plainly, there was no hint of arrogance in her tone, but it was clear she would not bother treating this as more than training at this point.

”There is a relationship between sensei and pupil. Boundaries that exist. It may not seem it as I am not as outwardly… thematic as Mrs. Tanaka, but there is a rigid structure here. It is best to abide by it,” he informed her, attempting to more gently guide her back to a less ‘friendly’ path. That wasn’t the dynamic the dojo endorsed, nor was it a good environment for training.

”As for your training, there are two more things,” he told her, ”One moment, as the item I have in mind is stored further back.”

Just as before, he walked over to the back left room and spent a fair amount of time inside. There were sounds of opening doors, some rummaging, it was apparent whatever he was looking for was not placed as conveniently as the tool he had first presented her. Eventually, he did return, this time with what appeared to be a wooden doll. If one could call it a doll.

It was carved of wood, a singular piece, more of a figurine, really. The type of item one might see in an antiques roadshow. Painted with dull, pastel colors that were faded beyond their normal matte coloration and in some places entirely worn through. Dents and dings here and there, scratches were rare on it, and overall, it was a simplistic-looking item. He again offered it to her.

”It will take you a good, long while to adjust to using your wavelength more efficiently. Months, maybe years depending on how much your body has adjusted. Habits die hard,” he told her, setting up for the reason for this doll of sorts.

”When you have time and as often as possible, visit here. If you notice, there are a large assortment of training dummies. The white one is carved of the same material. If you sleep with that doll, it will absorb some of your wavelength. You can then set it atop the dummy–it fits right in. After a few minutes, the target will adjust to your wavelength. Each arm will only spin if either struck with an ungodly amount of force–or if you use the exact same wavelength currently inside it. This will only last a few hours, but those hours can help override your bad habits,” he told her, explaining that the doll itself was another tool for this more efficient use of her wavelength.

”However, I have not addressed your actual request. The Wavelength training you were inquiring about is a series of steps that make your body adapt to using spiritual energy. As it stands, your muscle fibers and cells can use it, but it’s not part of their normal function. If you can actively use a small amount of wavelength amplification for days on end–some even find a way to do it through sleep–your body will begin generating new cells more capable of using your wavelength. It is a time-intensive and spiritually draining process, but it is the best first step in making the best use of your wavelength. There are other techniques, but they give lesser benefits if your body itself is not capable of using them to their fullest,” he told her, giving her the factual explanation behind this notion of enhanced wavelength training. It was in all honesty just another layer of conditioning, albeit a daunting one given the absurd durations he outlined for amplification.

”Factually, that is why agents typically reach their peak in their thirties and forties. No matter how talented you are, your body takes time to adapt to using spiritual energy. It is why aged men can still have profound strength; should he flare his wavelength, if his frail body has had a lifetime of spiritual energy coursing through it, he could temporarily become as strong as I,” Starwulf explained to her, unraveling a simple but important truth of the matter, ”that is also the secret behind the immense strength of Herakles. While I am not privy to it, he has some method of training that results in his muscles being incredibly good at utilizing wavelength. Also, the secret of the Hoshi. They begin training with spiritual energy nearly as soon as they can walk whereas most don’t pick it up until fourteen or fifteen, sometimes as young as twelve. Those extra early years while their body is still growing provides an unparalleled advantage.”

”Hmm…” He wasn’t wrong in regards to Tanaka and himself, she had to admit in reflection, she half wondered who trained harder. Who would win was sadly determined by fate. Didn’t make for a good bet wager. Listening to all that he had to say and watching with some interest as he returned with a doll, she outwardly frowns. ”Maria will never let me hear the fucking end of this..” saying that largely to herself as he explained the doll, she was curious if Maria could improve upon this. ”It’s a bit of a long shot, but there is a Sorceress in the program that might can get more capacity out of those dolls. Still… She’s rather taken with building them. Nevermind…” She was clearly a bit, taken aback by this but soldiered through it.

“So sleep with this in my bed, then bring it back here, slot it in, punch the training doll if I do it right.” It was then he went on about how the various families and top rankers practiced this and how they did it, or how it helped them, about ages and the like. From the sounds of it she could get the 2nd item taken out quicker than the first, but still, she wanted to reach a higher rank, there was no point in just brushing off the rest. It was not what she was after, but it would be foolish to turn it aside.

“So from when they could walk… Accepting the white doll she was not being overly friendly, but as candid as always in her speech. ”So Starwulf-Sensei, I just need to make up for the time between now and when I was 13. Then from there to 15. I’ll come by when time allows, likely shortchange my morning walks and exercise when I’m not on a mission to come here and train.” Well, there were other times, but this would be the most convenient.

”I’ll spare what other time I can as well, though I have a lot to catch up on, I’ll be sure not to burn myself out too much. Though you mentioned the other students, what am I expected to do in regards to them?”

”The spiritual properties of the material these are made out of is entirely natural… I doubt a witch of any caliber could increase them,” he answered her question despite how quickly she dismissed it. Many had tried over the years to create what the Hoshi had stumbled onto. The entire field of alchemy was based around using the natural properties of materials in various applications or in conjunction. Starwulf didn’t know much about it, he simply assumed that if there was a better way, the Hoshi would have known it.

”Show it to them if you like, but don’t let them take it. It takes three years to carve and cure one of those,” he told her, at least providing the opportunity to have it appraised despite his doubts.

”You are correct in how it is used. I must warn you that if you sleep with or near another with the doll, it won’t work. It’s not exactly selective in the wavelength it will absorb,” he explained to her, ”and, unless you actively want to engage with my other pupils, it matters little to me what you do. There may be a time when I want you two train or spar with someone at your level, in which case I will call upon whoever is needed.”

”That said,” he told her and let out a disappointing sigh, ”and I only mention this because it has in fact happened. I do not like my pupils dating or engaging in… lewd extracurricular activity. It has caused problems in the dojo before, and I’d like it to not happen again.”

This stuff about the doll was a bit beyond the simple warrior, though she made notes of how they worked, did not and to not let Maria screw around with it too much or for too long. ”That's so? Huh, guess I won’t tell her about it till she asks. Knowing her, she will want to study it.”

With a bemused expression on her face, Nadia listens to his final request, still the fact she didn’t need to engage with them outside of the occasional spar was welcomed. “Eh, you don’t have to worry about me doing that with any of your students, plus, I’m not one to engage in such things on the fly as I’ve heard the expression said. Though, if that’s all Starwulf-Sensei, I would like to get in a little training. Though from the sounds of it, best I wait till tomorrow at least.”

”You are free to leave; come and go as you please,” he answered her, avoiding addressing the other topics. Getting this dynamic to be more formal was a goal of his. This mismatch of interaction was one reason he didn’t necessarily like to train those from outside the dojo atmosphere. ”I shall leave out tools. Chances are, you’ll need to use them for a while until you perfectly memorize your wavelength. Don’t be discouraged. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing,” he told her, assuring her that she would have the necessary resources available to continue the training.

Giving a bow of thanks at that. With her thoughts no longer wondering, she at least gave a little of what he wanted. She didn’t dislike the man, but it was clear he wanted it like the dojo before that. It was unusual for her to need to treat someone as a superior, she would think of him as she did Cyrus, though she had to admit her hate for that man had greatly lessened. Mostly.

“Thank you Starwulf-Sensei. I’ll take a look around then return later today to learn where to put the equipment when I’m done.”
[/b]

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Failure at First Sight​

Tags: EmperorsChosen

---

April 4th, 2067​

Hallowed Grounds. One of the most well-regarded establishments in Death City, at least to the Agents inside of it. Over a century old with a few expansions and renovations, the cafe was larger and more accommodating than most street side cafes, but not so large that it rivaled a full-scale restaurant or lost its quaint charm. With a skull-heavy theme that fit the DWMA aesthetic, wait staff accustomed to the brooding or moody nature of most agents, and coffee imported from across the world, the establishment had plenty of reasons to visit.

Granted, the biggest reason of all was tradition. Visiting Hallowed Grounds before a mission was considered an act incurring good luck. Beyond that, many younger agents trying to climb the ladder would leave mission reports on a bulletin off to one side detailing their most impressive mission of the year with a winner picked every Death Festival by popular vote.

The prize? A free year of coffee, of course.

The fringe benefit of picking this place was simple. It was normally quite busy. Agents of all ranks going in and out at any given time. For Elly, this made it a prime spot for a casual yet observed interaction. Given she got to pick the spot to meet Midori, there were few places outside the DWMA itself that were more logical. Good coffee and relative security; a fantastic combination.

Sipping from her own cup of coffee, Elly checked her phone for the time. She made sure to arrive early and took the time to get some caffeination before the arrival of the mysterious assassin that would be her partner.

It was unfortunate that Sage was injured. Much as some may believe otherwise, Elly wasn’t so cold as to sacrifice a partner and feel nothing. She was human still, and as such felt twinges of guilt or regret. What made Elly different is that she was particularly skilled at drowning those feelings, or at least hiding them.

It was a further surprise when she was told that a mentor would be her partner. Not only that, but a Hoshi. Surely, she must be doing something right if she was paired with someone like that. Or, perhaps that was just a way of tightening the leash. Regardless, Elly wasn’t the type to complain about the hand given to her. Instead, she looked to how to use it best.



Dressed in rather simple clothes, a nice skirt, camisole, and jacket, this was just a quick little date to get a read on him. This would be quite different than with Sage. Midori was a mentor, which meant he knew quite a bit about her already, and the nature of his clan meant that he would be particularly hard to read even with her gifts. She needed to get an idea of how this partnership would go early on, for better or worse.

Midori was a timely one as always. Even with Elly being early, so was he. Just not as early. Striding in his typical black jacket over top a light gray tee with an almost awkwardly low-cut vee neck and the interesting choice of tight, obviously spandex lined skinny jeans, he waltz into the cafe without even a glance at Elly.

Of course, he didn’t need to. His eyes didn’t need to move to scan the room when he entered. He saw where she sat without as much of a cock of his head. Moments after, he had her soul signature pinned down. Not something she could reciprocate easily given his soul was nearly-constantly suppressed. The Soulless Assassins they were called, and it was obvious why. Without activating her Super Soul Perception, the man appeared to be a body without a soul.

He made his order. Paid with his phone, a simple tap. His stride was eerily silent, even amongst the noise within the cafe. He didn’t even make eye contact when he walked over, nor when he slid into the booth he was at. No introduction, no polite conversation. He just sat down with total confidence he was in the right place with the right person.

”You know,” he said aloud, not even having tasted his coffee yet. His voice was soft. Not quite soft enough or at the pitch to be mistaken for feminine, but close. More so, very smooth with each syllable quite deliberate. ”Being Irish, I thought you’d have green eyes and red hair,” he commented, immediately pointing out some typical Irish stereotypes that she didn’t fit.

”Then again,” he went on, just as deliberate, though shifting to a more monotonous tone of voice for himself, ”I’m Japanese with two different colored eyes, and neither are brown.” With that simple comment out of the way, he finally took a sip of his coffee. He lifted the cup up very carefully from the bottom, using only his fingertips around the rim and carefully sipping from it while tilting it. It wasn’t only an odd way to drink, but quite impractical–one tiny jitter and he’d have coffee everywhere.

While Midori didn’t scan the area, Elly’s eyes were at a constant glance in the direction of the entrance. He was rather famous within the DWMA, so she at least had some inkling of what he looked like. Plus, the vacant body that waltzed in for a coffee was a bit of a giveaway as well.

Smiling as he approached, she seemed just as confident and calm. She let out a soft chuckle at his comments. “You’re also rather tall. Either way, sorry to disappoint you,” Elly replied, watching the way in which he ingested the drink. It was certainly odd, but not something she would deconstruct verbally at this time. “Nonetheless, I’m glad you agreed to meet. I figure since we’re going to be working together, it would be wise to meet and know a bit about each other. Though, I do suspect you already know a tad about myself…” She added, fully acknowledging that he likely already had some kind of opinion formed on her.

”Firstly,” Midori responded, quickly and almost cutting as if he was ready to respond the moment her mouth shut. For the first time since he shot down, those self-described dual colored eyes of his looked up to her. On his slender asian face, they were quite odd. Bright, not hidden by longer eyelashes, only slightly obstructed by his hair which itself was somewhere between intentionally unkempt and side-swept.

”I didn’t call it a disappointment,” he clarified, calling out a very specific part of her comment. Conversation with him was almost surgical. Precise. ”I don’t like to be paraphrased or misquoted,” he explained.

”Secondly, I’m a Death Golem. Not human. Chances are, if you’ve heard a rumor about me, it’s probably true,” he told her in a seemingly direct contradiction of how he demanded his own words be precise. Rumors were hardly reliable facts and to allow them to describe himself was quite contrary.

”Lastly, we work together if you can wield me. I am a Hoshi. Even if our souls are compatible, you must be willing to kill. Should you fail to be, my blades will dull and our connection be weak,” he explained to her, though this was more of a matter-of-fact statement. There wasn’t a line of judgment in it or condescension. His tone, if anything, conveyed this fact as an inconvenience to him.

Elly tilted her head ever so slightly in curiosity as he spoke up. Sharp. Direct. Poignant. A stark contrast to her former partner, which wasn't all that surprising. He was a Hoshi, after all, everyone knew about them whilst knowing nothing at all.

It wasn't yet an issue, simply would require a different approach than Sage.

"That's fair, I suppose," She answered to his first point. Elly took her cup and lifted it to her mouth as her eyes gave him another look over. They glanced down toward the cup, then shifted up, swiping past his soul as they made contact with his gaze.

Silence upon deathly silence. A Hoshi and a death golem. Elly supposed she wouldn't be able to cheat so much with this one.

"The rumors are likely true? Even without knowing what they may say?" Elly inquired. Even if he knew of some, to know all was unlikely, and thus to claim they were true was unreliable.

At his last point, Elly held the cup in her hands and smiled. "Well, I was a Two Star before I came here, so I have completed numerous assignments and reaped a fair amount of souls for my partners," She answered, providing evidence of her ability to take a life. "And if you are referring to Humans… well, I'm sure my own file lists a few rumors that may or may not be pertinent to that."

”Yes, even without knowing what they say,” Midori responded flatly before taking another sip of his tea. His lips formed a flat, even line. His face quite stoic. His eyes almost glazed. It was the face of someone that had heard a lot of cruel things said about them. ”I was created by a man named Eros–if you can call him that. An abomination is what he is. A sleeper agent is what I was,” he explained to her, those eyes of his now lowering. Not to her bosom or body, but over them until they fell upon the table.

”He activated a spell and I killed several agents before Lord Kidd saved me,” he admitted to her, a grim and dark truth about him. ”I can’t imagine any rumor spread being worse than the truth,” he told her, coming full circle with why he didn’t care about the rumors. A twisted perspective riddled with guilt, but not entirely invalid.

His eyes then raised back up to meet hers. ”The truth is often worse than any lie or gossip,” he added, giving her his ultimate opinion on the matter. It was woven together seamlessly with a fairly targeted statement about her own nature, but done with just enough elegance to keep the situation mundane. He was sly. A world different than Sage.

Elly hummed musingly at that. "The Eros?" She inquired.

She knew about as much as anyone else. So little was known that he was more or less a scary story. No amount of networking, either through the DWMA or the underworld brought forth more than rumors and tales.

However, while at first he seemed to be confiding in her, as he finished it was clear that was merely a way of making his point. Elly let out a short, bemused chuckle. "Quite fair…" Resting her overlapped arms on the table in front of her between the coffee and her person she paused and looked at him. Clearly direct was the way to go with this one. "Then in that case, I can do what is needed of me. If that isn't enough, I can spoil our nice coffee with details if you'd like." The insinuation was heavy. She could kill and she'd done it before. Genuinely she didn't see killing corrupt souls or witches as any different. It was all killing. To think of them as different was little more than a coping mechanism which she didn't employ.

Midori allowed his eyes to scan her over. Up and down they went, but they did not emanate the vibe of the ‘elevator eyes’ that Elly was more accustomed to. Despite sitting, he was appraising her. Taking in her physical characteristics in a more active observation; it was not merely listening to and watching her reactions to their conversation. Nothing about her struck Midori as impressive. She wasn’t abnormally toned or well-built. She didn’t have the showings of an athletic Meister as some did.

She must have relied on technique. There was little data in the dossier about her skills with Resonance or Wavelength. He speculated that she achieved her rank through tactical decisions and the use of her Super Soul Perception. Those two traits would get her far. In his eyes, they were hardly enough. If she was going to wield him, it was his opinion she should be able to do with such skill that it merited removing a true Hoshi from the battlefield.

In that regard, he had his doubts.

With his appraisal done, there was little about her niceties that appealed to him. All the assurance in the world and even her criminal background didn’t convince him that she could swing his blades when the time came. Not that she couldn’t poison someone, or put a bullet in the back of their head. He didn’t doubt that. But, to be the person at the end of a blade that made another draw their last… to face death head on. That was an entire world apart.

”The Eros, yes. Not one of the shameless imitators or his subordinates,” Midori answered her flatly, not really interested in the rest of the conversation. He wasn’t putting much effort into feigning interest, either. This girl wasn’t even his type, so this whole dynamic lacked even the difficult tension of avoiding those urges–and that might have been at least something to keep his attention.

He took another sip of his coffee, his hand snaking up the cup to curl around it, drinking it with a much more normal grasp now. He finished with a larger gulp, then a sigh. At least the coffee was good. Hallowed Grounds never disappointed.

”I suppose we should test for compatibility,” he told her. His eyebrows raised and his gaze narrowed upon suggesting this next part. ”Before that, I would like you to fight me. I don’t expect you to win, honestly, but I want to see what you can do. Your documentation is pitifully underwhelming regarding your actual combat prowess,” he explained with a hint of actual life in his tone, unlike the previous bit of their conversation.

Elly could tell by the tone alone that he had gotten most of what he wanted out of conversation, though Elly couldn't say the same. He provided practically no rope for her whatsoever, though that wasn't unexpected. It would be a process with Midori, an arduous one.

"Right to business then," Elly mused as he opted to shift the day forward. However, then he wanted a fight.

This, Elly knew, was a losing situation for her. The Hoshi were absurdly quick, so even if she pried into that silent soul of his to see what he was planning, she wasn't confident she could accurately react in time. Elly was rather used to people underestimating her by appearance and used that fact, but with the skillset of the one in front of her, she may be able to get one solid hit in if she played her cards right.

Then again, from what little she could find out about the Hoshi, they weren't exactly careless.

After pondering it for a bit, Elly took another drink from her coffee and sighed. "I don't believe you will find something that impresses you outside of the documentation, but nonetheless, I don't have much of a choice in the matter, do I?" Posing that rhetorically, she added another with a smile. "Now, would you be against me changing? Or were you dead-set on fighting me in a skirt and these shoes?"

Midori broke a record for expressions once she asked her question. He his cocked, his eyes squinted, and despite no other changes to his facial features, his entire demeanor screamed ‘dumb bitch’ in the brief time he took him to process his answer. ”Do you think your target would wait while you changed clothes?” he asked, imitating her original rhetoric tone with a distinct lack of a smile.

He couldn't be flustered, but certainly irritated. Elly would take that as a small victory, perhaps something she can use. Nonetheless, she didn't seem aggrieved by his clearly insulting question. "I suppose they wouldn't likely meet me for coffee either. Then where would you prefer, target?"

Midori sighed. He was in a foul mood to begin with having been pulled from Japan for this and he rationalized now that he perhaps was allowing that to affect how he was treating Elly. Admittedly, she wasn’t to be trusted from all of his knowledge, and she was the exact type of woman he disliked most by reports, but reflection had him believing his attitude could use some uplifting.

If this girl was at least trying to do better, regardless of the truth behind it, he ought to give her some benefit of the doubt.

”There is an Amazing Star Gym just a few blocks away,” he answered her, his tone lightening up heavily and his face relaxing to its more neutral albeit still cold ambiance. ”If you want to change, we can meet there in something like a half hour,” he offered her, trying to give some type of compromise in direct contrast to the rather sour way he responded to her just a moment prior.

The shift in demeanor gave her wonder. Did he feel guilty? Or perhaps he simply found himself to be behaving irrationally. The Hoshi were still Human, or Human-adjacent in his case. They still had feelings and emotions even if suppressed, but with how quick he was to correct himself told Elly that irritating him wasn't going to produce an effective result. Flustering didn't seem like it would either, else she may actually agree to fight in what she was wearing.

"That'll work. Hopefully I can put on a decent performance for you~" For now, seem like she was nonchalant about it. Elly would have to come up with something mid-fight. In normal circumstances, she could hold her own even if it was just a fight. Here she would have to find, or make an opening.

As she took and finished her coffee, Elly stood up. "Then, I'll be but twenty minutes. I already paid for my coffee. Feel free to finish yours," She urged with the same jovial smile she had on the entire, short, time.

True to her word, Elly would arrive at the gym promptly and with more fitting clothing for a spar, namely some sweatpants, tennis shoes, a jogging hoodie which seemed to overlay a sports bra or some other kind of top. She would spend the first few minutes stretching to loosen up, with an expression that said this was all a fun outing of some sort.

"Any boundaries you would like to set, my dear target?" Elly inquired in a noticeably upbeat voice.

Midori remained within the Hallowed Grounds some time after Elly had left. He had no intention of changing his clothes. His pride had him believing that he could handle anything Elly could pull off in even the most ill-suited of clothing. Instead, he opted to spend this time reflecting on the last time he was in the Hallowed Grounds.

At that time, he had a team. Zosar, Adra, Jarvis, Zari, and Adrian. Arguably, some of the most promising agents of their roster. Since that time, almost all of his team had dissolved. Two of them left, somehow removed their collars, and even the East Asia Branch has no knowledge on them. Zosar was nearly returned to the Enlighteners, basically on a kill list, and sent to Japan. Chances are, if he wasn’t in Japan at the time of the attack, he would have been assassinated. Adrian was still around, but now had Madness to contend with.

Midori reflected on these things. A part of him couldn’t help but feel at fault for some of it. He knew the truth. He couldn’t blame himself for the Enlighteners or Yakuza. He couldn’t be in every place at once, either, so even if he could have prevented one Madness outbreak, what would have happened elsewhere instead?

He was just one man. One man trying to help out a fuckton of people, and he wasn’t even sure if he was suitable to help anyone.

It didn’t matter, ultimately. He did what was asked of him. Whether it was the memories emblazoned in his mind that reflected the hierarchy of the Hoshi or how he felt he owed Lord Kidd his life–whatever it really was–he fell in line. He would answer the call.

Midori hadn’t been waiting terribly long by the time Elly showed up. His mind shifted away from the past and to the present. He wasn’t incredibly sure what to expect from the girl. She had Super Soul Perception, so feints would likely be pointless and his Soul Suppression even at its peak wouldn’t hide his presence nearly as effectively. It meant the fight solely came down to skill, speed, and strength.

What he couldn’t fathom was that this Irish gang banger pre-madonna had the training to compete with a Hoshi. She made it to Two-Star which meant her Wavelength Amplification had to be fairly significant, but the gap between Two-Star and Three-Star was massive. He doubted her rank alone meant that she would be as strong as the Russian brute or as fast as the werewolf girl. He doubted she could throw hands like Zari could, either. She didn’t need to excel in any single field like that if she was well-rounded and could make use of her perception.

Midori was, admittedly, at a loss. What made her special aside from those eyes of hers? He prayed to Death that she didn’t rely on flirtation and distraction to be her primary combat assets. Not only would they fail here, they were unreliable in general.

”No weapons, I won’t be transforming, and unless you have something more surprising than your hair color, I’ll be trying to match you, not just downright win,” he answered her, being quite cut and dry about what he expected from the fight. ”Though, if you can beat me, I might be coerced into a better venue next time we go out,” he told her. There was no condescension from him there. In fact, it was a smirk. He was being cocky. Once combat rolled around, there was a different side to him showing.

”Before we do that, we should test compatibility to see if the fight even matters,” said, changing gears pretty damn quick. He didn’t want to get excited for nothing. ”I have three forms. Bow, for ranged. It requires Complex Resonance and is the most taxing on your reserves. Twin Swords. In my experience, the weakest and hardest to resonate with at all, but much more agile. Last, a bident. Most people find it the easiest to use, though it is my least favorite. Hard to be an assassin as a fucking trident,” he told her with a clear emphasis on how much he disliked his third and newest form.

”Hold out your hand and pick a form, then be ready,” he instructed her, wanting to get this part over and done with.

Elly shone a smile followed by a hum, though while seemingly contemplative of the bet Midori had set forth, it was more so regarding the rules. Old-fashioned fisticuffs. She wondered if it was an intentional prod at her Irish heritage, however it suited her just fine.

"How chivalrous of you to go easy on me," Elly remarked as she stepped forward to him and outstretched her hand. "Well, for your knowledge given the underwhelming combative biography in my dossier, I specialize in short blades and knives, polearms, and some firearms. Even so, I'll spare you your love of Poseidon. So let's try the bow."

The brilliant red light of transformation was familiar to both of them. Midori had transformed upon her choice without a moment of hesitation. And, as promised, he reformed into her extended hand. His bow form was quite unique. A singular leather grip unifying its centerline for grip adorned with a brass stripe in its very center and two brass guards on either the top or bottom where the bow transitioned into a blade. The curved ends of the blades were almost scimitar-like in appearance, albeit thinner and designed to be at a curvature for the use of a bow. The plausibility of such a bow existing would be questionable if not for the solid wood construction of the center of the blades, extending to the handle, and down the full thickness of the blade, protruding out only under a set of hooks that were on the back of each blade and allowing a small nob for where a bowstring would be produced. In this form, the “blades” of his bow were more akin to a rim surrounding the wooden frame. At the front of the bow were two elevated edges, almost like serrations, near the centerline before the metallic and wooden pieces diverged. At both the top and bottom, the wooden frame came together into the leather handle, but the metallic rim jut out to act as a hand guard with only a small gap between the protrusions for arrows to pass through.

If this odd bow were constructed of genuine materials, it would not only be heavy, but have an absurd pull force. A prime example of a weapon form that benefited from the magical properties of Demon Weapons.

Upon touch was the first introduction to his soul. A cold place right from the beginning. Not in the sense of a cold shoulder, but in that it was genuinely a frigid part of him. He could lie and hide many things, but the soul would reveal all. Cool, damp, and dark, echoing on nigh-infinitely, and with an eerie stillness that seemed devoid of life and livelihood. Elly may not know it then, but this was the soul of a man that had died twice, was stitched back together, then brought back by Death himself. Had she known the context, a void of a soul like this would perhaps make more sense.

Then came the oddities of being a Hoshi. The killer instinct. His soul was an echochamber that seemed to go on infinitely where the slightest sound would simply bounce back. That singular sound now was the drive to kill. That urge to be the cold edge of a blade separating the skin across the neck. The arrow that pierces a heart, preventing its next beat. The hand around the throat, preventing blood to the brain right up until it could go on no longer. It did not define him, but it was an integral part of him.

When Midori said she would need to possess the ability to kill, this was why. If she lacked it, she would always be fighting this urge that was an integral part of his abysmal soul.

Taking hold of the bow, Elly first admired the material form physically, rotating her wrist to examine the skin and edges of its form. Her right hand gently tugged at the bow string with her index finger for a short test of its flexibility.

The other factor was the soul itself which sent a chill down her. She understood what he meant about that intent to kill speech. It was more of an urge that was part of him, similar to Sage’s urge for blood. Elly never quite took to resonating with him for similar reason. She didn’t share his bloodlust or sadism. She didn’t enjoy hurting people or seeing red. Genuinely, it was messy. However, Elly didn’t have an issue taking a life, she just didn’t take pleasure from the act either. Considering Midori’s urge was noticeably toned down from her prior weapon’s, plus the absence of madness, she had higher hopes for this.

His soul shared similarities and contradictions from hers. While his was almost patchwork and chilling in nature, Elly’s was neat. Temperate. Clean. Concealed behind the veil that was her wavelength. There was life and bustling activity past it, albeit blurred like from a dream.

“So, that’s what you met, hm~” Musing that, she levied the bow with her person as if to take aim. “Well, I think I would’ve felt something by now if we weren’t compatible.”

’Correct,’ Midori responded, echoing from inside their connection. It was slightly odd, a voice coming from his void of a soul into her sterile chamber, but it was workable. How well she could utilize him was a different story. He was sure she could at least make decent use of one of his forms; two of them fit her description fairly well. That testing could come later.

Midori transformed out of his weapon state after the test had concluded and made his way up the stairs on one side of the octagonal ring and through the chain-link fence that surrounded it. A referee was on standby, but unlike most matches, fairly neglectful. This wasn’t ranked. He was truly only there to watch if things became dangerous. With Midori being a standard Agent and Elly under his supervision, he had nothing to really worry about. He didn’t even enter the ring.

”I’m sure you have plenty of tricks up your sleeve,” Midori said, waiting for her to enter, ”but I care most about how well you fight. If you intend to trip me up with anything other than skill or finesse, I may be a bit disappointed.” It was the most polite way to request she not try to be a manipulative saboteur in the ring. Not that such tactics were above him or uncommon, but that they weren’t congruent with the purpose of this match.

”Attack when you feel like it,” he told her, wanting to see how she approached him first. That way, he could gauge precisely what she was capable of offensively before testing her defense. ”And, don’t hold back,” he added confidently.

Opening her palm as the light shifted out of it, Elly clasped her hands behind her back as she followed alongside Midori. She smiled slyly as he commented of her tricks. “Whaaat~ me~?” She chimed back in an exaggeratedly sweet tone. “But you also bet me to win, no?”

He wanted to see her combat abilities in their purest form; she understood that. However, a real fight did not occur in a vacuum, and this one was all in all catered to her detriment. An opponent with more experience, power and speed, no environmental assets, no weapon, and now he wanted her tricks sidelined as well. Elly wasn’t weak necessarily, but what made her shine was her creativity in a fight and picking apart her opponent. Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered, except she was sure her would-be partner would be relieved to find her too weak to utilize him.

Stopping a few feet in front of him, she let out a sigh. Perhaps some rare honesty and then a trick would satisfy him. Taking a few steps forward, Elly began to approach him, albeit slowly, until she closed in on him. Once in sufficient range, her posture and stance shifted to a more serious one, using her arms as a guard for her upper body and her legs separated with one more forward than the other for maneuverability and grounding. Then, suddenly, her wavelength flared, much of it still foggy, yet certainly in use. She kicked forward with a burst of speed, using her leg to strike at his knee, then following up with her opposite arm as her body twisted for a shot at his liver.

Now this was pleasing. She withheld her amplification until the last minute. He was sure she would try some type of all-out, mad-dash at him, but instead, she had some type of structured attack. She also went for vulnerable points. His knee, where only a little force was needed at the correct angle to make a break, and a decisive body shot that would hurt if it landed.

So there was some brains behind the beauty. Relieving.

Now to address it. He stepped over opposite the direction of her kick, gaining enough distance to diminish its impact, and used an open palm and his own keen speed to deflect her punch more inward, resulting in him now being off to her side and in a position to counter attack, although he abstained.

”A little slow for my taste, but not bad, miss Keegan; color me impressed,” he commented. Praise directly after what felt like an effortless side-step likely wasn’t the best flavor of flattery, but it was in this case sincere. Not just that, his reactions weren’t nearly as effortless as he made them seem. If she paid attention with her own perception, she could see his still soul flared up for each one of them, meaning he most certainly had to amplify himself in quick bursts to keep up with her own feats.

”If you keep that up, I might not mind a dance or two with you,” he told her, ”but hopefully you can increase the tempo a little, yeah?” He wanted to see how fast she was. He was convinced that wasn’t her best. Sara was faster than that and werewolf or not, she was just a One-Star. If Elly truly got promoted, she had to have more down deep. He wanted to see what she could really do.

Elly chuckled at that. “You really should work on your praise, dear. Especially when a lady is trying so hard to distinguish herself,” She prodded. His words gave the impression that his expectations were set low rather than any actual display on her part, though Elly wasn’t all that self-conscious and could see that it still required use of his wavelength to deal with her attacks. Even if he was dodging them easily, he had to try.

Following up on his evasion, Elly turned her body with her right arm outstretched in a hook, sending the end of her elbow toward his jawline. However, this wasn’t the end of it. While the elbow was with roughly the same amplification as before, her wavelength spiked as Elly continued to turn, outstretching her left leg and raising to swiftly strike at his side. Afterwards, she pushed off her right heel and extended its knee up for his chin.

She would throw elbows, too? Not a natural human instinct. Dangerous as it had a lot force, but more importantly, it meant she had some type of training behind her. The fact she would weave it into a sequence of moves, too, meant there was a decent level of forethought here, so whatever she had in her arsenal was something she would bring to mind for consecutive attacks. Good.

An elbow strike was really a nasty move. Even if he got in close, he’d still get some impact. Dodging was an option, but not as flashy as he would have liked. He was sure, too, that if he ducked that she had a follow up for it. His options were really quite limited, at least for the flow of the fight as he saw it.

All things considered, he opted for a different route. One he was sure Elly wouldn’t like: control. He weaved back only enough to do precisely as he did with her first punch: deflect it. Primarily what this meant was preventing it from hitting any significant part of his body, like that jawline she was aiming at. It did put him in a precarious position for her next attack.

She did in fact have more speed. Splendid. He had to flare his wavelength significantly this time, enough that someone not so gifted as Elly could have seen it, but more notably, that it activated the dark star from within his right eye–his namesake, as it was. For her kick, he would have loved to grab it, but his hand was currently too far away given he just used it for a deflection. He had to be a little more creative to counter this.

With her leg coming in, he moved in closer to her. Prior to her throwing her own knee, he launched his own directly at her gut, making use of the time it took her to be on a pivot with her extended leg. His speed was still a little over the top, but not within the realm of being at a completely unfair advantage. More so, a challenge. She liked to throw kicks, but those did leave her wide open if she was caught up mid-swing.

He moved forward so as to negate the brunt of the kick. Many instinctively tried to dodge away and put more distance between the two, but it made sense. Getting hit by her thigh didn’t do much, as opposed to her shin. Thankfully, her Soul Perception allowed her to make up for lacking some speed by giving her a warning that something was coming.

Elly brought her guard inward to protect against the hit while continuing to turn her body with the kick and pivot so as to deny the blow a straight-on hit. As the knee glided against her forearms, Elly loosened her guard as soon as the blow had passed its main point of momentum, or at least as soon after as she could physically, and hugged his knee with her arms wrapped underneath the joint. Then, as her left leg came down from the kick, she amplified herself again and swung her leg at his grounded one in an attempt to take him off balance.

Again, she forced him into a precarious position. He was moderately impressed. Even without his peak speed, her combat intelligence was far higher than he anticipated. He was impressed enough to push this test a little further. He had a few immediate ideas as for how to get out of this predicament, but instead of doing what might be the most logical thing, he decided to reel back and test her will.

A cheeky trick, especially knowing how sensitive she was, but he opted to utilize a little more than just his combat prowess. Dropping his suppression entirely, not only allowing him more of his own strength, but her to perceive his soul much more clearly. With that, he unleashed an entire flood of killer intent. His soul radiated out–no it shouted out–the desire to kill. He became predator and she became prey.

Meanwhile, his face curled with a sadistic grin sweeping across from it. His response to her attempt to sweep his leg was to ignore it. Instead, he snaked up his hand to grab at her throat with full intention on choking her had she allowed him to make contact.

As soon as the demeanor of his soul changed, Elly felt it, and it was clear from her expression. Her face dropped the pleasant smile and morphed into one of surprise and neutrality. Eyes widened, pupils dilated, heart skipped a beat as her eyes watched him.

If his intent was to scare her, then Midori succeeded. No sooner than he let that intent show did her mind immediately kick into fight or flight. Were she to have more time, it’s likely she would have considered enough to call his bluff, or at least allow him in order to get a hit in, knowing he surely wouldn’t permanently harm her. There was a mediator spectating the fight, and while a Hoshi, Midori was an agent and mentor. He surely didn’t have free reign to kill agents or even FATE agents as he wished. However, those were all thoughts for someone without a split second to act.

Elly’s thoughts turned straight into how to maximize her survival. As said before, it was the first instinct of many to put distance between their person and the threat, whatever it may be. However, that was not always the best decision. Midori was faster than her and, if she gave up this leverage she had, he could do whatever he wanted. The question was, could she take the hit? Could he snap her neck before she kicked out his grounding to break free and continue establishing her leverage? Perhaps not. However, he was a Weapon. He could transform into a blade and certainly slit her neck.

Despite any words he may have established before, Elly truly didn’t consider them now. She genuinely believed that was a potentiality.

Elly’s wavelength roared through her leg as she pushed it to her maximum, for both speed and force. Originally, she had intended to kick it out from under him and go for an ankle lock of some kind, if he allowed himself to be hit. However, he could still transform to slip out of that or damage her.

Midori was a trained assassin. Nothing got passed his eyes. Her dilated pupils. That extra thrung her in her jugular. He could only taste her fear. It was palpable. Delicious, actually. Yet, she still made the decision to follow-through with her attack. It made sense. Was sound enough. She had already committed. Reality was, he also only had a split second to consider the situation. He thought fast, his instincts were sharper than a razor’s edge, but he hadn’t the time to speculate on why she made her decision.

Only make his own.

She wanted his leg, and she couldn’t have it. Doubling down on his dive into her, he pushed forward with his only grounded leg into what was essentially a tackle.Was it messy? Sure. Would obscene parts of her body be pressed to his? Sure. Was it the way of an assassin? Absolutely not. But, was it worth it? He thought so.

He was stronger than her, of that he was sure. Even if she swept his leg, his goal was to make them both tumble to the ground and have the natural advantage of his hand around her throat. Not only that, she still had to contest with the fear she had coursing through her. He wasn’t about to just let up on his killer intent, feint or not. It worked, and there was no reason to fix what wasn’t broken.

They were going to tumble to the ground either way. Except, Midori was pushing his weight onto her to fall atop her. Elly wouldn’t be able to get a lock on his leg that way, especially if he was on top of her with a hand at her throat. While she still had some grounding to put her weight behind a punch, Elly released one arm from his leg and outstretched it in a palm. Wavelength poured into her hand and palm in the form of Soul Force. She was aiming for another liver shot, banking on being able to land it and debilitate him before he could land a killing blow.

Midori knew what was going on. Had she followed through, he would have to dodge. There was no avoiding that. Without his weapon transformations, he couldn’t contend with Soul Force. In that moment, though, he had another brilliant idea for a test. As time went on, his sadistic nature was only shining through more and more. He wasn’t expecting this much of a challenge; it was a pleasant surprise.

He dispelled his killing intent, turning off his murderous aura as if it were a light switch, then loosened his grasp on her throat, shifting from dangerously tight to mildly kinky. With that, he uttered a single word to her, ”Stop.”

The blow halted just shy of its intended target. The momentum of the swing was lost, though if needed she could still shift her torso and shoulder slightly to strike him and pour her wavelength through the point of contact.

His killer intent had dissipated, however hers was still alive and veiled by her soul. A sharp inhalation of oxygen escaped her lips as Elly found it easier to breathe, and her eyes stared through him. “You first,” She murmured in reply. Her tone was a touch more serious than he was used to, however clearly she very much still had her wit from what followed. “I seem to recall a certain someone whinging about tricks and schemes before this little dance.”

Midori released his grip on her throat, then simply stood up and over her, leaving her in the position he had tackled them both to on the mat. ”Yeah, but I never said I wouldn’t. I wanted to know how you’d react. Remember, I’m evaluating you,” he told her, quite matter-of-factly. But, in a twist of roles, he gave her a soft, warm smile then offered his hand to help her up, ”though I must admit, you look absolutely adorable when you’re terrified.”

He was smiling warmly now, but Elly was none the amused. Clearly, she had been duped, and his admittance confirmed that. He said he was evaluating her, however, he also had to know that Elly was especially honed to reading souls and wavelength. Killer intent, sadistic urges, finding her supposed anxiety to be amusing. As she had determined before, Midori did still have some similarities to Sage, albeit Sage was simultaneously more off the deep end whilst being subservient.

“Oh, adorable… is that bloody right!?” Unsurprisingly, Elly didn’t take the hand. Instead, surprisingly, she grabbed the forearm of the outstretched hand and pulled herself up all the while her mask of composure was seemingly gone. Of course, her soul hid her temperament as usual, however the unsteady yet tight grip on his arm and angry, yet shaken expression on her face said she had been pushed too much with that last stunt of his.

“Is this how it’s always going to be with you?! I fucking tried! I was polite, tried to get to know you. I thought it’d be a good idea to meet at a lax cafe after getting dragged across the bloody world from your home just to get reassigned to someone like me. Despite that, your behavior ranged from semi-neutral brooding to treating me like shite. When you told me about what happened to you, I thought that perchance you may understand having others write you off and rising above that. Even so, I can understand the standoffishness, or the rudeness, or the distrust. I certainly can’t blame you. Yet despite that I still endeavored to humor and impress you, only for you to toy with me and make me think I’m going to die!” Finishing her rather charged rant, Elly released hold of his arm, yet still was glaring at him unsteadily. One could even believe she was one traumatic event away from tears. “And then you look at me and say it’s cute, as if my anxieties are entertainment for you… That’s fine, penance I suppose. I deserve as much, for my life and for Sage, mm?”

Just as she would let go of his arm, he would reach forward to grab hers and pull her back in. He did not merely yank her, he stepped forward as well. His movements swift and daring, almost suave, and terribly smooth. He did not grapple her or hold her too tight. He lacked all of the killer intent he had previously. In fact, his soul still allowed itself to shine out as self-evidence of his current mental state, and of that, he was quite sincere. He did not lock her into place, instead, he held her as if she was a dance partner. A hand rest on her hip, close, but not intimately, and his hand shifting into position to interlace his fingers with hers once they neared.

”I wanted to see the real you,” he told her, his voice calm and still, not cold like before, nor sinister. ”You are upset, rightfully so, and perhaps you still hide behind that mask… but for a moment, I believe I saw more of the real you than likely anyone in the DWMA has for long, long time,” he told her, his tone still soft and emphasizing each worse of the word ‘you’, as if praising her for each reference.

”Most telling is your anger. What riled you most was that your compassion was disregarded,” he explained, ”which tells me that it was likely genuine.”

”Or, am I wrong still?” he asked her quietly, his lips barely parted as he spoke. ”Is there a genuine heart under that mask, or merely frustration seeping out at the wasted effort?”

Her arm shaky and with notable resistance as he grabbed it, Elly watched him, still scowling. His movements were all so smooth and his voice like silk, every word as if praising her and ushering her to serenity from her place of rage. It was all very precise. She didn’t buy that it was sincere, but more of a series of language used in an attempt to quell her. So, she wouldn’t drop it so quickly.

“Do you?” She questioned sharply. “Oh please. Did you think I went around breaking kneecaps from anyone who looked at me funny before? It’s called having manners. Someone doesn’t always need some plan to be polite, it could simply be to establish a foundation where you aren’t constantly at each other’s throats. Fitting, isn’t it?” She chastised him further. “And the only thing you saw was someone far weaker than you afraid of the obvious, or do you think my reaction would be different than anyone else’s?”

He sighed and released her, slipping away from her grasp. Or, his grasp that he had on her. ”The only thing you see is a weapon that can kill you,” he told her, ”our preconceived notions go both ways. But, if you insist on treating me like I was just a dangerous bully, I’ll show you the difference.”

His wavelength fell still. Vanished entirely. If Elly wanted to see it, then she would need to truly activate her Super soul Perception. Not that he gave her much time. He tossed the hand he just had with hers to the side, flinging it out and transforming it into the familiar blade edge that had slain so many foes. Just following that, he darted forward, but again, only vanished, leaving behind after images.

More and more until they circled around her. Even with her perception, he was fast. If she wanted, she could see these were hardly illusions. These were the nigh-mythical Hoshi afterimages, created from raw speed and traces of their wavelength. All of them surrounding her, all of them with his blade arm, all of them silent as death itself.

Until they weren’t. He burst past her in a linear fashion, hopping from one after image to the next. Even at her peak, this speed he was demonstrating was absurd. The only time he was clearly visible was right before an attack, and even then, the attack itself was too quick to reliably dodge.

Not that he was attacking her. Only dancing around her. His blade only ever nearing her, never touching. Never his hands. Never an actual attack. Just feint after feint with each one demonstrating a new angle he could come from, a new stab, a new slash that never followed through.

Until a more corporeal version of himself waltzed forward, not that the after images had stopped, just that he was no longer blitzing her in quick succession.

”The Hoshi don’t break kneecaps, we end lives. When we’re at someone’s throat, it’s to slit it. Do not compare the O’Quinn syndicate to the Hoshi; do not think we really came from the same world,” he told her, allowing his own frustration to pour through.

”You are correct. I saw someone far weaker than me. Yet, she is to wield me. How do you think I feel about that?” he asked her quickly and aggressively.

”But, you are wrong about your reaction. In your situation, there are three main outcomes. Fight, flight, or freeze. Most freeze. Most die. You fought, and that is admirable,” he told her, though his tone didn’t seem any less harsh.

”Most importantly, you ignored my question,” he told her, pointing out a fact about the situation that he wasn’t sure if she realized. ”If there is a genuine heart under that mask, then you will never have to fear my blade. But, if you are merely frustrated because your first attempt at kindness was rebuked, then consider how I felt when you did the same to my first offer of a dance,” he clarified. His face was stoic, but his heart was on his sleeve. While creating these after images, he could not hide his soul. For all of his frustration, was insulted most by how she so hypocritically rejected his attempt at kindness.

Elly watched him, much as she could. She used her Super Soul Perception to track him and, more specifically, his intent. Even though she felt none at this moment, her eyes bounced from image to image at a delay for him. Though as he finished his demonstration, Elly let out a sigh. Her hands moved to tug at her clothing, straightening them out from the scuffle that had disheveled them, before clasping her hands behind her back again while waiting for him to finished.

Her expression appeared defeated, like someone still bitter but unable to come up with a retort. However, then, it shifted. Her posture straightened, any semblance of shaking stopped, and her aggrieved from upturned into her typical neutral smile.

“Yes, it is quite different, which is why I sought to do a little test of my own,” She replied calmly. “There wasn’t too much to read on your clan, unfortunately. However, you all do appear to be more unified than the syndicate was. I am quite used to dealing with dangerous bullies as you said. Though I was less concerned with how well you could kill me.”

Tilting her head with her smile slanting to a smirk, she continued. “Or did you think I was under some misconception that you couldn’t kill me anytime you wanted to? No, darling… I consider myself a realist, and that is what influenced my actions. I did what I thought had the most successful chance of survival. If I believed I could have disengaged you and fled, I quite frankly would have.” Contrary to a moment ago, she didn’t seem angry or upset, even in the face of his own frustration. “I think you’ll find that my reaction is far more positive than if it were another. You’re hurt by my dismissal? If I truly were like most as you said, I would be frozen still and my adrenaline, rather than feeding into my reaction and focus, would be centered on my fear of you, regardless of if you paused after, said ‘Just kidding! I was only testing you!’, and offered a hand and some warm words,” She continued on, bringing her open palms in front of her in a motion of caution whilst using an overly sweet tone as the sentence neared its end.

Letting out a bemused huff, Elly brought her hands back down and behind herself. “Your question is not unfounded, though its answer is quite anticlimactic. Are all of the Hoshi’s targets monsters without hearts? If you told me so, I would find it amusing that you think I would believe such a lie… or I would be very disappointed that you did. I do have a heart. I feel happy, and sad, and irked, just as you and everyone else does. The difference is, I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve because it’s a vital point. Why would I make it easier to hit? I don’t particularly find my focus in a lose-lose situation to be pure reflection of myself, but feel free to take some pride in seeing the real me if it suits you.”

Midori sighed. For a brief moment, the feeling was obvious. Raw and utter disappointment. That was until his after images faded and his soul returned to its stillness. The autonomous weapon wore a look of exasperation on his face, crossing his arms once his hand had transformed back, and simply looked at Elly as if she were a chore.

”You know, this started so interesting,” he told her, not really putting in the effort to hide his disappointment, ”but, you have become pretty damn annoying.”

He then started to walk around her, though he stopped before getting even remotely out of her field of view and walked the other way, essentially pacing back and forth. ”The theatrics were fun for a moment, I guess, but this back and forth is just draaaaaaining,” he told her, not acknowledging the actual bulk of her rebuttal to him in favor of addressing the grand scheme of their exchange as he saw it.

”By Death, lady, you have the gall to ask me if it’s always going to be this way with me, but look at you–and no, not flirting,” he commented, just venting his frustration at this entire exchange. ”It’s a dick-measuring contest of who is actually in control here and I couldn’t care less. I’m not a Fate Agent. I don’t need a partner. I’m only here ‘cause someone pulled some strings to get you a reliable partner that was worth a damn,” he told her, just dismissing almost everything that occurred.

”I was content at home in Japan, you know. I don’t need a partner. I don’t need you. Hell, you’re not even pretty enough to spark that male gaze from me. Er,” he said, stopping his tirade with a screech like nails on a chalkboard. ”Backtrack on that one; that was a little too mean. You’re just not my type.”

Then he was quick to follow-up. ”This just… isn’t worth it,” he told her, almost desperately at this point. ”You’re too caught up trying to protect yourself like the whole fucking world is out to get you. I’m the assassin here and I’m not stressed about dying as much as you are, for Death’s sake. It’s not like we get out of this life alive, you know,” he went on, just teetering on the edge of calling this whole thing off.

”Fuck, Elly, I wouldn’t want to live like you. You’re not really living, you’re just surviving by acting like that. And, honestly, it’s a drag. I’m a Hoshi, I’m all about avoiding unnecessary risks, but I am not about to just cut the fun out of my life like you have,” he told her, still pacing back and forth, just contemplating how much shit he would get for telling Cyrus this girl was too much hassle for him.

“No, I believe I started out pretty damn annoying for you,” Elly chimed back mid-speech, citing that he certainly wasn’t excited to be here. “And that question was part of the greater exaggeration and act, dear,” She added. As she saw it, letting Midori know that something got her goat so to speak would be an incredible faux pas. Speaking of draining, she could only imagine what he would do with that information.

Letting him get through the rest of his speech mostly uninterrupted, Elly’s only shifts were in her expression, going from that neutral smile of hers, to an exaggerated pout when he insulted her looks and backtracked. Only when he finished completely did her neutral smile return and she spoke.

“I'm quite happy for you that you do not,” She said with a tone that was hard to gauge if it was a sarcastic remark or one of polite sincerity. “And typically, my kind don’t get out of that life alive either. My precautions aside, the only reason I am being oh so draining on you is because of a play that you raised the curtain on-”

”Oh no, lady, do not start with that. Acting like all this shit is intentional. That’s just your ego,” Midori chimed in, cutting her off from even finishing that topic. ”See, you’re a bit of a narcissist. You put this front, wear that mask, and then take credit for the shit that follows as if it’s pre-meditated, but it’s really not,” he commented, just throwing out some harsh critiques of her behavior.

”And why, miss Keegan? Because you won’t let yourself get hurt. Not physically, not emotionally, nothing. Even if that means you have to convince yourself that you were intentionally annoying me,” he explained to her, this time opting to use an intentionalyl deriding tone to mock her.

”Oh no, it’s not actually me that’s annoying,” Midori said, using an overly-dramatic feminine tone, ”I’m doing this intentionally to drain you ‘cause you weren’t nice to me when I was being all sweet at the table.”

Pausing as he interrupted her, Elly’s expression shifted to a sneer as he went on. “Quite amusing, but I think you should leave the soul-searching to those of us with Super Soul Perception,” She remarked in turn. “I’m not intentionally draining you because you were so mean and hurt my poor feelings at the cafe,” She said, mimicking his exaggerated feminine impression with a hint of ‘woe as me’ in it. “I was referring to this whole situation. You demanded a fight, then you intentionally triggered my fight or flight response by making me believe I was in danger, and now you’re drained because I’m doing all this,” She stated with a soft huff, not a bemused one but one that indicated an ever so slight amount of fatigue.

“You speak of my mask? Yes, why would I give you any ammunition whatsoever? Kill me? Perhaps not. That wouldn’t make anything else you could do with it less aggrieving.”

Midori allowed a snicker to escape from him before she even finished her response, though its real trigger was how she tried to list all the things he did that she disliked. What a narrow viewpoint she had if that’s all she thought he was referring to. A half-cocked smirk crept across his face once he opted to respond again, ”Elly, Elly, Elly, this whole situation? I meant your whole damn life. I read the file. I know what you did to survive, who you killed, why you wear that mask, that you’re on the run–I know.”

”I have no doubt in my mind that this game started the moment I walked into Hallowed Grounds and hasn’t stopped since. That is what I meant was annoying,” he told her, enlightening her with no lack of condescension in his tone.

”There were red flags from the first sentence you said and it just doesn’t stop. It’s all fake,” he went on, ”you know, I said you’re not my type, but you are pretty. If I wasn’t so convinced it was all fake, I might have made my test flirting with you to see how you handled that. To see if you could be serious and not break down like some do,” he told her, not exactly denying his own toxic traits.

”But no, it’s all just so fake. I pity you, really. You wake up every day prepared to fool the whole damn world,” he told her, really getting personal and mean with these specific facts about her life. ”I mean, I get it, if the Hoshi were out to kill me, I’d be fucking panicked, too. I wouldn’t want to live like that. Hide away in some glorified military base, pretending to be something I don’t want to be for the sake of safety. It must be exhausting for you to have to pretend. One fuck up could spell death, huh?” he went on, throwing a rhetorical question alongside the meager sympathy he could muster.

”You’re not living. You’re surviving. I’m not going to kill you or hurt you, but you’re hardwired to treat me like a threat nonetheless. That’s sad,” he told her, ”really, you didn’t leave the O’Quinns’s any more alive than some of them did. I could go kill all of them in a night’s time, and you’d still be this mess.”

This time Elly didn’t interject, simply maintaining the “mask” as it were as he poked holes in her. Her slime weaned slightly at some point through it, but it didn’t drop. However, as he finished, her smile widened once again. “Then I suppose you’re going to be very annoyed, very often,” She said simply. “But yes, I am surviving and will continue to do so, and you are a threat,” She added, placing further emphasis on the latter. “You’ll kill me if you can find the justification to, or if you’re ordered to. I don’t believe you have any of the prior nor will be receiving any of the latter in the short term, but the potential is there, and none of your actions have given me any reason to believe otherwise.”

Removing her arms from behind she opened them to him as if asking ‘Well?’. Then, she crossed them in front of her chest. “Care to play therapist some more? Don’t worry, I’m not taking any of this to heart. You can hit me a few more times if you’d like, I won’t cry or anything. Not as if I could do anything to stop it if I wanted to,” She challenged him further. “Well, aside from quit… but I won’t be doing that either.”

”But, I will,” he responded, a quick follow up to her mention of quitting.

”I have died twice. I don’t mean died and resuscitated. I mean my soul was out of my body, and I was given a new one. I am, as I said, a golem,” he answered her, his eyes widened and his tone quite serious. ”There are few people–if any–that know the value of life like I do. And, I’m not going to waste mine with a partner like you.”

”Take it as advice from someone who has been through what you’re so scared of. The way you live now is worse than crossing over,” he told her, lifting up his hand and flicking it at her as if to shoo her away. ”Shorthand, Elly, if you’re going to live like this and treat people like threats, you really should have just let your family kill you,” he told her flatly.

“Hmm… Hard pass,” Elly replied with narrowed eyes. “By all means, go do so. As I said, I cannot stop you. Though quite strange that you would waste your time flying all the way here if you had a choice in the matter. However, if you truly can quit, that’s your decision. You mentioned that someone pulled strings, but I didn’t pick you out and I certainly don’t have any kind of leverage within the DWMA to do so. Beggars can’t be choosers, as they say.” Stating that matter of factly, she shrugged. “So, thank you for the lovely excursion and I hope you have a pleasant flight back~. Don’t let me keep you.”

”Yeah, you have a pleasant go fuck yourself, too,” he responded before opting to simply leave the octagon. He was done here. She was a lost cause in his eyes. Rare though it may be that someone could wield him, he was hardly desperate enough to deal with all that. Besides that, if she couldn’t be honest with him, then she would never get to the point of proper Resonance. Hiding something inside her soul would always hold her back. He wanted no part of that.

Dense bitch acted like he had a choice in this pathetic endeavor.

Sneering at that once again, after he had left Elly paused a released a long sigh that probably said more about how she felt about that whole day than she would ever admit. A subservient, albeit bloodthirsty partner to—that. Elly typically would have played nice, at least, enough to barter with him about what would air some of his reservations about the partnership, however admittedly, he had done one thing he set out to do. He certainly annoyed the Death out of her. Perhaps that was aiding to some of her unusual stubbornness here.

Taking her own leave from the octagon and gym well after him, Elly had hoped to have something of a plan for this relationship. Unfortunately, she hadn’t acquired one unless her plan was to irritate him.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Annika
Duchess of Discord VIP Room
Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic
​

Annika had ordered a rather stiff drink without a chaser, a local whiskey by the name of Jongler 47. It was a 4 grain white whiskey of above average quality. She ordered it more for its smooth nature and high content than its overall taste. Downing the shot quickly she stiffened up for a moment before setting the glass back down. Turning to the group by the couch she looked to V as he approached.

Elly had come in next with Midori whom she had yet to actually meet. She looked to Midori as he spoke up about her being allowed in the labs. Holding her response for a moment she turned back to V and began to respond.

“Gossip, not really my type of thing. But when it comes to what is being developed I couldn’t tell you. I mostly hyper focus when I get going and block out whatever else is going on around me. But….. I can talk about this.” She said motioning towards her dress. “This could end up being something both fashionable and practical.” Annika began in an almost saleswoman-like pitch. “Synthetic fiber with built in nano-diodes. You would think it would be an uncomfortable fabric but it's actually smooth as silk. It can change color and other things… that's a secret until I am sure it's good in a prototype form.” she explained.

Looking at Midori she shrugged “I have been around Magi-tech for my entire life and I tend to be pretty good when it comes to making things. When I was working with Starwulf I ended up making two weapons that I can use with my wavelength and maybe that got his attention? My father is also a decently known artificer as well.” Annika explained before turning her attention to Elly. “Yeah, I guess I did.” Annika responded.

“So…. are you enjoying having a new partner? I can't imagine it's been an easy transition.” Annika asked, taking a long and almost analytical look at Midori “He looks like he's pretty strong.” Annika continued on. “They haven’t given me a partner yet, I guess they enjoy me being less destructive.” Annika finished.

The werewolf girl and the lantern flail girl entered next, she had watched as the white haired woman ate the witch's soul and experienced… something. She had seen witch souls eaten before and hadn’t seen anyone freak out like that. She seemed fine now which is all Annika could ask for. “Hello again.” She spoke up. Turning back to the bar, she ordered another shot glass of Jongler 47.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

It Was Sweet While it Lasted​

Tags EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun

---

April 5th, 2067​

”I gotta admit, this isn’t what I thought you meant when you said we’d meet again,” Adrian told her with a light-hearted smirk. He wasn’t exactly against the idea of showing her some of the fundamentals of being an autonomous weapon; he just didn’t think she’d default to training. Besides, Nadia could probably teach her half of what he could and do just as well.

Though, it made sense if she was more comfortable picking it up from another weapon.

The two had texted back and forth for some time. He had ranted about the training Reiko wanted him to do. It wasn’t terribly bad, and running was the most exercise he could do in those first few days anyway. Beyond that, Dani might have had some solid insight about controlling that inner Madness. That bit of rage-prone fire they both had.

He assumed, perhaps, this was the result of figuring out precisely what they could or should do as an activity. Adrian didn’t drink and neither one of them seemed too terribly social. Training was one of the things they tangibly had in common, and for the last few days, were lacking in. Or, perhaps, it was just the best excuse either could come up with. He was oblivious and she was stubborn.

"Being stuck in that hospital has made me want to not sit on my ass… Sides I figure I might be able to fight better with Nadia if I need to," Dani replied casually with a pause. "Did you have anything specific in mind?" She asked to what he thought she meant.

It was a little bit underhanded, using the guise of training to meet. However, it wasn't a lie. She already knew partial transformation and knowing how to fight on her own could help Nadia, directly or otherwise. She had also agreed to figure her shit out by the time they met. Dani wasn't sure if she had completely done so, but she was getting there.

Averting her gaze slightly, Dani followed up with a shrug. "Of course… We could always go bug Reiko for meditation sessions if that's what you'd prefer," She said with a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Adrian could pick up on the sarcasm. He wasn’t that dense. He was also picking up on plenty of the more nuanced hints she was putting down for him. Finding an excuse was difficult. She was probably still recovering or just thinking through things. She really put herself on her own time crunch. Adrian didn’t really care if she set up boundaries or had an answer for him. In that way, he was a bit of a jubilant puppy that would have responded well regardless.

”Her garden is quite pretty,” Adrian replied, ”and I really didn’t mind where you wanted to go… anywhere is fine with you.” He was being earnest. He didn’t mind in the slightest. He wasn’t being particularly coy with her, either. His tone didn’t carry that weight to it. It was his typical, nearly-dry honesty.

”But, uh, I don’t want to imagine miss Reiko flipping out on us when we start turning red–and that’s kind’a a pattern,” he told her, almost as if a true admission of guilt tied in.

”The basics of fighting autonomously are simple. We pretend we’re a Meister, but we are the weapon. So… weapons that are autonomous full-time have to train incredibly hard. All the basic skills, plus a few more, and since Self-Resonance is weaker than normal Resonance, we just gotta… get buff, basically. The stronger and faster we are before the skills, the stronger we get after,” Adrian explained to her, trying to summarize what it meant to be an Autonomous Weapon in the DWMA.

”If you can partially transform, the next steps are Soul Perception and Wavelength Amplification. Just, on your own, not through Nadia,” he told her, condensing his summary down into a more clear set of goals

.”H-Huh…” Dani mused at that. Did that mean anywhere she wanted was fine or he was fine wherever if it was with her? It was hard to tell what he meant by what he said sometimes, despite his blunt nature. She hadn’t decided if she wanted to have that conversation now or another time, though she did technically say the next time they met, which would be now. “H-Half the damn time the red is because of your euphemisms…”

Clearing her throat, she swapped her attention to the lesson to at least try to focus. “Okay… well I can already partially transform, so soul perception and wavelength amplification? Where do I start with that?” If that was the case, Dani being fairly athletic may make her a good candidate. It also explained Adrian’s physique now that she was paying attention. A silver lining of his denseness is that he probably wouldn’t notice even if she was obvious. “I was always kind of shit at the former… The latter I at least have the idea down I think.”

”So… hm,” Adrian responded, trying to think of a good way to describe Soul Perception. He was doubtful her Wavelength Amplification was truly that impressive, though only because it was a skill that dulled over time. It was a use it or lose it type of skill. As long as she could utilize the fundamentals of the technique, then at least she had a foot in the door. Soul Perception was a bit of a different beast.

”We had an instructor that had one of those big glass thingies that eye doctors use to determine your prescription for, uh, glasses. He taught us that Soul Perception was a lot like that process,” he explained, though he stopped, realizing he was getting ahead of himself.

”Before that, though, you need to concentrate your wavelength into your eyes. It’s not like amplification. You don’t need nearly as much power and it kinda becomes second nature after a while. It’s a little finicky because of how little adjustments make a big impact. It’s not like… engine where you’re trying to get more power, it’s like a light switch where you want just enough to turn it on,” he explained to her, running through the first steps of activating it.

He walked closer to her and allowed his wavelength to flare quite intensely, pouring most of it into his left hand. He then reached out for Dani’s hand opposite to him, and let his wavelength reach out to her. There was nothing profound here. It wasn’t like a soul dive or some complex technique. It was so that she could feel his wavelength itself. There was clarity attained from touching, and that was his goal.

”Pour some wavelength into your eyes until you can start seeing my wavelength,” he instructed her, ”then start changing how much if it in tiny increments until my wavelength appears clearly and basically matches how it feels to touch.” He was calm. Not awkward in this moment on his own. He possessed a single-minded focus in training that gave him a type of confidence, or ignorance, to what these actions would mean out of context. ”It’s just like those machines. You just keep swapping the intensity of your wavelength ‘til it becomes clear as possible, then memorize that feeling,” he told her, looping back to his original point.

“Right…” Dani mused as she listened. She felt as though she understood the general idea, but at the same time didn’t. She was more of a hands-on learner, so an explanation was only good for so much.

Taking his hand, she focused on analyzing how his wavelength felt so she could better look for it, or see if she was doing it right. Following his instruction, she started focusing her wavelength into her eyes, or she thought she was. Her eyes narrowed as a byproduct of her concentration. It was slow going, as she never really focused her wavelength in this manner before. However, eventually, she began to see the fuzzy outline of his wavelength.

“I… think I see it…” Dani murmured. He said she had to adjust the intensity of her wavelength until it came in clear, however incrementally was a bit difficult. She went from too much, causing it to look like a blur, to too little, in which there were barely hints of its presence. Fully visible, then blurry again, then more in focus, then it began to fade. “I feel like I need fucking glasses…” She complained. A few minutes of trial and error and the wavelength came in relatively clear, she thought.

“Okay… I think I have it…” She stated. “Looks kinda… pokey? Right…?”

”Uh, well… pretty sure all wavelengths look kinda pokey,” he responded, though primarily based on her word choice there. ”Except Midori. He trained me for a bit, and his was… smooth. And quiet. It was weird,” he told her, providing an odd and admittedly irrelevant factoid in the moment.

”It takes some time to really get the hang of Soul Perception,” he went on, transitioning to a more general topic. ”Meisters just memorize the feeling and turn it off and on. I guess I do, too, but I’m no Meister,” he explained, ”but yeah, this is the gist of it. You can basically train with it anywhere you want. Get bored, people watch, decide to look at their souls…”

”Now, you said you can amplify yourself some, right?” he asked, moving on to the next subject he brought up.

“Oh..” Dani mused before nodding. “I guess I can train with that while I’m on a run or something.”

Just sitting around and looking at people’s souls sounded a little bit weird. Doing it while she was exercising would be less inconspicuous and kill two birds with one stone.

“Yeah, little bit. It kinda happens on accident if I get ticked off too, like when I gripped that bus stop before,” Dani explained.

”Can you do it on purpose?” he asked, his brows slightly furrowed as he wasn’t aware one could do it subconsciously without knowing how.

“W-Well, yeah… Just also comes out like that too is what I mean…” She answered apprehensively.

”Oh, that makes sense,” Adrian answered her, his tone quite nonchalant. It seemed the mystery he had built up was resolved with a simple clarification.

He let go of her hand and stepped back.

”Well then, transform and show me some amplification,” he told her, jutting out his hand and conjuring his own spike with the trademark red light of transformation sparking out from it. ”I wanna see if you fight like a real weapon, or like a weapon pretending to be a Meister,” he told her, his tone conveying that there was a significance behind his choice of words.

Holding her forearm in front of her, it shone a white-pink before thinning into the shape of a blade. Looking at him, Dani tilted her head a bit in confusion. “What’s the difference?” Obviously, she couldn’t be a meister. She couldn’t use Soul Force and using her arm like this was different from using something like her full weapon form.

Staring at the blade after asking that, Dani closed her eyes momentarily and began to focus on amplifying herself with her wavelength. She felt it was easier to draw upon since the festival, perhaps due in part to her acceptance of her wavelength. However, it still took concentration as the wavelength reverberated through her person.

”Hmm,” Adrian hummed to himself, trying to figure out the best way to word this explanation. ”Think of it… kinda like this. When you boil it all down, the real differences between the two are that a Meister gets access to more powerful Resonance stuff and an Autonomous Weapon gets access to partial weapon transformations. Other than that, we can use all the same skills as long as we practice them,” Adrian told her, simplifying the rather touchy topic of being an Autonomous Weapon.

”Simply put, I’ll never be as powerful as you and Nadia. But, there are things I can do things that you two can’t,” he went on, not really wanting to go into detail about all the weird ways he can transform. ”Meisters almost always just want to get stronger and faster. Their fuckin’ resonance is like a nuke. Even if I learn Chain Resonance, it won’t add up the same. So, weapons have to be creative. Changing where we transform, what parts of our weapon we make, and abusing the fact they’re indestructible” he told her. Honestly, though, it was hardly a fair trade-off. The creative methods he could fight would never stack up to what Dani and Nadia could do. It was hard to hide the hints of jealousy in his voice, but he tried.

Adrian walked back over to Dani and grabbed her non-transformed hand. She had a blade in the other, and he assumed she had never transformed anything beyond that. Most paired weapons that learned partial transformation only ever learned the basics, which in her case, would be making sure she had a blade. There was, however, a lot more to it than that.

With his left hand, he supported her hand and with his right, he ran his fingertips along her knuckles, gauging how effective this might be based on what he remembered of her weapon form. Admittedly, he had never taken a terribly close look at it.

”Right here, try to transform your knuckles into the guard of your sword. It might be a bit difficult because the guard is meant to be between the handle and the blade… when you transform, you have to envision that part of your weapon form fitting where it would on your body. Like, uh… my spikes. They’re on the inside, so when I transform, I have to think about them backwards to get them in the right direction,” he told her, though realizing that might be slightly confusing. ”Eh… hm. Just try to envision your forearm as the handle and pretend there is a sword blade in front of your hand. It should make it easier to make the guard form right where you want it,” he added, just opting to give her simple instruction.

“I guess that makes sense…” Dani mused. She would have to get creative, though she wasn’t sure how much creativity she possessed. She knew she could transform other parts of her, but never really thought of doing so beyond the blade.

Hearing him approach, she continued concentrating until she felt him touch her hand again. Dani’s eyes opened and her face lightly flushed as he ran his hand along hers, yet she released a sigh and moved past it.

’What are you, a fuckin’ schoolgirl…’ She chastised herself internally.

“Okay… just picture the whole thing lined up…” She repeated. As she concentrated, her other forearm started to glow faintly, though it wasn’t a quick process like with the sword. Obviously she had practice with the latter while the former she never thought about. Eventually, the light condensed to her knuckles and outward, each digit acting as the guard separating the blade from the handle while a foreign body extended from the knuckle of her pinky finger. This light curved down the side of her hand and past the wrist to make up the metal that guarded the hand of whoever wielded her. “...That’s… really weird… Feels like brass knuckles almost, or that wood weapon you hold onto and it goes along your forearm—whatever it’s called.”

This was the first time Adrian had not noticed the flush in her cheeks. His focus was fairly intense. She got the transformation with some time, and now she had options to fight with both hands. That opened up a lot of doors for her, if she ever needed it to. Especially given that her hand–at least where covered–was virtually impervious to damage. Whether or not Dani found his focus endearing or the fact he was missing her reaction annoying–entirely different story.

”Good, but there’s more,” he told her. He lifted his free hand up to her elbow and guided her arm into a horizontal position so that her elbow itself would jut out. Afterwards, he demonstrated a transformation of his own. Sticking his own elbow out fairly far, almost like a chicken wing, then transforming a spike at the end of it. It did not come out from the back of his elbow toward his shoulder, but instead forward facing–which made sense if he was to be throwing that elbow.

”You have the little spike-claw thingies on your sword form… you should be able to transform them on your elbows like I did. Might take some practice because it’s a more awkward position and I’m not really sure about, uh, sword anatomy, but I’m sure you know your body best,” he told her, again trying to provide her a creative method of transformation.

“Huh?” Watching him further, he produced a spike on his elbow and suggested she do the same. Dani supposed that if she went for an elbow that it would give her some more options, though she wasn’t all that martially trained and she admittedly didn’t often think to utilize her elbow as opposed to a normal punch due to this inexperience. At the very least, it could act as further protection. “You mean the other part of the guard? Uh… okay…”

Placing that part of her sword on her body did make the vision Dani was using a little awkward. The blade was on one hand, the guard was on the other, and now the pointed parts of the guard would be on each elbow.

Nonetheless, she managed to do it with some more focus, albeit the pointed bits came in at awkward angles a few times, forcing her to readjust. “Okay… I think that’s right,” She said, jutting her elbow out as if to shadow box, or shadow elbow, the air. “And you have to imagine your spikes inverting wherever you want them? That seems like such a pain.”

”Sure do, think about it,” he told her, answering in a jovial tone. ”Spikes are on the inside, I want them on the outside. Only way to do that is to mentally invert them when I transform,” he explained, making the entire problem seem much simpler and more trivial than it was. Over the years, it had become second nature to him anyway.

”But yeah, you’re getting it. It’s not like you have to stick to your arms, either. Those things are pretty hook-like. You could probably hang upside down or break a fall with them, that kind’a thing,” he explained to her, trying to open her mind to the various options her partial transformation opened up to her.

”That’s kinda what I mean when I say weapons have creativity. You have to think about every shape and part of your weapon and how to make them into separate tools. Meisters just try to get stronger and stronger,” he told her, going full circle to the point he made earlier. ”Really, I would say your body is pretty incredible,” he added, though intended to be a reference to the potential of her transformations.

He spoke as if it were simple, though mentally mirroring it in the middle of a fight just seemed like a strain of multitasking. Maybe he had done it enough that he didn’t have to think too much. Dani was probably at that point with the sword, but not all the other stuff.

“That’s… actually a good point,” She conceded, looking over the new materializations. She never thought of using it for things like that. Perhaps she was too straight-laced in her mindset and combat. Then came another Adrian comment, and Dani’s focus hitched. Her face reddened again. “I-It’s not that great… I just do a lot of exerc—the sword! Right, the sword! Uh… Thanks!” She redirected the sentence midway as she realized what he meant. “Y-Your form probably gives you better defense than me partially transformed though.”

With her own business concluded, Nadia decided to be a bit nosey and check on Adrian and Dani, having seen the pair earlier, overhearing what the former had to say about Meisters, she snorted in contempt. ”Hmph. As if it were so easy, Meisters have limits as well.”

Taking note of how red Dani was, Nadia was unsure how to help with that situation, so she sought to change it all together. “My training is more or less over for now, seems you two finished up. Want to head back together?”

Dani jumped, not taking note of Nadia’s presence before she spoke. She was quick to stifle her flustered appearance however she could, certain the other would give her a bit of shit for it later. “U-Uh, sure. Want to?” She asked, looking to Adrian.

Adrian noticed Nadia entered and her comment about limits summoned a scoff from him. ”Your limits far exceed mine,” he told her, not exactly letting that line slide by.

”There was more we could do. I wanted to show you how to use those transformations how a weapon would instead of emulating someone holding a weapon,” he explained, giving some insight as to what he had planned.

His eyes darted over to Nadia and he asked, ”It’s a bit different to fight with a weapon than it is when it’s part of your body. You would agree, yeah?”

Listening to his own questions and how Dani’s own reaction kept the situation going, Nadia was both amused and annoyed as she checked the white doll in her left hand. No way I’m going to tell him I’m having to restart from the basics, some fucking Meister I am. She wasn’t even sure she would tell Dani, still his question was worth the answer.

”Hmm, that is mostly true, but I have seen exceptions, people that seem to take to a weapon just like it was an extension of themselves. I won’t pretend to be one, however I am most comfortable with a blade in my hands. For the most part you are correct, though that is why so many systems of training exist or just natural talent.” There was one more thing she had to say in regards to that, which she knew may offend the AW.

”A Meister and a weapon are both incomplete on their own in most regards if they try to always solo a situation in front of them, there are some exceptions to this rule however, the monsters of the Hoshi Family the most famously.

”You mean like Midori-sensei? Adrian asked, though it was mostly rhetorical. While it could be easy for plenty of her comments to have been interpreted as somewhat off-putting, Adrian had enough self-doubt that he mostly accepted it as true. Dani would ultimately be more powerful and thus more useful than him–solely because Nadia would wield her. He couldn’t argue that, nor would he try.

”Then yes… his entire family is fucking terrifying. Would you believe he’s actually weak by their standards? he asked her in an incredulous tone. It was a genuine question, and he was appalled by it. When he first learned how low Midori was on their totem pole and how far below he was from Midori, it was both mind-blowing and pride-crushing.

“Thos’re the ninjas right?” Dani remarked, simplifying the reputation of the clan to that of what was seen of in movies and games. “He’s weak? I couldn’t even fucking see him on the first day, I just figured the dandy was more insanely fast…” She murmured a bit annoyed. They were both fucking weapons too. “Either way, we can keep going for a bit, then head over, yeah? You mind?”

“AW’s have their uses as well, through wavelength effects chiefly, though the DWMA has been trying to pair them up until last I had an ear to that sort of stuff.

Though, I can’t say much as I don’t know how to do it myself, but I recall a few that had a solid foundation in chain resonance, which massively can improve the effectiveness of a team. As to Midori, there is much I’ve heard on that one. But you are right, that family is very strong.

Still I would rather have him as an ally than as an Enemy.” She said, partially, to what? She paused to think, was he even worth that suggestion to her? Looking forward she sighs. ”Plenty of work to do outside of this, we should get moving.”

”Humor for a moment, would you?” Adrian asked, specifically to Nadia. ”I have an idea that may work better with you,” he told her. On that note, he walked up to the wall of weapons and pulled down two fairly authentic-looking wooden practice swords. They certainly weren’t Dani-shaped or sized, but they were familiar nonetheless.

”Care to go a round? No fancy stuff, and I highly doubt I measure up to you in swordplay, but I want to do a little demonstration,” he said before tossing the sword to Nadia, disregarding whatever wooden item he was holding. ”Dani, all I want you to do is focus on our wrists,” he told her.

Narrowing her eyes at the request, she wasn’t sure how Starwulf would take her fighting on his grounds in her old style, when he wanted her to focus on the new. But it didn’t sound like Adrian had anything too dangerous in mind, or even that hard fought. Catching the sword, she stuck the doll into her pocket pouch, feeling the balance of the wooden sword, she hefts it up and down, releasing and catching the handle. “Works well enough, a tad heavy forward. Fine, let’s get on with it.”

Dani just looked between the both of them as Adrian said so, somewhat confused, but she did as asked. “Ookay…”

Adrian lifted the sword and notably held it in his left hand as opposed to right. That would potentially change the approach one would take against him. He was less focused on the heft and feel of the sword; he was accustomed to quickly adapting instead of evaluating. He also didn’t opt to waste time in his approach to Nadia. He held the sword at a diagonal angle and in front of him, leading with it instead of his body. While he held the wooden blade at roughly torso level, his hold on it was much lower at the waist, keeping its angle up with his wrist being bent to do so.

Then, he made the first move. A quick lunge aimed at the swordhand that Nadia was using–nothing more than the most rudimentary of stabs.

”Heh.” It was nice seeing someone so unhesitating on the offensive, still when it came to swords, she had been holding them for the last few years. While him going after her sword hand was annoying, she used her own size and leverage to bend back, twisting the blade into his cuts to parry and disengage, then leaning in she held her blade much higher in line with her shoulders as she turned the blade in a reverse grip, with the curve aimed down towards him, stabbing down towards his left arm. ”You never said the rules.”

”Fuck rules,” he responded. His tone as quick as his hands and his hands being quite deft, despite his admittance of being unskilled in the sword. She had parried his stab effectively, sure, but he wasn’t limited to his left hand. He moved into the parry, but dropped the sword so that it would fall in line with his right hand which he followed up with a horizontal slash to her midsection. In that moment, he could dodge the stab and continue with an unorthodox attack all at once.

It was then that Nadia decided to teach him a fundamental rule in swordplay, but first she had to defend against his initial attack, lifting her elbows up she turned the sword quickly and to her left as she turned it all the while her left hand went up to grab it, locking upon the hilt and taking up a two handed stance, she had yet to enhance herself.

As her wooden blade met his, her eyes locked in kind, fully expecting the follow up that she had very limited ways of dealing with. That was until she shifted her weight upon her left foot and crouched ever so slightly, swinging out with her right leg. If it be in taunt or practical knowledge for Dani she spoke as her kick headed directly for his ribs along the left side. ”Rule two of Sword fighting, you have more than just the sword.”

Adrian realized what was occurring and decided to go with the flow. If Nadia was going to change up the rules slightly, he would, too. In a rare event from the weapon, he opted to backstep from her kick, dodging it just by remaining out of range. In that same motion, he opted to turn his horizontal swing at her into a throw, thinking she wouldn’t expect the wooden sword to just come flying at her like a frisbee. Adrian then repeated himself, almost perfectly, ”Fuck rules.”

As the blade was thrown at her from so close in, Nadia has a narrow timeframe in which to act, fortunately it was a wooden sword, and if not, it was still a Katana based weapon, getting it chunked at you unless it was done like a spear wasn’t too dangerous. It was what followed that was the problem. Bending backwards she let her left leg slide under as the blade’s wooden thud sounded against the inner edge of hers, and just as quickly she turned her own blade at a diaangle, to intercept him like a pike, when he did not follow up, she picked herself up, grabbing the other blade she twirled both, if he wanted to show Dani just the practical reach, or an extended means of fighting, then that was more or less done. ”Heh. Next time do that with a dagger or a throwing knife. Or follow up the distraction with hand-to-hand. If we are done here, I’ll let you have these two back, I’m not putting them up for you. Unless you want to tell Starwulf to fuck the rules.”

His face went just a little pale. His eyes widened. He became just slightly more serious at her comment. ”I have,” he told her plainly, ”it did not go well.”

He opted to retrieve the wooden swords and return them to the shelf he acquired them from. The flashback of terror he had at the presence of Starwulf flaring his actual wavelength faded from him over that time, but it was certainly enough to scare him straight.

”I don’t do much actual throwing. Maybe dirt or rocks, but I mostly fight with the spikes,” he said as a direct answer to Nadia. Her advice was sound, it just didn’t apply to him quite as much as it did most others.

”So, uh… Dani,” he said, shifting his attention to her. ”You watched close, yeah? I held the sword at an angle you can’t recreate from your wrist, swapped hands, threw it; Nadia swapped her grip, too, and handled the blade deftly. Trying to do that kinda swirling from a static position would be pretty much impossible. We can change where we make our parts pop out, but we can’t adjust them once they’re out,” he explained to her, going over all the points he wanted to bring up through the fight.

”Oh,” he quickly followed up, ”and I think it’s pretty great, so… don’t be too harsh on yourself.” he added, referencing something from before Nadia showed up. He wasn’t quite sure if Dani would remember, but Adrian was pretty good about keeping things in mind.

Dani snickered a bit, watching the two go back and forth with their rule-breaking. “Yeah, I get that. Can’t be as flexible as using the sword normally,” She mused with a nod. Though his latter comment brought a confused brow raise. The whole sparring session had kicked that out of her mind. It took her a moment, but she did recall. “OH! Uh… t-thanks… Yours is too, so don’t sell yourself short…” Pausing a bit, Dani glanced at Nadia. She wasn’t going to linger too long on that sentiment at risk of the woman commenting on it. “So, we’re heading out, yeah?”

”Yes. And you did ask him if he wanted to join us when I first walked up here.” She wanted to roll her eyes, in fact she partially did, Dani wasn’t getting hot under the collar from one bloody meeting was she? She would need to have a talk with her eventually.

Motioning for Dani to come along, she didn’t bother to look back to see if Adrian was joining them or not, she assumed he would.

”Hmm,” Adrian hummed slightly, considering his options. He would have preferred a little more time with Dani, though he couldn’t pinpoint the reason specifically. A tinge of disappointment was in him that Nadia just seemed to be so nearby so quickly, but it wasn’t the end of his world. Beyond that, his only other options this soon would be more running, more attempts at meditation, or more gaming. He heard Midori was back in town, but didn’t actually know how to contact him. Surely, there had to be a way given he was a mentor…

That brief train of thought led him to the decision to follow-along. ”Sure, I’ll come along,” he told them both, ”someday we may want to review over how to fight with all those new forms, though.”

Dani scowled a bit at Nadia's eyeroll. Likely the woman knew and was not happy, or this was just her way of pouting. Perhaps both. Though the weapon’s expression lightened again when Adrian said he'd come with. "Yeah, definitely. I mean, we're probably not going to be sent off anywhere for a little while, so we'll have time," She said following behind Nadia.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Advice for the Dysfunctional​

Tags: EmperorsChosen

---

April 4th, 2067​

That familiar itch of Ulysses ringing the proverbial doorbell, seeking to contact Elly, had once again come into existence. Of course, they chatted often; in fact, almost every day since the event of the first, but this day was a little different. Ulysses was aware she was supposed to meet her intended partner. A gift of sorts that he had setup via some indirect assistance.

”My turtle-dove, please don’t tell me I’ve earned the cold shoulder,” he hearkened.

“You say that as if you’ve predicted how the day went,” Elly replied, in the same calm yet bubbly voice as always. “I take it you’re the string-puller responsible for Mr. Hoshi becoming my partner?”

”Of course I am. He’s the perfect candidate. Skilled, loyal to a fault, has insight you couldn’t otherwise acquire,” he answered her musically, ”well, about the program and ongoings, I mean. He has a special role.”

"Yes, he also has a wonderful personality that detracts from anything I could meaningfully get out of him,” Elly replied in turn. “But I surmise you were aware of that trait in him as well.”

”Do forgive me, love, but I get along with Midori swell,” Ulysses answered her, and there was no deceit in his tone. He couldn’t, given their souls were connected. ”He has attended my concerts, we’ve shared a few drinks, his taste was fine,” Ulysses explained, ”did something go afoul?”

"You could say that,” Elly answered. “I’m a tad too fake for him. I’m afraid that this isn’t likely to work,” She said, referencing his own words to describe her. "I’ve dealt with difficult people before, difficult partners, however I am at the advantage here where my dossier spoils all my tricks, or that I have tricks.”

”My dear, did you ever consider… not using your tricks?” Ulysses asked her quite whimsically, as if the answer was as simple as it was obvious–to him. ”He is far from the most… keen… Hoshi. Nonetheless, the entire lot of them are impossible taskmasters that can sniff out insincerity like a bloodhound,” Ulysses explained to her, almost as if warning her of their traits. Admittedly, that warning might have been more useful earlier in the day.

”I should inform you of precisely where his loyalty lies. It’s not to his clan,” Ulysses informed her, ”It’s to Lord Kidd. You see, the Shinigami was so kind as to offer the golem a piece of his soul to keep him alive. That’s actually precisely the loyalty I abused to get you the opportunity to wield him.”

"The most insincere I was with him was following a little test of his, involving the surging of his soul’s killer intent and making me believe he wanted to strangle me, if you were curious,” Elly replied with words of bitterness, not not a tone to match. "So I decided to put on an act of anger and chastised him to see how he would react. The situation deteriorated from there, though he wasn’t all that pleased to be with me since the morning’s beginning.”

Giving a brief summary of the day’s events, Elly continued. "He mentioned the part about Death. Regardless dear, that doesn’t provide me with many assurances.”

Elly could hear him hum from inside their connection. It was growing stronger. Originally, such mannerisms hardly echoed through, but now it was little different than if he was right there beside her. He was deep in thought for a moment, contemplating just what occurred.

”Do be kind and try not to take this the wrong way… but to the discerning eye, like mine or his, perhaps–and especially if you know a bit about your fine self–it’s very easy to be… a little off-put by how you carry yourself,” Ulysses informed her, trying his best to avoid triggering the landmine that most definitely could explode.

”Do you think perhaps he felt as if you were… toying with him right from the beginning?” Ulysses asked her in earnest.

"He most certainly did. He stated as much,” Elly replied straight-forwardly. "However, I also didn’t do anything until that point. I was polite, albeit cautious, and he was matter-of-fact and standoffish. My grand plan was just to figure out what I was dealing with,” She stated honestly. "Difficult as it may be to believe, I am quite limited in how I may toy or scheme. Most of my schemes, if you can describe them as such, are aimed at facilitating a pleasant relationship; building bridges so to speak, or networking. Can’t very well partner if each wants the other to disappear.”

”Allow me to share some of my experience from the music industry…” Ulysses said, seeing what he believed might have been the problem. ”Two people can act nearly the same, but make you feel a different way… small things, how they say them even if the words are identical, or just knowing who they are–like an agent, or a venue owner. One person may be courteous solely for the sake of being polite, another may want something from you. Networking is something I do a lot, and I can typically pick up on when someone wants something–which forces me to wonder why they want it, and if it will benefit my career or income,” he explained to her, being again fairly forthright.

”Take us, for example. I wanted something from you, and you knew it, yet you humored me because it offered you a benefit. Now is a chance to harvest that fruit, if of course the bridge with the young Hoshi can be repaired,” he told her, ”but consider his perspective. His role. Himself, even. There are so many things you could want–in fact, many things I would like to obtain myself–by partnering with him. He knows that. So, your courtesy and eager nature may come across as… malevolent.”

”I understand that is an odd tightrope to walk, but consider this: if you even remotely gave the impression of him being useful to you before you knew you could even hold him, would that not seem suspicious?” he asked her. His tone was less musical and more focused. He again was trying quite hard not to offend her, and that might have been obvious.

"I’m quite familiar,” She commented. Similar experiences, yet different contexts. Her networking was a little bit more precarious, but his words were true nonetheless. "I presumed that the DWMA would not have a weapon shipped out across the world, strings or no, that I was unlikely to be compatible with.”

Afterwards she sighed. "I also am more concerned with what one wants than if they want, as you say. Everyone wants something, even if that’s only to get along so as to have one less stressful thing to deal with… And I’m not going to bite your head off dear. Regardless, what would you propose then if not politeness?”

”Midori won’t be returning home. If he fails with you, he has other duties. I’m sure he didn’t share that due to what I expect to be a bruised ego,” Ulysses told her, giving her a piece of knowledge that was not earlier shed. It did at least stand to provide some clarity on her misconception about the pairing.

”I’m not sure immediately, love, as I don’t entirely know how you behave… consider that with me, it has always been a relationship of function. While I do enjoy your company and you enjoy mine, I’m not certain how far you would extend your hand based solely on that,” he answered her, being quite honest in how little he actually knew.

”But, let’s assume that you were to meet him solely because you did in fact enjoy his presence. Romantic or platonic matters little here in nature, but if you have to humor the thought, do so. How would you differ in approaching him?” Ulysses asked, painting a bit of a scene for Elly.

"I figured there was something,” Elly mused at that. "I’m sorry to disappoint you, but there isn’t some hidden, entirely different personality within me. If I enjoyed his company, not much would change. I invited him for coffee at the Hallowed Grounds. I’d simply talk, about himself, myself, current events, what have you. On the contrary, if I was truly unguarded and without a motive, I would likely be more forthwith, if anything.”

Her mask, while it existed, carried with it a misconception that she was wildly different on the inside. The truth was, she wasn’t. She was guarded, meaning she kept all her visible emotions as neutral or positive, and was constantly analyzing others to protect herself. Even with Annika, of whom she enjoyed the company of, Elly was still guarded, yet she still teased and laughed as she would normally for the most part.

To be honest… even when I am analyzing a conversation, that doesn’t mean I am not simultaneously enjoying it to some degree. I often do both,” Elly admitted.

”My dear, my beautiful Irish angel, I believe you’ve already stumbled onto your own answer for your error,” Ulysses told her. He was back to his musical, overly-gratuitous self. What she told him was enough for him to be certain that Midori had in fact picked up on some reservation or tick that made him believe she wasn’t simply being casual. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter; the fact alone she could admit there was a difference told him all he needed to hear.

Humming at that skeptically, Elly wasn’t sure it would work, given that trying to be more reserved and less invasive seemed to still be too irksome for him. However, it wasn’t as if she had many other options at this point. The bridge was burned or it wasn’t. I suppose I could give that a go, though I believe he’ll just be as annoyed… but, I can also live with that~,” She said with a hint of mischievousness.

”Well, perhaps fortunately for me, I do believe you missed your window for seduction,” Ulysses commented, though his tone came across as only half-joking. ”Believe it or not, the young Hoshi is normally quite susceptible to that tactic–at least, historically,” Ulysses informed her, shedding some details about her potential partner.

”Though, I do wonder if that was simply due to the circumstances of our meeting in Taiwan…” he mused, this time more playfully, perhaps even teasing her with such odd quips of information.

"Oh noo…” Elly cooed back with a false tone of disappointment before gasping. "Speaking of, he downplayed my seductiveness a multitude of times, and you say he has good taste?” She remarked in jest. "Though as you say that, I believe he was expecting something like that to occur, or to at least was guarded against it according to what he read in my file… Does my biography describe me as some sort of succubus?” She inquired with a slight pout.

"And now you’re dangling intel in front of my nose? After the day I’ve had? Oh, you’re as much of a bully as he is…” She droned exaggeratedly.

”My dear, this may unfortunately be a situation of… the less you know, the better,” Ulysses responded, providing at least some type of answer for her teasing.

”A succubus, no,” he followed up with a more direct answer to her question about her dossier, ”but, it does outline in significant detail some of your feats and skills… your entire legal history is there. Court documents, messages of all kinds, testimony from family and snitches alike, love. Chances are, some of it isn’t true.”

”But… they do paint you as someone that would do anything to achieve her goals,” he explained, hoping his dramatic emphasis would clarify what she wanted to know.

”Don’t let his opinions bog you down, love. You are most definitely a tantalizing fruit upon the tree of life,” Ulysses told her, offering her some fairly genuine reassurance. ”He simply prefers… fiery women with vibrant hair, a little more tone, perhaps a sob story he can relate to. You hide your story quite well, so it’s not like he can empathize at all,” he informed her, again giving some insight into her potential partner.

Well that's just never true," Elly pouted to that first rebuttal. "Or are you perhaps trying to conceal whatever you did in Taiwan as well? Hm?" She questioned playfully.

Everyone's so hung up on what I'd do to complete my goals, but no one asks what that goal is…" Elly groaned in defeat. "I never do… Even still, you might should give him some advice on how to talk to a lady when you next meet."

Then she hummed, pondering what he said. Fiery and vibrant meaning…?"

”Well…” Ulysses said, then pausing to think through this answer. She acted like he was some expert on Midori, but realistically, most of what he knew was second hand or from reports from years prior. Piecing together actual coherent information wasn’t actually as easy said as done.

”His very first Meister, she was an absolute prodigy… a step under a Stein, really,” he told her, ”Eros killed them both and made Midori into what he is today… his partner wasn’t so lucky.”

He was still stalling for time, trying to remember a crucial piece of information here. Meanwhile, he tried to fill in the gaps, ”if you ever hear rumors that the Hoshi accept skilled Meisters in Asia to train, it’s true. She was one of them. They called her Whistle for whatever reason,” he continued on, but stopped and even from within her soul she could almost feel the ah-ha! moment that came from him once he remember.

”Her name was Ao Mitsuki. Her profile is still public record; you should be able to look it up with your credentials, if you want,” Ulysses told her, ”but the point here is that I’m pretty sure our Hoshi friend has been trying to chase her even in death, if you understand my meaning.”

”When I met him… his taste always leaned towards brighter hair, reds mostly, but I’ve seen him settle for blues, greens, purples–colors that stand out or are hardly natural,” he explained to her, clarifying the rest of her question, ”and, as for fiery, I suppose I mean willful, imposing, perhaps a little… crazy.”

"So he's particular to reds and red flags," Elly summarized the intel succinctly. He did express some information regarding his death, though spared such details."

She thought back to words he said, about her being particularly weaker than he was and how that made him feel. Quite large shoes to fill. Some could be forgiven thinking Elly was similar, yet she wasn't. Skillful, certainly, however her abilities took practice and work just like others did. She had to train her amplification, just as she did her techniques. She opted to work smarter more than she did harder, but that wasn't to say she was a slacker by any means.

"Ao Mitsuki…"Elly mused in a ponder. "And reds… Let's see if I can cook up a peace offering. Though I think I'll let him gander for the most part at the others in the program for the latter. There's plenty of vibrancy and crazy to satisfy him I think."

”If the idea of death puts you off now, you would be appalled by him before his…” Ulysses paused, looking for a more pleasant way to put this, failing, and continuing regardless, ”second death.”

”I’m not precisely sure how it worked, my cousin may know more, but he could inject his wavelength into yours, and it created this loop of death. One would think this would cause rejection, but it was more of a hypnotic effect. Lost it entirely once Eros was out of his system, I believe, so perhaps it was some type of Madness…” Ulysses explained, though his explanation for once lacked his typical confidence and honestly seemed more half-ass than anything.

”If you mean to mend bridges with him, I suggest you get on it, love. You don’t have to seduce him–nor does anyone else… just approach him as if you have nothing to gain,” Ulysses told her, doing his best to urge her into the direction without pushing her quite too hard, ”though, I suppose you do in fact have everything to gain.”

"How joyous," Elly remarked with a slight roll of her eyes. She still wasn't a fan of that little bit of him, specifically the part where it was turned on her, but at least now she had the time to rationalize that he couldn't harm her, physical ability to do so aside. "Yes, I'll treat him like I do most others without reservation, whether it annoys him or not… and if he still butt heads like a ram, then he can sod off," She said, adding a cheeky tone towards the end.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Viraj Thales, IV​

"V"​

Species Human (Weapon)
Partner Darius Jackson
Rank Three Star

Location Death City, Northwest Quarter, Duchess of Discord
Mission Discourse at the Duchess
Status Curious, light-hearted

​

Tags: EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider Merciless Medic

"Still late..." V growled, almost to himself, and then realizing that comment was meant to be internal.

Realizing very quickly that he allowed that thought--aimed at his brother--to escape as a faux pas at this little congregation, V quickly elected to transition away from his comment with more small talk. The problem was just how to transition. A lot of topics seemed to spring up at once with various different people talking to another. Chances are, what he said would go unnoticed, but he still didn't like the idea of that bit of aggression slipping out of him.

"Davis will be quite fond of tight lips," V responded to Annika, pointing out specifically her comment about gossip. "A good majority of the people that work there let plenty slip out. He's not a fan. I'm surprised he let you walk out with a prototype," V followed up, giving some of his insight from experience. Granted, the prototype in question seemed more of a fashion accessory as it stood than it did combat apparel. That said, as a proof of concept, he could immediately see some application--if it was durable enough.

Then attention fell to Midori. V recalled a few years back when the man was the focal point of conversation inside the DWMA, and for good reason. Thea had worked with him before, but V never had. Really, most of what V knew was indirect commentary. He was admittedly somewhat uneasy about allowing him back into the DWMA at all, let alone leading a group of Fate Agents, or even partnering with one. Not that he wasn't one to support second chances, but Midori was a unique liability. From what he knew, no one was entirely certain how he worked. Eros dabbled in magic that could affect the soul. Such was entirely forbidden, thus there was little actual knowledge on it. That made Midori quite the unknown variable in any scenario, and that was the crux of why V distrusted him.

There was no way of really knowing of Midori was still a double-agent, some type of ticking time bomb, or just a run of the mill abomination--if such existed.

"I didn't even know you were back in Death City, Midori," V said, chiming in before the weapon got a chance to respond. "Still doing odd jobs for Lord Kidd?" V asked, using the only real concrete thing he knew about the Weapon. Due to his unique relationship with the Shinigami, he was often used for odd, one-off tasks by the de facto leader of the DWMA himself. Not normally the most important ones, nor ones requiring an elite, but ones that he wanted a direct line-in for.

Midori was a set of ears that belonged to the Shinigami, and had many times proven that. Another reason not to be terribly complacent around the weapon.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

The Alabaster Queen of Lake Nordall​

Tags Meredith Merciless Medic The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

---

March 28th, 2067​

A cool, gentle breeze carrying the crisp, clean air of the mountains of a soft spring morning--especially after a calm mist or gentle rain. The calm serenity of taking it in, breathing in the pure, unpolluted lifeblood gifted to man from the very skies above. The sun peaking over the mountain tops, illuminating the cotton clouds and shedding its light on a new day. It is no wonder, though is wonderous, that moment can be invigorating. The inspiration, the energy that flows into one as the golden rays hit their skin and warm their soul after the cool air so kindly blessed them with its tranquil kisses. It is such a profound feeling that many choose to settle down and live their life where they can hope to capture that feeling, if only a few times per year.

Yet, that feeling paled in comparison to this very lake.

The air was magic. For those that dabble with and cast magic on a daily basis, that may seem lack luster. The air here was more than just the mana that witches and sorcerers bent to their will. It was not just the force that made their abilities work. It could only be described as otherworldly, for nothing else in this world compared to a ley line. Even as they only neared it, the abundance of mana soon shifted into a source called ley. A primal, raw version of mana that did not need converted to be used. A bountiful, nigh-limitless see of endless possibility and power. It was to them as the sun was to all flora. It was to them as water was to the primordial creatures of the sea. It was as if a bird spent its entire life not knowing it could fly, then suddenly learning how to soar.

It was calming, yet energizing. It was invigorating, inspiring, awe-inducing, rejuvenating. It was, without a doubt, beyond words.

Alone, if nothing else on this trip made it worth it, this experience could justify it a thousand times over.

Once the group had finally explained to Rand what was occurring and his disbelief was dissolved by communicating with the spider for himself, they set forth. A makeshift stretcher, quickly constructed of some stashed materials, for Chanterelle, and whatever supplies they deemed necessary for this excursion. Not that many were needed. Compared to the rest of their adventure on the island, this leg of it was simple. Almost too easy. Not only were they close, but they lead willingly by an inhabitant. Despite the alarms it may have raised, the atmosphere here on the outskirts of the lake and even nearing it was different. There was no sense of danger, no feeling of being prey, no sense that they could be jumped at any minute. This truly may have been the eye of the storm. The only sanctuary on this island.

And, without issue, they arrived at Lake Nordall. Even Chanterelle in her state would be teeming with energy, the ley in the area seeping into her veins and even into her very cells, replenishing them still slowly but much more adeptly than she was on her own. Rand noticed this, and felt relieved.

The Lake itself was beyond anything any one in the group, aside from Rand who had seen it before, would have ever seen or felt. While the concentration of ley and mana in the air was greatest here, long ego had each of them hit their cap at how much they could take in. This was so far beyond their physical capabilities that chances were, none of them--even Rand--could truly appreciate or understand what this force truly meant. How far beyond them the natural cycle of mana through the planet was in comparison to but a few simple organisms, witches be them or otherwise.

Not only the sensation, but the beauty. Lake Nordall was fairly large, though one could see it from end-to-end. The water it in was perfectly still, yet counter to how still water normally appeared, it was crystal clear. One could see through it to the very bottom. Each rock, each pebble, the sparkle of pica that radiated in the sun, and while no fauna seemingly existed inside of it and thus no turbulence to disturb it, it still held plenty of flora of all colors their eyes could see, floating effortlessly with such clarity that it almost seemed suspended in glass. Only on the occasion that the wind pushed the water slightly to create ripples did the sun bounce off the water in a such a way to even prove it was their with its glisten.

Urged to step along the shoreline by the spiders, the group did so. Off in the center of the lake was a fountain of water uplifting, spurring up until a large sphere of almost transparent webbing rose. And, rose. And, rose. Nearly a third of the lake seemed to be covered in this webbing once it broke through the surface and from it spawned a massive arachnid. One that outsized every single one that came before it. One that also had her own beauty. An Orb Weaver of some type with a brilliant white abdomen and markings that shimmered like gold in the sun, outlining a copperish interior that while lacked luster had an intricate pattern akin to an abstract splattering of metallic oils. Each of her legs stretched out long and slender, able to support herself on the water, and each an amber-brown with the same golden fur running down them.

Even more so than any other spiders, her abdomen by far outsized the rest of her body, to the point her midsection and head looked almost comically small. With her legs included, she may have reached nearly two-hundred feet from leg-to-leg, making the size difference only that much more apparent. Despite her size and how daunting it may have been, still nothing about this spider radiated hostility. In fact, soon enough, the opposite would occur. The golden fur surrounding her began to glow and in just moments, covered her body in a white light not unlike a weapon transformation. This was, in fact, a transformation, but not one into a weapon. She was taking on a form she thought would be more amicable to those in front of her.

Much smaller, though still several feel taller and outsizing even Ark, this new form bore a human appearance atop the spider head. An arachnid-centaur of some kind, and a completely unprecedented act for these creatures yet again. Her legs could walk on the water without even disturbing it, as if it were solid ground, and she approached from her palace of webs to meet the group along the shore, leaving behind her what was revealed to be a massive nest of eggs and sacks bound together.

"I... apologize," she told them, though slowly as she searched for the words, "for my children."

She offered them a pleasant smile from her human face, the rest of her body remaining unmoving once she had neared them. "They are scouts, guarding the perimeter and alerting us if is breached. The Brunnias--the our cousins that consume all... [imana[/i]... as you call it, attack in large number and only seek to consume us as well," she told them, though she often stumbled. Her words were hardly confident. She was adapting her knowledge to their language for the first time ever. The group had no way of knowing, but she was using a connection through the ley line to seek their language from their own minds.

"We defend ourselves first; we had no way of knowing that today, we would meet others that did not wish to consume or kill us," she explained to them, mostly just trying to justify their actions.

"I am Mother. I suppose I have no name like you all, but I am what name suggests: the mother of all of my kind you see. In a way, I also the grandmother, for the Mother of the Brunnais and Nigrais are my children," she told them, doing her best to introduce herself. It was difficult to try and accomplish this given how she simply had never before had to.

"I do not wish to fight, kill, or risk my children," she told them, "I do not know why you are here or how you came to be, but if we can exist without quarrel, I shall answer any question you may have or offer my aid."

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Midori☆Hoshi​

"Dark Star"​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Death City, Northwest Quarter, Duchess of Discord
Mission Discourse at the Duchess
Status Intrigued. jovial

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Merciless Medic

Sara was the first to greet him. It made sense, giving her outgoing personality. It seemed the group had some new faces he didn't recall, though most he did. It was an interesting assortment. A Russian gang leader--albeit a small one--with ice blood and an even colder attitude. A bastard sword that lost her brother and had a soul as suitable for killing as his own. An Autonomous Weapon with a temper and unique form even more suitable to the style than his own. A semi-transformed werewolf with a heart of gold. Really, it just seemed that his own partner, the girl with the flashy dress, and the new partner of Sara were the ones he was not familiar with. Aside from Elly, he hadn't take the time to read up on everyone.

He was sure the comment V let slip was about Gauss, though. Midori admittedly knew very little about the two, but if it was anything like him and Thea, it was bad news.

"If not for how smitten Elly is with me, I might not have elected to try a partnership again," Midori said aloud, primarily taking a teasing shot at Elly in public, but mostly just to offer some reassurance to Annika. "I won't pretend that I know how you fight or what you do, but there's definitely in merit in learning how to be productive alone," he explained.

Then, with a charming smile, he beamed back over to Sara. "Now Sara, as nice as it is to see you again--and it is--you ought to know I can't go discussing those two. The best I can do is ease your mind and confirm both are alive and well," he told her, quite sincerely, too. He didn't intend for his tone to be flirtatious, though from a side-ways glance it could be taken that way. Instead, he only meant to mirror her own normally bubbly personality while slipping out the tiniest bit of info he could about Zosar. Honestly, he shouldn't have even let that go.

"I've been back since the third," Midori then added, darting over to V. The wildcard, if anything. His superior in rank and skill, the only one he couldn't just cheat with a dossier for, and simply just a man he had little experience with. V had a reputation, at the very least. A wavelength as absurd as his brother's, a family history as problematic as the Stein lineage, and a rare Utility Weapon that opted to, much like himself, pair with multiple Meisters instead of just one. Midori really couldn't get a read on him.

"I was looking forward to a pleasant vacation, but as you know, most agents were called back... I really wish I could have done more," Midori said, letting it slip that he was regretful that he wasn't present to help with the tragedy that occurred on the first. He was still out in Japan with Zosar and Adra, doing his best to guide them along, all while training himself. Unfortunately, he didn't get as much out of it as he had hoped for.

"Oh," he then said, and with a flash, was gone, leaving only his stereotypical after image behind. A moment later, he appeared behind Adrian, who was remaining mostly quiet in his backwards chair. He grasped the blue-haired weapon in a headlock and started grinding his knuckles into his head, giving him a noogie. A simple, teasing gesture for his former student. "And, Adrian, how dare you not greet me! I'm supposed to be your favorite mentor," he announced, feigning a broken heart as he tussled with Adrian to keep him in the headlock.

Adrian was not amused.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

As the group moved along, Maria was starting to see why this island was the way it was. With so much magical energy and its biosphere, life, magically influenced life, was not a question of how, but when. The energy they all could feel, the essence of mana, magic and the leylines, it was enough that even Maria found her reserves filled, considering all the magic she had been using up till this point. Chanterelle, was still unconscious, but she should be stable for now. A great and mighty lake laid out before them as Maria closely studdied what was in the water beneath them, pausing to catch her breath one item of note caught her attention. "Wait something is the-"

Before she could finish as they were at the lakeshore a giant amount of webbing sprung up from the center, expanding more and more, working its way towards them, and then a spider, a massive spider that even made the largest of crabs look like a child before it. And just as suddenly, its magnificent figure, glowed brightly and started to reform, akin to a weapon. A new and much smaller being, well, if one counted a ten- to twelve-foot-tall creature as small, stood before them.

No, creature was wrong, this was a woman. For one who was of the Conservative Sect of the Magic Guild, it was clear what needed to be done here. They could no longer see her as some fluke or a monster, rather she was a beastman and the DWMA and its new directives made it clear that she should be treated within human rights. This was her home. Though it was maybe ahead of herself to speak, glancing at Rand to see if he would rebuke or shut her up, then the other two males as well, Maria was being unusually diplomatic: "Mother of the Brunnais and Nigrais, we are travelers from across the great Sea, we came here to record what was happening at your home, this Island we call Dall Island, we are under the command of the taller fellow over there..." Giving a gesture of Rand, she speaks, "He is known as Rand, I am Maria, That is Ark, Raph and the sleeping one is Chanterelle. We have come here to take samples of the local wildlife and Fauna, that is the plants and animals and wood samples from the Great Tree that looks over your domain.

I on the other hand am curious, your Children mentioned foes from the sky, what manner of beings are these?" She would not make an offer of assesting them against the black ones or any sort of requests at all, the rest could do so, but in her eyes that honor belonged to Rand, in fact even speaking to her was going to far by some protocol. And never mind to pointing out with the Mother making her presence known, unless she proved hostile the DWMA would likely want these beings treated with rather than taken as test subjects. Or at least to her understanding that was the case. Having introduced her comrades, one by one, she then waited to see what would be said next, or if she would get a rebuke.

It was just surprising the level of communication difference between her and her children, how did she learn English so well? How long had she lived in general or here? There was a lot to ask, but she was unsure of if those things should be asked.

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Monster Called Anxiety​

Tags: Merciless Medic Peckinou

---

April 10th, 2067​

”C’mon, lovebirds, you’re going to make us late,” Gauss half-shouted, his voice straining just slightly to make it through the thickness of the door. Arky and Noah were taking their dear, sweet time getting ready to leave for the club. He knocked on the door yet again, wondering what could feasibly be taking this long. The man knew he at times took a more than fair amount of time getting himself prim and proper when he wanted to, but to take longer than him–in his mind–was absurd.

Or, perhaps he was impatient. Or, more likely, the fact that it was his brother that summoned them that made him nervous.


Okay, so maybe they were running a bit late. Noah snarled at the comment from Gauss, rolling his eyes as he attempted to put on something nice. Well, nice being that he actually ironed his more formal-casual clothes he almost always wore after having them cleaned and was fussing with that stupid dark green tie. He just about punched the mirror before realizing he shouldn’t be doing that, nor did he want to explain that to Gauss.

Letting the tie just hang there loosely, he looked around for Arkayis, whistling. “Yo, how ready are ya, ‘n’ do ya know how to tie a tie? It’s been almost fifteen years since I’ve had to do anythin’ with these little shits.” He grumbled at the end, looking at the door Gauss was waiting outside of with a bit of disdain. “I dun’ want him knowin’ I can’t tie a tie… He sighed, scratching the back of his head.

If Arkayis had the option to not go, he probably would have been tempted to take that option, but it seemed that that card simply wasn’t on the table. Arkayis really didn’t take long to get dressed as they practically threw on a button up shirt, along with some nice dark pants and then added a nice belt to top it off. It was a simple out more so for a casual dress up than anything else, but Arkayis really didn’t care too much about it, besides they really didn’t want to wear a tuxedo as it was so tedious to wear.

As Arkayis was putting their shoes on though he was able to hear Noah calling for them and asking them for assistance with a tie.While Arkayis wasn’t exactly that experienced in tying ties, he did somewhat know how to do it, due to his sister making him wear a full on tux every now and then. So Arkayis went on to exit their room in order to help Noah at their request,even though it had been a while since Arkayis had to tie a tie. “Well I might be able to help I guess, maybe, I don’t know, it’s been a while.” Without missing a beat Arkayis took the tie from Noah, before wrapping it around their neck, before bringing it across, and then going through the loop before tightening it. It was a bit sloppy but it was good enough for Arkayis and seemed to actually work, though they had seen more complicated ties made, they only really knew how to do the simple one somewhat. Arkayis then let out a sigh before saying “Ties are so tedious, don’t even know why you bother with one.”

Noah chuckled a bit sheepishly, looking away as Arkayis helped him with his tie. “I dunno, I just feel… Like I should… Lookin’ nice in a sort of small party for us ‘n’ as celebration for the lives who survived ‘n’ to - in Death City’s culture - honor those who lived ‘n’ died by lettin’ them know we’re okay; that we won’t let their lives go in vain but we won’t let their disappearance kill us either. As reassurance to those who died that the world ‘n’ people they left’ll be safeguarded ‘n’ those people’ll become better than when they last met them ‘fore their deaths.” Tone robotic, it was as if someone had told him that ideology a thousand times, or maybe he said that to himself many times to make himself feel better about deaths he couldn’t move on from. Still, his eyes fell, sighing as he tightened the tie after Arkayis was done, finding it hard to look at his face, like he was guilty but for what he didn’t know. “Thanks… At least we’re able to do somethin’ about all that nonsense… Unlike with MIBVI…” How did Sara always keep a chipper attitude? Well, granted, Sara’s attempts a week prior to keep herself from losing it failed, so… He guessed it was even harder for everyone involved.

Arkayis couldn’t help but look at Noah questioningly as he recited the ideology, by how robotic his tone of voice sounded, it was pretty clear to Arkayis that he was reciting something. Not that he minded of course, though when Noah mentioned the MIBVI Arkayis couldn’t help but tense at the thought, but quickly calmed down with a sigh. Before then asking Noah, ”Do you really even believe in all that? Or is that just something you say to yourself to put yourself at ease? Who was even the original author of that quote?”


The question took Noah out of his reverie. He looked at Arkayis this time, and there was a deep sadness within those emerald green eyes. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh. “I wish I could… I know it helps others out. I do believe in what it means, but I can’t get my heart to agree with its comfort. I don’t know who said it, I just know it’s been a core tenant ‘n’ belief within Death City for a long time. To never let what happened take ya away from yer purpose in life or some such bullshit.” He just shook his head. “But for those of us who can’t? It feels more like a hollow sentiment, like kissin’ a scrape on a little kid ‘n’ tellin’ them it’s all better now…”[/b]

With a sigh, Arkayis turned his eyes towards the ground, not really moved by the quote in the slightest. But he did take into account what Noah said, especially with the later sentence, feeling as though that was the true purpose of the quote. With a shrug Arkayis simply went on to agree with Noah about the later part. ”Likely.” Though it was half hearted, as he really didn’t feel entirely comfortable sharing his views yet, simply moving on to focus on preparing to leave for the party.

Blinking rapidly to rid himself of the forming mist covering his eyes, he shook his head and gave a sort of half-smile. While he wished they could speak more on the matter, they had a party to go to, and Noah didn't want to end up crying in front of Arkayis. “We should get goin’. Let’s go. Ya have everythin’? Oh.” He felt his thigh and realized he had put on his DWMA-issued knife by habit. He looked back to it, as if caught in some sort of trance. Should he bring it with? Pretty sure if it’s a party, he won’t need it, but… He was glad he brought it with him during the Fool’s Festival. If he hadn’t… They would have had a harder fight against that witch, and they likely wouldn’t have killed her in time or as quickly.

Making up his mind, he shook his head and kept it on, walking to the door. “Aite, we done. Sorry f’r takin’ so long.” He opened the door, smiling slightly, but it was removed with a depressed stare into nothing, his attempts to look Gauss in the eyes failed as he couldn’t even see his face.

Unlike Sara, who was dealing with her emotions full force, Noah tried hiding himself from his, and no amount of community service, video games, training, or helping others was going to solve his issues like he wanted them to.

One might have thought Gauss would be angry or frustrated for the wait. However, the tapping of his fingers along his crossed arm and quick dart of his eyes over to Noah once the door flung open had a different picture painted. He was a little less confident. A little less composed than normal. He was nervous.

”By Death…” he said before a sigh, pursing his lips slightly for just the moment between his words. ”We’re already late. V is gonna roast my ass–probably assume I’m out whoring around or some shit,” Gauss explained, cutting directly to the point of his concern and even using some phrases the two had never heard from him before. Much like Thea, V was one of the few people that could truly make Gauss shift in personality.

With the two in tow, Gauss led the way through the apartment complex to the elevator. Hearing it ding open and shut seemed to only make his anxious energy worse. The wait time of descending now that they were late was enough to bear down on him. Every second they spent going down, he had intrusive thoughts. It would have just been easier to leap out the window. Have these two transform and make a mad dash through Death City that way. Sure, it might mess up his outfit some, but they were likely to be the last ones there at the rate they were going.

The stress showed. And, unlike in literally any other context with Gauss, he wasn’t quite to snort, smoke, drink, or pop something to make that anxiety just disappear.

Man, he’s anxious… Noah had been studying Gauss as they left the room. It was pretty obvious, Noah thought Gauss was going to grill him, but no he was worried about it happening to him. Honestly, most people would have grilled Noah and just not said anything about possibly being roasted later, so he was actually glad Gauss wasn’t like those people.

As they entered the elevator, he set his hand on Gauss’s shoulder, his hand arcing with electricity into Gauss’s shoulder to impart some healing wavelength because maybe it helped with anxiety? “Yo, I get it, ya wanna make a better impression that yer doin’ better. I’ll vouch f’r ya, even if he thinks it don’t count. Will yer bro really be as venomous as yer sis, though?” He didn’t know a whole lot about V really was with Gauss, so he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t just some Thea clone behaviorally.

”V is nothing like Thea,” Gauss responded quickly. Whether it was his anxiety or a defensive snap over his brother was difficult to tell. He was still on edge. In his mind, the elevator was going absurdly slow. Much slower than normal. It was a smooth, gentle ride, unlike the cheaper systems in low-end hotels, but that only made his hyper-attentive nature to the passage of time worse as he couldn’t even count the floors down aside from the lights displaying on the control console.

”He won’t say or do anything… but he’ll think it… and I doubt he’ll take what my weapons say for me at face value; I’ve had partners lie to him before,” Gauss admitted, his tone simply matter-of-fact without the guilt that should have came with such a claim.

”He actually forbade Thea from attending… he’s quite earnest in throwing this for us. It’s not like he’s trying to spoil just me; he would… never do that,” Gauss explained to them, trying to offer some peace of mind about Thea. Arky hadn’t met her, but he was sure Noah still had foul memories of her. Besides that, he didn’t want them to get the wrong impression for this event. Gauss could throw a grander party if he felt like it. This wasn’t something funded by Thales money, though. That wasn’t the point.

Arkayis was pretty quick to follow Noah out, though they quickly started to grow nervous just from seeing how distressed Gauss looked, even going on to rush them towards the elevator. Arkayis was used to seeing Gauss being so full of himself, confident and arrogant, but seeing him look so anxious was very concerning to Arkayis, though as Noah and Gauss began to speak, Arkayis initial anxiety quickly transformed into confusion. Learning that Gauss was concerned about his brother V apparently, it wasn’t exactly something Arkayis fully understood, though Arkayis was the youngest of his family and was typically the most sheltered and protected one, that was until they lost their entire family.

Though still the idea of being nervous to meet one's own brother seemed a bit foreign to him regardless, but if it seemed so important to Gauss that it would actually make him break character over, then it must be something more to it. Figuring that it would probably be best to placate Gauss in order to make him more at ease Arkayis simply went on to be straight forward and ask Gauss. “Well uhm, is there anything you would want to have us do in order to help you out then?”

Gauss was so consumed by his own anxiety he failed to notice that of Arkaysis’. In that moment, all he could consider was the actual question that his partner had asked. Was there anything either of them could do to help? Well, no. They were already late. Fussing over ties and delaying until the last minute, likely playing games, or having slept in, or having some type of delayed lunch. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. But, one thing did come to mind.

”Yes, there is, actually,” Gauss answered, having considered Arky specifically. ”There will likely be Witches and Sorcerers there. Do not burn or threaten them,” Gauss said, informing his weapon partner of what to expect. ”They are all agents and thus our equals. We’re on the same side and we don’t attack our allies,” he explained, trying to sternly drive this point home.

Arkayis worry turned into immediate scorn at the mention of Witches and Sorcerers, his eyes twitched in annoyance. He wasn’t fond of Sorcerers and absolutely loathed witches, the idea of having to share the same room as them without being able to turn them into a pile of ashes left a sour taste in his mouth. So crossing his arms he said, ”I don’t think I wanna go anymore.” in a matter of factly sorta tone, one that hinted at a sort of calm displeasure.


Noah listened as Arkayis asked what to do and with Gauss’s response, Noah realized there was going to be more than just them there. He sighed and put a hand on Arkayis’s shoulder. “Nah, yer comin’ along. I need someone there besides anxiety ball over ‘ere-” He lightly shook Gauss’s shoulder slightly. “-’n’ I’m likely to get really drunk ‘cause we all know how bad my tolerance is. ‘Sides, I dunno if they’ll be in the same room as us. Jus’ watch out for me, ‘kay?” He attempted to reassure Arkayis, hoping that it actually worked and to give him something to do.

Arkayis annoyance turned towards Noah as they said that they would be going with them, though he wasn’t pleased by it, he wasn’t going to say no to Noah, which meant he was going to have to go now. Though as Noah explained how he planned to get drunk, Arkayisis annoyance started to dissipate as he began to soon let out an annoyed sigh. Though he was a bit suspicious when Noah claimed that the witches and Sorcerers might not be in the same room as them, it did calm Arkayis down a bit as he received a bit of doubtful hope.”Fine, as long as I don't have to deal with those stupid Witches and Sorcerers.” Arkayis was still clearly miffed, though figured that there was a chance he would be able to avoid have to see the witches and sorcerers if they were able to get lucky enough.


Gauss possessed a fairly imposing soul. Normally, it was described as one with a pull. One that almost wanted to drag you into it and let you free float in the orbit of his radiance. This could be concerning to some, but in general, it was considered a fairly pleasant experience. His soul was bright, warm, and vivid. His soul space was large and inviting, his spiritual energy flowed through it with invigorating freedom.

But, in that moment, it was cold. His soul possessed that same imposing force, but it was hardly inviting. If anything, it was dark and abysmal, not far off from a stone cold killer or a black hole of aggression. His yellow eyes darted over to Arkaysis and within them, there was only the most serious of intent and pressure. He hardly appeared to be the same man, even to Noah.

”Arkayis, if you make a scene, by Death, I will fucking castrate you,” Gauss threatened him. It was cold. Just as cold as cold as the wavelength radiating off of his soul. The elevator might have chilled without actually losing a degree of heat.

The elevator dinged and Gauss stepped out, walking in a fairly frantic pace forward. ”Either come and behave or remain here and keep your family jewels,” Gauss said without bothering to maintain eye contact or even acknowledge his weapon, ”but either way, I won’t have you making a scene; and, you need to get the fuck over your issues before they become my issues.”

While Arkayis stood pretty firmly against the existence of witches, he couldn’t help but waver somewhat as the atmosphere shifted. Though the look they gave Gauss showed their clear dislike towards the situation and being threatened, they didn’t really do anything about it. Arkayis had clearly gotten the message, though he wasn’t happy at all about it, even if Gauss likely said those things out of frustration. Though before Arkayis could think of a proper retort, the elevator door opened and Gauss rushed out. Arkayis soon trailed after Gauss muttering a few insults he heard his sister say to other people in German, as they chased behind Gauss.

Sighing as the situation felt like it was going to escalate, they were saved by the bell of the elevator. Noah closed his eyes in slight annoyance as he wanted them all to be calm. He guessed his healing wavelength didn’t work like that. He followed after the two, walking beside Arkayis mostly as he looked over at him, voice slightly quiet but mostly because of how calmly he was taking this despite his annoyance. “Look, I don’t like workin’ with the DWMA, yet I have to if I wanna get anywhere. If ya make a scene, all that’s gonna do is go on Gauss for not bein’ able to have a properly behaved weapon, ‘n’ you’d likely be taken from us ‘n’ Gauss reprimanded for somethin’ he couldn’t control. So chill. Yer problem’s now gonna be our problem if ya react wrongly. We’re a team now, so please be considerate that whatever ya do, we’ll all be affected by.”

Arkayis mood had plummeted quite a bit, as his eyes grew darker than usual, though as Noah appeared by his side, he turned his attention towards them. Though as Arkayis began to listen to Noah, it was clear that he valued more of Noah's input than Gauss, as he began to visibly relax somewhat. He still wasn’t happy, and was a bit unsure as well, as the idea of being reassigned a new meister wasn’t something he thought would happen. It wasn’t like he could be paired with just anyone anyways, but there was a possibility that the DWMA did have potential candidates that he could be reassigned to. Though with Noah admitting that he wasn’t entirely fond of the DWMA, couldn't help but think that Noah more than likely had their best interest at heart. So with a bit of reluctance he gave a nod towards Noah before muttering a quick response. “Fine.” A short and simple confirmation that he wouldn’t try to do anything rash.

---

The conversation came to an end after the last few comments, and remained that way during the rest of the time getting to the Duchess. Gauss elected to acquire a direct ride for the three of them to the club as opposed to public transit, which was originally the plan. Regardless of how they tried to make up for the time lost, they would still be fairly late to the party. At that point, Gauss didn’t quite care how they got there, and no one seemed willing to argue with him.

Even still, Gauss and his nervous energy–even in silence–was still abundant. Constantly staring out the window or checking his phone within the car, slight sighs here and there, nervous ticks that were never-before seen in him. Noah looked on in worry, even - wondering if his wavelength would actually work against his anxieties.

At last, they finally arrived. Only now did Gauss opt to mask those nerves. And, he did it incredibly well. Even Arkayis at this point would have been able to pick up on how Gauss shifted in attitude because of the stark contrast. For the most part, he returned to his normal, confident, composed self. Not that any of it was real–quite the opposite. Just that it was the way of things. It made Noah wonder if all of his time during the beginning of the Fate program was all an act, too.

VIP section. Great. Not that Gauss was unfamiliar with them, just that it meant he would likely be in an even more confined space with his peers. And, more importantly, his brother. Lo and behold upon ascending the stairs to the VIP section, the entirety of everyone from that fateful encounter on the first was present, plus a few.

His eyes immediately fell on V. The two looked so similar, it was uncanny. Looking at the eyes of one was nearly the same as the other, and when they made eye contact, it was almost like looking into a hall of mirrors.

”Long time, no see, brother,” Gauss said, throwing out the first word.

Noah looked between Gauss and V, finding the similarities almost uncanny, but he found that the people who looked the most similar tended to be quite the opposites in many things. At least, that was a media trope. He waved to V, and to anybody who really saw, but stood by Gauss’s side in the event he was needed, mulling over how to use his wavelength effectively to help calm Gauss’s nerves.

As Arkayis looked between Gauss and V, it seemed pretty clear that they were related just by looking at them, they were able to find many striking similarities. Though by how tense Gauss seemed a moment ago, he doubted their relationship was the best. While Noah stood by Gauss’s side, Arkayis stood by Noah's side. While giving a sideways glance towards Gauss, as if wanting to see just how this event would play out between the two.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Viraj Thales, IV​

"V"​

Species Human (Weapon)
Partner Darius Jackson
Rank Three Star

Location Death City, Northwest Quarter, Duchess of Discord
Mission Discourse at the Duchess
Status sincere

​

Tags: EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider Merciless Medic Peckinou

And so, the prodigal son arrives.

Or, in this case, brother.

Thaddeus strolled in nearly half an hour late with not one but two weapon partners--a factoid V was not aware of--and greeting him as if everything was perfectly fine. Now, V loved his brother. He was the mediator for much of the struggles between his brother and sister. He knew he had two weapons at one point, but he had heard it was reduced to one. V personally was against Thaddeus utilizing multiple weapons given his history, and likely that was why this came as a surprise to him. The nonchalant attitude and tardiness only further frustrated him.

But, it was just that. Frustration. V offered his brother the benefit of the doubt, internally, and his arrival at the very least meant that proceedings could get underway. V only had a few announcements to make to the group, and that was probably the reason most of them were here. Admittedly, his announcements were likely underwhelming, but it did offer the chance to get everyone together. These Fate Agents may not have realized it, but getting them out in the open and at least acting some semblance of normal would go a long way. Friendships could form, breaking that outer shell of animosity was important.

Not to mention, he was entirely honest when he mentioned that the owners of the club wanted to thank all of the agents directly involved with saving the city. That didn't just apply to this group alone, but having them show up would go a long way in showing good faith.

"Yes it has, brother," V replied to Gauss, imitating his quasi-formal tone. "You have my number, you know. You could hit me up any time I'm in town," he suggested pleasantly, "You haven't even introduced me to your partners."

"Though, I do want to move on to the reason I asked most of you to come, since I'm sure that's what plenty of you came for," V said, cutting into his own little exchange with Gauss. It was slightly tense, but V had a way of keeping it quite polite without any over-the-top family tension impregnating the conversation for everyone.

"I'll get to that, but I do admit I hope some of you won't just leave once I explain this all to you," he told them all. He then stood up, transformed the tip of his finger into a tiny blade, and used it to tap a glass loud enough to garner some attention.

"I'm sure most of you don't know me beyond the brother of some guy you work with," he started out, being quite humble in his introduction, "or, just the stranger that wrangled you into this club."

"But, I'm V, a Three-Star Weapon, and my primary partner happens to be the son of one of the directors of the F.A.T.E. Program, so I'm privy to a touch of news as it comes in," he explained, offering them all some credence for why anything he said might hold weight. It was now that many more might find some comparisons to Gauss, too. V was charismatic, chose his words carefully, could command attention in a room. His voice exuded a more quiet type of confidence than his brother, and his entire demeanor was more put together and mature. Regardless, the genes ran deep. Perhaps, frustratingly so.

"Firstly, in no small part due to the collars some of you wear, Fate Agents across Death City happened to be some of the first to spring into action. I know, and more importantly, the directors know that it is no small hit to your pride to wear those. Yet, they were integral in securing the city promptly, and likely helped save countless lives. The humility you showed in accepting them as went a long way, and furthermore, the technology behind them is being considered in use for less intrusive, but standard gear for agents across the board to resist another attack like that. So, what I mean to say, is that you soon will not be alone," he announced, starting his speech with a way he thought might touch him, and more so proving he was good orator as his speech transitioned to more personal topics about the agents rather than himself.

"Secondly, it was not just you guys, but nearly fifty Fate Agents in total fought on the front lines. That's nearly everyone still in the program. It should go without saying that act represents honor, bravery, and a desire to defend those around you. All traits agents should share. All traits that truly carried a lot of weight when evaluating the program," he told them, switching to a more complimentary tone. It may have mostly been honeyed words, but they all held a kernel of truth to them.

"You will all be called upon tomorrow to go over some changes to the program. Mentors will become less prominent and even less active on missions. There are two goals with this. One of the main ones is that they want to push actual independence, and are doing so by deeming certain agents as leaders. The reason for this is that, as demonstrated, most agents successfully operated together without mentors present. It is believed that working as a group with a designated leader amongst yourselves will foster teamwork that will lead you to success when you rejoin the starred-ranks of the DWMA. The other reason is that the directors want you to perceive mentors and your senior agents as resources. People you can go to for training, advice, guidance, and not simply because they are assigned to you. The belief is that this will foster better relationships and change the dynamic present, so that you all may not feel like you are constantly under the watchful eye of an overseer," he explained, going over the actual, tangible changes to the program.

"I am uncertain of the exact specifics of how they will do this, but it has apparently been in the works for all of your mentors. I would assume they will explain to you tomorrow what will go on from here," he told them all, bringing a halt to the information he did have access to.

"But, there is more. In the future, there are goals to assign witches and sorcerers to your teams, and consider them modular. You will not always work with the same teammates. You may have a different leader from mission to mission, and you may be selected--as most agents are--on how suitable you are for a mission, not how well you get along with one another. That may seem counter productive, but I can confirm this: the F.A.T.E. Program has been cleared for higher-risk missions, and even some that are privately-paid missions from our third-party clientele. In short, the training wheels are off," he told them, switching back to feeding them more information about the upcoming changes, these more general and affecting the program on a larger scope.

"Some of these changes will be immediate, some will occur over time, but I felt you would do best if prepared for them," V told them all, making sure they know that some of these announcements may not occur tomorrow. "That happens to be all I have for you. Despite the tragedy that was the first, you all did amazing work. I cannot speak for the entire DWMA, but I can speak for those of us that wish you see you succeed. What you did showed everyone, irrefutably, that you deserve to fight alongside us. I hope you all pave the way for the program so that it may continue to produce fine agents such as yourself," he told them all, wrapping up his speech before stepped back and giving the crowd a slight bow.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Death City - Duchess of Discord
​

Not paying too much attention to the recent arrivals, she would listen in to some of what was said, particularly, what Dani said of note, she had forgotten when that bitch had suggested he was fucking the pair of them. Still, Dani had said what was needed. Among the recent arrivals was Sara and Eva, what was her name wasn't it? They were mostly keeping to themselves, till Sara ran off to ask 20 questions about whom she assumed was her friend.

What was impressive was when the Hoshi moved in at an instant to talk to Adrian, silently, swiftly, automatically Nadia found her right hand darting for the knife that would normally be strapped to her side. No wonder he was an assassin. Still, it was interesting that he was a mentor, then again, strictly speaking, if hearsay was correct, he was also a dead man. A soul in a golem. Maybe this was all he could do? Either way she had no plans to test him, though it was interesting that Adrian was this friendly with another... Well, no, she had seen some of his nature when they all had hung out, a tale for another time, surely. It was amusing in a bad way that the science girl seemed to not even know who he was, had did she last so long?

Zosar... Zosar... Ah, the guy we met at the very start and who was pulled aside after the Arena, well before that, wasn't he?

Still, from what little she overheard; the answer was obvious. There would be no answer. Whatever he and his weapon were part of, Nadia didn't want anything to do with it. People, just don't go missing in the DWMA... Well, mostly. She thought to herself, in truth a lot of people have done just that. Next was, or rather before them, the woman from before. So, she worked in the lab, curious if her and Maria had anything to do with each other. Unlikely. Though her concept of no gossip and then with security, that was amusing. But still Nadia didn't care to talk with them as she enjoyed her drink.

Then the final member of the party arrived, Gauss and his weapons. At least they didn't seem to be on drugs this time. Noah was mostly a good guy, but that other weapon she knew nothing of. Either way she lacked the time to think on it as V rolled the Ceremony ahead. Outlining the coming changes, she scoffed at mention of the collar, good luck not having to put down rebellions over that one. Witches and the like working with the teams wasn't much of a surprise. Though from what she overheard not all of the FATE agents would be happy with that. Still the idea of potentially working with Maria did not upset her. Then they went over the teams, how they may be mixed around, the redefined roles of the mentors, and that was it.

Then there was a tiny bit of showmanship and even a bow. She couldn't be mad at him, but overall, this seemed to be a time waster. Least for her as she was one of the tapped leaders. She however would stick around for at least a little while so that the host's efforts were not wasted.

"Well thank you for that Mister V, we'll see if we can live up to those expectations, or if we'll burn it to the ground."

Getting up for now, Nadia got up with her glass and the bottle, one in each hand and decided to overlook the venue floor, see if she knew anyone as she gave a slight wave for Dani to join her, Adrian, well, she had no problems if he joined of his own accord.

She seen Maria, who seemed a bit... What was wrong with her? She seemed a bit, dazed and forthright as she made her way from a table with two other guys and around her were four empty glasses with a 5th partly touched. "Orange Juice... Hey!" Waving her glass holding arm she called over a server and decided to ask. "The Orange juice filled looking glasses, thats a screwdriver, isn't it?"

Getting a nod to confirm, Nadia was not sure if she should laugh or be worried as Maria climbed up on the stage after another agent got finished with a song. "Hahaha... Ah, Dani, I think she's drunk, lets see what happens."

Interactions: EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul Everyone else around

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Death City - Duchess of Discord​

As the part continues and more people went up top, Maria was still unsure about was off about these drinks, the quality of the Vodka was good enough for the venue that she only had the aftertaste of paint thinner but not the smell of it alone, as she ate her meal she would get a couple more glasses, on the 5th one, it finally struck her what was wrong. The burn and the slight smell and taste. This was Vodka, she however, was at the point that she didn't care and long-term consequences of her actions were no longer in play. For her size and weight, plus normally not drinking alcohol at all, she was more than just tipsy after 4 shots of Vodka that made up the cocktails. Not wanting to hear any lip from Ark or Raph, Nadia angrily got up from her seat and headed for the stage ramp, already three acts had taken place, one person who was absolutely shit faced singing a song, another putting on a dance with the pole, and the final did a song as well.

Messing with the equipment in behind the stage and getting someone to help her eventually, Maria enters the stage, with two gloves, one an arm glove that she didn't have before and it was not clear where she had gotten it from, calling out. "Hello there! I come to sing and Dance to Hibana!" A bit flushed by her skin, her face as fixed as ever, she starts off with outstretched hands, looking to her left as the music plays, she quickly begins her dance.

"Knock knock, don't knock on the door too hard
And get on board this war to take back my heart
My chest is beating in overtime
Delusions flashing left and right, I wonder where the answer lies?

Now, come and mute the complaints you have
You're hanging back because of the things you lack
You're only joking right? Ahaha
You try to break this wall to bits, instead it goes in for a kiss

Aaiya (I hate it)
"Like you'd ever get that"
Aaiya (I hate it)
"Surely now you understand!"

I'll shoot a bullet right between those eyes
I've had enough, this love will never end, see?
Make me worry, make me hate it more
It's not enough, I need you to surprise me
Make me feel so I can know for sure

nanana
I've said it's "incomplete" so many times, hey
nanana
Trapped inside a love I know I can't escape

Tap tap, we're even, with that we're tied
Hiding myself away from your eyes, that time
But still, the perfectionist deep in me
Is echoing a lonely scream, so dizzy in monotony

Knock, knock! Let me go in and take the ace
You'll paint your face with tears that don't feel the same
Now Heart Reinforces up to end this game
You'd better give up and throw your MP5 away

Aaiya (I hate it)
Maybe if I take both
Aaiya (I hate it)
Maybe if I break both

Whichever one I chose, it's me I lose
It's way too tough, I'll let go of this love now
Make it painful, make it hurt me more
It's way too fun, it hurts even to smile now
Make me melt so I can see for sure

nanana
I've said it's "incomplete" so many times hey
nanana
Trapped inside a love I know I can't escape

Aaiai-A-aiy--yaa
AaAaAai-y-aAa
A-aiii-yyya
Aai-ya
Aaiiiiya!

Aaiya (I hate it)
"Like you'd ever get that"
Aaiya (I hate it)
"Surely now you understand!"

I'll shoot a bullet right between those eyes
Between those eyes
I've had enough, this love will never end, see?
Make me worry, make me hate it more
It's not enough, I need you to surprise me
Make me feel so I can know for sure

Nanana
I've said it's "incomplete" so many times hey
nanana
Trapped inside a love I know I can't escape

It's way too tough, I'll let go of this love now
Make it painful, make it hurt me more
It's way too fun, it hurts even to smile now
Make me melt so I can see for sure

Nanana
I've said it's "incomplete" so many times hey
nanana
Trapped inside a love I know I can't escape

Nanana
I've said it's "incomplete" so many times hey
nanana
Trapped inside a love I know I can't escape."​

Moving with the song, Maria set up a complex if not reputative series of hand and foot movements, independent of one another, including jumps or directed movements towards the crowd, even a spin that showed she was wearing spats beneath her dress. Either this was spontaneously, or for those in the know, Maria's dances on her own must have been routines akin to this one. What was a mystery however was how she did the distorted Aaiya's which some in the building may know to be Japanese for I hate it. Either she was actively using some form of magic or the stage had sound synthesizer software in its music player and speakers. Either way almost 3 and a half minutes later she was through and made a heart sign for the general audience as what she had been doing suddenly dawned upon the sorceress.

Interactions: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Others in general.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - The Duchess of Discord, Death City
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Dani gave a terse wave for Sara as she appeared. Not as if the wolf would notice with how fast she jumped on the Irish chick and her new partner who was, by coincidence, the ninja that tried to kill the dandy on the first day. She immediately shot to asking about Zosar and Adra. Noah was right, she really did have a massive crush on Zosar.

The Demon Sword paid little attention to the rest of the conversation. The chainsaw girl went on about her dress which was some kind of prototype. It was certainly pretty, but Dani wasn't going to pretend that she understood the science. There was a reason the other girl was given access to highly advanced labs while Dani was given a pat on the back and would just be used to hit more things.

Disinterestedly rolling her eyes at the conversation the others held, it was partially for this reason that Dani nearly jumped out of her seat when Midori appeared behind Adrian.

"Fucking—! ...Ninjas..." With a long sigh and a scowl, she watched the interaction between the two. Though, when she saw the pouting look given off by Adrian, she couldn't help a smirk and a suffocated chuckle.

Then came Gauss, Noah, and Arkayis, the latter of which did not appear amused. Gauss had a short exchange with V, however then quickly gathered everyone's attention to go through his announcement. The first news was slightly interesting. Perhaps they would all receive updated collars that made them look less like escaped convicts and that were a lot less prickly. The second piece was far less interesting, just praise at having stood their ground and done their part. She might should be happy that they were receiving some recognition. Even Cyrus retracted his own prejudice. However, for some reason, it didn't.

The third was welcome news, though. It sounded as if they were being given more rope. They were more or less going to be acting like normal weapon-meister teams, albeit they were still designated as under FATE. Some of them would be designated team leaders and they would even be mixed in with the mages. Dani was simultaneously happy at potentially being paired with Maria, and less ecstatic with other potentials.

"Yeah, thanks for letting us know," Dani added after Nadia. It wasn't stuff she needed to be immediately aware of, but it was nice being given a heads up for what was going on for once.

As the one waiter Dani spoke to returned with some pineapple juice, she poured it into her glass of vodka and stirred a bit until Nadia waved her over. She stood up, wondering just what she wanted to show her, glancing to Adrian before she did so. "If you need rescuing, just holler," She said, obviously teasing him.

"Who's drunk—Ah fuck..." Dani murmured with a deadpan.

Watching the performance, she snorted at the finish and heart symbol. "Well, her voice is pretty good at least," She remarked with a sigh and a sip from her glass.

@CoolKids (VIP Lounge)

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Dall Island | Rings: 3/3

Honestly being led anywhere by these spiders was a risk he was willing to take. Not because he thought he could easily take them- because that had been proven wrong given the battle earlier, but because of sheer curiosity. Ark, could not believe the raw presence of Mana that he was detecting. The energy alone surrounding this place as they were transitioned to the Queen's location, was enough to make Ark think that even if he spent the remainder of the year here, he'd still have much to learn about the biosphere of this island.

The Queen's presence, was the real thing that gave Ark pause. Had it not been for the fact the creatures here already informed them that their Queen wished to talk he'd have already been attacking- not only was she gigantic in size, but the energy he detected off her, made him realize that if fighting her underlings had been a chore in their current state, then they wouldn't last long against a titan. With his overall sense of alarm dulled for the sheer fact he had no reason to doubt these creatures- yet- Ark was not the least bit surprised to hear her speak. The explanation she gave in regards to her children did not surprise him either. If he were being completely honest, the most relief he got from seeing her, aside from that pang of caution that had faded quickly upon her transformation, was just being able to understand her where before he'd required the others to explain it to him.

Mother being the matriarch of two different clans of spiders made this all the more interesting. So they were dealing with some kind of battle here on their own- but why? He understood in nature that this was a common norm, but these creatures- the spiders she was referencing and these spiders themselves clearly possessed levels akin to human intelligence. There had to be something else causing the two to conflict.

Maria speaking first and her introduction, drew Ark's attention out of his own contemplation. Deciding instead to ask her about the conflict when the opportunity arose. Her bringing up the sky enemy, made Ark pat her on the back with a smile. He had no intention of voicing that he'd briefly forgot about that on the trip here. He'd been so thrown off by the sheer Mana and then meeting royalty that could speak in a language he could understand, that it honestly escaped him to ask about those enemies the spiders had referenced earlier.

"And" he added, "what exactly is going on between you and these consumer cousins? Why are they consuming the mana on this island and your children by extension if you sired them?"

Was it a result of Dall Island's flippancy to nature that caused the two spiders to evolve differently with one gaining a taste and resistance to mana?

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith

 

[RedArmyShogun]

~A few Days before current events~
​

Spoiler: Soul Party and broken Pieces- Mega Collab with Nadia, Maria, Dani and Adrian

RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul

As Dani and Adrian finished their training, Nadia meets up with the pair, while she was interested in just why the boy would be following them along the way, Nadia didn’t much mind if he came along, but it was one of those things she would have a few questions to Dani about some other time. Though it would not be today, she also had business with Starwulf, and her attention was on that, plus watching the tailend of what the two had been up to, her mind was better spent on other things.

Thus in walking back, Nadia was mostly quiet as the trio finally reached the steps of Deaths Hallow, it was then a more or less a short trek past the lobby and up a flight of stairs, the desk lady was away, so Nadia didn’t think anything important was happening or waiting on them. As they neared Dani’s room and passed one of the other connecting hallways, a robed figure, battled scared and blonde, a face impassive, suddenly snatched her as a 2nd figure looked on, with a lifeless expression to her face, it suddenly broken into a smile followed by a laugh as the larger started pulling Dani towards them.

Dani for her part did not notice the figure until it was too late. Her eyes widened as she caught the unusual form in her peripheral vision, and just as the first time Maria’s dolls and Dani met, it scared the fuck out of her and she let out probably the most feminine voice anyone had heard of her..

“AIIIE]–WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Zero hesitation. His wavelength flared up like a nuclear explosion and a millisecond later, he was darting after her at the absolute maximum speed the Demon Weapon could muster. There was no thought. No strategy. This was instinct. He had no idea what grabbed Dani, there was no connection between dolls; all he knew is she was there one moment, then she wasn’t, and that needed to be rectified.

As Dani freaked out and Adrian rushed off, Nadia could be heard shouting, “WAIT!” She knew full well what was going on here and why, chiefly as this wasn’t the first time it had happened here and more so to herself.

The larger cloaked being looked at Dani with unblinking eyes as it twirled around, lightly pushing her towards the figure behind her. And into a friendly embrace of a hug.

Maria. Oblivious to all of this, or maybe enjoying it at some level she calls out in a seemingly cheerful tone; “Dani! I found you!” While her face was not given to complex signs of emotion, she actually seemed happy to see her friend, though a bit out of the ordinary, she flicked her right hand moving the doll to the side, seeing who was advancing upon them…

Who was this man? She heard Nadia, but she didn’t see Nadia, well soon after she did as Adrian closed in at speed.

“Maria! I told you not to do that anymore!” Nadia called out.

"Holy shit, Maria! Can you just call me on the phone!" Dani questioned exasperated, her face flush and heart practically beating out of her chest "Or grab me yourself at least instead of your dolls…"

Adrian was, in a word, confused. Not angry. He was obviously on edge, his blood was pumping and full of plenty of adrenaline. Regardless of his confusion, he was absolutely ready to throw hands, though by the shouting and discourse amongst those around him, he wasn’t sure if that was necessary.

”Explain,” is all he could spit out as he tried to calm himself, breathing in deeply and trying to at the very least suppress his inner desire to impale.

“Huh?” Maria said, cracking her head to the side, though more at Adrian than Dani, though she got some of the attention as well. “Oh… Hmm, I could have called you, but I’ve been busy, so very, very, very, very, Busy. So I wanted to find you and Nadia in person. It’s good both of you are here, I just didn’t want you to just walk past.”

Nadia for her part sighed and stepped up behind Adrian as her doll continued to look at him like an always vigilant sentinel, yet did nothing. “So, what did you want us for? And that is, a friend of ours, she’s a genius of sorts, but like most of them I’ve seen, lacking in common sense and reason.”

“My reasoning is very fine. But, ah, yes…” With that she paused, letting go of Dani, she eyed Adrian, as if to be studying him rather than being afraid.

“During today’s reconstruction efforts I found a business that survived, in short it rents out little booth rooms like a karaoke bar, or so I’m told, either way they have retro consoles, or table top games and the like and you and a party can rent them and even have food brought in, so I wanted to see if you two wanted to go.” Finally taking her attention off of Adrian she tilts her head to look at each of them in kind before speaking once more.

“He can come along as well if he wants, but given I’ve not seen the two of you in awhile and gaming systems suit Dani more than me and Nadia talking about art and classical music, I figured I would see if you two wanted to do that for a break, well three now. It was a four player console, originally I was going to leave it to an npc or try controlling two with a smaller doll, though I guess I should leave my dolls here, my poor darlings need rest as well.”

Nadia for her part sighed and looked at Dani. ”I don’t mind, but I need to drop something off first.” She said, holding up the small doll, which made the blonde's head snap to look at it with all attention at once.

Sighing a bit herself, Dani looked at the two of them whilst patting the head of Maria with one free hand. “Yeah… She does weird stuff like this sometimes, but she’s a good person,” She explained exasperatedly. “Maria, Adrian. Adrian, Maria.”

Turning her attention to the question at hand, it was a little surprising that Maria wanted to play games. As the girl said, that was more of her thing. Nadia and the dollmaker would more likely sip tea and talk about art or old music. “I can go… What’s with the doll?” She asked, but considering who was present, she decided to clarify after a pause. “Nadia’s that is…”

Adrian was still a bit on edge. At least, until he could see that interactions between these three were at least amicable. He absolutely was not a fan of how she just up and stole Dani. Honestly, that wasn’t entirely an exclusive feeling to her. Had someone done the same to Nadia, even, Adrian likely would have reacted quite similarly. Though, that might have merited the thought of who would have the audacity to try and steal a Russian Meister.

Once he had cooled off slightly, he was intrigued about the idea of retro-gaming. He knew of almost every place in Death City that had gaming stations and other such services, so chances were, if Maria knew the name of the place they were going, Adrian could probably spit out a line of random facts.

Then Dani opted to try and introduce him to Maria. She really forced his hand; in most circumstances, he would have remained salty with her a while and quite quiet. For Dani, though, he had an odd urge to be at least a little more pleasant. ”Adrian Hackney, Autonomous Weapon, Fate Agent–all that jazz,” he said, trying his best to not sound half-hearted about it.

His eyes then quickly darted over to Dani to follow-up with something Maria had said. ”Gaming suits you?” he asked, simply and directly.

Listening to the exchange, Maria turned her attention back to Adrian and with a blank expression gave a nod and lifted her dress from the sides ever slightly to give a curtsy.

”Maria Mayer, The Marionette. I am also in the fate program, but with the Magical element of things… But ah…” turning her attention back to Nadia, she too was curious about the doll as she offhandedly answers his question. ”Dani has a few systems in her room, I go up there from time to time to play with her. Nadia does as well… And yes Nadia, I sense something about that little doll, though it’s more akin to a statuette than a doll.”

“This? It is part of the training I mentioned, or two of them. I’m trying to learn how I make full use of you, bit by bit. Either way, Starwulf more or less said my way of using wavelength is highly inefficient, so I sleep with this and put it on a training dummy stand and it reacts to my wavelength when I strike it, provided I have my use of energy in sync with it. To teach me to make better use of it.” With that said she pondered letting Maria look at it, but now was not the time.

”Some other time I’ll let you take a look at it Maria. Though seemingly most DWMA agents aren’t properly trained in this regard.”

Nodding a bit to what Maria said to confirm it as truth, Dani followed-up. “Yeah, I have some consoles and games. Most of it I’d play by myself, but like she said, there’s some other stuff too,” She replied matter of factly. “Do you?”

Then, she turned her attention to Nadia’s doll. Her expression shifted to that of slight confusion and it was obvious she didn’t fully understand how it worked, but Starwulf was one of the bigshots, so if he thought it would help, Dani surmised it probably would. “Well, if it works, great. Maybe it can help with complex resonance too,” She mused.

For just a moment, the entire world melted away. Gaming was like a second life for Adrian. It was how he vented a lot of his stress and anxiety, especially what wasn’t physical. His mental and sometimes even emotional anguishes vanished after some time with a controller in his hand. Even now, it wasn’t even really Dani that pulled him out of this world, but the games. Maria and Nadia might as well have not existed.

Or, at least, became NPC’s briefly to the man.

”You bet your sweet ass I do,” Adrian responded in the most typical boy fashion possible. ”Retro-gaming is where it’s at. I don’t mean old Nintendo stuff, either. You can’t compete with the speed runners or TAS’ers these days. More like, before AI got involved in everything and it went to shit with VR and motion controls,” Adrian continued on enthusiastically. This perhaps was the most detailed response he had ever given, using jargon in an excited tone that almost made his IQ sound twice what it really was.

”I’ve been pouring time into Batman: NeoKnights recently. It was just cracked by SQUIDROW. Barely got through the main campaign before the DLC’s, but it is fantastic. The engine is so smooth, the haptic feedback in the controller is even specific to each punch for any character you play. I get a consistent 120 FPS and it is amazing. I can see why they call it the best game of the twelfth gen of consoles. Jack shit they make now-a-days compares,” he went on, neither trying to nor really possessing the ability to inhibit his excitement.

Maria for her part nodded in agreement as she listened to Adrian going on about, well, things she didn’t understand. And while Nadia might not have picked up on it, Maria fully well knew obsession and interest when she saw it. ”Twelfth Gen? How long has this been going on? Though didn’t that shop have something from the 1980’s on display… Hmm…” mumbling a bit more, she paused for a bit and then held up her right index finger, followed by an “Oh! Ah yes, We could use a different console, but the one I was interested in had a game called Mario party 7, or was it twelve? We could try out other games, but I prefer a console with four player support. Plus I did mess around with that one a little bit.

Clearly not interested in it nearly as much, Nadia sighed, letting out a breath as she looked at the trio. ”You said something about food, da? What sort of food, what can you have there?” That was more of interest to her. ”What about drinking?”

Maria paused for a bit to consider this, then spoke. “Take out deliveries are accepted from anywhere that delivers. They just ask you to throw your garbage away on the way out, though they are partnered with a Pizza place owned by the same owner. As to drinking, light alcohol is allowed, but-”

Nadia quickly cut her off, raising her left hand. ”Let me guess, no hard liquor. Feh, I’ll just order some tea, depending on what we get to eat. Either way we should get going. I’ll be down in five. Put the giant away Maria, you guys decide what you want amongst yourselves.” And with that Nadia took her leave.

Dani was taken aback by the sudden excitement on display. It certainly seemed like this was one of Adrian’s passions, as she hadn’t seen him so invested in something before. Dani usually took to them to relax a bit or escape, though when her brother was around she often found herself playing multiplayer and listening to him turn the entire lobby on its head.

“I usually stick to RPG’s when I play. Fables Of, the older Mass Effects, Dragon Age, that sort of stuff. Half of the newer shit has everything locked behind paywalls… My brother would play action and fighting and the like. I haven’t touched that one, but I know that there was one where you had a tank that somehow didn’t kill people. That shit was hilarious!” Dani mused with a small chuckle at the memory.

“Pizza sounds good to me. Though… you sure you wanna play that one?” Dani asked hesitantly, having some experience with it.

Adrian smirked. He was beyond happy with this turn of events. There was a jubilance to him that literally none of them had ever seen before, or likely ever knew was possible. ”I don’t drink, anyway. Any liquor,” he mentioned, quickly clearing up that point as Nadia had mentioned it.

”I’ve played most of those games. The remastered trilogy was fantastic if you have an emu console that can make use of the new textures without glitching to shit–for Mass Effect, that is,” Adrian said, specifically picking out one of the games Dani mentioned in her list.

”As much as I hated escort missions, they paid well… my retro gaming setup is worth more than some cars,” Adrian said, ”I can do LAN for up to sixteen people… or just two.”

”You can check it out sometime,” Adrian offered, specifically to Dani, but really anyone. Confidence exuded from him, even more so with his next statement, ”and I will stomp anyone at any game if you put a controller in my hands.” There it was. His natural competitive nature shining through.

Maria was fully lost in regards to what was being said, to have so many machines, for so many players, it was different than playing splitscreen with Dani, who prompted up to ask if Maria was sure about all of this, pondering it with the index finger of her right hand, tapping her chin, she gives a not. “I recall the stories of your brother, so I’m doing this to make you happy I think. Though, the winner is painfully clear..”[color] She said, eying up Adrian before lowering her hand. “I would worry about Nadia being angry more than I, for with her heads may fly, hehehe. But oh well, I practiced with it a little yesterday. But hmm, let me take care of this.” Connecting some wires from her right hand to the doll, it seemed to flash red along the pathlines before walking off on its own, cloak fully covering it as it made its way down the stairs. Fortunately no one was around or at least startled.

Humming along Maria followed it, pausing at the turn. “We should head out soon, before the room is taken… Ah yes, the place is called Gamescadia, asides from renting out booths they also sell and repair older games and systems, they have a knight helmet for the mascot with an old looking controller below it.”

“No shit?” Dani asked in regards to his setup. Hers was rather meager. She enjoyed it, but she didn’t quite have the spare funds to go nuts with it. It was nice that they had a point of common interests. It caused her to realize that they didn’t quite know each other all that well.

To his invitation, Dani wasn’t sure if he intended to pause like that to slyly emphasize for two. Considering it was Adrian, she supposed not, but it still took her aback a bit. “Y-Yeah… That sounds cool, I’d like to see it sometime.”

However after, she sighed a bit, patting Maria on the head a couple more times. “That’s not what I meant, but thanks… More of if it’s Mario Party, there isn’t going to be a clear winner and I’ll probably get pissed off more than Nadia,” She admitted, following behind Maria. “Mikey used to be fucking infuriating at that game. Shit would just fall into his lap. Same fucking thing with Smash, and I swear to Death the fucking Yoshi’s AI is bullshit,” She growled, a bit of past grievance at her brother coming out before she inhaled to still herself. “Nope, I’ll be fine. No rage. No murder wavelength. No stabbing.”

Gamescadia. Adrian had in fact heard of that. Nice little place, decent selection of more mainstream games. Best for socializing, not for intense gamers, but it was definitely a place Adrian could vibe with. The repairs they did were also top-notch. A great place for replacement parts or second-hand upgrades, if the need arose, too.

”If you get too angry, I might let you win a few games,” Adrian said slyly to Dani, not quite picking up how serious she actually was–assuming she was. ”I wouldn’t normally… but…” he trailed off, not knowing how to explain why he would do that for her specifically. It was probably the closest thing to intentional flirtation he had ever let slip past his lips.

””Let’s go!” he nearly shouted.

Dani let out a bemused scoff. “Oh, ya’ will now? Smartass…” She commented, patting Maria on the shoulder as an indication they should follow.

Nodding at that, Maria led them off to the main lobby as she connected once more with her creation, sending it down into the basement entrance before following. “I’ll be back shortly, want to make sure everything is locked.” And with that she vanished for about three minutes before returning and two more after that Nadia had made her way back to them.

From there, it was a little bit of a surprise when Maria went around the back of the apartment building to the common parking grounds where a number of vehicles were on hand, but Maria went to what looked a lot like a delivery van that had two seats in the front and a spacious cargo space in the rear. Currently none of her dolls or workshop materials were in the back and the benches used to host team members and her larger doll was clear. Across from it an assortment of stowed machine bench spaces and even a fold out military cot was stowed securely, some other odds and ins were here and there with yet another empty space for more cargo space.

Maria explained that this was her mobile workshop that she would use at times to transport her teams if other arrangements were not made, and that they would need to rock paper scissors for who got the passenger seat up front. Regardless of who won, Maria’s driving left no one fearing for their lives and they arrived to Gamescadia with little issue and in a much shorter time than if they had walked.

Stretching her legs as she got out and kept the sliding door open for the rest, Maria waited for the group to assemble and then led them in where she paid for the console and room. Once they were inside she hummed to herself wondering if the rest had anything to say, though there was one she decided to cut off.

“If we do not end up hating one another you guys can pitch in for extra time or buy the food, you do not need to pay me back for this.”
“I… won’t hate any of you…” Dani said with the face and tone of a liar. Sensing how obvious it was, she opted to change the subject. “I can cover the food. Can’t have you paying for everything.”

”I can chip in, if it matters,” Adrian offered, ”I actually made a lot of money in tips from the uh… stall,” he explained, though trailed off as he realized he was referencing something from the first.

Adrian then looked over to Dani, noticing the unique face she made when talking about ‘hating’, and decided to take yet another one of his big risks in teasing her. ”Dani… you wouldn’t hate me if I didn’t let you win, would you? he asked in a quite obviously facetious tone.

Nadia for her part snorts at the display between the two, looking around at the room they were in, it had a large couch, a couple of seats, she wasn’t sure if it was real leather or not, but all three were well cushioned, there was a large flatscreen TV, judging by the brand it seemed to use an internal magitech battery rather than using electricity, a coffee table which seemed rather sturdy if not modern in design and interior ceiling lights, four stereos lined around the room, there was also one hell of an oddity in this day and age… Picking it up to be sure it was indeed real, but there was a cordless phone that had the extension number, room number and next to it a disclaimer, which more or less stated not to break or damage shit, billing rates, and a reminder to throw your trash away or it would have a separate billing.

Shoving the paper off to Maria, Nadia then noticed the last oddity, a phone book. A yellow pages to be more spot on that had marks inside of it of various food delivery services. ”You are a terrible liar Dani, but cheer up, I’m sure we can get some ice cream or something later… I know me and Maria will want Tea, hot Tea, not sure what has that, maybe this Kebab place? But, you wanted Pizza, not like we can’t get both… I guess I’ll cover in damages and if we don’t fuck anything up I’ll pay for some of the extra time, mister confident over there can pay for the remainder.”

For her part, Maria seemed to know how to work the device she requested, then again it wasn’t like Video Game Consoles took a degree to power up. It was indeed an older Nintendo console with four controllers and Mario Party. ”Hmm… He is confident, but I’m happy with third place if I can get it… Though a phone book, how quaint.. Maybe the owner really did grow up with a lot of these things.. Do either of you want to look through it?”

“Right… you’re a jeweler now,” Dani remarked with a smirk, however the challenging pout came back the moment he started teasing her. “Oh, fuck off. You know you’re going to get like 3 stars, then at the end it gives Nadia like 5 for some bullshit.” From how she said it, it sounded like she was speaking from experience. Perhaps not with Nadia, but just in general.

Then Nadia even called her out on lying, causing her to fluster more. “I’m not! I’m a… normal… liar–Wait, no. Agh, just give me a fucking controller…” She finally said in defeat. “Like green or black tea or what? Most places have that. I don’t need to look through it I think.”

”The day Nadia beats me in Mario Party is the day I’ll finally get a pet dog,” Adrian responded, still overly confident and even making pretty bold claims. Granted, he had never before mentioned getting a pet. He had considered it, though. Pets just tended to be a lot of work for an agent.

”I mean, there’s a lot of luck, but there’s skill, too,” Adrian said, knowing full well that the game relied on a lot of RNG, ”but, if you’re so worried about that, we could always try Smash Bros… I play a mean Kirby.” His suggestion was purely and admittedly quite teasingly aimed at Dani, and his glance over to only made it more obvious.

”Water only, by the way,” Adrian said, his eyes darting back over to Nadia briefly. He offered her a slight shrug, then explained, ”I’m afraid I’m quite plain.”

Back to Dani for a moment before he chimed in, ”a jeweler amongst other things, I guess. I didn’t hear you complain about your gift.”

Looking at the trio, Maria gave a shrug, setting the phone book aside. ”Well, we haven’t started the game yet so our time hasn’t started, would you rather play that or Mario Kart instead of this game?” Maria asks, looking at Dani.

For her part Nadia decides to call the Pizza place, while not her first choice, it wouldn’t matter much if her and Maria could get tea, if they couldn’t, then they would have to take a page out of the water boy’s book. ”I don’t care what we play, so Dani you decide, though what sort of pizza are we wanting?”

Dani narrowed her eyes at Adrian. It was the sort of scowl that said 'We both know why that's bullshit.' That was arguably worse, for reasons Dani had previously ranted about. "You. Fucking. Would."

With a grumble, she collapsed on the couch. She didn't comment on the stone, though had hung on to it throughout the triage and being transferred to the hospital, and now it was secured in her room. Of course, she wasn't going to admit that now.

"Not even soda? Any reason?" She asked curiously before her attention was called by Maria and subsequently Nadia.

"...I'm going to get fucked either way so, go with whichever you're most excited about Maria," Dani suggested, knowing that either way this was going to be a clusterfuck. "Meat? I dunno."

”I don’t like carbonated drinks much,” Adrian answered, just matter-of-factly throwing out his preferences, ”juice and tea are okay sometimes, but I just don’t like drinks with a lot of sugar. I don’t like how it makes me feel when I run.” A sound explanation from the weapon. It wasn’t some situation of ‘my body is a temple’ as much as it was he just didn’t like how it felt.

Watching how Dani reacted, Adrian couldn’t help but flare his wavelength just enough to peak at her with soul perception. A bit of a cheat, sure, and Nadia might pick up on it, but ultimately, what he saw was relieving. She wasn’t actually upset. Granted, Adrian hadn’t really seen her truly upset, but from what he could tell, any real anger inside her was docile and she seemed quite excited about the whole endeavor.

Of course, soul reading wasn’t his specialty.

”You know,” Adrian mentioned aloud, so that everyone could hear, ”this place does have those retro dance-dance revolution arcade booths… just two players at once, but…”

”Do you want to pick a game Maria will win at?” Nadia asked with a sigh. ”For a mage, she’s surprisingly fit, and dancing is one of the things she does to keep that way. Still, smash brothers is a fighter isn’t it? Hmm, what about you Maria? What do you want to play?”

Shifting her attention to Adrian, her eyes narrowed a bit as she knew what he was about, for now being content at ignoring this as she picked the phone up, hearing at least what Dani wanted.

”Hello? Ah yes, we want two teas, hot if you can, half and half if cold. One er, water? Just bring some bottled water, I don’t give a fuck, just bring some ice and some bottles of water, I’ll give you 10 dollars and…” What would Dani want? So far she just had whatever Nadia had. ”Hmm…, yes just make it a third tea, a meat lovers, huh? Eh, go with the House special then, a couple veggies with a lot of meat will kill us slower, a large yes. We are in Room 7 at the place yes. Alright.” Hanging the phone up, Nadia decides to switch purchases with Dani on her own. ”I’ll cover the food, you can help with game time.”

Once that was all done, Maria spoke up for herself. “Hmm, let’s play this one game first, a short one, then we can move on to the Smash game, a newer emulation I think, Super Smash Saga, and then we can finish with that dancing game you mentioned, highest score of the two wins, and then the two winners face off. What was on this house pizza?”

“Pepperoni, Ham, Beef, Peppers, Olives, Onions, Mushrooms.”

Dani hummed in acknowledgement to what Adrian said, but then deadpanned at his suggestion for reasons that Nadia had listed. He would learn when the time came.

“Works for me—Don’t fuck me RNG,” Dani uncharacteristically rhymed, though her tone was more exasperated at the knowledge that likely the game would do exactly that. “Sure, I’ll pay for game time.”

Adrian found himself chuckling at the comment Dani made about RNG. She was someone who obviously knew how the games work. Or, at least, Mario Party. When it came to pizza, he didn’t really care. ”House pizza works for me. Really, any pizza works for me,” Adrian commented, making sure his input was in there just so that it wasn’t awkward.

”If we want to balance some fun, RNG, and a little skill, Mario Kart 10 has great emulation support and we can even customize our characters to look a little like us,” he suggested, ”I bet Daisy in a blue skirt with some white hair would look spot on like Nadia.”

”That said,” he then yet again picked out Dani, ”you pray to RNJesus, you know. Every gamer knows that!” Again, he was jubilant. Joking. Positive. A world different than the guy that just went mad a few days ago.

“Hmm… As long as we get up for breaks we could do all three games, the dancing thing won’t take an hour, more like three to five minutes.” Maria said making the needed requests for Super Mario Party IV, Mario Kart 10 and finally Super Smash Brothers Saga. All of these were “newer” titles, but some 30 years old at this point, what was amusing, is though strictly by emulation at this point the shop even had titles from the 1980’s. For her part Nadia just nodded along, everything was set.

During the game of Mario Party, Maria was, in spite of how she looked and some of the odd statements she made, was very much a nice player, unwilling to steal stars or even coins and just had general bad luck with the game. Nadia for her part was very much the bully and would try to throw rolls to be sure of getting every little advantage she could, grinning to herself as she fought dirty, the only slip ups being when she got something to drink or some items stolen. However Maria would win, when Nadia’s bowser space shenanigans backfired against her leading to a Star Exchange between her and Maria, who later struck a chance time to take a star from Adrian.

During Smash, Maria played as Shiek and Nadia as Ganon, neither did too well against Adrian and Dani, the later of which won, with Nadia accusing him of throwing and then fucking off to her tea. Maria seemed to like the game at least.

And then during Mario Kart, Nadia was a strong contender till CPU opponents and a combo of blue and red shells kept knocking her out, ultimately Maria stayed mid-pack, with Adrian taking the Race…

Dani’s apprehension seemed spot on from the start as the game seemed intent on demolishing her morale early. Lowest possible initial roll, landed on 3 red spots–in a row, and didn’t have too much luck in the mini games, though her panicked noises as she tried to out button mash or evade an attacking Nadia or Adrian were likely amusing. She seemed most at odds with Nadia throughout the game, with the latter thieving and sabotaging at every opportunity, and at one point called her a “Conniving Amazonian Bitch” when Nadia stepped on a green circle, triggering a map effect that sent Dani back to spawn and away from the star.

In Smash Dani seemed to be better and also more tilted. She seemed to focus specifically on Nadia for her transgressions in the last game. When it came down to her and Adrian, she somehow managed to win and a genuine smile graced her features, which evolved to one of arrogance upon hearing Nadia’s grievance and accusations of throwing.

Dani ranged from doing okay to behind in Mario Kart. It was obvious she had forgotten how to drift at first and, after learning, tried to cut as many corners as possible to catch back up, which often resulted in overshooting the turn. Eventually, she just focused on throwing turtle shells, bombs, and other items at the other players.

Adrian was, predictably, a try hard in all instances. Ruthless in Mario Party to a degree that made Nadia look like a saint and unforgiving in Mario Kart to such a degree he banked a Starman before getting into first place in the event that someone tossed a Blue Shell, he was both confident and strategic in assuring what wins he did acquire. Mario Party was a little bit of a bust, but that was the nature of the game. Besides, he found himself competing mostly with Nadia as he couldn’t find the urge to be mean to Dani nor a lot of benefit in Maria.

Then came Smash. This is where she shined. Competitive. No RNG, really. Free for all. While he said earlier that he played a mean Kirby, this time, he elected for Starfox. A free for all wasn’t really the best way to word it, though. He elected to whittle down both Ganon and Shriek first, taking pot shots and avoiding hits where he could, mostly trying to let the others play themselves until he saw his opportunities.

Eventually, that game did come down to him against Dani. And, as promised, she was most certainly a step above the others. While Nadia suggested it and Dani seemed to enjoy it–whether she knew it was true or not–he opted to draw their skirmish out as long as he could, delaying a shield here or a dodge there, until it was pretty neck and neck. Only at the end after she saved herself once did he get struck out, and as opposed to trying to climb back up to the stage, he perhaps intentionally fumbled to give Dani the win. Her reaction, at least to him, was worth more than the victory screen he did so very much covet.

Laughing at Dani’s swear words, Nadia had little else to say or do, and now with all of this out of the way the group now had its final activity left a little over an hour later, leaving the room and heading for the DDR room that Adrian had mentioned, it had a card reader, the old 2020’s style arcade readers, which was converted to run off of their timecard, heading in there was just enough room to stand off to the side with two of the large pads and a central display screen that played the songs chosen and showed the pad impact points, one song or another was running in demo mod as Maria smiles a bit. “You can face Dani, though if you just let her win, I will find a time and place to teach you the meaning of victory.”

Nadia said in a harsh tone, still a bit upset that he had just thrown the game.

Adrian tilted his head at Nadia. It seemed she at least picked up slightly on his actions–or, in this case, inactions. He didn’t think anyone there would be quite so observant. Something about what she said managed to grind his gears. Being caught was one thing, but she thought she would school him on the idea of victory. As if he didn’t know. He had been losing most of his life.

Adrian took a brief moment to near Nadia, almost as if sizing her up in a boxing ring, then smirked, ”beating me isn’t going to be easy,” he told her with utmost confidence, ”but I think I’ve found something better than a victory screen.” Just as her tone was harsh, his face was serious. He was quiet, enough that the others might not hear their transgressions here.

”You saw her smile when she won,” he told her bluntly.

In the same and quieter tone, she turned her head to meet him eye to eye. His words were not something she could dispute. ”You may not be wrong but you still are a ways from me approving of what you are about with all this. I care not if you win a game, but should you go further with this and ever make her cry, we’ll see just how invincible you are.”

With that she backed away and speaks more loudly. ”Come on! Let’s go! If you two won’t then Maria and I shall.”

Not having heard any of the conversation after Nadia’s first remark, Dani scoffed. “Pretty sure he’d have to be an amputee for me to win,” She stated. Dani was not what they called a dancer and Adrian had the boon of amplified reflexes compared to her due to him being autonomous.

Stepping onto the platform, Dani leaned back against the rear brace of the stand, pressing some of the arrows with her feet to cycle through players and songs.

”An amputee, huh?” Adrian responded, immediately returning his attention to Dani. He then considered his options, and brainstormed a way he might handicap himself that wouldn’t incur the wrath of Nadia too much. Transforming his right leg into the locking cufflink to his iron maiden form, he then closed his legs and cuffed his own left leg, effectively making him a one-legged man.

”That can in fact be arranged,” he told her, still sporting his trademark smirk as he used the guard rails to hop onto the platform.

“Huh?” Dani looked over as Adrian stepped onto the opposing platform. She stared at his appendage with a deadpan as he transformed it, processing it. Then, her competitive streak seemed to come back. “Oh, you cocky motherfucker,” She remarked when she understood what he was doing. “Alright! Fine smartass! There’s no way I’m going to lose now!”

The dance was selected. The match had started. The music blared and the screens lit up. And, this time, Adrian actually gave it his all. It took him some time to adjust to his current self-imposed limitation, but once he had, the early lead Dani would have taken was quickly closed. The match was neck and neck for a while. Adrian didn’t make many errors with his one foot, but there came the issue: he was using just one foot.

Once Dani fell into her groove, it was all over. It wasn’t as if she was completely out of shape or uncoordinated, and having that own competitive streak to keep up, she hardly intended to allow herself to lose to a one-legged dancer. Adrian might have been faster, his training gave him every conceivable advantage, but logistics were against him with just one leg. All his confidence and bravado fell apart once her score started climbing and there was nothing he could do about it.

Yet, as promised, he remained in his state for the entire duration of the game, even when victory was clearly climbing further and further out of reach. No amount of effort or skill he could muster would overcome halfing his scoring potential. The game drew to a close, and Dani had won. With the defeat screen flashing, Adrian reverted his foot back to normal and let out a long, deep breath. Beads of sweat had actually formed along his forehead.

”Hot damn, I gave it my all that time,” he said, still breathing a little heavy. A long inhale and exhale came from between every set of words.

Nadia for her part just sighs and shakes her head, looking at Dani, then at Adrian. Her mind seemed to dwell on this situation for a bit, as if an internal conflict played out with her. The old her would have gone at this, victory at any cost, just to rub it in. With her sense of perception and Meister abilities she could and would have cranked the difficulty to max and destroyed both of the girls. With her experience in sword play she knew a little light step game would not be a problem. Dani however did seem happy, and Maria who had lost everything minus the screw up on Mario party had paid for a lot of this.

While she had misgivings with some of this, she reached a decision she would not have before.

“Come on Maria, I won’t even make use of any of my abilities. I’m not going at this one legged, but I won’t do anything to enhance my speed.”

With that said, Maria took a careful and slow gaze and what had happened between Adrian and Dani, and now the words she had heard from Nadia, she had never said anything about it, but, Nadia bit by bit was changing, even if it had to do with her new partner, the old one would have willingly cheated her, had cheated her. Placing the crook of her right thumb and palm beneath her nose, fingers spread out over her face, she only said two words. ”How interesting…”

Stepping up onto the pad, what was to follow was an intense competition, Maria’s well drilled skills and practicing dancing for her dolls and Nadia’s sheer martial training plus handicap put the two neck and neck. It was hard to say who would win, Nadia seemed to get a funny twitch to her jaw at this, still not wanting to upset the spirit of things as Maria did not play the game as most then, actually performing a dance for the song that was now playing, humming along as she did so.

The differences between the two led Nadia to a narrow lead that then grew as the timer hit 0. For her part Maria chuckled and stepped off. ”That was fun. We should do this again sometime, or maybe I should teach you how I normally dance, and we could put on a show one day, hmm?”

While not panting, Nadia was sweating a little, looking at Maria with an amused smile to her face. “Maybe, you move rather well… I’m used to Witches keeping their distance.. Dani, get your ass up here, same handicap, I got places to be.”

It was hard fought despite Adrian’s handicap. Nonetheless, Dani took some gratification in showing that she was that terrible, perhaps a bit too much given the circumstances. Huffing and sweating a bit, now came the second battle against Nadia.

“Handicap my ass,” Dani remarked, pulling herself onto the pad by the rails. “Alright Ruskie, let’s go. “

“Heh, would you rather I go all out?”[/color\ Nadia asks with a smirk, putting the game up and selecting a song, this one was rock in theme, titled Smell of the Game. “Huh. Well, let's do this, hard difficulty.”

“You go all out and you’d break the fuckin’ game,” Dani chastised with a smirk of her own. “Who knows, if your smartass gets too cocky, maybe I’ll beat you too~.”

”Heh. Yes and no telling how much this damn machine is. Still, you will find my handicap is not so kind. While you have a nice smile, I’m afraid you won’t be getting a third at my expense.” With her own shit talking out of the way, a rapid series of steps displayed, Nadia switching to match them, seemingly set on winning with skill rather than power, or taking Dani lightly.

Dani seemed focused despite her doubts in ability, putting forward her own rapid steps to match the arrows while leaning against the back railing for support. Ultimately, she had to focus much harder than Nadia to keep up. Try as the weapon might, the heightened precision and technique of the meister caused the score to climb while Dani stumbled over some complicated strings of arrows. Beads of sweat came off her from her focus and effort, albeit it wasn’t enough.

In the end, Dani was huffing as the game declared Nadia the victor. “...Fuck me… games aren’t supposed to be this tiring. Shit..” She said, tugging the end of her collar to cool off.

Letting out an exhale, Nadia wipes some sweat from her brow, laughing as she did so, ”Whew… Well we're done here, yes? Cause, I’m done.” She said quickly, stepping off the pad as she gave Dani a pat on the back before laughing.

Maria for her part nodded in turn. “Yes, it was…fun? Yes, fun. Ah yes, speaking of the cat in the bag, or is it something else? I wonder, I wonder.. But ah, Adrian, were you wanting to go back with us or should I drop you off somewhere? There is no problem in taking you home. Or I can do it after I drop these two off if its further beyond.”

Adrian froze. He hadn’t anticipated being invited back. He didn’t have an immediate answer for her. In all honesty, he didn’t exactly know what to say. Was that okay? It had to be okay, logically, else she wouldn’t offer. He mostly fumbled for a moment, then looked over to Dani, not sure of what she wanted him to do.

“Yeah… It was,” Dani mused, almost as if in realization to herself than anyone else. A small smile adorned her face as she stepped off the pad after Nadia.

Then, she glanced at Adrian and noted him looking to her for a decision. She panicked slightly, albeit internally. “I-uh… I don’t mind either way… If you’re tired, I wouldn’t want to keep you…” She replied, still giving him the choice, but making it known she didn’t mind if he returned with them.

Slightly annoyed by this all, Nadia decided to intervene, if the two accepted it or not was another story, but she would encourage a bit of reason.”She said with us, not with you. A ride back to where he lived to drop him off. It has been a long day and this day should end now.” Looking at Maria, the other seemed utterly oblivious to the situation, something Nadia did not have any problems reading between the lines. It was surprising if not a bit annoying how quick Dani was to trust him, whereas Nadia had to fight for that every step of the way. Was she a little jealous or blind to why these changes were possible? Yes.

Sensing the tension at least, Maria spoke up; “Umm… Well it is late and we all have more things to do over the next following days, and it’s not like this is the last we’ll see of one another…”

Adrian could pick up on some weird vibes from Nadia, though he couldn’t quite place what they were or what they meant. In any case, he opted not to overstay whatever welcome was present. Still, the mentions of just how long of a day it had been did somewhat irk him. It was hardly twilight, and he didn’t quite like the dejected feeling he had–especially in contrast to the fun they were having.

Still smiling, nigh smirking really, he responded, ”Eh, I don’t need a ride. I avoid vehicles if I can.” He didn’t really actively avoid vehicles, more so he just typically preferred to run, but after their activities, he had plenty of cardio. He didn’t intend on explaining that. ”My agenda is pretty much lite duty ‘cause of the stab wound. I run a little, do some calm mind training, play video games… give me a shout, if you have time,” he announced, making it quite clear that he had a flexible schedule opposed to this idea of it getting late.

Before he opted to make his actual exit, he pulled out his phone to send Dani his address. Nothing incredibly special, just some of the apartment complexes near the east entrance of the DWMA. A good amount of agents transitioned to units just like those when they were able to afford off-campus housing, which he quite clearly could. ”Just in case you’re ever, y’know, nearby, or curious about my gaming station. It takes up my whole second bedroom. Rest of my place is pretty bland, though… I guess I do live the bachelor life,” he said, making it pretty clear what he had just done. Honestly, had he Maria or Nadia’s number, he might have offered them the same address and invitation, but alas, Dani was his one and only contact of the three.

Dani, seemingly a little flustered by Nadia’s point, was quick to scowl with a hue to her face. “I-I know that…!” She retorted. Perhaps Dani would have a word with her later, knowing that this wasn’t simply typical Nadia grumpiness. For now, however, she didn’t want to start an argument in front of Maria or Adrian.

Even if it was menial, Dani wished that the time spent went on a little longer. It had been a long time since she had fun with a group of people like this, but Maria was right. This wouldn’t be the last they’d see of each other.

“...Sure. We can hang out sometime. We can make plans later,” Dani suggested to Adrian. That would be something to settle on after whatever the hell this whole thing was.

~~~~~

After the party makes its way back to their respective homes, a tense silence was to envelope the group, only broken by the quips of the Witch, or rather Sorceress, insisting that she see Adrian off to his home, it was getting rather late and while the sun was blazing, so was the moon with it’s smile, looking down at them all.

Maria may have been dense but she could tell not to pry into this, dropping him off she wished him well and muttered something another about wondering if this had made them friends. Adrian saw no problem with befriending Maria; he had no particular qualms with Witches and if anything thought it might be a relief to Dani, and to a lesser extent, Nadia. Politely, in fact far more politely than he was with Nadia present, he confirmed to her, albeit awkwardly, they could be friends and exchanged numbers with her before being dropped off. Parking the Van once they made it back to the complex, she bowed and locked up after the two had gotten out, leaving them to talk to one another, alone.

“Dani, what in Death's damned name did you see in him… Well, he wasn’t a bad guy, but why another FATE agent? One which dipped into madness… I won’t say I’m not concerned about you. Because that would be a lie, but why are you so quick to trust him? Do you really need someone else right now? Don’t even say there was nothing there, I am not Maria, you have a crush on him don’t you?” She said in short order, in typical Russian manners she was quick to aim her punch for the gut, metaphorically speaking.

“What?” Dani retorted with a bit of an attitude. She scoffed in response and rolled her eyes. “Maybe I have a tiny crush. What’s the big fucking deal?” Being much more curt and upfront now that they were alone, in another circumstance this could have been seen as a sign of Dani’s comfort with the other. “He also dipped out of madness, without a collar.”

There was a point to be made about the madness. Dani had apprehensions about that as well and even levied them when speaking to Noah. However, there was also a point to be raised in his defense, and that was only one source of the Russian’s wariness based off her own words.

“And the hell do you mean, why do I trust him? Why the fuck not? He hasn’t given me any reason not to?” She added, posturing the last statement as an inquisitorial one, beckoning Nadia for evidence to the contrary.

“I had to jump through twenty hoops and an uphill battle for the same treatment, of trust that is. And it is no tiny crush, you grinned like an idiot and stuttered over your words with him each time he spoke to you, or at least when he threw those games. And he did throw them.

You are taking one hell of a risk Dani and I do not want to be the one tasked with dealing with you should the worst happen… Though…” A pause as she considered telling her about the whispers they shared. ”That damn dance was meant to be the one you are least likely to be with, not the one you giggle about like a damn school girl.”

“You literally tried fighting me and told me sink or swim when we first met!” Dani retorted in a tone of disbelief. “Fuck what the dance was supposed to mean. I was trying to have fun for once, I don’t give a shit about dressing up as some fucking clown.”

Letting out the mixture of a grumble and a sigh of exasperation, Dani scowled at Nadia. “You wanna know why you had to jump through hoops and he doesn’t? Because I didn’t have someone like you or Maria before we fucking met! I was a bitch shoving everyone away because I was obsessed with everyone around me dropping dead. He doesn’t have to jump through the hoops, because you both fucking broke the hoops!” Dani argued with a huff. “I don’t do that—as much—because I already care about the both of you that I don’t know what I’d do if either of you fuckin’ vanished. My defense mechanism already fucking failed, so what the fuck is one more, or two, or three?”

“It’s something to me!” Nadia snarled. “I don’t want to be the one to put you down, you know the DWMA, you know that is what they'll do!”

”The more I think back to Paris, the more I seem to forget, but something happened then… But, you are an adult, I just ask you to take it slowly. Hell, he seemed interested in you as well, had a little talk with him. But Dani, you’ll need a new defensive mechanism, we can’t stay here forever… Who knows, maybe this all won’t be so bad.

Anyways, let's talk in the morning. I want to set up a party for Maria, it's her birthday in a couple days and though she’ll not say anything, she doesn’t expect anyone to celebrate it, not even herself.” With that she pats Dani on the shoulder and seems resigned to seeing how this all played out. Relenting at that, she actually did something a bit out of character for her, she gave Dani a hug.

”I may worry because I wanted something better for you, all of us in this program are damaged goods. Just, if anything is wrong or you worry about something, you know to come talk to me. Provided damn Maria isn’t watching from somewhere as she’s given. Still…”

“...We’re gonna be teamed with the other damaged goods, some of which have madness. So it’s not like that’s a new risk,” Dani commented, though calmed down as the hug wrapped around her. Returning it, she understood Nadia’s concerns, but the woman shouldn’t feel as if Dani suddenly didn’t value her or as much. “I know you do, but you’re not getting rid of me that easy.”

And with that the two would part ways, waiting for a new day to come.