As a child... you feel as though the universe is centered around you. You are the king of your own world, and nothing can defeat your kingdom of lies. Nothing but the Truth.
I cannot be a child anymore. A child clings onto their heroes for support, knowing that they will always be there to save their world.
There are no heroes in my world to cling to. There's only me, and chaos. So what... what should I do? I need to...
Grow up, me.
I must stand up to my darkness. My world doesn't need saving, it needs changing. I have the authority to do so!
Yes, I am no longer a child.
I am a king.
And my world needs me.

~ Aster, final chapter.

Oh gosh the emotions right now D: I made up this story last night based off a painting I did and OH GOD it hit me like the heavens were suddenly down on my shoulders! (I feel for you, Atlas.) Well, I'm gonna be quoting more of that:



~ Aster, prologue.

Aaaand one last thing:

Aster: There only two ways to escape from here. Either complete the quest you came here for, or let the Truths get you.
Sylvia: Why are the Truths so bad? Isn't it better to tell the truth than to lie?
Aster: If the Truths get you, you'll no longer be able to live as a child. I don't want that for you, yet.

D: AND ONE MORE THING

Aster: Well, Sylvia! I welcome you to my humble abode, the land full of lies.
Sylvia: Wow... Mama always told me that lies are bad, so I never expected them to be so beautiful.
Aster: Lies are bad! Terrible, disastrous, nasty things! But, they're pretty! So the rest of that stuff doesn't matter, right?
Sylvia: Okay...

Annnd yup done here.

"So, you're the infamous Red Wanderer people talk so much about, huh? You don't look like much. Heck, you're just a kid."

"Infamous? I know I'm popular down south, but here?" Archie questioned, strain in his voice. He wasn't looking too good, with his pained expression and his huddled body posture, clutching at his stomach. The rickety cart was swaying back and forth alarmingly, but Archie had never dealt with motion sickness before. So, he knew it had to be the other thing.

"Excuse my choice in words, but it's the best way to put it," Archie's temporary chauffeur replied. He was an older, buff looking man with a tangled beard that covered his features. The only face Archie could see of his reminded him of wrinkled leather, and it took all of his self-restraint to stop himself from making a comment.
"You're more of a ghost story than a legend around these parts," the man chuckled. Archie laughed briefly and gave the man a sly grin.

"Why...?"

"You call yourself a bounty hunter, yes? Well, considering the times we live in, almost everyone has something to hide here. Somethings they don't want someone like you 't find out."

"Well, business has been booming lately." Archie said, an amused smile playing on his lips. He lent over the side of the cart, letting his arms dangle over. "And I prefer to think of myself as a wanderluster first, bounty hunter second!" He shot back, then whined and doubled over. The older man raised an eyebrow questionably.

"Motion sickness is an odd trait for a cart-jumper."

"I'm not motion sick," Archie objected, "You know that feeling when you're so hungry, you don't feel hungry anymore? You just feel really, incredibly sick?"

"Don't think I've ever bin' stupid enough to get to that point." The man glanced over his shoulder and frowned as he watched Archie roll around, hands on his stomach. "I told you that you could help yourself to the food back there."

"But it's rye bread! All you have is rye bread!" Archie complained, "I'd rather go through this agony than cram that stuff down my throat!" The man sighed, agitated, while keeping his eyes on the track.

"You're just like a little kid. How do you manage to stay alive out there?"

"I usually mooch off old folks like you."

"Well, this old folk is going to be pulling over soon."

"That's fine, I've spent too much time talking to you."

"Is that a problem?"

"Could become one."

The man rolled his eyes, then laughed softly under his breath.

"I cannot believe my nephew admires you so much..." he said, running one hand through his beard. Archie's ears perked up and he straightened suddenly, like a dog that just heard its name.

"I have admirers?"

"You passed through his town a while back. He told me you let him sit on your lap as you told 'im stories." The man glanced back at Archie, who was looking at him as though this were the first time he'd heard this story.
"His name is Donnel. You remember him?" Archie shook his head.

"No, I never ask their names."

"I didn't think you would. But he sure does look up to you. Even wants to travel with you on your adventures."

"Of course he does." Archie stated, staring off into the landscape.

The man frowned at this comment and scratched at his scalp, furrowing his eyebrows further.
"Why do you travel alone, anyhow? Wouldn't it be easier to depend on someone you trust, instead of just using strangers you come across?"

"I'm never travelling alone," Archie said. He gazed at Brenda, who lay on the opposite side of the cart, with dreamy eyes. "And as for my methods, they haven't failed me yet." Archie's stomach growled and he looked seriously at the man.
"That was, until today. I'm afraid I'll now starve to death because you can't be trusted to carry edibles."

"Just go catch a rabbit with that axe of yours."

"I wouldn't dare it."

"Get off my cart."

"Thank the gods!" Archie cried out, relieved.

The horse slowed down to a walk and halted, hammering the dirt with its hoof. The meat on the animal made Archie's mouth water, but one look into its wide eyes immediately made Archie feel guilty. He gently picked up Brenda and hopped off the cart, patting the animal on its rump.

"Goodbye, sweetie. Thanks for putting up with me."

"Where are you going?" Archie turned to the man speaking and shrugged.

"Up, down, all around. Any place I should go in particular?"

"Valkyom." The man replied then hurriedly added on, "Don't go there. Avoid it if you can."

"I wasn't planning on going," Archie said slowly, "But would you mind telling me why?"

"I was sent a raven from a friend visiting," the man explained, "There was an assassination." Archie's eyes narrowed and his heart thumped in his chest with unrest. He let his mind settle before asking his question.

"How were they killed?"

"I think you already know."

Archie's skin crawled and the hairs on the back of his neck raised. He pushed down the spine-tingling sensation and wiped the smile from his face, keeping it as straight as he could.

"Thank you for that information. How long should it take to get to Valkyom from here?"

"A couple of days or longer by cart-jumping." The man answered and smiled, "Knew you'd take the bait."

"You are an awful person for sending me to my death."

"Just stay away from my nephew."

"I try to not run into the same people twice anyway, but sure!"

Archie walked away from the cart, his head in the clouds and his heart pounding louder with every step he took. He felt like skipping, but he would wait until the man was out of sight.

"Hey!" The man called out after him, "Do you want t' know my name?"

Archie grinned wider as he shouted back his answer:

"Not in a million years!"

And then Archie threw up. ^.^

"Are you sure it was the best idea to let Victor steer the carriage? I think he had the most fun out of the two of us. Surely there is a law about this somewhere?" Ottavia asked nervously, swaying back and forth as the carriage lurched. Archie peered over at her, a confident smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh, please... he'll be fine..." Archie giggled as the coach bumped up and down over something large and Ottavia squeaked. "...I'm gonna have such a bad hangover tomorrow..." Archie grinned and Ottavia hit him.

"Get your act together! We were only in there a few hours, so how did you manage to get so drunk?" She scolded him and suddenly went quiet, pressing her back against the wall and pointing. "Your axe... Brenda. Brenda is slipping again." Archie pushed the imposing thing back up to lean up against the seats. The coach was cramped and uncomfortable, even without the prospect of a giant blade falling upon your neck.

"Oh. Sorry 'bout that. Just can't sit still, can't she?"Ottavia ignored his comment and scrunched up her face, poking Archie in the chest.

"Don't tell me you can't handle your own," she jeered, taking on where she left off.

"So what if I can't?" Archie retorted sleepily, "The point is that I had fun... unlike a certain somebody I know who faked their fun." Ottavia looked offended and bared her teeth at him.

"I may have faked my fun, but I wasn't lying when I said I was happy." She said, then shook it off. "Anyway, I learned an awful lot about you in there. I didn't know the Red Wanderer was married!"

"Neither did I," Archie chuckled, "Until the morning after. Those were a weird couple of days... wait, what else did I say?"

"Like I said, an awful lot." Ottavia smirked, knowing she had the upper hand here. "Which of the bases have you made with Brenda again?"

"That was a joke," Archie blurted, alarmed. "That must have been a joke. I didn't go into details, did I? Please tell me the kids weren't around at that point!"

"I'm joking," Ottavia said and Archie sunk into his seat in relief. "But there was that one story about when you stowed away on a pirate ship to rescue a wannabe pirate kid that had stowed away himself..."

"I don't remember telling that one," Archie said, cocking his head, "I told my newest one about the jewel thief in Veilbrand, but that one... oh, wow. That one is old. I think that was one of my first adventures."

"It's the one that I heard a while back," Ottavia told him. She was deliberately trying not to make eye contact with the boy. "Didn't the captains of the ship turn out to be his parents?"

"Yeah... yeah, they did." Archie smiled, reminiscing. "The kid had been adopted into some rich family, because he was practically a prodigy. The parents wanted their kid to lead a better life and not one of crime, so they abandoned him there. Then years later, his parents were back in town and he saw his chance and seized it. That's where I come in!"

"The maids were terrified after finding the child gone, as their master and the boy's adopted father was a terrible, cruel and corrupt man, who would punish the maids and especially the boy." Ottavia took over the story and Archie closed his eyes to listen. Because Archie didn't stop her, she continued on and tried to not let the excitement in her voice show. "They asked for you to go after the boy and promised you their salary and even their bodies if you could retrieve him, but you declined and went after the boy without the promise of a reward."

"In it for the kicks, not the chicks." Archie cut in and winked. Ottavia rolled her eyes. "So I stowed away and found the boy that was also in hiding. He kept going on about how they were going to kill him, and I mean, yeah damn right they would have. But, he didn't mean it in that context. He ran out suddenly and I thought he was going to blow my cover when he hugged the pirate captain and cried, 'Mummy!' There was a family reunion which was sweet and all but I needed to take the boy back. And of course..."

"They made you walk the plank!" Ottavia burst out, unable to contain it. Archie laughed and shook his head.

"So that's where the story got warped," he sighed, "No, no, no. You're wrong there. All the cool pirates shoot their prisoners out of canons."

"Of course," Ottavia covered up, "Everyone knows that. So the pirates... they tried to-"

"How wrong did they get this?!" Archie shouted, smacking his palm against his forehead, "It wasn't the pirates! It was the kid!"

"Stop yelling!" Ottavia yelled, "So the kid tried to stuff you into a canon. Was it because he didn't want you to take him back?"

"Pretty much. The parents stopped him though and sent us back on a rowboat."

"You handed him over to the maids, and made the boy a promise..." Ottavia continued, "That when you'd become a pirate, you would come back and find him, take him away from his life and go on as many adventures as you'd like together."

"The Red Buccaneer," Archie mused, "I like it. Kind of catchy. And it's rather refreshing to hear somebody other than me telling these stories."

"So are you going to keep the promise?" Ottavia asked innocently, "As in, the story doesn't feel complete. It needs a proper ending. Do you keep the promise or not?" Archie froze and he looked away for a little bit, lost in thought. Ottavia saw his jaw clench and thought to herself about how bad he was at covering up what he was thinking. Eventually, Archie spoke.

"I don't know yet," he said slowly and added on hurriedly, "To be continued?" Ottavia didn't laugh and looked at him unimpressed.

"So, that's how it's going to be?" She snapped at him, "Guess you aren't as heroic as you make yourself out to be." Archie shrugged and turned back to her.

"I just go where the danger goes. Or, more like the danger goes where I am." Archie smiled a little, "Sometimes people interpret my actions as heroic, and I'm not going to stop them. I'll do what I do, and people can interpret what I do however they like."

"You go where the danger goes, huh." Ottavia narrowed her eyes at him coldly, "That's why you're going to Valkyom, isn't it? To check out the ones responsible for the assassination, the Crimson Twins."

"You know them? Aren't they great?" Archie enthused with a young-boyish quality.

"Wanderer."

"The one mystery in history that has yet to be solved! I've actually been following them around for a very long time now. They're rumoured to be demons!"

"Wanderer!"

"I'm pretty worried that they're not going to be there - no, actually, they're definitely not going to be there, that's why I've been taking so slow. Prolonging the inevitable, I guess. Have you heard if they've been striking anywhere else lately? Because-"

"HEY, BRUTE!" Ottavia shouted and grabbed him by the strips of fabric he called a shirt, pulling him close to her. "Of course I know them! They. Killed. My. Uncle." Archie looked back at her blankly, then put two and two together.

"They... oh. Ohhhhh. Ohhhhhhh." He bowed his head in shame and Ottavia tossed him aside. "Sorry?" Ottavia looked furious.

"Now if you're going to praise my Uncle's killers one more time, I swear to the Goddess that I will kick you off this - ek!" The carriage stopped suddenly and Ottavia slipped and fell on top of Archie. She looked up and gasped, "Brenda!" Archie held out his hand and caught Brenda before it met with Ottavia's throat. They both sat there panting until Ottavia called out to Victor. "Victor? Is everything alright?" They both heard a retching noise and a splash and exchanged glances. Eww.

"I'm coming out!" Archie said and opened the door, carefully carrying Brenda outside. He looked at the road ahead. "The good news is, we're outside of Valkyom." Archie told Ottavia as she stepped outside and put up her parasol.

"Bad news?"

"Right, the bad news is that there seems to be a fruit stand in the way."

"A fruit stand?" Ottavia repeated, raising one eyebrow. They both stood there together as one of the fruit stand attendees walked towards them with a basket of apples.

"Would you like to buy some fruit?" He asked, shoving the basket in their faces. Ottavia looked down at the man distastefully and pushed the basket away.

"No, but we'd like to get into Valkyom, and we can't do that when you're in the middle of the road." She spat harshly, and Archie tugged on her arm.

"Hey, lady. It's okay, I'm sure we can spend some change for fruit," he said, turning to the man who was sweating profusely, "Look at him, he's malnourished. You'd think he's a slave or something!" The man laughed nervously and looked at Ottavia hopefully.

"So you'll buy some fruit?"

"Both of my parents were poisoned. Thank you for the offer, but no." Ottavia turned her head and raised her nose, "I'm dreadfully sorry for this, but we have a drunk chauffeur. We cannot be blamed if we accidentally run over your stand - which, is in the middle of the road, but you already know that, yes?"

"Lady!" Archie exclaimed, and turned to the man. He rummaged around in his knapsack and pulled out a gold coin. "I think this is overkill, but here. I'll have an apple." The man took the coin happily and handed over an apple, but Archie became distracted by what was going on behind them. "You are aware that your mates back there are disassembling your stand and setting it alight, right?"

"Cooking the fruit," the man said before he could stop himself, "Sorry - I mean, we're closing up for good. Bad business." Archie looked at him, perplexed, and shrugged.

"I don't think that's what you do, but whatever works with you." Ottavia walked up beside Archie and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Victor is too out of it. We'll leave the coach behind and walk, so let us get moving." When they made some distance between them and the fruit stand, Ottavia hissed, "Don't you think that this is terribly suspicious looking?" Archie laughed at her and tossed up his apple.

"Girl, strange things like this happen to me all the time! Don't think too much of it." He took a bite and Ottavia shook her head and sighed.

"Perhaps this is why danger always finds you..."

"Are you sure it was the best idea to let Victor steer the carriage? I think he had the most fun out of the two of us. Surely there is a law about this somewhere?" Ottavia asked nervously, swaying back and forth as the carriage lurched. Archie peered over at her, a confident smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh, please... he'll be fine..." Archie giggled as the coach bumped up and down over something large and Ottavia squeaked. "...I'm gonna have such a bad hangover tomorrow..." Archie grinned and Ottavia hit him.

"Get your act together! We were only in there a few hours, so how did you manage to get so drunk?" She scolded him and suddenly went quiet, pressing her back against the wall and pointing. "Your axe... Brenda. Brenda is slipping again." Archie pushed the imposing thing back up to lean up against the seats. The coach was cramped and uncomfortable, even without the prospect of a giant blade falling upon your neck.

"Oh. Sorry 'bout that. Just can't sit still, can't she?"Ottavia ignored his comment and scrunched up her face, poking Archie in the chest.

"Don't tell me you can't handle your own," she jeered, taking on where she left off.

"So what if I can't?" Archie retorted sleepily, "The point is that I had fun... unlike a certain somebody I know who faked their fun." Ottavia looked offended and bared her teeth at him.

"I may have faked my fun, but I wasn't lying when I said I was happy." She said, then shook it off. "Anyway, I learned an awful lot about you in there. I didn't know the Red Wanderer was married!"

"Neither did I," Archie chuckled, "Until the morning after. Those were a weird couple of days... wait, what else did I say?"

"Like I said, an awful lot." Ottavia smirked, knowing she had the upper hand here. "Which of the bases have you made with Brenda again?"

"That was a joke," Archie blurted, alarmed. "That must have been a joke. I didn't go into details, did I? Please tell me the kids weren't around at that point!"

"I'm joking," Ottavia said and Archie sunk into his seat in relief. "But there was that one story about when you stowed away on a pirate ship to rescue a wannabe pirate kid that had stowed away himself..."

"I don't remember telling that one," Archie said, cocking his head, "I told my newest one about the jewel thief in Veilbrand, but that one... oh, wow. That one is old. I think that was one of my first adventures."

"It's the one that I heard a while back," Ottavia told him. She was deliberately trying not to make eye contact with the boy. "Didn't the captains of the ship turn out to be his parents?"

"Yeah... yeah, they did." Archie smiled, reminiscing. "The kid had been adopted into some rich family, because he was practically a prodigy. The parents wanted their kid to lead a better life and not one of crime, so they abandoned him there. Then years later, his parents were back in town and he saw his chance and seized it. That's where I come in!"

"The maids were terrified after finding the child gone, as their master and the boy's adopted father was a terrible, cruel and corrupt man, who would punish the maids and especially the boy." Ottavia took over the story and Archie closed his eyes to listen. Because Archie didn't stop her, she continued on and tried to not let the excitement in her voice show. "They asked for you to go after the boy and promised you their salary and even their bodies if you could retrieve him, but you declined and went after the boy without the promise of a reward."

"In it for the kicks, not the chicks." Archie cut in and winked. Ottavia rolled her eyes. "So I stowed away and found the boy that was also in hiding. He kept going on about how they were going to kill him, and I mean, yeah damn right they would have. But, he didn't mean it in that context. He ran out suddenly and I thought he was going to blow my cover when he hugged the pirate captain and cried, 'Mummy!' There was a family reunion which was sweet and all but I needed to take the boy back. And of course..."

"They made you walk the plank!" Ottavia burst out, unable to contain it. Archie laughed and shook his head.

"So that's where the story got warped," he sighed, "No, no, no. You're wrong there. All the cool pirates shoot their prisoners out of canons."

"Of course," Ottavia covered up, "Everyone knows that. So the pirates... they tried to-"

"How wrong did they get this?!" Archie shouted, smacking his palm against his forehead, "It wasn't the pirates! It was the kid!"

"Stop yelling!" Ottavia yelled, "So the kid tried to stuff you into a canon. Was it because he didn't want you to take him back?"

"Pretty much. The parents stopped him though and sent us back on a rowboat."

"You handed him over to the maids, and made the boy a promise..." Ottavia continued, "That when you'd become a pirate, you would come back and find him, take him away from his life and go on as many adventures as you'd like together."

"The Red Buccaneer," Archie mused, "I like it. Kind of catchy. And it's rather refreshing to hear somebody other than me telling these stories."

"So are you going to keep the promise?" Ottavia asked innocently, "As in, the story doesn't feel complete. It needs a proper ending. Do you keep the promise or not?" Archie froze and he looked away for a little bit, lost in thought. Ottavia saw his jaw clench and thought to herself about how bad he was at covering up what he was thinking. Eventually, Archie spoke.

"I don't know yet," he said slowly and added on hurriedly, "To be continued?" Ottavia didn't laugh and looked at him unimpressed.

"So, that's how it's going to be?" She snapped at him, "Guess you aren't as heroic as you make yourself out to be." Archie shrugged and turned back to her.

"I just go where the danger goes. Or, more like the danger goes where I am." Archie smiled a little, "Sometimes people interpret my actions as heroic, and I'm not going to stop them. I'll do what I do, and people can interpret what I do however they like."

"You go where the danger goes, huh." Ottavia narrowed her eyes at him coldly, "That's why you're going to Valkyom, isn't it? To check out the ones responsible for the assassination, the Crimson Twins."

"You know them? Aren't they great?" Archie enthused with a young-boyish quality.

"Wanderer."

"The one mystery in history that has yet to be solved! I've actually been following them around for a very long time now. They're rumoured to be demons!"

"Wanderer!"

"I'm pretty worried that they're not going to be there - no, actually, they're definitely not going to be there, that's why I've been taking so slow. Prolonging the inevitable, I guess. Have you heard if they've been striking anywhere else lately? Because-"

"HEY, BRUTE!" Ottavia shouted and grabbed him by the strips of fabric he called a shirt, pulling him close to her. "Of course I know them! They. Killed. My. Uncle." Archie looked back at her blankly, then put two and two together.

"They... oh. Ohhhhh. Ohhhhhhh." He bowed his head in shame and Ottavia tossed him aside. "Sorry?" Ottavia looked furious.

"Now if you're going to praise my Uncle's killers one more time, I swear to the Goddess that I will kick you off this - ek!" The carriage stopped suddenly and Ottavia slipped and fell on top of Archie. She looked up and gasped, "Brenda!" Archie held out his hand and caught Brenda before it met with Ottavia's throat. They both sat there panting until Ottavia called out to Victor. "Victor? Is everything alright?" They both heard a retching noise and a splash and exchanged glances. Eww.

"I'm coming out!" Archie said and opened the door, carefully carrying Brenda outside. He looked at the road ahead. "The good news is, we're outside of Valkyom." Archie told Ottavia as she stepped outside and put up her parasol.

"Bad news?"

"Right, the bad news is that there seems to be a fruit stand in the way."

"A fruit stand?" Ottavia repeated, raising one eyebrow. They both stood there together as one of the fruit stand attendees walked towards them with a basket of apples.

"Would you like to buy some fruit?" He asked, shoving the basket in their faces. Ottavia looked down at the man distastefully and pushed the basket away.

"No, but we'd like to get into Valkyom, and we can't do that when you're in the middle of the road." She spat harshly, and Archie tugged on her arm.

"Hey, lady. It's okay, I'm sure we can spend some change for fruit," he said, turning to the man who was sweating profusely, "Look at him, he's malnourished. You'd think he's a slave or something!" The man laughed nervously and looked at Ottavia hopefully.

"So you'll buy some fruit?"

"Both of my parents were poisoned. Thank you for the offer, but no." Ottavia turned her head and raised her nose, "I'm dreadfully sorry for this, but we have a drunk chauffeur. We cannot be blamed if we accidentally run over your stand - which, is in the middle of the road, but you already know that, yes?"

"Lady!" Archie exclaimed, and turned to the man. He rummaged around in his knapsack and pulled out a gold coin. "I think this is overkill, but here. I'll have an apple." The man took the coin happily and handed over an apple, but Archie became distracted by what was going on behind them. "You are aware that your mates back there are disassembling your stand and setting it alight, right?"

"Cooking the fruit," the man said before he could stop himself, "Sorry - I mean, we're closing up for good. Bad business." Archie looked at him, perplexed, and shrugged.

"I don't think that's what you do, but whatever works with you." Ottavia walked up beside Archie and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Victor is too out of it. We'll leave the coach behind and walk, so let us get moving." When they made some distance between them and the fruit stand, Ottavia hissed, "Don't you think that this is terribly suspicious looking?" Archie laughed at her and tossed up his apple.

"Girl, strange things like this happen to me all the time! Don't think too much of it." He took a bite and Ottavia shook her head and sighed.

"Perhaps this is why danger always finds you..."

So once upon a time there was a princess named Syntax Error. :)

She was an Untouchable, a cursed child who is wrapped up in an invisible element so that others are unable to touch her. Naturally her mother died giving birth, as her element was fire. (Baby + fire + childbirth = X_X)

Her father the king was enraged, and as all people would back in the medieval era, called the child a witch and locked her away to a tower. As Untouchables are kinda incredibly hard to kill (their element that covers them springs to life to protect them), the idea was to keep her locked away in her tower until she turned 18 and could have her soul intertwined with the volcano.

The volcano is where all Untouchable souls go. They are banished there and after a magical ritual, they are unable to leave. They stay there until they die, and even when they die, because their souls are still bound to the volcano... no heaven for you! You get to stay there for all eternity!

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. A boy, Larson, visited Syn's tower regularly, threw stuff at her. It used to just be with his friends, as all the kids in the town thought it was fun to go and throw stuff at the witch, but he accidentally started up a conversation with her and he threw GOOD stuff up at her, not rocks and rotten fruit. She seemed decent enough, so he started coming back to the tower to talk to her. Before you knew it, they were buddies.

When Lars was 16 and Syn was 14 (He was older than her), he decided to sneak her out. They had an awesome time and Syn realised she had a major crush on him... but she was an Untouchable, so it could never work out. Soon enough, they started to plan her escape. However, Lars's jealous old BFF who hated witchcraft and all that shiz and who recently had a falling out with Lars after Lars defended Syn in an argument, ummm let's call him Herman, spied Syn outside of her tower looking for Lars!

Herman betrayed Lars and told the king about their plan to sneak Syn out of the kingdom. The king's men, wearing fireproof suits, barged into Syn's room, beat her, then dragged her outside to see Lars at the stake (how they kill witches - basically he was tied to a pile of sticks) The King said that he had planned out his execution and that Lars would be burnt at the stake... bring forth the torch! And with that, they brought Syn forward and magically chained her to the stake with Lars. (King you evil motherfucker.)

So Syn started freaking out as her powers set the stake alight. Lars kept trying to calm Syn saying that it isn't her who's killing him, it's the King! But Syn - whose powers mostly depend on her emotions - was too distressed and her powers went a little crazy... in the end she screamed "I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!" and that is what she did. One big fire blast. Took out the entire kingdom and turned everybody to ash.

Syn emerged from the ash a changed and broken girl. She moved to the volcano and has remained there since.

The. End.

:D

Drei Loraene's backstory.

I have a tendency to overblow and make incredibly dramatic backstories so yeah lets see how this goes.

Drei was born of Noble blood to the clan leader in a large community of Drow Elves underneath Merrowvale, inside and under the mountains behind Merrow Mine. These Drow Elves worshipped their God, Valhilt, and would be considered evil to most, and yet were one of the most powerful Drow Elf clans in Amtophia. Along with worshipping Valhilt, they worshipped the darkness, which Valhilt was supposed to embody or something. :P

And yet, this proud race's leader had sired a child of light.

The child's eyes were bright and azure, unheard of among the Drow, and in the dark, she would not stop crying. Only until a wisp settled on her forehead did her crying cease, and the chieftain refused to acknowledge this as a sign. It was only until the child, until she was two, would not stop crying when alone in the dark, and only stopped when given light, did he give in to his realisation: his heir was born afraid of the dark. So, he did what any good Drow Elf father would do in this situation: abandon her and treat her cruelly in hope that she might toughen, and let his followers do terrible tortures and rituals in hope that her cowardice may be shaken.

Such rituals like bathing her in the blood of her elders so that their wisdom and experience may seep through her skin, and spending days squeezed in between two rocks and having to climb out before she starved to death. After being thoroughly beaten through and through, Drei did toughen - she learnt how to fight, how to win and how to not put up with shit. She grew out of her childish fear of the dark and hid her claustrophobia, learning not to fear the dark but to fear the race that resided in it. She began fearing those around her, and like old Star Wars style that fear grew into hatred. Her father mistook her hatred and harsh words for strength, and at last thought she was ready to become an Priestess of Valhilt, joining the Apostles in their journey to spread the word of their lord and superiority (*cough*world domination*cough*) This was when she was eleven.

Drei's journeys to the overworld were the only things that gave her joy, and as she grew older she became bolder and would often escape to the outside. She knew every escape route now, every crevice which let in the light. Unfortunately, now that she was in the Priestess's care, she was no longer allowed into the light. In fact, she had to wear a blindfold and was taught to fight, hold ceremonies, sacrifices and channel the dark energy of their Lord Valhilt - all while not being allowed to remove her blindfold. She was not allowed to remove it, and her "sisters" told her that in time, she would find darkness beautiful. Eventually, Drei became able to take down her father's men while blindfolded, and after one torturous journey on horseback on the surface - not being allowed to take of the blindfold - the sisters claimed she was ready for her ceremony. This was when she sixteen.

When a new Priestess is given her title, she is permanently blinded by having poison dripped into her eyes. Of course, Drei was like NONONONONONO about that. Sacrificial games were played at the ceremony, and Drei could not watch, only listen - and yet she could see every swing and parry. When her father decided to join in with the festivities and asked which of his men would fight against their leader aka who here has a death wish, Drei stood up from her seat and stepped into the arena. When her sisters called her back, she reminded them that in order for a the leader's heir to claim his seat, she has to kill him or he has to take his life for the clan. (Geez, the rules are so harsh around in here ^^') Drei then announces that today, she will not only be united with Lord Valhilt, but she will rule his people alongside him. Her father looked at her, incredibly proud that his little, scared girl had grown up into a fine Drow Elf, when she took off her blindfold. Everyone was like GASP! *pin drops*, and then she said
"There is one request I have before you take my precious vision - and that is that the last scene I shall behold is my father's face as I withdraw my blade from his heart." Everyone is like AWWW because, y'know, Drow Elves are weirdly twisted like that, but the her father feels a chill as he looks at her azure eyes of his bastard daughter, azure just like her human mother's... (OMG PLOT TWIST) the first time he had seen her eyes for a long time, and he finally realised what flame flickered behind them - not the spark of intelligence, not the warm flame of courage but the raging furnace of hatred. Drei did not want this. She did not want her vision taken from her, for Valhilt to speak to his followers through her mouth and she definitely did not want to rule a cult. All she wanted was him, dead.

So they fought anyway and Drei fought with a rage like no other - and ended up beheading not in one, clean swipe, but by hacking at his neck again and again, screaming vulgarities at him. When she finished, she lifted his head to the crowd and said this little speech, "All of you may assume that my thoughts were of your Lord when I drew my blade against my father - but I can assure, I did not realise his soul so he could join him. In fact, all I was thinking about as I took my father's life, was me." She threw the head onto the ground and let it roll to the sisters' feet before continuing. A murmuring started up. Not killing for the Lord was one of the highest of taboos, and cursed the fallen's soul to wander aimlessly. "I killed, because I wanted to. Because, I wanted to see him dead. His death brought no pleasure to your Lord. It brought pleasure only to me. Because hear this," her voice became louder, "You will not take my eyes from me. I refuse to rule you in the shadow of your deity, no, I refuse to rule in the shadows of anyone, anything! And I especially refuse to rule in the shadows of these caves! So, Drow, I have killed your ruler and you have watched me, cheered me on, for what? To see me break every code of Drow Elf honor and walk away? Surely, you're not going to let me walk, are you?" The Drow Elves were unsure. What would they do in this situation. "Treason!" One of them screamed, and the men stepped forward to shackle Drei, but she mock curtsied and smirked, "Very well, I'll run instead." And took off. She knew the caves well, from her previous visits to the surface. It didn't take long to twist the pursuers into a loop and emerge out on the surface.

The light was blinding. She stumbled and ran, feeling the wind in her face, not being able to see and tripping over unfamiliar territory. The Drow would be searching for her now. Drow Elf pride was strong and ran deep in their veins, and now that she damaged it, they would never let her go. For the next few days she stumbled blindly through the forest, unable to see anything but blurry shapes, until she was attracted to something glittering. This was the golden chain of an older bandit man, and he took her in and took care of her until her vision returned. She could now go anywhere. Do anything. Nobody would take anything from her again.

Of course, you can't assume that she'd be a good person after all of that. When treated with cruelty, people grow up to be cruel. That is why Drei, at nineteen years, is a bitch. But, she's a badass bitch, so it's all okay. Kinda. Yeah, she's an evil little fuckwit, shut up already. Sorry for trying to redeem her, geez...

Wow! There you go! Overblown and over-dramatised! And yet I like it! Yeah, I like it. You like, right? Right??

Maggie looked down at Yui when she asked to see the photos. The child was merely curious, which was normal, but her question made Maggie think. When had she last gone outside? She spent all of her time cooped up in HQ with her familiars being distracted by her work that it had never occurred to her. She winked when Yui caught her looking, turning her head back to face Mitsuko with a smile while being internally disappointed at the lack of a smile Yui had returned. She was trying so, so hard.

All she wanted was for Yui to not feel discomfort around her. She had told herself that Yui did not trust her because she was a doctor and had even made a point to ditch the lab coat when she would be in a situation where Yui and her needed to interact, but she couldn't shake the dreaded feeling that her distrust towards her was deeper than just her profession. The child didn't trust Maggie as a person and maybe she was right to.

"Alright, you lot! You'd all better be playing close attention, cause this meeting has officially started!"

The room dimmed and the screen lit up. Maggie leaned forward in her seat, resting her head on her hand. She let out a little quiet whistle at the light show. A smile lit up on her face and her heart thumped in her chest. Mission briefings were just so exciting ~!

She listened intently to her leader, soaking in every word. She was slightly taken aback when Mitsuko announced that this raid... the most dangerous mission that any of the FF will ever be through, most likely... would be led by her. Maggie wanted to interrupt, say something like "Not over my dead body, young lady!" but she just bit her tongue and let it slide. She couldn't speak up for her own selfish feelings. Mitsuko had been in the front lines of many missions and none of them had failed, it was just how she worked. Surely, as their leader, she knew what she was doing. Then Hachirou had to speak up.

A pang of guilt surged through her as Hachirou spoke the words she couldn't. In some ways, Hachirou was braver than her, and she couldn't help but feel a little proud of him because of that... but also beat herself up because of it too. Maggie squeezed her arms, looking down at the desk and biting her lip. She couldn't let him stand alone like that without anyone there to be behind him. Maggie stood up from her chair slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him. I'm not speaking up on behalf of me being selfish and arguing against her wishes because I don't want to see her get hurt... she reassured herself as she plastered on a confident grin, This is me speaking up on the behalf of the team.

"Mitsuko..." Maggie started and suddenly she had fallen back to her usual self, "Chi-kun is saying what a lot of us may be thinking, he was just the one brave enough to voice it." She smiled at Hachirou reassuringly and continued, "Though we understand that you are perfectly capable for the mission, ultimately, whether we get through a mission alive or un-captured comes down to a fair amount of chance. Considering how important and big this mission is and how little we know of the area we are to infiltrate... taking a risk like this is pretty brave."

"But also stupid."

Not now, Mum... Maggie whined in her head, "I know that you must have considered how much the stakes will be raised in this mission, so this isn't me not trusting your judgement." Yes it was. Yes, it most definitely partially was. Maggie buried that thought inside of her. The only reason she wasn't trusting Mitsuko's judgement was because her mother's intuition was going nope nope nope like an alarm, and Maggie had learnt that her intuition could sometimes be... a teensy bit extreme at times. "This is just me telling you to be extra careful, OK?" She finished, a stern look on her face.

Sorry, Hachirou. Mitsuko would be going on this mission whether he'd like it or not. Everyone in the FF could get hurt, any time, any day... and everyone in the FF made their own decision to deal with that the moment they signed up. It was a harsh truth, and she didn't want to see anyone get hurt either, but all she could do was get those who were hurt back to their feet again. Helping the hurting was her purpose, but maybe one day she could be a fighter like the rest of them and help prevent others from being hurt to begin with. She would never tell them, but this was her greatest dream.

Ritsuka took her first eager steps out of the vehicle, her parasol springing to life over her head to shield her from the sudden light. With a gloved hand, she tugged gently at its handle, urging her chauffeur to pass it. The man slipped the parasol into her palm and shuffled from her side to the boot of the black car, opening it and retrieving her belongings as she opened her tired eyes and took in the size of the Academy.

There it was, nestled up on its perch. It looked majestic as always, a castle surrounded by lush green forests under a clear blue sky - and a whole heap of stairs to climb to its silver gates. Ritsuka stared at the open gates, watching the last of the students file in. She was late, of course, as her flight from London had been delayed. She had missed the Academy with its clean air and open spaces and... God forbid, the glare of the blinding sun was even making her feel nostalgic. Her chauffeur returned with her large travelling bag and she raised her hand to stop him without even blinking or looking in his direction. She remained focused on the gates as he set the bag down by her side and she pulled up the handle, forcing the bag onto its wheels. She stood still, her chin slightly raised, as though diligently awaiting permission to continue.

"Your father wishes you good luck with your year," the man said at her side, bowing his head slightly. Ritsuka's icy eyes slid over to him and she gave a little nod to portray her understanding, then she refocused on the gates she had worked so hard to reach. She began to climb the stairs, not even paying attention to the car's engine starting up and fading away behind her. She walked with dignity, a sort of grace you would expect of a vampire from a higher class. Her small heels slowly clicked and clacked their way up to meet the gates and when she reached her destination, she found herself with no disciplinary committee to greet her and/or glare at her and only a few confused Day Class first years wondering where to go. At the sight of their uniforms, Ritsuka dipped her chin to look at her own dress and wondered whether she should have worn hers. Instead of dwelling on it, she continued her journey to the Moon Dorms, ignoring the gawking Day Class students who saw her but appreciating the attention.

She arrived at the dorms not too much later, all the while thoroughly enjoying the familiar scenery and the silence. In the courtyard of the dorms she twirled as she walked, looking at the fountain, the garden, the flowers, the sky, the sun... Ritsuka immediately lowered her gaze, blinded by the spots in her eyes. She stopped twirling and her skirts settled down, gathering back at her knees. She internally cursed the sun for ruining her vision and stepped up to the doors of the dorm, closing her parasol up with a finality.

With both of her hands, she opened the doors with ease and looked inside at the Night Class gathered inside awaiting for further instructions... all wearing their uniforms. Ritsuka stared at them through her fringe as the doors swung shut behind her with a bang then toted her bag along with her to the furthest seat away from everyone else by the window. She sat down and crossed her legs, looking over everyone in the entrance hall. They were mostly all faces she remembered, but none she knew. They chatted to each other and made idle small talk, friends were being reunited and others were just hanging low and standing about, waiting. Obviously she wasn't too late as the dorms hadn't been assigned as of yet. Ritsuka remembered how her last dorm room mate had been caught trying to sneak into the Day Class dorms and was expelled from the school, leaving her all by herself. She hadn't minded and hoped that some circumstances would grant her a dorm to herself this year as well. She was not giving up on the possibility. Ritsuka clenched her fists and held them to her chest and looked up into the open air with a sudden determined aura, as though chance was something that she could control with enough wishful thinking. Then she took out a book from her bag and began to read with the same intense attitude as she waited for fate to do her job.

Yuudai yawned and stretched up, leaning back in his seat with his feet propped up on the desk - deliberately carelessly. His brown eyes slid over to a group of girls glancing in his direction as they scampered from their seats - deliberately expressionless. He gave them a perfected smirk and one of them flared up before tugging her friends along out of the classroom. Yuudai's smirk immediately dropped and he heaved, swinging his feet to the ground when a fist suddenly slammed down on his desk.

"Oy, Yuu!" Yuudai recovered from his fright quickly to look up at his friend, Nao, smiling down at him mischieviously. "What was that?"

"W-What was what?" Yuu shot back hurriedly, "I didn't jump - if that's what you mean."

"No, that. With them," Nao gestured to the door of the classroom where the girls had left. Yuudai stared at Nao in wide-eyed oblivion and he chuckled, pulling away from the desk. "Alright, alright. You've gotten pretty good. You almost fooled me."

"Nao, what the heck are you ta-"

"Hey, so, do you want to meet that person I was talking about?" Nao interrupted Yuudai with a hand over his mouth. Yuudai immediately reacted by panicking and biting it, which seemingly had no effect. "I promised that we'd meet with her at lunch." Yuudai let go of Nao's hand with his teeth and stood up, throwing his bag over his shoulder in a typical anime cool-guy style.

"Whatever," he replied dismissively, "I still can't believe that you already met someone. It hasn't even been a day yet, do you realise?"

"You'll be even more surprised when you see her," Nao said and jogged to the the door, gesturing for Yuudai to follow him. Yuudai grinned after him, his cool persona breaking as he approached the door and Nao slid it open.

"Oh, come on, she can't be that great if you managed to -"

"Gooooood morning, Yuuuuuuu~kun~~!!!"

Yuudai immediately slammed the sliding door shut on the smiling girl on the other side, staring at the ground with wide eyes. He turned his head slowly to Nao who was simply smiling apologetically next to him. "No," Yuudai uttered. Nao nodded. "SERIOUSLY?!" The door began to open again and Yuu pulled it shut, struggling against the unstoppable force on the other side.

"Huuuh? Yuu-kun, why are you being so mean?" The voice squeaked on the other side.

"No, no, no! You said you weren't going to Aurora! Why are you here?!" Yuudai shouted then cried "Agh!" as he was picked up effortlessly by Nao. "What the heck -?! P-Put me down, you bastard!"

"Because, things change!" The girl chirped and slid open the door, walking in proudly. She winked at the distressed Yuudai kicking in Nao's enormous arms, "Right, honey?"

"Honey -" Yuudai began in confusion then yelped as he was discarded by Nao, who walked towards the girl and wrapped her up in his arms. She beamed up at him as he kissed her forehead and agreed with her, all while Yuudai looked on in complete and utter shock. He raised a trembling hand and pointed at them, both annoyed and confused. "What... what... WHAT?! You and Sayu?! What did I miss out on over Summer?"

"Actually..." Nao glanced down at Sayu, who nodded at him to confirm that it was OK. He looked up at Yuudai and smiled blissfully, "You didn't miss out on anything. We've been together since last year, we just didn't tell you so that you wouldn't be upset about being the third wheel."

"But you're a big boy now, so you can take the truth." Sayu added on playfully. Yuudai stared at the both of them.

"You're kidding," he breathed slowly, "You have seriously..."

"Well if you weren't so self-involved you may have realised -" Sayu continued on not really helpfully but Yuudai raised up an angry hand to stop her.

"Don't talk to me!" He snapped, blushing slightly. He tried to regain his composure and slung his bag over his shoulder again. "A-And anyway, why would I care about being a third wheel? That doesn't mean anything." Nao and Sayu glanced at each other with a silent understanding.

"Yes, you're right," the both sighed together.

"Of course I am," Yuudai declared and walked over to the door to open it, "So let's just go to lunch already. I've had enough of uninvited reunions -" he stopped when he nearly fell over a short girl. He stared at her and she stared back and he immediately recognised her as someone in his class. "... Who are you?"

"Oh, that's Tsukino," Sayu explained as she walked past him, hand-in-hand with Nao. "I know her from my dance classes. She'll be eating lunch with us."

"Oh." Yuudai looked at her and she looked back at him. His eyes narrowed and he leaned down, "... Don't tell anybody."

The girl nodded in understanding and jogged to catch up with Sayu, while Yuudai sighed and followed on. So much for my reputation...

Yuudai yawned and stretched up, leaning back in his seat with his feet propped up on the desk - deliberately careless. His brown eyes slid over to a group of girls glancing in his direction as they scampered from their seats - deliberately expressionless. He gave them a perfected smirk and yanked at the heartstrings of their leader, who flared up before tugging her friends along out of the classroom. He erased his smirk when the last one left and heaved, swinging his feet to the ground. Suddenly his relief was broken when a fist slammed down on his desk.

"Wagh -?!"

"Oy, Yuu!" Yuudai recovered from his fright quickly to look up at his best friend, Nao - a 6'1'' tall giant - smiling down at him mischieviously. "What was that?"

"W-What was what?" Yuudai shot back, "I didn't jump - if that's what you mean."

"No, that. With them," Nao gestured to the door of the classroom where the girls had left. Yuudai stared at Nao in wide-eyed oblivion and he chuckled, pulling away from the desk. "Alright, alright. You've gotten pretty good, I'll give you that much."

"Nao," Yuu began with his eyebrow twitching in agitation, "What the heck are you ta-"

"Hey, so, do you want to meet that person I was talking about?" Nao interrupted Yuudai with a hand smothering his entire face. Yuudai swat his hands frantically in the air as he tried to get away, shouting things such as "N-Nao! I can't breathe, you idiot!" (Except he wasn't really making words. Instead he was furiously murmuring, "Nmmmfph! Ach chnt brnff, mmidit!") "I promised that we'd meet with her at lunch," Nao said and let go of Yuudai's face.

Yuudai shoved him off and inhaled deeply, his face completely red. He shot a cold glare at Nao's innocent smiling face and threw his bag over his shoulder in a typical anime cool-guy style. "Whatever," he replied as aloof as he could manage, "I still can't believe that you already met someone. It hasn't even been a day yet, do you realise?"

"Ah - Ahhhhh, of course Yuu sees it that way," Nao said to himself, his seemingly always-closed eyes opening wide like he just realised something critical. Yuudai narrowed his own eyes suspiciously and leaned towards his friend in an obviously curious manner. Before he could question Nao about what he just said, Nao cut him off again. "Actually, I haven't met her myself. It was a request from a friend."

"Who...?" Yuudai began, not being able to currently remember any other friends of Nao's beside himself, when Nao's pocket began playing music. Nao put his hand up to excuse himself as he fetched his phone out of his pocket and answered it.

"'Ello? ... Oh, hey there girl! ... Mm-hm! ... Ehehe... ha... sure! Here, Yuu, it's for you!" Nao held the phone out to Yuudai, who reluctantly took it.

"Who the hell is calling me from your phone -"

"Gooooood morning, Yuuuuuuu~kuuuuu- *boop*"

Yuudai immediately hung up without a word and tossed it back to Nao, who panicked and almost dropped it. "Y-Yuu, what -"

... doo doo doo DOO doo dooo, BADABABABADA!! Doo doo doo DOO doo dooo -

"Don't answer it!" Yuudai snapped when Nao answered. Yuudai cried out in anguish and smacked his forehead, backing away as Nao chased him with the phone.

"But it's for you~~~"

"Um, excuse me..."

"NAO I SWEAR IF YOU GIVE THAT TO ME I'LL DITCH IT!" Yuudai yelled, slapping Nao repeatedly with his back pressed against a desk, Nao pushing him down to hold the phone by his ear. Nao giggled and pressed loud speaker and Yuudai squeaked and covered his mouth.

"... Yuu-kun? Yuu-kun, I can hear everything you know. You make me feel so unloved... sniff sniff..." Yuudai's eyes widened and he stared at the phone, then snatched it out of Nao's hand and turned loud speaker off, holding it up to his ear. "Yuu-kun? Is that you?"

"Y-yeah..." Yuudai muttered reluctantly, "What do you want, Shuri?"

I just wanted to see how things were going on your end," the girl's chipper voice said casually, "How are things in the famous Aurora Academy? How's your reputation holding up?"

"Things are... annoying," he replied and flipped off Nao, "And my reputation would be going fine if this idiot would just - hey, hang on! That's none of your business!"[/color] Yuudai stammered as he heard Shuri laughing on the other side of the line, but then he just relaxed into it and grinned. "How's Tokyo?"

"Big and busy," Shuri responded immediately like she was waiting to be asked. "Everything's such a big hassle here and everyone's always so aggressive at each other! Thankfully, I've had experience with aggressive people ("Hey-") so adjusting to this environment isn't too tolling. So, anyway, about what I was really calling about... you see that girl in the room with you?"

Yuudai froze. "What?"

"The girl in the room with you. I heard her come in just before..."

Yuudai turned his head to see the short girl with moon-shaped glasses teetering behind him, her hand out like she was just about to poke him. She made startled sound and pulled away and Yuudai jumped back, pointing and yelling. "WHAT THE-?! WHEN DID YOU-?!"

"That's Tsukino, my friend from dance. She'll be eating lunch with you from now on. She's suuuuuper awkward so I told her that you'll let her be friends with you from now on, OK? You'll do that for me, won't you?"

"NO."

"Pleeeeeeease?"

".... OK."

"Thanks, Yuu-kun! I knew I could count on you! Of course, I was going to give Nao spanking privileges if you tried acting up around her, but you won't, will you? Heheh."

"Fine, fine. Whatever." Yuudai glared over at Nao, then glanced back at the girl. "By the way, Shuri, why did you call me on Nao's phone...?"

"You don't remember? You never gave me your number. You always got super blushy and weird when I asked. Seriously, I bet you don't even remember your number do you -"

"ByeShuriitwasnicespeakingtoyou!" Yuudai shouted into the speaker and hung up, ditching the mobile at Nao who caught it effortlessly. He sighed, his shoulders sagging down. Then he inhaled deeply through his nose and picked up his bag again, walking towards the classroom door. "Well, that was pointless. Let's go to lunch already. I'm starving." Nao cheered and barged past Yuudai, jogging into the hallway. Yuudai looked behind at his new "friend" Tsukino, who looked very unsure of whether to follow or not. He found his cool composure as he gestured her over and whispered to her while looking her straight in the eye, "Whatever happens... don't tell anybody."

Tsukino nodded her head in understanding and followed Nao out of the room. Yuudai's silent fury immediately dropped and he slumped over and whimpered in defeat. ... So much for that reputation...

Dorothy couldn't help but feel a guilty at Daisy worrying for her. Every other Demon Hunter she knew was fully devoted to the cause and ready to throw away everything for the sake of duty. They wouldn't understand her lack of eagerness, surely. She threw away these thoughts in fear that Daisy would read them and tried to get herself excited at the prospect of bloodshed like everyone else, but it was hard.

It's OK, she lied to Daisy as she walked, I'm OK. I stayed up late last night. It was stupid of me. She smiled at Bassy telling her that she'd have a happy day, although she knew it probably wasn't going to happen. "I believe you."

When they reached the building, the first thing she noticed was the fearful aura coming from inside. She could tell it was from the inside, as it was as though it was being sifted through a sieve, much like the Demon Hunters' emotions which she had to actually focus on to sense. She knew that it was going to be stronger once they entered. She spotted Rue looking over everyone impatiently and quickly averted her eyes. Scanning over everyone else, she felt disappointed to not see... um, a particular other with them. Danny had apparently already rushed in, like the rash idiot he could be sometimes, and by the looks of things, Bassy also planned on taking it alone.

"We shouldn't do this alone," she urged, looking straight at him. It seemed that nobody else could feel the fear being emitted from this tower. Of course they couldn't. Not yet, anyway. "This place is trying to scare me, I don't think we should..." Lance rushed out of nowhere and went to drop kick the door. "Lance, wait!" He was already gone. Once getting over the initial shock she stepped forward, a determined look on her small face. "If Razakar was expecting us to go in together, whatever lying behind this door is too much for them to defeat alone..." she reasoned with herself, then beckoned to Daisy and Bassy to follow her with a little nod of her head.

As soon as Dorothy touched the handles to follow, she was teleported inside the building. "Lance? Where are you -" Her eyes widened as she realised nobody was there. She twisted around to look at her companions, but they hadn't appeared. She waited nearly a minute for them to follow her, but they didn't. She was alone.

"What? No..." she protested weakly, running back to the giant doors and tugging at the handles. She pulled with all her might then knocked her fists against the metal, desperate to be let back out. "Excuse me, where did you go? I'm trapped in here without you! Bassy?" She tried her hardest to project her pleads to Daisy by thought, but something told her that she couldn't hear.

"She can't hear you," Siem, the something, told her bluntly. Dorothy cowered by the door, resting her forehead against it and trying to swallow her anxiety. Something didn't seem right. Her entire surroundings held the stench of fear. Something was heaving from behind her, something large and beastly that she was afraid to look at. Slowly, with her heart beating dangerously, she turned around and gulped.

It was a giant with a grey, skeletal figure that seemed to be decaying. Its head was covered by the skull of an animal, but through its black eye sockets she saw furious stars. In one hand it held a massive blade while in the other it held a ball of flames. It must have been at least 30 Dorothys tall and it was staring straight down at her, panting like a dog anticipating a kill.

"What is that thing...?" She whispered beneath her breath without thinking. Siem coughed.

"That thing is... a cheap imitation. A Reflection."

"What do mean an imitation?" Dorothy asked in full earnest, "It's horrific..."

"To a simple human, perhaps."

The monster didn't seem to be doing anything, just staring like it was waiting for her to move. She slowly raised her hands and undid a few buttons on her dress to expose a red gem on her chest. She knocked on it twice, not removing her gaze from the demon. "Come out, Toto."

Hundreds of thin red and black ribbons burst from her chest and flew around her, wrapping her up like a mummy. They eventually stopped whipping around when the only bit of her body exposed was her eyes, which she opened to glare at the demon.

"If you're not going to move, I will..." she murmured and ribbons shot from her.

"Wait doll, don't -"

The ribbons pierced through the demon's chest and hissing steam escaped through the tiny wounds. Dorothy wound her hands around her ribbons and dashed to the right before jumping up and letting them pull her up into the air as she swung around. She shot a few more ribbons at its back and pulled herself in for a landing. Scrambling up its spine and over its shoulder, the ribbons around her right hand unravelled. Another one of her projectiles shot up to loop around the horn of the demon and she flew into the air before throwing herself to land on its face. She stared into its eye socket, her hand glowing with a purple aura.

"Nightmare Demon... what makes you scream?" She uttered before shoving her arm into the socket like a spear. She shut her eyes and prepared herself for the memories... which didn't come.

"What?" She blurted and opened her eyes. Come to think of it, the demon hadn't even moved at all while she was scuttling over him like an annoying spider. It didn't even make a noise when she pierced its eye with her hand. Something was very wrong here...

"You made a bad move, doll..."

The demon made a sound that was like laughing. Its jaw creaked open slowly and Dorothy realised that she was in a very bad position as air was sucked into the gaping mouth of the beast. Then it roared. Dorothy held on to whatever she could grip, her ears popping, but the demon was shaking too much. She flew off the skull and her ribbons drew back to her, but there was nothing she could do fast enough to stop her from slamming into the opposite wall. Cracks formed in the wall around her body and she peeled away, dropping to the floor with an "oof". Not for the first time, she thanked Toto for protecting her.

"You complete... and utter... dunce..." Siem grunted through gritted teeth, "You tried to see its weakness through its memories, didn't you?"

"I know that I'm small and weak for a Demon Hunter. I thought that if I had its weakness, I could -" Dorothy managed as she tried to get up and wipe eye goop on the floor, but Siem cut her off.

"No, no, no. What did I tell you? It's a Reflection. It's not a demon, it's a demon spell. A separate entity created from Razakar's powers. It's hardly alive, not to mention it only came into existence a minute ago! What traumatic memory could you take from that?"

"I'm so sorry..." Dorothy winced, bowing her head. Siem sighed from within her.

"Just get u-"

"Don't do it, doll. That's a bad idea."

Dorothy's head lifted to the sound of Siem's voice, not inside of her head, but from the outside. It had echoed around the room, almost as though it come from the...

"Use this empty head of yours and think."

"Siem..." she said slowly, nervousness making her words tremble, "... Why does the Reflection have your voice...? It's saying things that you already..."

"Because the Reflection is of me, obviously." Siem explained darkly. "It's a crude recreation of my demonic body. What an insult, that such a low life should make an attempt at moulding my glorious true form to control with his dirty hands. I will take great pleasure from tearing this faker apart."

"I like your other body better."

"Now, this is merely a reflection," Siem continued, ignoring her comment, "Therefore it learns from what you do, like the faker it is. You used our memory probe on it, so he mimicked it. As you can see, its sorting through your most recent memories, but if we don't do something soon it will go further. The more we fight it, the more powerful it will become, so we must destroy this quickly."

Dorothy felt sick upon hearing this. "Not all of these memories are mine..." she realised. If she allowed this Reflection to be alive for too long, it would see not only her memories, but the memories of her fellow Demon Hunters she had accidentally collected over the years. She couldn't hand those over to a Nightmare Demon. "They're not mine to give away!"

She looked up just in time to see it swing its massive blade down at her. Dorothy's ribbons pulled her to the side at alarming speed and she shot more out at the monster, slicing through the nape of his neck. She tried to pull herself into his blind spot while being chopped at when it threw a fireball in her direction. Her ribbons acted fast, building a cocoon around her to protect her from the blast, but then it just dropped to the ground, smoking.

"Abandonment, loneliness, the fear of maturity, losing hope and control... oh, and what's this? Fear of your duty..." Dorothy heard from within her shield. She squeaked as she felt herself be picked up, thrown up and caught again. "... You are one terrified little girl. I have you dancing in the palm of my hand... but there is more in that head of yours. What are you not showing me?"

Dorothy remained shivering, her mind blanking out. She could feel its hand cupping around her, trapping her.

"The others.. you know what makes them cry in the night, though they are not all aware of it... Give away their suffering, it will make you feel better."

"I will never!" Dorothy's small heart pounded so hard it hurt. What could she do, what could she do, what could she do now?! It was eventually going to crush her protective cocoon. It would flatten her unless she could just hear herself think!

"I don't know why you want to. You're not even friends."

Friends.

Dorothy's shield exploded - the ribbons shot out, piercing through the Reflection's hand. At her will, they sliced right through - all of the hundreds of lethal blades, cutting it like it was paper. The chunks of grey meat flopped onto the ground and the Reflection screeched. Dorothy's ribbons wrapped around her legs to create columns for her to balance upon, so she could stare the Reflection right into its one eye.

"That's what I hate about demons," she said coldly, glaring at it with dead eyes that had seen too much. Her ribbons slivered around her like menacing tendrils and she continued to glare in such a way the Reflection felt itself unable to move. The corner of her mouth tugged into a small, sadistic smile.

"You're all liars."

"Well, that was interesting."

"Was it?"

Dorothy dropped to the ground between the split skull of the reflection. She stood, observing the carnage that lay around her small figure as ribbons retracted back into her chest.

"Crude imitation it may have been, it still isn't pleasant to watch yourself be torn to shreds through the eyes of your killer."

Dorothy hopped over a slab of steaming grey matter, careful not to dirty her shoes with demon slime. "That does sound interesting."

"Yes, well, that faker certainly learnt that it should never try to compete with the original. Destroying him was as easy as -"

"Breaking a mirror that won't shut up." Dorothy muttered dully. Siem paused. Something seemed off about the girl.

"Are you OK there, doll?"

"Huh?" Dorothy blinked in confusion, then looked at her feet and nodded slightly. "Uh-huh. Next floor. Let's go."
She looked at the decaying demon carcass one last time before being transported to a new nightmare.

Level 2: The Suffering Witness

Dorothy looked over the scene aghast, her jaw slack and eyes popping.

"What... is this...?" As soon as she identified the people chained to the wall before her she yelped and ran forward, but Siem stopped her. He chuckled, obviously enjoying the display.

"Oh, this old classic." He mused, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice. "Watch your loved ones being tortured to death in front of you - no nightmare is complete without this simple yet effective mindf**k. The rules are no touching, ear covering or eye averting. Sit back and enjoy the show, doll. We're going to be here a while."

"I didn't realised I loved so many people," Dorothy mustered, looking at each of their pained faces. Her grandparents were there, Bassy too, of course, even the rest of the Demon Hunters, though she wasn't sure that they all counted as "loved ones." Especially one girl whose presence made her complain despite her situation, “What is Rue doing here?"

"... Well. That's harsh." Siem managed after losing himself to laughter. That didn't happen too often. "Speaking of which, where am I?" The demon appeared beside her, making her jump in shock. He looked down at her with cruel yellow eyes and a thin smile. "Oh come on, I wanted a closer look." He wandered off towards Daisy, in the process of having a nail removed, with a spring in his step. "Oh, I am here! I was not expecting that."

Dorothy brought her own nails to her mouth, hissing as Daisy screamed. Just watching these tortures made her body tingle. Trying to distract herself from the nail-pulling, she cautiously walked up to Lance, who had poker burns all over his exposed chest. She couldn't help but stare at the once capable warrior in his defeated state. He glanced at her through heavy eyelids and she backed away with a brief apology then bustled over to Bassy's side. He was the bloodiest one out of them, looking completely out of it until he saw her. His tearstained face brightened when he she called his name and he tried to reach out for her. Dorothy stretched out her own hand, mimicking his movement to every little twitch of his fingers, careful not to touch him.

"Why won't you help us? Blue -" The whip cracked down on him and he made a strangled noise, coughing up blood. Dorothy drew her hand back sharply, biting down on her lip to prevent herself from screaming, but that couldn't prevent her breakfast from forcing its way out. She buckled over as it was expelled from her, splattering on the floor and onto her shoes. Wiping her mouth and wincing at her burning throat, she staggered backwards and tried to keep her breathing even as she continued to watch, but it was getting increasingly harder to find air.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" Siem asked bluntly from behind her. "Just go stand in the corner if this is making you sad. You don't have to see this so up close and personal."

"I've never seen Bassy cry," she croaked. [color=#9d01e4]"I've never seen any of them like this."

Siem smiled slyly. "This must be truly torture for you, then?"

"Yes. It's just that it's usually me who's helpless."

Siem's smile dropped and he looked down at her sternly, hands on hips. "Wait, so that is what's on your mind? Do you feel anything at all for these people?"

"These people aren't real!" She burst out suddenly. She pouted and continued, "The real Demon Hunters are too strong to ever be in this position. Also, Zero's hair is parted the wrong way."

"... How and when did you observe that, exactly...?"

A clunking noise sounded on the other side of the room and they both looked up to see a door. Dorothy sighed in relief. Obviously, the demon running the place considered this room wasted on her. She glanced over to Bassy. "Bye-bye, not-Bassy." She said and waved, wrestling back the impulse to hug him and cry magical tears into his wounds. Real or not, it still hung heavy on her heart to leave him there like that. She sure couldn't wait to see the real Bassy alive and well again after this. She farewelled them all as she passed them, trying her best to ignore all the screams and pleads for her to save them. “Please stop. You don't need saving by me. You're all just being mean.”

"DOROTHY!" The voice of a woman shrieked. Dorothy halted. Who was that supposed to...? She whipped around in disbelief, her eyes filled with hope.

"Mummy?"

Her small and insecure voice echoed around an empty room.

Level 4: Memory Flood

As soon as Dorothy stepped through the door, she was drowning under a wave of every doubt she ever had.

"Siem does not care for you." "Your powers play no use but in breaking you." "You left your phone home on purpose this morning." "You couldn't even stand to let him touch you." "You are broken." "Broken." "A broken, empty doll."

The gravity in the room seemed to drop and Dorothy was forced down to her knees, struggling to remain upright. Despite her best efforts, her head was smacked against the floor and she squeaked. "S-Siem... this hurts..."

"Why does he care?" "He only cares to live." "If you die, so does he." "Nobody cares." "Not the Demon Hunters." "You're a nuisance, really." "They only have to look after you because their conscious won't allow such a little girl get herself killed." "Not even your own mother wanted the responsibility of looking after you."

Dorothy grit her teeth as she tried to push herself up from the ground, but she only succeeded in coming back up to her knees before faceplanting again. Panting heavily with her focus locked on the door ahead, she slowly army crawled her way to freedom.

"Ah. Look at her. Trying." "If you live through today, what will happen tomorrow?" "Same old, same old, til the day you die." "Speaking of which, when did you last consider ending it all?" "You don't remember, do you?!" "Hey, little girl blue, where do all the bad feelings go?! Hey, Blue! Blue! BLUE!"

The voices became deafening as they chimed out her nickname. Dorothy had mixed feelings about that name. Dr. Eisenhorn had given her the name Blue because she was a very gloomy baby. The name had been passed on and now she had to wonder, was the reason the demon hunters called her that name also because she wasn't the happiest person? Dorothy pondered over this small worry while the voices tried to regain her attention by calling her names, but she wasn't fully listening to them anymore. She was almost at the door.

"... Get him back." Siem suddenly whispered to her. He had been quiet throughout Dorothy being harassed and now he sounded angry. Dorothy stood up before the door, the weight of the room now feeling not so hard on her shoulders.

"You don't get a lot of things right, Nightmare Demon." Dorothy spoke up loudly. The voices turned silent, as though the demon was listening to her intently without distraction. "The reflection was too stupid to be Siem, but I suppose since you were controlling it, that's only natural."

"... You messed up." "How could you be so stupid?" "You almost died, you complete and utter dunce."

The voices came back briefly, but Dorothy cut them off by tutting. She could feel Siem influencing her actions, but for some reason, she didn't mind this time. "Even your torture chamber was wrong. Some people weren't supposed to be there. Others were inaccurately recreated. You have the ideas, but you miss out on the fine details, it would seem." Her voice merged with Siem's and she now knew for certain that her words were coming from the demon within her. "And remember, detail is everything."

The room was silent now. "... There. That's enough for now." Siem huffed, but this wasn't enough for Dorothy.

"However, I must commend you on the work you've done on this floor," she said in monotone, then lifted her head up to the ceiling with the biggest shit-eating grin she could muster, "You really have captured the way it feels to get out of bed each morning~."

Siem clapped from within her with a "That's my girl!" after a stunned second of silence and Dorothy proudly grabbed the handle to be transported to the next level.

Level 5: Maze of Embarrassment

"You know, doll, you should try trash talking more often."

"I do trash talk. Don't I?"

Dorothy and Siem found themselves in the streets of a city she couldn't recognise. This certainly wasn't home, that was for sure. (wait, do they live in NY?)

"I suppose, but you usually just mutter something vaguely to yourself. You should try and attack them with your words more often as you are perfectly capable of it. We need more of sassy Dorothy in this outfit."

"Of course you are teaching me how to be mean..." Dorothy grumbled, kicking away an empty can with a bare foot. She froze, hesitant to say what she was thinking. "... You know that what I said before wasn't a lie."

Siem paused. "... Of course I know that, doll." Siem popped up beside her and ruffled her hair grumpily. She held her breath at this odd gesture of affection, eyes widening. "Anyhow, we were mean together. That's teamwo...or...orro..." Dorothy looked up in confusion to see Siem looking away and covering his eyes with one hand. "You've been naked this whole time, you do realise?"

"Siem," Dorothy addressed him, unimpressed. "I am too young to have anything to be ashamed of showing. Do you feel uncomfortable viewing a little girl's naked body?"

"Anyone would, if you put it that way!" Siem snapped indignantly and disappeared back inside of her head, probably sulking. Dorothy smiled at this. Siem always became like that during any time she had to remove her clothing, calling the situation "improper" and complaining that the doctors had not thought this predicament through. How is it going to be while she's going through puberty? When her body has developed? When she's sexually active? Etc. Siem claimed that he would make sure she remains a virgin for life, though she was not entirely sure what that meant at the time. Now, she has come to terms with the fact that Siem will never let her have a boyfriend. At least, she thinks that's what he meant.

Dorothy sighed at that thought as she walked through the streets of the place she now recognised as New York City, when some people cut her off. She looked up at them and her heart leapt in excitement, "Siem, look! Real life gangsters!"

"I have never seen you so excited for anything," he said in bewilderment, then growled as one swung at her with a crowbar and the others drew their guns. "And now they're trying to kill us. Let's go."

Dorothy activated Toto and shot her ribbons up to swing from them through the city while under fire, reminding her of a movie she had seen once with Siem's disapproval. While she flew, she couldn't help but think back to the last floor to the one thing said that had really caught her attention, mostly because she couldn't understand what it meant. Was it a riddle, or was the nightmare demon trying to trick her again?

How was she supposed to know where all the bad feelings go?

Level 4: Memory Flood

As soon as Dorothy stepped through the door, she was drowning in a wave of every doubt she ever owned.

"Siem does not care for you." "Your powers play no use but in breaking you." "You left your phone home on purpose this morning." "You couldn't even stand to let him touch you." "You are broken." "Broken." "A broken, empty doll."

The gravity in the room seemed to drop and she was forced down to her knees, struggling to remain upright. Despite her best efforts, her head was smacked against the floor and she tasted iron. "S-Siem... it h-hurts..."

"Why does he care?" "He only cares to live." "If you die, so does he." "Nobody cares." "Not the Demon Hunters." "You're a nuisance, really." "They only have to look after you because their consciousnesses won't allow a little girl to get herself killed." "Not even your own mother wanted the responsibility of looking after you."

Dorothy grit her teeth as she tried to push herself up from the ground, but she only succeeded in coming back up to her knees before faceplanting again. Panting heavily, she slowly army crawled her way over to freedom while fighting hard against the atmosphere crushing her, but her way was blocked off by a familiar figure leaning against the doorway. He moved his skull mask aside just enough for his sadistic smile to paralyze her. He pushed himself off the wall and took slow, deliberate steps towards her.

"No-"

A boot came into contact with her side. Everything was still as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. In that single moment, she felt her organs being shifted and her capillaries bursting, then it all sped up again. Dorothy cried out as she was kicked into the air, slamming against the wall and tumbling back to Siem's feet. She lay face up, coughing and trying to move against the gravity.

"Gee, I almost feel bad for doing this. It's like kicking a baby." Siem... no, Razakar quipped and nudged her face with his foot. Dorothy turned her head and tried to viciously bite his calf.

"Ah. Look at her. Trying." "If you live through today, what will happen tomorrow?" "Same old, same old, til the day you die." "Speaking of which, when did you last consider ending it all?" "You don't remember, do you?!" "Hey, little girl blue, where do all the bad feelings go?! Hey, Blue! Blue! BLUE!"

The voices became deafening as they chanted her nickname. Dorothy had mixed feelings about that name. Dr. Eisenhorn had given her the name Blue because she was a very gloomy baby. The name had been passed on and now she had to wonder, was the reason the demon hunters called her by that name also because she wasn't the happiest person? Dorothy pondered over this small worry as Razakar's Siem yanked her up by her hair and tossed her aside like the doll Siem always claimed her to be. Being brought violently back to reality, she sat up through the pain and pressure and glared over at not-Siem.

Her ribbons spurted from her and engulfed him, holding him up in the air and wrapping around him tightly. The last thing she saw of him was his smile before the ribbons completely consumed him and squeezed him out like a wet towel. She heard a series of cracks and other unappealing noises then drew her weapons back to her to find no body or anything that vaguely resembled one. Nothing was there. Slowly, she managed to stand and walk unsteadily towards the exit. The voices couldn't distract her any more.

"... Get him back." Siem suddenly whispered to her. He had been quiet from the moment she walked into this room and now he sounded angry. Dorothy leaned against the door, the weight of the room now feeling not so hard on her shoulders.

"You don't get a lot of things right yourself, Razakar." Dorothy spoke up loudly. The voices turned off, as though the demon was listening to her intently without distraction. "The first attempt at his reflection was too stupid to be Siem, but I suppose since you were controlling it, it's only natural. The real Siem took hours to bring to justice. Your Siem... less than eight minutes."

"... You messed up." "How could you be so stupid?" "You almost died, you complete and utter dunce."

The voices came back briefly, but Dorothy cut them off by tutting. She could feel Siem telling her what to say, but for some reason, she didn't mind it this time. "Even your torture chamber was wrong. You threw everyone at me like some half-assed experiment. Some were even inaccurately recreated. You have the ideas, but you miss out on the fine details, it would seem." Her voice merged with Siem's and now she knew for certain that her words were coming from the demon within her. "And remember, the little details are everything when it comes to torture. When I find you, I'll demonstrate."

The room had become completely silent. "... There. That's enough for now." Siem huffed, but this wasn't enough for Dorothy.

"However, I must commend you on the work you've done on this floor," she said in monotone, then lifted her head up to death stare the ceiling. "You really have captured the way it feels to get out of bed each morning."

Siem smirked at this and Dorothy proudly turned the doorknob to be transported to the next level.

Level 5: Maze of Embarrassment

"You know, doll, you should try trash talking more often."

"I am already decently impolite to enemies."

Dorothy found herself in the streets of a city she couldn't recognize. This certainly wasn't home, that was for sure. (wait, do they live in NY? Where do these kids live??)

"I suppose, but you usually just mutter something vaguely to yourself. You should try and attack them with your words more often as you are perfectly capable of it. We need more sass in this outfit."

"Of course you are teaching me how to be mean..." Dorothy grumbled, kicking away an empty can with her bare foot. She froze, hesitant to say what she was thinking. "Um... You know that what I said before wasn't a lie, right? That really was how it feels, sometimes."

"... Of course I know that, doll. I'm inside of your head."

"I guess... I guess it's because I do get up every morning, I was able to fight back. Do you think that's how I did it?" Dorothy's eyes glazed over, looking even more dead than usual. "Siem?"

Siem popped up beside her looking very annoyed and ruffled her hair. She held her breath at this odd gesture of affection, not sure what to do. "Whatever you want to think. What matters is that we were mean together. That's teamwo...or...orro..." Dorothy looked up in confusion to see Siem looking away and covering his eyes with one hand. "You've been naked this whole time, you do realize?"

She stared at him blankly as if to say "well duh." "Siem..." Dorothy addressed him , though her cheeks were turning a shocking shade of hot pink which was spreading to her ears. "I am too young to have anything to be ashamed of showing. Do you feel uncomfortable from viewing a nine and a half year old girl's naked body?"

"Anyone would, if you put it that way!" Siem snapped indignantly and disappeared back inside of her head, probably sulking. Dorothy apologized and wrapped herself up in her ribbons. Better to be a mummy than naked, she supposed. Siem always became like that during any time she had to remove her clothing, calling the situation "improper" and complaining that the doctors had not thought this predicament through. How is it going to be for him while she's going through puberty? When her body has developed? When she's sexually active? Siem had vowed to make sure she remained a virgin for life, though she was not entirely sure what that meant when he first said that. Only recently she had come to terms with the fact that Siem would never let her get married. At least, she thought that's what he meant.

Dorothy sighed in disappointment at that thought as she ran through the streets of the place she now recognized as New York City. She darted to every interesting seeming shop to look through the windows and wondered if she could get away with a bit of sightseeing when some people blocked her off. She looked up at them and her heart leaped in excitement, "Siem, look! Real life gangsters!"

"I have never seen you so excited for anything," he said in bewilderment, then growled as one swung at her with a crowbar and the others drew their guns. "And now they're trying to kill us. Let's go."

Dorothy sent her ribbons up to swing from them through the city while under fire, reminding her of a movie she had seen once with Siem's disapproval. This was without a doubt by far her favorite level.

Level 4: Memory Flood

As soon as Dorothy stepped through the door, she was drowning in a wave of every doubt she had ever harvested.

"Siem does not care for you." "Your powers play no use but in breaking you." "You left your phone home on purpose this morning." "You couldn't even stand to let him touch you." "You are broken." "Broken." "A broken, empty doll."

Her torch clattered on the ground. The gravity in the room seemed to drop and she was brought down to her knees, struggling to remain upright. Despite her best efforts, her head was forced against the stone floor and she tasted iron. "S-Siem... how do I get up?"

"Why does he care?" "He takes pleasure at your pain." "Nobody cares." "Not the Demon Hunters." "You're a nuisance, really." "They only have to look after you because their consciousnesses won't allow a little girl to get herself killed." "Not even your own mother wanted the responsibility of looking after you."

Dorothy sighed and closed her eyes, just letting the familiar words wash over her. These thoughts would eventually end, the way they always did. "I know all of this..."

Every time she had ever needed saving flashed before her eyes like a slideshow. She saw herself in the talons of the demon Lance took down in a single blow; she saw herself lost on the way to a mission; she remembered the embarrassing time she had accidentally cut off the top of Danny's hair with her ribbons and she even saw herself being crushed in the palm of the reflection and twitching on the ground in her present situation. These images were her motivation. Dorothy grit her teeth as she tried to push herself up from the ground, though she only succeeded in coming back up to her knees before faceplanting again. Panting heavily, she began crawling her way over to freedom while fighting hard against the atmosphere crushing her, but her route was blocked by a familiar figure leaning against the doorway. He tilted his skull mask up just enough for his sadistic smile to paralyze her then pushed himself off the wall and took slow, deliberate steps towards her. Though he moved slowly, her thoughts moved slower.

A boot came into contact with her side. The child let out a muffled cry as she was kicked into the air and slammed against the wall to tumble back at the fake's feet. She lay face up, spluttering and trying to move against the gravity.

"Question," the fake Siem chimed as he nudged her face with his foot, "Do you or do you not want to die?" Dorothy turned her head and tried to viciously bite his calf. Siem drew his foot back, laughing, before stepping on her throat. "Whoa there, I'm only doing what your demon buddy fantasizes of. Don't bite the messenger." He looked almost concerned for a moment. "Gee, I feel a little bad about this, though. It's like kicking a baby. Your partner's really twisted, you know?"

"W-Wha... t... ing bout..."

"I've been observing the others and found something interesting. Not everyone's inner demon reflection has tried to brutally murder them. The reflection was indeed only an imitation of your inner demon, but should have been more or less exactly like them, in personality and in form."

"... R-Raza..." Dorothy realised who was speaking to her through Siem's face and growled. The pressure on her throat increased.

"So, question." He leaned over her and stared into her eyes with sick pleasure. "Do you desire revenge? Or do you just want her dead?"

Dorothy spat at his foot. He chuckled and brought his leg back for another kick.

"Ah. Look at her. Trying." "If you live through today, what will happen tomorrow?" "Same old, same old, til the day you die." "Speaking of which, when did you last consider ending it all?" "You don't remember, do you?!" "Hey, little girl blue, where do all the bad feelings go?! Hey, Blue! Blue! BLUE!"

The voices grew deafening with confusion questions and she felt as though her head was going to burst. She didn't even notice the pain in her side as she was repeatedly kicked. Not-Siem yanked her up by her hair and tossed her aside like the doll Siem always claimed her to be. Being brought violently back to reality, she sat up through the pain and pressure and glared over at him.

Her ribbons exploded from her and engulfed him, yanking him into the air. The last thing she saw of him was his smile before they completely consumed him and squeezed him out like a wet towel. She heard a series of cracks and other unappealing noises then drew her weapons back to her to find no body or anything that vaguely resembled one. Slowly, she managed to stand and walk unsteadily towards the exit.

"I must commend you on the work you've done to this floor," she rasped in front of the door after some hesitation, then turned her head to death stare the room. "You really have captured the way it feels to get out of bed each morning."

The girl turned the doorknob and limped out the room, feeling a little bit better with herself.

Level 5: Maze of Embarrassment

Dorothy looked blankly ahead at the streets of a familiar city she could not recognise. Something felt missing. Upon feeling a breeze on a place that breezes are not often felt, she looked down.

"A... A... A...?!" She stammered and covered herself, her face turning completely red. People were pointing at her and some were even laughing. Shaking and covering the places that mattered she began to walk forward, the red spreading to her ears and her neck.

"Doll!" Siem suddenly appeared in front of her, his face flushed and eyes covered by one hand. "Cover yourself up, right now! You are naked, you do realise?"

"I-I know... b-but these are only illusions, so..."

"I don't care about the illusions. I care about the gawking nightmare demon who stripped you!"

"Don't say it like that!" Dorothy blurted, growing even more embarrassed. This was painful, but it was also something she really couldn't help... besides, she should have been the one scolding him. He had been silent for the entirety of the last floor but she knew that if she confronted him about anything the fake Siem or voices said he would be angry at her for the rest of the tower and she wouldn't get any of the answers she wanted. Thinking about this made her temporarily forget her embarrassment as she glowered at him. "... Siem. I am too young to have anything to be ashamed of showing. Why are you so red? Do you experience discomfort from viewing a nine and a half year old's naked body?"

"Anyone would, if you put it that way!" Siem snapped indignantly and disappeared back inside of her head, probably sulking. Dorothy smirked, knowing she had won that round, then apologized and wrapped herself up in ribbons. Better to be a mummy than naked, she thought to herself. Or maybe it wasn't. After that reaction, she had remembered that she did have some power over her jerk demon.

Siem always became like that during any time she had to remove her clothing, calling the situation "improper" and complaining that the doctors had not thought this predicament through. How was it going to be for him while she was going through puberty? Once her body had developed? How about when she became sexually active? The demon had vowed to make sure she remained a virgin for life, though she was not entirely sure what that meant when he first said that. Only recently she had come to terms with the fact that Siem was never ever letting her get married. At least, she thought that's what he meant.

Dorothy sighed in disappointment at that thought as she staggered through the streets of the place she now recognized as New York, reimaged to be a maze. It was interesting to be among the throngs of people without the headache. She wondered if she could try visiting one of the more crowded areas of the city, considering that illusions had no emotions and she didn't even have to worry about brushing past them.

"I have never seen you so excited for anything," Siem commented, a little less pissed now that Dorothy had covered up. Suddenly, all windows on the street were either opened or smashed and various styles of guns were pointed out from them and locked onto her. "And now they're trying to kill us. Let's go, doll."

The bullets fired and she calmly walked through the waves as her shield deflected them all. It pained her to leave the ground, but because it was quicker, she shot her ribbons up and used them to swing through the city on her search for the exit. It reminded her of a movie she had seen once without Siem's approval... this was without a doubt by far her favorite level.

Level 7: Swarm.

Dorothy's frame of mind completely switched when she saw the undead rat hoard ahead of her.

"Ew!" She squealed and pressed up against the wall as far away from them as possible, but that didn't matter. Their glowing eyes locked onto their target and they swarmed her in a writhing mass, climbing up her legs and breaking their teeth against her ribbons. Dorothy groaned under their weight. "We can't go over it, we can't go under it, we can't go around it... we have to go through it." She murmured and continued to sing "We're Going on a Demon Hunt" as she waded her way through the rats.

Level 8: Dodgeball

As soon as she stepped through the door, something small and hard was shot out from nowhere and she felt it like a punch to the stomach. She curled over and coughed, then watched the rubber ball bouncing away in confusion. "Wh-what? That isn't right... why isn't Toto...?"

Another ball was propelled from thin air, though this time she saw it coming and leaped out the way to slam onto the ground on her hip. Her head whipped around to see the ball had created a small crater in the opposite wall. "O-Oh... he is working. Good, it's just that usually I don't even feel -"

"Pain?" Siem spoke up in her head, "Yes... it seems that the power of your Toto is being drained, doll."

Dorothy's eyes grew wide in disbelief. Without Toto, she had no way to protect herself! Why did she have to have such useless powers?! "... Right, because the tower is a soul s-" Two balls zoomed in her direction and she rolled out the way. "- is a soul siphon. It's trying to drain me."

"Probably. Your weapon is magic based and that magic comes from our souls. Because you've been so careless with it, it's losing its power. Luckily for you, you've kept your active abilities hidden away, so I doubt he's been able to reach them."

"I haven't used them because they're useless in any situation other than -" Dorothy grumbled as she dodged another when she felt a hit on the back of her head which sent her flailing forward. Suddenly, a wave was upon her, attacking at all angles. She darted away to try and escape but they were relentless and now, everywhere. It seemed that the Nightmare Demon had pulled no expense on this floor... he wanted to see her bleed. Dorothy growled at this and her ribbons raised up like snakes rearing their little heads, but Siem stopped her before she attacked.

"You don't want to do that. It's time to go into low power mode, doll."

The child hesitated and bit her lip, not pleased by what he was suggesting in the slightest. She slowly crouched down under fire into a little ball and hugged her knees, gritting her teeth as she was assaulted by the blunt projectiles that filled her entire vision. Razakar could see her bleed, but she wasn't going to cry for him.

Level 9: Feared Future Funhouse.

Dorothy staggered through the maze of mirrors, her ribbons unraveling from her body and trailing behind her like a grotesque, bloody wedding dress. Her breath was shallow and her body ached all over. She looked down at her own dragging feet, not wanting to see herself in this pitiful state when eventually curiosity won over and she lifted her gaze to a mirror. Her ribbons sagged to reveal her swollen lips and the sickly yellow and purple bruise that spread from her right cheekbone to her eye. A smudge of her breakfast had dried and remained on her chin, which she rubbed away quickly along with some of the dried blood. She closed her eyes and rested her throbbing head against the cool glass of the mirror, sighing in relief, then moaning in agony. She was too embarrassed to face the other Demon Hunters like this. With no enhanced healing ability, she was surely going to be rendered useless once the tower had been defeated.

When Dorothy decided to look into the mirror once more, she saw a pair of amused red eyes rather than her own. She yelped and fell backwards, only to find nothing there anymore. A soft, melodic laughter echoed around the mirrored halls and she caught glimpses of a woman with long, silver hair dancing through the mirrors.

"N... No! I killed you! You're dead!" Dorothy cried out after her and lifted herself painfully off the floor to run after the woman. The further she ran, the more she forgot about her pain and the more she saw her. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her sitting on the lap of a man in white, her arms wrapped around his neck in a disturbingly intimate manner and her head nestled on the nape of his neck. Just as she past the mirror, she picked up on the detail of the woman staring at her as she licked his collarbone. She quickly averted her eyes in absolute disgust.

"... Don't tell anyone we saw that..." Siem managed through his own repulsion. Dorothy only nodded and turned a corner when something was thrown against the mirror beside her. She jumped back in surprise and spotted a head with an unruly mop of brown hair rolling across the ground inside a mirror. She didn't look for a second longer, already identifying the head and not wanting to see it for any longer. She glared at the mirrors surrounding her, turning around in a frenzy.

"Where are you?" She demanded and ran to a hall she saw the woman disappear down. Suddenly, she was just there. Right in front of her. Just standing and smiling like she wasn't evil. She seemed older than the one she had disposed of. Dorothy panted, the aching slowly returning to her body. She staggered forward and banged her fist on the mirror limply. "... Ge... Geh ouht here..." The woman shook her head and pressed her hand against the mirror, still smiling. Dorothy stared at her own hand against the hand of the woman. So small and fragile, yet so similar in every other way but size. This realization caused her to draw her hand back and shake it like she had touched fire. "No, I'm not going to become you! I'm never going to be you, no matter what!" The woman smiled gleefully and tapped against the glass, pointing out something behind the her. She did not want to turn, but slowly, she did.

In the mirror on the other side of the hall, she saw something that was enough to make her vomit if she hadn't done so already. It was a girl. A little girl in a violet dress dangling from her neck.

"No." Dorothy stated bluntly, her brain very slowly processing what was before her. "No. I don't understand this. This doesn't make sense. I - I don't..."

"Speaking of which, when did you last consider ending it all? You don't know, do you?! Hey, little girl blue, where do all the bad feelings go?!"

I... don't... know...

She turned around to find the woman no longer there. Both mirrors were empty, the same as the small girl's eyes. Unable to feel her feet, she walked from the floor in silence.

Level 10: In the Way

As soon as she stepped into the room, she was hit by piercing fear. Not the fear aura, not that cheap synthetic stuff, but the real thing. Fear filled with regret, sorrow, anger, panic... true fear. The man before her was real. The demon tearing his off arm was real too.

"Excuse me." Dorothy uttered and the demon dropped the arm, turning on her. It pounded the ground excitedly with its enormous front arms and bolted towards her with an unearthly shriek. In one last effort, her ribbons picked themselves up from the ground and threw themselves at the demon. Its two halves fell limply on either side of her, the same as her ribbons.

"That's the last for those..." Siem commented warily, "You should have let him die."

She ignored him and walked through the path between the demon when she caught a glimpse of the man, looking helplessly at her from the corner and cradling his arm. He moaned like a child and cried like one too, shamelessly rocking back and forth. One of her ribbons weakly raised up and tapped her shoulder, to which she nodded. It detached from her and slivered over to the man, working on bandaging up the stump at his elbow. She felt his gratitude and for a moment, his emotions smothered the fear aura. The entire room was filled with one simple phrase, Thank you. Dorothy didn't smile as she limped towards the door.

"Don't die." She commanded harshly before disappearing. "This is all for you, so don't you dare die."

Level 11: Your Sin's Curse

Dorothy reappeared in a plain white corridor adorned with golden statues of some kind. It took all of her energy to put one foot in front of the other and her shoulders shuddered with each step. She glanced at the statues she passed to find them all to be her fellow Demon Hunters with their demons. Danny was summoning a lightning bolt of massive proportions, Daisy's Thorn of Anguish was piercing the melting head of a demon, Rue was piggy-back riding Irina to victory and Zero and Anna were giving each other a high-five... they all seemed so happy, so dutiful, so... heroic. A thought nagged her. Where was she? She pressed on further down the corridor when she nudged something hard with her foot. She looked down to find a picture in a golden frame and knelt to pick it up for a closer look.

Two dozen faces of smiling children looked up at her. Some faces were more well remembered than others but all were undoubtedly familiar to her, as she instantly recognized the picture as her class photo three years ago, before she had dropped out of grade school to be tutored at home with high school material. Thinking about that made her feel lonely, so she distracted herself by looking through the picture some more. All of these happy, normal children smiling without a care in the world... she fed off their happiness like a parasite, pretending that the emotions she sensed from them were her own, though that would never be the case. A familiar feeling forced itself up her throat as she read the writing at the bottom of the picture.

Absent: Dorothy Blue.

Of course, she hadn't been there. She would often skip school to avoid the emotions or just to go somewhere where Siem would be less inclined to berate her for being wrong. At this she brought the picture down and found herself staring at the statue that belonged to her. There she was, a tiny thing hunched over on the ground with her hands covering her ears and her mouth open wide in a scream. Siem was to the right of her, his back faced towards her the same way hers was to him. He stood, his palms pressed against his eyes and his head tilted back in a shout. Dorothy's hands fell slack and the She looked down at the other statues which now all seemed to be looking at her, judging her.

Why couldn't Siem just... like her? Why couldn't he have been Anna, or Unwin, or anyone else?! Dorothy smacked the statue down from its pillar and kicked it away in a childish rage. Why did they get a friend while she got an enemy?! Didn't the doctors even consider the results of putting an asshole like Siem into the mind of a baby? They got superpowers that were useful - what was hers? Nightmare fuel. Siem gave her that. And she was expected to fight with it - how?! She didn't want to fight anymore! Why... why couldn't she be like that man? Why couldn't she be good? Why couldn't she be protected? Why couldn't she be stronger?!

The glass of the frame shattered and Dorothy huffed, the realization of her tantrum slowly dawning on her. She had torn down every statue with her bare hands. Siem whistled in bewilderment.

"I've never seen -"

"Pleasedon'ttell." Dorothy blurted in a tiny voice, covering her face in shame. "I'm so sorry, Siem. Please don't tell." She trembled, the horrors of each of the tower's levels replaying in her mind. Siem crushing her... Bassy crying... being kicked, beaten, confronted by the image of her future self, the image of her death, the mutilation of an innocent, the confirmation that Siem never did love her at all...

But still, she could not cry.

As soon as Bassy's eyes shut, Dorothy packed up her empty sandwich container and threw her bag over her shoulders. Without a glance back she ran onto the street, not stopping once to catch her breath until her legs gave way. She collapsed against a lamp post, closing her eyes and remembering what the Nightmare Demon had said.

She was Envy.

Bassy was Pride.

Her eyes reopened slowly. The demon had hesitated to insult her. What was he hesitant for?

"Am I... scary?" Dorothy raised her hands above her head. Something was wrong with her. It was almost as if the same pressure from level four was pressing against her chest. "... Siem... I don't feel too good..."

"Let's go for a walk." Siem suddenly replied from beside her. Dorothy looked up in a daze as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the lamp. For some reason, he walked slow enough for her to keep up with ease. "How do you feel bad?"

It took Dorothy a while to answer that. She felt bad in many ways. "... It's... the tower... Bassy -"

"The tower was all fake. Don't even think about what happened in there."

Dorothy glowered. She really wanted to get some sympathy from him, or anything other than neglect. "Then it's the memories. There's something wrong with them."

"How so?"

"When I think about them, I don't just see them, I can..."

"Feel them?" Dorothy looked up in surprise at Siem's interruption. He wouldn't look at her so it was impossible to tell what he was feeling, which was somewhat relieving. She focused on his hand wrapped around her wrist. This was all very confusing for her. She simply nodded.

"It's like I can feel what the person who had the memory felt at the time in happened, if that makes any sense."

"It makes complete sense. You're getting stronger. You take their emotional memories as well as their visual."

"But it's not just that!" She blurted, yanking her hand away from Siem's impatient grip. "I saw the memory of someone losing a finger on machinery and - AH!" The small girl screamed and knelt over, cradling her hand. The few people on the path turned to look at her, some backing further away and muttering to themselves. She felt their uneasiness infect her. "Ow...! See? Whenever I think about it, I can -"

"Physical memory." Siem dismissed and pulled her back up to her feet. They continued walking side by side, Dorothy eyeing his free hand hopefully.

"... Why... why did I have to have this? Nobody else-"

"What can I say? You have to pay the toll."

"The toll for what?" Dorothy asked quietly, "The others are more powerful than me. Danny and Zero defeated the demon without me." Something struck her hard and she winced at the thought, "... There was no reason for me to go into that tower at all, was there, Siem?" Siem did not answer as they walked to the lookout over the city. "Fine. ... It sounds silly, Siem, but I just think sometimes that if I cry, all of these... things... in my head, they can go away."

"But you cannot cry." Siem replied harshly. "I have seen you attempt to get your way, but you know you cannot. You never have."

"But there has to be a way!" She shouted in a sudden burst of emotion. She stopped walking and stared at her dirty shoes, biting her lip. "... The... the voices said that the bad feelings go somewhere... I want them to go! There is a way for them to go, isn't there?!" Siem would not reply or even turn to look at her. "... You know something, don't you?"

"Do you want to be happy that badly?"

"I..." Dorothy faltered. The image of the joyous woman with red eyes flashed in her mind. Dorothy staggered towards the edge of the bride, gripping it and looking over the edge.

Something was wrong with her.

Something was rising.

"I don't want to fight." She choked, looking over the edge. "I don't want to see bad things anymore. Not their memories. Not their feelings."

"Then free yourself."

The view suddenly appeared more beautiful than anything Dorothy had ever seen. The other Demon Hunters were so strong and she suffered so much... for what? For every person she saved, they saved ten more. After a fight, she could be out of action for weeks due to an injury. She hindered them. They all looked after her. They looked after her but they couldn't save her. What she needed saving from was inside her head.

Something they couldn't reach.

They put it there.

Now all they were waiting for her to grow up... grow up into her.

That was something she could never





















Dorothy's head suddenly snapped back and her jaw dropped open. A sickly blackish purple was expelled from her mouth and dispersed into the air in a gas, even being drawn from her nose and ears. Her wide eyes slowly defogged and sparkled with life for a brief moment before they rolled up and she fell down in a crumpled heap.

"... If you can." Siem finished and knelt over Dorothy's motionless body. He glanced around at the slowly dying plant life that surrounded them and sighed. "You've been opening Pandora's Box more and more frequently, doll..." He picked her up and rested her against his back in a piggy-back. She gripped the back of his coat in her sleep, murmuring something barely audible about wanting a story then laughing softly. Siem smirked and began to walk home. "You're stronger than you look, doll. So strong, they all have the right to find you scary. The only thing you need protection from is yourself..."


.

.

.


Dorothy woke up neatly tucked away in her bed. She turned her head to look at her alarm.

11:48

"Shivers!" She sat up suddenly and shoved the covers off her, "It's a school day! Granny's going to kill me!"

"Robin let you sleep in." Siem said from the bottom of her bed. Dorothy glanced over to see him looking tired and grumpy. "She lets you slack, if you ask me."

"Oh. Good morning, Siem." Dorothy greeted, surprised to see him. It was unusual for her to ever wake up with him in his physical form. She smiled. It must have been a special occasion. "What are you doing outside?"

"Just checking," he muttered as she began to change, turning to face the other direction. "How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" Dorothy's face flushed. Did he... did he actually care about something like that? "I feel fine, thank you."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to be distracted in class from worrying about last night."

"Last night?" The events of the tower came back to her and she shook her head. "No. It was all fake. The demon was only trying to break me." Her little chest puffed up with pride, "But I'm too strong to let it get me down! I am a Demon Hunter, after all."

Siem couldn't help but wince at that. "But what about Bassy? Bassy was real. He tried to kill you."

"He didn't mean to." She replied straight away as she tied her ribbon in her hair, "It's forgivable. I tried to kill him, too."

"You're forgetting what Razakar said. It's a well known fact that pride and envy are not compatible. You know that your relationship is destined to -"

"SIEM!" Dorothy yelled, smacking her hands down on her dresser. "... Everything is OK now. Things are OK. Even if you say they're not..." She turned to him with a small smile. Her eyes had a spark in them, a tiny light of something fragile and naive.

"I haven't lost hope."

The demon reread Dorothy's essay on Frankenstein for the third time, his golden eyes squinting to make out her small, dainty writing. Her writing was the neatest he had ever seen, he had taught her that, but she had a tendency to write so tiny it was hard for a demon to see - or perhaps Siem was a demon who needed glasses, something that would never be prioritized over his pride.

"Well," he began with a cough and Dorothy looked up from staring at her kicking feet, "Seven and a half pages. That's one and a half more than I'm used to."

"There was a lot to talk about," Dorothy replied flippantly, returning to her feet.

"Mm-hm," Siem nodded thoughtfully, "The psychoanalytical reading needs more background knowledge, however, your reading from a romanticist perspective has been fleshed out as far as it can go." He rubbed his sore eyes. "Just remember to break up sentences and not ramble. It ruins the essay structure. However, you did well with examples and linking each paragraph to the main thesis."

Dorothy hopped off the arm of the couch and twirled around to bend over, cocking her head to look up at Siem. She continued to stare until he switched his crossed legs uncomfortably. Siem's eyebrow twitched. "What?"

"You're being nice to me," she pointed out, a little smile tugging at her lips. As much as seeing Dorothy smile forcibly tore out his heart strings and tied them in a bow, he could never show her that, so he raised an eyebrow and shoved her essay into her face.

"We had a bad day," he dismissed, "And this essay is decent." That's all he answered with. Dorothy caught her work before it drifted down to the floor then looked up at the clock to see the time. A party was going to be held somewhere after the Demon Hunters finished school, probably at the hospital where Rue was still admitted to. She wasn't sure whether she had to buy a gift or not, as it was a party and people often bring flowers and things to people in hospitals. The thought of a party made the butterfly in her chest flutter. She had almost always missed out on those, usually with Bassy, as she was never in the mood and felt left out whenever she was present. But, maybe this time, things could be different? She had proven herself to be stronger in the Nightmare Tower. Just imagining the praise she could receive gave her goosebumps. And no, going to the party had nothing to do with avoiding Bassy. Siem glanced warily at the excited girl, deciding to not say anything about her deluded thoughts. The smell of Robin's baking was wafting through to the living room and he knew that the muffins were out on the cooling rack.

"Are you hungry?" he asked and Dorothy nodded, distracted from her fantasies. Siem stood and scooped her up in one arm, balancing her weight on his side. Dorothy's breath caught in her throat, shocked by this action. She soon relaxed and wrapped her thin arms around his neck to steady herself. Her head rested against his chest as he walked over to the kitchen and for a moment she almost felt like she was at peace with her demon when suddenly she was dropped onto the floor.

"Siem?!" She yelped, looking around wildly for where he had gone. When she couldn't see him she realised he had gone back into her head. Why?

"Dorothy Blue," a calm voice addressed her and she looked up at the kitchen table to where a familiar man was sitting at. She stood clumsily, her face growing hot. "I see that you've made progress with taming your demon. This is good."

Siem cursed at the back of her mind and Dorothy looked down at her feet. She was afraid of this man. Whether it was because of her memories of the institute that he reminded her of or the fact that she could not sense his emotions, she had never been able to give in to his trusting smile the way others had. "Dr. Eisenhorn... uh, it's not... we had a bad day and my essay was decent."

"Look up, child." Dorothy reluctantly did. "That's a bad habit. A Demon Hunter must always be aware of their surroundings. You can't with your eyes on the ground and head in the clouds. Not to mention, looking at your elders while they're speaking to you is a sign of respect, my child."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Eisenhorn." Dorothy lowered her eyes in embarrassment. Eisenhorn sighed at the lack of improvement and held out a treat with a smile.

"Muffin?"

The small girl walked over tentatively and took the offering before sitting on the chair opposite him and beginning to nibble around the edges that spilled out of the wrapping. Eisenhorn clasped his hands together and he leaned forward slightly, like a psychiatrist.

"How are you feeling, Dorothy?"

"Good."

"That is good." His tone of voice was not sarcastic, but rather calculative. Dorothy's eyes slid over to look at the laptop in front of the man. The tab open displayed an article that was released just that day. The headlines, "Suspicious Suicide Jump Off Bockman's Bridge" caught her eye just as the tab was clicked out of by the doctor.

"Ask the bastard why he's here."

"Why are you here, Dr. Eisenhorn?" Dorothy demanded, setting her hardly touched muffin down on her lap. Eisenhorn took off his glasses and rubbed them on his button down shirt.

"Still doing exactly as your demon tells you, it seems." He commented and slid his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "You know how I like to check up on my little warriors, Dorothy."

Dorothy shook her head. She hadn't heard of him checking up on the others and he had never dropped by to so much as say hi over the last year and half she had spent away from the institute. Over that time, her fondness of her supposed fatherly figure had begun to slip away, and now all she was left with was a bitter memory of being forced to enter the memories of others against her will, among other things.

Eisenhorn stood, his hands behind his back. "I've been tracking your progress. You've been improving, Dorothy. Even I'm impressed by how much you've grown as a hunter."

She shuffled in her seat, suspicious. "Really?"

"I was especially impressed by your display in the Nightmare Tower. You displayed strength of which I've never seen before and I would like to know where it came from."

Dorothy shook her head, her cheeks heated. "I didn't do too well -"

"You made it to the top of the tower, alone. You were in the territory of a high class demon, surrounded by a fear aura, but despite being overly sensitive to emotions even then you managed to conquer everything in your path. I'm proud of the others and their incredible abilities, only nobody else did anything that surprised me. You're finally beginning to reach your full potential, a potential I never accounted for. You may not be as strong, but you're definitely the most improved."

"... But I was so hurt..." she could hardly speak, she was so happy.

"And despite being hurt, despite losing your weapon, despite having the least compatible demon and being the youngest of the Demon Hunters, you made it to the top. You forced yourself through. I must say, I wasn't expecting you to make it past the first few levels. And to hold your own against a Demon Hunter of a higher rank -"

Dorothy's happiness levels dropped into the negatives and her face showed it. Eisenhorn studied her carefully. "Listen to me, Dorothy. It's nothing to be ashamed of. What happened in the twelfth level only made the both of you stronger."

She stared at her knees. Bad thoughts were beginning to creep in again, something that she didn't want to think about, but something that was nagging and a darker piece of her needed the answer to.

"Alright, enough of this bullshit. He's praising you for a reason. Ask him what he wants from us."

"What are you praising me for?" she asked cautiously.

"I want to explore the new strength you revealed yesterday. That's why I'm sending you off on a mission - alone."

Dorothy's mouth gaped open. "Alone?" Eisenhorn's eyes twinkled with something that disturbed her and he pulled out a slip of paper, placing it on the table and sliding it over to her.

"Fureht. A third class demon. Doesn't sound too scary now, does it?" When Dorothy's eyes grew large and afraid he leaned over the table to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. For some reason, no matter how much he touched her, she never received any memories. "I know you left your phone at home on purpose yesterday. I also know you purposefully ignored a demon in your area." Dorothy ducked her head down guiltily. "That demon should have been your responsibility. You can't run away from it."

"OK," she replied in a squeak. Eisenhorn drew up to his full height and swiped his hat off the table.

"Besides, the others are hunting off on their own and you need to catch up with them if you want to save humanity. Danny's ten years old, hardly older than you. You can't play the innocent little girl card to avoid responsibility forever." His tone changed from scolding to inspiring, "You cleared the Nightmare Tower. You're ready, Dorothy. By the time you're their age, maybe you'll have surpassed them."

That was a strange thought. When Dorothy called herself out for being weak and inexperienced, she always forgot about her age. She felt older than she actually was. The dark thoughts began to surface again and before Eisenhorn could leave, she called out to him.

"Doctor!" Eisenbart stopped, not turning around completely. Dorothy began to stammer. "... D... Do you... do you think I could have... beaten him?" Killed him.

He only smiled before walking out the door, "You have until tonight to rid of Fureht. Good luck, and be grateful for Robin. Those muffins were delicious. You should take advantage of things before they're gone."

And like that he was gone, exactly like the muffins that were there just a moment ago. Her own muffin felt heavy on her lap and her appetite was gone.

"Alright, doll. Class is postponed. We've got a demon to tear apart."

The small thing was stark red against the bleached wood. brittle and splintering with age. With her tail curled around her neck and breathing soft and steady, she seemed to be at peace. Nobody could know the furious claws and burning eyes that the squirrel had burned into her memory, images that tormented her whenever she settled down to take a rest from her mission.


So... Denise's Story.

A) Falling out of a tree.
B) Oh that's right I turned into a squirrel and fell asleep. There were a heap of undead here.
C) Then she's like oh dear they're killing nature. It's dead silent. This strikes a nerve with her because NATURE SHOULDN'T BE QUIET
D) So she makes it to the road and finds a cart and dead horse. She's like hm I wonder what happened here and then steals a bunch of crap because y'know nobody will care. Unfortunately the 'dead' horse does and she finds herself fighting it. She eventually manages to best it with antlers when suddenly the horse recognises her as a threat and decides to go join its army. She's like huh ok I wonder what's up there. She's like haha why the hell would I go towards the danger and then looks around at nature and thinks screw it, let's go. The undead look for populated areas. Beside, if I went on to allow the dead to return and disrupt nature's way, it
would go against my honor as a Druid. She laughs at that, tugging on her totems before going first tier, Stag and running very fast towards the place where all the undead went.

"Hell-o, d'you recognise me? It's Jules, your local traffic chick --- aaand I have some exciting news for you. Has the mess on Mitchel Freeway been cleared? Is the traffic light on Bo through to Blackbourne? Has the entire week been accident free? Well - I wouldn't be able to tell you any of that. Why? Hm, that must be because I'm right here at Japan's very own Watauchi City!"

A camera raised above the heads in a crowd, shaking about in a crazed celebration. Above the buzzing chatter creating a blanket of sound that smothered any sense that could be made out from the noise, the shrill "whoooo-ing" of a woman was heard. The camera suddenly ducked back down from view.

"That's right, I've been sent on a very special mission to report not the traffic of this fantastical place, but the progress of the experiment. Will humans and monsters peacefully coexist? Well, you and I are going to find out. You, from the safety of your own home, and me - from, aha, right here at the front lines."

"Can we have everyone's attention, please?"

"Looks like the experiment of the century's about to get started! Wish me luck!"

.

.

.

Juliet Little watched the footage for the eighth time, cross-legged on her bed. Every few seconds, she would pause the video, her heart would drop, and she'd play it again. Photos were ugly, but not as evil as film. A film is hundreds, no, thousands of pictures all jammed together to make a moving photo. So many unflattering moments are immortalized and all you have to do is pause for one to be revealed.

She fell back on her bed, raising the camera above her head. After preparing a big, cheesy grin, she pressed record.

"Well, this is me!" she chirped painfully, turning the camera left to right to see the bare room in its entirety, "Small, grey and boring. I only just moved in, so..." she faltered and seized up for a moment. After some time she swallowed, then breathed in before grinning and beginning again with forced enthusiasm, "Well, this is me! Small, grey and full of potential! Things are pretty hectic right now." Her eyes glanced to the clock in the room. "I'll explore tomorrow. Need to find a new job, too. It's a new beginning, alright. Well, this is really exciting, and I'm so happy to be apart of this. This is Jules signing off from the first day at Watauchi City - g'night, Australia!"

As soon as the camera stopped recording she sat up, peeled from her bed and knelt down beside her laptop in the corner of the room. She plugged the camera in and began syncing the footage to the computer before standing and glancing back to the clock. She wrote on a sticky note and left it on her lava lamp beside her bed. She took her pyjamas and toiletry bag from her unsorted luggage and took her phone with her into the bathroom. A notification went off in her pocket and she ignored it. While showering, another notification rang out.

She walked into the kitchen, her damp hair creating a wet patch on the back of her pyjama shirt. She opened the pantry to see what was already stocked. Canned food, porridge, sugar, rice and pasta. She took out the containers of rice and pasta and weighed them up in her hands as she made a decision. When she went to put the rice back, it slightly tapped against the shelf. This tap was just enough for the container to slip from her trembling hand and hit the ground. The hit was just enough for the lid to pop out and the contents of the container to go spraying all over the kitchen floor. That was just enough to make Juliet curse. Again. And again.

A notification - a text message.

She snatched her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. She paused, her lips pursing as she saw what messages she had missed. She checked the time then unlocked the screen and dialed a number.

["Oh, it's you. Wait, we'll put you on hold."]

Juliet walks over to the table, placing the container of pasta on its surface. Her long fingernail tapped the side of the plastic impatiently in time with the second hand of the clock upstairs, a complete coincidence. Her breath was too loud.

In a snap, music and laughter sounded over the phone. Her drooping eyelids opened and her head perked, her stance changing completely.

["Jules!!!"]

Two voices chimed, followed by a chorus of cheering children.

"Heyyyyy!!" Juliet responded, her character dramatically changing from the agitated woman she was just before.

"Jules, are you there?"] A cheerful male voice asked.

"Oh - hi," she replied, momentarily confused.

["How's our favourite traffic gal doing?"]

"Good, good thanks. I'm good."

["Soooo, I heard you have something very exciting to tell us."] A woman's voice. Provocative. A much more mature tone than Juliet. Speaking of, Juliet had no idea what she just said.

"Hm?"[color]

"You OK?"

[color=#A0180F]"Oh - yes!" Juliet eased herself into talking naturally, "I'm great, just -whew- flat out at the moment. I just arrived in Watauchi City, and I got my house, and rice is everywhere -"

["Is that a joke?"] The woman laughed before asking.

"No, really. Rice is everywhere." Juliet lowered the phone and ran her toes through the grains. "[("Di-")]I doubt you can hear it, but just know [("Uh-")] that things are working out [("Did -")] exactly the way I expected them to."

["Did I hear Watauchi City?"] The man at last managed to cut in with rehearsed interest. ["You mean, the city created for the Zeritau project?"]

The formalities are over. Onto the story.

"You heard right, Reg!" Juliet chided with her eyes glazed and staring at the light, "I'm here with 900 000 other humans AND monsters at what may be the biggest turning point in human history! Or at least, the most incredible."

["That. Is. Amazing! Wooow, can you believe it?"] The woman. ["Can you tell us about the process? We're all yearning to hear what is happening."]

"Well, we've each been assigned a house. We have our own currency, too - Rells. Everyone starts off with 100 000 - everyone, regardless of what social standing they had outside of this city." She paused to think. "Tomorrow, I think I'll be looking out for a job... along with everyone else in the city. Haha."

The man laughed. ["But you have a job, you're with us!"]

The woman joined in. ["You're OUR Jules!"]

Juliet mimicked them. "That won't help me here!"

The laughter fades out and the man's tone softens, but his speech speeds up. He's drawing the interview to a close. ["Well, we just want to let you know how brave we think you are, Jules. It's incredible what you're doing. Is there anything you want to say about it? What do you think about the entire situation? You're there, do you think that humans and monsters really will get along?"]

"Well, I..." A notification. "... I haven't seen any issue so far."

["Uh-huh. None?"]

"None. I..." Juliet looked at her rice covered feet, her toes curling. "... I think if monsters and humans can live together happily, then... people should, too."

["Aww. Ain't that right."] Any sentiment that could have been is immediately washed out with electronic music and exaggerated empathy. ["Well, that's all we have time for. If you want to see Jules' fantastic adventure, go to the website http://www.93.8/JulesZeritau.com.au She'll be updating her Vlog - daily, is it, Jules?"]

"Spontaneously."

Harsh laughter sounds through the phone and Juliet coils away. ["Sounds about right! Check it out!"]

["Well thanks for your time Jules."] The man. ["We'll see you... when will we see you?"]

"In two years."

["Whoa! Don't go forgetting us!"]

I don't know you.

["Right, see you not-so-soon!"]

"Bye!"

["Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"]

...

Juliet was greeted by her notifications.

Mother Dearest (12), Liam (4), Ruben (1)

She rubbed her throat and opened the messages.

Liam:

Hey, Julie, I've been thinking. The long distance relationship? It doesn't work with me. I know you waited for me while I was in Canada, I know, but this is something completely different. I just want to have the freedom to see others while you're gone without feeling guilty. Heck, this is two f**king years, for christs sake. You've got to give me a break!

.

.

Hey Julie, I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this over text but you were too excited when you got on the ship. I didn't have the heart to do it then. But this is good for you too, right? Now you don't have to stay lonely while you're there. I mean, it isn't every day that you get the possibility of screwing around with a monster, right? Go find one of those cat boys you like so much, you freakazoid.

.

.

OK, fine, I was being rude. I just want to say that you're amazing, really, and I am going to miss you. But the thing is, the longer you're gone, the less I'm going to miss you. I don't want to miss out for someone who may not be the one, you know? You know it too. If when you come back and we're both lonely, maybe we can try again. I just don't want us both to be waiting for nothing.

.

.

I can hear you on the radio. It's good to hear that you're having fun. I'll miss your voice telling me to turn right or left at Blackbourne. :)

.

.

The smile blurred.

Juliet's body woke before her head did. Her toes and fingers twitched, her eyebrows and nose scrunched and her hips shuffled her further beneath the sheets. She remained on the edge of sleep, enjoying the feeling of drowsiness, until she was disturbed by something wet bubbling at the side of her mouth and dampening the pillow. She grunted and rolled over, wiping her lips with the palm of her hand. Her eyelids opened reluctantly to make out the hazy yellow shape of something on her lava lamp. Her squinting, sleep crusted eyes tried to make out her own handwriting from where she lay, but she gave up after a short time and plucked the post-it note from the lamp and sat up on her bed. She fetched her glasses from the bedside table and wiped them carelessly on her shirt before popping them on and focusing on the single word that had been underlined a dozen urgent times.

JOB!!!

Juliet glanced at the clock in the room. "F**k," she said and dashed from her bed to her closet.

The morning routine was a mess, but a familiar one. She rinsed her retainer, turned on her hair straightener, brushed her hair as she chucked porridge and milk into a bowl and threw it into the microwave, ran back upstairs to speed change and briefly straighten her hair then ran back downstairs just in time to beat the microwave all while commentating with the occasional "F**k", "Motherf**ker" and "AGH".

She ate her porridge leisurely over fifteen minutes, responding to her mother's texts and checking out her vlog that she had updated last night after editing the footage for two hours. The video had turned out decent as an introduction and many had already commented, more than she had seen the other night. (The young woman had forced herself awake despite being exhausted from the flight, constantly refreshing the page to see the new comments. The thought that people were watching her video while she was trying to sleep kept her up even later.) Most of the commenters were people responding to hate on the Zeritau project and the monsters, the other majority of the comments were from people genuinely excited about the project, and... ah, there they were. The comments that completely ignored what the video was about and instead focused on her. Comments on topics such as how hot she was, or how fake she was, and a particularly raunchy comment about how someone can't wait to see her get her freak on with... ... ... how many likes did that get?!

Juliet shut her laptop and dumped her dishes in the sink with such force, the bowl chipped. She staggered over to the bathroom and scrubbed at her teeth until foam spilled down her chin. She smothered her flushed face with foundation, dabbed an annoying pimple on her forehead with BB cream before hiding it beneath her fringe, hid her red eyes with eyeshadow and mascara and painted on her lips. At last she sprayed a cloud of perfume and walked through it on her way to grab her camera, recorder, resume and handbag. She left the house, locking the door behind her, then turned her camera on and realised with a stomach churning jolt that she had forgotten to charge it the other night.

"Aw," she blanked out, then tossed her head back wildly to the door. She waved her tense hands around in circular motions as she shook it away. "Aw, it's fine."

She checked for food between her teeth in her phone before smiling sheepishly at the camera and pressing record.

"Hell-o!" She waved. "I'm back again. I told you that I was going to go exploring and well -" she pointed the camera down at her feet and clicked her heels together, "- I've so far made it to the front doorstep. Haha." The camera raised and panned the streets. "People are already out and about now." The place felt so empty compared to the cities that Juliet was used to. Perhaps because of the significantly smaller number of people inhabiting it, but that was not all. In cities, the atmosphere was buzzing with energy, like everyone was out on their own mission. Here, nobody had found that mission yet. This is something that Juliet silently contemplated to herself, but did not say aloud for the camera. In a panic, she realised that she had remained silent for too long and had a low battery she needed to conserve. She immediately focused the camera back on her, but found that she had nothing to say, so turned the camera off.

Some time later, she walked out of a small store with a map and flier in hand.

Longer than expected afterwards, she stood in front of Matauchi's broadcasting station.

She pushed through the glass doors clumsily and approached the front desk, where a woman with lilac tinted skin typed away at a computer. Juliet plastered on a big genuine smile and leaned over the desk as she addressed her. "Oh, hello there. I'm here for the job interview - for the radio host? I'd like to fill in for the human position."

"Do you have any prior experience in this line of work?" The woman inquired with a sideways glance.

"Oh - uh, yes, hang on a minute, haha," Juliet fetched her resume and held it out, uncomfortably adverting her eyes as the woman took it with two extra hands and continued typing. "There!"

She skimmed it then handed it back. "First door to your left. Good luck, kid."

Juliet laughed airily as she took the resume back, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Thank you..." she drawed out as she disappeared through the next door. All the seats were empty. Juliet's eyes scanned all the seats hopefully and she was about to sit down when a lady with bleach blonde hair burst out of the bathroom, shaking her nearly dry hands in front of her. Juliet paused mid-seat, something she had no reason to do. The woman spotted her and her pink lips spread out into a charismatic smile. She wiped her hands on her thighs and approached Juliet with outstretched arms.

"Oh, hello there!" The woman called out with a strong Australian accent to her in mock-surprise. Juliet, finding herself cornered, walked up to her. "Are you here for the job too, love? Human or monster?"

"Hi!" Juliet greeted her confidently with the same forced surprise, grinning until the woman shoulder hugged her and was unable to see her uncomfortable expression. "And it's human - I'm a human."

"I know, I know love. I was joking, joking." The woman rubbed Juliet's arm good-naturedly, laughing loudly. "It's so easy to tell. Did you see the receptionist?" She whisper-shouted into Juliet's face.

"Aha - you're Australian?" Juliet asked. If the woman wanted small talk, she could humour her for a few minutes. This would be her first face-to-face conversation in days.

"So are you!" The woman's eyes and mouth stretched open. "Did you recognise my voice, love?"

"Your accent," she answered matter-of-factly, "You don't notice it until you step off the country. Should I recognise your voice?"

The woman gasped, waggling her finger. "Do you listen to the radio?"

It was obvious that the woman was a radio presenter, Juliet knew that much. She had interacted with many just like this woman... wasn't getting away from these people the reason she signed up to Zeritau?

"You're a radio presenter?" Asking obvious questions she already knew the answer to, because the listeners wouldn't know. These habits worked their way into her life.

"Of course, of course! I go by Liz, have you heard of me?"

"Liz, that's -" Juliet's insides squirmed with dread and she shifted her weight to her other foot. "Neo?"

"Mm-hm," the woman nodded with a glint in her eye, "And what station are you from, love?"

Juliet laughed - a defence mechanism. "Well, this is funny," she began, pretending to be embarrassed. "I work for 93.8."
The woman's smile doesn't drop, but instead goes hard. A tension settled over them and Juliet felt cold sweat pricking her forehead, followed by alarm bells ringing in her ears for her threatened foundation.

"That is funny," Liz began. Juliet smiled and gulped, the woman in front of her transforming into a spray-tanned sweet dipped in venom. "Ha! I suppose this makes us enemies now, doesn't it?" Juliet shook her head, a very small "Ahaha, no..." escaping from her lips. A burst of laughter shocked her and Liz repeatedly slapped her arm, giving a slight pain, as she repeatedly assured her, "I'm joking, I'm joking."

"I know," Juliet said and giggled unconvincingly.

"So, who are you then?" Liz asked, careful not to smudge her make-up as she wiped away tears with the back of her thumb.

"Julie. I mean, Jules. Sorry."

"Haven't heard of you. That's an issue, seeing as your profession calls for you to be heard." Those dismissive words had a bite. "You're a traffic chick, aren't you?"

Juliet was honestly shocked and impressed. "Ye - how did you know?"

"All traffic gals sound the same, love. Ha! What're they doing, sending you over to do a journalist's job? They must be terrified of sacrificing one of their leading talents to a monster's belly."

Juliet looked around in a panic for any monster that could have heard the loud mouthed woman, but there were none. A small flame whispered into her ear, but she waved it away and started stiffly, "That's -"

"I'm joking!" Liz barked, then chuckled in annoyance. She got out her cellphone and began to text something, muttering. "It's a joke. Geez." Juliet's mouth hung open as she watched her. "Stop that, you look stupid." She shut her mouth and bit her lip, her cheeks glowing. Something was definitely off about this woman, but now it was confirmed. Juliet really, really didn't like her.

"OK then," she said and went to go sit down, but before she could something stopped her.

"Well, it's obvious who got the job. You might as well be off."

She turned around sharply, an offended gasp caught in her throat. Her eyes darted to her right as though looking for someone to back her up, but she was alone. "Excuse me?" Liz just raised an eyebrow expectantly. Juliet stepped towards her, disbelieving. "The interview hasn't even started."

"Oh, don't look so hapless. I'm not being rude, just compare our qualifications." Liz scoffed. She turned her phone around for Juliet to see her vlog playing on the screen. "You're pretty though, I'll give you that. There's a reason they want you out here on camera instead of in there behind the mike."

There are moments in life in which you are so angry, you stop. You stand there, unable to move, doing nothing but sucking in oxygen to fuel the fire that rages behind your unblinking eyes. Juliet was in that moment. Functioning off too little sleep and balancing a stackful of bad days precariously upon her shoulders, the little flame had grown and found the strength to roar in her ears. This time, she listened.

"Fine," she replied softly.

Liz smiled in relief. "I knew you'd understand -"

"I wasn't talking to you."

Liz blinked, then laughed cruelly. "Then who are you talking to?!"

"That's it," Juliet flopped her arms at her side and shrugged. " ... You know what? I'm going to take a holiday from all of this bullshit. I don't even like this job, anyway. I don't like the way you speak. I don't like how I speak. This is it." Her hands motioned dramatically and her volume raised with passion, "No more radio, no more men, no more crap. I'm stuck in this bloody metropolis with FREAKING MONSTERS all around me -" she let out a short, honest laugh and her eyes lit up with the ridiculousness of it all, "I am so far removed from my old reality, I don't need any reminder of it! My new life begins now - I'm never going to be anyone's 'traffic chick' ever again!"

Liz stared at her, her lips slightly parted. Her dumbfounded expression soon morphed into a forced smile, "You done?"

"I am!" Juliet confirmed with a huff and her hands on her hips before storming over to the door, "Thank you!"

She swung open the door for an attractive silver-haired man with cat ears to nearly topple on top of her. "Oh! Hi, I was applying for the monster -"

She shouldered past him and ran out of the studio.

.

.

.

"What have I done?" Juliet moaned into her hands. She sat on the edge of a fountain, purposefully looking at her knees to avoid gawking at the different monsters that strolled past her, something that had gotten her in trouble before. The city felt more like a city already, like everyone had found their purpose in the short day it took for Juliet to lose hers. Everyone had taken down their 'staff wanted' signs and it turned out that most had been employed before anyone arrived at the city! Apparently, she had failed to fill out a specific form she probably lost, leaving her unemployed and at the mercy of whatever jobs were available whether they suited her skill set or not. But... just because this didn't turn out the way she wanted to, didn't mean that she should be discouraged! She walked out of here, it's not like anybody rejected her! She'd have to start handing out resumes next, that's all... oh, this took her back to her highschool years. There was no way that she was going back to working at a fast food joint, with all of that... meat and... ugh... no freaking way.

She glanced up to see a child throw a candy wrapper over his head, then notice her watching and stick his tongue out at her.

"Pick it up," she demanded sternly, death glaring the boy.

"No!" The boy replied with a little cheeky grin that made Juliet want to kick his face in.

"Pick it up. Something will choke on it." And then I'll be choking you.

"I want snakes to die!"

A reptilian man flinched from the boys claim and the mother hurriedly swooped him up under her arm, glancing at the eight foot tall creature nervously. Juliet raised from her seat, inwardly sighing as she felt the wet patch on her behind, and snatched the candy wrapper from the ground.

"Educate your children, would you?" She snapped at the woman and sat back down with a plomp. The sticky caramel left on the wrapper stuck to her shirt and she pulled it away, disgusted. She hid her face behind her hands and counted to three and smiled, taking the camera out of her handbag. She turned it on and pressed record.

"Well, I didn't get a job today, but -" It ran out of battery. "... It's fine."

Before she could put it away a rock, launched by the same littering child (but Juliet was not aware of that, as she didn't have the time to look) hit the camera. The hit was just enough for the impact to startle her. She was startled just enough for her shaking hand to send the camera flying. Luckily, her reaction time was just fast enough for the camera to be caught, however, unfortunately her coordination skills were just terrible enough for her to go sliding into the fountain in its place.

With her feet sticking up in the air, her camera saved and her head underwater, all Juliet could think was how lucky it was that she saved the camera... that was until she saw the familiar shape of her phone lying beside her.

Juliet's furious scream could be heard echoing throughout the entire city that day.






(It is my mission to make Juliet the unluckiest character I've ever roleplayed. ^^ Sorry Julie.)

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