Setting
Default Location for The Tower Society || Remastered
Minimap
northwest |
north |
northeast |
west |
You are here. |
east |
southwest |
south |
southeast |
London, England is a part of 
The Tower Society || Familiar.
7 Characters Here
Fluorspar [1,315] "Turn that frown upside down, being sad won't accomplish anything."
Echo [1,315] "I'm not sorry that I'm both your umbrella and the rain."
Sento [3] "Twenty five horses on a hill, they stomp, they chomp and then they stand still."
Hiyori Nanase [2] "Okay. Leave me alone."
Yuzuki [2] "The reason I don't like to be around you? You're so fucking dramatic."
Mako West [1] "No blood, no bone, no ash."
Tower NPCs! [0] Because the pad is unreliable.
Start Character Here »
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Echo glowered once more, "It was not!" Echo huffed, crossing her arms. Hawk rolled her eyes, "You bet yer bloody arse it was, Echo didn't want to get into it and then fussed that her arm brace doesn't match." Echo turned a shade of scarlet, it was all in good fun of course but Echo had never been one to respond too kindly to being teased."Let's just get on with it then! No sense delaying the inevitable," the building they headed to was decorated cutely for Halloween. Inside, different companies ran promotions to give out candy, flyers, and trinkets like pens and highlighters. Some had set up activities like hayrides or a petting zoo, one store front had turned into a haunted house. "They really take their holidays seriously around here, don't they?" Echo snickered, shaking her head.
"You're just jealous you don't have a pretty lady pushing you around in a carriage!" Echo quipped, sticking her tongue out. She leaned back in the pram, feeling slightly more dizzy than normal. "I'll give you all of my suckers Flo," Echo said, standing and snatching up her pumpkin basket. "We'll take first candy shift! Come on Flo, before all of the good stuff is gone." Echo adjusted her witch hat and started off towards the first table. "Sorry, it's her first Halloween," Hawk apologized, leaving the pram at the table and following along after Echo. In truth she was relieved, Hawk had not wanted to spend her first American Halloween manning a booth. Instead they now had the opportunity to interact with other Americans that were agents nor doctors, but regular Joe's, as they said in the states.
"Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!" Some children sang in mockery as they arrived at the booths. Echo came upon her first stall, a table decorated wildly as though it were a coffin. "Trick or treat!" Echo held out her pumpkin basket, receiving the free goodies. She also colored in a picture of a black cat, however coloring it in simple black was mundane and so Echo had scribbled the black kitten in, in outrageous shades of purple, pink, blue, and red. "Here, I think this one is the best," Echo handed in her picture to be judged for the prize of a new couch, something that she and Hawk could use in their flat since, as Hawk liked to remind her, Echo had spewed all across the plush material. "What else should we do? Let's go on the hayride next and avoid the haunted house."
Their bags of candy were filling to the brim, Echo had, had to give up her seat in the pram for the basket, leaving her candy safely strapped in while she walked along on her perfect at a perfect speed.
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
Pretty lady, huh? "Hah, don't tell me you're getting it hot for your own human, that's just silly, innit, Echo?" Flo mocked her best friend lightly, it was all in good spirit, there was no malintent behind it. Hawk was liking someone else in fact, and Echo as far as Flo knew, was too busy being alive again to worry about anything like romance. As for Flo, she wasn't sure if she really needed it. Sure, love had it's upsides and everything, but it also seemed kind of like a hassle. She liked herself best when she stood strong and independent, a stalwart tower against the bad of the world. "Fiore, Dexter, don't start a tiff, don't get into fights, understood?" She glowered at them until the troublesome pair reluctantly bent to her will, knowing that for the time being, she was their superior.
Echo called the first candy shift before anyone else could and Flo shrugged and followed along, figuring that it was just as expected. No doubt the others were a little weirded out and confused about who Echo really was, not the nice little passive demon, but a spitfire full of energy and life, ready to challenge everything and anything in her way. "On my way!" Samurai followed along, and so they moved as a quartet, the four Brits in a sea of American yankees and their silly english that was nowhere near as civilized as proper English speaking. The building was furnished quite nicely for this event, it was cool to see the community aspect of it. London didn't really have anything like that - the Tower Society was pretty isolationist and hardly ever mingled with outside communities at all. "Saitama!" One kid shouted, running up to Samurai, and a few others got in the way, more or less pulling him away from them to gaggle over anime stuff.
Well, it was fine, he was a little embarrassing anyways.
"Ooh, a coffin, that's quaint!" Flo accepted her candies with a gracious smile and tried her best not to wiggle her wings. Prosthetics, she needed to pretend that they were fake, Echo colored in a black cat, Flo decided to color a bat instead, making in a silver bat with sparkles on the wings. "I dunno, this bat gives it stiff competition." She really wanted that couch after all, it'd be nice to have something to just jump on and relax with after a day of fighting. The hayride was nice, though it made Flo sneeze and cough, and soon enough the pram was filled with two pumpkin cauldrons of candy. "Are you too scared to go into the Haunted House? Are you a little scaredy cat?" Flo wiggled her fingers at Echo's face.
Well, if Echo didn't want to go in, Flo would in her stead. "Wait for me here, I'll be the brave one of us." After seeing horrors like Baroness Amore's mind control, the utter destruction that was Baron Asmodeus, the cruel politics of Seele and the Tower Society, suffice it to say, there was nothing in the haunted house that remotely frightened her. Flo stepped out of it with the same ease as she entered, shooting Echo a peace sign to show off how easy it was. "What should we do next?" Soon she was going to have to go to the bathroom to check and see if she needed to take a piss, but other than that, it was Echo's choice now.
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Echo stuck out her tongue and shook her head, she would not join Flo in the haunted house, not because she was scared, which Echo was not, but because she was afraid of one thing and one thing only; the dark. Haunted houses were naturally set in darkness, how else were the actors to come out and give you a fright? "Oh codswallop, I'm not afraid." Echo rolled her eyes and waved her hand at this notion, she was on her feet now, allowing their sweets to rest in the pram. Echo's first Halloween seemed to be a wild success and when it was time for them to take turns at the table, they headed right back, finding that their crew had gone mostly ignored in the crowd of screaming children and bewildered parents attempting to keep said children in line. "Where are all of our patrons? Why do we still have such a big basket of sweets?" Fiore rolled her eyes, reaching into the basket for a packet of pop rocks.
"It's because the Tower Society is generally unwelcome to these gatherings. We only got a table because you and Hawk suggested it," Dexter nodded in agreement. Echo's cheeks turned red, welling up indignantly. "Oh yeah? Well Hawk and I will change that, come on Hawk, let's show them what a real duo looks like!" She nodded at Flo, as though to say that if her former partner so desired she was welcome to join them. They needn't go far and while Hawk drew her sword, Echo withdrew her wings from their hiding spot. The basket of candy was between them on the floor and they had propped up a little sign marked, "Tower Society Recruiting." Echo could feel the pressure as there were now plenty of eyes on her. The demon took a shuddering breath in, then out and used her hand, the good one, to make a gesture.
With a snap of her fingers two diamonds broke, first water to shower the sky, then light to refract against the droplets and create a marvelous rainbow, which glittered as the artificial rain fell in the direction of the ground. Hawk had begun doing an impression of her own, using a befitting Halloween theme to communicate with the dead. Nothing too powerful or deadly, just little animals like bats and black cats. Echo was now moving on to fire, a spark lighting up her palm, forming a small flame. From there she rolled the flames harmlessly across her palm and up her arm, over her shoulder, and down the other arm back into her hand, displaying an immense amount of control. "Candy, come get your candy!" Echo called, setting her flames loose around the bucket in a parade.
To prove that they were harmless, Hawk swiped at the flames with her hands, since they would only burn what Echo told them to, the flames were generally tame and would not effect candy snatchers. One brave child stepped up to the plate, clearing the way for children to line up and not only admire the candy selection, but the flickering orbs of fire that seemed to have been given a breath of life.
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
After returning from her oh so dangerous and frightening journey through the haunted house that terrified the poor meek and innocent Flo - has, as if, but sarcasm is always welcome, innit - Echo seemed to think it was about time for them to return to their booth and manage it so that the others could play. "Fine, but you're still a cute little scaredy cat, innit right?" She grinned toothily at her former partner, somewhat missing the days where the two were a duo, but also optimistic and excited for whatever future was in store for them. "It's not like anything I can do would help anyways, time slowing won't exactly gobsmack the little ones, y'nae?" She wouldn't help - Gwenyth and Echo's abilities were more than enough to awe any little child that decided to look their way.
Edward and Nio were already out of the way, they were doing their own thing at the shadow puppet area for children. Nio was a natural at that, given how much she used sign language - and Samurai was already waiting for them at the booth. "It's strange how the Washington Branch isn't popular." Flo mused, smiling up at Samurai, waiting for Echo and Hawk's show to begin. "Hah, it's not like we had a Third Impact to boost our fame or anything." Fiore shot back with her usual sassy lilt to her voice. And with that Echo and Hawk began their performance, using ghosts of animals and fire and water to create a sort of play for the kids to watch. It unsurprisingly garnered quite some attention, though everyone was hesitant at first. "They're demons, don't get close!" One mother hissed so Flo smiled at her pleasantly. "Demons that saved the world from the Kings." A few people seemed to whisper in hushed tones then, one even asking timidly if this was the famous Echo and Fluorspar that died and were reborn.
All in all, Echo and Hawk's show was a success and their bowl of candy was quite a bit emptier after all was said and done. It was late now, and the children were to go back to their homes and count their loot. Flo was of a mind to do that as well - she wanted to exchange her sweets for Echo's lollipops, a fair trade if she must say so herself. "Did you have fun with your first Halloween?" Flo asked Echo playfully as they walked back to the dinky little office building that looked almost like a second home. "And you with your fans, don't let it get to your head, wanker." She teased Samurai who flapped a hand with pride. "It's not that often you find a fellow anime fan, they want me to show up at a con with them next month." A con? Flo didn't know, but it was probably nothing too different from the Harry Potter convention.
Once they were back home, Director Bale gave everyone hugs and welcomes, seeming much more like a father than he did a Director. "Echo, Echo, you remember the deal, we need to exchange loot!" Flo reminded Echo, jangling the pumpkin cauldron in her hands. Her wings stretched open, free at last from being stiff for hours. "Or I'll tell everyone at home that you were afraid of a little haunted house!"
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
"You blithering nincompoop, I told you I wasn't afraid!" Echo countered, getting all riled up once more. "Hey, hey, no name calling Echo," Gwenyth leaned down to rifle her hair. Echo was sitting in the pram, rather tired after the long day. "I expect tomorrow there'll be a line out the door for the recruitment center," Echo crossed her arms haughtily, believing herself to have done a rather good job considering the situation. "Don't get too full of yourself," Gwenyth shook her head. Echo rolled her eyes, "Come on Flo, let's go exchange our sweets." Even if Echo had awoken, she still had quite the sweet tooth and worst comes to worst they could sort all of the bad sweets and put them in a bowl to offer anyone who came by the office. Or perhaps give them to Director Bale as a gift.
Echo sat with Flo on the floor to sort through their Jack-O-Lanterns, exchanging all of her lollipops for chocolates and other types of sweets. "Ooh, nougat nutties, those are hard to find in the UK." Echo grinned, reaching for the wrapper to pen it up. "No sweets before bed!" Gwenyth called from the loo, she would be putting her foot down on this one, unfortunately. "You ate enough of them on the way here!" Echo glowered and dropped it into her bucket. "Fine, fine, goodnight Flo. I've given you all of the lollies." Echo waved a hand passively towards her friend and stood to remove her Halloween costume and put on her sleeping costume. "I'll see you at breakfast," Gwenyth returned from the bathroom, wearing a night mask for her skin. "Night Flo, tell Samurai I give him my greetings." Gwenyth closed the door behind her and Echo headed into the bathroom to wash her face and teeth.
The next morning, after morning meal, Echo and Gwenyth headed not to their office, but to physical therapy. Echo was making leaps and bounds in determination, having lost the function of her limbs before and knowing what worked best. Gwenyth continued to read books on neurology while Echo worked weights, stretches, and rubber bands until she was tired and too sore to walk. Using the pram, they headed to the recruitment office, where they found someone waiting outside. This was not a young child, but a full gown adult who was there with her baby. "Are you the recruitment office?" The woman appeared to be wearing hand-me-down clothing and had a nest full of messy hair. "I'd like to apply for a job."
Echo perked up instantly, "Yes, of course, right this way please." They unlocked the door and headed inside, Echo gave up her space in the pram so that the woman could put her child down. "My name is Emily Snaps, I need a job. Anything, please, I'm desperate."
"Whoa, slow down there," Gwenyth clasped her hands together. "Becoming a Jeager is a serious commitment," she beckoned to Echo, whose arm was still in a sling. "You're putting your life on the line everyday, which is why you need to seriously consider this. You have child, we wouldn't want to not come home one day and baby will no longer have Mummy, would we?" The woman hesitated. "I can't live in that shelter anymore," Emily Snaps burst into tears, which caused her baby to awaken from her nap.
Echo elbowed Gwenyth in the side. "If you do become a Jeager, you'll need to go through extensive training.
You'll be paired with a demon and take missions daily, work long hours, and often come home too tired to spend time with baby."
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
The first thing upon waking up was coughing. A near endless stream of coughing to the point that she almost passed out from the lack of oxygen flowing through her body. Flo wheezed and hacked and retched as Samurai patted her back and pressed the inhaler to her lips after shaking the dispenser. "Shhh, it's okay, I'm here, just calm down and breathe it in." Flo nodded and tried to greedily suck up as much of the mist as she could, but it wasn't letting up. "Another one, just relax." He shook it again and then pressed the button, bronchodilater medicine wafting into her mouth, down her throat, loosening up the spasms in her throat. "I'm okay." She panted after about a minute and she was shaking. "Just take it easy. Do you want to take a break today?" And leave the students hanging? She couldn't do that, they needed her! Flo shook her head adamantly and stood up.
Instantly upon standing up the world began to spin so she sat back down and panted. Okay, so maybe she should just take a rest today. "It's not rejection." She said in a quiet, contemplative voice. "I think I'm just knackered from all the fighting I've done recently." Harris nodded and pressed his hand to her forehead. "It's a bit hot, take it easy. I'll ultimate command if I have to." Flo couldn't fight that, it was most likely just exhaustion. "Tomorrow I'll be better." She murmured and Harris patted her on the head and walked her to the bathroom to do her morning nappy change. "Teach the students in my stead, just because I'm calling in sick doesn't let you off the hook, lazy!" With a self deprecating smirk and a wave, Samurai groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I wasn't trying to skip out on work!"
So Flo called in sick and Director Bale gave her permission to take the day off - on the condition that Director Wei be informed about all of this - and with that she decided to take a walk to try to work her lungs a little. She felt tired and woozy even after dressing up in her uniform, her cheeks were tinged red with sweat. "You'll be okay." Flo muttered in the reflection and made her way out until she found a certain scene at the recruitment offices. A woman wanted to have a job, she couldn't live in the shelter anymore, but she had a child... there was a good chance that as a Jaeger, she could die and leave the child without a mom.
But Flo had another idea, inspired by a certain nursemaid back in the London Branch. "We have a few unhatched demon eggs without a caretaker... for them." She butted in with a savvy sort of smile, wings twitching behind her. "You could become the nursemaid for them, there's another one, but having two would ease her burden quite a bit." Of course was consideration of the baby as well. "If you don't mind living here full time, and having your child grow up with demon friends..."
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
A contract had been drawn up within the hour, Echo trolled around while Gwenyth did the hard work and then when the printer broke, Echo hit it a few times with her good hand to get it working once more. "I telly you, all these bloody machines can't possibly be good to have around. They're gonna overthrow us one day," Gwenyth rolled her eyes at this but ultimately collected the papers and once they were signed, they sent up to word Director Bale of a new recruit, who was entirely too eager and shook the woman's hand with so much enthusiasm Echo was certain they were going to scare the poor dame away. "Thanks Flo," Echo winked, pushing the pram with baby in it. "One new person, but we still have plenty of holes to fill, 'specially with how many demon eggs there are in the nursery." Echo's tail swished side to side as she contemplated what they would look like, her mind drawing back to that strange pink haired demon and the curious questions Director Bale had inquired of her. Did she have any sisters? Yes, two, and a dead brother, but they all lived in London.
The next few days were busy for the recruitment office, they began filming their commercial, capturing the daily life, training, recreation, and various promotional scenes to put on the idiot box for anyone who turned it on. Echo herself got to be in a scene; she hadn't known that Gwenyth was still filming while in physical therapy to recover her weak left side. While Echo no longer needed the sling, she still had to wear the brace on her left hand and decompression socks. When the commercial was done editing, they played it for the entire Tower Society and received a round of applause. After the commercial aired, the people began to come in. At first in a trickle, one or two a day, at most four, but the more the commercial played, the more people applied.
"Ugh, there were so many today," the recruitment office had at last closed for supper. Echo leaned back in the spinning chair. They had interviewed twenty recruits for screening. Not everyone made it of course, it wasn't everyday that you found someone with the integrity to be a Jeager. They had already had to turn quite a few down, which was disappointing considering how many demons needed a Master. It wasn't like the London branch where there was a waiting list a mile long, the ATS couldn't afford to lose too many applicants. Still, they were high in demand at the moment; Echo could only hope it wouldn't be a trend for the homeless and children who wanted to skip school and go right into the work force. "Are you daft? That's a good thing you ninny, we want as many people as possible."
Echo locked the office and walked alongside her, no longer needing the pram thanks to the fact that she had weaned off of most, if not all of her medication. "Who're you calling daft? Says the one who put all her eggs in one basket and nearly hired a psychopath!" Gwenyth stuck out her tongue, Echo stuck her own tongue out in response. The two made their way into the dining room and received supper, which was pasta and fish. They sat at their usual table, the dining hall seeming much more lively than usual with five new pairs having been inducted earlier that day.
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
The next day, Flo didn't quite feel any better. She also didn't feel any worse than yesterday morning though. "Twice in a row, we need to tell Wei." Samurai said once the coughing wore off and Flo gazed weakly at him and nodded, gulping down a glass of cold water to try to wake herself up. "Sorry." Flo panted with a tired grin. "Looks like it's up to you again today, huh?" Samurai tucked her into the bed and shook his head. "Don't apologize, this isn't your fault. Just stay in bed all day, I'll be back once I'm done our jobs." Flo nodded, her whole body feeling as if she were wading through thick muddy water. "Okay." Hardly enough energy to even make witty jokes, she too, was of the opinion that it was best to rest for now and stop pushing so hard to help fight.
The days whizzed by and Flo couldn't help but find it ironic that she was pretty much bedridden for those days. Her students even came to visit to check up on her - though only Nio really admitted that she was worried, the others were too prideful and hard headed to say anything of the sort - and then one day a portal opened thanks to Lana's mirror and Director Wei was there. He ran a few diagnostic tests on her to find out what was wrong. By the end, Wei didn't look worried at all. "Prognosis?' She asked and Wei was almost smiling from relief. "It's nothing to worry about, Fluorspar. All you did was send all of your demon energy working, so you need to slowly build it back up again." He drew up a chart of average demon energy levels. "You have around sixty percent of the average, so you should only use it up when you need to from now on."
The next time Flo awoke she felt a little bit better, well enough to walk around at least, though she couldn't draw on her powers or anything. "The coughing isn't so bad today." Samurai said softly and Flo nodded and made a peace sign with her fingers. "The pill he gave me helps take the worst of it off." Still, doctors orders were that she couldn't work, not until her energy was back up to at least eighty percent. "What did I miss?" Samurai unlocked his phone and showed Flo the pictures of the five new pairs that were made. "Five new pairs, and they're all waiting for you to teach them. But you need to get better first, don't you?" Flo wouldn't fight doctor's orders. "But when you're off duty, come pick me up, I want to go to the dining hall. Being stuffed up in this room all the time isn't going to help." And with that she decided to take a nap to try and build up her strength.
After being roused awake by Samurai, Flo made unsteady steps to the dining hall where Echo and everyone else would be. With a tired grin she spotted Echo and let Samurai guide her over to the table. "I'll get you the pasta and fish." Samurai said and helped her into the chair. "It's been a while." The pinkette smirked at her best friend. "Good work on the recruiting, Echo, the place looks much more lively now." Her wings fluttered behind her, it felt so refreshing to get to talk to Echo again.
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Echo was unusually hungry tonight, she had already eaten two servings and was ready for a third by the time Flo had arrived. Perhaps it was boredom, but she had not been gaining any weight despite her eating well once more. "Slow down there Echo, you're going to choke." Gwenyth warned, patting Echo's back as she began to cough from chugging her third cup of tea. "I'm fine, I'm alright," Echo gave a wave. "Yo, took you long enough lazy bones." Echo winked, glad to see that Flo was up and about once more. "How was Wei? And the others? Did he bring anyone with him?" Or had Lana only allowed the Director to come and see Flo to check up on her lungs? She wasn't aspirating pieces of food into them was she? Echo's expression remained passive, she was doing her best to keep concern from showing since she knew how much Flo hated that.
"Thanks, we've been working hard on that commercial, no thanks to you." Gwenyth rolled her eyes, "quit it with the insults or Flo might think you mean it." Echo could only roll her eyes in return, "anyhow, watch this," Echo lifted up her bad arm and wiggled her fingers, reaching across her empty plate to pick up her cup. Very shakily, she drew the cup up to her lips, spilling droplets on her lap. "Okay, enough of that," Gwenyth took the cup away before Echo could drop it all over herself. Echo glowered, "you prat, I was showing off!" Echo crossed her arms, but Gwenyth didn't seem to care. "Anyhow, I'm going to go on a walk with Samurai, don't kill each other girls." Echo rolled her eyes, she would not be killing Flo, not today at least.
"I go back tomorrow for my one month checkup," Echo said, allowing one of the staff to come and clear her tray by putting it on the cart. She felt excited to finally get clearance to be a combatant once more. Of course with her rubbish left arm she would have to make a go of starting off small, something the real Echo was very much not used to. Echo was never one to start small, she had always been good at putting on a show and doing whatever she put her mind to, not beginning with tiny missions that made no sense for the Tower Society to be taking care of like cats stuck up trees and whatnot. Gwenyth would make her take it slow, but Echo wasn't going to stand for it. "How are you feeling? Lungs getting any better? There's a batch of eager beavers waiting for you to whip their bums into shape."
Echo took a sip of water, using her good hand to lift the cup to her lips. "There's going to be a waiting list soon if we keep getting as many people and no one to bring in new demons." Echo would know of course since it was her job to keep track.
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
"Just Wei, everyone else is busy with helping rebuild, or taking care of Berlin." Flo felt a tiny bit stranded as Samurai plopped her down in the chair, knowing it'd be difficult for her to move without his aid. Well, whatever, seated like this with Echo, she didn't really want to be anywhere else right now. "And this is energy depletion, you git, if anything I'm not lazy enough!" She had pushed herself too hard in training the students and depleted her already small stores of energy, it was nothing serious, and soon enough she'd be back on her feet. Echo performed quite well with that hand of hers, able to drink out of a cuppa now. "Nice, you're progressing! I'm proud of you, Echo!" The pinkette tried to reach over and pat Echo's hair but Samurai held her arm back, in front of everyone, which was a little frustrating.
"No exerting." He said sternly, almost like a parent and Flo was half a mind to stick her tongue out at him. "In what world is patting my friend exertion?" He crossed his arms and gave her that strict adult look he got when she was being indolent. It was almost like two unruly siblings with their exasperated parents trying to keep the both of them under control. "I bet the doctors will be impressed with your improvement!" Echo was doing her best to go back to tip top shape. Compared to that, all Flo really had to do was relax until her natural energy stores went back to normal. "It's not my lungs, just my energy. Wei tested my lungs, they're doing what they're supposed to." The spirometer test proved that, Wei made sure to be extra careful, because if he missed a sign of rejection, it would spell disaster.
Samurai went off with Hawk for a walk or whatnot, the two were probably friends in more ways than Flo could think of, which was funny because before all of this, before the Third Impact, the two hardly ever spoke in the first place. "Once we both can, let's show them a demonstration." An eager lilt was in her voice and a devious glow glimmered in her amethyst orbs as she looked upon Echo, the strongest Baroness left. "We'll show them what real power is between two Baronesses." Yes, it was technically against doctors orders, but it was for a good cause. Teaching the students what to expect from high class battles, it would only benefit them in the long run. "Just don't trounce me too hard, okay? We gotta make it look fancy, you see."
Because clearly Echo was the stronger of the two, she had more practice, and her latent potential energy was much stronger than Flo's. The most chance Flo had was using strategy to win, but Echo was probably able to read her strategies, considering all the times they worked together. Ah, it felt nice to eat, to feel the good pasta and fish filling her tummy, real food instead of just soups and puddings. "Oh, don't you remember how hard it was to feed you? You really were such a pain in the arse, Echo!" Infant Echo, always loving to cause a fuss, no matter the cause.
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Echo blushed and squirmed in her seat, "It wasn't that bad you ninny! You're just remembering things wrong because your head is all boggled!" Echo was now making lame excuses when indeed she had been very hard to feed. It was a complete turn around since her awakening, Echo couldn't seem to inhale food fast enough along with the TPN. Echo only received the TPN at night and wore a nice cover over her pick, which she was doing very well to keep secret from everyone. Hopefully within the next three visits the central line would be removed and Echo wouldn't need to be connected to a machine every night the same way Flo needed her C-pap. "At least I didn't make everyone worry by becoming a statue most days." She huffed, hoping that her jeager would bring her pudding for dessert.
Echo's one month check up went well, they looked inside of her head through a scan to see how the new shunt was, quite snug as a bug in a rug inside of her brain. Echo was perfectly fine, or so seemed for now, and was told that once her had was better she could rejoin the regular squad. This was a disappointment all things considering. Echo hadn't the faintest clue when she might regain the use of her hand. The Doctor did not want Echo to find herself in a battle situation where she found that she only had one hand available because the other was too weak to do much more than toy around with the printer or with organizing file folders that did no need it or filling up the coffee urn so that it was full for very brew.
"It's tiring work, but someone has to gt it done." Echo swiped her brow jokingly and grinned. She gave a thumbs up to show that she was anything but fatigued; in fact, Echo cho was raring. [color=#EE3B3B]"Let's show them what
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
Here they were in the training room, about a week later. Flo looked over everyone, still on a strict no-fighting rule from Director Wei. Eight pairs were gathered, the ATS now had eight pairs raring to go. Things were looking up and, well, personally, Flo figured that the less time she spent recuperating in her room, the better. According to Wei, she had a small energy store and it was slow to regenerate because so much of it was spent maintaining her lungs current state, which made sense. Echo was handicapped in the past with how much healing energy she diverted Flo's way all the time. "Every pair, find the arranged pair on the list I set up." Flo ordered, pointing with a long stick to the projector where her list was typed up, derived from the combat data videos she watched, thanks to Samurai recording everything.
"Why don't you show us what a Baroness can do?" One new guy asked with a bit of a snicker. Fiore seemed to smirk secretly to herself at that, because she, Nio, Edward, and Dexter, they all knew what she was capable of. "Maybe if you spent less time being a wanker and more time training!" She wasn't going to let herself get baited into fighting, even for fun. She needed to save her energy for when Echo was ready to have a bout. "But Samurai was always willing to show us whatever we wanted!" He called back so Flo sighed and figured, one little show wouldn't hurt. She spread her wings wide and they began to buzz, her eyes were glowing, power was radiating off of her like a nuclear power plant. All the demons shuddered away and even some of the humans could feel the power.
Flo hooked her lips in a grin and relaxed, letting her energy back into herself. "None of you could avoid flinching, so none of you are strong enough yet. Now, start the combat practice!" flo declared and they all got to work. Naturally the original four were the strongest ones here, but there was some potential in the others as well. Hopefully everyone here would get to form a cohesive unit and learn to work together, and maybe one day the American Tower Society could become as prolific and powerful as Berlin, Tokyo, or especially, London itself, the most famous of all the branches. The butterfly watched her little children practice war, thinking about Samurai and his date with Amy, who had finally been approved to come for as long as Samurai was here.
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Sweat dripped down her back, it was a cold November day but that did not stop Echo from overheating. She thought that she might die of heat. "Come on, just one more," Echo bent her elbows, supporting her entire body weight on two hand, then slowly pushed herself back up. "There you go, great!" Hawk waited off to the side with a bottle of water, "good job,"
she nodded in acknowledgement once the physical therapist had given them the okay to stop for the day. "That was exhausting," Echo put her brace back on her wrist and replaced her top shirt over her tank top. "Is it dinner time yet?" Hawk glanced at her watch and grinned. "I have an even better idea, let's go promote the Tower Society at a cafe down the road. That way we don't need to take a lunch break and we still get food," Echo like the sound of that.
"Should we invite Flo along?" The demon inquired, scratching her blonde hair back into cooperation. "We can check, although I doubt she'd be able to get the time off." On their way to see her, they were chased away by Samurai, who was glad that Flo was at last back at work and did not want any distractions. The two girls headed out on their own, Echo with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her Tower Society jacket and Hawk fixing her scarf in an attempt to wrangle it into order. "It's called Moose," she said, "not sure why, although I suspect it has something to do with their mascot. They're supposed to have good burgers," burgers? Echo did know that Hawk had always enjoyed meat, Echo did too, however her faith lay in chocolate. "They specialize in crazy toppings, one of their burgers is topped with a chocolate patty," Echo's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at this. "Savory chocolate?"
Savory chocolate indeed existed and Echo wolfed it down almost as soon as t came out of the kitchen. They paid their fare and headed back, passing ads for the American Holiday called Thanksgiving. In England they celebrated the Fifth of November, which had passed uneventfully in America. There were no light shows in the sky or balloons given out for free in order to celebrate the English Independence. It was the first time Echo hadn't been given an extra little cake alongside her normal gruel. No, it had been a quite holiday celebrated privately by the Brits with a bottle of spirits and a bag of America's cheapest and finest cheesy chips. "What is Thanksgiving?" Gwenyth shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me, these prats will celebrate any excuse to take time off of work and have a feast." Echo snickered, "doesn't sound much different from us Brits."
The building for the Tower Society was unscrupulous, nondescript and generally hideous to look at, but it was home.
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
The day after that was a break day for Flo, because Wei didn't want her leaving the building in case she got too tired out. Samurai would be organizing the kids who were grouped into two pairs per team to do some missions, and so Flo was officially off duty for now. She couldn't even manage the mission board because one of Echo's recruits that came was the one in charge of managing and taking care of requests and the like. It seemed many things were already being taken care of, so Flo didn't have all that much to do at all. "Oof, what to do today?" Honestly it felt a little like before, when she was in the hospital, just wasting away. What goal did she have? What did she want to work for, personally? Was there even anything? The pinkette shook her head and stood up, time to take a walk and not dwell about silly things.
She didn't want to go back to that. If she didn't have some sort of personal goal, then she would go and find one! That would be enough of a goal until another one appeared, right? The butterfly was unused to being content in life, she was always better off trying to achieve something. "Maybe I should visit Echo." She murmured under her breath. She had a few things she wanted to discuss, naturally. But... well, was it really okay to disrupt during work? Flo decided to leave a message under the door, telling Echo to meet her at after dinner to do whatever. They were both free then, after all. "I shouldn't base my goal on her anyways." She said softly to herself, rubbing the silver bracelet decorating her wrist.
Since she was Rowena to the reborn Zinnia - because let's face it, the baby that was born in this body was very much more Zinnia than it was Fluorspar - it wasn't as if the spider would appear in a hallucination. She was just a bit too grounded for that. She decided to spend the day just walking around the building - unfamiliar faces of the support staff streaming about - and then she found a message on her TB, it was from Silence. "Things are looking up, but Berlin will need us here after the war so we can't return to London for the next year." Flo read and sighed. It must be nice, being human, being mortal. With an endless lifespan, the usual pressure and drive to achieve something before death was gone, because death was such a distant far off thing for her now.
...Well, it'll be fine. She just needed time to process her thoughts and get her act together, right?
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【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
A note crumpled underfoot, the white paper nearly tearing underneath her sneakers. Echo knelt down, feeling the once crisp parchment between her fingers. "Oh, it's from Flo," she scanned the message and shoved the note into the depths of her pocket, then proceeded to remove her jacket and hang it up on the coat rack. Her bad arm was feeling particularly sore after physical therapy but Echo would not complain since she was not so weak that she needed to voice every thought that jumped to mind similar to the way the previous version, the young, rather naive Echo had acted. "What did the note say?" Gwen inquired, interest having been piqued. Echo conceded by shaking her head, muttering something about meetings and schedules. Gwenyth did not pry, however she did give Echo a somewhat suspicious look that told of two lovers in fair Verona, running away with their hands intertwined and stealing kisses on each other's collarbones.
Echo shook her head. She could not possibly see Flo, her Flo, in that light. Flo was an older sister to her, a best friend, not someone she could ever share kisses with. Such thoughts were so alien that they made Echo feel somewhat queasy. After all, who would ever want to kiss their sister? "Wipe that smarmy look off your face, you'll scare away recruits." Echo shook her head and took a seat, drawing out a novel she had begun. "The sign's flipped, although I doubt we'll get anyone at this hour." Echo yawned, tossing her hair over her shoulder then pushing her feet up onto the desk. Gwenyth chased Echo's legs off, "dirt! You'll track mud all over the important papers!" There was a basket of said papers topped precariously on the edge of the mahogany desk.
Once work had let out for the day Echo went to seek Fluorspar who had requested an audience in private. Gwenyth went off to supper, promising that she would save pudding for Echo who wasn't all that hungry after the grand lunch of biscuits and sandwiches she had feasted on earlier that day. Echo went to swap out her mittens, in case they decided to go for an early evening stroll as her older pair were threadbare and the ones Echo had reserved for emergencies after receiving her new blue,
penguin patterned ones. "There you are you bugger you, making me wait all this time." Echo waved upon contact and strode forth to face her former partner. "Gwenyth has promised to take me to something called the zoo this weekend, if the weather permits. Fancy a stroll?"
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
With a somewhat troubled yet bright as always smile on her face to Echo's own face, Flo greeted her with a wave and continued to lean against the wall, wings folded behind her. "Hey! Sorry, this is going to be a little bit serious... but ah, it's not like I'm breaking up with you or anything!" She gave Echo a teasing smirk and then relaxed her face, sighing to signal that the serious talk was about to begin. Flo locked her elbows and bent forward in a bit of a slump, her hair bristling with her with every movement. "This is about our lifespans, us being immortal. It's probably nothing new for you, but for me, well, I'm still getting used to it." A somewhat frustrated grin marred her visage as she pondered how to word this. "Do you mind helping me sort this through in my head?"
Amethyst eyes locked onto beautiful ruby red ones, two former partners who hopefully understood one another just as well even without the Tower Brace and the contract binding them together. "What goal do we have? What do we look forward to and build towards in the far future?" Her tail was stiff so she curled it tightly around her leg, trying to soothe the muscles of the appendage. "Sure, there's short term stuff like protecting humans and rebuilding London, but those will pass in the blink of an eye for us eventually." Where one day all the humans they knew were dead, leaving only fellow demons as familiar faces. "I'm used to living a short life, so I'm not quite sure how to adjust..." Her plan was to die with importance from the beginning... but, well, dying was no longer in the picture anymore.
With a bit more distress Flo decided to explore the other thing on her mind. "...Once Hawk and Samurai are both old and gone, I was thinking... you had a dream once, didn't you? To be free, to explore the world without any shackles binding you." By then Echo would certainly be fully recovered from her moia moia. "Hawk would be willing to release you... but I wouldn't be able to join you, not for the long term, you know?" Even as a demon, she would always be reliant on the medicine and the lung exams to make sure she doesn't relapse into remission. "Well, those are just my thoughts. You can just ignore me if you want." Even if Echo chose not to lend her aid, Flo knew she'd figure things out on her own eventually anyways.
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【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Echo crossed her arms, listening to the worries of her friend who had been a demon for little over one year now. Echo's head bobbed as she nodded, wanting to display that she was actively paying attention rather than simply pretending to care. "I don't know," Echo replied, turning to look out the window. "To be honest, my entire existence has always been a question. I was never meant to be paired, you know that, I was always content with my life beneath the Tower Society until Alistair." It was after that, that Echo had learned to despise humans. "You lose track of time after a while," Echo flexed her hands and turned back around. "At some point, you might even lose the will to live. Everyday becomes the same, an endless torturous existence. Demons have never understood time though, which is why we're not very punctual." Echo leaned back, "we're not technically immortal because we can be killed."
Echo thought back, back to before her death. "There was never an ending, only focusing on the today and now. Thinking about tomorrow or the future is stupid because you never know what's gonna happen. You know? I could be dead tomorrow again and then all of those thoughts were wasted." Echo shoved her hands into her pockets, "but I didn't used to think like that. I used to dream, I used to be stupid enough to trust people." Echo didn't trust anyone, it was painful to get her to open up to Flo and now Hawk was having a hard time with her. Of course, Echo had grown used to being bounced from human to human like an unwanted puppy. "Flo, just don't go crazy." Echo pat her friend's shoulder. The only person she would ever truly consider a friend was standing before her, nearly overthinking things as she normally did. "You have an eternity to get your bloody life together and your lungs will heal. You're a demon, remember? They'll assimilate to the rest of your body."
"I had a dream, yes, but the reality of that is I'm a King, not only that, but a traitor to the humans. You think they'll ever let me go?" Echo laughed, but it was not the laugh of someone who had just been told a joke. "Then you're more daft than you look." There was no way in bloody hell the Tower Society would be letting a relative of the King's walk Scott-free, especially one with supposed murderous tendencies who had betrayed humans not once, but twice. Sure, she had also saved them from what was ultimately the end of humanity, but just like Echo, humans were terribly stubborn. "Hawk won't release me, the prat's become attached. She said she feels like I'm just a rebellious little sister, or some rubbish like that."
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
The reality of being a demon that Echo described to Flo was, well, incredibly bleak, to say the least. Life as a question, to a girl that almost obsesses over finding answers as a living, it was quite, well, frustrating, wasn't it? Flo's mind was an inquisitive one, and such a mind was always asking questions, buzzing about to make sense of the world in a satisfactory way. Something like simply being content with leaving life as a question, well, that was most likely not possible for her. "Is there a way?" Flo asked grimly, none of her usual snarky charm apparent at the moment as she faced her best friend. "A way for us to not end up begging to death out of sheer boredom and repetition?" Irritation lined her usual delicate features and the pinkette fell silent for a few moments.
Simply by virtue of being a demon, Echo was stripped the rights to having a dream. Flo wanted to change that somehow, to make it possible for her dear friend to live free, rather than in a birdcage. It would have been easier to solve this puzzle before she too had become a demon - all Flo needed to do was release Echo and then bribe enough people to not give pursuit. However, now that she couldn't release Echo, something else needed to be done. "We both know you didn't have a choice." Flo sighed, eyes glowing just a tad. She shook it off, amethyst returning to it's normal gleam. "Alistair was a monster, and my mother engineered Director Harway's death, you were only ever a tool." Not that they'd ever be able to prove it, since most people in the know of LaFleur's takeover were dead now, long gone, other than Baroness Lachesis, but her testimony wouldn't hold up on court, seeing as how she's a demon.
"Don't worry, we've got many years to think of something." Stay logical, stay calculating, never let emotion take control of the numbers, only be the driving force behind them. "For now we can't do anything until my lungs have acclimatized anyways, which Wei predicts will take years." If Wei was smart, he'd know that her lungs were essentially keeping her hostage, and if he was anything like LaFleur or Harway, he'd intentionally keep her lungs from acclimatizing, wouldn't he? And Flo would never be able to know, not without proof. "Let's go take a stroll, people might think we're eloping, chatting secretly in a corner like this, hmm?" The usual snake-like grin was there and she gave Echo a hug, the beginnings of a plan already bubbling to the surface of her mind, a plan to bring both herself and Echo freedom from the Tower Society.
Yes, that would be her purpose for the time being, her goal to work towards. "Thanks for the talk, Echo! Looks like you've solved my dilemma just like that." As long as she had this secret agenda, she wouldn't lose to the monotony of being a demon.
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【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Echo blinked, her eyes narrowing. "Why the bloody hell would I beg for death?" She raised her arms at her side, perhaps thinking herself to be clever. "I've lived five hundred years, nothing's going to stop me now. I've seen whole cities get wiped out and replaced in the blink of an eye. I've lived through the Plague, seen the internet come to fruition, and was there when they rebuilt the Tower Society from scratch. You think I'd ever stoop down so much as to beg for death? Thick are you?" Echo suddenly broke out in a grin, "I'm not going to give up on my goal just because I'm tethered to someone else and I have to use Gwenyth to achieve this goal, then fine. I'll bring her into it. It's not a dream because I'm going to make it a reality. That's why I don't have dreams, because I achieve them."
You couldn't have dreams if they had come true, could you? Echo was now in America, there were still so many things she could do, so many sights to see, people to meet and inevitably hate. "You can plot and plan all you want, but even if you count every step, you never know what's going to happen next." Echo shook her head, "you can't either, you overthinking prat you." Echo looped her arm through Flo's so that the two could go on their walk. Echo was no longer restricted to just campuses, she was allowed out on her own. However, demons in America had a curfew and they were expected to be back at the Tower Society before ten PM that evening. Despite the rigid laws, demon chaos was no different here. Echo had heard the tales, the ones where demons lurked down piss alleys to wait for little children or women to pass by so that they might prey on them.
Echo herself had beaten up plenty of those scum who chose to spend their time hurting others rather then self improving. Admittedly, Echo had been one of those demons for a while. Bitter, thinking the world had owed her something because she had been born into the wrong species and had been enslaved by humanity. England was getting better, they were loosening their hold on demon-human affairs and allowing the Tower Society to focus on demon involvement so that the Yard could exclusively work on human criminals and catching drug lords, which wasn't much of a problem after the Third Impact.
"Solved your dilemma? All I did was insult you," Echo grinned that signature fanged grin of her's. "Well, I guess I'm good at something after all."
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
Despite Echo's roguish optimism Flo wasn't entirely convinced that she would have the same outlook after thousands of years. Then again, Echo had already lived for a very long time now, and perhaps would still be going strong long after Flo had lost the heart to live into infinity. "You really think it'll be that easy, don't you?" Flo said with a dubious sort of half smile as the two were on their stroll around. "Perhaps being your companion will be all I need to make it through." She never liked being the type to not be able to stand on her own feet though, self-dependency was a virtue in the pinkette's eyes... despite how shameful she had been as Zinnia, the Baroness of Loss. But that was then and this is now. "We both know the best plans are the flexible ones, with endless contingencies specifically for the unknown variables, right?" There was no way she would forget to account for the unpredictable.
Well, even with her plan, it would take many years for it to come to fruition, with the end goal of her and Echo being free. The best strategist was a versatile one that didn't stick to a rigid unchanging plan, because those are the ones that implode on themselves. Adapting an agenda on the fly, there is nothing as valuable to any mind such as that. As of right now a large part of the plan revolved around her friendship with Samurai - surely, without his cooperation, the plan wouldn't work, simply due to how TBs worked. Unlike Echo, Flo didn't have any special ability to resist an Ultimate Command, so her plan would have to involve Samurai allowing her to do as she wishes. And he would never let her go back to scheming unless he agreed with the cause, that's the kind of man he was.
"Admit it." Flo brought her face close to Echo's with a pleasant sort of sneer. "I'm your favorite, aren't i?" Her finger curled in Echo's blonde locks and she giggled cheerily to herself, putting scheming aside for the time being. "The standoffish, human-hating Echo formed a bond with a former human? Oh, what about all of her pride? People might think you're getting soft, losing your edge, wouldn't you know?" Really though, with Echo's reputation of being an uncooperative and difficult demon that hated all humans, Flo really did get along with her without much difficulty even from the start. "People might start thinking you're cute, and stop fearing you, oh, Echo, what happened to your pride?" Her finger swirled in Echo's hair as they walked, mischievous glee gleaming in Flo's eyes.
And then a human girl, maybe ten years old, crossed the street somewhere in front of them and Flo's entire body went rigid. Suddenly the bloodlust was coming on, the urge to feed and kill that all demons had to suffer and fight against, it was boiling. "Echo." Flo murmured in a low hiss. "Don't let me eat her." Wei said that she contact Samurai if this ever happened but she wanted to handle it without his help, like any proper demon.
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
"Shove off," Echo nudged Flo's shoulder to the side. "I'm as fearsome as demons come you prat!" Echo glowered, all in good fun of course, she wasn't truly offended because she knew that while Flo did not find her particularly fearsome, there were others that wet their pants upon the very mention of a King. Echo's impressive power was something to shake a stick at, if she did think so herself. Of course, Echo did not think she was too hot to trot, but she did like to think that she was ranked up there among the most powerful in the Tower Society; at least among the English branch. Being a Baroness helped with that ranking of course. It was rather unfortunate really, Echo had never wanted to become a Baroness; a tool of her parent's design. She had never been swayed by familial bonds and yet her parents felt it a duty to turn her into their own little monster. The gesture would have been sweet if not for the extensive torture and the fact that they had turned her former human into a demon.
Echo stiffened, noticing the subtle change in Flo's stature. When Flo spoke, confirming her guess, Echo gave her a hard slap across the cheek. "Pull yourself together," she spoke rather angrily. "Learning to curb your blood lust should have been the first thing you were taught!" Echo grabbed Flo by the arm and directed her back towards the Tower Society's ugly building. "Come on then, you're daft if you think I'm going to let you stay out here with all of these citizens." Mass casualties was just the type of press they did not need. They were attempting to rebuild the demon image inside of America, trying to show them that demons were not the villains society had made them out to be. Echo dragged Flo back inside of the safety of the ATS's building. "Get out of the way!" Echo yelled at a human, wondering if she should find Samurai.
It seemed that there was no need to find anyone, they came to them. "Echo, what's going on?" Hawk asked and Echo glowered,
rolling her eyes. "Flo was having trouble making sense of up and down so I thought I'd sit her on the side." Gwenyth went to get Samurai, perhaps wondering if there was something wrong with Flo's lungs. "Focus on something, think of your most precious desire." Echo said, kneeling in front of her friend so that she would look at her."Think of what you want most in the world. Now, once you can picture it, imagine your desire. Think of it as another object, you can never have your most precious desire if you give into that blood lust. Now, take that lust, lock it in a box and store it in the back of your mind. It'll always be there, niggling, but you can never give into it if you want that precious desire to come true."
Samurai found them eventually and Echo let him take it from there since Haw was nagging her about getting to bed on time."Night," Echo gave a wave and off she went to tuck into bed. Tomorrow was another big day of physical therapy and perhaps some fighting time if the PT woman thought that Echo could handle it.
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
Flo was never trained or raised on how to handle her demon urges, not really. Yes, Samurai had tamed baby Zinnia that used her name, but it wasn't the same as actually teaching her how to fight the urge. Even as Echo walked her into the Washington Branch Building, Flo had her prey marked, she could sense that ten year old little girl's breathing, her movements, where she was this very second even from inside the building. Is this what demons had to deal with all the time? Echo was right - demons were meant for hunting free, not for being caged up... and hopefully one day she and Echo would see that freedom. That was her one desire, more than anything. "G-gnight," she stammered, having almost been lost in a trance. "Blood lust?" Samurai asked, having showed up. "Let's sleep it off, I won't let you lose to it." Flo nodded and followed him off to bed, a little embarrassed about it all.
The next day she still wasn't really fit for fighting, and wouldn't be until Director Wei gave the go ahead, but still she could at least oversee training sessions. Well today was the first day for a mission, so she arranged two teams of four pairs - one lead by Fiore and Dexter, the other, by Edward and Nio. It was time to coordinate the hunts. The first team, Fiore and Dexter, were to hunt down an Artifact stolen from the Washington Branch sometime during the Third Impact, a soul piece of one of their own demons that was killed, Director Bale's predecessor's demon. The other quest, the one being done by Edward and Nio's team, had to fight a gang of Baronlings who were causing trouble by blocking off an entire intersection and not letting any cars or people through.
And eventually both teams were successful, thanks to Samurai and Flo's input from base, acting as coordinators in the same way Bruskey and Imani were. "And that's how you coordinate group missions." Flo said with a grin at Courtney, the girl Echo recruited to be a coordinator. "Tomorrow you'll be the coordinator, but we'll be here just in case." Samurai said with a coworking sort of smile, patting her on the shoulder. Courtney sure looked nervous but she still nodded. "Okay! I'll, um, I won't let you down, boss!" Flo had a bit of a bittersweet feeling in the pit of her stomach. May Bruskey and Imani's love live on in the afterlife, may they rest in peace together. "You'll be fine, just do as we told you."
But Courtney wasn't fully convinced that it would be that easy, the way her brow furrowed in worry displayed that fear. "What if I fail them? What if a Baron shows up?" Flo glanced at Samurai, letting him handle this. "These kinds of emergencies are a part of what it means to be a Coordinator. It's difficult on the field to keep calm, so the Coordinator's job is to be the level headed one and guide everyone to safety." Well, one of their jobs, anyways. "And we won't let them die. I can freeze time, remember, Samurai and I will be there in a flash if they really are in danger!" Courtney gave a timid little nod, but in truth, when she started work for real, there wouldn't be any safety net, it would be best if she didn't grow used to having Flo able to solve any problem with ease.
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
"You're getting slow," Gwenyth said, clutching her side."Pathetic, aren't you supposed to be better than this?" Echo stood, rather shaky, glower permanently set across her face. "No, you're just taking advantage of the fact that this body is only one year old." Echo licked the blood off of the side of her lips and removed her spare dagger. "Plus, you're taking advantage of the fact that I've only got one arm right now!" Gwenyth rolled her eyes and struck Echo behind the knees sending her sprawling. "Excuses, come on, I want another lap around the gym, then we can go at it again." Echo took off, making quick work of the running, like she always did. They needed to rebuild her stamina, which had significantly lowered thanks to the combination of surgery and bed rest. Echo felt no far, she knew that she would be whipped into shape right quick and then would be back to missions.
"If you think you're going to tire me out by running then you'd best think again." Echo bit down on her cheek to keep from crying out as a headache pulsed at her temples. "Echo, you'd best sit down." Echo shook her head, "No, again." She insisted and with a sigh Gwenyth took her stance, Echo lasting no longer then she had the other ten times. "Please, you're injuring yourself. Just sit down, or I'll order you to." Echo had yet to tell Gwenyth she could resist those commands, but she took a seat, clearly unhappy with it. "Here, drink," Echo uncapped her bottle of water and chugged the contents, hoping that she wouldn't feel this sluggish for the rest of her life "Now, let's start on your form. It's clear you've never had any formal fight training, so we're going to start from scratch."
Echo groaned, rising to her aching feet once more to take her stance. Gwenyth corrected her, making Echo stand with her legs shoulder length apart and her hands at her side, no longer balled in fists. They went at it for another two hours, until supper was called. Echo was dead tired at this point, her feet dragging ever so slightly on the ground. "I need food, I'm so hungry I could eat the whole of Scotland Yard." Gwenyth laughed, "Rubbish, you could eat more than that." She challenged, allowing Echo to go in front of her in the line for food. "See Flo anywhere?" Echo inquired and Gwenyth shook her head. "Sorry, no, but I'm sure they'll be here soon." Echo ground her teeth together, "Curse my shortness." Gwenyth rolled her eyes, it was common knowledge that Echo was only as fast as she was because of how small she was. If Gwenyth made her any bigger, she would lose the advantage of her speed.
They took a table, but Echo didn't see Flo at dinner because she fell asleep at the table. The next few days were just as busy,
with Echo near sleep by the time she and Flo had a time to catch up. In only a few short weeks Echo was making leaps and bounds in her training and Gwenyth was rather proud of the result. Soon enough they were going for their three month check up at the Boston Hospital for Children. The Doctors too, were impressed by the results of Echo's determination.
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❝Do you know? Do you know how to fly again?❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #4ba348】
|| Butterfly || smile.dk ||
With a swing of the scythe and a twirl and then a time stop to hook her wing at the throat of her enemy, one was down. A fire bolt was shot at her but Flo could easily stop time and dodge it, reappearing behind her enemy to whack them on the side of the neck with her scythe's blunt end, knocking them out. She froze time again after tossing a smoke bomb and spread her wings, slicing through the armor of another one before whirling her tail at the back of their head to make them incapacitated and fall. And with that, the fight was over with a whack on the neck with her wings. "Can't even beat a sickly little demon." Flo sighed at her students. It was a battle, the four tops, Fiore, Dexter, Edward, and Nio were to work together to steal the scythe away from her. Needless to say, they didn't stand a chance.
You're still too strong for us! Nio signed with her hands and fingers, making a somewhat tragic expression as she rubbed her head. Fiore was glowering at her silently but with a smidgeon of grudging respect and Dexter was already trying to figure out where he went wrong. "And you, Courtney, you need to get better at analyzing the target's strengths and weaknesses to find out how to beat them." The Coordinator of a team was their strategist, it was her job to figure out the best way to utilize her team's skills to lead them to success. "But what are you weak to?" Courtney asked, wringing her hands. The pinkette sighed, taking a puff of her inhaler because she had worked a bit too hard there, Wei wouldn't let her overdo it. "That's for you to find out, isn't it?"
Echo was in Boston right now, and Flo was half a mind to go too but she had a job to do here, she needed to do her part. They hadn't talked in a while, and while it was a little lonely, Flo didn't really mind. They had eternity together, a few weeks was nothing to worry about. "Where's Samurai today?" Edward asked, wiping his sweaty brow with the sleeve of his uniform. "Is it just you?" Fluorspar narrowed her eyes and grinned, a fang poking out from her lip. "Wouldn't you want to know?" Currently Harris was meeting with a certain girl who had just flown in two weeks ago, brown mousy hair and freckles decorating her face, Amy the wildflower of London. "Wherever he is, he's having fun!" Their relationship wasn't really a secret but they didn't announce it either.
Once that was all done Flo flopped down in the lobby, feeling lethargic. She always did after exerting herself, because even at max, her energy stores were low compared to the average demon, let alone someone like Echo who could probably keep on trucking for hours on end. She closed her eyes on the bench and some indeterminate amount of time later she could vaguely feel someone placing a fuzzy cloth blanket over her but was too far into her nap to stir. Training the new team was almost over, Bale had a meeting with the President about funding after that mission where Fiore rescued the President's granddaughter, it wouldn't be long until their job was done.
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❝How wild it was, to let it be.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя: #EE3B3B ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #FFCCCC】
|| Studio Ghibli Songs || Various Arists ||
Echo was officially in remission! To celebrate she and Gwenyth got milkshakes at the Shake Shack before getting into the van to drive all the way back to the Tower Society to deliver the good news. Echo would have to come back every few years once the initial one year check up was given to confirm remission, just to make sure her head was holding up. "Ha! I knew I would beat it," she said proudly, sipping her drink. Gwenyth ruffled Echo's hair, "Knew you could do it." Gwenyth assisted Echo into the car seat and the two of them began the long journey back to the Tower Society."Now that I'm at full strength you'll no longer be able to beat me silly!" Gwenyth rolled her eyes, "We'll see about that." She flicked Echo's forehead, "I doubt it. You're still weak, you're inside of a child's body, remember?"
Echo glowered, but did not argue the point much longer. She fell asleep on the trip, Gwenyth carrying her inside of the building when they arrived, very late at night. "Alright, goodnight Echo," Gwenyth propped her up in bed and tucked her in before getting ready herself. The next few weeks were busy with training, Echo saw more of Flo, but the two didn't have much time to talk with all of the work on their hands. After the commercial aired for the ATS, more people were coming in to interview for positions. There was now a waiting list of humans who wanted demons. Before they could, however they had to go through psychological evaluations to ensure that they were joining the ATS for the right reasons and were not simply here to take advantage of what they believed to be a lesser species.
When Echo finally did have time to breathe, it was for an award ceremony. Apparently, she and Flo were going to the center of DC to receive an award for outstanding service, recognized by the US Military. Echo had done nothing, but she would gladly take something free and shiny, especially if it meant that she would get to see more of the city. "Do I have to wear this stupid dress?" Echo crossed her arms, hating every second of it. She had been stuffed into one of Doll's stupid handmade gowns. "Yes and you look quite pretty, I must say." Echo glowered, she did not look pretty! She looked hideous and she hated the crushed velvet and shiny gold clasps. "Stop tugging at it, Flo is wearing a dress too, isn't she?" Echo glowered despite the fact that this was the truth.
"Come on, let's go, the car will be arriving at any moment." Echo crossed her arms and stomped off of after Gwenyth in her cute little shoes, hoping to see Flo by the flat. She had her daggers tucked away underneath her dress, feeling more comfortable with her weapons than without.