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Elise von Hresvelg

"Hide away from the light, the rain is the only refuge."

0 · 3,245 views · located in The Chrysanthemum

a character in “Weather Girls”, as played by magic lilypad

Description

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❝Close your eyes, don't see what's in front of you.❞
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ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







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{☛ ⒻⓊⓁⓁ ⓃⒶⓂⒺ ☚}
Elise Von Hresvelg

{☛ ⓃⒾⒸⓀⓃⒶⓂⒺⓈ ☚}
Black Eagle | Some of her fans call her this based on her first leading role in a movie.
Liss | Her fans usually call her this.

{☛ ⒶⒼⒺ ☚}
16

{☛ ⒼⒺⓃⒹⒺⓇ ☚}


{☛ ⓈⒺⓍⓊⒶⓁⒾⓉⓎ ☚}
Non-disclosed.

{☛ ⒻⒶⒸⒺ ⒸⓁⒶⒾⓂ ☚}
Kaguya Shinomiya || Kaguya: Love is War



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❝I turn away from the mirror ❞
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{☛ ⒽⒺⒾⒼⒽⓉ ☚}
Between four and five feet is what her fansite says, but the information is a few years old since she left the spotlight.

{☛ ⓌⒺⒾⒼⒽⓉ ☚}
Her weight was never disclosed on her fansite.

{☛ ⒽⒶⒾⓇ ⒸⓄⓁⓄⓇ ☚}
Black like the feathers of a raven, according to one of her fans.

{☛ ⒺⓎⒺ ⒸⓄⓁⓄⓇ ☚}
An entrancing crimson, according to one of her fans.

{☛ ⒷⓄⒹⓎ ⓂⒶⓇⓀⒾⓃⒼⓈ ☚}
Elise's skin is reportedly unblemished and flawless.


{☛ ⒼⒺⓃⒺⓇⒶⓁ ⒶⓅⓅⒺⒶⓇⒶⓃⒸⒺ☚ }

The most iconic part of Elise Von Hresvelg's appearance that most people - her fans, those who have worked with her, and even Directors - they all agree on one thing: Elise's sharp penetrating gaze is the one thing they remember. The girl has a natural piercing stare and the natural red hue of her irises make it even more distinct. As a girl she's always been rather stoic, naturally adept at not emoting. There's a reason why Elise was commonly cast in roles in horror movies as creepy frightening little girls. It was only after starring in Blood of the Black Eagle did she learn to better emote and inflect.

Elise doesn't have much fashion sense herself, as her family tends to dress and clothe her for her. She's usually seen in clothing fitting a "winter", with sleek neat designs and simple and solid color pallets, usually blacks and greys. She has a slender and almost lithe frame, because a Star must always take care of her body. Her family made sure that she would always be perfect in appearance.

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♙They say it'll go a long way.♙
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☛ ⓁⒾⓀⒺⓈ

❥ Theater | While her family forced her into it, Elise really did love acting.
❥ Praise | She'll try to hide it, but Elise is weak to compliments.
❥ Talent | Elise likes talent, both in herself and in other people around her.
❥ Beauty | Perhaps she's vain, but she loves being seen as a pretty girl. [/center]








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❝Sometimes you just have to hide away and frown.❞
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☛ ⒹⒾⓈⓁⒾⓀⒺⓈ
⌦ Stupidity | Being an idiot is something Elise has trouble forgiving.
⌦ Laziness | If you have time to be lazy, you have time to improve yourself.
⌦ Mimicry | Mimicry may be flattery, but it's still very annoying.






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ⓆⓊⒾⓇⓀⓈ
Hair Flip| Elise will often find herself fidgeting with locks of her hair.
Foot Tap| Liss has a habit of tapping her foot to get people's attention.
Chew Chew| Liss has an oral fixation and likes to always be chewing or sucking on something.


[center]


ⓌⒺⒶⓀⓃⒺⓈⓈⒺⓈ
Insecure| Elise always needs validation from others to prove her self worth.
Fear| When afraid, Elise will freeze up and be unable to act.
Compliments| While usually composed, complimenting Elise will make her distracted and confused, but also, happy.
Maps| They're very hard for her to read, okay?




ⓈⓉⓇⒺⓃⒼⓉⒽⓈ
Masks| When needed, Liss is a professional at putting on masks.
Motivation| If she wants something, she'll work hard to get it.
Adaptable| Elise is quick to adapt to different situations.
Calculating| She doesn't use it often, but she can be oddly calculating when making plans.




ⒻⒺⒶⓇⓈ
Ugliness| Liss fears being seen as ugly.
Untalented| Liss is terrified of being thought of as untalented.
Mirrors| Elise can't stand to look into them.

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♙How many wishes do you count?♙
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{☛ ⓅⒺⓇⓈⓄⓃⒶⓁⒾⓉⓎ☚}
Jealous | Afraid | Cautious | Lonely | Friendly | Skilled

Caught in her glow divine, the moon in the sky
Shines a path that takes us to begin again,
Beyond heaven
And into your weary eyes that hold all our fears
I’ll keep reaching for you
Till the end of time
Believe what you feel inside

Caught in her glow, divine,
Shines a path of light,
Takes us to begin again,
Beyond heaven and in,
Your tired eyes,
Cradle all our fears,
Take my hand and heal with time)
Believe what you feel inside
Guides our dreams

Every soul yearns secretly
To heal, although they’ll never say
Instead their hearts will break until
Every shard will tear the sky away




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❝The scenery you miss might just be beautiful.❞
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{☛ ⓅⓁⒶⒸⒺ ⓄⒻ ⓄⓇⒾⒼⒾⓃ ☚}
Crysanthemum

{☛ ⒻⒶⓂⒾⓁⓎ ☚}
Jeralt Von Hresvelg | Father | 46 | Alive
Mirabelle Lancaster | Mother | 41 | Died at 30
Cynthia Von Hresvelg | Stepmother | 38 | Alive
Claude Von Hresvelg | Half-Brother | 16 | Alive

{☛ ⒽⒾⓈⓉⓄⓇⓎ ☚}
Jeralt Von Hresvelg, a famous director known for casting many films, was once a young man who fell in love with his lead actress at the time, Mirabelle Lancaster. It was unfortunate though, that he was already engaged to another woman at the time, someone his parents chose for him to marry, a young heiress named Cynthia Aegir. Jeralt was charmed by Mirabelle's talent and smile, but Cynthia's sweet and innocent doting was beloved by him as well. Unable to make the choice, Jeralt chose to be with both women, wooing Mirabelle and chose to try to hide this for as long as he could. In the end, he chose to marry Cynthia, believing Mirabelle was tougher and would be able to handle the breakup.

By then, Jeralt had already impregnated both women, though he didn't know it yet at the time.

When Elise was born, Mirabelle had already gone on her own path, raising and training her daughter to become a great actress. Every moment from her first word to her first step was all in preparation to have little raven haired Elise star in a movie. Even as a baby she was put on sets and acted out various babies and infant characters to get the baby accustomed to the camera from a young age. As such, Elise was always used to the glare of the cameras, the swarming paparazzi trying to get any information they could for their tabloids. Who was the mysterious father of talented and wonderful Mirabelle? It was a mystery kept locked shut behind the box. Eventually, it became known to the world that Elise Lancaster was actually the illegitimate daughter of Jeralt Von Hresvelg. Who leaked the news? In the end, no one found out, but Jeralt decided to go and see his daughter and his former lover. Impressed by her talent, he invited Mirabelle and Elise back into his life, and offered to grant Elise part of his inheritance.

Now officially a member of the Von Hresvelg family, Elise was trained even harder. Her half brother quickly resented her, Claude did not enjoy his new half sister getting all the attention. Just because she was famous and a child actress didn't mean he didn't deserve any love. He was afraid for his mother too, now that the mistress returned, would Cynthia still have a place at the Von Hresvelg house? Claude and Elise formed a hostile sibling relationship, they never did see eye to eye. He would pull her hair, she would call him stupid and talentless, and no matter how their families tried to make the children get along, all they did was get in more fights. Still, Elise continued to be a rising star, getting her own set of fans eager to see her growth as a child star. She was given the nickname "Black Eagle" based on a character she played when taking her first starring role. Jeralt, naturally, never casted her in his films. No matter how much Mirabelle asked, he always refused to let Elise take part in his art.

One day, when Elise was twelve, the two women in the family decided to take the children out for a concert in downtown Crysanthemum. Over the years Mirabelle and Cynthia learned to love each other. Rather than have their old rivalry and feud, they accepted the situation for what it was, and even developed affection for one another. Wishing for their children to have the same sentiment, they were taken out to enjoy a concert. Sadly, this resulted in tragedy. Little did they know, the concert would be bombed by a suicide bomber. Mirabelle died in the explosion, and Claude lost his arm as he covered Elise with his body, protecting her through sheer instinct when the explosion went off.

But Elise didn't end up unscathed. Her face now had horrid scars, she had become horribly disfigured. She quit her role as a star and chose to hide in her room in the dark where she wouldn't have to look at her horrible face anymore. She quit school and all of her contracts, and refused to go out into the world. Her only company was her brother, who would come by after classes and tutor her, making sure that at least his sister wouldn't fall behind in her schooling. Even years later, when her father found a doctor he trusted to give Elise plastic surgery, she would never feel beautiful again. Only in the darkness and safety of the rain would Elise ever show her face beyond the walls of her room. Little did she know, she would gain power over rain one day.
{☛ ⓄⓉⒽⒺⓇ ☚}






ⒸⓄⓅⓎⓇⒾⒼⒽⓉ: ⓉⒽⒺ_ⓆⓊⒺⒺⓃ



So begins...

Elise von Hresvelg's Story

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







It wasn't the Slithers, but it was training. What kind of training was this? Yuuki certainly seemed like a cruel heir to be a slave to. Not that Ame was any better. Elise shot a glare Ame's direction, as if daring the rain girl to try training her the same way Winter was being driven to such extensive injuries. She put Winter into her room, and retrieved Vincent from the kitchen to attend to the injuries. He really was so dreamy. Was there anything Vincent couldn't do? A fighter, a cook, a doctor, he could do it all. "So dreamy..." Elise whispered under her breath, peering through the crack in the door as old Vincent worked on Winter. She shut the door, deciding to let them be. What would she do now though? Her sanctuary was currently being used, and she was still wearing her flimsy night gown. It was very inappropriate for a young Hresvelg lady to be seen wearing such garb.

Claude caught her standing around in the halls, fidgeting with her phone. "Elise? Why aren't you dressed?" He looked at her quizzically. "I know your night gowns a very comfortable and silky, but I don't suggest trying them at outside wear. Even you have that much sense, I'd hope." He laughed lightly, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He was watching her, eyeing her, evaluating her. Through is eyes he was making sure she was okay and whole. Elise peeled the cast off to reveal her functioning and intact arm. "Winter is using my room for now, so I'm waiting." She murmured, sliding the cast back on. He nodded with visual relief at the fact that she was back to normal - or as normal as she could be.

"The memorial's today. I'll be heading out to meet Gordon Grant. Do you want to come with me?" He gave her an inviting smile, holding his hand out. Elise had no intentions of going back outside. The other music contestants such as Timothy Green would be performing in Winter's honor but really, that just seemed to be in poor taste. "No, I'd rather not." She said, murmuring. "But something must be done." They couldn't simply have a girl named Winter imprisoned in their home like this. But she couldn't go outside assuming the Winter identity either. They had to do something. Claude pulled Elise into his room then and he shut the door. "What do you suggest? What should we do?" He asked, looking at her.

"Winter obviously is looking for a way to escape back into the Government's clutches." Elise murmured, wincing at how intently he was staring at her. "If we placate her, maybe it'll make her more obedient." Winter was a simple creature. Music was something she enjoyed, and no doubt the chance of going outside and not being trapped in their admittedly nice home, would be something she would want. "I believe Vincent has an estranged son from many years ago. Could we change Winter's hair and eyes, and say she's Vincent's son's daughter?" A young girl returning to her grandfather's side to serve as a servant-in-training for the Hresvelg family. "Then she could go to school and do music competitions again." Claude grinned, liking that idea. "That's smart. We could do that... but her leg."

It would be far too suspicious if out of nowhere, a girl with a bad leg and a talent for music appeared again. That was too much of a coincidence. "We'll need to find a way to fix her leg." The best surgeries at the Chrysanthemum's disposal wasn't going to work, but what if there were other options available to them? "Vincent has a lot of black market connections." As a former hitman, that much was obvious. "He might know someone with less than legal methods of fixing her leg." That could be something they tried, because the strategy of giving Winter a new identity wouldn't work unless her leg could be mended, or at least, not be so obvious to the watchful eye of the Chrysanthemum.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







The memorial was strange. There were people here, some of whom had never spoken a single word at all to Winter, yet claimed that she had been their best friend. Claude paid his respects to the picture of Winter they placed at the head of the cathedral's stage. Even though there were tears, Claude couldn't help but feel as if they were acting this way in order to gain social media points. "We were so close! I wanted to invite her to my home!" Said one student who Claude knew often talked badly about Winter and her bad leg. Other than 009 who was dressed in civilian mourning clothes, the only one who was really sincere was a girl named Jessica, shaking her head. "I wanted to get closer to her, but then everything kept on going wrong." Jessica was a popular girl with plenty of friends, sometimes talking in the same circles as Serenity Luft and Mercedes Edmund. "I wanted to help her feel a little more normal." She shook her head, sincere regret on her face.

"This is going to be hard." Gordon murmured, putting his camera down. He took a few pictures but chose to be selective with them, wanting to show respect. He didn't know that Winter was currently still alive. "I was too close to the case, I'm not sure if I'll be able to write something for her in the Howler." He rubbed at his glasses, trying to remove the condensation. Gentle music was being played in the cathedral, the organ's keys manipulated by Timothy Green who sneezed mid-song. It seems he had fallen ill, and the rain's fall was incessant, as if the cry itself was delicately mourning the loss of an innocent girl. "We failed her." Claude said earnestly, knowing it was true. If it were possible, he would have found a way to save Winter without needing her death to be made public, but because of the Slithers and his very own sister, it quickly proved impossible to do so.

Gordon pat Claude on the shoulder and slipped something into his pocket. "So Elise can remember her too." Gordon's voice was wet and he trudged away sadly into the rain, leaving the cathedral behind. Claude felt guilty welling up in his chest. "Thanks for working with me, partner." He whispered. Their job wasn't done, they still needed to show to the public that the Chrysanthemum was the villain in this story. There were people in authority in the Chrysanthemum that needed to answer for their crimes. With the gloves in his possession, it was time to leave and return home.

Elise stared agape at the two uninvited and unwanted visitors. Serenity gave her a pleasant smile and Mercedes grinned brashly, putting her arm around the poor recluse. "Wh-why? Why are you here?" She was taken aback, too startled to bother putting her mask on. "You seem very different at home." Serenity beamed at her. "Your mother, Cynthia, let us in, when we introduced ourselves as classmates." Elise narrowed her eyes, unhappy. She didn't want this at all. "W-well, no! Go away! You are not welcome here!" Mercedes's grip only grew tighter. "Take us to where you're keeping our snowy friend. Us four vassals gotta have a chat.' Mercy winked threateningly. "We gotta pool our information and interrogate the Heir." Her face was jovial but her eyes were serious.

"We need to find out who the fire boy was."

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




Winter somehow made it back to her room. She felt as though she couldn't breathe, as though her ribs were going to burst through her skin. She was dizzy as she settled on the bed, turning on the television and putting it on low for some quiet noise. She lay in bed, her entire body aching. How was she going to become accustomed to this? Winter didn't know. "You should eat more," Yuuki prodded, poking her rib. Had he been a physical manifestation, it no doubt would have hurt. Winter didn't even flinch when a cold, ghostly hand poked through her rib cage. "It'll help you regain your stamina faster." The tray floated over to her, settling on the edge of the bed. Winter sat up slowly, propping herself up on pillows. "How long will it take to get used to this?" She asked, wondering why Yuuki was pushing her so hard when the others did not seem to be getting bullied by their Heir.

"I have high hopes for you Winter," Yuuki said simply as she picked up a bread roll. "I don't know how the others are training their vassals, but I doubt they're going to be as prepared for the oncoming threat." Winter rolled her eyes, "You keep mentioning this threat, but you never say what it is." She didn't know whether to be afraid or not. Winter flipped the channel, accidentally turning on the news. "Oh," she fell silent. Yuuki watched from over her shoulder. "It's my funeral," the memorial service really, since there was no body to bury. Winter's Grandparents had never been religious growing up, but holding it in a cathedral felt wrong somehow. It was as though she were having an out-of-body experience.

Half of the people there were faces she could hardly remember. She turned it off quickly, not wanting to listen to their false sympathy. "Don't you want to see what they're gonna say about you?" Yuuki asked curiously as Winter aggressively began to eat her bread. "No," she grabbed her legs, crossing them and groaning. "If you would just allow me-" she held up a finger. "You're already impeding on my private time, I don't want to hear your lousy ideas." Yuuki frowned and fell silent, disappearing altogether. It seemed that Winter had pissed him off enough today that he had decided to leave her alone, or maybe it was the sudden knock on the door. Should she answer? Feign sleep? She wasn't exactly in a talking mood.

"Come in," Winter turned the television off. She skipped the main plate, going right to dessert. There were no adults around to stop her. "Oh, it's you." Elise, Mercedes, and Serenity. It was about time those two visited, Winter had tried to get in contact with them before, but they had not accepted her invitation to visit her at the Chrysanthemum Government Building, surprise, surprise. "Well, sit down, I suppose it's about time we talk." She said, biting into her slice of chocolate cake.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







Elise felt like a ragdoll as Mercedes's grip on her only tightened. She wasn't going to get to run away to her room, was she? "You three can talk and I can sleep, does that sound good?" She tried to wriggle her way out of it but they weren't having any of it. "You're one of us, so we're gonna talk whether you like it or not." Mercedes narrowed her eyes, still remembering Elise betraying them. She sure had a habit of betraying groups, didn't she? "Don't worry, we'll let it be water under the bridge." Serenity's voice was more gentle than Mercedes's somewhat gruff attitude, which only made Elise more wary. Oh, where was Vincent when she needed him? Would he hesitate when it came to attacking high school girls who were very obviously evil?

They entered Winter's room thanks to Cynthia having guided them how to get there - she was too trusting and Claude was going to have to have a talk with her later about that - but for now she would just have to go along with it. Mercedes was talle rand stronger, she did sports, something Elise couldn't even fathom. Who would willingly get themselves sweaty and tired for no reason? It didn't make any sense to the former actress. "Ho there, Winter! It's been a while! How have you been doing?" Mercedes greeted her with a big grin. Elise could almost see a passive sunny girl and a wild windy boy but it was so faint it was practically in her imagination one way or another. "We need to talk." Serenity made herself comfortable on one of the bean bag chairs on the floor. "Now that the four of us are safe and gathered, we should start grouping together and making a strategy."

"Strategy?" For what, exactly? Did Mercedes and Serenity have some idea about the threat they would have to team up to face? "Yeah! We're supposed to be a team, so there's gonna be an enemy to worry about." Mercedes grinned, her eyes fiery. "Though uh, a mobility-challenged girl and a rich snob aren't exactly the most reassuring of teammates, I'm sure we'll be fine." Elise narrowed her eyes, then looked over at Winter. She had a theory in mind, but wanted to make sure it wasn't just a coincidence. "You two... there was um, an attack, four years ago..." Serenity nodded slowly, surprised. "So it's true? We're all linked by that incident?" Elise nodded, and well, Winter's leg was proof enough of her battle scars. "We all were there." She affirmed with a solemn frown.

So it was likely that they were all destined to die that day if it wasn't for their wishes to survive and them walking through the shrines as they appeared before their eyes. Through some twist of fate, they were allowed to continue living. "Well, let's put that aside for now. It's pretty obvious that our heirs are hiding something." Mercedes was taking the lead for the conversation. "For example, they only ever told us of the four vassals of weather, so why was there a guy that can control fire?" Elise hugged an imaginary Mr. Stuffles to her chest, looking down at her feet. "U-um... well, he... his name is Oliver Ender... and he's an enemy. He's, um, a member of Those who Slither in the Dark." Serenity nodded, her eyes widening. "That - Hibi told me to beware people that hide in darkness." Her lavender hair was so light Elise could almost swear that they were sunbeams themselves. "That they want to take us and drag us into the dark with them."

"So, you two. Do either of you know how to fight?" Mercedes said suddenly. "I'm pretty strong, and Siri's learning a few techniques too." She wanted to evaluate how strong her allies were. "I only accepted yesterday... but I'm learning fast, Ame says." She always learned fast, it would take her no time at all to catch up. "Winter almost killed herself training... so it is likely Yuuki is working her too hard." She remembered Winter's awful state just this morning, barely alive at all.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




A while? "I invited you both to visit me, but you didn't accept my invitation. We could have grouped much sooner." That aside, they welcomed them in and sat themselves on the bean bags. Winter debated joining them on the floor, but decided it would be best not to move too much, as per Yuuki's earlier suggestion. "I've been fine," it was a lie, but Winter wasn't just going to tell them that she planned on escaping this place as soon as she could get on her feet and try to come up with a plan for herself to survive with no money and no way to return to school. Winter had never worked a day in her life, the thought of a job was intimidating. The thought of being alone, after spending her entire life meticulously planned and supervised, was terrifying.

"If we're talkign strategy, I'm going to assume you have some idea of who we're facing up against." Elise seemed to echo her sentiments. Mercedes elaborated that they were supposed to be a team, then promptly insulted them. Winter frowned, "I am not mobility challenged, I can move just fine thank you very much." She could move fine, if she had her cane. It was essentially a third-leg, keeping her standing up-right. Elise brought up a thought that winter had been having, Serenity and Mercedes confirming it. They had been at the concert too, they had called out that they had wanted to live. How many others had been turned down? Winter wondered. How many had died that had wished to live?

Winter blinked, she had nearly forgotten about the fire boy. "I have a feeling his powers aren't artificial," Winter looked at her hand, slowly closing and opening her palm. "If there are four girls that were chosen, then maybe... what is the possibility that there are four boys?" Fire boy, what else? What other elements were they missing? "Earth," that much Winter could figure out. "There will be an earth user too." She couldn't think of anything else, they already had most of the elements covered; including sunshine and snow. Regardless, if Oliver Ender belonged to Those Who Slither, then he was an immediate enemy. After all, he had tried to help them kidnap Winter. If anything, it was his fault that she was publicly dead.

"I know how to fight," Winter put her cake down, no longer hungry. Elise claimed that she was a fast learner. Winter hadn't seen what she had been doing this morning, but she knew that Elise was training too. She blinked, coming back to the conversation. "I did not almost kill myself," she glowered. "Yuuki was training me, if we're going up against an unspoken enemy, then who knows what kind of power we'll need to win." Victory at all costs. "Tell me, have your Heirs told you everything regarding your power yet?" Or would Winter need to explain? She looked at Serenity and Mercede's blank faces, which told her all she needed to know.

"You have a certain amount of spiritual power that your body can accomodate, the more spiritual energy you use, the more exhausted you'll become afterwards. The more you use it, the faster your body will become acclimated to the higher amounts of spiritual energy." Winter hoped that they could understand what she was explaining. "There are three plains of existence." She held up three fingers, "Our world, the spirit world, and the boundary line; which is the space between both worlds. We channel our energy from the spiritual world and through the boundary line, which is what allows us to borrow our Heir's powers."

Winter could not show them now, she was too sore to move. "Ask your Heir to show you, your spirit dress."

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







They were all gathered here now, though they still were far from being anything akin to a team. While Winter may be pretending to be secretive, Elise knew how she worked. She wanted to escape, she didn't want to be here. She may act docile, but she was a snake waiting for her opportunity. Elise didn't think it would be the wisest decision to run off without any money or support, especially with enemies abound all over. Luckily, Vincent already had a contingency plan for the occasion where Winter escapes the house to live on her own. Mercedes and Serenity, while well meaning, were annoying. Honestly, this team was not looking good in the slightest. There was no real synergy or team spirit here, other than Mercedes and Serenity being friends, what really was there to hold them all together?

"Kaze hasn't told me anything, the little bugger." Mercedes shook her head, annoyed that her wind boy wasn't being very helpful. "All he did was train me in combat." Mercedes Edmund was always sporty, partaking in the school's volleyball team with gutso and skill. She was diligent and her muscles were toned yet strong under her clothes. Serenity looked more passive to be sure. "But apparently Hibi's told Siri more about the enemy." Serenity nodded, giving Elise and Winter inviting smiles to try to have them move a little closer so they weren't scattered about Winter's room. Elise was just glad they were not invading her room. "Hibi told me that a disaster is coming, and that we would have to band together to prevent it." The sunshine girl explained, her eyes solemn as she watched both Elise and Winter for their reactions.

So now they knew the four names. Yuuki was the heir of snow, and Ame was the heir of rain, that much she already knew. But with Mercedes and Serenity happily giving them information now she knew that Kaze was the wind boy and Hibi was the sun girl. You would think the heirs for the "weather girls" would be all girls, and that the boys would go with the male version of weather girls, whatever amalgamation they might be. "We could review camera logs or hospital files to see if there were any boys injured in the attack." Elise thought aloud, frowning. "Then we could hunt them down one by one in search of the enemy." Wasn't that the best way to prevent a so-called disaster breathing down their necks?

Now it was time for Winter to delve into an explanation. She spoke about spiritual energy, about the three planes of existence that their spirit energy came from in order to interface with them. "Ame, can you do that?" Ame nodded, smiling. "Of course! Just say Spirit Dress and do a little twirl!" Elise frowned, the black eagle unsure if she wanted to do such a thing in front of everyone. What if it made her horribly scarred face even worse? "Spirit Dress." She muttered, doing an awkward twirl that still looked graceful somehow. A dress blossomed over her body, consisting of a frilly skirt, a white blouse, and a long dark blue scarf that snaked across her body, billowing and long like the trail of the flowing rain. A glowing star was in Elise's hand, and she instinctively knew that it was almost like a ninja star. Mercedes was gazing with surprise at her own dress Kaze gave her, revealing with a mix of white and green tones, including a long sash that were draped around her two arms. A long elegant spear with a pointed tip and a graceful handle found itself a home in Mercedes's hands. Elise glanced curiously at Serenity, wondering what Hibi had in store for the sun girl.

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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




Winter watched them transform. Had she the energy, she would have done so alongside them. Unfortunately, Winter could barely sit upright without feeling awfully unbalanced. Spirit dress, according to Yuuki, allowed the vessel easy access to their spiritual energy, but it used up a lot of it. Transforming the first time could take a lot out of you. It was why Winter had spent so much time asleep. The longer you spent in your spirit dress form, the more energy you consumed. "Spirit dress!" Serenity yelled, the last to transform. She twirled, bright light blinding them all for a moment. "How do I look?" Serenity asked as the light began to fade. Winter rubbed her eyes, stars still in them. Her dress was blue with gold embellishments and in her hands, a sword that glinted against the light.

Mercedes gave a low, impressed whistle. Serenity blushed, going to Winter's mirror to look at herself. "Wow," she did a twirl, nearly falling over. "Dizzy," it seemed the toll of her first transformation was already weighing heavily on her shoulders. "Sit down, have a drink, it's going to make you feel weak the first itme." Winter indicated to the tray on her bed, which had most of her breakfast and lunch. She had really only eaten bread and cake today, since there was no one telling her to do otherwise. "Thanks," Serenity took one of the pancakes off of the plate and sat down, dipping it into a little cup of syrup. Mercedes took the apple Winter hadn't even noticed was there. It seemed when there was no one forcing fruits and vegetables down your throat, they were invisible.

"I think hacking into a hospital is illegal," Winter murmured, but then again so was kidnapping. Did Elise have any regard for the law? Winter wasn't sure. "Technically, every part of us is illegal." Mercedes said, transforming back to normal and flopping onto one of the bean bag chairs. "I feel like I just ran a mile!" She moaned, no doubt already feeling the weakness. How was Elise faring? Winter didn't know. Without her mask on, Elise seemed almost helpless, trying to make herself as small as possible, as though she could just disappear. "We have no idea who the other three boys are, assuming there are four boys." For all they knew, there could be more girls as well. Although that wouldn't make sense.

Wind, sun, snow, and rain. They were all different forms of weather. Weather Girls. "Has anyone discovered your secret?" Winter asked. She knew that Claude knew Elise's, but what about Vincent and Cynthia? The whole of the Chrysanthemum's knew about Winter's, which would make it hard for them if they were to fight against some unseen threat. Her's was the only physical manifestation that would leave behind evidence. Water could come from anywhere, wind could disappear, sunshine could become cloudy. Ice left a mark, it would slowly melt, but that was about it. Winter gnawed on her lower lip in thought, she really had drawn the shortest straw, hadn't she? Nevermind, it was always like this for her. The others, at least, were allowed to live normal lives. None of them had to play dead.

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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







Elise felt a bit tired after wearing her spirit dress. It felt like something sapping the energy out of her. Serenity seemed a bit tired as well but Mercedes grinned, strong and confident even with her navel exposed for all to see. They all shared similar colors - having white and blue in their outfits. Elise appreciated her long flowing scarf, she pulled it up over her face to hide the scars that were already covered by extensive plastic surgery. So this was the team? Was this really going to be enough to fight against whatever disaster was supposed to come for them? Four high school girls? Why not give this power to military soldiers, people that were actually trained, physically and mentally, to fight a disaster? She shook her head, hiding in her scarf by wrapping it around her face.

"What are you doing? That's not how you wear a scarf, how are you gonna breathe?" Mercedes yanked the scarf and Elise shivered, wishing she could hide and actually become invisible or something. Without her mask on she felt a lot more vulnerable, but she didn't expect the two visitors here. "Really?" Mercy asked when Serenity sat down and Elise felt feverish, Winter explaining how the Spirit Dress would wear them out. "I feel perfectly fine. Maybe it's because I'm the only one without lasting damage?" The only... did Serenity still have side effects from the bombing? As if in response to Elise's questioning stare the lavenderette smiled, nibbling on a pancake slice. "Yes, every night I have bad headaches and my ears ring. It's nothing major, but I never had them before the attack." Serenity explained. It was her burden, and she had learned to live with it.

Hacking into a hospital's files was definitely illegal, but law was just a term anyways, right? "I-I would rather break the law than die to u-unknown enemies." Elise squeaked, looking down at her feet. It was definitely the lesser of two evils. "V-Vincent can do it, he is good at everything." To be fair, Elise wasn't sure if Vincent was a good hacker, but he never failed her yet so he probably would be good at anything she asked him to do. "The old guy?" Mercedes asked, tilting her head in an attempt to remember. "the nice old guy." Serenity corrected her with a little smile.

Winter wanted to know now if anyone knew that Serenity and Mercedes had their powers. She was also asking Elise as well. "Vincent." He was in charge of Elise's safety, so the black eagle figured it was best for him to know everything regarding this situation. "My dad knows." Mercedes admitted with a frown. "He's a famous army general, General Edmund! He's a war hero from the war of 30xx." That was almost a decade ago, and of the many heroes, General Edmund was one of those who lived to earn his medals. "My siblings might suspect something." Serenity looked almost guilty as she admitted this. "When I first saw the light, I called my sister about it, and she's a bit of a chatterbox, so I'm sure she told the rest of my siblings." Siblings? Just how many knew about Serenity? "She's from a big family." Mercy added helpfully. "Siri has two brothers and two sisters, and she's right in the middle."

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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







While saving the world was all and dandy, Elise didn't see why she owed it to the Chrysanthemum to lend them her aid. While she would fight against the Slithers if they threatened her front door, there was no reward in protecting an entity that wanted to capture and experiment on you. The Chrysanthemum, in the black eagle's eyes, was just as evil as those who slither in the dark. Winter had an illogical loyalty to them even now, a few days later. It was quite insufferable, if she must be honest. Mercedes and Serenity both seemed willing to fight, but they lacked insight and caution. They brazenly abducted Winter without thinking of the consequences. As much as Elise may hate to admit it, Winter herself was probably the best person to try and lead them.

What strengths and weaknesses did they have? Who even were the enemy? There were plenty of things that they were going to have to consider moving forward. "Winter can fight the sand boy if there is one." Elise murmured under her breath, changing back into her normal outfit to try and preserve her energy. "I think I may be good against Oliver..." Rain would beat fire, right? With any luck fire would be all he had at his fingertips. "Sounds good." Mercedes nodded, grinning. "Then Mercy and I will go investigate, since we're the most free." Elise raised an eyebrow from her corner of the room after the maid brought refreshments. "Winter's supposed to be dead, and Elise, you're a little famous, you would attract too much attention." Serenity explained on Mercedes's behalf. "Any info we get, we'll come right back."

Apparently Yuuki could fix her leg. It would be convenient if that were the case. "If that happens, Claude and I were discussing... um.. we may have a way... to let you outside." She briefly explained the plan to make Winter Vincent's granddaughter. "He has a son who loves outside the Chrysanthemum... m-maybe you could pose as his son's daughter who wanted to learn under her grandfather?" And with a new identity Winter would be free to do music again. All she would need is new hair and eye colors to help hide her identity. "We'll meet here every Saturday afternoon, does that work?" Mercedes stood up, grinning, finishing her tea. "Siri and I gotta go, but I'm glad we're finally working together!"

As they left Elise felt very tired, her limbs slow, her movements sluggish. She stood, grimacing. "Winter, if we're supposed to be a team, I do hope you don't intend on doing anything rude." She was fine with Winter taking the lead, but it was time to delve into her suspicions. She felt a bit more comfortable once the loud Mercedes and the sunny Serenity were gone. "It would benefit both of us if you didn't try to escape. You'll find we're far more hospitable guests than the Slithers or the Chrysanthemum would ever be." Vincent and Cynthia would be sad, since they've both grown to like Winter and were used to having her around. Before Elise could leave Winter's room she fell asleep, her spirit energy having sapped her stamina.

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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




Elise had fallen asleep mid-sentence. Winter reached out to catch her, but ended up trapped beneath her. "H-help!" She wasn't that much bigger than Winter, but Winter was exhausted and the effort it would take to move Elise was enormous. "V-Vincent!" She squeaked, feeling as though she could barely breathe, the heat from Elise's body stifling. A soft knock came from the door a few minutes laying there, while Winter was contemplating how she was going to get out. "Come in!" Claude entered, looking at the situation quizically. "She fell asleep, I tried to catch her." Claude lifted Elise off of Winter, helping her up and handing her, her cane. "Thank you Claude, you've saved me from a horrible fate."

He laughed, "you have such an odd way of speaking." Winter wondered what that meant, "how was my funeral?" She asked, picking up a chip from the bowl that the maid had brought before. "Exactly what you would expect. Tears, people pretending they were your best friend. Timothy played piano in your honor, although I have a feeling his tears may have been real." Timothy crying over her? How odd. "What's wrong? You seem a bit down." Claude mentioned, placing Elise on a bean bag for the time being. Winter shook her head, thinking about it. "You know, you don't have to keep it all balled up inside of you. Sometimes talking about things helps." Claude took something out of his pocket, her gloves. They were a bit dirty, but they were here. "Thank you," Winter took them, holding them close.

"I am tired of everyone thinking that I am some brainwashed victim." She admitted, "everything I've done was willing. I was under the Chrysanthemum's care willingly." Her powers had gotten out of control not once, but twice. What if she had hurt someone? What if she hurt someone now? "Winter, you are a victim. What the Chrysanthemum was doing to you was a grossly illegal. You're a minor, anything you signed isn't legally binding." Winter shook her head, "I was there willingly. I never tried to run away, I was being cared for." She had tried to tell them, multiple times, but instead, she had been kidnapped and was now being forced to live as though she was dead.

Claude strode over, standing at an arm's length away. "I'm not a victim Claude, I didn't need nor want yours or Elise's help." He pried her hands away from her arms, which had been digging her nails into her skin. "Winter, you need real help." He said softly, "you still think it's your fault, don't you? That they only had you because of something you did." Winter shook her head. No, it wasn't like that. It was her fault, "I could have hurt someone. I caused two blizzards-" her knees were shaking, she would have fallen if he hadn't caught her. "Winter, your circumstances are not by your hand. You are a victim and running away from the people trying to help you and back into their hands isn't going to solve anything." He had seen through her, hadn't he?

"I'm not running away, I have nowhere to go." Winter said softly, the two of them simply sitting on the floor, Winter in Claude's lap. "Elise and I have a plan to get you back into the real world-" Winter shook her head. "I don't want to pose as some servant-in-training. That's just asking to be bullied," Winter would not mind pretending to be Vincent's estranged-granddaughter, but she was just a child. No one would believe that she had left home to train to be a servant, especially not someone with a promising music career. She fully intended to reenter the competitive world, once she could escape this place. "Okay, then you come up with your identity and when you do, tell us and we'll help you. We just want to help you." Claude released her from his grasp at last, Winter rising unsteadily.

"Just go," it felt like she was speaking, but no one was listening. It was as though her words were just being echoed around the room. "Winter, you can't push away everyone that tries to reach out-" oh really? She had been doing a pretty good job so far. "You're not helping Claude, just go." She wasn't a victim, she wasn't brainwashed. She would show them, she wasn't sure how, but she would.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







School was, unfortunately, very much a sad venture. As always, it was both annoying and a huge waste of time. The worst part was how Mercedes kept winking at her as they passed through the halls. Elise didn't want to deal with that. Morning didn't give her any reprieve either, as she was forced by Ame to continue training out in the rear garden. Was there no mercy for poor Lissie? "Are you ready, Elise?" Claude asked, grinning at her as the siblings returned home and was greeted by Cynthia's sunny smile that only half of the siblings reciprocated. "I still don't think it's going to work. Winter wouldn't swallow truth, even if it was the only water available and she was in a desert." She of course had her arrogant mask back on. It's easy to do so when you have time to prepare.

Against Elise and Winter's will, they were gathered in the studio room on the second floor. Claude and Vincent had concocted up some horrible plan to try to re-educate Winter on some of the horrible things that the Chrysanthemum was responsible for. "Now begins the first session of the Chrysanthemum Exposed Project!" Claude began as he walked on stage, a screen behind him ready with the video reels that he and Gordon had prepared. Elise was forced to get on stage as well, she too, had a part Claude wrote for her to play. "Welcome, welcome, our lovely audience of one. Shall we begin?" Vincent was standing guard to make sure none of the other staff could overhear. Thankfully the studio room was built with sound proofing so no one who wasn't inside would be able to hear anything that was going on.

Eight years ago, during the Great War, the Chrysanthemum was knee deep in the conflict, fighting for their lives. The clip showed scenes of Chrysanthemum soldiers fending off enemy armies, shots as their fighter jets bombed enemy farms and hospitals, of the innocent civilians being kidnapped from the enemy state and taken to the Chrysanthemum for "re-education." "Naturally, we won the war, as we all know." Claude said with a charming smile. "But what became of the civilians of the enemy, people whose only crimes was to be born in the wrong city?" Photos released in the media came out then, of the children being put into labor camps, worked to the bone and trained to forget their heritage and home. "We were instructed to not let them escape." Elise read, her knees shaking, her hands gripping a fake rifle.

"Some of them were just kids!" She recited from an interview of a former guard of the reeducation camp. "If they asked for their parents, whip them. If they spoke in their home language, starve them. There were very specific protocols as to what to do and what not to do." A fake tear went down her face, copying the screen's replay of the interview. "We were not allowed to be kind. We were not allowed to call them by their real names. The Chrysanthemum gave them assigned names from an approved list." They were stripped away of everything that made them free.

Then the screen went to another scene. Elise sighed as she was forced to wrap a white coat around her, almost as if she were a scientist. "So, doc, what's the plan with that girl? We can't synthesize her powers, and we can't forcibly control them either." Elise, as doc, nodded, a hand on her chin. "Luckily for us, we still have avenues we can take. Subject X is a very valuable subject. In order to get results to satisfy our superiors, I propose a plan." She nodded, a slight smile on her face. "We can simply gain her trust. We provide her sympathetic kind hearted agents such as 009 to be her guardian, we allow her to partake in music competitions, we show her how kind we can be. We show her she has no other choice but to trust us and be safe with us."

"A superpowered girl like her, loyal to us... if anyone were to try to rise up and challenge our authority, the blizzards will be ours to command." Elise tapped an invisible pen, pushing the invisible glasses farther up her face, just like the Doc did on the screen. "She'll volunteer to help us, as thanks for all of our care. So we must earn her loyalty. Let's start by making more research into fixing that leg of hers." Claude raised his hand, a questionable look on his face. "But what about the activists? People are planning a march to protest our treatment of the Agarthan Internment Camp!"

Elise blinked, then nodded, balling her hand into a fist. "Well, on that day, if we agitate her, we can create a blizzard and our enforcers can eliminate the activists when no one can see through the snow."

The reel ended then and Vincent clapped for their performance. "And so ends the first day of Winter's enlightenment. Thank you, thank you, everyone!" Claude helped Elise off the stage then, who scowled. "Why did we have to act it out? It was already all on tape anyways!" Claude sighed, shaking his head. "We weren't able to recreate the audio, it's all corrupted. All we have are the transcriptions of the audio that I gave you." Even so, the black eagle didn't understand why this was necessary. "It's not as if Winter will listen. She'll ignore anything that doesn't fit her worldview of the Chrysanthemum as wonderful angels."

Claude shook his head. "No, I think Winter's plenty smart. It's hard to undo brainwashing, but this will get her to start thinking. She'll start wondering, and then she'll come to the truth on her own." Elise still didn't like any of this. Winter was a big liability. Considering her loyalty to the Chrysanthemum, who's to say that once she escapes, she doesn't tell Doc everything she knows about Elise, about Mercedes and Serenity too? For her own sake, she knew that her secret command to Vincent was necessary.

Containing Winter Matsuri is priority number one above all else. Even should Elise herself be in danger, Vincent's job is to make sure Winter does not escape the Hresvelg Estate.

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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




She spent another night training in secret, this time, returning before the sun rose. She limped into her bedroom, falling to sleep quickly and not waking up until noon. The fatigue was better today, but she was still tired. She picked at her lunch, eating mostly the bread and cake again. "Protein will help," Yuuki appeared, eating his own lunch. "There's no one forcing me to eat it, so I won't." She prodded the chicken with her fork, not exactly hungry. "You're gonna turn into bones soon, if you don't eat." Yuuki poked her side, Winter glowered. This was her way of protesting, it was the only semblence of control that she had. "I don't want to eat it, so I won't." Most of her food went untouched, except the sweets, since it was the only thing Winter was ever in the mood for. "Have you thought more about my offer?" Yuuki inquired, floating around her.

"I don't know. Going to the spirit world... it's dangerous," she had heard plenty of stories about it and had seen the boundary line with her own eyes. "You'll be fine cause I'll be there and if anyone tries to hurt you, well, they'll think twice once they realize you're my vassal." Yuuki hugged her from behind, she was his property, essentially. Marked by an Heir, it reminded her of the old stories, where they supposedly walked the lands. "How do I do it?" She asked softly, uncertain. "Well, first, you'll leave your body behind." He pointed to the bed, "no one can move you though, or you might not be able to find your way back." Winter rose, she wasn't sure yet if she was going to go through with it, it was risky. "Why do you only watch the news? It's like you're an old woman or something." Winter glowered, the television a soft drone in her ears.

"It's the only way I can gather information." Most people wouldn't bother with watching the news these days, but Winter knew it was the only way she would know what was happening around the Chrysanthemum, considering her isolation. She was trapped, a bird in a very beautiful cage, but a cage nonetheless. Her stomach squelched with uncertainty. A knock at the door drew Winter out of her thoughts. "Ms. Winter?" Vincent smiled, his expression unreadable, as always. "Claude and Elise would like for you to join them in the theater." Why? Winter wasn't sure. "Alright," it's not as though she had anything else to do. She rose, Vincent's steps fast, much too fast for her to keep up with. He turned around, seeming to realize that Winter did not go at his pace and slowed to a tolerable speed.

She sat down in the first row, wondering what this was about. An entire presentation had been prepared, but for what? Did they intend to catch her up on what she was missing in school? "Chrysanthemum Exposed Project?" She echoed, leaning her cheek against her fist and her arm against the arm rest. She watched, rather unamused, and most certainly bored as Elise was forced to act out the Chrysanthemum's war with its neighboring city. War was always a terrible thing, governments did horrible things, the Chrysanthemum included. Winter had learned all of this in her history class, so why did they feel the need to act it out on stage? "What is the point of all of this?" She inquired, yawning.

Claude made a motion for Winter to just wait. She watched, tired, wondering if it would be rude to take a nap. Elise moved on to her next roll, Winter continuing to watch and glancing at her imaginary watch. She crossed her legs at her ankles, Elise acting out Doc's words as his image rolled onto the screen. Something about it made Winter pause. She seemed frozen in her seat, watching, her eyes taking everything in. When it ended, she rose quickly. "I have to go," there was no where Winter had to go, but she couldn't sit here any longer. It was eerie, something about the performance not sitting right in Winter's mind. She needed to leave, to go on a walk, but there was nowhere for her to go. She could walk around the halls and risk running into someone, but that wouldn't do.

Winter headed outside, the cool spring air hitting her face. It would be summer soon, school would be out. Where was Winter going? She didn't know. She stumbled on her way down the hill, rolling, tumbling, to the bottom, her cane left somewhere at the top. The blizzard.

They had waited to tell her about her Grandparents death.

They knew it would cause the blizzard.

They knew the world would be focused on a blizzard in the middle of the summer and not on the riots.

She felt dirty, she felt used.

Was it the truth? Winter didn't know. She didn't know what was real anymore.

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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




Her life was a mess, one big mess and Winter couldn't see any way out of it. What was she going to do? Winter didn't know. She had nowhere to go, she had nothing, no one. It felt as though she was 12 all over again, just waking up after causing a blizzard and having no idea what had happened, or why she was alive. "They would be so disappointed in me." Winter's Grandparents were probably looking down on her in shame. They had taught her better than this, than to lay in the grass, then to let people push her around. So why was she continuing to do things that she knew they wouldn't want her to? Winter didn't know. "I'm sorry Grandma, Grandpa. I'm sorry I can't do any better." She whispered, it felt as though there was a lump sitting in her throat.

She could hear the crunching of the trail of ice she left behind her. Winter wiped her tears away quickly, not wanting to appear weak. She remained laying down in the grass, trying to act casual despite the obvious grass stains on Elise's old clothes. "It seems I've been found," she had not been making an attempt to escape, not when there was no point in leaving. Was she brainwashed? Winter still couldn't answer that question, but her head was certainly more muddled than before. What if this was Claude's way of brainwashing her? Elise had arrived with Vincent. Did she think that Winter was goign to put up a fight? Ill-equipped to hear the truth? That seemed rather one sided. "No, I have no idea." Winter had thoughts though, plenty of them.

"I've never seen a movie..." she trailed off, her Grandparents had never taken her to see one, since their little town had not had a theater and when she had moved to the Chrysanthemum, her friends never wanted to see what was playing. Winter was raised on old soap-operas and the news, which probably explained why she seemed so out of place among others her age. She took her cane from Vincent, taking the offered hand and rising to her feet. She dusted herself off as best as she could, but the green stains would have to wait. "I suppose now would be as good a time as ever." Why was Elise being nice to her? Winter didn't know. Elise had made it very clear that she did not like Winter, so what had changed? Was it pity?

Pity for the orphan girl whose fragile concept of her reality was continously being shattered? Winter followed her, unknowing as to what else to do. She was silent for a while, then, "I'm thinking of going to the spirit world." Vincent knew already, so there was no point in waiting to speak of this, besides, there were many things that concerned Winter, she needed to at least speak her thoughts aloud. "But there's no garauntee that I will come back," she could get lost, or worst. "Especially if my physical body is moved while I'm there." She did not know how long it would take, days maybe. Did time move differently in the spirit world? Winter would have to ask Yuuki that.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







Winter had no idea what to do next. She looked horrible despite her attempts to regain her composure. Elise wasn't an idiot, she was good at seeing through masks people tried to wear. She was an expert at it herself after all, capable of becoming a multitude of characters if she wished. She still had Winter to thank for inspiring her arrogant mask, her current favorite. "I'll tell Claude not to do more exposing videos. It's a pain to act out terrible people." Acting was more fun when it was all fictional. It put a bad taste in her mouth to pose as the soldier or as the Doc. Vincent offered Winter help getting up because they would obviously have to return inside the Estate if they wanted to enjoy the film. "I may be biased, but I do like movies and theater." As an actress, that was probably a requirement.

As they walked Winter expressed that she was thinking about going into the spirit world. This was probably something to do with her leg, because so far human method weren't able to help Winter walk without cutting the leg off and giving her a biomechanical prosthetic. The Chrysanthemum could have easily done that, using biomechanics to fuse an identical leg to her nervous system and attach it, but they were likely afraid of Winter's powers becoming unstable as a result of the experimental technology. "I will go with you." Elise decided, curious about what may be waiting in the spirit world. "We need information... and I need a break from going to school." She was so tired of having to go outside all the time, and well, it was probably safer to explore the spirit realm as two rather than one.

As the movie ended and the lights turned on in the theater room Elise was still in tears. For being a girl with muted emotions in general, fiction was always a way to drag emotions out of her. Lambert and the Maiden of Wind ended as a heroic tragedy. "The way King Lambert s-s-sacrificed himself to save Esme, even though she was pregnant with a different man's child..." He gave his life and because of it, the Kingdom was brought to an age of peace and prosperity, the evil finally over. "Milady, it is nice to see you like this." Vincent always smiled when she let her emotions out, clearly not wanting her to bury herself in masks. "I cannot help it, Vincent! This story was too much for me!"

She gazed curiously at Winter, narrowing her eyes, rubbing at them delicately with a handkerchief with elegant motions. "What did you think? I did not expect it to be a tragedy." It was Winter's first cinema experience and Elise would prefer if her favorite hobby wasn't insulted or spoken badly about. "Would you rather something more light hearted? We have plenty of those as well." She reached for the holo screen, scrolling through movies to rent through WebFlix. What would Winter be interested in?

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







Claude always was a bit of a problem. He was both clever and stubborn, he had a knack of not giving up until he tried every possible way to get what he wanted. And because of his quick wit and his guile, coming up with plans was second nature for the schemer. He wasn't a bad person or anything, but Elise had learned that it was easier and less of a hassle to just go along with what he wanted rather than try to fight it. He would keep trying until you put in more effort trying to say no than you did just doing the thing in the first place. "Maybe if we escape to the spirit world we won't have to deal with the next expose." The idea sounded nice. Retreating to the spirit world to escape social interaction as well as find out more about their powers? That sounded good to Elise.

The movie was quite good. "I did see the older movie but the way they focused on Lambert and Esme's relationship made the final scene a lot stronger this time." Last time they focused more on Lambert and his Square Table Knights, fighting for king and land. Before Elise could hunt for a more comedic story while scrolling through WebFlix Cynthia came to announce that it was dinner time. Winter wanted to go but Elise felt tired after doing so much social interaction. She wasn't a natural at this, even with a mask on there was a limit to what the recluse could do. She used to be an actress, a flower that bloomed in front of others. Now she was anything but. She couldn't be beautiful anymore, all she had was this gross fake plastic mold that looked like a mask.

She wanted to just eat in her room. But Cynthia's expectant smile only made her stomach shrivel up inside of her. Her own mother, Mirabelle, wanted her to get along better with Cynthia, and the woman had only ever been kind and gentle with her. "Fine." Elise murmured, sliding her arm back into the cast. "Vincent, has it been cleaned?" Vinent nodded dutifully. "Yes, Milady, your cast is perfect and hygienic." She didn't want to wear smelly sweat-infused casts after all. "Then let us go eat, then I will want my alone time." Her batteries were already in emergency mode, how much more did they want from her?

Cynthia was beaming as for the second time ever, a full house was gathered at the dinner table. Claude was briefly surprised but decided not to comment on Elise's attendance. "This smells good, mother! What's on the menu?" As the servants lifted the trays a whole slew of gourmet food unveiled themselves. You could call out to any selection you pleased and the servants would put them on your plate. "I hope you have learned table etiquette by now, Winter." Elise looked at her critically, wondering if she learned the rules of soup spoons and meat forks. "Oh, don't worry about that, just eat whatever way makes you happiest, dear." Cynthia was definitely overjoyed.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




Winter rolled her eyes at Elise's cryticism. "I'm not a heathen Elise, I know how to use utensils." You ate food using the utensils from the outside in. First, were tiny loaves of brea.d Winter saved mkost of her's, dipping it into the soup that the servants brought out. It was probably the first proper meal she had eaten all day. Next was the main course, silver covers lifted to reveal an entire feast. Why had Cynthia made so much? Winter didn't know. Did she expect to feed an army? Perhaps the staff would eat once they were done? Winter hoped so, she didn't want to see all of this go to waste. Elise seemed drained, but Winter noticed that she was sitting a smidgen closer to them then yesterday. Claude seemed excited about something, but Winter didn't think to ask.

Winter ate slowly, there were several different meats on her plate, ones that she didn't even know existed. She didn't have any vegetables again, since there was no one bossing her around on what to eat. Her stomach was brimming to full by the time dessert was brought out, little cakes glazed with pink icing, filled with some sort of mousse. "So much," she could barely take two bites, but ate the mousse on the inside to be polite. "Everything was delicious Cynthia," Winter smiled, "I'm very tired, so I'm going to head to bed now." She rose, "Thank you for dinner." She did not make eye contact with anyone else, heading right upstairs to wash off the dirt from her face and place her dress in the laundry. Yuuki appeared as soon as she closed the door behind her.

"No training tonight," he decided, looking at her. "Why? I need to train if I'm going to get stronger." Her hands trembled, "because you need to rest if you want to get stronger." Winter turned towards him, uncertain if he was up to something. "Then we need to talk, I need to know more about the spirit world. Elise wants to come with me," was it a good idea? Winter wasn't sure. "It's up to Ame if Elise will be able to cross over, I can only guide one person at a time." He drifted around the room while Winter changed into pajamas, her precious gloves having been cleaned. She placed them on her hands, the weight familiar. "They won't stay perfect forever," Yuuki yawned as Winter crawled into bed.

"No, they will. They have to," she said, if only for her own sake. Yuuki disappeared, but it felt like sleep never came. She was having trouble again, shifting between the sheets, waiting, hoping, for sleep to overtake her, but without the exhaustion of training, she lay awake, gazing at the canopy. Eventually, Winter had enough of waiting and sneaked out the window, if Yuuki wouldn't help her then she would train on her own. She approached the lake cautiously, which had been unfrozen, thawing during the daytime. "Sorry fish, this is a necessary sacrifice." Did going in and out of hibernation hurt them? Winter wasn't sure.

"I'm going to get stronger on my own if he won't help-" pain exploded in her temples. Winter fell to her knees, panting, her vision blurry. She stifled another whimper, pain exploding once more in her ribs. Was this why Yuuki had wantde her to rest? Winter wasn't sure. Hands suddenly grabbed at her, she reached for her cane, swinging it, stumbling backwards and shooting ice from her hands. A bag was shoved over her head, metal clasping her wrists behind her. She felt another stab of pain, this time in her lower back, her body going limp. She was always careful to practice away from the main line of sight from the house, away from security cameras and the prying eyes of servants. Winter had thought it would be smarter that way, in case anyone tried to put blame on the Von Hreslevg's.

She jerked awake in a windowless room, her wrists and ankles bound to a bed. "Help!" Winter screamed, "let me out!" She twisted around, attempting to freeze the ropes binding her, sweat trickling down her back. "Let me out of here!" Why wouldn't the ice come? Winter tried again, she thought she had control over it now, so why couldn't she use it?

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







Naturally, the silent alarm went off as intruders entered the premises. As the servant staff saw Winter being dragged off back over the fence, they saved the video recordings and gathered as much information as they could. Winter Matsuri was just abducted, and so they went straight to Vincent Harrison, the Head Servant, with the information. Vincent gave the order - some servants would continue tracking and keeping tabs on the abductors, and then he went to Elise's room, knowing that this had to do with her. Elise was annoyed as she opened the door but brighthened up when she saw Vincent. "Oh, hello. What happened? Did Winter make her escape?" While Elise disliked most people, Vincent was someone she could implicitly trust.

Vincent shook his head, because that is not what happened at all. "Someone took her, but they did not appear to be those who slither in the dark." He looked to her carefully. "Shall I go rescue her? We must move fast if that is the case, or who knows what awful things might be done to the Miss." Elise frowned, trying to get the sleep out of her head. What would be the best move here? "If they caught Winter, then that means that the enemy also knows about me." Throwing everyone to chase the foe would only lead to disaster. "There is a rat in our midst. Do you know where the enemy's base is?" Vincent nodded, reaching for his holo. "Of course. Our staff have located Miss Winter and are keeping tabs on enemy movements so if they move her, we will find out."

"Give me the location." Vincent did so, transmitting the location straight to Elise's phone. She closed her eyes and imagined rain falling on that house. She felt the satisfying tug in her mind telling her that it worked. "Now I can sense them too." She could feel using her summoned rain, so now she could track Winter on her own. "What should be the plan, Milady?" Vincent asked, standing dutifully at her side. "It was my task to protect her, and I have failed." Maybe so, but they could achieve something more important now. "We will wait. If she is in danger, I will feel it and will inform you." But right now, they needed to secure something.

Just going in without thinking was how you lose. Elise was determined to win this encounter. "We must find out the truth. So we will wait and gather information on the enemy." Once they had sufficient information, they would strike in such a way that all the enemies would surrender to her and Vincent's power. She would lock them in a trap so intricate, they would only have the ability to wriggle desperately to escape her plot. Already, a strategy was forming. "Ame, can you communicate with the others?" Ame appeared and smiled a little. "I can send a message to Yuuki. I'll do you this favor because you're being so proactive for once."

Elise scowled, the black eagle, unhappy. "Not proactive. I am simply protecting myself." The enemy would go after her next. This way, she would strike at them before they got the chance. She would eliminate them all so this would be their final mistake. "Inform Yuuki that rescue is coming. All Winter must do is wait and all those responsible will be punished." They couldn't go to the law about this, so Elise had to take matters into her own hands. "To what degree should we prepare, Milady?" Vincent asked, looking at his charge. "No survivors." Elise explained. "If they are willing to target me, I will show them their mistake." To so rudely march onto Hresvelg territory and take someone under their protection? Well, you must always punish those who are rude. How else will they learn the errors of their ways?

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




Winter tugged against the ropes binding her, panicking. What was she doing here? Who had taken her? Why could she not access her powers? The door creaked open, the light temporarily blinding her. "Oh, you're awake! I didn't expect you to get up for another few hours," the voice was male, familiar. The lights flickered on, Winter wincing at the sudden change, her eyes adjusting to her surroundings. "012," Winter gawked, wondering what he was doing. This wasn't the Chrysanthemum Government Tower, Winter would recognize that place anywhere. "No, no, just Merlin now." He sat on the edge of the bed, "you see Winter, when we realized you weren't dead, we knew we had to act quickly." We? Another stepped into the room, 009.

Winter had never seen her out of uniform before, she had never seen either of them out of uniform. "Winter, you need to listen-" Janet said softly. "We resigned from our jobs." Winter wasn't listening though, she was panicking, wondering how they knew she was alive and why they had taken her. "You see, I've been experimenting." 012-no-Merlin, said, pulling on a pair of gloves and drawing out a vial with murky blue liquid. "We're not so different, you and I." He twisted his hand, Winter crying out in pain as metal snaked around her wrist, reinforcing the ropes already there. Her eyes widened, he was one of them, one of the boys Winter and the others suspected existed. "Merlin, stop." Janet grabbed his arm, snatching the vial away. "It's been like this ever since that day," his voice fell low.

He shook his head, "but you see, I concoted this. When I saw what they were doing to you, I knew I didn't want to be next. So I experimented, I knew I couldn't be caught and eventually, I made this, which suppresses the power, but it also makes you incredibly open to the power of suggestion." Janet looked uneasy, "You didn't tell me anything about that." She hissed, clearly not approving. "You said that it would give Winter a normal life." He nodded, "and it will! Once I figure out how to get rid of the side effects. You'll just have to wait a little longer." He winked, grabbing Janet by the waist. "But that's no way to thank me for putting this whole thing together. We don't have much time, I'm sure that girl is going to rain on our parade soon." He winked, Winter's heart flickering in her chest.

"They have Vincent, I'm sure he's already on our tail." Janet turned to follow him out of the room. "Janet!" Winter needed answers, "That's not my name, it's never been my name." Her hands balled into fists, "I found my real name, it's Allison." Allison? How completely boring, no matter, that didn't matter. "Why?" Winter asked softly, "becuase the Von Hresvelg's are just like everyone else in the Chrysanthemum, they're just looking to use your power. They don't actually care about you."

"And you do?"

"Yes Winter, despite what you might believe, I'm not just a heartless tool that was paid to take care of you." She stroked Winter's forehead, brushing her hair out of her eyes, it was short, it was always short because the Chrysanthemum prefered it that way. "We've both been under their control for far too long." She frowned, "We're going to go where they can't control us." Winter tugged against the restraints again, she needed to get out, she couldn't just leave. "Allison, you don't understand what you're doing. I can't just leave," Winter shook her head.

"The first dose is ready!" Merlin announced, returning. "You might hallucinate a little, but it's fine, you won't even notice it." He injected her in the thigh, Winter screaming as the burning liquid entered her blood stream. Her vision almost instantly began to go in and out, her head lolling to the side.


It was suddenly unbearably cold.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝Make them hate the fake, that way they won't see the real you.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#0C94CC ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #CC0C2E

|| Azalea|| Nano.ripe ||







The Hresvelg Estate was not in the best state. With Winter Matsuri's abduction confirmed, Cynthia broke into tears. "I am sorry, Madam. I couldn't prevent it. However, I have the enemy tracked and we're going to be able to-" Cynthia's eyes were wet with tears, she was becoming emotional again. This was bad, she always was frail. Giving birth to Claude was hard enough on her, it was very touch and go until a lucky streak saved her life. "There isn't time! W-we have to protect her! That girl's like a daughter to me! We promised her safety!" Cynthia was trembling, her hands shaking violently. Claude stood up quickly, alarmed. "Mom-" He reached out but Vincent was faster, grabbing Cynthia and held her firmly, injecting her with a relaxant. It was dangerous for Cynthia to get overworked, why else did Jeralt instruct her to remain in the home as much as possible? "Be still, Madam. We will take care of things from here."

Now, they still needed to make a plan. Elise would rather keep it all a secret but she knew Claude, she knew he wasn't a fool. "So explain. Why hasn't she been saved yet? I saw the video tapes, with our high end security it would have been easy to retrieve her by now." They built special mechanics to prevent abductions specifically because Elise was so often targeted due to her quality as a child actress of a wealthy family, she was highly valued on the black market. "This way we can make sure they aren't able to escape." If they could secure the location beforehand, the culprits would be caught in a web with no way out but to beg for their lives. "If they know Winter has powers, they'll know about me too. And I would rather they did not try to go after me." Elise made her best arrogant smile. "I have the house encased with rain. They try anything, I'll know it."

Claude narrowed his eyes a second time. "Then what are you waiting for? We can go now to save her." Elise shook her head. Not yet, just Vincent and Elise wouldn't be enough. A small voice in the back of her head told her she should bring Mercedes and Serenity in on this but really, the black eagle wasn't the type to really consult others for help when she could solve the problem on her own. She was a natural prodigy, and prodigies never needed to ask for help. "Not yet. The enemy is slippery." Claude was agitated. He cared about Winter, he was passionate about helping make the poor girl's life better. Elise thought she was a natural trainwreck. How many times in the last month had she been kidnapped? At some point you have to be asking for it.

"Then when will be the right time?" Claude asked, glowering at his sister. Elise sighed, closing her eyes to fight off the growing headache. "I'm filling the area with rain. That includes the ground. Once there's enough rain I'll be able to manipulate the soaked ground. I'll be able to sense every step they take, even if underground. I can trap them in the mud and Vincent will be able to easily end them once they've been trapped." This was the smartest way to deal with them. If you could control the ground the enemy could walk on, they wouldn't be able to even begin to fight back.

"What if they leave your special battle zone to drier land?" Claude asked. Elise had a plan for that too. "I'll know it. If they try to flee, my rain will sense them and our hidden guards will make their move. They already rigged all the vehicles to fail, so escaping by car isn't going to work a second time." While Elise had no love for Winter, she couldn't allow a threat to her own life and safety to escape alive. Especially not after disrespecting the Hresvelg name and spitting on their promise to protect Winter from evil.

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Character Portrait: Winter Matsuri Character Portrait: Elise von Hresvelg
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❝I put my arms around myself and I'm unbreakable.❞

ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#BDA0CB ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #F7B3DA

|| Dear Winter || AJR ||




She couldn't remember if it was morning or evening, perhaps somewhere in between. "Tch, we can't leave. They'll know as soon as we go," they were trained agents, they knew when they were being watched. "I suspect they've already tampered with the car." Merlin shook his head, he had another dose ready to go, this one green. Winter's head was swimming, she was nauseous, too weak to lift her head. "Here, try to drink something," Winter couldn't think of 009 as anything but Janet, even if she had said that her name was Allison. Winter shook her head, "No," she whimpered, her head spinning from the simple movement. She had never felt so weak before, so powerless. Even after the accident, she knew that she had her powers to fall back on.

"Stop being so stubborn, you need water." Janet frowned, helping Winter tilt her head up to drink. The water in the cup began to freeze from the bottom up, solid before Winter could take three sips. Her emotions were out of control, her power was unstable. "Merlin," Janet glanced away for one second, but it was long enough. Winter cut through the ropes with a shard of ice, launching herself at them. Metal wrapped around her, pulling her back. She cried out in pain, heaving up the water she had just drank. "There's no point in fighting us Winter, we're trying to help you." Merlin drew another dose out from his little collection, cleaning a spot on Winter's thigh in her bad leg, just below one of the scars. "We don't want to hurt you." She whimpered as the needle plunged into her skin, even now, she hated them.

"S-spirit dress," but she could not transform, not with that liquid in her blood. Merlin laughed, "See? Normal, normal girls can't make fancy transformations. Isn't it nice?" He pet her head, sweat beading on her neck as he bent the metal to make her lay back down, her head swimming once more. "It's what you've always wanted, isn't it? To be normal." Her ears felt as though they were popping, Janet dabbed at Winter's nose, blood trickling from it. "I just want to live," she whispered, in another world, in another time. An explosion had rocked her world, her Grandparents, where were they? Winter needed to find them. "Grandma!" She screamed, her ears ringing from the explosion, from the gunfire.

"I'm over here! I'm o-" something was stuffed into her mouth, "shh, you're safe." Janet tried to draw her back to them, back to reality. There was too much smoke, it felt as though her lungs were burning. "No, you're not there, you're here. You're here with us, don't worry. No one's going to hurt you," she dabbed at Winter's head with a wet cloth, trying to calm her down. When she came out of it, Janet tried to get her to eat, this time Winter was ravenous. "Slow down, you're going to choke," she scolded, Winter's hands encased in metal in case she tried to use her ice again. Steel was immune to the cold, after all. "Don't tell me what to do," Winter growled, wishing she could rip off her nightgown, as it was far too hot in the room.

Merlin returned, how many hours had it been? Or was it days? Winter didn't know, she couldn't tell. "They're still watching us," he looked less than pleased. "I tried to go out to fix the car, but it's still raining." A line of frost suddenly grew on the ground, a weak attempt, but it was there. "Nice try," he flicked her forehead. "Merlin!" Janet snapped, "You don't have to be cruel." What was cruel was that they were eating pizza while she was eating stew. He prepared the next dose, this one purple. Her pupils dialated to pinpricks, her body slumping back, head against the pillow.

This time when she awoke, things felt different, as though she was somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. Like that awful stage in surgery when reality seemed altered due to all of the pain medication. Janet was not there, but Merlin was. "Oh look who's awake!" He smiled, seeming far too happy. What was wrong with him? Winter didn't know. "You know, I like you Winter, I really do, but my Heir, you should know, of course you already know, she doesn't. She hates your guts, she wants me to hurt you, but I won't, I won't hurt you because I know you don't want this just as much as I do." Winter thought she was going to throw up again.

"So we'll do this another way." He grabbed her head chin, forcing her head upwards. Was she sitting up or lying down? Winter couldn't tell. "You are a normal girl Winter," she felt something stick her skin, her head was spinning again, it burned. It burned so badly, it felt as though her entire body had been injected with fire. "You're a normal girl Winter, you have no powers. So you'll take your medicine everyday, like a good girl, because then you can live a normal life. You don't have to be a part of anything. You'll get a name, a new face, just like Allison and I both did, because us, we're the same. We're survivors Winter. So just be a good girl and take your medicine."

He pulled her mouth open, dropping a tablet on her tongue. It fizzed and bubbled, he closed her mouth, her head falling to the side, her pupils so wide they took up most of her eyes. "Be a good girl Winter, Allison and I are counting on you."