Setting
Default Location for Lacuna
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The Marble City is a part of 
Lacuna.
3 Characters Here
Ophelia Illuvia [311] "Of course Paris stinks like demon. Everything stinks like demon here."
Alice [310] "I want more cake!"
Sonata Delanore [181]
Start Character Here »
Setting
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice nodded, "I'll watch Ophie," she took Ophie's hand leading her to the parlor so that she could sit down and rest. She didn't realize, of course, that this was simply a ploy to get her to sit down and relax for a little bit, as she was very tired. Pneumonia was a disease that sapped all of the energy from your limbs, even with a course of antibiotics, Alice was left feeling drained. She sat on one of the cushy couches beside the fire, feeling warm. Viola brought them warm drinks and freshly baked cookies, as well as a throw blanket to sit under while they rested. Alice nibbled on a cookie, feeling suddenly sleepy, but she didn't want to go to sleep. "Dog wants a cookie too," she decided, grabbing another cookie for Dog. Faeries and angels weren't all that different, Alice thought. They both had wings, after all.
Alice's head dipped as she went in and out of sleep, ending up with her head on Ophie's lap, Dog being hugged against her chest and a half a cookie in her mouth. Her head perked up once more, hearing someone singing outside. She crawled out from under the blanket, finishing her cookie and looking outside, but no one was there. Let's go to the garden, you'll find something waiting. Alice turned around to face Ophie, "Let's go outside." She tugged on Ophie's sleeve, dragging her to the door. She didn't wait to put on her shoes or coat, even though it was quite a brisk fall day. There was no one in the garden though, not even Baron Pierce, who had said he was going to be outside. Right there where you left it, hiding upside down.
Alice whirled around, but she couldn't see anyone. The wind rustled through the leaves, but other than that, there was no one around. Alice furrowed her brow, "I could've sworn I heard someone." She whispered, realizing how cold it was. Alice shivered, "it's cold." She looked around again, just in case, but there was no one there. "Guys, Cal should be back soon!" A voice from inside called, it seemed that Echo and Sonata had returned from buying gifts in the town. Alice rubbed her eyes, wondering if the sleepiness was what had made her hear things. Maybe it was the antibiotics? The leaves crunched under her feet as she trudged her way back inside, a bit upset that she had run outside for nothing.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
After being taken by Alice and Baron Pierce to the parlor, Ophie sat herself down in one of the arm chairs by the fire, using her left twin tail to pull a book from the bookcase by the wall. It was an old fairy tale written by a set of brothers named Grimm, in near pristine condition despite the age. "Once upon a time there was a mermaid who..." Ophie decided to read the story to Alice to pass the time, allowing Alice to rest her head on her lap. Why her lap of all things? Sonata's was softer, Calciferous's was firmer, but Ophie's were thin and bony. This couldn't be comfortable for her head. "And then she turned into sea foam because she couldn't bear kill the Prince to safe herself. The end." Ophie closed the book, wondering what Alice thought of it.
Suddenly Alice got up, almost as if in a trance. She wanted to go out to the garden. "Wait, your coat-" But Alice scampered off before the silver angel could retrieve it for her. She sighed, shaking her head. With no choice left, Ophelia allowed herself to get dragged by Alice to the gardens. It would be winter soon and the snow would fall. Hopefully Alice wouldn't do this once the temperature dropped. Would Ophie still be here in that scenario? "So why are we out here?" Ophie asked, looking carefully at Alice. Was this a part of her pneumonia? Was 'suddenly wants to go outside' one of the symptoms of pneumonia? Ophie decided to carefully cover Alice with her wings to help keep her warm.
"It'll be okay, whatever you were looking for, I'm sure they'll turn up again." Ophie said as she helped Alice back indoors. They needed to get ready for the big surprise. "Get in position, we'll turn the lights out and surprise him!" Julian was here now too, forced into the job despite having been busy taking in orphans who fled Paris, admitting them to his private clinic. "Hide somewhere so we can scare him." Viola told Alice, who helped her towards Baron Pierce. The little family all made their way to be hidden behind the various pieces of furniture around the entrance lobby and Sonata turned off the lights.
The door opened and they all - except Ophie who didn't understand the concept of surprise parties - burst out and gave Calciferous a big surprise, then they turned the lights on so he could see all the decorations, the cake, the wrapped gifts to the side. His eyes widened, but then Ophie's eyes widened even farther. "Y-your arm!" Sonata cried, rushing over to him. "Where is it? What happened?" Cal shook his head, his breathing ragged. He barely managed to get back to Amiens before he fell over, nearly collapsing. "What's going on?!"
His voice was faint and shook as he tried to speak. "The Generals... they're d-destroying... Paris... they're taking apart e-everything... me and Polaire tried to stop them, but then I woke up... like this, and I... walked back..." Violence in the demon capital was only getting worse. "Echo-" Calciferous coughed as he tried to speak. "Blythe was with them... she was working with them. W-we need..." He fell silent, his breathing becoming more shallow as Julian pushed them away. "I'll take care of him, I have to take him in now! Pierce, help me take him to another room!" Sonata grabbed Alice, covering her eyes so she wouldn't see all the blood but it was a little late for it.
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
"Surprise!" Alice yelled as Baron Pierce moved out from the hiding spot. "No Alice, not yet." He lifted her up, taking her to hide with him, just in case she spoiled it. They waited in the dark, Alice squirming, until the door opened and the lights lifted. "Surprise!" This time it really was Cal, but there was something wrong. Sonata screamed, quickly covering Alice's eyes. What happened? Baron Pierce handed Alice to Sonata, helping Julian bring Cal to another room. Echo seemed conflicted, Blythe was fighting with the Generals, no doubt in search of Zinnia. "Echo?" Sonata asked, looking at her. "I can't fight for either side." Echo hated them both, this was the exact reason she had fled to live a life of isolation. "Don't go," Alice whimpered, hugging Echo's arm, afraid that she was going to come back like Cal, or worse, not come back at all.
"I'm sorry, I have to." Echo's nails dug into her palms. "Hang on," Baron Pierce returned, his hands covered in blood. "Baron King Messiah is calling all of us to his aid." The Generals were overwhelming Paris, they needed backup. Echo grit her teeth, "Fine," she donned a coat and shoes, Alice watching them go. She didn't want them to, she needed them to stay here. "Don't leave," Alice whimpered, squirming in Sonata's arms until she released her. "Alice, you're to stay here with Viola. Is that clear?" Baron Pierce knelt down to look at her, Alice swallowing hard. "I'm leaving you in charge of Sonata and Ophie, they aren't feeling very well, remember?" Alice stiffened. She had forgotten! "Okay, I'll take care of them!" Her back straightened and she hugged Dog a little harder. "Good girl," Baron Pierce pat her head and winked at Sonata and Ophie, hoping they would play along.
The drive to Paris was quiet, Echo sitting across from Baron Pierce. "He's given you incentive, hasn't he?" Baron Pierce inquired, looking out the window. Echo nodded, "Yes," she said quietly, but what Baron King Messiah had proposed was against the very laws of nature. It would bring her precious friend back, but who knows under what condition? How long would Flo have? No, Echo would prefer to go around another way. She didn't want Flo's existnece to be a painful one. Her friend deserved better than that. "What about you? What's he got on you?" Echo asked, leaning her hand on her fist. This was the first time she had ever been alone with Pierce. Despite his generosity, she never held a conversation with him. "Everything," Baron Pierce replied softly. "All of Amiens is under great danger."
"Why do you do it?"
"Pardon?"
"You knew what would happen when you took me in, you knew what would happen when you took Alice and Ophie and all those other fugitives. So why?" Baron Pierce smiled longingly as he stared out the window. "Because we've forgotten our old ways. When Heaven and Hell were at peace, when humans had their own realm to muck about, and we were happy. Before magic made us all blood thirsty creatures. I wish for our world to return to what it once was." The carriage stopped short, this was as far as they could go. "May I have this dance Nova?" Baron Pierce asked, holding out a hand as the carriage door opened. "Yes, you may." She took it, allowing him to pull her out and into the smoking city.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
It seemed as if everything was going wrong at once. Instead of having a joyous and exciting birthday party for Calciferous, who to be honest, really deserved a break after everything that had been happening before, he came back missing an arm from the shoulder, and with grave news. Baron Pierce and Baroness Nova looked as if they were being called to go back Messiah up in Paris, to help him fight against the Generals of Hell. Ophelia locked eyes with Laertes who grit his teeth gravely. It seemed that they both had the same idea. Pierce went off with Nova, they had no choice but to go show themselves in Paris and Alice was put in charge. "Let's go to the parlor, maybe my headache will go away with some good books and fire." Sonata suggested, pretending to limp her way to the parlor room.
Viola tended to the fire, making sure it was enough to keep the room nice and comfortably warm, but not so bad that it would overheat the room and make things worse. It was a delicate balance to keep considering Alice's pneumonia. Julian was doing emergency care on Calciferous and hopefully he would be able to do something about the arm. "Here, let's look at a picture book, Alice." Sonata pulled one from the bookshelf. "Look, it's a botanical encyclopedia!" It was full of pictures of rare and exotic plants, and if there were any that interested Alice Sonata could read them out for her, if she wasn't confident in reading on her own yet. Ophelia squinted, unsure what to think about that. Were you supposed to read encyclopedias to someone like Alice?
"I think she would like a story book instead." An exciting story, with highs and lows and characters to fall in love with that you wish they could become real. Wouldn't a fanciful tale like that be more fitting for Alice? "Well, what do you think?" Sonata asked, her voice a musical sing-song. "Which one would you rather have us read for you, Alice?" It was funny - despite Alice being older than they expected, they were still used to babying her. It was just a habitual thing at this point, and Alice seemed fine with it. Maybe she would mature and they could treat her more as equals one day.
Laertes tapped Ophie's shoulder then, frowning. "I think we should... go check on Heaven." He said, shifting his eyes over. Ophelia knew of course. If they were going to take out Baron King Messiah, wasn't now one good opportunity? With everything chaotic, this was a good chance to eliminate the enemy once and for all, and then return to Heaven where they belonged. "Do you think Celty's calling for us?" Ophie asked, her tails stiffening, ready for a hard fight.
Suddenly Sonata spoke up, narrowing her eyes to dagger points. "No! I know what you two are planning! No, you two are staying right here because Alice needs to take care of you!" Sonata, surprisingly perceptive, knew what the angel siblings were planning. "Don't go." Sonata lowered her voice into more of a plea. "We don't want you two coming back like Cal... or not at all." Ophelia was about to try to convince Sonata that everything would be fine when Laertes suddenly sat down. "I'm feeling a little dizzy." He said with a groan. "I think I'm going to take a nap, it must be a bug going around." Ophelia opened her mouth and he smiled. "I don't want our bug to get into Heaven and infect Queen Celty." The silver angel sighed deeply. They would have to follow the original plan then, wouldn't they?
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice took charge, since she was the one in charge now. Sonata and Ophie wanted her to pick which book she wanted to read. "The one about the fairytales," Alice decided, knowing that it was an important decision. She hated having to choose though, because what if choosing made Sonata sad? "We can read the one about the plants after!" She ammended quickly, even if things were confusing right now, Alice would do her best to keep everything in order. Laertes joined them, slumping down on the couch, claiming that he was dizzy. Not him too! Was everyone getting sick? "I'll read the book," Alice decided. She picked it up from the floor and sat down beside the fire, opening it up. The words made her head spin, so she decided she would make the story up.
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess and all of the prince's wanted to marry her, but she didn't want to get married." Alice glanced up to make sure that they were listening, then turned the page as though she was really reading from the book. "The Princess wanted to stay home and bake tarts and play in the garden. So that's what she did and no one ever bothered her, until an evil witch came and-" she began coughing, her throat feeling dry. Sonata swooped down with a glass of honeyed tea to help soothe her throat. Alice drank it quickly, the tea not too hot. "I'm gonna continue now, okay?" She asked and Sonata nodded, patting her head. "Yes, keep reading us the story." No one dare to point out, of course, that the book was actually upside down.
"And then the witch turned into a dragon and kidnapped the Princess! She kept her locked up in a giant tower and said, the only way you can leave, is if you get married! So they intervewed every Prince in the kingdom, but none of the Princess wanted to try and marry the girl in the tower, even if they promised him all of the riches in the world! The Princess thought no one would ever marry her until one day, a new Prince moved into town and he decided he was going to marry the Princess! So he killed the dragon and saved the Princess from the tower. They got married and bought a lot of dogs and had a happy ever after!" She closed the book, satisfied with her story. "Did you guys like it?" Alice asked, squirming in her seat.
"Dinner is ready," Viola poked her head into the parlor where they were gathered. She lifted Alice up, suddenly reaching under her dress. "When did you take your underwear off?" She inquired, seeming cross. "You'll never catch me!" Alice squirmed, making Viola drop her. She ran away, leaving behind the book and taking Dog. She had taken her underwear off sometime during her nap and stuffed it underneath one of the pillows, which Viola was now looking through while Alice ran away, but not upstairs because she didn't want to bother Julian while he took care of Cal.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
With Alice and Ophie both pressing Alice for what book she wanted to read, she chose to read the fairytales instead. It seemed as if Alice wanted to show them just how much she was able to read now, so they let her. "It's okay, fairy tales are good too!" Sonata didn't want Alice to feel guilty, after all. "I'll remember that for next time!" As Laertes pretended to take a nap and laid his head down, Alice began reading the story of the princess who didn't want to marry. The book was written by Baroness Elimine but Ophie wasn't sure if that was how the story went. It would be hard to read an upside-down book after all.
"Good work! You improved a lot!" Did the lessons with Ayna do anything? Alice was reading upside-down? Did Alice understand that Ayna betrayed them, that she was an enemy now? Did Alice understand that Ayna might even be dead right now? If not by Cal's hand, maybe simply because of all the chaos affecting the capital right now. "I remember when she didn't even want to learn how to read." Sonata looked with something similar to pity and amusement at Alice, puffing her chest up. "Our little Alice is starting to grow up!" She even had pretty wings that decorated her back, showing her true heritage as fae royalty. "Really? There was a time she couldn't read?" Laertes grinned, his wings fluttering. "Alice read that like a real reading veteran!" As they were lapping all the compliments Alice's way, Viola came to make them aware that dinner was ready. Alice ran off as she was accused of having taken her underwear off.
Sonata and Ophelia exchanged glances. Who would be responsible for helping Viola catch her? "I'll help Laertes to the dining room!" Sonata said quickly, pulling the fake sick Laertes up. "Thanks, Sonata." He stuck his tongue out his sister's way. "Looks like you're on chasing duty." Ophelia groaned, it was usually Baron Pierce who handled Alice when she was being fussy like this. Ophie didn't have much experience in the matter herself. She went off after Alice, following after her trail, while Viola began hunting for the underwear for when Alice was caught.
Ophelia made herself invisible. In order to catch your prey it was easiest to be hidden from sight and sneak up on them before they could get away. Her angel magic made her imperceptible to the eye, no one would be able to see her now. She flew, her wings allowing her to move silently through the halls, trying to track Alice down. If she was wearing a dress without her underwear, she may get sicker because of the brisk air. For Alice's health's sake, it was best to make sure that delicate part was covered up. In one of the halls on the ground floor Ophelia grabbed Alice's arm and made herself visible again. "You're supposed to be in charge of us, the in charge person can't just run off like that!" She reprimanded Alice so she would know the fault in her ways. "What if I was kidnapped again? I need you to protect me!" Or the other way around, really.
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice was hiding, but it seemed that no matter what she did, they would always find her. She squealed when Ophie came otu fo nowhere, invisible and then suddenly visible. "I don't want you to go anywhere," Alice pouted, suddenly clinging to Ophie, but she didn't want to be forced to wear underwear either! It was weird and she didn't like it! They hurt and made her feel too restricted. Of course, that was to be expected from someone who wasn't used to wearing clothing, especially form fitting ones. She had, had a threadbare nightgown when she spent all those years in a cage and a lab coat when she was at the testing facility. "Don't go anywhere, Ophie, okay?" Alice begged, although she had probably just walked right into their trap.
Regardless, it was clear that Alice was still traumatized from the last kidnapping. Being forced to practice dancing until your feet bled and having to sleep in a cage took a toll on a person. Alice held Ophie's hand, allowing her to lead her to the table, where Viola was waiting, having found Alice's panties. "We'll wait until tomorrow to put them back on," she resigned, knowing that Alice would be too tired to wrestle now. She usually became a bit sleepy around this time anyhow and with the pneuomina, Alice was tired enough as it was. "Sleepy," she rubbed her eye, sitting at the table. Tonight her dinner was chicken and wild rice soup, as well as a slice of red velvet cake, not the one they had made Cal, but a different cake. How was he doing? Alice wondered.
Julian came down while they were eating, covered in blood. "He's stable for now, I'll be staying in the guest room in case anything changes overnight." Julian said, going to wash up and join them at the table. Alice didn't understand of course, she didn't realize just how critical these next few hours were for Cal. She didn't understand that Baron Pierce and Echo might not walk right back through those doors and come home, like they always did. She didn't understand that everything was temporary, that one day, Messiah might change his mind and come to retrieve Alice before she was ready.
"Say goodnight Alice," Viola lifted her up after she finished her slice of cake, crumbs all over mouth. "Goodnight," she yawned tired, waving to everyone. Viola picked up Dog, then carried Alice up to her room. She cleaned her up and tucked her into bed, making sure she had her faithful toys. "Goodnight Alice," Viola pulled the blanket up to her chin, checking that the window was locked before going to take up her station in the hallway. This was her purpose, after all, to protect the house while Baron Pierce was away. Even if the other demons were stronger, Viola could still do what she could in order to protect Alice.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
Ophelia pat Alice on the head, seeing the distress on the girl's face. It was wrong to consider her a child, but she really did allow herself to be treated as such, didn't she? "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere tonight." She was of course bound to her duties as an angel knight, so if she ever had to, she would have no choice but to return to Heaven for special orders. She didn't want to keep her master and Queen waiting too long after all, Celty was no doubt lonely up there without her knights at her side. "Rest well and try to get better, imagine how happy Pierce would be if you were all healed up when he returned?" Wouldn't that be nice? Hopefully Alice would properly give herself the rest she needed to recover.
Late at night when everyone was asleep Ophelia heard a strange sound. She had been reading at candle light some of the books in the parlor, finding an odd love for the extensive collection of literature pieces Baron Pierce had managed to gather over the years. There was something like a crashing sound. It was somewhere else in the estate, but what could be happening? What was this mist that mingled in with the air? Could it be something from Teranos was here? Ophie flew through the halls in her dark night gown, her twin tails out and ready. She rendered herself invisible, hidden to the naked eye. If something was going on here she was going to need any advantage she could get. She smelled the metallic scent of blood lingering in the misty air that enraptured the halls of the Pierce Mansion. Something was definitely going wrong here.
By Alice's room Ophelia found the source of the blood. Laertes was clutching his knee, holding his glowing sword out. A large hound seemingly made out of mist had Alice gripped in it's jaws, it's teeth biting down on her clothes. "We need the Oracle, so I suggest that you don't get in the way, angels." Laertes clearly tried to fight. Ophie knew who this was from the stories. This was Zuroarch, the Hound of Teranos, a wolf like beast standing tall and mighty on four legs. Two other heads snapped threateningly at them. "You're not taking her! She's not going to Paris!" Laertes tried to stand up but he fell over, large bite wounds all over his body.
Ophelia struck from behind, slashing with her twin tails. The dogs bit at her too, they could smell her even if they couldn't see her after all. One bite went deep into her thigh but as she did so she slashed open the jaw of the middle head, and Laertes dove forward to catch her. Was she awake? Was she hurt? "We're not letting you have her!" Ophelia winced as the teeth dug harder in, she could feel them scraping against her femur. She slashed harder, but the wispy hound simply healed back all the wounds, reforming itself using the mist that filled the area. Viola was knocked out to the side, alive but wounded. Where was Sonata?
Laertes was too wounded to do this, but Ophie needed to. "Give her back! I must take her to Paris so we can overthrow the evil Baron King Messiah!" Zuroarch howled, clawing at Ophie as if trying to kill her. Her tails writhed, slashing and cutting at every bit of mist she could reach. "Doll commanded this!" Doll - as in Doll King? "You're working with Doll King?" But wasn't she marked by Messiah? How could she unmarked unless someone removed it? Were the mages getting involved again, was this their doing? Why would they reach out, and why was Doll leading a full rebellion against Baron King Messiah?
It didn't look like the hound was going to answer though. Ophie grit her teeth, channeling her energy. All angel knights could do this, and she let forth a burst of white holy light from her eyes. It was a magical attack that knights were trained to use, the holy light burning at the bodies of the demons that it touched. The hound let out a pained roar and vanished against the light, taking the mist with it. "Alice! Laertes! Are you both okay?" Ophie asked, the new moon's empty light casting a dark shadow in the bloodied hallway.
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice was fast asleep when the door creaked open. She didn't hear the soft paws pattering against the floor, she didn't hear the murmuring, or the growling. She felt a weight on the bed and shifted, opening up her sleepy eyes. Could it be? A real dog? Right in front of her? She remained still, her toys falling from the bed. Alice screamed as the dog snapped at her, grabbing her nightgown in its jowels. Viola was suddenly inside, producing a scythe from nowhere. She tried to move, but Alice was paralyzed with fear. The dog tossed her from the bed, right into the grip of another dog. There were three of them, all large, all growling with glowing red eyes. Alice screamed, managing to knock over an expensive looking vase. Viola chased after them, two dogs attacking her.
Laertes was suddenly in the hall, a sword at his side. He swung at one of the dogs, who left Viola to pounce, getting him in the knee. Alice screamed again as blood spattered the wall. Viola was down, covered in bite marks, Laertes wasn't all that well off either. Ophie arrived, as though she had been summoned by some holy force. They wanted to take Alice to Paris, but Alice didn't want to go. "Ophie!" Alice screamed as the dogs attacked, converging on her. Alice closed her eyes, whimpering. The teeth dug harder through her nightgown, holding tightly onto her. She felt herself swinging, then she was dropped and picked up again. Alice opened her eyes, looking around frantically to see what had happened.
Ophie was still standing, a light emitting from her body. Softly at first, then so bright it was blinding. Alice closed her eyes, looking away. She was dropped again, the dogs whimpering as they fled. Alice dared to open her eyes only after the light receeded, panting despite the fact that she had done nothing. There was blood covering the walls, broken glass from the windows, and three very injured people. Alice didn't know what to do, she was frozen in fear. "J-Julian!" Alice squeaked at last, she was splattered in blood that wasn't her own. "Julian!" Alice yelled once more, louder this time. He came running from his room, having just been awoken. Sonata came as well, rubbing her eyes tiredly. One glance at the scene woke them up completely.
Sonata helped carry Viola, Laertes, and Ophie to the parlor so that Julian could treat their wounds. Alice remained frozen the entire time, she hadn't even realized that she had peed until Sonata returned and lifted her up. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Alice nodded, still afraid. Sonata took her to the bathroom, carefully cleaning her and changing Alice into a new nightgown. "Do you want Dog?" Sonata asked gently, but Alice shook her head. "No!" She clung to the demon, "Don't leave." Sonata lifted her up, "Why don't we go check on the others?"
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
The silver angel was panting weakly when it was done, but she barely realized how severe the damage to her leg was when she crawled over to check on Alice, who appeared to be covered in blood. Viola was in bad shape and Laertes was unable to stand. "Sis, your leg... stop moving, you're gonna make it worse!" He grunted through grit teeth, trying to hold in the pain. Zuroarch was here, one of the beasts of Teranos. Rainarch was one of the others, and the third was the strongest and most dangerous, a dragon made of mist. "I'm okay, it doesn't hurt. I'm..." She felt dizzy and faint, her head was light as if she were drowning, trapped under water. Sonata came and her vision blurred and fizzled in and out.
Sonata woke up pretty quickly and following Julian's instructions, made her fists large in order to carry the three wounded - Viola, Laertes, and Ophelia - and carried them as gently as she could away. Ophelia winced as she finally noticed her wound, the deep gashes in her leg. It was jagged and torn open, she could see the whites of the bones, and blood was continuing to spill. They were all badly injured, but it seemed as if Alice made it out safe enough. Wasn't that worth it then, did that make it worth getting herself hurt? She wasn't sure, but at least Alice was fine in terms of physical injuries. She was barely conscious as her mind began to trail off, her eyelids becoming heavier and heavier, making it harder for her to do much of anything other than exist as she was carried to a room where Julian would work on putting the three of them back together.
......
Doll King and Christopher Delanore were leading the rebellion, it seemed they created a situation where the Generals of Hell and the three breasts of Teranos were to work together. Baron King was badly wounded and Elimine quickly took him away where he could get some healing and recover. "Good work everyone." Doll said, her sword in her hands strong and swift. They were sweeping Paris, doing whatever they could to take control of the city and end Baron King Messiah's reign once and for all. This was their one and only chance to get this done. "I'd hope this was good! We put a lot of work into this!" Rainarch growled, her wings fluttering behind her as she landed next to Doll and Christopher. "You said Yue's really here? You weren't just lying to make us go along with your plan, were you?"
Doll shook her head. She wouldn't do something as low as that. "She's the one that broke the seal on me. She's still in there, but she gave me the chance I needed to pull this strategy." There were even mages from Magnolia here providing backup. It was a gathering of all of her allies she had left. The mermaids of Ogygia were also causing trouble near the English Channel, sinking boats and destroying ports. This was their only chance to take off Messiah's head once and for all. Her old friend, Pray, smiled at her. "We're cleared out this section of the city. No sign of Nova yet." Pray and Doll were roommates, once upon a time. Ever since Zeal's death, the gold-eyed General was considered the new leader, and had been organizing the resistance against Messiah from the beginning.
The fighting had died down for now, but half of Paris now securely belonged to Doll and her allies, while the other half belonged to the Barons who had gathered. "Chris, what's the status of Vaswald and Occasus?" Ellen Winter and the younger Pandora Vale were once humans and allies, long ago. She sent letters to them in preparation for this moment. "They agreed to remain neutral, they won't be getting involved." If those two reunited, they would become Orbus Coelus, the Herald of Destruction. Doll needed to prevent that if at all possible. "What about Zinnia Evernight?" She turned to Rainarch, who had just left Japan. The humans refused to get involved in the fighting, Empress Shoku denied them entry.
"I couldn't get to her." Rain admitted with a sad expression. "But I left a letter telling her that, if she could, to come to Paris. Me and Blithe are waiting for her. Yue's alive, and we'll need her help." Doll grimaced. This would be easier if they had Zinnia fighting at their side, but she couldn't last forever. The longer this went on, the harder it would be because more and more Barons around the world would be congregating on Paris, eager to please their King.
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice was still shaking as Sonata tried to tuck her into bed in Baron Pierce's room, knowing she would find it a comfort. "No, I don't want you to go." Alice clung to her, hugging Sonata's arm against her chest. She shifted uneasily, wanting to see if she could help Julian downstairs. "Alright, I'll stay, okay?" Alice nodded, but she didn't think she could fall back to sleep. She coughed, her chest feeling strange and constricted. "You're gonna be alright," Sonata pet her head, trying to soothe her back into a slumber. At last, Alice fell back to sleep, clutching one of Sonata's fingers in her tiny hands. Was she that small because she was a fairy? Sonata didn't think so, because Monaka was tall and lithe. No doubt it was a result of the abuse she had experienced at the hands of the demons. Sonata could barely bring herself to leave, but she knew that she had to go check on the others and Cal.
Alice stood in the ruined streets of Paris. It seemed to be an all-out war. Demons on both sides were battling each other, wanting the reign of the tyrant Baron King Messiah to end. Alice stood frozen in the battle, watching as Echo hid in a house, bleeding. She was panting hard, her boney wings dangling with diamonds. There was a gash in her side, her tail hanging limply as she limped into a building to find shelter. Alice followed her, wondering if this was the present or the future. "I don't care whose house this is! I'm crashing here for now!" Echo yelled, laying down on the couch and groaning. She looked at the wound in her side, watching it to make sure it regenerated.
Someone stomped through the door, Echo cursing. "Not another one," she groaned, sitting upright. A diamond fractured, an ice pick shooting from her hand and through the demon that attempted to enter. Alice screamed as he disappeared into a cloud, a soul gem left in the doorway. Echo leaned back, clutching her side in pain. "There's gotta be some pain medicine in here or something." She groaned, standing upright slowly. Alice followed her, afraid that if she lost sight of Echo, she would never see her again. "Well, well, look who finally decided to evolve." Doll King sat on the kitchen counter, biting into an apple. Echo froze, she had never liked her sister, not that Alice knew that. Alice hid behind the counter, peeking over the top.
"What are you doing here Doll? We're on the same side." Echo rifled through the cabinets, finding what she was looking for. Pain pills. "Are we?" Doll asked, slamming the cabinet shut before Echo could retrieve them. "Because I need to know where you stand," she drew her sword, Echo taking a step back. "What are you doing?"
"Whose side are you on Echo?" Doll asked, holding out her blade.
"I'm on the same side as you, are you daft? Put your sword away!"
"Whose side are you on Echo!"
"No one! I'm on no one's side, okay! I'm not working for anyone, I hate everyone! I just want to get out of this bloody city!" Doll sighed in relief, putting her sword away. "Glad it's really you," she suddenly hugged her sister, but Echo shoved her away. "You don't get to play nice after pointing your sword at me." She grabbed the bottle of pain pills, downing two of them without any water.
"Look, we need your help. I'm aiming for Messiah's head, I can't do it without you."
"I'm not joining you on your daft crusade. I don't feel like dying today Doll."
Her hands bound into fists, Alice noticed it, ever so subtly.
"I don't want to do this Echo." Why was the ground illuminating? What was happening? Alice had never seen anything like this before.
Christopher stepped out of the shadows, his hand bleeding. Echo's blood was already on the ground. "No, no, no, no. You can't do this to me." Echo hissed, but it was already happening. Doll stepped out of the circle, a light blinding Alice as Echo screamed, falling to the ground. "I hate you!" Tears welled up into her eyes. "We can't just have you leaving us again Echo, we need you."
Echo remained unmoving against the ground, but Alice could see the contract mark on the small of her back. She didn't understand what it was, but she noticed the same mark on Christopher's hand.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
The next day, as the embers scorched the skies, Baroness Anguis fought against Wicked and Pray, tearing apart the Champs D'Elysee and turning it into a field of blood. Anguis was horribly wounded and Ayna had to drag her into the dark in a desperate attempt to save her. "You can't die! You've looked after me all this time!" Sure, some of it was torture but Ayna was willing to accept it if it would mean giving her Master even a little bit of relief. "I'm not dying." Anguis said simply. Her wound was deep, but it certainly wasn't fatal. She couldn't really move though. "Help me, we must get farther away from here." Ayna nodded, grabbing Anguis's arm, trying to drag her farther away. She was glad to have come in her real body. Her point tracker said zero on it, Calciferus had stolen away all her points.
Pray fell to the ground, ripping a snake out of her stomach. Wicked pulled at her arm in worry, staring at the wound. Pray shook her head, grimacing, placing her hand on her stomach. Light came out but then it flickered, dying out. "Ugh, I don't... have the energy..." She fell back but Wicked caught her, wide eyed. "Let me try!" She held her hand over Pray's stomach but the golden eye shook her head frantically. She was not in the mood to be blown into pieces right now. Wicked thought better of her idea and nodded. "Let's run back, maybe the mages can help!" If it wasn't for Pray's injury she'd have been happy to rush after Anguis and confirm the kill on the lady of snakes. "Just go after them. We can't let Anguis get away again." Pray muttered, remembering how much pain she brought upon everyone at the Tower Society. "I'll... be okay. I just need to.. rest a little." Wicked frowned, looking at her. Pray already died once, a miracle wasn't going to happen a second time.
"Doll would cry if you died, and I ain't letting our illustrious leader spill her pretty tears like that." Wicked hoisted Pray up onto her shoulders and began running through the streets of Paris. Once upon a time this beautiful city was considered the paradise for demons. Now, Wicked wondered if the fire would ever die out. She shook her head - thoughts kinds of thoughts were useless. This was for Queen Kitra. She owed everything to her. Pray's grip on her shoulders slackened and weakened so Wicked ran faster, ignoring the days old bodies laying about the neutral zone between the two camps.
Arriving back at camp, across the Seine River, Wicked placed Pray gently down in the medical tent. "What happened?" Doll asked, her eyes widening in alarm. "Anguis. We found her trying to gather food, so we started a big ruckus." Wicked grinned, her canine teeth shining in her maw. "I found Ayna. Looks like she's still our enemy this time around too. Polaire too, isn't that funny?" Wicked, like most of the survivors of the Tower Society, were itching at a chance for revenge against the traitors. Wait, this wasn't the time for that now! "Is there a mage that can help?" Wicked asked but Doll shook her head, looking pale. "No.. Yuu and Lumiere are out with the others on a mission..." Pray was bleeding out, but was there anyone that could save her?
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Zinnia Evernight had been laying low in Japan. Ever since she was released from the flower, she had been trying to assimilate into normal, Japanese society, accepting the fact that she could not return to her home. Accepting the fact that if she left Japan, she would be recaptured by Baron King Messiah. Her apartment was quaint, it had a bedroom, kitchen, and gathering area, as well as one bathroom. She had already begun potting plants and making a new store of potions, never knowing when she might need them. After all, she had seen many things come to pass. She was hundreds of years old now, no longer the naive girl she had been when she had first met the love of her life. She worked at a strange cafe, the owner having recruited her while she was walking in the street on the way back from the bookshop.
She was already fluent in Japanese of course, but did not understand the concept of a Maid Cafe. It was on the third floor of a building, where they used fake magic spells and love to make drinks change colors and as the manager said, "serve smiles." She had to wear strange robes and learn false magic, doing her best to blend in. Her first day, in short, was something of a disaster, she felt, but the manager had said that she brewed the best cup of tea he had ever drank and liked her strange, old fashioned way of speaking. Now Zinnia was better at faking the fake magic, although it took much of her willpower not to cast real magic. It was after a long shift at the cafe that she arrived home, her bag full of delicate herbs and leftover curry that she would eat for dinner.
There was an owl sitting on her windowsill, a scroll in its beak. She ran towards the window with ferver, forgetting to take her shoes off, she slung the window open, the owl dropping the scroll in her hands. It flew away after receiing a sunflower seed for its work, Zinnia turning around, her heart racing. She kicked off her shoes, even though it was already a little late for that and unrolled the scroll with shaking hands. A war, a battle to take over Paris and dethrone Baron King Messiah. Doll King wanted Zinnia to help, she was summoning her. Zinnia's heart raced with possibility. She showered quickly, changing out of her work uniform and into robes befitting battle. She need no wand, only a bag that she filled with potions of all sorts. She locked the window, ate two bites of curry, and transported her way to Paris.
Only straight into the middle of battle. She ducked, narrowly getting hit by a fire ball. She transported once more, this time at a camp set up for battle. "I'll do it," Pray had a large gash in her side. Doll was looking grim, it seemed that Zinnia had arrived just in time. There was shouting from one of the tents on the other side, Christopher emerging from it, rejoining Doll at her side. "Zinnia!" Blithe attacked her from behind, wrapping her in a warm, furry embrace. "Blithe!" The two rejoiced in their reunion, holding on tightly to one another for but a moment. "I need to attend to Pray, bring her to a medical bed, or tent, whatever you have set up."
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
The struggle for Paris was an awful stalemate. Neither side was truly strong enough to break through the other, but it was only a matter of time until enough Barons answered Baron King Messiah's cry for help that they would be able to vanquish Doll's group of Generals, mages, and outlaw demons from Teranos. They were a small crew, but willing to bet on Doll King, willing to put their lives on the line for the strongest non-Baron demon to exist. But there was one ray of light they were hoping for, one trump card. The most powerful witch, Zinnia Evernight herself. Would she answer the call that Rainarch left for her? As Pray was bleeding out on the mat, it seemed the answer was no until someone apparated into the war camp. It was Zinnia herself, the ray of hope they were waiting for.
Wicked picked Pray up as gently as she could, Doll leading them to a medical tent where many other demons and mages lay, their injuries growing by the minute. "Take care of her! I'm going to go after Anguis and try to finish her off!" Wicked ran off back towards the street where she and Pray clashed against the master of snakes. A mist demon was hastily attending to them, tripping over herself as she tried to fetch them water. "Ugh, stop being so whiny! I'm doing my best here!" The mist demon ground her teeth, annoyed. "This is such a waste of time! Why did Doll put me on medical duty!" There was something she needed to do, she didn't want to be here anymore. Then she turned around to see someone very familiar. Her eyes lit up in wonder.
"Blithe, did you find a Zinnia lookalike? Is this a second Zinnia, or a replacement Zinnia?" The mist demon wagged her tail, her wings fluttering behind her. She touched the mage's face, patting her hair, examined her eyes before she was satisfied. "It's you! It's really you! You smell different. Exotic. Oriental?" She shook her head, it was probably the smell of Japan on her. "You're really here! I have great news, look! Look!" She pulled at her wrist, peeling off a layer of mist to reveal a mark of a lamb. Zinnia should know this very well. "My old contract mark came back! Yue's alive, Messiah must have brought her back, or maybe she was never fully dead?" The mark only appeared a month ago, but it was all the proof she needed.
Rain quickly filled Zinnia in on everything so far, on the alliance of Teranos, Magnolia, Generals, and even some of the mermaids from Ogygia were here. They all gathered under the hope that Doll King would topple the Baron King. "But the last few days have been hard. We have too many injured, and the Barons are too much for us to take on easy! Pierce and Anguis are especially annoying!" She whimpered, pointing to a discolored patch of mist on her hair, a part of mist that still hadn't healed up yet. "You're our only hope! I'm sorry, Zinny, I know you don't like fighting..."
"But if we wanna get rid of Messiah and save Yue, we need you!"
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice woke up when Viola came to rouse her. She was healed, having regenerated quickly despite the bites. "Alice, Alice it's time to wake up." She let her sleep in, knowing that hadn't had a good night. She looked around groggily, allowing Viola to lift her and take her to the next room to take a bath and get dressed for the day. A fall colored dress, red with gold leaves. Alice wasn't much in the mood for wrestling today and she weakly protested the underwear that Viola put on her, as well as the stockings she put on over it to keep warm, since the temperature had dropped that night. The blood had been cleaned up, any signs of the fight already gone. The devil worked hard, but Baron Pierce's staff worked even harder.
"Ready for breakfast?" Alice shook her head. "Baron Pierce won't like it if you refuse to eat. Do you want to take one of your toys with you?" Alice shook her head. "No!" She cried out, pushing all of her toy dogs away. She reached for Viola instead, who lifted her up and carried her downstairs. The parlor had been cleared out, everyone either in their bedrooms or going about their day already. Sonata was the only other person at the breakfast table when they entered, waiting for them. "Good morning Alice! I don't know if Ophie and Laertes are gonna join us, so let's dig right in." Alice nodded, Viola placing her down in her seat. "Where's Dog?" Sonata asked, surprised to see Alice without her faithful companion.
"I don't want him anymore!" She yelled as Viola removed the silver lid on top of breakfast. "I don't want any of them anymore!" Viola stroked her head, trying to soothe her. "It's going to be alright, look, waffles and bacon, your favorite." Viola pointed to the plate. There were leaf shaped waffles and crispy bacon, a small turine of syrup on the side. Alice drowned the waffles and bacon in syrup before she took a bite, mostly just nibbling here and there. "Alice," Viola said sternly, "four more bites." She did as told, then drank all of her milk. "Good girl Alice," Sonata smiled. "Do you want to go on a walk?"Alice shook her head. "No, I want to stay here. I don't want to go anywhere," she didn't want anyone to take her away again.
"That's okay, we'll stay here then." Sonata lifted her up, it was easy to see how traumatized Alice was from all of this. "Do you want to color?" Sonata took her to the parlor, where a fire was already going. "Yes," she placed her down on the floor and retrieved the coloring books and crayons. "Everything's gonna be alright." She promised, her hand stroking Alice's hair, knowing that she found it comforting. Alice colored in silence, but it was clear that she was still upset. "Stay here for a minute, alright?" Sonata rose, going upstairs and coming back down a few minutes later. "This is a rabbit," she showed Alice a ginger colored rabbit, wearing a little red bow. "Do you want it?" She nodded, reaching out to take the toy. "Do you want to name him?"
"Bunbun."
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
Waking up, Ophie realized that her leg really hurt. She felt nothing before but now she could clearly feel the aching stabbing pain of jagged misty teeth digging, scraping against her femur bone. Her leg was all wrapped up tightly with bandages, but not so tight that her blood wasn't flowing. Laertes had even more bandages, he wasn't going to be in any state to do much at all. "How are you feeling?" Julian asked, looking at her. "I'm fine. You cleaned the wound?" He nodded, giving her a little smile as he fixed his spectacles. "Of course. Do you want me to unwrap it?" Now that she spent the night recovering she could use her angel magic to speed up the healing a little. It was something all angels could do to some extent. Laertes was still asleep, so Ophie wasn't going to disturb him.
The wound still looked bad but Ophie cast her magic. Slowly it began to mend. It would take all day for a wound like this but come tomorrow Ophie would be back in working condition. "It's still odd to see angel magic." Julian commented, watching the healing in action. "Wrap it up again for me?" He nodded, getting right to work. He was careful with the gauze and the bandages but he finished closing the wound again. Ophie got up, trying to put weight on her leg. She didn't want to just sit around, she needed to keep moving so that she didn't fall behind in her training. "Hey, where are you going? It's not safe to-" She nearly fell, her leg buckling as she tried to walk.
Calciferous caught her. His arm was healing horribly, but he still had another arm. It looked horrendous, it was awful. It had been blown off by one of Wicked's explosions, taking it clean off. With Julian's help it was starting to heal but it was slow, painful. "Could you stop staring at it?" Cal muttered, helping Ophie back to her bed. "S-sorry." She looked away, respecting his wishes. Cal sighed heavily. "No... it's okay. I stare at it too." She looked away, out the window. Even from here you could see the fires above Paris. "Does it hurt?" He shrugged, then winced as the movement of shrugging stressed the nerves by his arm.
Three others came by then, Sonata taking the lead. "Here they are, I found them! Alice, do you want to do it now?" Ophie tilted her head, a bit tired, confused. Cal looked at them, somewhat ashamed. It was clear he didn't want Sonata to see his arm in this state, just a tiny little mass of muscle and veins. "Alice, do you want to introduce everyone to your new friend?" It seemed there was a new toy in Alice's hands. "Tell us a little bit about him so we can introduce him to our family!" Ophelia gave Alice a little wave. "Sorry, I don't have a candy for you today. Julian isn't letting me walk yet."
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
"Do you want to see if the others are awake yet?" Sonata asked, lifting her up. Alice nodded and they headed upstairs, but they were still asleep. "Do you want to play outside for a little?" Alice nodded again, Sonata taking her to the back door. Viola brought over their jackets and boots, Alice insisting on tying them on her own. "I can do it!" But really she could not, Alice had no idea how to tie boots, so Viola ended up fixing the knots that Alice had put the laces in. Once they were tied, Sonata led Alice outside, allowing her to take the lead from there. They went to the strawberry orchard, but most of the strawberries had been picked clean before the winter frost came. There were still pumpkins in the pumpkin patch though and so they went there.
"I want this one," it was a pumpkin that was bigger than her, she tried to climb on it, but Sonata stopped her, not wanting Alice to ruin Baron Pierce's hard work. "How about we just admire it?" Sonata suggested with a gentle smile. "Okay, but can I have this one?" A smaller pumpkin, this one the size of her head. "I guess you can, sure." Sonata picked it off the vine and handed it to Alice, who struggled to carry it back towards the house. "Do you want some help?" Sonata asked, but Alice shook her head. "No! I can do it!" It seemed she was in the stages of wanting a bit of independence, or maybe it was just the stress. Nevertheless, Alice carried the pumpkin all the way inside. "The humans used to carve pictures into their pumpkins, do you want to do that?"
Alice nodded, her eyes widening. "I want to carve it!" First they picked a picture, Alice chose a leaf, which they then taped to the pumpkin and traced the outline of. Sonata picked her own pumpkin as well and she was going to do a picture of a turkey, since it was nearly Thanksgiving. Upstairs, they began to hear noise and Alice perked up, abandoning her project. "Can we go see them now?" Sonata nodded, picking Alice up, Bunbun in hand. They went upstairs, where the others were awake. Or at least, Cal and Ophie were. Laertes was still fast asleep, having taken the worst of it. "This is Bunbun," Alice showed her new toy to them, a small stuffed rabbit that fit perfectly into the crook of her arm.
Sonata placed Alice on Ophie's bed and she crawled across it to get closer to her, "Are you okay Ophie? I brought you this," she had brought Ophie a leaf from outside, it was yellow and red, but a perfectly shaped leaf. Alice placed it on Ophie's lap, seeming pleased with herself, like a puppy thtat had brought its owner a stick. "I brought one for you too Cal!" Alice handed him a leaf too, his green and brown. "It got a little crushed when I was bringing it upstairs though." She looked away, her cheeks turning pink. "It's perfect Alice," Cal gave a half smile, it was clear he was still in pain.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
Today was going to be a frustrating one for sure. Ophie wanted to keep moving, she didn't want to lose her edge. She felt restless - and yet she could do nothing but sit here, uselessly. No, she couldn't just stay like this. But it was equally important to quickly recover in order to get herself in working condition as quickly as possible. Alice was here, lead by Sonata and Viola to introduce her new friend. Where were Dog and Pog? Or was Alice just excited about a new friend? "Hello, Bunbun." Ophelia greeted the toy politely. "Take good care of Alice, okay?" Calciferous waved with his good arm, but it was evident something was bothering him. Sonata didn't look to be doing the best either. Ophelia understood of course. The two of them deserved to be on the battlefield, fighting alongside family and friends.
But they were here instead, sheltered away from the worst of the chaos. As Doll King lead the rebellion against Baron King Messiah, they were here, protecting Alice in Baron Pierce's stead. Alice distracted Ophie from her thoughts when a leaf was brought to her. "Oh, it's nice." The silver angel said, nodding as she was given the perfectly shaped leaf. "Thanks. It was good to get them now before they fell off and died. So you played outside today?" Sonata made a grin but Ophie could see it was a little bit forced. "Yeah! Alice had a great time. It's good to get some fresh air instead of being cooped up inside all the time." It seemed they all agreed with that at the very least.
"That being said, I don't want to just sit around all day." She might as well say it aloud. Calciferous frowned, looking at her. "I don't think it's smart for you to move. Rest for today at least?" They were in disagreement about this, evidently. "I can't just lay down all day." She muttered, scrunching up a corner of the blanket she was given after moving the perfect leaf somewhere where it wouldn't be in danger of being smooshed - safely nestled by the night stand. "How about I help move her?" Sonata offered, bearing a grin. "Then we can go back to decorating the place for Thanksgiving." But wasn't that a human holiday? Not that Ophie would complain if it would get her away from the bed. Calciferous grumbled but he didn't say no.
So Sonata made her hand big and turned it into something like a bed or a platform for Ophie to lay on. "We were making pumpkins before Alice was distracted." Sonata winked, trying to be of good cheer. "But we can get back to it now. It'll be fun!" Calciferous rolled his eyes. It wasn't even a British holiday, how did Sonata ever learn about an American human tradition? "Julian, stay here so if Laertes wakes up he won't be alone." Cal told him and the doctor nodded. It was his plan to stick around here anyways.
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice followed Sonata down the stairs, back to where they were carving pumpkins. "Ophie, be careful, okay?" Alice whimpered, she didn't want Ophie to obtain anymore injuries. "I can carve it!" Alice's picture of a leaf was a bit wobbly, but she wanted to do it herself. Sonata helped Ophie into the chair at the table, a plastic sheet laid down so that they wouldn't make too big a mess. Cal joined them as well, quietly taking a seat on the other side of Alice. Viola joined them as well, placing tea and cookies on the table for them to eat while they carved. Alice reached for a cookie, nibbling on it and offering some to Bunbun while she carved. She took the knife, Cal helping her despite Alice insisting that she could do it herself.
"It looks like someone has hit the terrible two's," he joked, but it made sense that Alice was trying to do things for herself. She felt insecure, she felt afraid. She had barely been back home a week before someone else tried to kidnap her. She wanted to stay here, Alice was afraid to leave. She was scared of going outside without someone with her, or sleeping alone, least someone break into her room again and try to take her from there. Baron Pierce had put in a window that no longer opened after the last break in, but the mist demons had phased right through it, as though it wasn't even there. If Viola hadn't been there to make noise and try and stop them, no doubt Alice would have been dragged to Paris already. She shivered, remembering how scared she had been. Why couldn't she be strong like Monaka?
Why couldn't she have been born brave like Ophie? Who could jump into action without fearing anything. Alice was afraid of her own shadow, but it was no doubt largely due to her upbringing. People like her were the scapegoats, they were the ones no one was afraid to hit because they knew they wouldn't bite back. Even now, Alice never lifted a finger to defend herself because it was so ingraned in her nature that she was the lowest of the low, that she did not deserve to be helped, because that's what was beaten into her. Try to stop it and it would only get worse. Those were the lessons the humans learned, the one that they would have to follow from birth to death if they wanted to live past their rebellious teenage years.
"Alice, be careful. Watch where you're cutting," Cal warned, helping guide her hands so that she did not cut her fingers. She pouted and he let go. "Fine, fine, do it on your own, just be more careful." He pat her head with his one hand and sighed, snatching up a cookie and a cup of tea. The fire in the hearth was roaring, full blast. It was cold out, but it was toasty on the inside, especially with tea and cookies, Alice thought.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
With help from Sonata enlarging her hand, Ophie slid off of her bed and into the hand. "My power's really useful, isn't it?" Sonata grinned, but it was strained. They were all stressed. Alice was traumatized from yet another kidnapping attempt, so shortly after being rescued from Japan. Sonata and Calciferous both knew deep down that their chances of becoming Barons was gone thanks to their connection to Doll King and her rebellion. They both felt it in their bones, they were being called to join the fight against Baron King Messiah. But that would mean facing off against Baron Pierce, something they couldn't bring themselves to do. They owed too much to the gentle garden-loving Baron.
Ophelia was stressed as well. She knew she was missing on her chance to finish her job once and for all. But if she did go and kill Messiah, she and Laertes would go home. That would mean abandoning Alice in the middle of all the chaos and panic. Would she be able to recover from another abandonment, with Pierce missing and his status unknown as of yet? She shook her head, this wasn't the time to worry about that. With all the stress the four of them were under, it was even more important to try to make things as normal as they could. So Sonata lead the way, with Ophie in her hand, to where she, Viola, and Alice were carving pumpkins for Thanksgiving before Alice was distracted by Ophie waking and falling.
Alice was making good progress on her pumpkin, though it was odd how independent she was becoming. She was determined to do things on her own. Did she want to impress Pierce when - if - he returned, or was this something else? Cal clearly wanted to help Alice but Alice was being rebellious, she wanted to learn how to start doing things with her own two hands. "Cal, you should make a pumpkin. Here, pick one out for me." She called to him, and he went out to the garden. "Oh, what are you going to make?" Sonata asked, curious. She turned the radio on, and calm classical music played to provide more atmosphere to the parlor room that they all loved.
"It's a bit of a mystery." Her lip twitched in embarassment. "One pumpkin, coming up." Ophie was sitting on the floor, resting her bandaged leg. Her tails, however, were in great condition, the spikes ready for a new task. Cal plopped the pumpkin down before her - plump and orange. Ophie got to work, slicing and dicing with her tail spikes until a white cat's image appeared on the front. "That's Celty's cat form!" Cal barked in surprise, remembering the night Alice found her. "Y-yeah. I wanted to do her face, but I wouldn't be able to do her justice."
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice was being stubborn, even if her hands were shaking as she carved her pumpkin, she wanted to do it on her own. "I think Alice might be having a hard time because she's realized that she can't protect herself, so she wants to do things on her own to have a little more independence and feel like she's in control." Viola said quietly as Alice did her best to carve. Cal brought Ophie her own pumpkin, which she seemed to have no trouble piercing into with her twin tails. Alice watched her, looking down at the knife in her hands, then at the others, who all seemed to have an easy go at carving their pumpkins. She was the only one struggling, the only one that was weak. They were all able to protect her, all the time. It wasn't fair, Alice wanted to protect them to!
"I want another cookie," she reached for it, sitting back on behind as she nibbled on the cookie. BunBun was on her lap, somehow not covered in pumpkin innards like her hands. "Alice, it's okay to ask for help." Sonata said softly, noticing the shake in Alice's hands. "No, I can do it. I can..." she trailed off, looking at the leaf that wasn't looking like a leaf in the least. "Here, let me assist you." Viola knelt down so that Sonata could finish up her own pumpkin. Alice relented, allowing Viola to guide her hands and fix the leaf so it finally looked like one. "Better?" Alice nodded, it finally looked right. "Why does everyone else's look so good?"
They all looked much better than her's. "Do you want to make another one?" Sonata's was done, her turkey looking life like. "We'll place them all on the porch tonight and put candles in them so they glow." Cal decided, just like Hallow's Eve, only a bit later. "Can I make another one?" Viola went to fetch another pumpkin, "This one is gonna be a flower," because Baron Pierce reminded her of flowers. She traced the picture with a pencil, like she did the first time, this time allowing Viola to guide her hands so that they didn't ruin the flower the same way they did the leaf. "I want to take the insides out," Viola cut the top off, handing Alice the scraper.
"It smells," she wrinkled her nose, dumping the pumpkin goo onto the piece of plastic that had been set on the floor. Her hands were sticky and the sleeves of her dress were stained orange. "Look, I took it all out!" She pointed to the now hollow pumpkin, which had a perfectly flat bottom for a candle to sit inside of.
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❝I fear the edge of dawn, knowing that time betrays.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
Ophelia looked longingly at her pumpkin. How she missed Queen Celeste and being in Heaven. It was rough being down here - but she also made irreplacable friends here as well. Ophie would miss them once she returned to Heaven, but there were rules after all. Angels weren't supposed to mingle with the sinning races, and spending time with demons and the fae folk definitely was a part of that law. It was fine for now because she was on a mission, but if she wasn't given another mission one day involving Baron Pierce and the Amiens family, she may never see them again. They already lost one of their number, Rene was gone and would never come back. Alice didn't seem to understand what that meant though.
"Let her do it, then she can show Pierce and he'll be proud of her." Ophelia told Sonata and Calciferous, both of whom were no doubt worried and wanted to help her and support her. They didn't like seeing Alice struggle, they were used to babying her after all. "She's been protected for a long time now, I'm sure she wants to show that she's useful too." The silver angel knew where she was coming from. Katua died an awful death and Ophie wasn't able to do anything to help her. Katua died protecting her, a demon, for an angel. "I guess that makes sense. Then, let's cheer her on!" Sonata decided with a grin, helping Calciferous do a song and dance to cheer on Alice's name until Cal bumped his bad arm against the wall. He grunted in pain, falling to his knees. Ophie's eyes widened in worry but he shook his head. "I'm fine, it's just, it's not healing well at all." Usually he had stronger regeneration factor than this, what was wrong this time?
Alice took the insides out with Viola helping by cutting off the top of the pumpkin. She scraped the innards out and seemed proud of herself. "Good work! Now you can make this second try your masterpiece." Alice needed encouragement and support to be able to thrive. She was deprived of much of that for many years of her life. "Sorry, we can still sing the "Go go Alice!" song, but I don't think we should dance it." Sonata said apologetically, looking worriedly at the pulsating mass of muscle and veins that was Cal's right arm. If it wasn't able to heal more than that would he ever be able to fight again?
It wasn't long until someone came down. "It's dinner time." Julian poked his head in to announce. "Laertes was awake for a few minutes, but he fell back to sleep." Ophie nodded, feeling bad that her younger brother was in a bad state. "He'll be fine for tomorrow." She said, mostly to convince herself that that was true. Sonata moved to Cal's side to help him but he shook his head. "Help Ophie up, she can't walk with her leg like that." Sonata nodded, offering Ophelia her entire giant hand with a friendly but forced smile.
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
That night, Alice had another vision. She was standing in the center of Paris, a smoking husk of a city. "Whose side are you on Pierce?" Doll King had a sword pointed at his throat, his hands raised above his head. "Neither side Doll. I don't believe in this oppression of every other species, but I don't believe that demons should be enslaved by them either." She shook her head, "You can't take neither side. Who are you fighting for?" She growled, a clear threat. Alice gasped, taking a step back. Both of them paused, looking in the direction she was in, but Alice knew they couldn't see her. "You heard that didn't you? Someone's coming." Pierce grabbed Doll, diving into a building. Alice froze, turning slowly. There was a brigade of hell hounds marching down the street, their leader behind them.
It wasn't a Baron Alice knew about. She felt frozen as though walked around her, their Baron tall, brooding. They went past the building that Baron Pierce and Doll were hiding inside of, one hound stopping to sniff the air. Alice watched, terrified that something would happen. They passed, continuing to walk, but Alice knew that she couldn't simply stay here and watch. She needed to warn someone, to tell Baron Pierce he was in danger. What if the dogs had heard? What if they knew? Alice ran into the building they were hiding inside of, phasing through the wall. Doll and Baron Pierce were hunched down, waiting, biding their time. Once the imminent threat passed, they rose, dusting off.
"Whose side are you on?" Doll asked again, her eyes narrowed, her hand wavering over her sword. "I'm fighting for Amiens," Baron Pierce replied, "it's that simple." He disappeared quickly, vines standing in the place where he once was.
Alice jolted awake, bolting upright, her head spinning. "Alice, what's wrong?" Viola asked, about to wake her up for her morning bath. "Baron Pierce is in danger!" Viola grabbed her to keep her from tripping on the blankets. "What do you mean?" She asked softly, brushing the hair out of Alice's face. "I'm sure it was just a bad dream," she took Alice to the bathroom, her morning bath ready. "No, I saw him. He was with Doll King! They were fighting!" She was frantically clutching to Bunbun, hugging her toy for dear life. "Just sit still, alright? The faster I can bathe you, the faster you can tell everyone about it during breakfast." Alice had a hard time sitting still, however. She was squirming the entire time, but she let Viola put underwear on her.
Alice waited, the first one at breakfast. She wanted everyone to be there when she told them, but so far only Sonata and Cal had arrived.
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❝Open the door and walk away, you know we can't stay.❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#FF7BC1 ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #00B33E】
|| Countdown to X Day|| Sound Horizon ||
The little reprieve they had in Amiens disappeared as morning came. Why? Well, it was because the truth came out that Baron Pierce was in danger, and that Alice would absolutely not rest until she could make sure he was kept safe. Alice blabbered about it to them during breakfast, Ophie caught most of it though she came latest. Everyone was mostly healed up now except for Cal, whose arm was still in bad shape. It wasn't healing anymore, which concerned Julian. Normally a demon was supposed to be able to heal limbs up after a few hours or so, but Cal was having a hard time of it. Was the damage done by Wicked so severe that it wouldn't heal anymore? "We don't have to fight. We'll just go get Pierce, and get back out quickly."
It would be stupidity to just rush in trying to fight. They didn't have to do that and get in the fray. "Well, we'll need to stick together, of course!" Sonata decided with a nod. They were all getting ready to trek out and save Pierce. "The four of us can do it and come back quickly." Laertes's skin still wasn't back to it's normal color but Ophie knew he wasn't going to back down. If they were going to Paris, Ophie and Laertes were going to split apart from the main group in order to find Baron King Messiah and put an end to the chaos as soon as she could. "Viola, do you think you and Alice can stay here and hold down the fort?" Calciferous asked, testing his sword with his bad arm. His swings felt awkward and weaker than usual, he didn't have as much force behind his thrusts anymore. "It'd be safest for Alice to stay here out of danger.
Would Alice accept that or would she force them to bring her along with them right into the jaws of the flames? Ophelia wasn't sure one way or another. Her wings were furling and unfurling with the tension. This might just very be her last day on Earth after all. If things went as planned, it would mean leaving without getting a chance to say goodbye. "Don't pretend you're sneaky." Sonata muttered, noticing the siblings exchanging glances. "You two are going to kill Messiah and leave, right? Without even seeing us after it's all over, you'll just leave and disappear?"
"We didn't belong here anyways. Can you imagine how stinky everything on Earth is for angels? It's awful!" Laertes laughed, trying to distract them with a bit of silliness before it was time to head out. Ophelia nodded seriously. "I'm a bit anxious that we'll smell bad to other angels when we return home." Sonata was perceptive, you couldn't sneak past her easily. "I - I don't want you guys to leave. You're as much family as Cal and Alice and Pierce are!" The silver angel sighed, time was of the essence. "We don't have time to talk about this. We have to go and save Pierce. Amiens needs him." Sonata's eyes were burning with pain. "If not now, when can we talk about it? We won't have another chance!"
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❝ "If you're scared, don't do it, but if you're going to; keep your eyes open." ❞
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
【ɗιαƖσgυє cσƖσя:#7AA9DD ♙ тнσυgнт cσƖσя #BCD2EE】
|| Fight Song|| Rachel Platten ||
Alice told them about her bad dream, a vision of what was happening in Amiens. Baron Pierce was in danger, they needed to go and save him. Almost instantly it turned into an argument of who was going to come and who was going to stay here, in Amiens, to hold down the fort. "I want to come," Alice whimpered. She did not get to spend much time out of the house and when she did, nothing good ever happened. She wanted to come, however, nad help save Baron Pierce from whatever it was that was happenign in Pairs. Alice didn't really understand, things like wars went over her head. Why did people fight? She wasn't sure, but she knew that it wasn't anything good and a lot of people were going to get hurt. Some people weren't going to come back either.
Did this mean that the Baron Competition was over? Alice wasn't sure. "I want to help," it was laughable considering she wasn't strong or brave, she had no special powers, expect that she could sometimes see the future, if she was in the mood. "I can help!" She nibbled on her pancakes as the others worked out the details, they still wanted her to stay, along with Viola. "Alice, it might be better if we remained here and waited for Baron Pierce to return." Alice shook her head, "No, I want to go too! I want to be with everyone!" She didn't want to be left behind again, especially not if those big, scary dogs returned. Which side were they fighting for? Alice didn't know, but she would take whatever side Baron Pierce was on.
"You're going to leave?" Alice whimpered, her eyes wide and side. Why were Ophie and Laertes leaving them? Where were they going to go? Ophie said that they didn't have time to talk about it, they had to go and save Baron Pierce. Viola bundled Alice up in her winter coat and boots, if she was insisting on going, then she would have to stay warm. "Bunbun is coming too," Alice insisted. "Yes, Bunbun is coming too." Viola assured her, patting her head. Alice held Ophie's hand as they made their way to the carriage, not knowing if this was the last time she would ever get to see the house. What if it was bombed in battle? Or worse? Alice didn't know, she hadn't seen anything about that in her visions. She shivered, afraid, and sat herself between Ophie and Sonata.
The carriage went as fast as possible, taking the demons, angels, and Alice, towards Paris. The road had broken off just outside of the city, the carriage could not go any farther, they would have to move on foot. Almost as soon as they entered the city they were spotted, but it was by a friendly face. "Echo!" Cal yelled, spotting her, two knives in her hands, her wings spread out, a thin layer of water on the ground around her. "What are you lot doing here!" She yelled back, electrocuting the water, several demons turning into soul stones. "I thought you weren't fighting!" Cal called back, "I thought you were just gonna hide! Whose side are you on!" She lifted her hand, Christopher emerging from a building, cleaning off his sword. "Bastard-" Sonata held Cal back.
"It was Doll's doing," Echo looked away quickly. "She said if I wasn't with them, I was against them. She forced me into it."
"So, whose side are you all on?" Christopher asked, sheathing his sword for the time being. "We're on Baron Pierce's side!" Alice yelled, waving Bunbun in the air. Christopher and Echo exchanged glances, "Right then, follow me."