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Audrey Basque	Audrey actually had to give thought to whether she should use the Shrine or not for this. On one hand: safeties, and so the guarantee not to be grievously harmed (or to not grievously harm another Partner). On the other hand: Petra had suggested turning the pain simulators all the way up. And so, after some deliberation, but surely not enough... THE SHRINE OF ADVERSITY     The default setting, for now, is something Sarracenia should be more than comfortable with. The arena itself is shaped like a large stereotypical fantasy castle, placing the participants in the garden courtyard when they enter. There is an abundance of destructible and manipulatable terrain in the form of the castle itself, standard grey bricks that wouldn't be too difficult to smash through for either Audrey or Sarracenia (though, not manually, for Audrey, obviously!). It's a bit before sunset, for ambience.     Spectators stand atop one of the large towers of the castle, though it's as spatially isolated from the fight as it's possible to be unless someone decides to turn that safety feature off. The view from the tower will shift, if the fighters should ever be out of view from there.     The viewing area is set up with the Shrine's standard amenities for VIP users (and Partners); that is, there's an open bar, luxurious seating with massage options, and venue staff tending a grill who'll make you anything you ask for, whether it goes on a grill or not.     Per Petra's suggestion, though the safeties of the Shrine are most certainly online, the pain settings have been set to a staggering 200%. In other words... Audrey's going to regret this, a lot, even though she optimistically views this as a learning experience. Sarracenia might just have the advantage on her there, being much more acclimated to being hurt.     To further spice things up, Petra has full access to the Shrine's settings via a remote, as the... supervisor, of the proceedings. Terrain, special conditions, hazards, she can change any of it on a whim. If she should so choose, at least! Maybe letting the fight go on uninterrupted might make more sense, but it might also be more boring! Surely, Petra can be trusted to use her best judgment, and not to abuse this in any way.     AUDREY, having learned a lesson about showing up to embarrassing events in her school uniform, is instead wearing the same dress she'd worn when meeting Ariel. The high-collared dress, layered like it has a shawl and a skirt separately, is dark blue, accented by gold and silver trims arranged like constellations, while the Basque heraldry on its back depicts a canyon under a starry sky, in gold and silver too. Thigh-highs, spats and simple black leather shoes complete the look, and the glimmer of a night sky is visible both under the shawl and under the skirt.     Her hair is arranged in a single ponytail, though with enough hair loose upfront to cover her forehead and have two long bangs to both sides of her face.     She takes a deep breath. Come on, there's no stakes. This is just a stupid little show because Petra insisted.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia...is actually not looking forward to this duel that much. Sure, she likes to fight. But, she doesn't dislike Audrey enough to want to hurt her and doesn't like Audrey enough to want to fight her in a friendly duel. She also thinks this is not actually a matter worthy of dueling, but she couldn't back down as a matter of honor. The person she -would- like to fight is the person who instigated this, not Audrey.      The princess arrives with her piranha plant butler Gregory in tow and (if her letter did its job) Alucard. The princess arrives in her tried and true battle dress, a black dress of smooth, semi-hardened leather with red metal plates over her chest and four petal-like plates forming a sort of skirt of armor to supplement the leather skirt. Unlike most of her dresses though, the skirt of this one is cut into broad strips to give her much more ease of movement. Instead of her usual heels the princess is wearing knee-high black lace-up boots with a bit of a heel and pointed toes, which of course have her favorite shark-faced Bullet Bill design on them.      Billowing behind her is a long cape of shimmering red silk with golden trim and her personal seal on the back: A DK hammer behind a golden shield with white wings which has a green curling plant on it that is likely a sundew. Her golden crown, matching golden tiara, and the burgundy red metal flower hairpin sit on her head as usual, and her hair is groomed to a mirror shine with small twin braids starting from her temples to meet at the back of her head under that metal flower, where they merge into the larger braid the rest of her hair has been formed into to keep it out of the way and add a bit of battle maiden energy.      Gregory moves to the viewing area while Sarra moves to take up a spot opposite Audrey then stands tall and crosses her black velvet gloved arms over her chest, her one visible blue eye regarding Audrey above a slight frown. The other eye is of course hidden beneath her eyepatch, which is this time a black one with red trim to match her dress.      The princess has no apparent weapon, but she does have her large satchel purse which most anyone here knows contains plenty of dangers. "Are you completely certain about this?" She is quite certain Audrey is not going to withdraw the challenge this far in, but...she feels she would be remiss if she didn't at least offer. She doesn't actually want to hurt Audrey. Unlike with Lilian, Sarra actually -does- blame Petra for all of this.
Alucard	DAYS AGO A short while ago, a missive arrived at Castle Dracula, delivered to the Lord of the Castle. Alucard, said lord of the castle, stared at it for a long moment. With a sigh and a mutter about 'Foolishness', he wrote the Princess a reply in the affirmative before he returned to his work. Those Night Creatures aren't going to destroy themselves, after all. NOW The Son of Dracula stands in the corner of Sarracenia. His manner of dress is not too dissimilar to what he usually wears, just a bit more formal. The black and gold knee length coat is buttoned, and spills of lace flow from the neck and the sleeves. The black gloves on his hands are finely made of supple leather, clearly designed for looks, though they'll do in a pinch for fighting gloves. Black trousers fit tightly to his legs and are tucked into riding boots, black tooled with gold with the tops folded down. Over all of this, he wears a cape. Unlike everything else, it's very red. Trimmed in gold with the personal seal of the Princess Sarracenia, heir to the Sundew Kingdom on the back. A large hammer behind a golden shield with white wings with a green curling plant on it. The sharp eyed botanists will recognize it as a sundew plant. He stands silent, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword thrust through the belt around his waist. Golden eyes glitter as he observes the gathering of people, here to witness this ... whatever it is.
White	White doesn't arrive early, for once. This isn't business, and it's open-attendance rather than implicit or direct invitation (at least for her), so she cuts the clock a little closer than she usually would and simply manifests into a spectator seat almost right at the event's scheduled time. She has a couple of her little eight-legged clones and a little sealed baggie of gummy worms in her lap when she appears, and her 'agents' quickly skitter away from her to find different angles to view from.      This might all be a kind of embarrassing bout of peacock-strutting and ineffective conflict management, but a show is a show, and White might still have something to gain if she's lucky; checking on Audrey's practical skills this way is at least better than when White is actively trying to keep her safe, and Sarracenia... Well, on the off chance that this turns into a growing opportunity for her, that's a good thing right? She just has to wait, watch, and eat gummy worms. Easy.      If Audrey does *really* embarrassingly badly here, though, White contemplates giving her a similar training regimen as she did to Sophia when she was a weak little baby (literal); she'll just have to adapt it for the lack of healing magic between the two of them...
Petra Soroka	<X-Concord-Chatter> Audrey Basque says, "We could always resort to the Shrine." <X-Concord-Chatter> Petra Soroka says, "Only if it's at two hundred percent pain."     Petra had sort of imagined that this would result in *not* using the Shrine. Insofar as any part of this makes sense-- and after the conversation with Dianna and a night's sleep, very little of it does-- this choice surely makes the least. This is a completely nonsensical fight, happening solely because of Petra's whims somehow being taken seriously, but of all of them, this is the one she has the *least* power to enforce. If Audrey hadn't set the pain response in the Shrine to 200, Petra probably would've forgotten all about demanding it.     So this entire thing is kind of a ridiculous indulgence for Petra's sake, but from the start, Petra's kind of skeeved out by it. There's definitely joy to be found in seeing Sarracenia and Audrey beat the shit out of each other for literally no reason besides Petra's command, but she figures she should probably bring a book so she can do her homework in case it gets boring, so her evening isn't wasted.     Petra is wearing a shirt that reads DO NOT GIVE ME A CIGARETTE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES NO MATTER WHAT I SAY. She is also smoking a cigarette. She settles down in the viewing area, shucks off her CMU letterman jacket and folds it over the back of the chair, patting the seat beside her for Angela to sit in. Audrey handing her a remote gets Petra staring wide-eyed in horror at her for several seconds, until Petra pings it with a droplet of Silver to confirm that it actually does control the settings of the fight and not anything else.     That does a lot to get Petra invested in the fight again. She mashes a bunch of buttons on the remote, causing dark stormclouds to roll in overhead and rows of archers to appear on the walls, aiming downwards towards the fighters. "Ahahahahaha! Holy shit! Oh my god. I'm going to be so impartial about this. Gregory, man, don't worry; I'm so going to be impartial about this."     She makes sure to reset the conditions back to neutral and clear before the fight actually begins, though. She'll fiddle with it as it goes along, scrolling through the little holographic popup screen and snickering at the options.
Angela	For someone with several battle arenas in her home, Angela doesn't really care about arena battles or honorable duels or anything like that. It's all meaningless to her and even owing Audrey what she owes her isn't exactly enough to get her to spend precious 'Outside Time' just to literally sit down and watch violence. Especially when she considers that this duel is probably not going to create any sort of change in any way. Angela has spent most of her life in stasis and staticity is still staticity even if you're outside. There is only so much she can allow Petra to endure for her while still maintaining her own pride after all. But then Roland mentioned he wanted to go and she considered the plausibility that White and other friends could be around and so she ultimately settled it was worht it, especially with Roland bugging her that he wanted to go already. She is taking it as a good sign that he is showing enough interest in Audrey's affairs that he probably isn't up to anything spooky. So she arrives, sitting down next to Petra. Roland has to sit a bit further up and back. Despite Angela's low opinion of duels, she does want Audrey to win, of course, but unlike when Ceri asked for a duel--she's not entirely sure she can expect Audrey to win. If she can. That's a good sign too. But unexpectedly, a third person arrives--unrelated to Angela's request or at Roland's behest. The familiar form of Gebura (human-type) arrives shortly after. As most people do in the The City, Gebura politely nods to the plant with the rank of Butler but shortly thereafter lifts ROland up by the arm and drags him down to be closer to the action, forcing him to sit next to her. "I...thought you were on vacation..." Roland manages. "I am. But I heard about this going down and figured I'd see where Audrey was at." Gebura tells him, squinting at Roland's face for a moment. "Y..yeah?" Roland asks. "...Hahh... Nothing." Gebura lets go of his arm and leans back in her chair, lighting up a cigarette and breathing it in. Angela glances over to Gebura and Roland but seems more concerned with the matter of what Petra is saying to Gregory. "...Yes. Petra will be impartial." Angela says, taking a moment to look at Petra's shirt and proceeding not to talk about it. "...Aren't there normally ... confections for this sort of spectacle?" Angela asks of Petra.
Audrey Basque	"Are you completely certain about this?"     "Why wouldn't I be? It'll be painful, but I need the practice. And I'd rather really like it if you stayed out of my personal matters, as an added bonus." There's a dismissiveness to her voice; like what Sarracenia said isn't important at all, because it put into question something Petra said. It's not as pronounced as it was near the start of the week, but it's still in the backdrop of her tone.     "Besides. What is there to be concerned about? I've trained here before, and injuries don't stick. Well, physical ones." Petra's horrifying cannon sure stuck a bit, but that was more being spooked than being injured.     But at the same time...     "Maybe I'd like to win, too. Don't you? Fighting mushrooms, nobody Fixers, skeletons and whatever else... it's fine, but it's not a good way to tell how good you are."     The brief changes in the battlefield cause Audrey to look towards the viewing area, and suddenly wonder if it was a good idea to trust Petra with that. Too late! It'll surely be okay.     There's a short delay, as both Audrey and Sarracenia need to confirm they're ready, giving Alucard and Gregory plenty of time to mosey on over to the VIP lounge with everyone else! And then, a countdown, and-- green lights.     "Give it your best. Or this won't matter."     It's unclear if she's talking to herself or Sarracenia, but she follows that up by reaching forward, past Sarracenia, and twisting her hand. It's easy here. It's convenient.     The castle walls and ramparts behind Sarracenia twist and bend like a wave of water, with none of the rumble or destruction you'd expect, at least until they're brought down atop the princess in a loud crash that leaves reality distorted like a spiral. Audrey's certainly not shy about starting.
Lilian Rook	"Is she really a Nova Heliosanctus student? Now that I have to look at her, she's so basic that it hurts."     It's unclear whether Lilian means the stereotypical grey castle, Audrey's outfit, her hair, using the Shrine of Adversity for this, or any and all of those things. It's also unclear how Lilian even knew this was happening at all! It's not as if the staff are so unprofessional as to make special exceptions for her, so Audrey will have to blame herself or Petra for how she got in here too.     "Is the uniform and setting really doing that much work? Is it that easy to believe that everyone around you is roughly a peer when you're all wearing the same thing and attending the same classes in the same halls?" Lilian says, incredulous for a moment, then stopping to contemplate that this may in fact be the entire purpose of uniforms and a shared setting. "She's like a baby bird. If she's removed from the nest for a moment, she can't fend for herself at all, so she has to be constantly brought back and fed by mother."     Not that she likes Sarracenia better. Her disdain of Audrey is probably an order of magnitude less intense than whatever feelings she has about the Multiverse's most incorrigible princess. The way she looks when Sarracenia enters from the opposite side, though, seems like she was half-sure at best who this duel was even against in the first place. Her expression is a little more aghast than her surprisingly bland tone; as if she was expecting to be struck with disbelief either way.     "So, this 'duel' is between an amateur student with no real combat experience, and an unarmed, one-eyed, elderly woman? Is that why she has a second for a simulated duel? In case she keeps over of a heart attack?" says Lilian, exasperated for only a moment before thinking to turn and look at Petra, and with crackling gravitas, ask, "What the fuck is going on? Who's fault is this?!" A pause, only briefly. "What the hell is the Concord like?! Do you need a moderator?"     'Ahahahahaha! Holy shit! Oh my god. I'm going to be so impartial about this. Gregory, man, don't worry; I'm so going to be impartial about this.'     Lilian reaches out to pluck the cigarette from Petra's fingers, then allows her eyes to rove around Petra's face, neck, then the bare portion of her arms, but aborts whatever she was about to do when Gebura struts in and lights up too. "Apologies, but must you make the viewing deck smell like that?" she complains, half-heartedly, stubbing Petra's out on the arm rest instead.
Petra Soroka	> Gebura appearance     While engrossed in the menu of harrassment options she's been given ('Ange, look at this one-- do you think a dragon's too much? Probably, right? But it'd be *really* funny to see them panic about it.') Petra is suddenly seized by a cold grip of fear and twists around in her chair to stare at the motionless door. Just as she's thinking that it must've been an anxious misfire, Gebura walks in, and Petra swallows nervously.     "O-oh, hi, Gebura. Are you... I'm not really expecting this to be much of anything. Um, I hope this isn't too much of an interruption to your vacation." "Is it that easy to believe that everyone around you is roughly a peer when you're all wearing the same thing and attending the same classes in the same halls?"     Now that this bullshit has escalated to involving the *Red Mist* and Lilian, Petra feels the prickling dread of certainty that *she's* going to get in the most trouble for this somehow running down her spine. She doesn't understand it either!! She's innocent! And yet, here the questionable remote is, in her hands, pointed out of the viewing dock towards Audrey.     "L-L-Lilian, too! W-w-- what-- well, you-- you know, I think, it's hard to believe that anyone's your peer at all in any situation, so..."     Petra takes a breath to relax so she can talk normally. Really, this is all Audrey's fault! Petra just has to keep that in mind. "... But it's kind of especially humiliating for her, huh?" "What the fuck is going on? Who's fault is this?!"     A singular drop of cold sweat rolls down Petra's neck. "It's kind of ridiculous, but-- but it's really, really funny, right? There was a conversation where Sundew was talking about duels or whatever, and then Audrey had some kind of argument with her before, and then-- w-well, but, I think it only happened because it's the two of them specifically. I mean, I've already had to fight another Partner because they threatened to kill me a couple months ago, but that's normal."     "But it'll be really funny!" In her desperation to deflect Lilian into being amused at the suffering two people she doesn't like are about to endure, Petra shows off the remote settings of the Shrine to her. "Look, I can drop meteors and shit on them, and they've got the pain turned to 200, so--" "Apologies, but must you make the viewing deck smell like that?"     "Sorry," Petra says as if she was the only one smoking, with a tiny whine at the end of the word from the pain. "...Aren't there normally ... confections for this sort of spectacle?"     Petra turns to Angela and looks over at the bar. "You mean, like, sweets? I'm sure there's plenty in the fridge up there."
Sarracenia	'Why wouldn't I be? It'll be painful, but I need the practice. And I'd rather really like it if you stayed out of my personal matters, as an added bonus.'      Sarra huffs softly at that first thing, then listens quietly to the rest. She doesn't say anything even when Audrey brings a castle down on her. As the walls come down, Sarra reaches quickly to touch her metal lotus, and in a flash she has a Silver approximation of her DK Hammer in hand and already swinging to meet that incoming wall.      She smashes through it, getting showered with less dangerous debris in the process. She then turns back to Audrey. "I always give it my best. And I suppose a fight like this is a good way to practice." She still doesn't seem happy about it, though.      As she finishes speaking, Sarra goes into a slow dancing twirl. As she does she reaches into her purse and three Bullet Bills are thrown into the air almost like she is going to juggle them. But instead, as she throws the last one upward she grips her hammer and twirls faster. As each person-sized Bullet comes down she hammers it on the flat. A 'kaboom' like a piece of artillery firing is heard with each one, and three shark-faced projectiles rocket their way toward Audrey.      Gregory looks over as Petra pledges to be impartial. "Thank you. That is good to hear. And quite surprising, given the history between yourself and the Princess."      Lilian speaks up, and Gregory turns his attention to her. "Despite her prematurely advanced age, the princess has worked hard to stay in shape and keep her battle prowess sharp. As for what is going on...as I understand it the princess tried to 'save' Audrey from Petra, Audrey insulted the princess in the process of refusing to be saved, and the princess was quite stubborn about it."
Angela	If anyone else complained about her smoking, Gebura would ignore it, but since it's Lilian--The Red Mist does ultimately finish one last draw and then pinches it out with finger before scrunching it up against the side of her chair. "I can wait." Gebura says. "Good to see you again, Director." ''This 'duel' is between an amateur student with no real combat experience, and an unarmed, one-eyed, elderly woman?'' "I just wanted to spend time with friends." Is Angela's own reason for being here. "I don't remember how this started--" Considering Angela can't forget this must mean she never bothered to remember it in the first place. "Couldn't stop talking shit and meddling." Roland supplies helpfully(?), looking uncomfortable being this close to Gebura (to say nothing of all the other powerhouses present). "Most fights aren't so clean that you get to eat popcorn while it's going on--" ''I'm sure there's plenty in the fridge up there.'' "Ah, yes. Roland, retrieve me some of the popped corn please. Thank you." Roland straightens up to do his job, understanding that Angela can't exactly go fetch it herself while Petra's busy--at least not with putting pressure on Petra. ''I hope this isn't too much of an interruption to your vacation.'' Gebura says, "I was feeling a little cooped up." Gebura says. Her eyes slant towards Roland, then to Lilian after a moment but she doesn't comment on it. "Don't even have to fight so I'm fine." Angela is a little unsure why Gebura dropped in either. She understands why Lilian might, but she also doesn't really care why Gebura decided to visit. She doesn't like that she's here, though, making Petra nervous but she can't exactly tell Gebura where to go when she's on vacation. Ugh. ,''Bullet Bill BLitz.'' "Always forget everyone's dripping with ammo out here." Roland murmurs as he fills a bag of popcorn (popped corn). ''Stage hazards!'' Roland returns with the popcorn, glancing back to Lilian. He DID want to talk to her but he can't talk to her about all that in a crowd like this. Huffh.
Alucard	His part done (for now), Alucard retreats, the red cape fluttering in his wake as he makes his way to the VIP area. Graceful and silent but for the thud of his bootheels, he only shakes his head a little. He understands honor duels, but the pain threshold being set so high? Patently absurd and foolish. He settles himself in to watch in silence.
Lilian Rook	'L-L-Lilian, too! W-w-- what-- well, you-- you know, I think, it's hard to believe that anyone's your peer at all in any situation, so...'     "How much do you believe you can get up to without my noticing?" Lilian replies as if curious. "I have a special sense for when you're about to enjoy yourself." That's a joke, but it might be true anyways. Her gaze turns back out the viewing deck window, and she says "Of course it is. Dueling Sundew is an embarrassment that I've never even come close to lowering myself. Ceri was fair enough to do so out of anger whilst paraplegic, but in this state, even Basque might just be inappropriatingly beating a senior citizen." She even says it as if Sarracenia is actually elderly and not just magically age-ravaged.     'But it'll be really funny!'     Lilian stops to consider that this is, in fact, true. It is really, really funny to see these two slap each other at double pain values. She begins to move on whilst refusing to admit it, but visibly doubles back, going by the delay between opening her mouth and speaking, and says "Well. It is, actually. In that the first and second most pathetic women in the sector are fighting under the control of the third." A while later, she begins counting off with fingers, looking into a corner as she obviously starts recalling that more Elites exist; presumably pathetic women. "Hmm."
White	White hears Angela ask about confections, glances down into her lap, back to Angela, then back down. She pulls the bag of gummy worms open at the top (taking longer than normal specifically so she doesn't just send the contents flying everywhere), then picks out about six wormy bois before surreptitiously teleporting the rest, with the bag, into Angela's lap instead. Ange is here in person, after all, so a little gesture feels right! Now, White just has a little fistful of gummy worms clenched in one hand, and goes about slowly nibbling her way down one like a single piece of spaghetti after putting it between her lips.      Audrey dropping the castle bricks onto Sarracenia is a classic move. Relatively low-exertion for the outcome, albeit unreliable due to projectile spread... And the visual obstruction of all that dust and rubble is notable too, for most. Sarra's return-fire is linear but not solitary, and the reaction is prompt. But linear... Feels like a bad choice, against someone like Audrey. Sarracenia is obviously comfortable with her tools and a certain way of using them, but to White this counterattack feels a little... "Half... hearted?" she mumbles softly around a half-devoured worm.      Once everyone's seats are picked and settled, and folks have clustered together closely enough to talk, White has to spend a few moments convincing herself internally to go join them. She's comfy by herself, but there are other things on her mind too, so after a couple of minutes as a loner she gets up and walks on her own two feet over to more or less join the loose cluster of spectators chatting away. She's only *just* close enough to hold her gummy-worm cluster out toward Lilian, Petra, and even Gebura and Roland (once Roland is back from his popcorn quest). She realized she didn't really want to eat all of those worms herself, you see.
Kukuru	Kukuru's a late arrival to today's festivities, but she doesn't seem all that worried about that when she finally does show up. Rather than her usual frumpy frilly wear, she dressed down considerably in a loose t-shirt and sweatpants combo. Her hair's not even done in the way it normally is(or isn't?), having tied it around the middle and again at the end into a loose ponytail draped over her shoulder. Seeing Audrey and Sarracenia already starting the festivities, Kukuru smiles serenely as she raises a hand to wave down at them from the safety of the viewing area. "Good luck out there, dears! And don't hold back now, because you've got to reaaaally let it all out!" She cheers them on, pantomiming exactly one cheerleader-esque punch into the air before beelining for the bar to order some drinks. Several drinks, actually, and all of them some manner of fruity cocktail. She also gets a tray to carry them around, and the reason becomes clear as she starts making the rounds around the viewing area. "They'll be okay." She says aloud, humming softly to herself while holding out that tray to White should she wantt o grab something alcoholic to sip on. She pauses a moment later, then peers at White curiously. "Oh. Ah. Do you have any allergies, dear? Or... Drink at all?" As Kukuru circles around, she pauses before breaking into a slightly wider smile upon spotting Gebura. That's a face she hasn't seen in a while! "He-llo, Geburaaa... Ah, it's good to see you around agaaain. Will you need a hand getting back to the vacation spot after all thiiis? And Roland, hii... Oh, Ange, Ange~" She wants to play favorites as usual, but she's still doing her self-imposed job offering drinks to Gregory, Gebura, and Roland first. "Ange's right, mhm. Petra might like some people waaay more just like anybody else does, but she's really fair when it matters." Her path eventually takes her around to where Petra's handling the controls, marveling lightly at the archers readying to fire. "Ooh... I didn't know this had so many options. Could really make it more fun if they need to shake things up..." Kukuru really doesn't seem too worried for their safety at all, although she does jump a bit at Lilian sounding as exasperated as she does. "It's a little different from the usual, but I'm sure they'll figure things out with each other by the end of all this. They..." She pauses briefly to look towards the battlers and Alucard way over there, tapping her chin for a moment before offering Lilian some drinks as well. "... They might not like each other by the end of it, but it'll help. Besides, they'll be tooootally sa-" "and they've got the pain turned to 200, so--" Even Kukuru has to stop and close her eyes when she hears that. She inhales deeply through her nose, exhales carefully, then looks over at Petra slowly. "Mmmn... Petra, dear? That's... Hm. Maybe that could help them get along better over something else." Kukuru takes a seat, and then she goes through an entire cocktail in one long sip.
Audrey Basque	Well, Petra wanted to see Audrey get shot by a cannon! She might be getting her wish. That the cannon is Sarracenia doesn't really matter, and arguably she's more dangerous than a tube of metal and gunpowder. And more unpredictable! Surely a downside to some.     What Audrey *expected* is that bringing a wall down on the princess would slow her down right off the bat. Not only is this not the case, but she's coming out swinging explosive shells already. It might also be Lilian's voice, however faint it is, that causes a lapse in her reaction.     Though the space around Audrey distorts, the three bullets slam around her and still explode; there's a field, twisting the air and the smoke and even the fire around her into an orbit, but the heat of the explosions causes her to do a bit more than yelp in surprise. Right, pain settings! Oh that is UNPLEASANT. If she hadn't reacted fast enough...     Too late to have regrets.     "Ha... I was worried you wouldn't get into it. I can bear the embarrassement, but if you were even more hesitant than me..." That really would be the worst, actually.     The heat and fire dancing around her starts compressing, forming a thin band that rotates faster and faster. Debris, molten rock, dust and hot air make up an awful ring of area denial, and then rather than try launching it at the princess and gamble on if she's fast enough to avoid it...     Audrey takes a step back, swinging a hand to seize the space between the two of them and yank it back. It's like she's just crunching it all up, placing Sarracenia directly into the fiery burst.     Burst that she lets go, after the fact, because she was barely holding in a scream from collecting heat around herself. The sweat is a dead giveaway.
White	White has funny timing, given the snack-master Kukuru is settling in right as she's walking over to the others! Kukuru is offered a worm too, surely the highest of honors, and White shakes her head gently at the question of allergies. Asked about *drinking* on the other hand, White seems to be staring at the tray maybe a little too intensely. Her eyes are even open, Analyzing each drink's ingredients and flavor with the great and mighty Evil Eye... She's a bit slow to respond, "Not... Often." and it takes her even longer to admit, "The Demon Lord... Banned me from drinking. But I don't remember... Why?" Well you see, White, that's kind of the issue...      Eventually, as a clear act of rebellion, she gently reaches out to take something bright green from the tray and hold it delicately between both hands. Her last gummy worm gets placed into the drink with its 'face' poking up over the rim of the glass, and she stares into its tiny eyes like it's secretly giving her moral advice that nobody else can hear.
Angela	A bag of gummy worms appear in Angela's lap (along with the bag). Angela doesn't quite jump up but her head turns to look at White for a moment before she takes six popcorns and puts them in the bag of gummi worms. "Roland, deliver the rest of these to White." Angela says, still employing him like a personal popcorn machine. Roland sighs and then trudges along with the bag over to White. Angela can't surreptitiously teleport popcorn around so this is the best that she can do. Roland holds the bag open for White and just sort of stands there for a moment. He's honestly comfortable with White not being too chatty and doesn't try to prompt White to speak though when she DOES speak he looks at her for a moment, questions in his eyes, but then ultimately turns back to the fight. He'll stand there offering popcorn until White signals, one way or another, that she has enough popcorn. ''Ceri was fair enough to do so out of anger whilst paraplegic.'' "Ceri's loyal and cares about honor, sometimes at the expense of sense. But I don't dislike it." Gebura says. "If she had her legs she would've found some other way to make it more fair." Her eyes settle on Roland again for a moment before looking back to the match.
Alucard	Alucard's golden eyes follow the combat below, weighing and measuring the combat styles and prowess of the two women engaged in (non)mortal combat. Blow after blow, sorcery against tools and strength. He's still not quite sure who is going to win this one. At least he doesn't have to jump in there and do anything. He's drawn enough steel against things that deserve it lately, he wants a break. Though as the tray of drinks flows through the room, he looks at it intently for a moment before visibly pulling his gaze away from it. Did he quit drinking?!
Petra Soroka	"How much do you believe you can get up to without my noticing?"     "No, that's fair." Petra takes it at face value that Lilian can, or at least should be able to, sense any time Petra is about to get into some bullshit like this. "I mean, I'm happy you're here, obviously. I was just surprised, since it's stupid." "even Basque might just be inappropriatingly beating a senior citizen."     "But even that's super funny, right? I mean, normally I'm all in favor of old women," Surely there was several better ways she could've phrased that. "But if it's unfair, it's Sundew's fault anyways, so it's just funny for her to get beat up. If she even does. I mean, she's been doing violence for longer than Audrey's been alive." "In that the first and second most pathetic women in the sector are fighting under the control of the third."     Petra hesitates, doing the same mental math as Lilian to question whether she's actually literally the third most pathetic woman in the sector, but she shakes it off because the point's valid anyways. "Yeah! Look, watch this-- boiling oil."     When Petra clicks the button, a bunch of fake, faceless soldiers appear on the walls of the castle, all with big cauldrons of oil heated enough to burn. Rather than dumping it outside the walls to stop assailants, they all face inwards, spilling waves of oil into the courtyard where Sarracenia and Audrey are fighting. "And quite surprising, given the history between yourself and the Princess."     Petra waves at the butler reassuringly. "Nah, it's really not like that. I mean, I know you and I haven't gotten a lot of chances to talk, but I only hate her for everything she does and says, not for no reason at all. So this isn't my fight to pick sides in. It's not like I'm interested in defending Audrey."     "I even wanted to make sure the princess's friends-- friend was invited! Hey!" Petra waves over at Alucard, not particularly friendly, but at the very least not hostile.
Kukuru	White's offering of the worm has Kukuru's eyes lighting up somewhat predictably. It's not often she gets offered food instead of the other way around, and she treasures that candy worm for about as long as it takes her to slip it into her second drink. speaking of drinks, the stuff Kukuru ordered from the bar would all fall enatly under the umbrella of Gets You Fucked Up. She's holding that first drink pretty well, at least, although her reaction to hearing about White's ban from drinking is just a bit slower than usual. "That's weird... Well, maybe not that weird if she wants you sober during work. We're not working now, though, so it should be okay." She clinks a little cup of soju against White's green thing, then downs the shot before sucking her worm down right after. Just in time, too, because that boiling oil hazard has Kukuru shivering uncomfortably just thinking about it. "That's definitely gonna hurt if they touch it..." Triply so, once she remembers that Petra turned the pain settings up.
White	White is defeated in her one-sided gesture of snack-sharing, and now the gummy worm that he would've been offered is instead more of a tip for service rendered, pushed firmly into his other hand to free up the space to take a little pinch of popcorn, thereby satisfying this grand and elaborate social contract and freeing Service Worker Roland from his latest duty. He gets a tiny thumbs up from her, just to make sure he knows she's done with him. It'd be kind of galling for her to just keep letting him stand there waiting on her!
Petra Soroka	> gummy worm     Petra looks down at the less than one half of a dozen gummy worms clutched in White's outstretched fist, and then back up to her face. She repeats this motion again, just to double check, falling equally as silent as White does while trying to process this behavior. After a few seconds, it clicks, and Petra plucks out one (1) gummy worm from the offering. "Hell yeah I'll take a gummy worm. Thanks." "Ange's right, mhm. Petra might like some people waaay more just like anybody else does, but she's really fair when it matters."     "It's important to follow the rules." Petra nods twice, eyes closed, with one-eighth of one gummy worm bitten off of her little treat. She's starting to feel relatively normal about this now that there's plenty of other people here! Yay! A normal situation! "Mmmn... Petra, dear? That's... Hm."     "They could've just not done it in the Shrine! I literally said that if it was in the Shrine it'd be this way! *Audrey* chose it like that!" Petra protests, and then pouts and stands up out of her chair to leeean over the edge of the tower balcony and shout down at the pair.     "Remember to go for the kill! That's the only reason to choose the Shrine anyways, right?? It doesn't count if it's the Shrine!"
Lilian Rook	'Despite her prematurely advanced age, the princess...Audrey insulted...was quite stubborn...'     "Flying monkeys." Lilian exasperates aloud. "Wasn't he around to watch Proudpick get beaten to a pulp by Petra and Xion too?"     She looks to Gebura in evident surprise, and then after gathering herself, quickly remembers to at least a flash a little smile. "Good to see you out and about. And, more importantly . . ." Lilian holds a breath in deliberation. "Looking like that. Finally. I've only ever gotten to see it from ancient security footage." She glances at Roland, but just for a second. "So, how does it feel?" she says to Gebura. "I haven't asked the others, by the way. I think that you, most of all, would actually notice the difference. The work you put into that body isn't in the same universe as anyone else in the City."     'I just wanted to spend time with friends.'     "As good a motivation as any." says Lilian. "Or perhaps a better motivation than most?"     Finally, she does actually respond to Roland, at a delay. In the airy tone of voice used to deliver interesting but inconsequential trivia, Lilian says, while still looking out the window, "You know, I've never used this place. Not once in my life. Every 'duel' I've ever fought has been live steel. The Academy uses live weapons for all training after the first year as well. It's something interesting to consider; that cleanliness."     'Always forget everyone's dripping with ammo out here.'     "She's a crown princess. Somehow." says Lilian. "She has infinity of everything."     She tries not to whisper 'cute' too loud when White teleports gummies over to Angela. Gosh . . . "Oh, thank you very much. Commander?" she says, instead, once White is within arm's reach. She stares a little misgivingly at the bag, and processes the idea of putting her fingers in someone else's Treat Container (unimaginable!) before gesturing with a finger to float a little bunch of wiggly wormy snacks out into her other palm. She even takes Kukuru's offered drink, but a little reluctantly. Her "Thank you." sounds guilty and loaded.
Sarracenia	Sarra noticed that the rocks hurt quite a bit, but after the war she has developed a bit of a thick skin. Being thrown into a whirling ring of burning debris is a bit much though with 2x pain, and she cries out before leaping upward to escape it. Sarra is only passingly aware that the Shrine can even do such things, so she is wondering if Audrey is somehow inflicting pain.      As she leaps upward, Sarra goes into a somersault that carries her faster and faster until she is a whirling blur of black, red, and silver. She then comes flying down at Audrey, channeling the momentum from the fall and the spin into her hammer.      The strike sends a shockwave through the ground and leaves a crater in its wake. "I was more hesitant than you. I questioned the duel when you first issued it, and again here, and both times you said you wanted it. I enjoy a fight, but this feels like a terrible reason to fight. It would have been more acceptable if it was -just- a duel to test each other's strength."      That boiling oil starts toward them, and Sarra regards it with a slight frown. "Well...that is sure to be problematic." Sarra says, then pulls out a cloud and steps on before floating up. Unlike her other power-ups, this one is one that will stick around. And may change hands several times.      'Nah, it's really not like that. I mean, I know you and I haven't gotten a lot of chances to talk, but I only hate her for everything she does and says, not for no reason at all. So this isn't my fight to pick sides in. It's not like I'm interested in defending Audrey.'      "That is better than for no reason at all." Gregory agrees as he takes a drink from Kukuru. "Thank you, Miss Kukuru." he says with a light bow. He then looks to Alucard. "And thank you, Mister Alucard, for coming to support the princess. She was concerned she had no friends left who would take on the roll of second."
Alucard	Alucard blinks once, seeming to come back to reality as Gregory addresses him. "Her Highness has never been anything but kind to me. It would have been improper for me to decline," he says, pausing before he adds. "Though I do believe this endeavor to be ... a bit foolish. Then again, I never truly understood honor duels anyway," he muses. Combat and violence are both intended to harm and kill. Why risk life and limb over honor? Perhaps it's the vampire in him, but violence is saved for enemies, true enemies. Words are rarely worth fighting over in his opinion. When you're immortal, there are other ways to win. Like outliving foes. His attention slips back to the fight, following the back and forth with the keen eye of a warrior.
Kukuru	"I literally said that if it was in the Shrine it'd be this way!" "Eh? So they knew before coming in, and they still..." Kukuru trails off as she processes that over several seconds. She closes her eyes again as she takes another sip of her tiny cup, then mellows out considerably as her voice goes right back to its brightly sleepy tone. "Oh, that's fine, then. As long as eeeveryone's on the same page~" Some way, somehow, she's no longer worried about all that boiling oil. It's not like she's the one down there, after all, and they did agree to it! "Commander?" "Thank you." Seeing the way Lilian levitates those wiggly wormos out of the snack bag actually gets Kukuru to look away. The tight-lipped smile on her face is pretty obvious even without her face being visible for those few seconds, though, and the light shaking makes it all too obvious she's really trying not to squeal at how cute the sight is. It definitely helps that she's seeing all this here rather than anywhere else, and the drinks might be helping a little, too. By the time she turns around to Lilian at the thanking, she's able to push it down enough to just smile normally, albeit with a few tears still at the corners of her eyes. "You're welcome, Liliaaan...~"
Audrey Basque	"Why? You're one of the more infamous Elites in the sector for *fighting*, and you're hesitant to fight some green spoiled brat who's not even out of school?" She might listen to Petra and Lilian just a bit too much. It's definitely bad for her self-esteem, but good for her humility. Humility's not doing her any particular favors of late though.     "I've *seen* how you treat people who cross you, you should be looking for every excuse to put me in my place. Not going 'hmph! I still won't help you!'. What is that? *I'm* bad at being cross with people and I wouldn't--"     Talk talk talk is nice but Sarracenia has a HAMMER, and is spinning like a madwoman. Audrey focuses fully into the shield, Sarracenia's hammer slamming into the compressed distance that's between her and Audrey. But she's progressing! The warbled, distorted air cracks like glass, and Audrey is forced to hop back, aided by a momentary reduction in gravity, to avoid being crushed outright. And then oil.     There's a splash on her sleeve, and she winces, hesitating not a moment to crackle out of view through mirrored refractions and reappear atop the ramparts, away from the guards and oil. She tries to rip the sleeve off... and can't. This dress is too well made! Or she's too much of a noodle to manage it. It might almost sound like she's cursing, needing a moment to focus through that. This makes her reach into a pocket, and pull out a PAGE. "Remember to go for the kill! That's the only reason to choose the Shrine anyways, right?? It doesn't count if it's the Shrine!"     "I-I am not-- going to! Petra!"     But... she can still be mean.     She tightens her grip around the page; it breaks apart into blue, starry light, forming into a long, thin fencing blade, its guard a simple constellation on dark blue steel.     E.G.O. Weapon, The Sword Sharpened With Tears.     Infinitely more suitable to Audrey than a heavier weapon, and at Angela's insistence that she keeps trying new ones until she finds one that works well for her. Still... she's a noodle. A slightly more fit noodle than weeks ago, but still a noodle. A weapon in her hands is just a glowing weak point. You can place bets for how long she manages to hold on to it.     Which makes this particular one an even better match. A set of three identical swords form in the air around Audrey, over her shoulders and her head, angled towards Sarracenia already.     Audrey launches a one-two offensive of using her free hand to suddenly crunch Sarracenia down with an increase in gravity, and then launching all three floating blades straight for her legs.
Lilian Rook	''I mean, I'm happy you're here, obviously. I was just surprised, since it's stupid.''     "Should I say that it's because it involves 'the reputation of the school'?" Lilian folds her arms, unable to bother to lift a brow. "You can simply imagine that I decided to spend some rare free time on something more memorable than coffee and a book." She shrugs with her shoulders alone at Petra's second remark. "She agreed to it, so of course it's funny. I'd only feel badly for her if Basque forced the point." And she hardly needs to read Petra's mind to say, "Don't bother. I just forgot that four or five women exist slightly lower down than you. I'd likely put you just below Clarine. So it's still completely absurd to see you presiding over this."     Her face at the sight of soldiers pouring boiling oil is too much of a poker face. "Petra, have you ever cooked with oil before?" Lilian idly asks. Uncertain whether Petra has lived solely off of microwaves, vending machines, employee cafeterias, convenience stores, and random restaurants, Lilian waits for an answer first, before 'wondering aloud', "You've changed, recently."     'You're welcome, Liliaaan...~'     "Thank you." Lilian says, again, less guiltily. "I'm glad to see you're back to your usual form. Outside of Rita and I, nobody was pushing harder than you." Petra doesn't count, because Petra was dissociated and mostly sending her allies to their deaths over and over again, which means that, inherently, any work that Petra did was also equal extra work for Kukuru. Duh.     'Though I do believe this endeavor to be ... a bit foolish. Then again, I never truly understood honor duels anyway,'     "Of course it's tremendously foolish." Lilian says to Alucard. "This is part of why I don't often approve of the Shrine of Adversity. It has people taking harm and death for granted, and so they resort to violence over silly things that they'd never dare normally." she says. "It's not as if I don't understand that some things are worth risking injury for; or rather, that some things simply cannot be let stand." Albeit, in all those cases, she went black ops with both barrels on someone; there wasn't a nice little duel. "But this seems like a scuffle for social maneuvering that could have been solved by either of them being slightly wittier."     Unfolding her arms in a wide gesture towards the window, Lilian says "I mean look at them. They're arguing about the moral highground in a fight they both consented to in the first place."     She looks back at Petra over her shoulder. "Are you absolutely certain you have that setting turned on? Neither of them are screaming."
Angela	''He-llo Geburaaaa'' "...Kukuru." Gebura says. It wasn't that long ago where Kukuru was making her entire goal at Lobcorp infinitely harder by bringing back everybody who got killed. She's not super interested in being a Kukuru pal even if she's willing to be polite. "Hello Kukuru." Angela says. She's always happy to be told that she's right, of course. Well almost always. #-1 FUNCTION (ASNI) NOT FOUNDAre you here just to watch or are you going to take the role of medical staff after?" ''Her Highness has never been anything but kind to me.'' Angela lets out a sigh but eats a gummyworm to feel better. It's nice to eat food, Angela thinks, giving White an appreciative nod. It's a little unsettling for Gebura. Obviously she's grateful to have a body back, and she's not so determined to die that she'd wish she was dead, but she LOST and that nags at her. And more than that, she's starting to wonder if the very goal she was fighting for was what she thought it was. She never had to worry about the day after before. Now that it's here, it still feels so ... samey. Maybe it's just that time everyone was talking about, Gebura thinks, or maybe Carmen was too optimistic. She was the sort to be too optimistic. "It's taking some getting used to." Gebura admits. "Everything is as I remember it, but it might take some getting used to. The new weight. The muscle aches. But I'm actually looking forward to getting back in shape. I always felt so detached from the Sephirah body." Of course Gebura's idea of 'out of shape' and 'getting back into shape' is ridiculous but she speaks about it like she's returning to the gym after being away for half a year. "Gonna help out in Elibe once the vacation's over. Figure you've got plenty of hands there but it'll be the fastest way to get back up to speed. Hope I don't hold you back none." Roland mouths 'hold you back' in disbelief. Gebura's not really shaping up to what HE expected either. "Chesed's needling me to not immediately slam face first into another war though." She adds. "Did I miss anything exciting with you while I was out?" ''As good a motivation as any. Or perhaps a better motivation than most?'' "For all your accomplishments, Dame Commander, I am forever grateful that you do not look down on my humble desires." Angela says. ''You know, I've never used this place. Not once in my life.'' "Yeah until the Library I don't think I ever did a ''duel'' exactly." Roland admits. "I had a friend I'd practice with but I wouldn't call that anything as elaborate as a duel. And the lady who taught me was a bit of a school of hard knocks type." He pauses. "Oh I thought the Academy didn't teach how to fight." Roland glances over to Audrey, wondering if he misremembered. ''She has infinity of everything.'' "Ugh..." Every time Roland hears something about Sarracenia, he can't help but get more pissed off. But there's nothing he can do about it so he just swallows it down with the rest of the bile. ''I never truly understood honor duels anyway.'' It is a little nice to have something she actually doesn't disagree wqith Alucard about. "I'm not fond of them either. Fighting rarely improves matters. It is useful to be able to protect yourself but you can't change a heart with a sword unless you sink it through one." She says.
Lilian Rook	'Everything is as I remember it, but it might take some getting used to. The new weight. The muscle aches. But I'm actually looking forward to getting back in shape. I always felt so detached from the Sephirah body.'     Lilian smiles, a tiny bit knowingly. "I thought so. If I were in that position, I'd probably have gone out in a blaze of glory on purpose within days of having to tolerate that body." she says. "I'd appreciate someone of your talents tremendously. Roy's army is developing as the 'small but talented' sort already, so you'll slot in perfectly." She waves off with a hand, then realizes it's still full of gummy worms, stopping to eat one just after speaking. "If you've recovered even a third of the strength you had back then, you'll be a tremendous asset, not dead weight."     "Ah. But stop thinking about work while you're supposed to be on vacation." Lilian chides. It's completely obvious that she's had Tamamo reminding her a Lillion times before.     'For all your accomplishments, Dame Commander, I am forever grateful that you do not look down on my humble desires.'     "Humble is far from the same thing as small." Lilian says to Angela, leading downward to Audrey with her eyes. "There are no shortage of people who wish grandiose things in utterly petty ways, and hope to achieve them with little effort."     'Oh I thought the Academy didn't teach how to fight.'     "Different academy." Lilian says, waving it off. "She's full time at my original place of learning. I've since graduated . . . I suppose you could call it a training organization that prepares low level Fixers for high level work?"
Petra Soroka	"Wasn't he around to watch Proudpick get beaten to a pulp by Petra and Xion too?"     "Yeah, while he had Sundew getting beaten up by Emmy and Heyalexa on his behalf.")] That fight is still overall a positive memory, because she got to team up with Xion to support Lilian and genuinely succeeded at that, but she's still sort of pissy about Aidan's laundering of misogynistic nonsense into an opportunity to use Sarracenia as a tool. It's one of the few instances where Petra was wholly on Sarra's side, despite her attacking Petra's kingdom. "You can simply imagine that I decided to spend some rare free time on something more memorable than coffee and a book."     "Okay! Actually, speaking of books, I can't get too distracted...." Petra's mood shifts into a stable high, pleasantly enriched by being part of something slightly more memorable than a book. She sets a book of her own-- Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher-- out on the bar table, already tagged with plenty of colored sticky notes in its first half, though she doesn't get to reading it until Lilian's done talking to her, of course. "It *is* totally ridiculous. I mean, like, I suggested this thing practically as a joke, and Audrey just doubled and tripled down on it for no reason." "Petra, have you ever cooked with oil before?"     As inane of a question as it is, Petra lifts up her head and gives an earnest answer after a few seconds of thinking. "Yeah, lots! I don't do much of my own cooking anymore, since there's not much reason to unless I'm out in the woods, but I did live on my own for a long time."     At Lilian's next sentiment, Petra lowers her eyes, falling silent for a bit. She traces her nail across the cover of the book, and then sighs. "... Maybe? Is it good or bad? I think I've been feeling it, but...." But it's ultimately Lilian's opinion that matters, not Petra's. "Are you absolutely certain you have that setting turned on? Neither of them are screaming."     "Oh! Oh, I should turn more settings on! Let me see...."     Now that Audrey's pulled out a sword, Petra snickers while scrolling through the projected screen. "God, of course she'd end up with the *sword*. Good thing it basically pilots itself for her, or she'd, like, tip over. Let's see, what would be good...." NEW HAZARDS: LIGHTNING STORM and EARTHQUAKE!
Kukuru	"Outside of Rita and I, nobody was pushing harder than you." Kukuru inhales slowly as she feels another rush of emotion hitting her. It's enough that she actually needs a moment to work through what she's even feeling, too, between recalling the pain involved in that hellish week, the joy at the end of it all finally being over, the guilt from not being able to end it sooner, and so on. "... Anything for family. I know it wasn't easy for you and Rita, either. Thank you for being here, and for still being Ange's friend." She smiles softly over at Lilian, but she still kind of looks like she wants to cry. "I could never stay mad at you, even for... Hmm. Maybe I'm still a little mad? No, but... Not no?" Now she's looking happy, sad, and confused all at once. The confusion soon gives way to more sad, though, as Kukuru realizes she doesn't know if she could say the same to Rita. It's been so long since she's last seen her, or even spoken. What if Rita's still mad at her? What if she hates her after all that? Shouldn't she be mad at Rita instead? Just thinking about that is getting harder to bear, and Kukuru can't lie to herself enough to not worry about that. "Are you here just to watch or are you going to take the role of medical staff after?" That's what she needs: Something else to think about! Sniffling lightly, Kukuru wipes her nose off before turning to Angela with a finger raised. "F.. First one. They'll be okay after all this Shrine business, so I don't think I'll need to do much medical stuff at all. Still, my door's always open if they want to put their heads down somewhere nice and comfy, ice their throats after all the yelling,  and relax after all this is done." Another sniff, and Kukuru puts in an order for a rack of ribs before looking over at Angela and Gebura in particular, strained past not staying her slightly blurry gaze in the slightest. "That goes for you, too, okay? That's why it's the... The door's always unlocked when I'm in there."
White	White gives Lilian an easy nod, and Kukuru a slightly more pensive nod. Not remembering something is... Uncharacteristic, for her. It leaves her a little uneasy, but Kukuru has a point after all; they aren't working right now! It's leisure time, and that's the right time to be drinking. She thought she got some drinks a couple months ago, but they seemingly disappeared overnight, so this might well be her first drink since becoming a Partner! (It isn't.)      She carefully nudges her hair back with the wrist of her popcorn-pinching hand, trying not to drop anything while going in for her first sip. Her Poison Resistance lv10 (Simulated) Skill is suppressed deliberately, because what's the point of a drink otherwise? She doesn't flinch at the Fuck You Up intensity of the drink, but that's primarily just that she's extremely good at disregarding discomfort in general, not that it isn't felt, and the sweetness of her limey beverage covers it well. She even licks her lips a little, then gets another sip in before she starts paying attention to the fight again.      White operating as usual, under dozens of constant magical processes, would never manage to get drunk. But suppressing her tolerance on purpose leaves her with the drinking ability you'd expect from a completely unathletic 5'6" woman with almost nothing in her stomach. She's okay for now, but the way she's wiggling back more into her new seat and letting herself start to slouchily sink into it after two sips is clearly... Odd, for her.      The fighting goes on, and strangely over time (and amongst a couple more sips, innocently small ones even) she starts to mumble seemingly to nobody in particular, instead of commenting inside her own head. "Mm. She could've... Torn that off easily... If she had a low-grade spell in her reflexes." she says about Audrey failing to take her own sleeve off, and then adds further, "Trying to split her focus with... A sword seems stupid, against Sarracenia." Strong phrasing for her standards... "When her biggest issue... Is multitasking and response time. But... She's trying new things... Which is good. This is the time... For it." By the time her feedback is mumbled out, her mouth barely inches from the rim of her glass, she's lost half a foot of seated height to the chair-slouching demons, and she's even bracing her boots against the seats in front of her like she's in a movie theatre or an airplane... She forgot the 'miss', too.
Sarracenia	'Flying monkeys. Wasn't he around to watch Proudpick get beaten to a pulp by Petra and Xion too?'      Gregory seems confused at being called a flying monkey, but nods at the question. "Indeed I was." he says before sipping of his drink. "I endeavor to support my princess however she might need me."      "But this duel is a bit foolish." he adds after a moment, agreeing with Alucard and Lilian.      Sarra is crunched down by gravity! Unfortunately...the cloud she is on gives her some leverage, just enough to maneuver even as she is plummeting toward the boiling oil. The swords move in, but Sarra is able to just barely move forward enough that she avoids where they all meet each other.      And finally she seems angry. "And just when have you seen how I treat people that cross me?! Radio conversations?! Stories from people that have every reason to misrepresent the facts?!" Sarra exclaims as she struggles to keep her cloud from landing in the oil. "-You- crossed me and just how did I treat you?! I did not attack you, or insult you, or spread stories about you! Those few I do such things to have been 'crossing' me for a long while with vehement insults along with statements that I should die, kill myself, or that they were going to kill me, -and- have done their best to ruin the positive reputation I have been working for nearly a decade to improve! I do not attack or insult without cause!"      Sarra reaches into her purse and pulls out a large black box with a red button on it. "But, if you wish to see my worst, then so be it!" She hits the red button then drops the box into the oil. It lands, then starts to unfold...and unfold...and unfold some more. Until it is a box-shaped cannon that is big enough for a truck to fit inside of. Her cloud rests on top of it as a loud hydraulic sound issues forth from inside and another shark-faced projectile is pushed into view. "And just so you know, I do not consider you green OR a spoiled brat! That is the entire reason I was so intent on trying to break you away from Petra! -SHE- wants you to think you are nothing, because she thinks -everyone- is nothing until they -prove- they are something! Whereas I see everyone as -something- at the very least until they prove otherwise! And you proved at our first meeting that you were capable and kind! And as someone who has been beaten down and misunderstood for as long as she has existed, I object to one such as you being treated so poorly! So, forgive me I suppose for -CARING-!!"      Sarra leaps up off her cloud and stomps down on the cannon, and the Banzai Bill fires. It is not particularly fast, but it is large and seeks Audrey out with dogged determination. Once it is close enough, it explodes!      But, unlike the other Bullet Bills, this one unleashes a growing series of explosions as rapid as machine gun fire. A dozen or so explosions before a slight delay and an even larger explosion leaving a mushroom cloud in its wake. Yet, unlike virtually every other time she has fired this weapon, Sarra does not laugh maniacally.
Lilian Rook	'Yeah, while he had Sundew getting beaten up by Emmy and Heyalexa on his behalf.'     "Oh Christ I'd forgotten." Lilian says, halfway to gasping. "You know, if nothing else, I'm glad she's at least cut off that relationship. Everything else is bad enough for her as-is."     'It *is* totally ridiculous. I mean, like, I suggested this thing practically as a joke, and Audrey just doubled and tripled down on it for no reason.'     "She's so desperate to please you that it's just about creepy." Lilian says, to Petra. She can only respond to Petra's question with a guarded, "I don't know. Probably neither. I've just been thinking that you didn't . . ." Get off on this before. "Previously have an interest in this sort of thing." Deciding to stop there, Lilian nevertheless goes on to open and silently close her mouth at the book.     'I could never stay mad at you, even for... Hmm. Maybe I'm still a little mad? No, but... Not no?'     "For what it's worth, it wasn't a trick." Lilian says. "You were a little bit stupid for accepting it, but I didn't offer you anything with the intent to bait you." She sighs. "Or in other words, I meant it. The fact that you didn't get yourself on guard quickly enough after is on you." She shoves a gummy worm in her mouth and folds her arm again, staring out the window quite intently. Her fake focus turns to real fascination when White begins talking to herself. She almost never hears her speak out loud, so it's already a special occasion in of itself, but the content of what she's muttering has Lilian utter a slightly dumbfounded-relieved: "Oh. You do that too?"
Angela	''I'd probably have gone out in a blaze of glory on purpose within days of having to tolerate that body.'' "Ahh, well, it's not like I didn't go berserk either. Probably would've happened earlier that loop if it wasn't for some of the people I met out here." She looks at Angela as if for confirmation but Angela is hesitant to provide it so she just ends up having to shrug it off, glancing to the fight when Audrey summons an EGO Weapon. "...Seems like she has it under control..." As in it didn't immediately devour her but Angela doesn't answer that either. ''That goes for you, too, okay?'' "I don't wish to overutilize your charity, Kukuru. I could see myself taking it for granted so I'll try only to rely on you when it's important and not when it's convenient." Yuuki Kuran's words are still fresh in her ears. Kukuru barely ever wavered, she has to acknowledge that. And she did learn. Maybe, she thinks, she underestimated her? Or maybe she just grew past her initial assessment. IT's rude to speculate too long so Angela puts the thoughts aside. ''If you've recovered even a third of the strength you had back then -- But stop thinking about work'' Gebura grimaces. "Sorry. Habit." But since Angela can still work since she's not on vacation, she adds, "We'll have to drop her strategically. Make the most before Zephiel adapts." But she glances back to Lilian as she mentions grandiose things in utterly petty ways and she naturally glances back and looks down at Audrey quietly before admitting, "I've heard that before. I suppose it feels like the grandiose things feel easier than what I actually want. Even in the way of it." If she was always broken, why couldn't he have just let her go, she wonders. But there's no Ayin to answer her. "To me, that will always be more precious to me than whatever grand goals might exist out there." It's nice that White is here, she thinks. ''Different academy.'' "Ahh that'd explain it. Actually probably explains why you're so good at teaching. I mean, not to be rude or nothing, but just because you're a great fighter doesn't mean you're even a remotely capable teacher." "...ugh..." Gebura who definitely fits the bill complains. "I don't believe Audrey would be ready for most WAW EGO but this one fits her well." Angela says. "So it probably won't kill her." ''Nobody was pushing harder than you.'' Maybe that's why she chose Kukuru as her sponsor, Angela thinks distantly. She hadn't analyzed it as such in the moment. It just felt ... right. She knows she hadn't been easy on Kukuru at all, after all.
Lilian Rook	'Ahh, well, it's not like I didn't go berserk either.'     "That's--" Lilian frowns. "True. I suppose." She shakes her head. "I should know bettr. No one likes hearing 'haha I could never} handle what you go through wowwww' about anything." she says, putting on a grating voice for her faux-quote. It's weirdly heated.     'Sorry. Habit.'     The look she gives Gebura is deely commiserating. "Trust me. I understand."     'I've heard that before. I suppose it feels like the grandiose things feel easier than what I actually want.'     "Then you should understand my meaning perfectly." Lilian smiles.     'Ahh that'd explain it. Actually probably explains why you're so good at teaching. I mean, not to be rude or nothing, but just because you're a great fighter doesn't mean you're even a remotely capable teacher.'     "I found it unexpected as well." Lilian admits. "But I've also had three great mentors as well. With that many excellent examples, it's hard for someone with 'the eyes to see' to not pick up something." She pauses, thoughtfully, for just a second. "Though if I trained people just like Scáthach, most of them would drop dead before long. Moderation is an important skill as well."
White	White doesn't seem to notice she's doing anything strange! When Lilian asks, White looks around a little, even looking at the bottom of her glass for some reason, and shoots back "Do what?" Even looking elsewhere, she's seemingly not missing what's going on around her... But somehow she's missing what *she's* doing that's unusual. So, obliviously, she just slides into the another conversation, though only after a fifth sip and a more-than-half drained drink gives her voice a tiny drawl. No matter how social she's being, her voice is still physically untrained for anything above a murmur, and it cracks a little unusually as she tries to raise her volume to talk to Angela. Because it's nice that Angela is here too! "Yeeeeeah... Stuff that's 'bigger than people' means you need power. 'More power' is easy! But like, I have nooo idea what Vampy wants. She's already got power, but I guess she's still gettin' over wanting to date Meramera? An' Mister Oni is so soggy I kin'a wanna like... Pick him up and whipcrack him like a wet towel!"      She laughs. It's this kind of shrill, 'hee hee' mix of giggling and cackling, because her voice keeps cracking in the process. She takes another drink, after, and finishes her glass. Then she hops to her feet, then hops over the seat-row toward Kukuru, sensing sad-girl tears and making the larger woman bend at the waist so that White can squish her (a little too hard) against her shoulder and deliver a neck-popping squeeze. It probably doesn't hurt too bad, but it's certainly not chiropracty either...
Audrey Basque	That cloud was just too good at staying adrift!     That's the inexperience showing. Audrey recalls the blades, guided by the one she's holding. These weapons really are something else. No wonder Angela pushes them at her Librarians.     ... so why does it nag her, at the back of her mind?     Like the blade she's holding is saying...     Unchivalrous. Head on.     Trying to make Sarracenia vulnerable first just made sense? "Stories from people that have every reason to misrepresent the facts?!"     Audrey snaps out of it to look at Sarracenia.     "And I gave you cause. So yes! Bring your worst so we can put this ridiculous thing behind already!"     Giant cannon.     And-- "...trying to break you away from Petra!"     "Why won't you understand that I'm *not* being treated poorly? That I don't need, or want, this situation to change?! You may hold whatever opinion you want but leave judging the people in *my* life to *me*."     Right. The giant cannon.     It'd be so easy to just--     Meet the challenge.     Audrey stands her ground; she does hop off the wall to hover when the EARTHQUAKES start, but everything she has goes into defense. The distance between her and the cannon increases, the air around her warps until she's all blurry, and the massive bullet... almost seems to freeze, as it keeps going, and going, to try to reach her. It can't blow up, if it never detects being 'close' to Audrey at all.     But it's a big metal bomb.     And lightning strikes it.     Even if the barrier absorbs most of the blow, Audrey's sent hurtling back to hit the side of the rampart behind her. Lilian wanted screaming? Audrey is! It's the feeling of having your back cracked, being badly burnt by the explosion-- even if, in reality, she didn't break anything, and she's just singed. The floating blades have been blown far back, and the one she was holding was let go pretty predictably.     She barely manages to twist what's left of the wall into a platform she can land on-- land is a very generous term, too! More like she tumbles down, whiny and broken and just... this was a terrible idea.     But to her credit, she does crawl up.     Less injured, and more rattled by pain.     It feels so much worse like this than it does when it's--     "W-Well, you wanted to see me shot by a c-cannon, Petra... are you happy?" Things to put on he resume.     She raises an arm, slowly, palm outreached like she's trying to grab Sarracenia. A bit wobbly. No precision in this, and not as fast as she usually is; the ground, broken walls, the oil and the fire and even Sarracenia's cannon starts warping inward, like a venus flytrap closing in on the princess.
Petra Soroka	"But... She's trying new things... Which is good. This is the time... For it."     Yay! It looks like White is comfortable enough in this environment to start talking out loud more, which Petra feels a tiny bit responsible for, since this entire thing is sort of her fault. So she takes White's battle commentary seriously, watching as Audrey flails around with the EGO. Petra can be especially snotty about EGO usage, given that she's the second most skilled user of it in this room, and maybe anywhere.     "Honestly. Her attunement with it isn't terrible, but, like, I *know* her ass only picked it for the aesthetics. She's not like you with the Parallel Minds stuff, or even me with the Mindswarm thing; I bet she just thinks the floating swords are cool and didn't think about how much mental load it'd be to make use of all of them efficiently." "She's so desperate to please you that it's just about creepy."     "God, right?! You don't even *know*." Saying *that*, from Petra to Lilian, is even more ridiculous, but Petra's flash of exhaustion and unease is genuine. "... I mean, it's kind of funny I guess, but... I mean, a year ago she was dumping milk on my head. So it's just...." "Previously have an interest in this sort of thing."     Petra tilts her head at Lilian, shaggier-than-usual blonde hair spilling to the side in a way that's irrevocably similar to a golden retriever's ears flopping. "Is that it? I-- I mean, I had a... bloodsports arena on Hydrochoeria.... 'This sort of thing'?"     It's possible to tell right when Petra lapses back into using Angela's temporal perception again, because when she flips open her book to keep reading, it only takes her a few seconds of looking at it to read the entire page. Slowed perception also means she immediately notices Lilian's expression, and she looks up and shuts the book as if she's guilty for something. "Er-- it's for, uh, class. They have us reading lots of stuff like this. Sociopolitical, economic, groundwork whatever, for understanding newsworthy events and stuff. That's all."
Alucard	Alucard may be on the ... opposite team, if he's on a team at all, from Angel and Lilian, but apparently they can agree on things! (He's on Team Hunt The Night.) "Perhaps," he replies to Lilian. "Though I suppose my point of view is ... different. I have been at rock bottom. Only a very small set of words exist that would spur me to violence, and none of them involve me." He's either incredibly self assured, or hates himself more than anyone else can. It could be both! He merely inclines his head slightly towards Angela. It's nice to get along. Even with people who don't like you for whatever reason! Then there's a cannon. The dhampir's eyes widen slightly, and he mutters something about 'Sorcery'. Except that Audrey is the one actually doing sorcery.
Angela	Roland winces with sympathy. "The old lady always said the best teachers know to adapt the lessons to the student. Maybe she just went at you that hard cause she figured you could handle it." OF course it's entirely plausible that the legendary swordswoman wasn't exactly the best teacher either and Lilian just was fortunate to have the right combination of skills and talents to make it through. He doesn't envy it though. The Grade 1s that die fast tend to be the ones most bitter they couldn't get past that line. Sometimes being close enough to see just how vast that gulf really is--is torturous once you've made it that far. He supposes he's lucky in a way. He glances at Angela briefly, thinking about her 'humble goals' and 'grandiose means' to reach them. He bitterly thinks he's not so different. He'd do anything right? ... But this isn't about that. It doesn't really matter. He has to do what he has to do. He just needs to figure out just what the shape of that looks like and how to get it done, especially with the Red Mist active now. ''No one likes hearing--'' "Ah, I mean--it's just that I'd rather if you saw me as a peer. I mean, I feel you do, so--you don't gotta talk me up like that." She pauses a moment and realizes that there's no way Lilian hasn't seen her share of sycophants so she figures she'll understand when she says, "It's nice being able to just be normal 'round you." ''I have nooo idea what Vampy wants.'' "I believe she wants your respect and approval." Angela says, slowly looking over and then realizing that there's a situation. "Perhaps, White, we should ... leave it at one drink." Don't seem too worried, Angela, try to play it off as normal... ''A year ago she was dumping milk on my head.'' Roland can't imagine it. "Hard to imagine... Audrey doing that." He admits. Sure, she does have some viciousness in her but it's still HARD to imagine.
Petra Soroka	"So, forgive me I suppose for -CARING-!!" "Why won't you understand that I'm *not* being treated poorly? That I don't need, or want, this situation to change?!"     Petra snickers and kicks her feet, poking at her holographic display to send lightning bolts chasing after both Sarracenia and Audrey. "I can't believe they're arguing about me while fighting. That's so... that's so...." She trails off and looks over at Lilian, remembering how basically every single fight against an Elite she's ever done has involved arguing about Lilian during it.     In order to dispell that thought, Petra reaches for another selector on the screen, letting the heavy stormclouds gradually clear away. Normally, this particular option would be far too favorable to Audrey, given that Audrey's magic is extremely well-suited to defending against it while Sarracenia's skills aren't, but with Audrey stretching herself by multitasking already, Petra feels the need to pressure her further. In the same vein as when she bombarded Audrey with Silver bullets from every direction when they were in the Shrine before, Petra summons up archers standing all around the walls, unleasing waves of arrows aimed at the two fighters in the courtyard. "W-Well, you wanted to see me shot by a c-cannon, Petra... are you happy?"     Petra cups her hand and shouts down back at her. "Nope! Didn't hit you directly, so it doesn't count! Try again!"     Petra settles back into her chair and leans against Angela, plucking a second gummy worm out of her bag now that she's got the appetite for them. She looks over to Lilian again, and then down to where Audrey's struggling out of the rubble, with a vague kind of discomfort that even she doesn't know how to place. What she eventually comes up with is...     "... It kind of, reflects super weird on the school, doesn't it? Or, like-- like, back then," She flicks her eyes over to Roland, addressing his question, "There were a ton of people who harrassed me because of fucking with the school once, and she was one of them, which, you know, fair enough. And then...." Petra can't form the words properly, but less than two weeks after they met, Audrey was inviting Petra *back to* that same school campus. And now here she is, fighting in a dog pit for Petra's uneasy amusement. "Only a very small set of words exist that would spur me to violence, and none of them involve me."     "Well, tons of words spur me to violence. But I've still got *standards, you know? I've got my beliefs that I'll fight for, and I think literally any reason is a good reason to beat up Sarracenia."
Kukuru	Pleased to see White indulging in the drink that nobody will regret later, Kukuru doesn't look even the slightest bit worried about the fact that neither White nor herself have eaten anything substantial prior to this drinking. Sure, there's the ribs that'll come out eventually, but will it come out fast enough to dilute the spirits? Probably not, but Kukuru's okay with that. She just gives the once-mumbling lady a gentle pat on the head, giggling in surprise when White actually approaches her in a complete 180 of what she's used to seeing. "Whiiite? Oh, oh my. Aah..." The tears aren't stopping, but at least they're happy tears instead of the sad ones from earlier. They might also be slightly pained ones because Kukuru is most certainly not used to being on the other side of the bonecrushing-sorts of hugs. She's certainly not complaining, though, as she reaches up and over to hold that squeeze as long as she can, even burying her face against White to really savor that moment. "Ehehe... Come on, dear. We've still got a show to watch, and we've gotta stay up for the whoooole time. We should-" A crack of lightning from the storm jolts Kukuru out of her seat, but she doesn't spill her drinks! Somehow. Not wanting to test her luck further, she sets the tray down and peers towards the battle again, nodding slowly in approval when she hears those angry words continuing to be slung between Sarracenia and Audrey. "That's it... Let it out, you two. Let it all goooo..." Can they even hear her? She doesn't know for certain, but it feels right to just say it outl oud. Plus, Kukuru's on her third drink now. "Or in other words, I meant it." "Bait...? Oh, oh, when you.. Oh yeah, you diiid do that, didn't you? I'm still mad about that, too." Kukuru replies with an exagerrated pout and not-really-stomp on the floor complete with light cheek puffing, circling around to Lilian with her hands balled up into fists. There's no force when she comes over to lightly tap at Lilian's shoulders, of course, more just providing rhythmic baps that might almost be therapeutic, but she can't keep it up for long before breaking into another slightly slurred giggling spree. "Should be mad, maybe, but... No, you're right. That was on me, and I'm glad that-mmf. No, more liiike... Relieved? That you did what you did. The way you're able to focus on what you gotta do, even when your heart might want something else, is..." She goes quiet while slumping forward for a moment, then taps her cheek against Lilian's arm affectionately. "I'm glad Rita was with you. And... I'm sorry you it had to be you two. I love you both, and..." Another inhale, and the tears start tugging at her eyes again. "Nnh... I haven't seen her in so long, or talked to her, and... I-is she... Does she hate me now?" "I'll try only to rely on you when it's important and not when it's convenient." Just as it looks and sounds like Kukuru's on the verge of crying again, Angela knows just whatto say to turn her thoughts in a different direction!  "My chair...? Aww, Ange! You're so sweet, worrying about stuff like that... Well, you always did have a super good memory. Of course you'd remember what Yuuki said then." She's still tearing up, but at least it's the happier kind rather than the spiraling drunk kind. Coming around to where Angela's sitting, Kukuru's once again getting more affectionate than usual, leaning over to just kind of rub her face on Angela's arm like she had tried to with Lilian earlier. "Even if you don't ask, I'll still be around to help when it's convenient becaaause... I want to. If that's ever get... Getting me in the way, though, lemme know so I don't make things worse, okay?"
Sarracenia	'Why won't you understand that I'm *not* being treated poorly? That I don't need, or want, this situation to change?! You may hold whatever opinion you want but leave judging the people in *my* life to *me*.'      "You -are- being treated poorly! The way she talks to you, the things she convinces you to do! That you do not think so only leads me to believe that you think you -should- be treated that way! And no one -should- be treated that way!" Sarra exclaims. "Training to improve is enough! You do not have to be insulted and broken down in the process! Someone who respects and cares about you would be trying to build you up!"      'W-Well, you wanted to see me shot by a c-cannon, Petra... are you happy?'      Sarra mmmphs in annoyance and looks toward Petra, then back to Audrey. "But...I suppose you are right. If you have determined that Petra is someone worth your time and you are THIS determined to not be helped..." Sarra trails off as the space around her starts to condense.      The princess reaches into her purse and quickly pulls out a small Bullet Bill. She gives it a squeeze and...she is engulfed in an explosion. Another car-sized Bullet Bill rockets out of the explosion and toward Audrey. With space warping it can't quite reach her though. It explodes, and Sarra comes spiraling out straight at Audrey, that one bright blue eye locked on her. Sarra holds her hammer in front of her, finishing the Bullet Bill's trajectory with herself as the projectile. She doesn't finish the sentence she started before launching.
Lilian Rook	'I have been at rock bottom. Only a very small set of words exist that would spur me to violence, and none of them involve me.'     Lilian taps a finger against her upper arm whilst she finishes off a gummy worm. "Please take this in the spirit that it's meant." she says, leadingly. "But it's much easier to care a great deal about things when you aren't generally depressed." The pause after feels uneasy. "There are other ways in which you can hit rock bottom, where you care about everything far too much."     'It's nice being able to just be normal 'round you.'     "For a certain definition of normal." Lilian says, smiling weakly. "I'd be a liar if I said you didn't still have a trace of intimidation factor around you, but I believe I have your measure better than perhaps anyone but Carmen did, so that's what I'm happy to see you as."     'Do what?'     Lilian looks stunned for but a second before she decides to leave it, shaking her head and saying, "It was clear from watching you that you're passing the time by measuring their abilities and dissecting their decisions. It's rare to meet someone with a truly analytical mind for combat; that's all." She covers her mouth and turns away so as not to obviously snort when White gets into babbling about whipcracking people.     Audrey gets hit by a bomb, and Lilian lets out a sigh like she'd just popped an especially satisfying joint and felt the tingly wave of disappearing strain.     'Honestly. Her attunement with it isn't terrible, but, like, I *know* her ass only picked it for the aesthetics.'     "It's a wonder how two girls, nearly the same age, from the same country, going to the same school, at the same time, could fixate on something roughly similar, and achieve such staggeringly different results." Lilian says, distaste evident in her tone. "Even I can tell that she's holding the weapon back. Chivalry is more than proper conduct and patience. A knight must be courageous long before she is well-mannered, and she must be all three of them so as to pursue her calling and suffer the consequences of it."     "Nothing comes to you just by waiting for the right time. Even Angela knows that by now. If you don't have the fire, you'll never get any closer." That has very little to do with chivalry, however.     '... I mean, it's kind of funny I guess, but... I mean, a year ago she was dumping milk on my head. So it's just....'     "You've either whipped her, gotten her addicted to you, or you're the closest she can still come to me after my graduation." Lilian says, as if continuing Petra's sentence. "Or some mixture. You'd know more than I about her."     'Er-- it's for, uh, class. They have us reading lots of stuff like this.'     "What?" Lilian blinks. "No, I'm glad you're getting an education. Even if it's-- just a first step." she says. "The arena on Hydrochoeria was different. You built it for a specific purpose, for certain people to experience the 'arc' they were supposed to. This is . . ." For an uncommon occasion, Lilian actually grasps for words during her stylistic pause. "Like you're dissecting them. Trying to find some organ or tissue that would help your thesis. And Basque far more than Sundew. Like a specimen you haven't fully studied yet."
Lilian Rook	'I'm glad Rita was with you. And... I'm sorry you it had to be you two.'     "I'm sorry it had to be us as well."     The words, her tone, Lilian's expression, are all so complicated. There are so many things that could mean.     'Nnh... I haven't seen her in so long, or talked to her, and... I-is she... Does she hate me now?'     "I don't know." Lilian says, half-truthfully. "Or rather, I won't speak for her, and I've made it my business not to pry. If I'm to say something that comes just from me, I've been wondering if she isn't trying to be as angry as I should be, on my behalf."     "Rita knows well enough that I have too many battles to fight to not conserve my strength on some of them, and I think she wishes I wouldn't. She knew that, before long, I'd have processed everything, internalized it, filed away, and moved on the way I always have to, so I think that if she forgave any of you, it'd be like that scar doesn't exist anymore; for either of us." Lilian sighs uneasily. "She was so shocked when I took her side. And almost tearily happy that I still believed what I said that week, and still cared."     Lilian tilts her head just barely, to catch Kukuru out of the corner of her eye, hair fractionally sliding from her shoulder to her back. "And the fact that you're all debilitated by guilt and misery the moment she gets angry with you is exactly why. Anyone can tell that her approval means a million times more to everyone than mine; including Rita."
White	White cranes her head in Angela's direction around Kukuru's head and shoulder in a way that comes dangerously close to owlish, but doesn't quite go that far. "Ehhhh?? Why would Vampy want that, Angie? I totally tortured her as a toddler y'know? And I'm pretty sure she's not thaaat much like Petra?" In her head, she's comparing Petra's fixation on Lilian, but it might sound like something else. Suggesting she stop at one drink, on the other hand, makes White's face scrunch and un-scrunch petulently. "You know, getting drunk got me my powers back, it's totally great for you." Not exactly good advice, but at least everyone here knows better. Probably.      But, after one more squish to Kukuru, White releases her, pivots on her heels and just kind of tosses her butt back down into the next seat over. It doesn't seem like she's missed anything like Kukuru was worried about, given she's immediately able to huff out, "She's so lucky I can't drill her like I did Vampy. Actuallyyyy there's an idea... I can make Vampy drill her instead! I might be a genius..." Somehow she sounds genuinely awed as she trails off, clasping her chin, up until her attention swings back onto Lilian. "Hnnh? Oh, oh! I see. I do... Do that. Impressive, Lilian." It's hard to tell how much of this is just her impulsively acting on bits as they form in her mind, and how much is just the typical chaotic brain-slurry that gets filtered out when she's not drunk. At least she's having fun?
Audrey Basque	"But...I suppose you are right. If you have determined that Petra is someone worth your time and you are THIS determined to not be helped..."     "So you... *can* understand, after all..."     Sarracenia launches herself at Audrey, fueled by explosions and maybe even pity. Audrey's hand, still extended, reaches for threads unseen, twisting the space in front of her into an insane corridor that goes on as far as anyone can see. Sarracenia's mad leap at her would soon enough lose the momentum needed to carry her forward-- she'd be forced to land, and only then does it seem possible to reach Audrey at all.     Audrey's other arm rises, weakly, to project a dome of warped space over both her and Sarracenia, catching the countless arrows in their falls.     "I yield. I really can't take another hit. Sarracenia, I apologize for snapping at you." No frills. "Nope! Didn't hit you directly, so it doesn't count! Try again!"     "Maybe next time, then. I'm sure... there'll be more cannons..." Oh. Woozy. Everything hurts now that she's slowing down. One of her knees buckles, and she ends up catching herself with the hand that was keeping Sarracenia at bay.
Angela	Angela moves the bag closer ot Petra to make it easier. She doesn't really understand 'holding the weapon back'--she just doesn't think in that sort of way--rather she imagines it's just the usual. Audrey holding Audrey back. She gives a small nod to Kukuru. Yeah, she remembers. She thinks she'd remember even if she had a normal memory. Yuuki has a way of sticking out in her mind. Maybe it's because she trusted her so quickly and when someone trusts her quickly, she gets suspicious. But it has lingered and what does that mean? It sticks in the mind. She lifts her arm up so Kukuru can do with it as she wills. "I know." She says. If nothing else, you get what's on the box with Kukuru. She appreciates that. Normally Angela would agree that Audrey's kind of going through the ringer through the lens she sees the world through but she isn't going to publicly agree with Sarracenia and, more to the point, Audrey is so insistent that she's pretty sure her view on the situation is missing something. She's heard and understood the explanations but she can't say she really entirely gets Audrey. She was able to help her tremendously. That was already a miracle. And now ... this. What does it mean? Was it always a lot simpler for her to escape than she thought? The idea troubles her and she tries to kick it out from her thoughts. ''She's not thaaat much like Petra?'' "It is the vibe I've gotten. I know what it's like to want to be ''seen'' by someone. I suspect she wants you to see her. More than anyone. But it is not through a scientifically rigorous process I've figured this so please just take it as idle speculation." Angela looks at Roland inquisitively when White says 'getting drunk is good for you'. As if reading her mind, Roland shakes his head slightly. She wonders if White takes after D a little bit too, come to think of it. She's never met D but the way White described her makes her think she could easily imagine the god going 'I might be a genius' or something to that effect. "I think Vamp--Sophia is a good idea." Angela says, horrified she nearly used 'Vampy' to refer to her. She eats another gummy worm to make herself feel better. it doesn't feel like Rita hates her. Just doesn't trust her, Angela thinks. And that's ... probably smart. But she still doesn't like it. But maybe she shouldn't have a feeling about it at all. Petra's right here. ''I'd be a liar if I said you didn't still have a trace of intimidation factor around you.'' Gebura actually laughs. It's brief, but honest, and she's smiling broadly when she adds, "Even after beating me huh? I guess I should take that as a compliment. But I appreciate it. Really." Wanting normal companions and comrades was what she always wanted. She felt that way with Carmen, for sure, and she's sure Carmen knew. She feels like a weight's been lifted off her shoulders and she almost reaches for a cigarette again before reminding herself that Lilian doesn't like that. She's going to have to be careful about that, she decides. It's normal to respect your friends' breathing space. "Mm. The point of EGO is that it should fill in the gaps of your skill. But--" She pauses. "...The fire. she doesn't have the fire, I suppose. That feels correct." "Not everybody has it." Roland admits. "...But fire can find even the most hopeless."
Sarracenia	'So you... *can* understand, after all...'      Sarra never quite reaches Audrey, but she isn't about to fall into that oil. Another cloud is pulled out, and she catches herself just before being boiled. She was so focused on the battle that Sarra didn't even notice the archers, and so when space is warped and a dome of arrows forms over them the princess stares slightly wide-eyed.      "No, I cannot understand." Sarra says stubbornly but not with hostility. "Just as I am sure that Petra cannot understand why you do not despise me. But, I can respect your wishes as a fellow heroine. So long as Petra does not get you to hurt anyone unjustly."      Audrey yields. Sarra blinks in surprise, then huffs softly and floats over on her cloud. "...can I give you a ride to the exit?" she says, stepping over enough on her cloud that Audrey could step on if she wanted. "I had hoped when we met that we might be friends. Though, I suspect that if Petra is involved we will never be more than non-hostile aquaintances."
Petra Soroka	"It's a wonder how two girls, nearly the same age, from the same country, going to the same school, at the same time, could fixate on something roughly similar, and achieve such staggeringly different results."     "I mean, she didn't fixate on something 'similar'," Petra points out. "She fixated on *you*. She wouldn't even have thought about it if not for you. Basically everything in everyone around you comes from you. So it's no wonder that she'd just sort of be a helpless creep about it." ",You've either whipped her, gotten her addicted to you, or you're the closest she can still come to me after my graduation."     Petra startles briefly, before realizing that those former two options were metaphorical. She fiddles with the corner of her book, twisting one of the protruding sticky notes around between her fingers. "... I don't know. It's weird. It's not even-- I don't even like her much. It's just, like... her, for some reason. I guess better me than you, right?" "And Basque far more than Sundew. Like a specimen you haven't fully studied yet."     "Oh." Petra sits on that and reflects, much more prone than Lilian to needing to take time to assemble her thoughts into words even when she has one hundred times the time to do so. She thinks about Ash, but more than that, she thinks about Lilian, and Petra, and her feelings ever since the war.     "... Is that... so weird? You get it, don't you? You've talked about it before, with..." With Petra, being 'worn down into the tatters of a human being'. "I feel like, every person has some sort of... trial, to pass, before you can sort of, empathetically observe them, and everyone everywhere has either failed, passed, or hasn't had it applied yet. I talked with Ash before, about whether people would make sense, or show anything that felt 'real', and stop making up nonsense about everything that's happening around them, if you push them to the brink of death. I guess I've sort of changed what my ideas about the soul are, a little bit. If you believe that everyone 'could' have some kind of potential, then you can feel out the intersection point where the amount of pressure needed to actually transmute their soul gets too high for the amount of rot they've accumulated inside, and they just go splat."     "They actually talk about it a little bit in this book," Petra taps on the cover of Capitalist Realism with her knuckle. "Something Zizek--" She pronounces it wrong. "--said. That society fosters a, um, elevated sense of value in confabulated subjective attitude, dissuading people from analyzing whether their external behaviors actually line up with what they say they believe. So it's kind of tempting to see what happens the closer you wrench those things together for people, right?"
Petra Soroka	"I-is she... Does she hate me now?" "And the fact that you're all debilitated by guilt and misery the moment she gets angry with you is exactly why."     Petra finally can't ignore Kukuru's talk about the war anymore, and her snapped patience shows on her face in a grumpy twist of her lips and tightening of her shoulders. She leans back in her chair, uncertain of where to direct her eyes, and ending up landing them on Audrey down in the courtyard while fiddling with her pendant.     "God. I-- this is what I fucking mean. During the war, it was all, 'how can you sacrifice Angela?!' and all that, but the moment I fucking *loosen by grip* on these people, every word they said crumbles away into being 'so, so sorry, I hope Rita doesn't *hate* me'. Like, what the fuck?"     Petra sits up and twists around to Kukuru. "Seriously, what the fuck? Every single person who fought with me has bitched and moaned about how *guilty* they are for it. Why the *fuck* is it *us* who has to apologize? You fucking people took it for granted the entire time that I'd be the one in the wrong eventually, and you're all so fucking happy to leave me as the last one fucking sticking to anything I said I believed. Maybe *I* have the right to hate *Rita* now, huh?! No one's fucking said *that* one before! Not even *you*, Ange!" "I yield. I really can't take another hit."     In her irritation, the moment Audrey yields, Petra hammers a bunch of buttons on the remote. All the archers aim towards her and fire a volley of arrows where she lays in the rubble, and a new line of barrels of boiling oil tip over the walls to spill down towards her.
Audrey Basque	"...can I give you a ride to the exit?"     "I'd prefer not, but thanks. I'll just--"     Well she didn't actually have a plan, and she's not sure her legs will even carry her until the Shrine's systems kick in and restore her. But it doesn't matter now! Thank you, Petra.     Even as she's on one knee, Audrey has to use the hand that was stabilizing her to push more into her barrier. Oil and arrows remain in a constant falling motion above her-- drips of oil make it through, one splashing her shoulder, another her foot, another he knee-- the mess of arrows and burning oil creeps closer by the second, as she's able to put less and less distance, slower and slower, between her and Certain Death (Simulated) (Twice As Painful).     Lilian gets new screams! It's such a good night after all.     It takes pretty much All of her effort to finally shove the mass of oil and (now flaming) arrows off to the side... and then she collapses from the pain. This kind of checks out with what Petra knows of Audrey's pain tolerance. It's a stark improvement she lasted this long though!
Kukuru	"Rita knows well enough that ..." Thanks to White's neck-bending hug, Kukuru's not nearly as teary-eyed as she could've been. She's still a little sensitive even after being released, but she's able to sober up a smidge between that and her previous drink to keep her head in check and not-drooping to the side. "That's... Mhm. That makes sense. She'd be right to worry, too, but... You've probably heard this a bunch of times before, but I wish that you didn't have to, too. I bet plenty of people do, even if..." Some of that guilt starts to set in again, but she pushes through it. "... Even if not everyone's good about showing it. Or not adding more stuff to your plate. I wish you wouldn't have to move on so quickly because of all that, and that you didn't have to-" A slight inhale, and then Kukuru slouches in her seat enough to hug her legs lightly. "-do so much of that. I wish Rita didn't have to feel like that, either, or that either of you had to feel so alone with all that happening, even with..." One more inhale, and then she lays her hand over to her side, almost like she's offering it to Lilian to take. "That scar's never gonna disappear, even if everyone forgave everything. My healing doesn't work on the ways we got hurt, dear." Kukuru chuckles weakly at her own joke, then rests her chin on her knees with a slightly groggy slump. "Not for what we saw or felt or..." Trailing off again, Kukuru glances over at Petra at the control for a moment. "... Went through."  The conflicted feelings return, and she tries dismissing them with a quick shake of her head before downing another glass. That's just straight tequila this time. "Anyone can tell that her approval means a million times more to everyone than mine; including Rita." "Seriously, what the fuck?" One hard hit right after the other has Kukuru flinching slightly, not quite able to get that lingering pain out of her chest even with more sips and ribs to sift through her teeth. There's a distantly familiar, but entirely unpleasant feeling burbling in her chest, too, but she can't quite figure out what it is right away. Hearing Petra's anger coming out makes it more intesne, though, until Kukuru can't actually stop it from bursting out as well. "Happy...? Of course I'm not happy about that! I had to hurt the people I love to save someone else I love just as much! I'd do it a bib... Million more times if I had to, and...!" She snaps, sitting upright and unable to pull it back. Kukuru's nose is practically jammed up as she's forced to resort to mouth-breathing just to keep up. "Nobody got to feel good about anything that happened. It just stunk for all of us, s.. So why can't I feel mad about it?!" She sounds upset, she's shouting, her face is streaked with tears and ugly-sniffling, but she doesn't actually sound angry. "It'd be easier if I could just get mad at Lilian, at Rita, at you, at... At everyone instead of feeling all.. All this..." She coughs hoarsely after all that, then slumps back into her seat again, looking utterly tuckered out after that.
Angela	"It is frustrating." Angela admits. "Though I understand it. I don't particularly want to be hated either and it probably doesn't feel like fighting for me accomplished much. Kukuru is Kukuru." ''Maybe *I* have the right to hate *Rita* now, huh?!'' Angela looks towards Petra, unblinking, her golden eyes giving Petra her full attention rather. Gebura opens her mouth. "Wouldn't be helpful." Angela says to her before looking back to Petra. "But you don't want to hate her, do you?" Angela asks. "We certainly have the right to. If you want to hate her I will support you." she places her hand on her chest where Rita had impaled her. Her hand shakes and she closes her hand around her feathers. She holds it there until her hand stops shaking. Kukuru has her own outburst. Angela wonders what's wrong with her that she isn't having one. It's about her, shouldn't she be the one screaming the most right about now? But she can't work up the drive, the impulse. "Feeling 'this' is the price of engaging The City. ... Engaging me." She shakes her head. "Lately I feel he was right about me. That I'm just inherently ruinous. Fortunately--" She exhales. "...I still intend to live."
Sarracenia	'I'd prefer not, but thanks. I'll just--'      Sarra mmphs in annoyance and flies away with a huffed out, "Fine." almost as soon as the offer is turned down. Which turns out to be a good thing! Apparently there was a lot of simulated firepower headed Audrey's way! It takes all Sarra has to resist interfering. Audrey wants to be tortured. That's all there is to it. Sarra doesn't understand why or how Audrey came to that conclusion, but Sarra has been told not to help. And after Ishirou's explosion at her Sarra accepts when people do not want her help...once they make it really really clear.      The princess makes her way up into the viewing area to collect Gregory, and approaches Alucard. "Thank you again for coming. I am not sure I truly needed a second for this, but...it felt proper." she says, then she looks over at the others gathered for a moment before sighing and making her way toward the exit.
Lilian Rook	'Even after beating me huh? I guess I should take that as a compliment.'     "Because of it." Lilian says, making an incomprehensible little hand gesture before folding her arms again. "There's 'a reputation' and then there's 'being on the other side of the sword'. Most people are more concerned with the form because they're so seldom in the position of the latter."     '...The fire. she doesn't have the fire, I suppose. That feels correct.'     "The magical girl quartet have nothing but." Lilian says, blandly, though she nods. The second part is implicitly for Roland. "It can find people you'd never expect, but that doesn't mean it'll eventually find everyone. There's a threshold, I think, at which you find out whether what's inside you will catch light or not."     'She wouldn't even have thought about it if not for you. Basically everything in everyone around you comes from you.'     Lilian bunches up her shoulders and slides her hands further up her arms. "I hope not." she says, then conveniently occupies herself with the last gummy worm.     '... I don't know. It's weird. It's not even-- I don't even like her much. It's just, like... her, for some reason. I guess better me than you, right?'     Lilian laughs drily. "Is that what it is? In order to get to me, first they need to elevate their tastes beyond falling for you?"     '... Is that... so weird?'     "Not really. I'm just noticing that you've fallen into it as well." Lilian says. The only eye contact Petra gets is what's clearly reflected in the angle of the window glass. "You used to resent the fact that everyone else failed or avoided it forever, and run to hide in the warmth of those who've passed. Showing interest in 'those who haven't yet' is new." She goes quiet for a little while after, but breathes out through her nose at the mention of Ash. "I suppose if anyone was going to break a new facet into you, especially along an oblique line to mine, it'd be a fellow Bloom of Humanity."     'So it's kind of tempting to see what happens the closer you wrench those things together for people, right?"'     "Of course it is. Why do you think I waste so much time on Sundew?"     As Audrey yields, Lilian makes a strained-disgusted expression into the glass, then turns around and begins to leave. It is only by grace of Petra having a tanty and engaging the torture controls that she stays a little longer.     'I wish you wouldn't have to move on so quickly because of all that, and that you didn't have to-'     "Wish all you want, but that's not how it works. If you want it to stop, then you'll have to fundamentally change how everyone works, yourself included." Lilian says. "Or you'd need to find a way to make tomorrow come later rather than sooner. So good luck."