-I see you-
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    So now here we are. At the end of the dreams, at the end of struggles, here we are. This is the moment where everything we have done, everything that I have done, is rewarded; No longer an endless flailing of anxiety and fear of failure, this is the moment where my gambles on selfishness and ambition lead me to the reward I have so desperately coveted for two long and irritable years. But I have had enough of this foreplay in my mind, this self assurance that everything will be alright as long as I say it to myself over and over. I am now ready to literally see for myself the end result. Feeling the excitement come to a boil in my chest and cheeks, I ever so slowly part my eyelids, the shade of my eyelashes dancing against one another as if teasing me with the absence of a clear picture. Savoring the moment as much as possible, I cant help but scream as loud as I can with delight as I am greeted with light-real light! I can finally see the world as it really is...a bright and amazing world full of color and wonders for my eyes to feast on. Realizing that the first test was a success, I could hardly wait to test everything else; Smacking my lips together and actually FEELING them is amazing-the soft flesh of my upper and bottom lip bending and forming around one another is truly a bliss that must be savored! The warmth of my skin against my skin is also a joy I could not hope to deny, the lust for more of my senses welling up inside like an eruption. Even the smells from my surroundings are-urgh.....
    Suddenly brought back to reality by the horrible stench of sacrifice around me, I manage to calm myself.
   "That's right. Everything in its place. Every sacrifice must be sealed by keeping my end of the promise."
 Realizing that the test was not over, I stared upward to gather my thoughts, not even daring once to close my eyes. The test was a complete success. The knowledge that never existed in my mind is there. The muscles in my body have been refined beyond heightened sensitivity & responsiveness, the have been almost completely rebuilt. I could sense the flexibility and strength newly blessed into them. Even my lungs have been restructured; Once a deflating husk of flesh barely circulating air throughout my faltering body, they now were a vast expanse of life swelling beneath my breast. Hearing the subjects of my second test approaching, I lower my gaze to my feet. I am wearing nothing but a flimsy white gown and the chocker from the contract. This was deemed to be sufficient enough wear for a field test. Any damage sustained would be considered a failure. Despite the realization of pressure renewing itself in the pit of my stomach, the knowledge in my mind forces me to remain calm. If this is all I must pay to achieve the full realization of my dreams, then it shall be done.
    Steeling myself as the door to my reeking room was torn away from its hinges, I prepare to conduct the field test that would earn my freedom. Deciding that waiting for someone who could tear a steel door off of its hinges to act first was a bad idea, I lunged forward with all of my strength, aiming to end this as quickly as possible.
 -Fossil Hearts-
   As usual, Dante found himself unable to focus on the person in front of him giving him information. As far as he was concerned, all of the annoying fodder that came from him getting summoned for a job from the Maelstrom all the way to actually getting the details of the job he was intended to perform was extended into a long sequence of words that were completely unnecessary and quite over exaggerated list of his past accomplishments for the Company that has earned him a rather odd mixture of respect fear and suspicion. The overly excited Corporal in front of him continued squeaking out a list of his triumphs like trivia that old people make a habit of knowing because they have nothing better to do in their lives than worry over the events in others. She continued to rant on and on about his tendency to go alone against all odds and somehow complete the mission with an as of yet unbroken success rate, nearly singing a passionate retelling of his latest accomplishment into his ear. If he hadn't known better Dante would have sworn she were trying to lick it or something. Clicking his sharp teeth impatiently beneath his mask, Dante began to wiggle his ears in response to his irritation. Decidedly ignoring the full two minutes the Corporal spent blushing and muttering cute under her breath in response, he began to think of other things until she stopped talking, getting the specifics from the paper she would inevitably hand him saying the same thing anyway. A full thirteen and a half minutes later he received his paper and turned to go about his way. Halfway out of the city he noticed that the same footsteps were directly behind him since his departure from Maelstrom Command. Turning around to face the source of the constant sound, he was greeted with the visage of a rather tall Roegadyn Hellsguard, solid red skin seemingly all the more red in her uniform of the same color. Immediately taking her presence as a sign of more bothersome words, he decided to attempt to cut straight to the point.
    "What do you want?" he asked with unintended venom, earning him a blank stare of confusion to the recipient of his inquiry. "Er...Im not entirely sure what you mean Storm Sergeant." The woman gave an awkward mixture of a storm salute and a bow, earning her an ear wiggle of curiosity from Dante. "...Who are you? Why are you following me?" Immediately understanding his disposition the woman cleared her throat and represented herself proudly. Saying a name that he still could not be bothered to remember and ranking herself Private First Class, she introduced herself as his new assistant/soldier under his command for missions, Adding briefly their chance encounter that lead her to enlist in the Company in hopes of following him, her work ethic & pestering combined with Dantes obvious dislike for teamwork and large groups earning her current status. Deciding quickly that fighting such an annoying decision before completing his mission was meaningless, he simply continued on his way, making sure to read the report in his hand thoroughly this time to avoid further surprises.
 -Forced Illusions(I)-
    A man in a white coat stands near a stack of books on his desk, looking out of a nearby window into one of his "crash" sites filled with odd machinery and glyphs, cackling madly and trying his best to pretend he didn't hear the woman walking quickly towards him from behind to hit him with the backside of her spear in an attempt to snap him out of his gleeful mood and entrancing thoughts. He felt the hard rounded metal jab him hard in his kidney, and nearly rolled his eyes into the back of his head in a mixture of delight and mind reeling pain, only barely able to avoid laughing & vomiting at the same time as he slumped to the ground with another one of his overused greetings.Â
 This had become their norm; the motions of which now had evolved into a kind of romance that not even they could understand in full, having made no attempt to dwell on it. The white coated man raised his eyes from the page littered floor to gaze towards the woman with the expression of utter irritation on her face, half wondering how a woman so clearly beautiful could manage to make such an ugly expression.
  "Ah....Alexee-ow!" his sentence was not even given a chance to form as he was struck again by the woman, this time on his head. "That's Alexandrite to you little bug; I'll suffer none of your despicable nicknames today." Despite her annoyed visage and painful jabs upon his person, she has long since ceased insisting that he refer to her by that absurdly long title inherent in the names of most Garlean natives for whatever reason. Seeing her stony expression crack into one of simple displeasure, the man knew that the foreplay was over, their routine greeting to each other has ended. Still smiling to himself as he stood, he decided it best to get started on matters at hand.
    "Before you ask Ms. Alexandrite, the report sent was indeed correct. Your little pet project is waltzing his way to this facility as we speak, I was quite thorough in leaving little breadcrumbs to lead him straight here and yes I do intend to use him as a subject for testing my theory. If he is as bad at dying as you seem to believe then I do believe this should pose no problem for you?" Gritting her teeth slightly at the onslaught of information that gently denied her many chances to respond, Alexandrite simply opted to change the subject to the next one on her list of things to keep track of. As she opened her mouth however to begin her next inquiry she was swiftly cut off-much to her chagrin-by the insane man adopting the movements of a ringmaster as he spoke, that maddening smile of his implying that he had already read the course her mind would take long ago. "Ah...yes...my REAL experiment is indeed proceeding rather well, so yes soon you will no longer be blessed with seeing my wonderful face anymore and we can go about living our merry little lives. The magitek you FINALLY opted to provide as requested for about...oh...three bloody years now has sped things along quite a bit as was Ive been insisting this entire time, and with the inclusion of your current fancy of interest getting involved I suspect it may be a complete success soon, assuming that I am of course a genius-and we already know that Im a godsdamned genius right!?" Allowing himself a moment to indulge himself in some unnecessarily evil maniacal laughter, Alexandrite decided to hit the man one last time before leaving the room. "Remember," she said venomously, "This is the last chance you have to show some good results. See to it that you do not disappoint this time."
 -Into the Black (Dante)-
    Finally succumbing to his curiosity, Dante decided to descend into the snow covered entrance leading underground, a somewhat fidgety Blossoming Guard behind him. The first thing he noted was the different feel of the metal beneath his boots. It was sleek, smooth, and yet solid. Realizing that this was not a place to explore without being properly prepared, he turned immediately to leave, only to see the entrance quickly slam shut. Wiggling his ears with a mixture of irritation and self curses while trying to think, he mused on his stupidity.
 Having just completed their assigned mission, Dante wanted nothing more than to go back to Maelstrom Command and relieve himself of his stigma of an assistant attaching herself to his shadow. Then out of nowhere a strange light radiates on the horizon, seemingly calling out to him. Against his better judgment he followed the damn thing, and it lead him to an extremely conspicuous entrance to an underground facility. Having received a secondary order to investigate strange things that did not belong in certain areas, this occurrence certainly did qualify. Instead of calling his friend Aeka to bring him his weapons however, he opted instead to walk into unknown territory, and is now trapped with someone who followed him blindly, most likely soon to be killed by some misfortune or another, and with himself being almost completely devoid of any of his favored gear. He didn't have his prized gauntlets or greaves, he was not wearing any reinforced fabrics, and the only actual weapons on his person consisted of ten throwing knives he kept hidden away and a spare wire he had not yet finished refining. Clicking his teeth irritably, Dante turned his back to the now sealed exit and walked away, adjusting his mask and keeping himself alert for any sudden changes in the scenery, there so far being none aside from the increasing lack of light.
   In truth, Dante was not at all concerned for his own well being. Having long since decided that he no longer cared if anyone wanted to kill him, the source of his irritation was mainly the fact that his "assistant" had followed him into the dark. Knowing he is not strong enough to keep anyone besides himself alive, he simply preferred being alone. If he died because he was too weak, then its fine. If someone else died because they trusted him to protect them while he fights, then it would feel bad. Losing himself in his thoughts, Dante nearly ran into the door in front of him in the darkness, barely saving himself by noticing the slivers of light peaking from the corners. Halting to feel the door, he realized it would not budge. Stuck in place and not moving an inch, he smelled through the cracks. Detecting hints of death amongst the various smells that reminded him of his dealings with the alchemists guild, he leaned against a wall to think. "We obviously are going to have to go through this door, but Im not sure how we could do it," he said aloud unintentionally, wiggling his ears slowly while trying to think of a way to open the door without falling into some kind of trap, he was not even allowed to finish forming his first thought when sound of steel being ripped apart seered its way through his ears and into his brain, burning any thoughts besides immediate pain into cinders.
    Looking at Blossoming Guard for an answer, he found that her expression was just as confused as his own. From all appearances, the door was blown off of its hinges from their side; This is of course absurd however as neither of them have moved from their stationary positions. Coming to the conclusion that some mechanism must have caused it, Dante gathered himself quickly and walked through the door, greeted by an unexpected and odd scene.
    It was like walking into some strange sacrificial ceremony. Everywhere in the room were glowing symbols and lines on the floor and walls of many different colors. Decorating the corners of the room like broken toys and tattered curtains, corpses lay in rows and circles like they were purposefully placed as such, most of them well rotted and decomposing; Rabbits lined up here, a few coerls in a circle there, the legs of various unidentifiable things placed here or there, some imps tacked to a wall, three miqo'te made to kneel next to each other and clasp hands in a far corner, and various other bodies of hyur men and women all lying next to each other, in a large bed, some of them falling from the edges of the bed lifelessly. Near the center of the room and already walking towards them, there was a girl walking towards them wearing nothing but a dirty white gown and a strange choker, her strides full of confidence and purpose in this room of death already putting Dante on edge.
    Getting a better look at her Dante could see her features better, making out finer details. The girl had grayish paled skin, which made her deep purple eyes all the more eye catching. Her face was decorated with a strange glyph like tattoo a few shades darker than her actual skin but somehow appearing to shift from beneath her skin to radiating off of her face. Beneath that Dante could just barely make out the form of another glyph like tattoo on her face, but her unreasonably long hair obscured the rest of it from view, her pale brown hair flowing well beneath her knees, the ends of which were stained by yet another series of symbols. The thing that kept Dante on edge however was the girls body. Hardly clothed at all and decorated with dimming tattoos here and there, it was like seeing a beast wearing the skin of a young woman. Her body appeared frail, but with each step and movement her muscles seemed to breathe with a sinister flexing & expansion, like a trapped animal that hasn't been allowed to move freely after being trapped in a cage. Looking at her approach them, Dante could feel that a lot of things about her were far more "off" than anything else in the room. Lowering himself to prepare for whatever was next, he inhaled slowly.Â
     Then like an explosion it came.
-Into the Black(Blossoming Guard)-
    There were a lot of things that surprised Blossoming Guard the past few days she had spent with Dante.
 First, Dante never takes off his masks unless he is eating or something similar, and even then he carries around masks and a pair of goggles that he wears instead for such activities.Â
 Second, apparently there are purple and red chocobos in the world, and they are fast enough to make kicked up rocks indent in the ground some ways away-and that's with a series of heavy bags saddled onto it.
 Third, Dante wiggles his ears often which makes him seem childlike and cute, and his singing voice is like that of one sent from above, but his song writing skills are terrible. He also has sharp teeth.
  Fourth, apparently a small girl can send her flying into a wall with one kick, and fight Dante into a defensive.Â
 Thinking these things over one after the other as she allowed herself a moment to recover, she stood and opted to think before acting further, realizing that jumping in blindly into the fight would just likely bring her to the same end. Thinking on her strengths, Blossoming Guard had great endurance and the strength to crush the shell of an adamantoise, but she lacked the speed to dodge most fast attacks-that kick being a prime example. Thinking on the kick, she stared down at her chest where the blow landed. The kick was aimed for her throat, and she had just barely managed to change its course with her arm. The chainmail it landed on had the appearance of something that had been shown a smelters fire, and was considerably warped.
    "Great, she is using magicks as well," she thought crossly, glancing towards the battle to see if she could obtain any more information. What she received in return was her blood running cold. It had scarcely been more than a minute and a half, and already Dante was completely on the defensive. Her theory having been correct on the girl employing magicks in her attacks, most of Dantes torso was already mostly tattered clothing and flying blood from half covered wounds. He would block an attack from above only to immediately recoil to avoid the after effect of whatever her blows were doing. He would dodge her flurry of attacks only for her to kick off of a wall and move even faster-almost as if she wasn't even breathing. He threw knives at her, only for her to bloody catch them and begin slashing like she had been using them her entire life.
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    Blossoming Guards first reaction was understandably disbelief. She knew how fast and strong Dante is from being a witness to it firsthand. The third night they spent sleeping outdoors they were ambushed by a few unlucky bandits hoping to make a good catch. Dante had finished off his attackers, disabled hers, threw a knife into the necks of two archers a ways off that she hadn't even taken notice of, and proceeded to kill her quarry with some strange wind attack before she had fully gathered her wits and grabbed her axe. She had witnessed even before that a full year before the calamity struck when the village chief went mad and sold her people off to slavers, literally killing most of them with the burning fragments of wood from the stalls burned in markets, setting her on the path to strive for strength as well.
    Clearly this girl was not an enemy that either of them stood a chance against alone. Deciding to repay the life he saved with one good opening, Blossoming Guard charged into the fray like a frustrated gobbue, charging into them both and grabbing the girl, slamming her into one of the piles of stinking rabbit corpses, wincing both from the smell and the dread of what she was about to receive in return. Placing her full trust in Dante to not waste her attempt at being cool, her dreaded thoughts of heroism were interrupted by maniacal laughter and the sound of metal being ripped apart. Looking around while the girl half thrashed half squealed in pain under her weight and tight hold on her, Blossoming Guards vision finally settled on a man wearing a white coat walking into the room, an extremely unsettling smile on his face that reminded her of animals that eat their young. Â
 -Forced Illusions(II)-
    Smiling gleefully and clapping as if he had just witnessed a great play, the man entered the room through the hole he created, half dancing over the bodies of the deceased while twirling for dramatic effect.
 "Laaaaaadies and little squirt thing," he started, "Ive gotta hand it to you. That was some godsdamned bloody good entertainment there. I haven't had that much fun watching little girls beat on two supposedly not defenseless since...well....since I made it happen!" Cackling to himself as he edged closer to the pair on the ground, he shifted his necktie and pulled on the ends of his gloves in an unnecessarily dramatic fashion. "Ah yes...miss....uh...Oh I don't care whatever stupid name you clumsy people come up with for the jollies of other races, could you not....er....TOUCH her? Its...kinda gross. You see, your red ass wasn't supposed to BE here, so when you come into my totally awesome lair all uninvited and shite like that, well...its pretty annoying. But when you fucking touch my prized creation with that FILTHY red mass you call flesh, its downright infuriating!"
   Taking a moment to rub his forehead to animate his emotions as much as possible, he nearly misses his que when Dante lunges at him suddenly, dodging just in time to avoid Dantes fist at his temple, using the opportunity to lash out at any opening, he grabbed Dantes long ponytail and yanked him to the ground, holding him steadfast by the hair and in place underneath his heel.
    "Woah-ho~, look who has some long flowing locks here! Between you and me though it might get you into some shite someday when an absurbly handsome genius just decides to yank you good and just...well...go to town!" Holding a oddly cloudy blue piece of materia in his hand, he erects a glyph around Dantes hands and knees, binding him to the ground. Taking a moment to glance hatefully at Blossoming Guard, he rights himself with a smile and pulls out a rather large scalpel from one of the inner pockets lining his coat. Kneeling down next to Dante, he continued in a mocking fashion. "Now you jus stay still an git comfy honey, when Im done with you, you gon look fabulous!" Cackling to himself, he slid the blade of the scalpel across Dantes back slowly, relishing the sight of blood staining cloth. After drawing a smiling face into the upper right portion of his back, the man yanked on Dantes ponytail again, raising an eyebrow as Dante suddenly began thrashing at his binding with more vigor than before, his breathing becoming grunts of rising rage.
     "Here's the thing," the man explained slowly while looking towards the Roegadyn, "The reason that you are still on top of that girl is not because of your superior strength or anything, but rather because of a fault in my design thatwillbetakencareofonceIkillyouboth buuuuut.....only if you get off of her. Because I had a deal to keep with that girl, she has extremely heightened senses. This serves my purpose well actually, as it allowed me to test out whether or not the implants would be rejected by the reformed body and Id be aaaaaaalllllll kinds of screwed. The glaring weakness you just HAD to stumble upon with your giant burly uninvited arse that while in small doses chemical reactions and my sealed section system keep most damage a minimal issue, experiencing continued damage over various areas of the body will cause her heightened sense of pain to slowly put her into something you wouldn't know about called shock. In other words, continued exposure to your fat buttocks crushing my little project is going to kill her, and I cant have that. So if you would kindly get off of her then Id be really pleased."
    Seeing that the Roegadyn was clearly not about to move, the man narrowed his eyes irritably at her, before shifting his gaze to the girl beneath her, smiling warmly. "Well Hells girl, I daresay you've earned a bit of trust these past two years! Hows about I take this wittle failsafe off and you...oh...I dunno...KILL THE LIFE OUT OF THESE TWO!" Laughing manically at his terrible choice of words, the man dug underneath his necktie to reveal a choker identical to the one the girl was wearing. cutting it off with the scalpel, he struggled to keep his eyes from rolling into the back of his head from how funny he found the entire situation. "...You're annoying.." Dante said finally, his struggling still continuing while the man had a firm grasp on his ponytail.
    Returning his gaze to Dante as the girl let out a loud scream and slowly but surely began to wrench Blossoming Guard off of her, he raised his scalpel again. "Oh how could I forget about the adorable midget," he teased, "We were just about to give you a DARLING new look weren't we?" Lowering the scalpel to the ponytail, he relished every second of struggle that Dante gave him. Feeling his adrenaline peak, he bashed Dante's face into the hard floor, breaking his mask into fragments. Drawing blood from his nose as Dante clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to hide them, he actions only served to fuel the mans erratic behavior even further.
    "Oh you're  going to hide your eyes now? Boy you really are stubborn about it like the rumors say aren't you Mr. Shortblade? Open your eyes, I want you to watch every single second of what Im doing to you! I have a personal little beef with you midget. Why in the seven Hells are YOU getting attention when you aren't even aware that you're being scouted, eh!? Why did I have to struggle for every gil I got for my glorious project that has you here on your KNEES before me, not even aware of the genius and art you are a part of right this very moment! Im going to make you watch as I take out my frustration, kill this beefy girlfriend of yours, and then youre going to become the fodder for my new experiments. Oh, all the especially painful and dangerous ones of course. I'll make sure to keep all of your little senses in tact too so that you can feel and see and hear and taste every miniscule second of it!" Practically screaming the last sentence with vengeance and hardly suppressed glee, he dragged the scalpel across the ponytail, a tingle going up his spine at the snap and severance of every cuticle.
    "Uh oh....looks like todays weather is raining midgets hair! Be sure to run away or you may experience sudden and unexplainable feelings of hiding your eyes from the world and being unreasonably boring to talk to!" He laughed, sprinkling the hair onto Dante in a taunting manner.
    The next few moments were a bit of an unexplainable blur. There was an animalistic scream of rage, then a strange flashing light from Dante's face and an absence of the ground beneath him. The next moment Dante was standing before the man with a look of absolute rage on his face, eyes glowing like jewels with fires lit behind them.
 -The Beast-
    Dante faintly recalled a series of memories he couldn't place. Seeing a pale woman removing rubble from on top of his broken body, looking around for things of interest. He didn't know why, but he knew he just had to survive; Taking the chance before him he grabbed her ankle with everything he had, staring at her dead in the eyes with the conviction to never let go. I must live not matter what, he thought.
  Feeling his memories move forward, he felt a sense of unease. At some point he had definitely wanted to live, and now he dares not to care if he survives or not. Who was I, and who am I now? Feeling his memories settle, they stopped at another point, not knowing but somehow knowing that this was a few months later.
     "Dante," the pale woman started, roughly licking her lips and pretending that she had little interest in the conversation she was starting, looking towards the sky as a faint pink blush formed on her cheeks as she finished her food, "Don't you think its about time for an uh....I dunno...a change in image or somefin?" she asked, her glance flicking ever so often from him to the sky. "No," he said simply, wiggling his ears and tinkering with a piece of metal. "Oh don't you think you can just do that cute little ear trick and everything is gonna get swept under the sand! That trick aint workin tonight!" Tired of his tricks he knew would get her to drop subjects so he could focus on whatever he was doing, she yanked him by the collar to force his attention. "Look, you've been getting a little strong lately, so I thought Id let you look more like my companion than just some random urchin thing taggin along," she said smiling, clearly proud of her idea. "Sides, all that loose hair flowing all over the place is like to give me a heart attack if you pop out of the bath water like you did last week. I really might kill you next time y'know?"
   "I haven't really gotten that strong" he said simply, staring at her intently, earning him a deadpan expression from her. "Dante," she started, "Just yesterday you ripped the head off of a Bandersnatch with your hands. You know...the same Bandersnatch we are still eating today cause there was so much meat." Motioning to the lump of raw meat still left over behind her, she started again, grabbing his hair forcefully, her patience at an end. "Look you little punk you're going to change your look and you're going to like it! Now c'mere & get some new looks in your life!" Half fighting, half playing with him, she pulled his hair to and fro until it was tied off in the same fashion her mother showed her. "Now see here Dante, this style is special, see? It is proof of our connection and our pride. As long as you have this here....er..ponytail....you and I are connected. Wear this with pride and care for it like its your very soul, as I have placed a bit of mine in it." She began tugging his ears a little, sighing as the knot in her stomach loosened. "Bleeding Lady," Dante started, earning a hard knuckle to the back of his head. "Ive told you one thousand time over Dante, that is NOT my name, my name is-"
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      The memory fades at the most interesting moment and begins moving forward, much to his irritation. That's right, he thought, That's why I have been taking such good care of it, and got angry whenever it was damaged in any way. Feeling his memories come to a halt again, he focused himself into the visage of the pale woman again.
  "Dante, I made you something." Pulling out a pair of tinted red goggles, she places them onto his face and adjusts them to his size. "Now listen Dante, you mustn't ever show anyone your eyes unless you trust them with your life alright? I don't have time to explain all of this to you right now since we need to move, but lets just say you did some bad things before we met and if you show people your eyes, no one will like you alright? Night is coming soon, we gotta find somewhere higher up or its going to be really annoying all night."
    Feeling himself getting pulled from the pit stops of memory Dante felt his rage coming to a boil. Looking in front of him, he saw a man in a white coat sitting and staring at him. As if in a dream sequence his body responded on its own, his rage driving his body to do things he normally cannot. Screaming at the top of his lungs in anger, explosions began shooting bits of steel from the surrounding walls, fire creeping its way into the room. Turning to see Blossoming Guard on the ground unconscious, his rage found a target in the girl that had injured him so but minutes before, charging at her with the full intent to kill radiating from within him, he grunted in frustration as her reacting punch stopped his own. Ignoring the burning sensation in his hands as the flesh began to erode from whatever effect her blows created, he used the clash to call more magic forth. Almost as if returning the favor, the flesh on the girls hand began to bubble and pop away as the poison he made from the surrounding aether began to eat into her hand. Immediately her fear that she had barely been managing to suppress since Dante's outburst of rage boiled over into all out hysteria, immediately withdrawing and running towards the door, screaming with dread as he grabbed her hair and set it on fire from the end, prompting her to immediately sever it below her shoulders.
    Not sure where to run or what to do at this point, the girl tried in vain to suppress the instinctive fear rising up inside of her, all of the warning alarms in her mind telling her that she must escape, but she cannot turn her back to this foe. Deciding that her best shot was simply to fight and win or die, she charged forth, the muscles in her legs giving her an extra burst of speed and the knowledge in her head giving her a vast array of magic. In the vicinity of the demonic presence in front of her, her heart sank as a strange black substance began forming. She did not know what it was but she was certain it was the same thing she saw him make the seals and the floor around him not there anymore. Trying frantically to think of a way to live within that split second, her thoughts were interrupted by a gloved hand pressing into her and Dante's forehead. Mr. Carmine is going to betray me, she thought, feeling her consciousness fade.
    "Oh~ boy you two sure can get scary huh!? Imagine my surprise when I saw you synchronize your aether to my precious creation you disgusting little LEECH!" Laughing to himself as he pressed the cracked crystal embedded in Dantes forehead, he ceased his dramatic movements to show a face of genuine surprise. "The Hell is this midget? You've already got a seal in place on your little fireworks show you pulled off just now, so how in the seven Hells did you just pull off that rad little display just now huh!?" Keeping Dante bound in the air as he thought to himself as much as possible, his mad smile returned as he stumbled upon a new discovery. "You must have a really good method of pissing people off, cause not even I have ever seen a magic seal this intricate. Its quite....divine. It is certainly doing its job as well, that means that youre taking in excess and causing a secondary seal to activate..hmhmhm......your body wont be able to take all that. I may not be able to manipulate your seal but-" Carmine pulled out a black substance and smeared it on Dantes crystal, causing a black tattoo to form around it. "WABAM! That's what I like to call taking something to the EXTREEEEEME! Imagine my woefully enraged little nemesis, a seal that's built to hold things IN from an outside source? That's what I did with my twitching little disappointment over there you know, just on a much more beautiful scale. Ah...this is art. Watching your enemy tear himself apart through the simple act of being! Warms my heart! I rather think Ive had enough fun today, so if youll excuse me..." Carmine walks towards the hole in the wall he entered from and turns to give a cinematic bow. "Ladies and midget, have a nice daaaaay-urrrrgh!"
    Using the fire from earlier, Dante manipulates the flames to engulf Carmine, the flames eating holes into his body. Picking up Blossoming Guard and the girl, Dante walked past the now dying Carmine and walked into the dark hole, dragging the other two behind him.
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 -Wilted Rose-
    So there we were...at the end of dreams, at the end of struggles. For a few glorious moments my life was fulfilled and I wanted for nothing, but as all things have a price, mine was to have the reward I have so long desired ripped from me as I grasped it into my hands.
    I didn't cherish things as much back as little kid. People tend not to cherish things until they lose them. I wasn't any different at all; I was outside playing with my friends when my mother called me to dinner. She wasn't a bad cook or anything, but the vegetables were kind of strange this year, and whenever she put them in a soup it tasted like the wooden bowls we ate from. That said, it wasn't all that bad, and it always made me feel all giggly before being sent to the riverside to wash up before sleep. Like any night, I went outside to wash up before sleeping. The cool water splashing across my face was the last thing I felt, the sound of it being the final thing I heard.
    When youre a kid, you dont care about the little things that dont really make sense in your life. I didn't mind that the sky had grown dark or that everyone around me seemed more tense. It was easier to go through the motions and pay attention to your parents. Suddenly a dragon the size of one of the big city states began flying around and shooting beams of fire everywhere. Somewhere over the pass one of the beams hit. Nowhere near the village mind, and yet the heat still affected things far and wide. The water burned my skin, and falling into the riverside didn't help it get any less burned. I dont know why, but after that and hitting my head, I couldn't feel anything anymore, and hearing things was a distant whispering I could never make out. I couldn't even open my own eyes all the way anymore, struck lame in so many ways it was honestly laughable.
    It only took a year for my parents to become unable to care for me. I wasn't really angry about it-I didn't even remember what being angry really felt like, and Id known that supporting our family before the incident was already a very stressful and painful thing. One day my mother and father took me on a long trip to somewhere Id never been. In the wide open field they signaled for me to sit and wait, and left me behind, presumably to go do some work; They never returned.
    A few days later I was still sitting in the same spot, waiting for my parents to come back, and terrified that if I left that spot to go pee or something that they would come back and think I had gone. Like a good girl I had to wait, because I wanted to live. Feeling my vision go these past few weeks, I knew it was only a matter of time before I was completely blind. Pondering what to do and what to think, I saw with my dimming vision the figure of a man in white, smiling down at me as if I were a present that must be opened as soon as possible. It was the face of someone who had gotten exactly what they wanted. It was a strange thing to be wanted in the state I was in, but there was nothing I could do to resist. The only thing I wanted to do was survive. I wanted to live at any cost.
    Within weeks the man restored most of my sight. I still could not fully open my eyes, but I was not in any danger of going blind any longer. He introduced himself as Carmine, and promised to restore my body and more....for the price of becoming his test subject. If the tests prove successful, then she may leave to live her life as a different person altogether. If they failed...well...the end.
    And so after two long years there we were. At the end of everything, and it was taken away. Am I going to die now? Is this the reward I wished for?
    Opening my eyes, I see the sunlight burning behind the small form of a lalafell, a mask covering most of his features. Sitting directly behind him was a rather red woman, thumbing her chin nervously and looking at me. Realizing there was a blade at my throat, I couldn't help but perk up from the admittedly amazing feeling of half sleep. That feeling was completely wiped away by the realization that the owner of the blade was none other than the beast that caused me to run about in a terror. Realizing that I was about to die, I simply allowed myself to savor the feeling of the sun on my skin.
    "I killed that annoying man, but I dont really have a reason to kill you yet," the beast said, his oddly soft voice ringing disbelief through my head. "If you do not want to die, and do not want to kill me, then I will not kill you." Still caught in my disbelief I could only stare at him with a dumbfounded expression. It was a confusing mixture of feelings. Mr. Carmine restored my body into something amazing but at the cost of many sacrifices and pains I would not like to know again. This beast killed Mr. Carmine, but is offering me the one thing I have become this....thing for. Mr. Carmine betrayed me, but he may have also been trying to save me...this is too much.
     Almost as if she sensed my turmoil, the Roegadyn woman spoke up. "Do you want to live, or not?" Still gripped by my flux of feelings and thoughts, I could only nod timidly and cry, not sure what to do. Feeling the blade leave my throat, I attempted to use the knowledge I was given to calm down a little. "What is your name?" the lalafell asked in a blunt but oddly soothing voice.
    My name. That's something I hadn't thought about in a long time. On one hand, the name I had before is that of someone who died. That is no longer me. On the other, I was never given a new one...this is.......actually a little exciting. I'm going to live!
    Smiling to myself a little, and after a bit of thought, I decided to give my answer: "I'll let you know when I decide."Â
 -Twisted Thorns-
     Having given the report in full, Blossoming Guard and Dante were bombarded with questions and praise. Their mission to find the source of missing peoples an actual success with the true reason being uncovered, both were told to submit the proper paperwork for a promotion. Both decidedly kept the existence of the girl from their report at Dante's request believing it to be unnecessary information. After sitting through another hour or so of praise and recapping of his accomplishments, Dante left Maelstrom Command and the city itself, wanting to spend some time with Aeka.
    Sitting by the campfire with Aeka, Dante snuggled into her feathers while looking at the night sky, trying his hardest to recall the memories from the incident. Frustratingly he could see the memories in his head, but they were all obscured by a fog. Taking a moment to ruffle his hair sadly, Dante heard the loud footsteps of someone approaching.
     "Hello," the woman said with an excess of pride and haughtiness, "You would not know me, but I am interested in you Ser Dante."
  Standing quickly and calming Aeka, Dante stared quietly at the woman, wanting mostly to just enjoy his night without further interruption.
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    "Ugh...my name is...well it should be fine for you to simply call me Alexandrite. Most of your ilk find a proper name too long for your tongues to wag out. Ser Dante, you have not been in contact with us for quite some time, and I have taken the initiative to attempt a reboot of relations, so to speak."
     Faced with his stoic silence for longer than she liked, she continued on, her motions subconsciously conveying her irritation.
       "Ser Dante, would you like to be willing to accept work for interests of the Empire again?"
                                                              -When Everything is Blurry-End
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