EVENT: Battle Against the Kishin Adachi

[soul_mods]

Characters: Anyone who signed up for Mission 254
Location: Matsue City, Japan
Rating: PG13
Time: September 11th
Description: It's time to bring down the Kishin Adachi, once and for all!



Matsue was once a lovely city and a nice place for tourists to visit.

It is now a ghost town.

Some lucky citizens had managed to escape the city before things got really bad, but they are the minority. Even fewer still are those who stayed and are still alive.

Most of them are dead, or worse, they had been driven mad by the Madness the Kishin Adachi exuded and killed their fellow citizens and consumed their souls, becoming Kishin Eggs. To make matters worse, sometimes when you're fighting you'll hear the distant rattling of chains and some primal part of your soul knows, something wicked this way comes.

And then there's all the Yellow Fog...

Only those who persevere will make it to their final destination: the Adachi Art Museum where Adachi is.

It will not be an easy fight, but in order to prevent the fate of this city from befalling on another, everyone will need to try.

((OOC: Please indicate in the subject: Character || OPEN/CLOSED. There will be a separate thread for encountering Adachi. Event information is here.))

Comments

[vintage_magic]

It wasn't long before Lily spotted the bizarre chain-covered monster. It certainly didn't look like the man on the wanted poster Kanji had shared. But there was hardly time for her to speculate further before that thing raised a gun in their direction.

At Lezard's warning, she dropped to the rooftop, taking refuge behind the concrete barrier that ringed the perimeter of the roof. There were certainly going to be bruises later but she'd take bruises over a bullet wound. A few tiny chips of broken concrete showered down on them, emphasizing how much of a close call they'd had. Fearing more shots, she tightened her grip on the book and rolled away from the roof's edge. Not even daring to whisper anymore, she switched to talking to her partner psychically.

"Dag nab it! If that wasn't a kishin egg, what was that thing? Could the Kishin have warped into that?" Naoto had believed he might be able to shapeshift. But perhaps the better question for now was... "Can we fight that thing off somehow? It's seen us and we can't just hide up here all day."

[lezard_valeth]

Perhaps they'd been careless. He didn't know. What mattered now was that he had to get Lily to safety. Whether they could fight this thing or not when he couldn't get a read on what this monster was left him once more frustrated with the fact that it was another unknown.

The flames sprung to life around her, ready to go as Lezard blew out a breath. "Nothing is unkillable, Miss Ivory. Not even gods. I have my doubts that thing is a god."

He had to think. ...And think faster, because the shape now seemed to morph from the thickening fog, stepping through it like a misty yellow curtain and landing neatly upon the roof not yards from them.

"Time to leave the roof!" He blurted, the flames growing wild around them and firing like a thousand small meteors to engulf the Reaper in flame. The confusion should be enough to get back to that fire escape before the situation gets worse than it already is.

[vintage_magic]

"I hope you're right about that!"

Lily had been counting on having more time to recover and come up with a plan so she gaped as the creature appeared in the air and stepped onto the roof.

Great balls of fire! That thing could fly too?! The witch was feeling a tad outclassed and didn't argue. In a moment, she was back on her feet amid the countless flames and tearing for the stairs like Ichabod Crane being pursued by the Headless Horseman. It was too bad witches couldn't actually fly because it would have been useful about now.

As she reached the top of the fire escape, she could make out the Reaper covered in flames but didn't pause to see if they were having an effect. She raced all the way down the stairs, taking full advantage of whatever speed boost their resonance provided.

"Which way now?" It seemed wise to keep running but it'd just be trouble if they encountered another group of demons now. "We've got to lose that thing unless you think we can beat it."

[lezard_valeth]

During their escape down the ladder, he tried to get another read on the creature. Kishin Eggs grew angrier, Witches presumably vengeful. Namely, they felt some form of pain and reacted to it.

This one? It felt nothing. There was heat and light, but there was nothing changing in its mind.

Had Lezard lacked nerve, that would have scared him.

"Putting distance between it and us would be... preferable," he noted in a chilling calm.

"But the flames can stall it should it get too close. Keep moving in any direction you can, take every alley way... should I sense it or another of these things, you will be informed." No. No, no, no. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! He couldn't be outclassed by some spectre, not right before his rise to Deathscythedom!

Uh oh.

"It's pursuing us!" Thank you, Lily, for not wearing Keds today.

[vintage_magic]

How calmly he said that sent a shiver through her. For a man as egotistical as he could be at times to advise her to run told her this enemy—whatever the heck it was—was a formidable one.

A quick glance up revealed the Reaper at the roof's edge now, still ablaze but pointing one of its revolvers at them. Scareder than a cat in a dog pound, she turned tail and ran down the alley adjacent to the fire escape as bullets left a trail of pockmarks behind them. Coming to the next street, she ducked down another alley way and then another street Her legs were beginning to protest but she couldn't let that thing catch up to them. She almost turned down another alley before noticing it was a dead end and continuing down the street to the next. Keeping this up for several minutes, she moved in a roughly diagonal path through the deserted city with little regard for where their destination was. They could worry about that after they got away from it!

"Have we lost it yet?"

[lezard_valeth]

He turned and set his jaw. Lily took off and he kept his gaze to the back. He couldn't gauge how it moved. It had no means of locomotion yet it moved swiftly, extending both arms and firing in rapid succession without need to reload. No matter how long he looked at the thing, he just couldn't work out what it was. What could it be if it wasn't a witch nor a Kishin Egg? It was no Kishin- wherever he was, he hid himself well- but even a Kishin was a man once. They had emotions. Even now, he felt a malice and... even a boredom.

Whoever this was, was an impressive man.

But soon the Reaper disappeared into the mists, but Lily kept moving. Lezard breathed a sigh of relief, glad to see the end of it, but couldn't be sure if they'd lost it or if it was taking another route.

"As much as I'd like to say yes, I can't be cocky. Keep moving. At least it makes a sound... we will move in the opposite direction of any chains until we encounter one of the others and touch base."

After another few blocks, however, Lezard sparked across their link. Things were suitably quiet, and he couldn't even hear the ghost of chains. Perhaps it had lost interest in them, or perhaps it found someone else to hunt.

Lezard couldn't be bothered to consider either option. He only cared that it was gone.

"How are you, Lily?" Gunshots were deafening for the first half of their run. He was already checking her, gauging her soul for any spikes of pain. She hadn't been hit, had she?

[vintage_magic]

She kept running a few more minutes even after the sound of gunshots and the rattle of chains had faded to nothing, still not encountering any other being in the foggy streets. A little extra distance seemed cautious.

When it finally seemed safe, she stopped to slump against an alley wall, resting her aching leg muscles and taking huge gulps of air to try to soothe her burning lungs. It was a good thing they could talk mentally because her lungs certainly weren't up to the task after all that running.

"I'd say rode hard and put up wet about describes how I feel right now." Did horses feel like this after galloping for miles? She imagined they might. She was too tired to even care if he made some perverted joke out of it.

Shifting Lezard to one arm, she now took the opportunity to assess herself for injuries. The bullets that had been fired had all buried themselves in the pavement and walls of the alleys and shattered a few store windows along the streets. But bits of broken glass had hit, leaving a series of tiny scratches along her lower arms. And feeling something wet on her cheek, she reached up, fingers coming away from her face with a small smear of blood.

"It's just scratches, I think. I'll mix up some poultice to put on them after we get back. But I reckon we'd better try to find the others now."

Where was everyone anyway? Had they just run into the wrong area of the city entirely in their effort to flee that chain-rattling gunslinger?

As she peered through the mist, trying to decide which way to go, a shape approached from the far end of the alley. A rather familiar one that looked just like her but with yellow eyes.

"What in tarnation are you doing here? I thought I got rid of you!"

The shadow cackled, looking rather witchy in a black dress identical to Lily's own. "It's not that easy. You're still trying to keep a secret."

[lezard_valeth]

He nodded. Still, it was handy to know how to extract bullet slugs from the body, and do so on the field in quick order.

"Agreed. The sooner we find the others, the better."

But then he felt something odd, almost like some of Lily's soul was leaking into the mists, spreading outward and mingling, like that first splash of milk added to a dark tea. He heard footsteps and silenced, steeled himself.

No chains. But was it another of the agents?

...No. It was a yellow-eyed Lily in a black dress. Her lips parted and her voice was strange, sounding mildly like her own yet worlds different at the same time. Rather than the solid soul he was connected to, this entire figure was made of a soft light of the same color. The pressure in the mist seemed to be feeding into it. Was this creature a part of her?

"I do believe keeping secrets is a part of the job description of the magically-inclined," Lezard added lightly, and none-too-privately.

[vintage_magic]

"I reckon you're right about that."

Still, Lily couldn't figure out was what in the Sam Hill that thing was talking about. She'd already publicly confessed to being a witch the night before. And Lezard even knew that story of what happened in her hometown. So, why the heck was her Shadow appearing again?

"What do you want?" She kept a wary eye on it as it sauntered over to them.

"What do I want?" Shadow Lily reached out to take Lezard's bookmark between her fingers and caress it.

Well recalling what had happened with her duplicates in San Jose, Lily frowned and tightened her grip on Lezard as the Shadow ran a finger along his spine and traced the patterns on his cover.

"I think I'll take that book of yours. After all, you still won't even admit you like him after all this time! Not even with all the times he's saved your hide."

The Shadow laughed and leaned over, face mere inches from the pages as if sharing a confidence with him. "She was even tempted to ask to sleep in your bed last night after that ninja was mean to her. But of course, she didn't."

[lezard_valeth]

He hadn't participated in the training, knowing only that it divulges in secrets. He'd forcibly made himself unavailable, choosing instead to see to the medical side of things and see to anyone's injuries after their training.

The Shadow approached and he wasn't sure what to make of it. It looked precisely like her save for the eyes, and wore peculiar attire. To what end, he'd wondered? They looked like a frock rather, but were a little too long. Dress robes?

Fingers closed around the ornate bookmark and the book was still, confusion blooming over the link. The wavelengths quickened briefly, pulsing like a heartbeat as it slipped between her fingers. They quickened further with a finger along the spine, the patterns, and the man within the book was silent. His side of the link was far from it however, emitting sparks of a deeper, darker desire.

She liked him. That, deep down, he knew. She fought to hide it, and with that thought he understood what they'd meant by divulging one's secrets. To her, how she felt was a secret along the lines of her 'witchiness', and the Shadow it seemed personified them. Had the boy spoken of 'accepting' them in his entry?

But there was more, staring him right in the face. Er, pages. He'd borne witness to the entry she'd made in question and held himself back from making any sort of input. It was her secret to release, and her fight. She'd taken her lumps but somehow stood. She was admirable for the lot of it.

"The fact that she did not speaks volumes. As much comfort as I could lend her in my bed, she is stronger for having stood on her own two feet and enduring. There are times and places to turn to others... that was not one of them."

He paused, rubbing his chin. "Long, tiring work days? I'd say that would be a prime example."

[vintage_magic]

The Shadow's clothes seemed as if they were shifting, no longer the plain black dress the real Lily wore but becoming the type of long, bell-sleeved costume one might expect to see on a witch. Was it an effect of the thicker fog here?

She felt the confusion through the link and then something else. Desire? But they couldn't get distracted by this now.

"You don't have to tell him that!" she protested. "And I wasn't thinking of it in that way!" in case he got the wrong idea; with the mission today, she knew quite well that would have been a terrible way to mess with her energy, possibly disastrous.

But it was true. She had been tempted, nearly went to knock on his door before realizing it would have been pretty pathetic, like an upset child seeking a favored stuffed animal to cuddle. Instead, she eventually fell into a fitful sleep in her own bed after an hour of staring at the ceiling while the question of whether she made the right decision with that posting repeatedly ran through her mind.

The Shadow pouted at not getting a more interesting reaction out of him and turned her eyes back to Lily for the moment although her fingertips continued to slide over the pages, lingering on the sketch.

"And why shouldn't he know? He is your partner. Or did you plan to go back to denying that too?"

Stroking the bookmark again, the Shadow brought the charm at the end to her lips as she addressed Lezard. "How about you leave that witch and be my partner instead?"

It giggled. "Or I can at least tell you about that very entertaining spell she accidentally cast the last time she pulled a man into her bed..."

Cheeks burning, Lily huffed and yanked the book away from the Shadow. "Dag nab it! We've got more important things to do at the moment than discuss my love life!"

[lezard_valeth]

The strange feelings weren't going away any time soon, a small jump in the book when the charm was touched. The boy had said the Shadow was part of the original. Did she have this kind of mischievous spirit in truth? Gods, he hoped so.

But she'd had times where she wished to hide their partnership too, and he wanted to plant his hands on his hips and stare.

Instead, he heard an iiiinteresting tidbit. Giggling as Lily tugged the book closer, he had to ask.

"What spell was this? I'd never heard of this!" He enjoyed her stories. Was she holding out on him? For shame!

[vintage_magic]

Lily was starting to feel a tad of irritation in addition to the embarrassment. Land sakes! Those two were ganging up on her!

"That's none of your business! Lezard, concentrate!" They had to get away from this thing and find the others.

But the Shadow wasn't content to let the subject go so easily and laughed at the original's fluster, latching on to the book again. "She made the clothes in her shop dance and couldn't get them to stop. They danced until dawn!"

The witch glared at her double. "Quit trying to air my dirty laundry and let go of my partner! We've got a mission to get back to!" The latter was as much a reminder for Lezard as for the Shadow.

"But I thought dirty laundry was your specialty. And you can't just leave without me. I am part of you..."

[lezard_valeth]

Now this was something all the more intriguing. Inadvertent magic use in the wake of intense emotion? He'd never heard of a sexual magic before, but he was already planning on looking into such a thing. Were there books on it somewhere in the library?

"She is correct," he reminded Lily. Well, the original anyway.

"It is my understanding that to dismiss a shadowy clone is to accept the part of yourself it represents. One less clone is one less tool for the Kishin to use against us while we conduct our mission here." He looked up, the sketch canting his head.

"You've informed me of much about your past. What of your present?"

[vintage_magic]

"We don't have time for this right now." But remembering what had happened in the foggy tunnel when she tried to deny what the Shadow had said, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"All right! So, I like you! Are you happy now?" The last was addressed as much to the Shadow as to Lezard.

"It'll do for now. But you really should stop hiding your feelings so much..." Appeased for now, it gave the book a smooch and then started to fade away.

Relieved to finally be rid of the Shadow, she looked down at the sketch. "Now let's get back to finding the others. Do you sense anything nearby?"

[lezard_valeth]

Lezard had to laugh. This whole thing was a spectacle, but he was enjoying himself. Really, he'll take this over the gunslinging whatever-that-was back there. The truth will set you free, it seemed, and that was what she gave. Really, was admitting it so difficult? It was something he knew anyway.

The Shadow disappeared, but not without a parting gift. His cover and his pages jumped, then sagged. Lezard was momentarily lost in space, and jumped again when he was addressed.

"My senses are on overdrive, you could say. Yet I sense nothing of any concern."

Yet a pressure was building, something heavy in the air. It was foreign yet familiar.

"Shall we move on?" He added quickly. He didn't like that feeling.

[vintage_magic]

Maybe it shouldn't have been but given her past experiences with romance, was it surprising she had some hangups about admitting to such feelings? And it was a subject that had the potential to stir up a big out-of-control mess when it came to a witch's energy.

Lily felt the little jolt from the book and couldn't help a slight roll of the eyes. He had been enjoying the Shadow's attention a bit too much, hadn't he? "Let me know if you actually feel anything useful."

She continued down the alley way, watching for any signs of the other pairs who had joined the fight.

...Was that a figure in the street beyond the alley's end? She stopped and squinted, trying to better make it out in the fog. No rattling chains and it looked too tall to be her Shadow again but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

"Is that someone up ahead?"

It hadn't yet occurred to her that she might also meet someone else's Shadow...

[lezard_valeth]

The figure was humming off-key, strolling as if it were a sunny day in paradise. The flap of a cloak was first, rolling behind him in his wake as he stepped out of the fog, the violet eyes of the body double a bright and vibrant yellow behind the glasses.

The moment he was unobscured, he raised a hand as it oozed a dark and angry energy. From out the windows, beneath the cracks of doors and from the mere shadows of fallen rubble and rubbish was a black ooze, growing upward and forming into varied creatures. Some were skeletal dragon men wearing odd masks bearing the roman numeral XVI, the Tower, and the ill omen it brings. Using their massive swords, they barred the alley way both front and back, and were still.

The Shadow lowered his hand and supported his elbow, propping the other arm to allow him to casually lay a hand in amusement against a cheek. He canted his head.

"Why are you running, me? Are you confessing to cowardice after managing to avoid your training? Avoid little old me? What have you to hide? ...Other than -everything-. You see, the man you hold in your very hands was a very, VERY busy boy right up until Loki's cataclysm sought to claim him..."

The flame drops sprung to life around the witch. Something strange was occurring in Lezard's soul, the openness shutting down in exchange for an unusual cool emptiness. He was already shutting everything out, but hadn't calculated for the resonance link making it obvious.

"We've nothing to discuss. Lily, strike the Bone Warriors in the masks or ankle joints, and we shall be on our way."

[vintage_magic]

There was definitely something up ahead, almost seeming for a moment like a winged monster from the silhouette with the cloak flapping in the breeze. But it emerged from the fog and she saw it was Lezard with the same bright yellow eyes her doppelganger had possessed. His Shadow.

It might have not been too alarming in itself but there was black oozing from crevices around them and taking shape as sword-wielding dragons. Or their skeletons anyway. And what was the meaning of the XVI? It read as sixteen if it was a Roman numeral but being terrible with all things divination related, she didn't make the connection to the tarot. Whatever the XVI meant, the critters didn't look friendly.

Worse, the Shadow spoke in a mockery of her partner's voice and although flames were materializing from their resonance, Lily sensed a wall going up on his side of the connection. Hand closing around a flame, she willed it to take the shape of the familiar athame but didn't yet attack, mingled uncertainty and hesitation emanating from her end of the connection.

"Lezard, what's the meaning of all of this? What is your double talking about?"

In the early weeks after she first met him, she had wondered if he was hiding something with his evasive answers on certain matters. But then things had happened like how he had thrown himself in the way of that spear to protect her, the other times he'd come to her rescue, the week when they had changed roles as Meister and Weapon. She'd allowed herself to conclude that maybe it didn't matter anymore and had largely stopped attempting to pry into his past. Had she been wrong?

[lezard_valeth]

Lezard scowled, but his Shadow's smile grew malicious, widening by the moment. The man knew how this was going to go already, and wanted none of it. It was a detriment to his own plans, and he was far too close to what he wished to accomplish for his own past to stain it.

"Nothing that matters."

"If it's unimportant to the here and now, then I suppose there's no issue having a heart-to-heart, is there? After Lily Ivory finally admitted to liking you, when you've done NOTHING to earn it!" The Shadow suddenly turned his eyes to Lily, the dragons' masked heads turning in suit with the sound of stretched, rotten sinew and creaking bones.

"We wanted a homunculus, a body to house the soul of our beloved Lenneth. We knew when Odin's seal upon her memories broke, she would be destroyed for the 'crime' of being human once. We could not bear it. But we needed a body that would grow in power, one that could surpass even the gods... only the best for my love." The Shadow paused, startled when one of the flame drops was thrown haphazardly to his feet, and sputtered into nothing. Without the Meister's power, he couldn't properly function.

"Hahahaha! Oh, you're -cross-! My apologies; did you want this woman to think fondly of me? Oh no no no. She told me so much, but I've told her nothing. That's hardly fair, is it? Tell me- how many times was it that I entered the forest, gathering the key ingredient I needed for my homunculus project...? Would you like to know what that ingredient is?"

Lezard decided enough was enough, and shifted back, standing instead at Lily's side as human. He was advancing on the Shadow, who didn't move. It instead opened its arms imploringly. "Nobody was talking to you, -me-. I'm speaking with my friend in a way you never have."

[vintage_magic]

Lily shuddered as the Shadow's eyes met hers and its minions turned their attention to her too. Hopefully, they weren't contemplating whether a witch would make a tasty snack.

There were bits and pieces that were familiar, the name of the Valkyrie he had been so enamored with, the idea of creating a homunculus. Those had slipped out the time she'd loosened Lezard's tongue with a spicy dinner and a lot of wine. But the Shadow seemed to be implying there was more to the story...

She frowned at the Shadow, suspecting the answer wasn't mandrake roots. What was it after anyway? "If you just wanted a friendly chat, I reckon you could have done without the critters." She was tense and it didn't help when the spellbook suddenly shifted.

"Lezard, what are you doing?!" The way he left her arms and advanced on the Shadow worried her. Their connection broken, there would be little she could do if the creatures in the alley attacked them now. She rushed after him, throwing a hand upon his shoulder in an attempt to stop him. "Come back here!"

[lezard_valeth]

Lezard ignored the hand on his shoulder. Discretion was-

He started when the Shadow's eyes turned on him, the smile widening somehow further. Into inhuman territory. "Don't you even think about discretion. You weren't exactly discreet about the kidnapping of countless elves for your experiments, to the point where the entire race had you on 'kill on sight' status."

"To house the soul of a god, you needed the perfect vessel. You needed something otherworldly, something that could grow. Odin, as a half-elf, could develop and grow as a god. So naturally, the elven blood is the catalyst. We cared little for their loved ones, their families as we stole them away into the night. Elves had little purpose to the gods, other than to be makeshift vessels should a god lose his current body and need a new one. And so close to their precious Yggdrasil, too. Why can't a human do the same... in the name of love?"

[vintage_magic]

Lezard wasn't the only one who felt pause from the Shadow's sickening grin. Its words didn't help either and she felt as if she had been doused in ice water.

"...Kidnapping? Lezard, is that true? You didn't really do such a thing, did you?"

Grabbing for his arm now, she tried to pull him to face her. The look in her eyes was conflicted, half hoping it was just some kind of misunderstanding and half fearing it was all true and that she had come to trust, had been falling in love with a madman... The old doubts welled up again. Had he just been using her this whole time for his own purposes?

[lezard_valeth]

Lezard said nothing, eyes hardening further. Had he his magic, all it would take is a Meteor Swarm and-

"Oh yes... I was very busy! It's too bad the experiment was for naught. When Loki claimed the Dragon Orb, that was that. He eliminated everything on the planet, human or god, the ones in between. My hard-earned Philosopher's Stone... sacrificed, in hopes to survive the calamity. I'd hoped Lenneth would succeed, using the body I'd created for her when her sister murdered her in the name of Odin. Alas, with no signs of life on the planet beyond what I could see, it's easy to presume her heart was too human, too frayed with the memories she regained. She died along with the rest. Even when I soaked my hands in blood, something that needed to be done... I failed."

"I failed then, just as I am failing now. You look at me with fear and it excites me, and yet it pains me at the same time."

"You speak too much." Lezard's voice was even, the coolness broken. It was a new tone, low and quiet. Typically, this would be followed with flame, with crushing, with ice. But without his powers...

"I'd hoped to use you, Lily. I wanted to use you to circumvent the fates themselves and attain new power here, seize destiny and mark my own path through the Hel we're given here, this war of hatred I've grown to care of less and less as the madness of the world builds. What's one war, only to be thrown into another seemingly without end?"

But then the Shadow looked disturbed. The smile faded and he looked away.

"Yet I don't want this war to end. Should it, and I return to calamity. I cease to be. To be erased is unthinkable, not after everything I've achieved. Not after everything that has occurred here."

He looked up as Lezard's hands shook. If he couldn't use his magic, he could tighten the collar around the Shadow's neck and silence the fool.

"'Tis unthinkable of a genius to have his doubts. Yet, I was born. I was born from such a man that perceives to have all the cards at hand, every answer within his grasp at any cost. Power, knowledge, that is what I know. ...Stubborn witches, on the other hand, I know not. You appeared and I felt conflicted for the very first time."

"I've hidden information from others because I felt it was irrelevant. I hide everything from you, because you are the one person in every realm I've tread from which I could not weather hatred."

"Ha! To what end do you seek by speaking of such things?"

"She is no fool. I, on the other hand, am."

[vintage_magic]

Lily imagined the horror she felt at the revelations must have been akin to what Bluebeard's wife felt upon opening door of the forbidden room.

"...You were just using me?"

Was it really as she had worried about in the beginning after all? Why she had hesitated to get involved with him for so long. The idea that like that psychic back in Geneva, he might have just been interested in her for her powers and how it might benefit him, rather than for herself. After all they had been through, the idea hurt. She looked between the Shadow and the original, eyes sad with tears that it was impossible for a witch to shed.

Yet even after the Shadow's confessions of wrongdoing, she couldn't deny that she would have been sad if Lezard were to be sent away by that contraption, back to his ruined world, to his death.

But what was this...? He couldn't stand the idea of her hating him? Despite the Shadow's claim, she felt like a fool. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been in an alleyway surrounded by skeletal monsters and clinging to Lezard's sleeve, desperately hoping it was some nightmare and that things would be okay again. Why didn't she just run away, abandon him?

"Why should you care if I hate you? You seemed to care little of people, always hiding away with your books."