Murder Doll

     Was this girl a human? Her scent was odd. Too faint. But the tides of battle washed away that brief moment of confusion as her fist crashed into another metal monstrosity. Still without her blade and with some of her strength returned, it was the ideal method to dispatch with the menace before her.

Flame sputtered from her back in the vague shape of a pair of wings before dispersing as another blow connected. “Knox? Is that an English name?” Well, the girl certainly wasn’t Japanese. Prying a nearby bot off the ground, she tossed it in the other girl’s direction. “GO FOR THE TOUCHDOWN!” Sports weren’t her forte.

When the situation allows it, Dlanor steals glances at the taller being. She tries to ensure the blonde is safe, that they remain close enough to help the other, and so she sees how she fights a bit more clearly. She’d known Ibaraki was punching the drones, but witnessing it amidst the flames was truly a sight. She was quite fortunate to have come across someone so reliable.

Golden eyes lock onto a group of nearby civilians, all seemingly trying to escape the drones. She almost goes to them, but the oni’s exclamation snaps her back to attention. “A TOUCH- ..!” A drone is flying towards her. That catches her by surprise, yet she finds herself swinging the Red Key at the machine to direct it at the drones slowly getting past them. Crash! That should clear a path for them, if only momentarily. “Ah, you are CORRECT. BRITISH.” She’d hate to leave questions unresolved. “That was a marvelous throw, <Miss>.”

     “Kukuku! To think there were humans out there that are my size and possess a relative raw power to my own!” Another robot went sailing over Dlanor’s head as the oni’s outstretched fist implied she’d sent it sailing with a punch alone. And yet she only had a fraction of her strength returned.

“Be grateful, for the terrifying oni of Mount Oei, Ibaraki-Douji, will lend you her assistance! It’s been a while since I’ve had an opportunity to fight unhinged.” 4′7″ of tiny oni arrogance.

A sudden voice shifts Dlanor’s attention from the drones briefly, eyes following the path of the drone that was just assaulted. Impressive, and appreciated she must admit. There’s a smile on the child’s expression, surprisingly bold compared to her usual demeanor. The comment about her being a human goes uncorrected for now; perhaps they’ll have an opportunity to clear up any misunderstanding afterwards. 

“Yeah, I know, it’s quite the mixed bag, huh? To be fair, though, the law office has been kinda dead for months, only flies hanging around. It’s kinda sad. I wonder if Maya-chan will ever get to her Citta Law reviving plans.” He scratches his hair in pondering.

Then, he smiles at her upon her following comment. “You could say so! But yeah, we’d likely be limited to shouting blue after blue if we faced each other in Hive City’s courtrooms. Unless the scientists told us so, we have no way of assuming that any crime in this place follows Knox or any other mystery genre convention.”

Imagine, if one of these so-called ‘events’ revolved around that sort of thing. It’d be pretty disgusting of them to force innocent people to die or deal with the death of loved ones just to make a couple citizens play detective.

Dlanor offers Battler a quiet hum in recognition of his words. There’s little else she can do to respond to his explanation of the law firm’s situation; she’s not aware of how it works or who is in charge. It sounds unfortunate, however. “You should keep me UPDATED. While I can’t guarantee much, I’d be happy to help in any way I CAN.”

Ryoko couldn’t help but sigh to herself. This body may have only existed for a total of six years, but she suddenly felt rather old. Dlanor didn’t seemed to have changed much in the time she’s been gone. Meanwhile, Ryoko’s hair had grown out a bit and she had a few more inches to her. Honestly, it’s all cosmetic changes that she could easily revert on a whim. Trying to keep up with the years in this city physically probably wouldn’t be good for her confidence in the long run. 

Thoughts like this still didn’t keep her from responding back with what she knew everyone wanted- a smile.

“Likewise! I wasn’t exactly certain on what became of you! Your name was in my cell-phone one day and gone the next!” A clear sign of the city’s registration system at work. “I figured that you got to go home or… something along those lines.”

There were other possible scenarios that had crossed her mind, all too realistic and grotesque, but possibilities nonetheless. However, Ryoko’s face kept its natural radiance unperturbed. No need to make the mood grim.

“Mmmhmmhmmm ha… Yes. Just a little over three years. Actually, 3 years, 5 months, 28 days, 21 hours, and 7 minutes, to be exact. …Maybe give or take a few miscalculations in time calculation! There’s been quite a few interesting events in this city since then, even for me, that could have affected my calculations.”

Her smile was still there, even after her news. Surely anyone else would have lost the will to keep up such a cheerful attitude (but not a humanoid interface) if they were in her position, trapped in this place for so long. Ryoko, to an outsider, was either unrealistically optimistic or simply fooling herself by now. Perhaps she had done either and hadn’t realized it yet… or she was incredibly persistent- a statement Kyon would have strongly agreed on. 

Oh, well. It was better than being deleted like an unwanted error.

It had taken Dlanor a moment to properly take in the teen’s appearance up close, and the light changes came as a surprise. They truly only served to prove that she had been gone for longer than she expected. She nods slowly as Ryoko explains how she learned of her departure, keeping the information in mind should it prove useful at another time. Dlanor had never used her cellphone much during her stay. Still, her sudden disappearance was quite unfortunate. “Though it is late, allow me to offer an apology if I caused you WORRY.” Maybe it happened, maybe it didn’t, but it didn’t hurt to be sure.

Dlanor perks up at the answer to her question, Ryoko’s oddly upbeat attitude seemingly unnoticed. She hardly had any room to judge, really. “Over three YEARS.” The rest of the calculations don’t matter entirely, at least not considering the fact that she had spent time in the Hive without coming in contact with the human. Such a long time. “I wonder why they decided to bring me back NOW.” It’s a low mutter, curiosity voiced to no one in particular.

“You can bet! Don’t worry, my fellow paperwork hater, your secret is safe with yours truly.” He makes a shushing signal with his hand to signal the deal.

“A couple, actually. I work half time as a page in a library, help as a teachers’ assistant at a school and have been studying law on the side to become a defense attorney one day. I can’t get away from debates, you know~?”

“Aaaaand that’s something a child shouldn’t listen to, which’s why I’m leaving it to your imagination.” Battler looked quite awkward upon this. Him and his big mouth. “How about you, Dlanor? I bet you could make a great prosecutor!”

Wasn’t there this place where Wright-san was at once that had inquisitors assume a similar role to prosecutors? That’d fit Dlanor to a T.

“I trust you WILL.” There are other things Dlanor could say, maybe even some good-natured teasing, but she decides to save that for a later time. For now, she’d rather focus more on the following topic at hand. A page? It doesn’t surprise her much considering Battler’s enjoyment of reading. She, too, had considered finding a job at the local Library during her past stay, though her height was often an issue. Still, the rest of his jobs...

“A teacher’s assistant and law STUDENT?” That strange contradiction almost forces a chuckle out of her, but there’s something else that piques her interest. Defense attorney, that sounded oddly similar to... Ah. “I’m certain your experience in The Great Court of Illusions has worked wonders on your motivation to LEARN.” There it is, the teasing she can’t quite help... 

Ryoko tossed the ring from hand to hand, giving the trinket a stare as warm as her hair color. The item had popped up on a desk in her room, having been placed there at some point under her notice. Was it another reward? Considering the unannounced appearances of past items near her person, such as her phone and that cloak (she really had to find out what it did exactly), she had to hypothesize that it was. The engravements into it were cut in the shape of forest animals and the silver shined just a bit brighter than anything in a store-window.

Well, she thought, slipping the ring into her skirt pocket, I wonder how they’ll top this latest surprise?

As it turned out, a surprise was in store for Ryoko, but it wasn’t from any of the scientists. 

The tone carrying her name was far off, but familiar. Ryoko stopped and swiveled her head around in the directed of the voice until she found its hard to miss source. A pair of deep yellow eyes were meeting her own blue ones. She blinked only twice, then speed-walked past the swell of pedestrians. It had to be her.

No one else, to her knowledge, wore ringlets in that particular color. 

“…Dlanor? Dlanor? Is that really you?” She had honestly thought the girl had been wiped away like a smudge. 

It’s with a mild sense of trepidation that Dlanor sees the teenager come to a halt and search for the source of the call. An instant that feels like eternity. The child can’t help but feel relief and happiness as the girl approaches, clear recognition in her blue eyes. It was her, indeed.

“YES.” A simple, short response. To know that someone still remained here that she could speak to felt better than she thought. “<Miss> Ryoko, what a joy it is to see you AGAIN.” There, however, remains a small concern, furthered by the apparent disbelief on her expression. “It... has been a long time, hasn’t IT?”

“Still lots of paperwork to deal with, huh? Sheesh, I’d hate having to deal with that much text in your age. Guess that Hive City is pretty convenient for you in that sense, huh? Ihihihi!”

“As for me, I’ve been enjoying the days as I can, fighting boredom with work, having lots of fun with Beato- oh, but I guess that last one shouldn’t be detailed to you~.”

Dlanor can’t help but appear crestfallen when Battler mentions the piles of paperwork she often has to deal with. Really it wasn’t hard to understand her pain. Still, the sorcerer knows her well and a grin almost makes it way to her features. “While that may be true, please do keep it a SECRET.” She has a reputation! “OH? What sort of JOB?” Wait...

Huh? That voice… could it be-?

“Dlanor? Whoa, long time no see you, buddy!” He moves his hands to pat her head. “How have you been? And how about stuff outside Hive City?”

There is a familiar voice and presence that draws near. Dlanor is, perhaps, a little slow to react, but the gentle pats against her head are nothing to fret at. Still, the child reaches up to fix her hat and tresses afterwards, a small smile on her face.

dollofmarble replied to your post: “There are children running around, have some…

This one will hide behind you, Takumi, sorry.

I’ll protect you from the weirdos, don’t even worry.

It wasn’t every day that Dlanor found herself asking others for assitance. More often than not she tried to offer her help to others instead. This time, however, it couldn’t be helped. While she had, at one point, been well-acquainted with this city, things had changed. Now, it was a matter of actually finding an individual that was knowledgeable enough in the topic at hand.

“STYLE?” 

“I do not doubt your CLAIM.” She knew just how true that statement was. The worst people she could think of... Their fears weren’t exactly a secret, despite their nature. “Unfortunately, that alone cannot justify their ACTIONS.”