An Ideal Beauty, An Ideal Strength

❝ Never thought’a it that way. Guess yer master really know what they’re talkin’ ‘bout, huh? Sure, I’ll take ya on! ❞ 

Edea definitely had some sort of confidence in her, which only made Kyouko more excited for a fight. She hadn’t fought someone in a while who might be just as good as her. 

[ She took up her wooden sword, assumed an attack stance. She was going to enjoy this. ] 

"Well," she said easily, giving Edea a cocky smirk, "I was the one who misjudged you from the beginning. Since I acted so very unfairly, it's only right that I allow you to make the first move. Besides, I might be a knight, but I'm hardly a lady these days."

"And ladies should always be allowed the first move, don't you agree?" 

[ Overhearing the boy's words stirred something in Edea, something disturbing enough to stop her mid-step. She glanced anxiously at her newly-filled shopping bag. Oh, hell. She was going to run out of money soon, wasn't she? ] 

[ She turned on her heel and marched back to the boy, placing her hands on her hips. She gave him a steely look. ] 

"You, boy: Forgive me for eavesdropping, but I overheard you saying something about a job hunt. I assume you're some kind of expert on these matters, no? Very well. I, too, am in need of employment. I insist you allow me to join you on this voyage. I'm certain I will be a valuable asset to you, Mister...?" 

Details of the first skybound outlands location, ‘Olympia’.

More underneath the cut.

“Yeah, you have that strong-willed air about you…Makes sense. I’m happy to be allies with someone like you!”

Kat was grateful that her first interaction in the city had been successful. She wouldn’t dare think of the poor suckers that came across the path of someone evil like Alias or worse…Thank god for Edea.

She held a tight, but gentle, grip on Edea’s hand. For a fighter, her hands were pretty smooth… The shifter would have to learn from her sometime. All that landing and all the executed gymnastic moves left a number on her palms. One hand definitely wasn’t enough, so Kat went ahead and grabbed the other one.

“I won’t drop you, promise! Dusty’s here to make sure I don’t do that! Hang on tight, I fly pretty fast!”

-- Edea's protests came a second too late: the instant before the words left her lips, Kat had lifted the two of them into the air and taken off into the sky, spinning and swirling to the sound of Edea's strangled yells.

-- Edea clung to Kat like her life depended on it -- because, let's face it: it did. Her grip was so tight as to actually hurt the girl, but Edea did not care. For the first few minutes of flight, she was absolutely terrified. Sure, she was used to being up in the air, but on an airship! Never in the arms of a strange girl whom Edea had only just met!

-- Still, once the initial shock wore off, and Edea began to relax, she remembered just how much she loved flying. She started to actually enjoy herself. And, as Kat dipped and dropped lower through the air, Edea found herself laughing nervously and grinning so broadly that it actually hurt her cheeks.

-- "This is incredible!" she cried. "Is it magic? Or something else?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Ryoko chided, even as she heard Edea’s footsteps thud behind her. "Don’t run away on me again, sir. if you do, you’ll only make it harder for both of us. I’ll never get my answers and you’ll never go home. Now where were we…"

She pulled down the hood of the man’s coat, exposing his head of short black hair, and gently laid the point of her knife on the skin of his neck. He shuddered once at the feeling of the cool metal on his warm flesh. Ryoko could see the adrenaline pumping through his veins now.

"Hold still. If something were to interrupt my concentration, I just might accidentally cut through more than your clothes here." That was more or less directed at Edea. Ryoko knew that she was still a few feet behind here. If she really was a hero, then she wouldn’t try to risk anything until the man was free from her knife’s range. 

Ryoko immediately got started on her questioning. She asked where he had gotten the pills from and how he knew they would even cure memory-loss. She followed that up with asking if he had any connections to the scientists or any of their interns. Still keeping up that charming tone of hers, Ryoko mentioned just how convenient it was for several merchants to be selling a cure for something the scientists had caused in such a short time. 

"It’s just all so interesting to look at from where I’m standing, you know?" Her grip on the knife increased, freeing a tiny droplet of blood from the exposed neck. The man’s breath caught in his throat. "I thought so."

The man spewed out words like a faucet. he didn’t seem to know if the pills really worked or how they did. He told her that he got them from a supplier and no one else. Apparently, he had never even met with any of the scientists before. Everything else was either a fearful “I don’t know” or something along those lines. He and the other pill-holders were just in it for the money. Ryoko sighed and just shook her head; if this man didn’t know anything, then maybe his supplier did. But that person was probably who knows where and wouldn’t reveal themselves if they knew how violent she was. In fact, they’d probably stay out of sight even if she killed this man. He seemed pretty expendable.

Ryoko backed off and pulled the knife away. “Okay. You’ve told me all that I’ve needed to know. You can go now. But I’d like some of your medicine first.” The man froze in the middle of rising from the ground, and before he could refuse or even comply, Ryoko struck. Her knife tore through the side of his coat, spilling several clear bottles with light blue pills inside them. While he wasn’t wounded, the man gripped the side of his torn clothing and hurried away from Ryoko. He didn’t even try to grab any of his fallen wares.

The blunette tucked her knife away and instead of stooping down to inspect the fallen pills, she slowly turned around and faced the Edea. 

"You’re still here."

-- Unless, of course, she was not a person at all.

-- "What are you?" she demanded. "Some kind of maniac? Or something inhuman?"

-- Edea secretly hoped it was the latter; she did not like the thought that this girl could honestly be so deranged, so detached, so robotic, and still be just your average human schoolgirl. Edea had met a lot of sick, twisted people in her lifetime, but never anyone who could be so cold and calculating and still keep that pristine, genuine smile plastered on their face.

-- There was something to this girl that Edea could not see. She wanted to know what that was.

-- "I'm still here because I was afraid you might kill him. To be honest, I'm surprised you didn't," Edea went on. "You're not malicious. You're just logical. A lot of people would have slit that man's throat to remove any possibility that he might tell his superiors what you just did to him; there could be ramifications to your actions, you know. And yet you just let him live."

-- She shifted her weight slightly, staring at the girl.

"Pretty feisty, ain’tcha? You a good fighter?"

-- Her tone took a turn for the haughty. Was she a good fighter? Please.

-- "I'm one of Luxendarc's greatest warriors, as a matter of fact. What about you, Mr...?"

Hello, residents of Hive City. It’s time for the latest Hive Report.

Your weekly broadcast is under the cut.

     Just how had it come to this, exactly? She’d only been minding her own business when she’d been scooped up by a fancy looking man in a suit and thrown into a changing room. ‘You’re just what we’re looking for! Don’t worry, you’ll be rewarded handsomely for participating!’ he’d said, and it was quickly explained to her that there was some sort of fashion show going on, and two of the models were no-shows. Apparently, she and one other person that would fit the missing roles had been, well… abducted for the sake of the show. Nonon, of course, was not happy about this.

And even less happy to hear that the role she was filling belonged to a twelve year old. SHE WAS EIGHTEEN DAMNIT!

-- It had happened so quickly: One second, Edea was wandering happily through her home sector, the shopping district; the next, she was accosted by a group of flowery, fragrant men, and hustled into this bizarre room. It was bad enough that she had been brought here against her will. On top of that, she was forced to endure this awful humiliation.

-- Her captors were attempting to stuff her into an undersized garment that was clearly made for a young girl. The harder they tried, the angrier Edea became.

-- The gall of these people! She knew she wasn't as -- erm -- well endowed as other eighteen-year-olds, but she was an adult! She was better than this.

-- But at least she wasn't alone.

-- There was another girl here. Edea could not help noticing she was very pretty. She had shiny, bubblegum-colored hair, bright eyes, and soft skin. When she spoke to Edea, Edea actually started; she had assumed at least that this girl had come here of her own volition. To hear otherwise only made Edea angrier.

-- "Ugh. Yes. Kidnapped would be the appropriate word."

-- She dipped her voice to a whisper, leaning slightly closer to the other girl.

-- Edea was not sure whether to feel flattered or offended. Either way, she felt all flustered.

-- "W-well, still! You won't force me into anything green. Pinch me all you want! See if I care."