Hidden Depths

Break Out Plan
Lamia sat in her cell, resting her head on her hand as Aph was sitting next to her, sleeping with her head resting against her shoulder, while Rakuyou and Isaz sat on the floor infront of the two women.

"So...let me get this straight..." Rakuyou began to speak "You want us to go on an all out rampage and just...raise some hell?".

"Like a motherfuckin' LSD fueled bear on mating season" Lamia replied, leaving Rakuyou and Isaz with confused expressions "....I mean, yes, we do. We just hold 'em up 'till pops gets here".

"Your grandpa? You sure he'll be here" Rakuyou asked, doubting what Lamia says, though, considering what she usually does, it's no surprise "I mean, what are the odds he is coming today?"

"I have no idea" Lamia replied almost instantly, with such a stoic face no less "He can be here in a day or two, but meh, should be here before the weekends".

"I somehow find it hard to believe you'd know that..." Rakuyou said, scratching the of his head "I mean, what if he isn't?"

"Then we'll keep breaking shit 'till it's the damn door, how hard can it be?" Lamia replied, shrugging, as Aph's head fell on her lap, still napping.

"Do you hear yourself? How are we supposed to break out of here so easily? Infact, how are even gonna make sure we don't die while doing so?" Rakuyou asked Lamia, clearly finding it hard to trust her..."plan".

"I can't guarantee that. The moment all hell breaks lose, every person will fend for themselves, using their own bare hands. No magic on either side, so, really, the odds aren't entirely against us" Lamia explained, sounding rather calm about the entire situation "If you don't want to. Wait another 6 or 7 days, you'll permanently lose your magic by that time. Though, I have like, what? 4 days? 3?".

"Wait, WHAT?!" Rakuyou shouted, shocked at what Lamia so nonchalantly passed by.

"Hmm? You didn't know? If yer exposed to Red Lacrima for well over a week, your Eternano dies, and you lose all capability of ever using magic again" She...was eerily calm while saying that.

Suddenly, Aph woke up, raising her head from Lamia's lap and looking around "What I miss?! Did the Ice Cream man pass by?!".

Lamia patted Aph's head, calming her "There's no ice cream here, but we are gonna get yer sword back".

"Eh?! You'll get Gyūtō-chan back for me?!" Aph smiled cheerfully upon hearing that, hugging Lamia as a result.

"Right, right" Lamia said, patting Aph's head "Now, it's best we do that tommorow, when they least expect it. I'll start a riot, from there, it's all up to us what happens, a'right?" It sounded as if she was ordering them now, rather than telling them a plan.

Rakuyou sighed, knowing he couldn't possibly do anything to change her mind "Fine. Me and Isaz we'll stick together and stay on guard until then"

"Good" Lamia replied, as Aph has released her, and looked at Rakuyou and Isaz rather curiously.

"Huh...." Aph pointed at Isaz and Rakuyou before saying "Are you also a couple?" Saying that, caused the two to blush at that random statement.

Rakuyou stood up, pointing at Aph with an enraged look "Why the hell are you asking something so random?! And why now to boot! We met hours ago!" It was clear by this point Rakuyou was just someone to tease for these two women to their leisure.

"Awww, so, does that mean yer just murder buddies?" Aph asked again, sounding innocent while doing so, almost like a child.

"Well...I don't think we do that much killin'...do we?" Rakuyou asked, looking at Isaz, who simply shrugged in reply.

A-Bomb
"Actually, this is something I was wondering. How do you guys know each other?" Lamia asked the two men.

"We were both..."hired" by a brat called Mikki and-...."

"Mikki?!" Lamia cut Rakuyou before he could finish, standing on her feet and walking to Rakuyou "Does she have blue hair and yellow eyes?!".

"Y-...Yeah....You know her too?" Rakuyou asked, surprised by Lamia's sudden reaction.

"Wait, where is she now?!"

"That's why me and him are trying to escape, we were captured by two knights and a weird guy with a gun, along with a whole goddamn army!. They took Mikki away, but sent us here" Rakuyou explained, as Lamia appeared stressed upon hearing this.

"Damn!" Lamia said, showing a worried expression, but also appearing irritated, something she doesn't show very often "Did they find out already?"

"Hmm? What is it? Find out what?" Rakuyou asked Lamia, confused why she suddenly because so tense.

"....To put it simply, Mikki is a magic doll with a very powerful Lacrima as her source of power...and the council...if the council sent that much firepower to capture you..." Lamia turned to Rakuyou, her expression returning to its usual deadpan expression "They're probably planning on using Mikki's Lacrima for a weapon".

"Wait, what?!" Rakuyou shouted, grabbing Lamia by her arms "What do you mean weapon?! What are they going to do to her?! Wait, no, why do you even know that?!".

"Because....I built that..." Lamia replied, as Rakuyou released her arms "About four years ago, her...father asked me to get him a power source that would last for ages, and I did. I created a Lacrima that absorbs energy from the atmosphere, making it so each time it loses energy, it just gets more. And considering the how dense Eternano can be in some areas, it can absorb enough magic energy to last for a day in one day, an equal amount is lost. But..." Lamia took a deep breath, before sitting back down.

"What? What is it?"

"...I miscalculated, you can say. It didn't release as much energy as I thought, within one year, Mikki has absorbed too much magic energy, that it was all released from her body, and it destroyed an entire town" Lamia continued to explain, holding her hands together, and putting them infront of the lower part of her face.

"Wait, then how is she alive? Shouldn't Mikki's body also have been destroyed? Better yet, why is it still there? Inside of her?" Rakuyou brought valid points.

"Well...how do I explain this? It was more of...released around her body" Lamia did a circular motion with her hands as if she had a basketball in her hands "It was more akin to a shockwave, than a fiery explosion of death and destruction, but it was enough to decimate a city, and out of all the buildings, the people, and her father...she was the only one safe and sound, without a scratch...and around her body...was the only portion of the town still standing".

"...Wh-...why didn't you remove that thing then....?"

"I tried, but she ran away. You know her magic, don't you?" Rakuyou nodded in response to Lamia's question "Then you know it is the perfect combination for remainning unharmed and being impossible to catch without negating her magic in some way, and I guess, along the way, she met you".

"I don't understand this though...." Rakuyou clenched his hand into a fist, appearing agitated at Lamia "If you knew such a destructive force existed...why didn't you do anything about it?".

"..." Lamia sighed in response to Rakuyou's question, causing him to almost snap at her "Why should I?" An uncaring reply.

"...What?"

"You heard me, why should I have bothered, wasted my time, trying to find her? I did one miscalculation, that's it, but I managed to stabilize it, and you haven't heard of such an explosion again, right?" Lamia was truly a heartless woman to the world.

"So, the council is gonna do what? Send little walking exploding girls?" Rakuyou asked Lamia, sounding impatient.

"No. The reason why the council wants it is because, despite their large army, despite their Etherion cannon, and despite the law they govern, what changed these last four, no, these last 10 years? 20 years? Has there been a drop in lawless activities? Has their been a rise?" Lamia detached the bolts from her head, dropping them on the ground, as everyone not Aph appeared either stunned or shocked by this.

"Criminal activity hasn't slowed down much. If even by a bit, it's still far off. For example, there are criminals such as me, mass murderers who the council find hardship in capturing" There was such irony in that last statement when one considers where she is "And then there are people like Amon, who the council no jack shit about beyond what they do, everything else? Squat. And this is why they need stronger weapons, stronger means of subduing, maybe even killing criminals, exterminating Dark Guilds, all that stuff".

"Wait, but won't that be similar to raising a war?! Or genocide?!" Rakuyou couldn't believe what Lamia was saying, truly she could just be needlessly over analyzing things, right?.

"It would be. That's why, using weapons criminals intended on using against them, against the world, makes it...less questionable, I guess. Give 'em an ol' ass whopping back at 'em, y'know?" Lamia sighed once more, relaxing her head on Aph lap and closing her eyes "If anything, the council is moving now more than ever. After all, ever since the Dragon's Attack four years ago, criminal activity has risen beyond their control, beyond their domain".

"Their...domain? What do you mean? Lamia, what do you know? No, how do you know all those things?" Rakuyou continued asking Lamia, who appears annoyed by him.

"Ugh...yer askin' too much there, kiddo" Lamia relaxed on her hands on her belly, appearing to go to sleep.

"Hey! Don't go ignor-...!"

"I had Roach get me info on them, after they stole a weapon I built for sale" Lamia said, mentioning a person named Roach for the first time.

"W-...who now...? Roach? Who's tha-...?" Rakuyou's question was cut by Lamia's snoring "HEY! I'm talking to y-...!"

"Please do not disturb my dear from her good sleep, m'kay?" Aph asked in such a cheerful, innocent and harmless tone that it was just bone chillingly terrifying, causing Rakuyou to seat back down and stay quiet, and Isaz to sigh.

"Goddamn that woman..." Rakuyou murmured to himself "Always thinking she can do whatever the hell she wants...I can never understand how her brain works".