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This article Running Silver, is the sole property of Per and as such, no user may edit this article without explicit permission from the aforementioned creator. If you wish to use this article in any way, please ask me first. |
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This article Running Silver, is the sole property of CPU Noire and as such, no user may edit this article without explicit permission from the aforementioned creator. If you wish to use this article in any way, please ask me first |
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Shades of a Secret[]
"Get away..." In the large, group bedroom, the young Mina was still sleeping. Unlike before, she simply slept, the girl was technically unconscious; she hadn't since awoken from when she fainted at the sight of something in the depths of the Akatsuki. "me....help me..." The child was mumbling in her sleep, tossing and turning, obviously distressed.
Just outside the door, Olivia sat, agitated. Biting her nails, she kept glancing inside the room, and the sight of Mina sleeping so violently made her heart ache vigorously. She wanted to help her, but nothing was making her wake up.
"Hey kid, something wrong?" As if willed into existence, Scylla appeared out of thin air before Olivia, making her gasp.
"S-Scylla!" She clutched her chest, her large breasts bouncing as her chest heaved due to heavy breathing. "Why did you do that!?"
"Because it's really fun!" The black-haired girl replied, smiling brightly as she couldn't help but laugh. "Trust me, I immensely enjoy being this small. So tell me...what's wrong?" She closed in, her eyes piercing through Olivia's own. "Are you worried about the child in there?"
"Y-yes..." Olivia shifted her eyes back towards the room, both to check on Mina as well as avoid the sharp stare of Scylla. "She hasn't woken up since we found her unconscious. I'm starting to wonder if something serious happened to her."
"I suppose it's only natural to be worried." Scylla nodded sagely, and walked into the room, casting her eyes on Mina's sleeping form. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, however. She's speaking, so I highly doubt she's in a coma. And I would be able to detect if she was dying; I don't sense any change like that in the phase of her magical energies. The shock was simply too much; she'll wake up when she fully recovers from it."
"That's good..." Olivia breathed a sigh of relief; this girl was her precious charge, after all, she couldn't let anything happen to her.
"While we're on the subject of new arrivals, where's the eggplant child?" Scylla asked, craning her neck to look at the busty blonde woman. "The one that came in with the woman with the glasses?"
"Eggpla...oh, you mean Tsuruko!" Olivia had been momentarily confused, before realising Scylla was associating Tsuruko by her hair colour due to a lack of knowledge on her name. "Since Giselle and Jason ran away together, she's been avoiding us. She's still so shy around us. However, I think she holed herself up in the higher floors of the guild."
"Thanks for the information." Scylla replied, slipping right by Olivia with ease, and vanishing down a corridor.
"...What does she want with Tsuruko?" Olivia blinked in confusion.
It didn't take Scylla very long to climb to the higher floors of the Akatsuki building. She was greatly intrigued by Tsuruko. After all, Mr. E had taken quite the interest in her awhile back, but Tsuruko had her own way of doing things, her own opinions that differed from E's drastically; the two were incompatible. However, this Tsuruko seemed different. Innocent even.
"Perhaps she's as impressionable as a child..." Scylla murmured to herself. "If I can convince her to speak with E, in her own innocent state, perhaps she can be manipulated...a few extra allies wouldn't hurt, even with the LaHote boy and his merry band behind our cause."
The upper floors were about as spacious as the lower areas, and these seemed to have several additional bedrooms, some of which were occupied; her eyes noticed names like 'Alaskiel' as door markers. Now where was Tsuruko?
Tsuruko, or rather, the clone of Tsuruko Sejren whom is known to be inferior, was seemingly wandering around outside, looking at...flowers? "This one looks nice..." Picking up a bunch of two-lipped yellow ray florets, she shoveled them into her pockets. "...Oh? Is that the black goth-loli girl from...never?" She'd never seen Scylla before- maybe- or rather, this Tsuruko had never seen Scylla before.
"A Gerbera...that's interesting." Scylla mused, looking at the flowers Tsuruko was so focused on. "I'm glad to see remember me, even if only by my physical appearance. My name is Scylla, and you are Tsuruko Sejren, right?"
"Tsuruko Sejren the second, technically." She was well aware of her own status. "That's right. And you are...? You look like a dragon, but yet, you're not a dragon...it's hard to describe..." Tsuruko sighed as she went to stand on her head. "Whooooooooo are you?"
"Your powers of observation amaze me." Scylla replied dryly, surprisingly undisturbed by the child's antics. "I am a Dragon — Scylla, the Diamond Dragon. I'm a friend of an individual called Mr. E, and I've decided that you, with the considerable talent and charisma you possess, would be a most useful ally to stand by E's side." Her eyes glinted, if only briefly. "With your talents working for his own ambition, think of everything you two could create — you could have the world, Tsuruko." She extended a small, pale hand in the girl's direction. "What do you say, child?"
"Nope!" Tsuruko cheerily stated. "Nobody in their right mind would work for him!" She was damn right, too. With a few exceptions, sadly.
"Oh my, such a blunt refusal, and so fast." Scylla couldn't help but smirk as she seemed to skate on the wooden floor over to Tsuruko, raising her hand to Tsuruko's face, stroking her soft skin as she leaned forward, standing as tall as she could to drink in the girl's scent. "I was right about you after all — you'll definitely prove to be something fun."
"Uh...huh..." This Tsuruko wasn't sure what the hell to do- other than back up slightly. This one didn't like physical contact all too much. "Well, it's obvious what my choice would be on that one- it should be easy to pick for anyone."
To allow Tsuruko to back up at all would imply Scylla cared even an inkling for her likes and dislikes in regards to her personal space — in short, no, she did not. In fact, she seemed to snake her way around the girl, climbing up her back, resting her chin on the girl's shoulder, her tongue flicking at her ear as she slipped her small hands into Tsuruko's shirt, cupping the girl's breasts as if it was nothing. "You interest me just as much as Jason does; getting to know you could be fun." Her tongue flicked around the girl's earlobe once again. "What do you say?" She hissed.
"Don't touch me." Tsuruko squeaked out- as she backed off slowly...She started picking up speed, and soon she was sprinting out of sight.
"Well, she's certainly a let down." Scylla licked her fingers slowly as if trying to savour the taste of something. "And she was certainly fun." The girl chuckled to herself. "Despite still being everything I expected...I think I want to try more of her."
As only Chelia, Wendy, and Erza were out on a guild assignment, and Blake, Iris, Nozomi and Seika were with Jason, the Akatsuki bar was still fairly full, most of the Akatsuki members sitting in the main bar, drinking and chatting. Olivia was back to tending bar, as she couldn't simply watching Mina all day, and Molly was quick to help her with her tasks.
Just as Ulalia and Hanako seemed to be striking up a conversation, Tsuruko burst in, still running from Scylla, looking as if she'd just run a mile.
"W-what the..?" Makoto's eyes shot towards Tsuruko, looking at her in confusion. "Tsuruko, wasn't it? What happened to you? You look terrible!"
"I was running from a rather touchy little girl in black. I think that she was a dragon." Tsuruko was't sure what exactly she was, but there was one thing that was for certain- she didn't appreciate the attention.
"Scylla did say she was looking for you." Olivia smiled to herself. It would appear there had been no problem minus Scylla trying to cop a few feels. "Tell me, Tsuruko — did she show you the wonders of the female body yet?" Olivia sounded...far too interested in what had or hadn't happened between Tsuruko and Scylla. Even her expression was focused intently on the purple-headed girl, her mouth curled into a slight smirk.
"What?" Tsuruko looked at Olivia incredulously. "What are you getting at? I don't understand!" She really, really didn't understand.
"....oh my, she really has no idea." Olivia couldn't help but smile to herself as Molly blnked at Tsuruko confused; was this girl that clueless? "Tsuruko, could you do me a quick favor?"
"Hmm?" Truth be told, she didn't really like many members of Akatsuki. They were too intrusive for her own tastes. Nevertheless, she did ask, "What is it?"
"Just, in a few hours, after everyone retires, I need you to go check on Mina." Olivia asked, placing a polished glass onto the counter. "Molly and I always have to pull an extra shift to clean this place up after everyone leaves, and since Mina takes up the entire bed just by sleeping in the center, everyone has to retire to separate rooms, temporarily. So, knowing someone who means no harm is checking on her would be nice." She was obviously taking a jab at anyone who didn't trust the child.
"Right..." Why did that little silver-haired girl creep her out so much? It wasn't her looks or how she acted, she just, reminded her of somebody who she didn't get along with. "Got it."
"Thanks, Tsuruko. You're a good girl." Olivia smiled warmly.
After another few hours, everyone, after drinking and partying, and a particularly violent argument between Hanako and Ono, began to file out. Molly and Olivia began their nightly routine of picking up the waste left by everyone of the earlier day, and they sadly had something new to deal with; the broken tables and benches that Hanako and Ono had shattered into splinters. Tsuruko herself quickly filed out, as she decided to go check on Mina as quickly as possible.
As she entered the hall, she heard the soft thud of footsteps, and a small, silver figure dashed around the corner of the corridor.
"Isn't that that kid?" Tsuruko always had problems with names- these people were no exception. But she really, really did look like somebody she knew- and somebody she loathed at that. "...Why are you running, anyway?" Her cacaphonic, almost too sugary-sweet voice rang out, reaching the ears of this person.
Mina ignored Tsuruko's calls as she slipped away, clutching her heart as the shock of what she'd seen in the depths of the Akatsuki still resonated in her mind. "Those...those freaks..." She thought to herself, desperately making for an exit where there would be no one to see her. "Who keeps something like that at the bottom of a guild!?"
"HEY WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME IT'S NOT VERY NICE!" Tsuruko seemed to raise the pitch of her voice- of course, skewed priorities were in place here; she increased her speed as she chased after Mina. Even though she was fifteen times weaker than the real Tsuruko, she was still extremely fast.
"Persistent...!" Mina hissed as she fled. While she may look cute and frail, and in fact, was physically weak, Mina as fast, as her small frame and light weight gave her immense running speed, especially in a straight line. Increasing her speed in a short burst, she quickly made it towards a wall, and, pulling what appeared to be a clawed tether from her dress, scaled it quickly, clutching at the open window. She cast one look at Tsuruko, her emerald eyes piercing, before sliding down the side of the Akatsuki building and into the crisp night air.
"Crux, I've made my escape." She called into her intercom, contacting Crux as quickly as she landed.
"Good. Now get out of there. I can hear a loud, annoying sound in the distance." Crux snarked- and really, he was-
"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINA WHAT ARE YOU DOING, COME BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"
-right.
"That would be one of their comrades..." Mina hissed into the receiver. "She's too fast...Crux, send me back-up. I'm going to have to hold her off, at the very least, until I can get away!" With that, she clicked on him as quickly as she called, skidding back as she turned her attention to Tsuruko, who made a leap from the window and landed much more elegantly than she. "You're...certainly persistent."
"What are you doing out here? If I remember correctly, I think Olivia wanted you back inside. It's too cold here." Tsuruko reached out for Mina, trying to grab her -just like she did with a certain other little girl.
"You really should have stayed away." The girl quickly swatted Tsuruko's hand away, glaring at her icily. "I don't care what Olivia wants, thank you very much. Hanging with you lot has actually been quite the burden - getting away is going to be so pleasant." Her tone was far more crisp and direct; a stark difference from the cute, innocent child Olivia had fallen for.
"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?" Tsuruko exclaimed in a very...Tsuruko-like manner, surprised at the sudden shift in demeanour that this little girl exhibited. "...Well, if you really want to, you can leave, but Olivia will be very sad."
"You really are just a naïve child." Mina shook her head, raising her shoulders as she heaved a sigh. "You know nothing - Olivia doesn't matter to me. In fact, she was a fool for falling for my ruse in the first place. I've never understood that about people who want children; they'll fall for anything that seems wide-eyed and child-like, like idiots,"
"Ahh..." Tsuruko suddenly realized what was going on. "You're from what they call those 'dark guild' things, right? I think the concept of guilds is stupid, but that's just me." Truth be told, whoever thought that up was really stupid- somebody else could have done it better. "But now I realize...you're a bad person! I'll need to bring you down!" With that, she attacked.
And, on reflex, Mina leaned backwards, Tsuruko's physical blow rushing past her, before propelling herself backwards with a backflip. Due to her light weight, she landed easily on her own two feet, her frail body unencumbered by such sudden movement. "A bad person? You even talk like a little child." She kept her eyes trained on Tsuruko, ready to make any action in response to Tsuruko's own. "What could be taking him...?" She thought, a small bead of sweat dripping down her face. This girl was trouble.
In a flash of light, Tsuruko's weaker sword -at least a lot weaker than Dragredder was, but still more powerful than anything else at the time- appeared in her hands, and as she swung forward, it released an almighty blast of wind that ripped through the air, barelling towards Mina at high speeds.
"Letter "C"," Mina spoke slowly and clearly. "Calm." Keeping her dialogue short, the blast of wind pressure suddenly stopped before it even reached her. In fact, the wind in the area itself had suddenly stopped, as if the currents of air themselves were in the eye of a storm.
"...?" Tsuruko stood still as everything came to a halt. "What kind of new-fangled sorcery is this?" She was still surprised that people used what was known as "magic" in this day and age. "What the heck was that?" Even so, she readied her sword, ready to strike with a regular attack.
"That was 'words'," Mina replied, her eyes glinting ominously. "Words are true magic; the strongest force in this world," Mina brushed her hair out of her eyes as the wind currents resumed; the effect of her "words" was over now. "My name is Itsuka Nightray. And you are Tsuruko Sejren," She cast an eye towards the sky, and an idea struck her. "Letters "L" and "S"," She recited. "Lightning Storm," Clouds quickly began to form in the sky, dark, thick cumulus. They crackled with electricity as heavy rain began to pour, and thunder claps were heard in the distance. And right above Tsuruko, a single, immense jolt of lightning shot down from the sky, straight towards her. As natural lightning, it was gifted with such speed — 360 kph.
"Such speed...!" Tsuruko nimbly dodged Mina's attack, simply by sidestepping when her foot was coated in aura. Even natural lightning was no match for the power of aura- whatever that was. Nobody was really sure about what it was, not even the person who created the magic in the first place. Though it was a swift evasion, it was only by the skin of her teeth as well- while lightning was fast, aura was barely faster.
Itsuka's eyes widened; after the explosion from the crashing lightning died down, she saw Tsuruko was standing, safe from harm, though she did look as if evading the lightning had been quite the shock. "To evade even lightning...you have talent, that's for sure. I never expected to meet such an amusing child," She placed a hand on her head, chuckling to herself. "And here I thought Crux's interest in you was a bit demented, you really are something special; unnatural even."
"How old are you, anyway?" She was talking too maturely to really be seen as a child. Perhaps... "Are you one of those short people? No, not a dwarf. Those midget people." What Mina said seemed to fly past Tsuruko's head, really. Spinning her enormous sword around, she immediately kicked forward, swinging it towards Mina.
"Letters "T" and "P"," Itsuka let the letters fly past her mouth. "Totem Pole." With a large, deafening crack blasted throughout the area as the ground shook, and from it erupted a large, ornate pole of pure, solid rock, reinforced by Itsuka's own magical energy. It rose high into the air, acting as a shield to block the incoming attack from Tsuruko. "It isn't polite to ask a question and then forgo giving the person a chance to answer. I assume your mother didn't raise you right."
"Hmph." Tsuruko ignored Mina's insult as she gazed at the totem pole, readying her magical energy, as to launch another volley of magical blasts towards Mina. Really, since she didn't have access to her strongest asset, Tsuruko was unable to simply blitz Mina into unconsciousness, sadly enough.
"Dammit, Crux, could you move any slower!?" The girl hissed angrily; she couldn't keep this up, she wasn't made for combat, and Caliber Magic was highly draining on her own magic power. "It seems like I have to bring out that."" Itsuka's body began to emit a faint glow - soft magic power flowing from her body along the ground, kicking up a gentle dust flow. Her clothing vanished as the girl shot up in height, her hair lengthening slightly as she chest seemed to expand and fill out; her appearance, formerly that of a small child, was now akin to that of a young teenager. The magic energy around her body solidified, forming a skintight battle-suit, similar to a futuristic armour with multiple black marks and lining and tiny red and green glow spots; Itsuka's bare chest is revealed, but with thin black straps now connecting to her neck piece. The black gloves on her hands had many gray marks and a metal device around both wrists. The leg/boot pieces are tall and gray, with big circled cuff pieces at the ankle, and big circle pieces with smaller red circles. The boots have a pointed toe. "Magitek Armour Mark I - A.E.A.U. Armour."
"Ah, that's the Magitek Armour that Amadam made for his empire, right?" Tsuruko barely flinched, as she readied her blade. It seemed, copy or not, she'd been through a lot that nothing phased her anymore. Then, it suddenly hit her. "Wait...where on earth did you get that?"
"From a mysterious man, about thirty-five years ago." Itsuka wasn't fond of remembering the man; he'd concealed his appearance from her under a strange cloak, and simply gave her the armor, stating she would need it. In her left hand, a Gatling gun materialized; on her right arm, a large, shield materialized. Itsuka raised the gun towards Tsuruko. "To be quite frank, I'm not cut out for fighting; however, this Magitek Armour provides a fantastic boost to my capabilities overall. Let's test it right on you." She pulled the trigger, and a barrage of bullets was unleashed in rapid-fire, shooting directly at Tsuruko.
"It's still a pale imitation of Giselle's works, that armour." Tsuruko vanished in the blink of an eye- deftly evading Itsuka's shots, she gathered and condensed pure aura upon her feet, expanding it as to form a miniature surfboard; which she used to kick off towards Itsuka, launching it towards her head.
Itsuka lifted off, taking high into the sky, her new armor gifting her with the ability to fly, due to the wings it created. The 'surfboard' missed her as she flew high, and Itsuka kept her eye trained on Tsuruko, before unloading rounds from her gun once more.
Tsuruko, with a wave of her hand, amassed aura upon her elbow, which expanded into a shield which she raised to deflect Itsuka's blasts- the bullets sinking into the shield like gelatin, which quickly rebounded- not at Itsuka, but it harmlessly fell to the ground, like nothing happened at all. "It's like a super squishy jelly!"
Itsuka gritted her teeth, growing progressively irritated. She was being shown up by a child half her age. "Why you little...!"
"Now now now...that's quite enough of that." Out of the ground, a hooded figure materialized, taking the shape of a bespectacled man with pale, scaled skin, and messy silver hair. Sticking out from under the cloak was a snake, equally pale in colour. "You're making such a loud commotion that Crux-san actually had to send me out to retrieve you."
"Feh!" Itsuka hissed in his direction, descending so that she floated alongside the man. "It wasn't because I was causing a commotion — I asked him to send back up and it just happened to take him ages."
"True..." His glasses flashed ominously. "I haven't seen you put that armor in over a decade. Is this girl that strong?"
"It's Tsuruko." Itsuka's answer explained everything, and Anguis turned to look at Tsuruko instead. "So you're Tsuruko...to be quite frank, I would love to capture you and take my time dissecting your unique body...but we're on a schedule."
"...Huh?" Tsuruko could only stare at the two, dumbfounded as she readied her blade- hoping that they'd just mysteriously teleport away, just like villains from those Joyan cartoons. "You, snake guy, remind me of that dumb scientist guy. What was his name again? Derpamoon...Dubstepmane...Ah, I can't remember."
"I'm sorry to say I haven't the slightest clue who you are referring to, but his name sounds unnecessarily difficult. Itsuka, we're retreating. Iris has returned to the guild."
Itsuka flashed white as her armor faded and she returned to her previous, younger form. "Let's go. I doubt this child will follow us, and to be frank, I'd like to distance myself from...that...as quickly as I can."
Wordlessly, the two vanished, Anguis concealing their movements behind a rapidly growing grove of trees. The two had vanished, leaving Tsuruko to her own devices.
"...Lot of people in odd costumes these days." Tsuruko herself, with a snap of her fingers, dissipated her sword in a wash of aura, not really bothering to chase after the two. "It feels like I'm at a comic convention."
"So...how did your infiltration go?" Anguis asked as the two ran through the dense covering of thick trees. "Were you able to find anything that would be of use to Crux-san?"
Itsuka felt a bead of sweat drop down her face. "I was able to glean useful information on all of them, particularly the one called Olivia...but I found something...more," She shuddered, trying to block it from her memory.
"More?" Anguis' natural curiousity was getting the best of him, but Itsuka shook her head. "I'll inform Crux first...so, what about Iris? Did she find anything useful during her raid on the Council?"
"According to Crux-san, she's reported to have made quite the find," Anguis sounded positively ecstatic as this, a low hiss coming from his voice. "To think she could have made a successful infiltration on the Council...we may bring that witch's activities to light yet."
END