"Your demeanor betrays you, slayer."

"I'm not a slayer," Arake said flatly.

"That is exactly what your demeanor betrays," Liliandra continued. Though she was now firmly encased behind a set of prison bars, she seemed unfazed...unsurprising, considering how easily she had slipped out of the last one, but surprising in the light of how easily--and brutally--Arake had subdued her. Arake, on the other hand, was not willing to take anything for granted. Her demeanor was as as guarded as ever.

"You follow orders out of honor..." the lithe creature continued. "I can sense it. But that honor pains you, because it is not turned towards righteous ends."

"Save your manipulations, demon," Arake replied. "You're not going to surprise me with any of this."

"Demon?" Liliandra repeated, neither defensively nor denyingly; if anything, the word sounded curious. "You don't know what I am?"

"Not specifically," Arake said. "Demonic species are not my area of expertise. But I know enough."

"No..." Liliandra replied. "You would know better than to use the word. It appears it is not demons you do not know enough about."

"Perhaps," Arake said neutrally.

The heavy iron door to the prison--more like a vault than anything else--began to clank. Over the course of several moments, it was uncranked, unbarred, unlocked, unlatched, and the numerous binding enchantments temporarily ceased their vigil to allow Liliandra's true jailers to enter: Aerothi and Rea, along with several bodyguards.

"More..." Liliandra said. "Interesting. This city seems to be full of...exceptional individuals?"

"Clearly," Rea said harshly, her hard gaze locking onto Liliandra as she accompanied her mistress to the holding cell.

"If we don't know enough," Arake said, "perhaps you would be so kind as to tell us about yourself?"

"Generousity is not something that can be reasonably expected from someone who has violently been taken prisoner," Liliandra said calmly.

The next voice was Aerothi's.

"Like the silent alchemist..." she said quietly. "She is not a natural creature."

"You would be wise not to insult my mother so," Liliandra said--she realized with some momentary interest that it was the first time she had ever used a tone of genuine malice. How delightful this new world was...so full of surprises.

"Who was your mother, then?" Aerothi asked.

"To me there are three, each of whom created a different part of my birth. I gave warning because you have already profaned all three. Be glad I am uninclined to speak their names...were I to do so, it would be to ensure you understood just who I was taking vengeance for."

"You speak quite recklessly, don't you?" Rea said. "As I understand, Arake defeated you effortlessly. Yet you speak with unbelievable arrogance."

"You are appending your own lies to my truths," Liliandra said. "Whether I can defeat you is irrelevant; I said nothing of the sort. I said that I would only speak my mothers names in the spirit of vengeance, because that is the only part of them you have earned. Whether I could kill you or not, I can assure you that I would only speak my mother's names if I were sure they were the last words you would ever hear from me."

"Perhaps the seer can put this question to rest," Aerothi said. Rea turned her head and gestured toward the door. Several more guards entered, escorting a crimson-skinned demonette. As she entered, Aerothi continued. "Shall we make another deal, Charlotte? I am willing to release several of your kin if you can solve this puzzle."

"And I would remind you that you can only say 'no' two more times. After that, you're snake-fodder," Rea added.

Liliandra scowled, her expression suddenly ice-cold. "If any of you attempt to harm this demon, I will kill you," she said.

"Well," Rea said, a victorious look on her features, "it looks like she just made up your mind for you. If you don't tell us what we want, she'll attack us and we'll have to kill her."

"Why do you believe that would concern me?" Charlotte replied neutrally.

"The reaction you're about to have."

There was a sudden and deafening crack as Rea drew a pistol and shot Liliandra through the stomach. Just as surprising as the unexpected attack was the fact that Liliandra was still standing, albeit bent over, baring her teeth and trembling--half with pain, half with rage, a fistful of her dark blood splayed across the prison stones behind her. Charlotte, on the other hand, looked completely indifferent--dismissive, even. But when Rea saw this, she smiled.

"Demons are known for their poker faces," she said. "You would have been better off looking surprised. That way we wouldn't have assumed you had something to hide."

"If you are uncertain, feel free to kill her. I do not intend to waste time trying to convince you of anything," Charlotte said.

"You've already wasted your time. She knows you enough to threaten us with death for your sake."

"I do not deny that she may know me. But I do not recall having met nor heard of her."

"Enough. Do you know what she is?" Aerothi said simply.

Charlotte peered keenly at Liliandra. Liliandra's arm was still clutching her wound, her glare unwavering towards Rea's face.

"I do not," Charlotte said. "Her species, and...her spirit..." she said with a strange tone, "are of a type unknown to me."

"Was the alchemist the same?" Aerothi asked.

Charlotte hesitated. "...Similar. But not the same."

Aerothi turned to Liliandra. "How do you know this demon?" she asked.

Liliandra started to scowl. "Why should I tell you anything?" she growled. "You have yet to show me anything but barbarism."

"Because we'll show you a lot more," Rea replied before turning her gun on Charlotte. "Do you fancy finding out if you are capable of killing us? In less time than it would take me to kill her?"

"You may have the advantage over me," Liliandra said grudgingly, as though the words were laced with arsenic, "but you vastly underestimate her."

Charlotte grinned slightly.

"In truth, I know only two things about her," Liliandra continued. "Things that you stopped understanding a long time ago."

Rea looked at her expectantly, an impatient expression on her face.

"I know respect and care. My instincts tell me to respect and care for this demon, because it is because of her respect and care that I am here."

"I can only presume you aren't referring to the prison cell," Arake said. "She's your mother?"

"No," Liliandra said gravely. "My demon mother is dead, and my angel mother will not be returning to this world."

"Angel mother?" Arake said in surprise.

"Yes. It seems none of you know any more about me than the things which you have personally given me," Liliandra said. "The demoness' care ultimately gave me my mother. The small one," she said towards Aerothi, "knows curiousity, just as she has aroused my own. You," she said to Arake herself, "are humble in spite of your skills. In demonstrating them you have imparted some of that humility to me."

She turned on Rea, her eyes suddenly baleful. "The one with the crimson hair is no different. She knows hate and vengeance. And that will not change. What I speak may change what the others in this room know," she said, "but you will leave this room the same. All you will know is hate. It would be better for all concerned that you throw yourself upon your own sword. You needn't fear the pain, for the the heart you would be piercing already reflects it's cursed edge. Both exist only for slaughter. I can only pity you for having a heart that can only be wielded in such ways."

"Keep in mind that I'm perfectly willing to wield it against you," Rea said coldly.

"It would be in vain. No torment you can inflict upon me will save you from your own bloody hands. As for the rest of you, I pray your powers do not condemn you to the same fate."

"Such a fate is already upon us," Aerothi said. "I would pray for the day my power vanished, but I no longer speak prayers...I have found that the greatest horrors visit my life when they are heard. But while sealing my lips may forstall them, many lesser horrors still await my attention. Do not doubt that we will speak again. In the meantime..."

She idled there for a moment, then turned to leave. "May your prayers shed more light on this world than mine."

Arake was only a step behind her as both walked away and vanished behind the ironclad exit. Rea, however, had not moved an inch.

"Perhaps I spoke recklessly a second time," Liliandra said. "Your expression suggests you may yet leave this room with something you did not have before...but whether that is for good or ill is beyond my sight."

Rea looked back at Liliandra. Her gaze was not kind, but there was indeed something in it that was not there before.

"Is it true, then?" Liliandra asked. "Is the weight you bear hers in truth, or have the answers to your own prayers been cruel?"

Though there was no answer, Liliandra did not seem to need one. "I can see into your mind," she continued. "Cloaked in darkness as it is, it is as plain to me as your glaring eyes. They both seek to shield your bladed heart from me now. Did your heart draw the blades to you, or do you merely claim ownership of them so that none will see the wounds in which they rest?"

"I've heard this rhetoric before," Rea spat. "My heart is not yours to touch, bladed or no."

Suddenly, Charlotte spoke from her place in the corner of the prison. "Rea...I have not known you for long, and I admit my own words during that time have been...primarily disrespectful. But you carry the look of revelation. It is one I know well. I too am beginning to see things in you that I did not before."

"Spare me," Rea said.

"As you wish...though I consider revelation something to be admired. If I may ask a bold question--"

"You may not," Rea said flatly.

"Then I will," Liliandra said. "How long has it been since you showed anyone what lies beneath your bladed heart? How long has it been since you even gazed upon it yourself? Is there anyone alive who knows the Rea who loved her family?"

"Shut up," Rea said. "I'm not in the mood for therapy."

"Yet you are still here," Liliandra stated plainly.

Rea's expression faltered almost imperceptibly, but she gave no reply...nor did she turn to leave.

"There is something I must do," Liliandra said.

"Crap in the bucket, that's what it's there for," Rea said dismissively.

Liliandra ignored her. "Cast a dark shadow across this cell."

"Why? Does this have something to do with your strange magics?"

"Yes," Liliandra said. "Something is stirring in you just beyond my sight, and I must see it. And so must you. And I cannot show you if I cannot see."

"How do I know you won't escape?"

"I will escape," Liliandra said. "It is a necessary step. But I give you my word that I will return to my cell and you will be unharmed."

"Tit for tat. You want me to take a risk for you, you take a risk for me. What were your mother's names?"

Liliandra clenched her teeth for a moment. "For both our sakes I can only hope you will be changed enough that killing you will not be necessary. When they touch your ears, I believe you will realize why. The mother who inspired my birth was called Ishiar."

Rea's expression turned guarded.

"My demon mother's name was Ushan."

Rea tried to hold herself still, but it was apparent that her posture was tightening even further.

"Yes, the warrior you left for dead and the demon who's murdered flesh you now carry within your own," Liliandra said. "Even now I can feel it. It might have even given me some affection for you, had her spirit not passed from your body long ago. My angel mother was named Elise."

"The angel who escaped?" Rea said. "And Ushan? You evidently think me a fool. You clearly are neither succubus nor seraph."

"Then what am I?" Liliandra asked.

"I don't know. What are you?"

"I am neither succubus nor seraph. But neither was my mother a seraph. The angel you knew as Elise was unique."

Rea's expression was skeptical. "How?"

Liliandra's words surprised her even as she spoke them, her instincts feeding the information through her lips even as she herself realized it for the first time.

"She was the liveborn daughter of a mimic and an iris angel. The mimic had taken the form of a Lotus Angel...what you would know as a seraph."

"And Ushan? I suppose she was something special and rare too?"

"Yes she was," Liliandra replied. "But for reasons that had nothing to do with her race."

Rea's nostrils flared. "So that is how you would explain your diamond claws, your strange skin, and the fact that you don't have wings?"

Suddenly there was a thunderous hissing and a shockwave of air. In a blinding flash, two ephemeral wings--simultaneously pure darkness and blinding light--erupted into existance behind Liliandra. Rea reared her head back, and covered her eyes before snarling with annoyance at her own reaction.

There was a pause before she spoke again. "Fine, you've made your point," she said.

"No, I have not," Liliandra replied, her voice louder than before...and noticeably less human. "You destroyed my mother. You have given me hate. My angel mother would forgive. My demon mother would as well, if she thought it would not be in vain. But I am not Ushan. I am not Elise. I am not a seraph. I am not a succubus. I am Liliandra, and I do not believe you deserve the forgiveness my mothers would give."

The earth began to vibrate, accompanied by the sound of rocks cracking. There was another pulse of non-light that seemed to suck the entire chamber into total darkness. When it faded, Liliandra was standing outside the cell, her glaring eyes glowing.

"You have one hope of leaving here, Rea, daughter of Ripley," she said. "The hate you have created in me demands that I exact retribution for my mother. The love of my angel mother is all that stays my wings from rending your flesh apart." The room shuddered violently, reflecting the vicious snarl on her face. "You may leave this room with one. Choose."

"I'm not afraid of you!" Rea said, her gun and her blade instantly drawn from their scabbards.

"YOUR FEAR IS IRRELEVANT!" Liliandra thundered. Rea's weapons shot away from her, clattering violently against the stone walls on opposite sides of the room. The air itself suddenly seemed to distort and Rea's body shuddered, her skin contorting as it suddenly started to wrench itself apart. Blood began to run down her clothing from beneath her armor. Where her skin was exposed, thousands of cuts suddenly appeared, laying a patchwork of wounds across her like a bloody bale of hay. Soon her flesh was coated and slick with her own blood. Her teeth were clenched as though she was trying to break her own teeth, but she did not make a single sound--she did not even breathe.

"Your hate is such that it gives you the strength not to scream, but do not think that is a blessing," Liliandra continued. "Your hate is what binds my mother's lash to your skin."

Rea looked back at her, her face more murderous than ever. "You dare speak to me of hate!? You dare speak to me of LOVE!?" she suddenly screeched, punching Liliandra dead in the face with such force that it knocked her all the way back to her cell. "Where were you and your mother's lash when MY mother died!? Where were your precious angels!?" She charged forward and clenched her hand around Liliandra's throat even as her own flowing blood stained her eyes red, giving her a look even more demonic than the creature in front of her. "Everything and everyone I loved was murdered! Just like your precious mother!" she screamed as she slammed Liliandra's head against the iron bars of the cell behind her. "Do you think I care about her lash!? You think you can inflict pain on me!? You think you know HATE!? I have created nothing in you but a delusion! A delusion that you deserve vengeance for ANYTHING!" She slammed Liliandra's head against the bars over and over as she screamed. Where tears would be falling from anyone else, the only thing that flowed from Rea's eyes was blood--blood that now filled her eyes and covered every inch of her body. Her face was a mask of rage more visceral and terrifying than any demon.

"You want bloody hands?" she snarled viciously as the blood from her clenched fingers flowed down Liliandra's neck. "You don't even know what blood is!"

The guards stood in utter shock at the gruesome spectacle; even Charlotte had backed away.

But the true shock came only moments later. The flow from Rea's eyes began to clear and blood was carried down her face by tears--true tears.

"You don't know what blood is. You don't know what pain is. You don't know what hate is, because you haven't lost *anything,*" she said, her voice suddenly cracked and broken as though it was barely able to escape her. When she spoke again, it was in a shuddering whisper. "You haven't lost *anything*."

Liliandra simply looked back at her, her expression suddenly calm, her judgement and rage evaporated. She raised her hand and placed it atop Rea's wrist, but she did nothing to try to pry it away from her neck--rather than resisting, her touch was gentle. Somehow it was still enough; Rea released her grip and let her arm drop, simply looking at Liliandra for a moment before turning and walking away, her steps and the almost imperceptible drip from her fingers haunting against the sudden silence.

Liliandra did not follow her. She simply turned around, and with another flash of blackened light, she re-entered her cell, her wings suddenly gone as abruptly as they had arrived.

Charlotte looked at her with a curious expression. "You let her live. It seems you broke your promise," she said.

Liliandra lifted her head, staring at the empty cell wall in front of her. Her voice was hollow.

"I could no more see her than I can see the bloody hand she left behind," she said, touching the sticky stain on her neck.

She closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"I am offended by my own arrogance."

"There is no shame in being angered by the slaughter of your only family," Charlotte said.

"In that, I have spoken more recklessly than I could have possibly imagined."

She turned around and looked at the vaulted door leading away from the prison.

"I dared speak to Rea of loss."

*****

Kaboom groaned as her pounding head finally brought her kicking and screaming back into reality. Her body was stiff as a board, but not nearly as stiff as her brain seemed to be. She could barely think straight.

Most people didn't know just how easy it was to give a Faerie a hangover. There was a reason they always sipped wine out of tiny crystal glasses. For her part, Kaboom was surprised only at the fact that after all this time she was still capable of getting them.

Well, that, and the fact that she kept managing to live through it.

She tried reaching up to rub her aching forehead, but her arm was stuck. She then realized her other hand was already next to it, so she just used it instead.

Her hair felt really gooey. So did her arms, really. In fact, her whole body seemed soaked.

And really hot.

She suddenly became concerned.

She tried to stretch her arms and legs away from her body. Both only ended up pushing against something soft but firm.

Wincing to herself, she finally opened her eyes. The wrinkled walls of a long, tubular stomach sat in front of her, stretched over her like a heavy sleeping bag of oozing flesh. Past her head it puckered and closed where her body wasn't there to hold it up.

She felt something comparatively hard and lumpy beneath her. Turning her shoulders and bending her head, she looked down. A mat of soaked, jagged hair sat there.

She winced again.

"Bee?" she said guiltily.

She suddenly felt a pair of fingers jabbing her in the ribs.

"NNGH! NGG! NHNG! NNGGH! NNGGGH!" Blast growled as she jabbed her over and over.

"Ow! Okay! Quit it!" Kaboom yelped, eventually grabbing hold of her sister's arm. Blast continued to growl.

Images began to swim out of the groggy haze of Kaboom's mind. There was a lot of drinking--that much she didn't have to remember. She vaguely recalled being out in a corridor somewhere, looking at a really hot Naga. The Naga was wearing a really tight T-shirt and making come hither gestures. She vaguely remembered swatting Blast's arms away and following the Naga towards a doorway...

Dammit. Not *again...*

She couldn't remember anything else, but it wasn't too hard to guess the rest. Blast was clearly none too happy about the situation, and Kaboom wasn't too keen on it herself.

She started elbowing the stomach wall. It shifted slightly, rotating the two girls as the stomach's owner shifted position.

She heard a yawn. "Oh, you're awake?" came a sleepy voice. "Mmmm...you were great last night...Kybosh, was it?"

"Kaboom," Blast growled.

"...Yeah," Kaboom said. "Um..."

"Oh, you want to go again before I digest you? We could do that. You were *really* excited last night. Well, you were after I finally got rid of that annoying girl who came after you. Ex-girlfriend?"

Blast growled loudly and started awkwardly banging her fist against the side of the stomach wall.

"Oh, don't be a bad sport. It's not my fault if I'm hotter than you. I'm what they call The Bigger, Better Deal."

Blast growled and pulled out a very big bomb. She was about to light it just before Kaboom grabbed her wrist. "Uh, look, I think it'd be safer for all of us if you let us out."

"Well, like I said, I'm ready for another round. Well, unless you're all half-digested and gross. Eww...yeah, considering you've been in there all night, um...On second thought, I think I'll just content myself with digesting you. The sex *was* awesome, though."

Kaboom heard a deafening crack and it suddenly felt like she had been kicked in the gut by a racehorse. Her ears rang even as she smelled her own hair burning.

"OW! What the hell was that!? That hurt!" the voice said.

"Yeah, um...my 'ex-girlfriend' has a thing for bombs. She'll, uh, she'll probably just keep doing that."

"Why? That's just mean!"

"Well, I think she's aware of the fact that you're trying to digest her."

"Well, I'm not *trying.* I'm just sort of letting nature take it's course. I only *try* to digest people I'm mad at."

There was another deafening bang, accompanied by the sensation of another bomb going off an inch from Kaboom's chest. To say it knocked the wind out of her would be a dramatic understatement.

"OW! Hey, my stomach isn't very stretchy! I don't do this all the time, you know! And that...gunpowder or whatever tastes awful down there!"

The stomach walls suddenly started to clench and hot liquids started to ooze and gush over her body.

"Blast, I think you're making her mad..."

"Darn right she is! And she's making my stomach mad, too!"

There was another bang. This time, it didn't feel nearly so forceful. Looking down, Kaboom saw that Blast was lighting smaller sticks of dynamite.

"Oh, that one wasn't too bad," the Naga said.

Blast set off another.

"Ooo, that one actually felt kind of good! Still tastes like crap, but now that my stomach is used to it, it kind of just gives me a full feeling!"

Blast grumbled to herself, her hands rooting through her belt pouches. Not finding much of use, she looked up at Kaboom and gestured.

"What? Oh, no way. You've already almost blown me in half."

Blast gave her an irritated look and gestured again.

Kaboom took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay...here I was hoping I wouldn't end up setting this one off an inch away from my own head...but I guess a girl can dream..."

Reaching into one of her own pouches, she pulled out a large, complex looking device. It had a small digital clock, a winder and a button that said "push in case of unwanted continents and/or massively suicidal tendencies."

Blast snatched it and was about to press the button before she suddenly stopped. Turning it over and examining it, she suddenly took on an uncertain look.

"Yeah, in case you're wondering whether that will kill us both, the answer is yes," Kaboom said.

Blast looked at it again, shrugged, and pushed the button.

The noise this time was so fierce that Kaboom couldn't even hear herself being blasted clean out of the Naga and through two walls before smashing violently against a third and eventually hitting the floor. She couldn't hear much of anything after that, actually. In fact, it took her several moments for her brain to start processing sensations in general, other than the obvious blinding pain.

Eventually she opened one eye, her view half-obscured by smoke. She saw Blast, soot black and flaming in places, indignantly wiping herself off and otherwise seeming utterly unaffected. Typical. She saw several people looking at them in shock and mouthing words she couldn't hear through the clamoring in her ears. She saw two gigantic holes in two surprisingly thick walls, and off in the distance she saw a Naga with a smoking tail frantically trying to pull a flaming T-shirt off of herself. When she finally succeeded, she started thwomping her tail against it to put the fire out. Finally, she turned to Blast, angrily screaming something she also couldn't hear. Blast rolled her eyes and sneered to herself before turning around and flipping her off.

Between the naga's angry tail thwomps, something odd happened. A hand popped out of her still-smoking tail end. There were several thwomps before the naga seemed to notice it, and by that time there were two arms and a torso, frantically scrambling to get out.

Kaboom stood up and watched the soundless spectacle of the shocked naga suddenly trying to shove the emerging form back into herself. She could make out a face and what looked like a ruffled black dress, soaked and clinging to the small girl's shoulders. The fact that the Naga ate someone else wasn't all that surprising--what was actually surprising to Kaboom was that her goody-two-shoes sister was not making any attempt to intervene. Indeed, Blast seemed to be looking scornfully at the girl, almost like she was just waiting for the Naga to finish shoving her back in so she could start throwing bombs at her.

Unsure of whether she could speak coherently with no hearing, she gestured towards the struggling girl. Blast just frowned and gave a wrinkled sneer, folding her arms stubbornly.

"****?" Kaboom tried to say. Blast just turned and glared at the girl. All but one leg was now outside of the naga. Her arms were wrapped around the creature's tail and she was using her free leg to kick towards her head.

"Which one should I help?" Kaboom found herself thinking. "***** o** sh*u** I *el*?" was what she heard herself say. Blast only shook her head sourly, raising her hands to flip off both the girl and the naga, evidently thinking no further explaination was necessary..

Kaboom smacked the side of her head a few times, trying to knock the ringing out of it. "I **n'* *e** a d*** **in*," she said.

Blast visibly sighed and reached into her potion belt. She pulled out a vial, looked at it, and threw it over her shoulder, sending it shattering against a piece of debris from the shattered wall (which abruptly grew an eye and started skittering away). She pulled out another vial, looked at it, and threw it over her shoulder as well (this time causing everyone in the room below them to forget their names). This happened several times in rapid succession (you don't even want to hear about what the other potions did--Blast is indiscriminate when she's angry) before she pulled out what appeared to be a small crystal with a clear, slightly opalescent surface. She walked over and rammed it into Kaboom's mouth without bothering to give her any say in the matter--not that that was anything new. Kaboom felt the hard stone going down her throat, and suddenly her hearing changed dramatically. Her original hearing didn't come back but was replaced with a sound like every silent surface in the room was emitting a chorus of music, and the real sounds were stunning and slightly overwhelming.

Kaboom wondered why she didn't think of it herself. Her own belt had several of the exact same stone. They were Symphony crystals, used to help non-Fae species understand the songlike languages of the Faeries and their kin. She figured she forgot because she never used them; she spoke in the dirt-common dialects of Prime most of the time anyway. When she tried speaking Fae she just sounded like a bad rock band, crystal or no crystal. She considered it a favor for all involved that she didn't bother.

Now that she could hear the comical struggle of the Naga and the petite girl that was kicking for all she was worth, she figured she would set the situation straight.

"Lis-ten you bitch, I don't like - get-ting ea-ten!" she sang melodically. "Dam-mit to hell! I hate how-they-do this!" she sang again.

"Help!" the girl yelled.

"Help *her!?*" the Naga yelled in a voice that sounded unnaturally musical. "She just sat and watched while I ate you! And you know what she was doing the whole time?"

"Hey!" the girl yelled.

"Let's just say I caught her because when she tried to run her panties were around her ankles!"

"Who in-the hell are you peee-ooo-ple an-y-way?" Kaboom sang.

"Look, I'd love to introduce myself, but the last of my food is escaping."

"I am *not* your food!" the girl yelled.

"You certainly seemed fine with the idea that *they* were," the Naga retorted.

"I...was not! I just happened to be sleeping in that room when you barged in and started having sex!"

"We had sex?" Kaboom asked in an unwillingly operatic manner.

"Well *yeah,* I told you that!" the Naga said.

"And-a then you ate me?" Kaboom sang.

"You said you didn't mind! You claimed it would keep you from getting a hangover!"

"I do! Tend to say! Those kinds of things! When I'm ham-mered!" Kaboom admitted, awkwardly fidgeting with her hair.

The singing thing was getting severely annoying. What surprised Kaboom the most was nobody seemed to notice.

Then she remembered she was a Faerie.

The naga turned to the small girl. "So if you were just *sleeping,* why did I find you with your fingers up your dress, hmm?"

"Grrr...Because I was looking for this!"

The girl pulled out a truly gargantuan handgun.

Kaboom looked shocked. "Hey, that's my--"

There was a thunderous noise that, given Kaboom's artificially enhanced senses, sounded like a million bajillion angels squealing with so much glee that they exploded in less than a second. There was an instant of motion as the recoil shot the weapon straight back into the girl's face. There was a crack and a small trail of blood sprayed through the air. The girl staggered back as the gun skittered away across the floor.

The Naga, meanwhile, had hit the floor, apparently having decided that, even if she was going to find out what the gun did no matter what, she at least wanted to do it with a sense other than touch. Looking behind her, she saw a second enormous hole in the wall of her abode--this time circular and glowing at the edges. A single drop of molten metal was oozing down it's bottom edge.

There was a yell. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OVER THERE!?" It was soon joined by the clamor of many others.

A dozen Meckis appeared, weapons drawn; everything from shotguns to chainsaws.

The Naga nervously pointed at the girl in the black dress. "It was her," she said flatly.

One of the Meckis picked up the gun. In addition to the fact that it was bigger than her own--a fact that obviously surprised her--some other detail on the gun was causing her eyes to widen.

"Holy Masalla in bondage gear, is this an Esseiance crystal?"

"It's *four,* and I'd like them back, thank you very much!" Kaboom sang.

The Mecki looked at the hole in the wall. Or, rather, the line of holes that seemed to stretch all the way to the outside of the complex.

"Did you fire this?" the Mecki asked, turning on Kaboom.

"I told you, *she* did it!" the Naga said, pointing at the girl in the black dress, who was quietly trying to slink away. When all eyes turned on her, she wisely stopped.

"Is this yours?" the Mecki asked.

"No, I told you, it's mine!" Kaboom sang in an impatient tone. "It's--mine! She--shot-it! Get-it-through-your-thick! Skulls! Give-me-back-my-gun now!"

"How do we know that it's yours?" the Mecki asked.

Kaboom reached into her pouches and pulled out another gun--this one had five barrels.

"I--can--only fi-ire this one once--but if you want a dem-mon-stration, that's what-you'll-get!"

The Mecki walked up and looked at it.

Another Mecki peered over her shoulder. "Well?"

The first Mecki looked pale. Pointing at a coil in the center of the weapon, she asked "Is that..."

"Yes it is," Kaboom replied. "When I say I can only fiiiire thiiiiis ooooonce, I mean it in every poooo-sssiiibbblllee-seeeeensseee!"

The Mecki gulped. "Alrighty. Whether it was your gun or not, it is now, because I don't want to see that thing go off."

"Thaaaank yooooouuuu!"

"You can obviously speak our language, you don't have to keep singing," the Mecki said.

"I on-ly fuck-king wish! Stupid chor-rus crys-stal!"

"Stupid what?"

"Chorus crystal," the girl in the black dress said. "They help people communicate with the Fae. I'm not sure why she needed one."

"Speaking of need, what exactly convinced you that it was necessary to blow a hole clear to pod 6?"

"So what? Pod 6 is jerks," another Mecki said.

"I thought this was pod 6," said a third.

"I shot at the Naga because she was trying to eat me!" the girl in black said.

The Mecki with a chainsaw looked her over. "What's your name?"

"Umm..." she looked around nervously. "Winny?"

"Winny what?"

"Daren..."

"Daren. They're one of the Gurglemeister families, aren't they?"

"No!" Winny said quickly. "Er, I mean, no..." she said more carefully. "I'm not a Gurglemeister. I'm just...Winny. Okay?"

The Naga frowned. "She was in my room *fingerbanging herself* when--"

"When you were trying to eat those other two!" Winny said accusingly. "And then you ate me, too! Isn't there some sort of rule about that!?" she looked at the Meckis.

They looked back and forth between each other.

"Um...probably?" one of them said.

"What about you? Who are you?" they asked the Naga.

"Mitzen."

"You got a tribe, or should we call you Winny too?"

"Mitzen Starglint."

"Starglint?" one of the Meckis said. " ...Seriously?"

"Yeah, well, I'm not one of the huge hero Starglints or anything, but yeah..."

"What does that mean?" another Mecki asked.

"They're sort of half Whitefeather, half angel. Half angelic dragon s'what I heard."

"Well, no, we're...we're not...well, sort of," Mitzen said. "I'm obviously not a dragon. But...a little angel. Just a bit."

"So a half-angel Naga was running around eating people?" the Mecki asked.

"No! W--look, I thought she wanted to!"

"I did sort of say that," Kaboom said, considerably less melodically than before. Thank Masalla.

"Sort of?"

"Well, I said that, but I was intoxicated far beyond the possibility of responsible decision making."

"*I* didn't know that!" Mitzen said defensively. "Well, I knew you were a little drunk, but...you still sounded pretty articulate."

"Years of practice, toots," Kaboom said. "So why did you eat my sister?"

"Wait--she's your sister!?" Mitzen said, suddenly looking in shock at Blast. "Ooooohhh...that would explain a lot."

"Like why you ate her?"

"Well, yeah...I thought she was just attacking me. She must have been trying to keep me from eating you. But she never said anything about it. She just started pounding on me."

"Yeah, she'll do that."

"Then what's your excuse with her?" one of the Meckis said, gesturing towards Winny who was--once again--subtly trying to slink away.

"Um..." Mitzen scratched her head. "I was sort of...feeling like my privacy had been violated, and was kind of caught up in the moment after having eaten two other people, one by force...and, um...honestly...I was a bit tipsy myself last night."

"How tipsy?"

"Well...I had half a glass of honeygold and a few of those little things full of licorice wine."

"Eww! You drink that faerie crap?" Kaboom said, completely ignoring the confused looks it gave her. "I knocked back ten tanks of...what's it called? That imported Ironbelly stuff that has the warning label?"

"Sroka."

"I thought Sroka was one of their family names."

"You're thinking of Titanhammer. They have a drink and a family called Titanhammer, but Sroka is just a drink."

"The Titanhammers make Sroka, though," yet another Mecki said.

"Why is this important!?" the first one said. "Okay, you were slightly tipsy and you were plowed harder than a Flesh Fane slave," she said at Mitzen and Kaboom, respectively. "What about you two?" she said, looking at Blast and Winny.

"I...didn't have anything to drink," Winny said.

"She is SO lying," Kaboom said.

"How do you know?" the Mecki asked.

"Simple. Take the following hypothetical case: you are stone cold sober and are presented with the choice of jerking off five feet away from a hungry Naga."

"Stop saying that!" Winny said. "It's not like you two were there!"

"Actually, it's EXACTLY like we were there," Kaboom said.

"But you didn't see me!"

The lead Mecki sighed loudly. "Alright, well, no one's dead...were any of you planning to kill each other in the next five minutes?"

"Not specifically," Kaboom said.

"Alright. Do any of you guys at least have some money to help pay for the..." she did a quick count, "twenty-seven walls you shot through?"

"It's really better to ask me for money immediately *before* my drinking benders than after," Kaboom answered. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I now owe money, property, services, and a truly embarassing level of sexual favors to several dozen people who's faces and names I couldn't remember if you put both directly in front of me."

"Then why do you drink so much?"

"...What?"

"If drinking causes you so many problems--no money, owing everybody, getting *eaten*--why do you still do it?"

"I'm...not sure I'm following you here. I think we might be basing our thinking off of two different sets of assumptions. For example: booze is one of the core elements of a fulfilled existance, on the same level as, say, leveling an abandoned city for the first time just to see if you can."

Suddenly they heard another unfamiliar voice off in the distance, behind the devastated walls. "You were asking about a faerie and a crazy girl in rags who won't talk?"

A second voice appeared, but this one was not so unfamiliar. "Yeah, I sort of guessed when I saw that somebody had blown a hole from here to the next tower. There's exactly two people I know who tend to do that."

Ishiar's voice was followed by the clank of Cassandra's armored boots in the distance. Kaboom spotted her as she lifted her scalemail dress and started stepping carefully through each hole, with Ishiar only a few steps ahead of her and another Mecki leading the way.

"You guys really need to learn a thing or two about maintaining a workable reputation," Cassandra said. "And coming from me, that means a lot." As they stepped into the room she looked around at the miniature crowd that had assembled. "So who are the bystanders?"

"Do you know these girls?" The Mecki said, indicating Blast and Kaboom.

"That depends. Are they under arrest?"

"That's Cassandra the Corsair!" one of the Meckis at the back suddenly said.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, the one and only. Listen, we're in kind of a hurry here. So tell me who's going to be hauled off in chains so I can take the remaining people back with me."

"You can't be Cassandra the Corsair," the lead Mecki said.

"Fine. I'm somebody else. Whatever. I'm...Bill." she tossed out randomly as she waved her hands impatiently. "Just tell me who's going to get the firing squad! And if it's gonna be me we may as well establish that too!"

"Why? What did you do?"

"Nothing. Until you can prove otherwise. Can you at least give me a hint? Like, tell me the initials of the ones you're going to kill."

"Alright, alright," Ishiar said. "Look, those two are the ones we know." She pointed at Blast and Kaboom. "I've never seen any of the rest of these people."

"Except the one who's trying to hide her face," Cassandra said.

"You weren't supposed to notice me!" Winny yelled through clenched teeth.

"I might not have if you hadn't been trying to hide. Need I remind you that I am Cassandra the Corsair? Hiding from me is something that only morons and suicidal people try to do."

"Oh, thanks a lot!" Winny replied petulantly.

"Look, we won't arrest anybody if we can get money to fix the walls," the Mecki said.

"If you want money, look at her," Kaboom said, pointing at Winny. "She's the one who shot them."

"So did you!"

"No I didn't!"

"Then how did you blow up all these other walls?"

"I got blown THROUGH them, thank you very much! And while I would LIKE to be able to say that my spinal cord is a weapon of mass destruction, I don't think I can be held responsible for that!"

"Yeah, but you got blown through them because you blasted your way out of the Naga!"

"Yeah..." Mitzen said, poking gingerly at her tail. "It was very uncomfortable. I can still taste smoke in there."

"Tell you what, Winny, you pay for both and I might be generous enough to take it off your tab," Cassandra said.

"I can't pay for both! I don't even have any money!"

Cassandra rolled her eyes again. There was a sudden glint of metal in her fingers as she reeled back one of her hands. In a split second she had whipped a throwing knife directly at Winny. There was only a whisper of sound as it cleaved straight through her dress, immediately drowned out by a strange sound of metal on metal. The knife continued, shooting right between her legs before embedding itself in the wall with a dull crack. A second later, there was the tinkling sounds of coins hitting the floor.

"OW! Hey!" Winny yelled, clutching at the inside of her thigh. "You cut me with that!"

"But your deceitful words cut ever so much deeper into my sensitive heart," Cassandra said dramatically.

"For your information, this is my emergency money!" Winny said as she reached down and started gathering up the coins. "That's why it's hidden!"

She looked behind her at the throwing knife, still sticking neatly out of the wall. "You know, you could have hit me right in the crotch with that!"

"Be glad I decided not to," Cassandra said as she turned to the Meckis. "Ladies, miss Daren here owes me a considerable sum, of which I have documentation back on my ship. If you--"

"Seriously, I don't have enough money! Look!" Winny held out the coins she had picked up; all she had was one gold coin, three silver ones, and eight small, faceted hearts made of ivory.

Mitzen looked curiously at the hearts. "Why do you have angel money?"

Winny flinched slightly. Cassandra reared her head back and started laughing maniacally.

"What!? What's so funny!?" Winny said. "It's not that weird to have angel money at a spaceport! They're all over the place!"

"I know that look!" Cassandra said. "You nicked that off of an angel while you were watching her get--"

"Stop right there!" Winny said. "I'm serious!"

Cassandra just kept laughing in a way that could only be described as overtly sadistic.

"It may interest the REST of you to know that the reason I owe Cassandra money is that she has been blackmailing me!" Winny said.

Kaboom looked at her. "You mean about the fact that you get off at--"

"Quit saying it like that!" Winny snapped. "I'm not like that! Everybody just shut up! I'm not some Girlyburp cheerleader that all of you can pick on, alright?"

"We're not trying to pick on you," Ishiar said.

"I am," Cassandra said with a grin.

"Okay, besides her, we're not trying to pick on you."

"Finally, somebody who isn't a complete...guh. What's your name?"

"Ishiar."

Winny clenched her jaw. "Ish--the--and you've got the blue hair...shit. Okay, let's get this out there--if anybody who works for Aerothi is listening, I am so totally not with her."

"A portrait of courage, as always," Cassandra said.

"Hey, I'm just being--" Winny stammered, "--shut up!"

"Well, looks like Ecilix is just full of celebrities today," one of the Meckis said.

"So are you really blackmailing her?" another asked.

"Oh yeah," Cassandra said proudly.

Winny sneered, but her expression suddenly softened as her eyes seemed to shift towards something else. Cassandra noticed it as well, but she merely cocked her head slightly as Elvet silently stepped in behind her.

"We have the full recruitment report," Elvet said quietly, handing Cassandra a small scroll. The smile instantly vanished off of Cassandra's face.

"Excuse me a moment," Cassandra said. "Don't try to sneak off, Winny."

"Nobody's going anywhere until we get this straightened out," the Mecki leader said. "Including you."

"Noted," Cassandra said dismissively as she opened the scroll and looked it over. Her expression gradually fell as her eyes traced down the page.

"Well." she said simply, as though momentarily out of witty things to say. "Bridget, Crisell, Eliza..." she shook her head. "I can't believe we lost Eliza."

Elvet nodded silently.

"Lost? I thought you said that was for recruitment," Ishiar said.

"It contains a list of positions that now must be filled," Elvet said quietly. "Due to casualties."

"Oh..." Ishiar said uncomfortably.

Elvet turned away. "Hello Winny," she said in a more audible voice.

"Hi Elvet," Winny replied. "I'm glad you're finally here."

Elvet gave her an understanding look before turning her attention to the scroll her captain was reading. Cassandra half-rolled and half-crumpled it back up and gave it back to Elvet. "This run just won't stop sucking," she said.

"Welcome to our world," Ishiar said. "Hell, this is basically our fault."

"This is Aerothi's fault," Cassandra said. "I just may need to pay her a visit."

"Her henchmen are walking nukes," Ishiar said. "We don't even *know* what she can do. Her lackeys have always dropped us long before we got the chance to find out."

"You beat Leiasell and Rea, didn't you?"

"Not really," Ishiar replied. "How do you even know about that?"

"Like I said, word gets around. And it's not hard to notice that Ralier has fucking Lo'i'Klaethe strapped to her hip."

"She has what?"

Cassandra went silent.

"Okay," she said. "I guess most people don't know this stuff...you know the golden sword Rea had that Ralier has now? That's Lo'i'Klaethe. It's basically a soul-killing sword forged by the Gods. Wounds from Lo'i'Klaethe can't be healed, ever."

"Well, that can't be true, unless that isn't actually Lo'i'Klaethe."

"Why?"

"Well, she tagged me with it a bunch of times, and I got over it. It took a lot longer than usual, but I got over it." She glanced over at Blast, her expression suddenly sympathetic--and a little embarassed. "I guess Blast didn't, though. So how do you know about it?"

"I spent the better part of a year trying to track it down during one of my treasure hunting binges. All I got out of it was this armor and the bragging rights of having beaten the shit out of Rea. Turns out that she just happened to stumble across it like a week after both of us had stopped looking for it."

There was suddenly a crash from one of the nearby corridors. The Meckis responded quickly, but Cassandra stepped almost casually towards it. "I told you not to try to sneak off, Winn--"

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw what was in the hallway; one of her own crew pinned to the wall by Winny's leg, her heavy crossbow now hanging awkwardly in Winny's tiny hands, pointed at the other woman's neck.

"Sorry, captain. I'd tell you what happened, but frankly it's embarassing," the crewman said.

Cassandra reached for her sword.

"Whoa, whoa, I wasn't gonna hurt her!" Winny said, pulling the crossbow back. "I'm just trying to get on with my life here!"

Before Cassandra could reply, Elvet bent down and whispered in her ear.

Cassandra turned back and gave her a very peculiar look. "You've *got* to be kidding."

Elvet remained silent.

"What?" Winny asked.

"My second in command, being infinitely generous and pure of heart as she is, has pointed out that you do have certain skills, as evidenced by your...recreational activities...and the fact that you have never actually been killed by doing them, even when doing things as brazen as nicking an Angel's coin purse while she's on the way down."

"Hey, I never said I did that. You said I did that."

"Are you saying you didn't?"

"I'm saying it's none of your business. And if you're trying to recruit me, the answer is no. Nobody's paying me to put up with your crap."

"Um...that's what the recruitment part would be," Cassandra said.

"You know what I meant!"

"Well, look at it this way. You're going to get the abuse either way. Wouldn't it be nice to get something out of it?"

"Why do you suddenly want *me*?" Winny said suspiciously.

"Because in the last seven days I have lost twenty-six out of thirty-five crew," Cassandra said, a strangely angry tint in her voice. "And of all the things I've said about you, I never said you didn't know what you're doing," she added as she glanced tellingly at the woman Winny still had pinned to the wall. "The fact is I lost all of my scouts, half of my engineers, and all but two of my gunners."

"Scouts?" Winny said. "More like burglars."

"All the more reason to think Elvet might have a point," Cassandra said. "If you agree I might not tell the Meckis what else you stole while you were sneaking out."

All of the Meckis immediately checked their coin purses.

"What are you talking about!?" Winny said.

"Your dress is bulging."

"No it isn't!"

"Well, not by much. Like I said, you know what you're doing. You gonna do what I say or do I need to pull out another throwing knife?"

"Gah! Alright, look. If you'll stop pestering me and stop BLACKMAILING me, I'll think about it!"

"How about I pay for the damage and you decide right now?"

"Alright, fine!"

"What did she steal?" the lead Mecki asked.

"Nothing," Cassandra said. "I was bluffing, but she knows better than to think it would matter. Here, this should cover it," she said, dropping a fistful of polygonal, gemlike coins into the Mecki's hand.

"Wait a minute--why do you have DEMON money!?" Mitzen said.

"You're safer if you don't know," Cassandra said.

The Mecki looked down at the coins. "How much is a Faith worth?"

"Nothing, if you have any moral standards!" Mitzen replied.

"I think they're thirty," one of the Meckis said.

"They're twenty," Winny replied.

"That's coming out of your pay," Cassandra said.

"That's okay, it's...still more than enough," the Mecki said.

"See? Let it never be said that Cassandra the Corsair is not generous. Elvet, Winny, shall we?"

"Yeah, don't acknowledge our presence or anything," Kaboom said.

"Well, you guys aren't *obligated* to follow me," Cassandra said. "But feel free to tag along," she added as she started walking. "Massala knows we could use the help right now," she said quietly.

The group started walking, this time ignoring the holes in the walls and following the normal, winding paths of the halls and gantryways. It was actually quite some distance to the Starslicer and the bar that constituted the last place Kaboom remembered being. When they reached it, Annelique was sitting with her back against the wall and Ralier was standing next to her.

"Oh, you found them, thank goodness!" Annelique said. "I was worried you had run off and gotten yourself eaten!"

"You're a smart girl, Annelique," Cassandra replied. "Come on, we need to get out of this burg."

"But we just got here! Where are we going?" Ralier said.

"Well, you guys can stay or go, whichever. Let's just say I've noticed a few red flags since we got here...not even counting the fact that in two hours every Mecki in the city will be talking about us. Rule #1 is 'if the enemy knows where you are, don't be there.'"

Annelique quickly got up and started following Cassandra--her pace was such that she had to jog to catch up. When they reached the landing platform, they saw that two women were standing between them and the Starslicer--the Darkswallow captain and her robed companion from the previous night.

"Can I help you?" Cassandra said with a quick smile, her hand very obviously wrapped around her sword.

"Cassandra the Corsair, I presume?" the Darkswallow captain said.

"Something like that," Cassandra replied, still smiling and still slowly unsheathing her blade with her thumb.

"I am Captain Elora Exitus of the Darkswallow clan," the other woman replied.

"Captain of Silavas the dragon?" Cassandra said, her fake smile being replaced with a genuinely intrigued look.

"The same."

Curiously, Silavas herself was gone; the landing deck she had occupied now sat empty, with no sign that she had ever been there.

"I have come on Miss Annelique's behalf," Captain Exitus continued. "As a courtesy, I thought I would let you know," she said. "As Silavas mentioned, you are hunted...upon closer inspection, it seems you are being hunted by agents within this city even as we speak. It seems *Admiral* Kaleta wishes to speak with you...to ensure your safety, or so she claims."

"Kaleta? Shannon Kaleta?" Cassandra asked. "Aerothi's little battlecruiser-toting chess player?"

"The same."

"Well, if we didn't have a good enough reason to leave before, we sure as hell do now," Cassandra said.

"She does not intend to let you leave," Captain Exitus replied. "She considers the four marked ones to be too important to leave to chance."

"Yeah, well, she can *intend* whatever she likes," Cassandra said.

"I do not believe it would be wise to ignore her. She directly or indirectly controls every sanctuary and safe harbor you have left."

"Why? Did the war end in the few weeks that I was gone?"

"No, but Admiral Kaleta's employment with Aerothi did. She is now employed by the Meckis."

"Wow. And here I thought they were smart."

"My sentiments exactly. Though I must grudgingly acknowledge that their efforts have been considerably more successful since she took command. If she is indeed legitimate, she has been having no qualms about turning her prior knowledge of Aerothi's military structure to her advantage."

Cassandra sighed and turned around, looking at the rest of the assembled group.

"Hmmm..." she said. "If I take you with me, I get to have Shannon Kaleta on my ass until doomsday. Not to mention everyone who works for Aerothi. On the other hand, you're the only people I know who are even close to skilled enough to survive on the Starslicer for more than ten seconds..." she paused. "And I guess there are worse things than having a pair of destined heros at your back..."

"Captain, if I may make a bold statement," Elvet said. "It is not merely a question of logic. You want to take them with you."

"I thought Dark Angels weren't empathic," Cassandra replied.

"That is correct. We are not," Elvet replied simply.

Cassandra simply sighed again as she looked around at everyone, her gaze finally settling on Annelique.

"I guess I do owe you all something...especially you, Annelique." Her face darkened. "And I think I owe Mnokugura a little something too."

She turned back to Captain Exitus.

"So where exactly is Admiral Kaleta?"

"She said she would meet you at your convenience in her command center here in Ecilix."

"And where is Silavas?"

"Close by."

"Good. I may need your assistance. You will be fairly compensated, of course."

"It would be compensation enough to punish Shannon for any treachery she might commit," Captain Exitus said. "I practically look forward to the day she betrays us."

"Be careful what you wish for," Cassandra said as she started heading back into the city.