Episode VII: Soul Searching
Returning victorious from their first mission, Asuka and Bloodstorm arrived at the mansion of Count Virgil Soniasis with crowds cheering and pomp surrounding their grand entrance. The fight against the maverick robots had not been an easy one, but Asuka and Bloodstorm waded through the opposition like wildfire through grass. They had little problem in eliminating the machines in the factory, and couldn’t help but wonder why the Count had not sent in his own guard first instead of hiring mercenaries. Bloodstorm wasn’t programmed to think of such things, but Asuka’s organic brain could. She kept everything to herself, though, as she entered into the mansion.
Soldiers everywhere stood to attention as the mercenaries paraded through, many of them wounded and a few unaccounted for. The interior of the mansion was a rich place, from the thick crimson carpet below to the gold walls surrounding the area, and the pure-crystal chandelier hanging above. Asuka despised the rich simply because they flaunted their wealth without even a care. A humble person, in her mind, just seemed more secure with themselves than a person with pride.
She and Bloodstorm were led across a large open room and into the main chamber, where the master of the house conducted all of his business. He gave the hired soldiers a brittle smile as they entered, and once they had all assembled into the room, they were made to kneel down. Asuka also held grudges towards people who loved flexing their power too much. Loving one’s own strength was okay, but going to excess about it was a sin in her eyes. Bloodstorm also seemed hesitant to lower himself to the rich little vermin, even though his programming didn’t allow him that luxury.
“You have fought bravely against impossible enemy forces,” announced the Count to all the kneeling soldiers. “Your merits are great and your honor is true. For this, I will gladly reward you each with a small bonus added to your initial salary, as well as the rare opportunity to witness the astounding skills of my personal entertainment. Go now, and recreate yourselves as you please!” Many of the soldiers cheered and scattered away from the room in search of the pleasures that the Count spoke of, but Asuka stood behind with her partner.
She kept her silence, though, as she gazed at the rich man. Without saying a word, she left him alone in his room, despising him all the more.
The entertainment spoken of by the count was indeed a rare treat. The evening’s show was to be an exotic dancer named Ptolemie, a short and skinny girl with smooth olive-tan skin, dark eyes that could reduce any man to a puddle with their seductive stare, black hair that waved like the wind, and a skimpy gold outfit barely covering her body. The men seemed to absolutely love her, but Asuka watched with boredom. She had no interest in dancers at all, so she concentrated on her wine. Bloodstorm, on the other hand, never once stopped grinning.
Ptolemie began her dance by slowly waving back and forth to a lilting tune on pipes, making good use of her hypnotic tummy and chest. She turned around and around slowly, giving everybody a good view of her nearly-bare backside, then suddenly whirled faster as the music picked up, spinning like a copper top. She halted just as suddenly, pausing just briefly before tapping her feet on the floor to match with the fast rhythm. Raising her naked arms to the ceiling, she waved her hips around fluidly, earning cheers from the men and a rude sipping sound from Asuka.
To add a bit of flair, Ptolemie gently placed a soft kiss on the petals of a white rose, and threw it randomly in the crowd for the men to fight over. As they scrambled, she exploded on the stage, smashing her delicate feet into the floor as she slapped her hands together in tune to the music. Her head and hair whirled around in circles, sending a breeze of black flowing through the room. Finally, she performed a flawless backflip, turned around, and effortlessly split her legs as she sunk down to the floor. One leg scraped across the floor and joined the other, and with a burning look in her dark eyes, the woman finished with a final exclamation to the crowd.
The crowd cheered for a solid minute before she moved from her position. She stood and took several bows (and more roses thrown on the stage), and winked and blew kisses at her audience. Her smile was then aimed at Asuka, followed by a special kiss obviously meant for her. Asuka saw it and cringed at the action, and kept staring at the woman as she walked off stage. Bloodstorm, who saw the shameless flirt, jabbed her in the ribs.
“Hey, I think she likes you!”
“She’s just paid to do that,” replied the half-elf emptily. The cyborg laughed cruelly and patiently waited for the next act of entertainment.
----------
“…Such strength and courage as this cannot ever be fully rewarded!” Asuka moaned to herself as her joints began to cramp. Going back into the main chamber to revisit the Count was not something she wanted to do, and having to kneel before him again was even worse. But to hear his lengthy speech was a plain and open insult, and she swore that if she had to suffer any more, she would not be doing it alone.
“But there is one among you who deserves the greatest treasure presentable by myself!” he continued, unaware of Asuka’s bitterness. “Lady Asuka Honmisei, please approach me and demonstrate the truest strength and power known!” The mercenaries cheered (blindly, she knew) as he called her name, and with a snort, she stood and slowly walked towards the dais. The Count smiled thinly and presented her with a small figurine.
“I happily present to you this statue, a token of highest valor and skill! Take it and be known as a champion!” The crowd cheered again as he gave the statue to her, and with barely enough civility to fill a thimble, Asuka thanked him.
“How delightful. I thank you from the bottom of the gaping void in my soul.” She gave him a brittle smile and nodded her head, but inwardly, she was seething.
You think this will make everything better? You worthless coward…
To the surprise of the soldiers in the room, Asuka suddenly burst out laughing, an action she hardly did at all. There was no happiness in the action, though--the woman was like a gagging volcano.
“You’re such a weak little man!” she snarled. “I have no time for this farce!”
“How… dare you talk like that to me!” spat the startled Count. Asuka chuckled again, holding the statue in the palm of her hand.
“Hehehe… this thing looks a lot like you, doesn’t it…?”
“You… you barbarian!” Quickly, Asuka drew her sword and chopped the head off the statue, letting it fall to the floor as she kept the decapitated piece. With a final snarl, she glared at the Count.
“You fool… Next time, I’ll hit the real thing.” And without a further sound, Asuka quietly turned around and walked right out of the room, summoning a gleeful Bloodstorm with her. The Count screamed for his guards to stop her, but they all knew there was no use. It would be like trying to stop a charging bull with a simple red cape, so Asuka and her partner were freed even as the Count shouted mercilessly…
Two days passed.
Since she was a drifter who never stayed long in the same place, Asuka was resting in a quiet hotel room. Bloodstorm was staring at the wall as always, a blank look on his otherwise-maniacal face, and a headless figurine was resting on the table where Asuka was drowning her bitterness in a drink. The room was silent, just the way Asuka liked it, and time slowly drifted past the two freelancers as they rested from their travels and waited for the next big job to arrive. A knock came to the door suddenly, interrupting the quiet.
“Just sit down, I’ll get it,” said the half-elf. She stood and opened the door, finding a beautiful young lady on the other side. She had a familiar air around her, mixed in with the wild scent of perfume and her exotic looks. She wore a long flowing pink dress, had her short black hair tied up in a bun, and skin like copper suggesting a foreign origin.
“Excuse me, but might you be Lady Asuka?” she said. Asuka tilted her head and peered closer, swearing there was something familiar about the woman.
“Uh, yeah. Who’s asking?”
“My name is Bri, uh, my lady…”
“…Bri?” A confusing pause forced the beautiful woman to rethink her words.
“Erm, my name is Rinna… Rinna Tolmas!”
“…All right, Lady Rinna…” murmured Asuka after a pause. She gave “Rinna” a strange look and tried to figure out why she was acting so peculiar. The tanned woman smiled and blurted out her purpose before any discoveries could be made.
“Ah, I’ve come here to talk to you about a job!”
“…A job?”
“Yes! Won’t you take it?”
“Umm…” Puzzled, Asuka turned to Bloodstorm for advice, but he simply waved at her.
“You’ve got the time. Why don’t you go ahead and do this?”
“S-sure…” Her face grimacing in confusion, Asuka managed to take “Rinna” outside so they could have a private conversation. Rinna took Asuka all the way to the hotel elevator as she explained herself.
“Perhaps we should have some dinner first? I’m not accustomed to speaking at length with somebody without something to eat. Do you know of any good restaurants in this area?”
“Uh, I can’t say that I do,” replied Asuka, and she couldn’t. The half-elf racked her brain for any good diners she might have spotted on her journeys while she descended down to the lobby and took Rinna outside. Across from the hotel was a fine-looking Japanese restaurant, one that looked fancy and a little out of Asuka’s league of sophistication.
“Ah, that one will do!” exclaimed Rinna with a gush. Asuka frowned, shrugged, and took Rinna inside the restaurant, where they were escorted to a table. Asuka sighed and slumped down on the table, feeling more and more unsure about this deal.
“So, about that job…”
“Oh, let’s order something first!” exclaimed Rinna with another gush. She summoned a waitress over with a snap of her fingers.
“Hello, what would you like to have?”
I have no idea… murmured the half-elf to herself. Rinna smiled and began pointing at things on the menu.
“Well, I’ll have this one, this one, and one of these!”
“And to drink?”
“Umm, this, this, and two of these…”
“Very well, thank you!” The waitress smiled and took the menu from Rinna, but Asuka was nearly aghast.
“Hold it!” she shouted, slamming her fists on the table. “Are you really gonna eat all that?”
“Oh, dear me, no!” sang Rinna with a wave of her hand. “I’ll just take what I want and leave the rest! Maybe you can have some as well!”
“Oh, boy…” Poor Asuka groaned out loud as she plopped her head on the table. She prayed that this new job would be worth all the hard effort, or else her sword would be cutting more than statue’s heads…
Thirty minutes later…
“Call your manager!”
“E… excuse me?”
“You heard me!” shouted Rinna, her face flushed with anger and humiliation. “Call your manager!” The poor waitress moaned as she scurried off to retrieve her boss, leaving Rinna to steam and Asuka to groan even more miserably.
“Hey… you don’t have to act like… such a spoiled princess…” Rinna ignored the comment and kept her arms crossed furiously until the manager came by.
“Is something not to your liking, miss?”
“Not to my liking, he says! Just take a look at this meat! It’s raw! Blecch!”
“But miss, that’s just sashimi!” he defended. Rinna snorted and continued throwing her tantrum.
“And what about this soup? It’s all cloudy!”
“Miss, that’s plain old miso soup, a staple of Japanese cuisine!”
“And what’s this over here?!” she shouted, jabbing an object with her chopsticks. “Is this a baby kraken?!”
“Miss, that’s just squid…”
“So you serve monsters here??!!”
“Miss, I assure you…”
“Curse you!” she wailed, squeezing her eyes and fists shut in a rage. She coughed once and reached for her drink. “Ah, now all this talking has made me thirsty!” She quickly tipped the glass over and swallowed everything down, much to the surprise of the manager and waitress there. Asuka, for all reasoning, had long ago been forgotten.
“Miss, be careful! You should not drink so much sake in a single swallow!”
“Huh? Izzat what zis iz?” Rinna nearly choked on the drink as she wobbled around weakly, and before she lost herself, she breathed out a curse. “Nnnnasty man… I’ll… make sure… you’ll pay… for this…” Finally, she flopped down on the floor, utterly tipsy and knocked out cold. Meekly, the waitress stepped towards Asuka and handed her a piece of paper.
“Umm… your bill, ma’am…”
“Oh, boy…” Poor Asuka moaned out another sigh, reluctantly left a handful of units, and picked Rinna up off the ground. Sometimes, it was better to just stay in bed and keep the door locked.
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Asuka pondered her recent stroke of fate over a bottle of bourbon and the view of a lovely lady who was still out cold. Bloodstorm had only recently been informed of what had happened earlier that day, and of course he found it to be amusing. Somewhere in the back of her half-Elvin mind, Honmisei had already figured out that there was never going to be a job coming from Rinna, but she couldn’t figure out why the exotic lady put her through all that trouble.
“Dirty skunk…” muttered the woman to herself. Asuka looked up and watched as she rolled over in her bed--and then suddenly it hit her! As she looked at the woman in the light, Asuka remembered where she recognized her! It was Ptolemie, the dancer woman from the mansion!
“Ptolemie…?”
“Yeah, they’re both one and the same,” agreed her cyborg companion. Asuka looked over at him and he elaborated. “She must have went to you looking for a job, since she heard about you from her employer. But why in the world…”
“No, that can’t be it,” murmured Asuka. She gave the copper-skinned woman a closer look, and as she spoke in her sleep again, she realized what was going on.
“Foul beast… Making… my boss… a fool…”
“Ah, so that’s it…”
I insulted that girl’s employer right in front of everybody…
Of course, I didn’t really mean to… I just wanted to show what a gutless coward he was!
When a man encounters a problem, he should try to fix it himself before asking others for help. I was just disgusted at the way he treated it. He was willing to put the lives of strangers at risk over those of people he trusted.
I suppose I can’t blame him, though… Hmm, and this girl must’ve come to me for some kind of revenge. That Count might have been a jellyfish when it came to bravery, but what well-treated and revered employee could help but love their boss? A man that elevates anybody to celebrity status like that…… may just be worth fighting for. Guess I won’t figure what she really wanted from me just yet…
Asuka took in a deep hissing breath, and as she combed through her long shaggy-red hair, Ptolemie stirred and sat up.
“Whuh… what? Where am I? Ugh, is it already evening?”
“Yeah,” replied the half-elf. “You passed out in the restaurant, so I took you back here to my place. Hope you don’t mind.” Ptolemie blushed furiously and stood up out of the bed, shaking just a bit from her bout with alcohol.
“I… I’m sorry. I have to leave now, it’s getting late. Perhaps I shall come tomorrow and speak about that job…”
“Sure.” Ptolemie left hastily, picking up her long dress by the skirt and scurrying out the door. Asuka released the breath she captured earlier and made an inward resolution.
When I see her again, I’m going to apologize for what I did. After all, I wouldn’t want her thinking I’m barbaric as well…
The day came and went, and Asuka spent all the hours of it in her hotel room with Bloodstorm. The cyborg was eternally restless and anxious for battle, but had superb control over his lustful desires and sat perfectly still in the room, seemingly content to stare at the wall and grin. Asuka waited for Ptolemie to arrive but no word came, and by the end of the day’s evening, she figured that the beautiful dancer would probably not be returning anytime soon.
In the middle of the night, another knock came to the door. Asuka usually didn’t sleep every single night--every other night it was, in fact--so she was awake and ready to receive her mysterious guest, albeit with a handgun ready.
“Yes?” she said as she opened the door. On the other side was a person hidden underneath a cloak, definitely not Ptolemie coming back at a bad hour.
“(Asuka, I have a job for you,)” hissed the person. Asuka was semi-famous in several areas of the world, so she wasn’t surprised when the person in question addressed her by name.
“Oh? Like what?”
“(Protecting cargo. We need Bloodstorm as well.)”
“This a smuggling operation?”
“(No, nothing like that. It’ll just be going through really dangerous territory. Would you take it?)”
“What’s the pay?”
“(Ten-thousand units, half in advance and half when you arrive.)”
“Where?”
“(I can’t say. People may be listening. Meet me in the lobby tomorrow if you’ll take the job. We can speak more openly there.)”
“Yes, yes…” sighed the half-elf. The figure silently slinked back in the shadows, leaving Asuka by herself again. The half-elf sighed, and decided that now would be a good time to sleep.
-----
Bloodstorm stood tall over the cloaked person as they briefed Asuka over what was to be expected in the job. It was a routine cargo transfer from one city to the next, a shipment of ammunition and weapons, all legitimate, but the route itself was so dangerous that the people behind the transfer needed two bodyguards to protect the goods. Asuka Honmisei on her own would suffice, but when it became known that she had a partner with her, things only wrapped up for the better. The halfling and the cyborg each took the job, and started out on the long and treacherous road that very morning.
They each rode in the same hovercar as the deliverer and the cargo crates themselves, keeping close watch on what was happening outside and inside. Bloodstorm’s sensors kept outdoor activity at bay, while Asuka’s own senses guarded the inside. The designated city was a whole week away even at that speed, so it was understandable that their pay was a little higher than usual. For the first three days, though, everything was uneventful.
As Asuka and Bloodstorm stepped outside to stretch their limbs and work out some built-up frustration on the barren landscape, a cloud of dust slowly drifted up out of the south, where the car had been traveling so far. The senses of the two mercenaries each picked up a group of enforcers from the Count’s mansion who seemed to have followed them all the way from the city. Asuka shielded her emerald eyes from the sun as she squinted at their pursuers.
“Sure are a lot of them…” she said to herself. Bloodstorm agreed and snapped out the blades on his arms.
“Yeah… but this was a perfectly legal operation, approved by the old guy himself! Maybe something’s wrong! Maybe somebody screwed us up--or else somebody screwed them! God, I hope I get to kill somebody today!!”
“Stay calm,” she advised him in a rough voice. “As far as we know, we’re innocent of all charges.” Both she and her partner waited patiently as the enforcers caught up with them, and prepared for the worst when they emerged from their cars and walked over to the transport.
“We need to inspect your cargo!” shouted one of them.
“Go ahead, but all you’ll find is guns and ammo. It’s all legit, so I hope you people don’t mind wasting your time.” The enforcers ignored her, however, and snooped deep within the confines of the hovercar. One of them cried out an exclamation and began hastily digging something out of the crates. Curious as to what it was, Asuka and Bloodstorm stepped closer to examine…
“It’s Brinna, all right!” shouted one of the guards. “She’s unconscious, too! What kind of perverted bastard would do this?!”
“What is it?!” demanded Asuka as she bolted forward. She gasped in genuine surprise as she saw them digging out Ptolemie from one of the crates! “What?! Our… cargo? That dancer from the mansion?” The enforcers shook their heads slowly and tried reviving the woman, but all she did was groan and twitch slightly. A few of them turned their attention to Asuka, and glared at her with accusing eyes.
“…Miss Honmisei…”
“Hey, I know what you’re thinking!” she roared angrily. “We didn’t have anything to do with this! If I had known what was in there, I would’ve never agreed to take this cargo! It’s just not like me!”
“We’ll see about that when we get to the city,” said another enforcer as he tipped his hat. He brought out a vial of some liquid and handed it to his comrade. “Here, give her this medicine. Special orders from the Count’s brother.” The man nodded his head and opened the vial’s lid, but as Asuka got a good look at the label, she exploded into a frightful horror and hastily slapped the bottle away, breaking it against the rocky ground. As a swarm of guns were pointed towards her reddening face, she explained her actions.
“Don’t give her that, it was poison! Somebody wants this woman dead!” Quickly, she shoved the guns aside and grabbed the man who had the vial with him, throttling him angrily. “You! Where did you get that stuff?!”
“I… just… given… from… the Count’s… brother…”
“But Lord Homer would never do something like that!” stated one of the enforcers. “He’s loyal to his brother!”
“I think there’s more to this than meets the eye!” sang Bloodstorm perversely. He chuckled, rolled his head around playfully, and indicated to the north, where the path would have taken Asuka if she hadn’t been interrupted. “This Homer guy must have known about Ptolemie’s presence in this hovercar somehow; why else would he send that ‘medicine’? Do any of you know what lies beyond that horizon to the north?”
“Sure, Dampston, but why would anybody send Count Virgil’s greatest treasure into that place? Guns are okay but he’d never do a thing like this!”
“And why is that??”
“Dampston would hold the Count in their fingers if they had his personal entertainer as a hostage,” replied Asuka, who seemed to know where all that was going. “The Count’s brother knew that, and he also knew that Ptolemie was here. Put two and two together and see where this is going.” The enforcers gathered there all stood and stared at each other, all of them gawking as they realized the depth of the situation.
“You… you don’t mean…!”
“I mean it exactly,” stated the half-elf. “Lord Homer knew that we’d be discovered by you, because Ptolemie was missing and this was the only known transport to have left the city in the past week, so he sent you people to intercept us. If we made it all the way to Dampston, no problem, but if we were discovered… then he’d get you guys to use that ‘medicine’ on her. It was a win-win situation.”
“That’s absurd!!” screamed one of the men, aiming his gun straight at Asuka’s temple. She returned his stare emptily, silently daring, perhaps even wishing for him to pull the trigger. Her hand slowly guided the gun away, but her emerald eyes kept locked onto his.
“I… don’t want to fight you,” she whispered softly. The wind of the arid lands blew at her red hair, making it seem as if it was on fire. “I… know it’s hypocritical of me to not rise to this challenge, but… this situation is different from anything I’ve ever faced before. Bloodstorm?”
“Hey, she does remember me!” The cyborg chuckled wickedly, even though Asuka gave him her gentlest look.
“Please take care of Ptolemie for me, all right? I’m taking this hovercar back to the city, and I’m going to deal with Lord Homer on my own terms. I will be quite happy to kill the stinking knave.” And without another word spoken, Asuka calmly walked over to the hovercraft, asked the delivery man to get out, and jumped inside. The wind had been blowing at her body, sending her flaming hair tossing in the breeze and her loose clothes billowing.
Battle is my greatest pleasure… but this was different than anything I had ever done before. There was something… just completely immoral with all of this… And now that I had the knowledge of it, how was I going to react? Would I kill… or would I save?
It was through other’s misfortune that I found myself to be strong. That’s right… I was myself without morals. Who was I to judge others? Who was I to look down on them? Injustice…
I began to realize that the Count and I… were very much the same…
Homer!!! I’m going to kill you for what you tried to do!
But… what will become of Ptolemie…?
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Alone, and to the surprise of many people who had heard of the new job she took, Asuka Honmisei returned to the mansion of Count Virgil. She completely ignored the man she once hated (and was now beginning to understand) and went straight to his brother’s chambers, catching him just as he was signing a few papers. He stood up in surprise, and she drew out her long sword, aiming the tip of it straight towards his throat.
“Well, this is a surprise,” muttered the man. “I didn’t expect you to come back here of all places. You know, Asuka, it will avail you to no good if you fight me here. What’s done is done.”
“Shut up!” she shouted, snarling at him. “I don’t care about any of that, but I know that it’ll sure as hell ‘avail’ me to smash your frickin’ face in!” The man merely chuckled at her, and removed his glasses with the patience of a tree.
“Ah, Asuka, you do not yet realize that you, my dear, are already dead…”
“What?”
“You may be a genius of the battlefield, my beauty, but you are still a novice when it comes to the higher arts…”
“Higher arts?” she mimed. “What do you mean? What are you talking about?” The slightly-older man smiled warmly, chuckled, and raised his hand.
“Magic,” he whispered--and then before she knew it, a powerful field of electrical energy circled around the half-elf, burning her skin and muscle with the painful volts. It was like being stabbed by tiny needles everywhere on the body, and although the pain was hardly lethal, it made up for it by being totally excruciating. Asuka gritted her teeth hard as she absorbed the pain, and desperately tried to move out of the field. Her efforts were completely futile.
“One question does bother me, though,” sighed the Lord as he tortured the helpless woman. “How in the world did a barbaric elf like you and an odious machine ever have the wit to discover what happened? Pinning me as the conspirator all along! Ha! Oh well, I won’t die from the suspense of not knowing…” He laughed again and strengthened his magic, actually making Asuka scream out loud from the pain. She was barely able to open her eyes, or even register a single thought…
Do I really have any regrets?
…No…
But just as she prepared to let her grip on life fail, the ceiling above smashed in, spreading glass and plaster everywhere. A large figure emerged from the explosion, landing directly on the wicked mage and shattering his concentration--as well as his spinal cord. Asuka fell on one knee as she heaved for air and recovered from the powerful shock, and saw that it had been her sadistic ally who saved her.
“Blood… storm?”
“Now now, little girl,” he grinned in an almost-happy fashion, “I can’t very well let you take all the credit now, can I? I’ll slip into mechanical atrophy and rust before long!” Asuka took a few more breaths, and seeing the genuine smile on his face, forced out a laughter.
“Heh… heh… Yeah… thanks, pal…”
“No problem. I’m just glad I followed ya. Here, take my hand.” Asuka accepted his help and wearily leaned against his body, letting his arm support her as a crutch. As the two of them limped out of the destroyed room, another figure greeted Asuka. She was smiling brightly, and took a deep, majestic bow as the half-elf emerged.
“Ptolemie…”
“Oh, you figured out who I was…” Asuka chuckled wearily as the poor woman moaned.
“Yeah… How could I miss… a pretty face like that?” Ptolemie blushed slightly as Asuka smiled at her, and lifted the other part of her weak body up as she helped Bloodstorm take her out.
“Just call me Brinna. Ptolemie is my last name; the boss thinks it’s better as a stage name. Listen, I’m sorry for pulling a prank on you like that. It was immature of me, and I want to apologize. You really came through for me back there, and… I want to thank you for saving my life.”
“You won’t be breaking any precedents,” managed the redhead with a weary smile. Brinna chuckled and grinned, a smile full of purity and love.
“Oh, I talked with my boss, and he says that ever since I went missing a week ago, he thought it would be best if I had a few bodyguards tailing me around. You know, for protection?”
“Yeah.”
“And since we know each other so well… um… I, uh… Well, you know! I was thinking… maybe… we could…. I mean, you could…”
“It’s the least I can do for you,” replied Asuka, sensing her desires. She nodded her head and accepted the offer. Brinna squealed out happily and hugged the half-elf, eliciting a scream from the woman as a world of pain scorched out to her once again.
“Ah, sorry, sorry! I’m so sorry! Are you all right, Lady Asuka!?”
“Damn it!” wheezed the elf, leaning up against Bloodstorm. He silently shook his head, frowned, and picked his partner up again. Brinna was aghast as she examined Asuka and apologized to her again and again, but the half-elf merely laughed and let things slide.
“It’s okay… I deserved that too.” Brinna smiled warmly and ruffled Asuka’s hair, the only body part that had not been damaged by the magic.
“Well then, it seems we’ll be spending quite a bit of time together!”
“…That it does, lady,” agreed Asuka warmly. “Quite a bit indeed…”
Thanks go out to OoalisuoO for Brinna Ptolemie. Yes, more Valkyrie Profile references, I know. It’s shameful--but it works. Strangely enough, this chapter has more shoujo-ai than most of the story put together… Anyway, preview of the next chapter. An insidious trinity of terrifying tyranny cooks up a plan for disaster and domination--an all-villain chapter!
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