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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/ThirdMovement|Third Movement]]
| + | #REDIRECT [[ADanceOfAngels]] |
| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/DanceOfAngels|A Dance of Angels]]
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| − | == The Beauty of Innocence ==
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| − | * It has been twelve days since Vorpal parted ways with the Dark Angel...<br>...Nine days since she destroyed the Celebrant's army...<br>...Four days since meeting Yurgen Kaneko, as Sati...<br>Three days after learning of her last life in a dinner with a charming wraith...<br>... and entering the Durant's web...<br>A day after letting her mask fall for the Prince, and letting him hold the woman within the Dark Angel...<br>On the day after learning so much about the Dark Angel in the dreamscape.<br><br>On the day before going to Whiteshield's frontier, Vorpal finds herself idle in the Zephyr... where she could barely stop the last few days.
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' A little wisp of Essence dances around her fingertips, ribbons of soft light tracing wavering archs into the air as she sways her hand lazily back and forth. Like tendrils of smoke rising up from an ignited pipe, the wisp's trail swirls in random patterns in the wake of the light's passing, trembling and whirling soundlessly before fading away into nothingness.
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| − | It is a rare thing for the Pale Angel to find herself with the luxury of idleness. Usually, she would spend such precious moments with her books, gobbling down yet another story or a love poem, a little fantasy to ease the ache of reality that is her life.
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| − | Today, amazingly enough, she does not feel like indulging with her hobby. Her books stay hidden where they are, packed into the bottom of her saddlebags and safely stored away.
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| − | Lounging on her bed, the Pale Angel has chosen to spend her time by thinking instead, going idly over and over again the encounter with the Dark Angel only a night ago.
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| − | ''So I was her lover in our previous life. ''
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| − | She wiggles her fingers, and the wisp trembles in response, tracing a new pattern into the air.
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| − | ''Now isn't '''that ''' a convenient coincidence for the Dark Angel... ''
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| − | Honestly, she has yet to decide whether she should feel angry or amused by the situation.
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| − | '''Calisara: ''' A faint ripple on the air as she approaches, the face appearing ''that ''close to the Pale Angel's.
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| − | "Hiii~!"
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| − | The spirit says, her nose almost touching Vorpal's, then rears her head back, giggling. "Having a good day?"
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| − | '''Vorpal: '''Vorpal raises an eyebrow at the spirit's appearance, but beyond that, manages to keep her mien neutral. "Hello, Calisara the Black", she states and clenches her hand into a fist, snuffing the wisp of Essence out.
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| − | "Not really", she responds honestly to Calisara's question and raises her arms over her head, taking a moment to stretch. "I usually do not feel like doing nothing, but today seems to be like one of ''those ''days for me..."
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| − | Lowering her arms, she fixes the spirit with a semi-weary, semi-genial look. "But you didn't come to ask about that, did you? What's up?"
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| − | '''Calisara: ''' "The... black?" She manifests herself more, shining white and silver, the tatoos around her body swirling, almost hypnotically...
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| − | "Well, I just finished some lunch, actually! And wanted to see if our token scary lady wants some freshly-baked cookies!"
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' '' Token scary lady... ''
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| − | "Hrm." Vorpal closes her eyes at that, biting down a vaguely annoyed retort.
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| − | ''What do you mean, 'token' scary lady? ''
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| − | "Well, I just as well might", she sighs and pushes herself up into a sitting position. "Since no-one takes me seriously anymore, there's no harm destroying the rest of my credibility with some cookies. At least that's a ''sweet '' way to go."
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| − | '''Calisara: ''' "Awwwww...." She holds Vorpal's back, floating to be able to whisper at her ear, "You can rest assured, you are as scary as ever, Pale Angel. But I am the spirit of this ship.. and after you and the prince yesterday, the only thing I can think when looking at you is '''ccccuuuuutttteeeeee! '''"
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| − | Before Vorpal can turn around, however, she vanishes, just a giggling in the air...
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' Her heart lurches at the spirit's words.
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| − | ''Oh, crap. ''
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| − | It is just as well that Calisara vanishes as quickly as she does, for that saves the Pale Angel the further humiliation of being witnessed to blush into a very dark and hot shade of red.
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| − | ''Ohhhhh, craaaaaaaaap. ''
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| − | She presses her palms against her burning cheeks and rocks back and forth for a moment, trying to gather her wits. She had been afraid that this would happen, but...
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| − | ''So she '''was ''' spying on me after all...! ''
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| − | ''Should I kill her now? ''
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| − | ''I really should. ''
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| − | ''I really, really should. Her and Alex and Cael, too... Grab the head with one hand, the throat with the other, twist in the opposite directions...! ''
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| − | These are her thoughts as she puts on some additional clothes and opens the door of her cabin. Fortunately, the dining rooms are some distance away - there should be enough time for the blush to settle down...
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| − | ...hopefully.
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| − | * As the Pale Angel approaches the dining room, she hears the voices...<br><br>Thin, merry... she had heard them the past few days, but had not really met most of them yet. Small as it was, the Zephyr could be just big enough on those full days...<br><br>"Get back ''here! That is mine, give it '''back '''! ''" <br><br>The voice is Anne's, of course, but Vorpal had never seen her so,,, enraged. The giggle is a little boy's.<br><br>"Would you two please, please..."<br><br>Millia's voice, still seeming helpless as she was in the trip throughout the wilderness...<br><br>And then, as she walks into the room, a little boy bumps on her stomach, a piece of paper in his hand, Anne right after him, taking the paper... as all stop to look at her.<br><br>Things suddenly get awkwardly silent...
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' ''Uh... ''
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| − | The awkward silence is shared by Vorpal as well. The situation is a little too sudden for her, and it takes a moment to suppress the impulse to move her hand to the hilt of her sword... which even isn't there. All this wastes precious seconds, during which she just stands there, a white-and-black form towering over the two children.
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| − | Finally, she breaks the stalemate, bending slightly to take a better look at the young boy. "I know you, don't I?"
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| − | '''Cedric: ''' Anne holds the paper to her bosom, as the little prince looks up... his eyes wide. Before a goddess, before a ghost... when he had first imagined death... it was something like that. "Yes..." He finally manages to look down, where he wanted to look the whole time, but wasn't able to... "Millia tells me you saved me, her and big brother..."
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| − | He hugs her legs for a moment, very fast, then lets go and takes a step back, afraid. "T-thank you..."
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| − | '''Millia Gust: ''' Millia takes a step foward, her hands landing on the boy's shoulder reassuringly. "Yes. Yes, she did. She saved us all... and led you to Windia. Thank you, Pale Angel, once again. As you can see... everything ended up well..."
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| − | She looked up for a moment, to smile at her... a beautiful smile. Not a succubus like the Angels, Millia was still quite beautiful - quite a contrast to Anne's charismatic, but more normal self... one was a village girl, another was a maid chosen to care for a prince and show him the world was beautiful... and that begun at her. Even though both had the same age, the contrast was striking... especially when taken into account that the clothes were the other way around - Millia was dressed fine, but plainly, while Anne was striking in her dark blue...
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' ''Heh... ''
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| − | She feels a little embarrassed for a moment, being such a center of attention all of a sudden. For Vorpal, who had always been an object of fear and - sometimes - admiration, these past few days have been a series of new and uncomfortable situations. Humiliations, confessions, shameful secrets coming into light, and now this...
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| − | "...You're welcome", she responds after another moment of awkward silence... pauses...
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| − | ...and smiles.
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| − | Uncomfortable... but not always unpleasant, as she now has to admit, feeling how the tension ebbs from her bones, how the vague hollowness in her heart melts away with that little movement she did with her mere lips.
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| − | "Now, I do think certain someone mentioned there were cookies here...?"
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| − | '''Millia Gust: ''' "Yes! And some cake, and cheese, and a little bit of juice and wine!" She nods, pointing at the table... where all is neatly arranged. Seemed so simple, and yet, one who had been in the rough side of life like Vorpal did would know how hard it was to arrange it so...
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| − | Anne returned to her spot on the table, picking the paper and drawing on it... while Cedric, now pacified, went to take more of his wine... mostly honey, actually, and a little bit of the wine to both humor the prince, and keep him warm... Millia sat close to him, passing some cream of cheese on a brad and looking at Vorpal, on the corner of her eye, "Please, don't mind us.."
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' ''Rather, don't you mind me... '' she thinks with a mental sigh and heads towards the table herself. Now that the moment has passed, she can already sense how the desolate feeling begins to return...
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| − | She picks up a goblet for herself and lets her hand hover for a moment above the wine pitcher, before deciding to have mere juice instead. "Nice setting", she says nonchalantly as she fills her goblet.
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| − | ''And you really cannot think of anything better to say, can you? ''
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| − | After setting the pitcher down, she wanders quietly over to Anne, to steal a peek at what the girl is working on...
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| − | '''Anne: ''' "Yes, Calisara really outdid herself this time... must be because we have even more royals onboard. If they were such brats, hmph!" She says, not wholly serious in dislike, almost giggling a bit, as Cedric just sips more of his honeyed wine, well-pacified. She would have to thank the Pale Angel for it later...
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| − | As the Pale Angel comes closer, she can gaze at it... a drawing, and a very good one at that. The colors mesh well enough, and the leandscape seems to almost evoke a feeling of depth... and on it, a figure that looks very much like Cael, leaning languidly on the grass, something that might be a towel or a sheet being all that covers his body...
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' ''....oh, my. ''
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| − | She keeps her face perfectly straight as she stares at the picture for a moment. Then, she withdraws, slowly, carefully, the way it is done while sneaking around in enemy territory where whether or not you are spotted means the difference between life and death...
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| − | Once she is in the safe distance, she turns her back to the girl and takes a sip from her goblet. "Princes", she makes an attempt to chuckle. "You can pretty much divide them into two categories. The ones who cause trouble --"
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| − | ''How about the Prince of Shadows? ''
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| − | "-- and the ones who rescue maidens from trouble."
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| − | ''How about.... hmmm. ''
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| − | The first example of such a prince that comes to her mind is an obvious one, but this time, she manages to keep herself from blushing at the thought.
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| − | '''Anne: ''' "The ones who cause trouble - -" The Pale Angel says,
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| − | "Like Cedric!" Anne finishes, nodding sagely with a smug smile on her face, picking a cookie and biting.
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| − | '''Cedric: ''' "I do more than that! I will save maidens, you will see. More than brother Alex! When I am in trouble, you just call for me!" He asserts, his young voice outraged, his eyes shining with dreams of adventure and heroism!
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| − | '''Millia Gust: ''' "My, my, how romantic, Pale Angel..." Millia says, making another bread slice for Cedric, "I wouldn't think that of you. Especially after saving the prince like you did!"
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| − | '''Anne: ''' "I don't ''need '' to call on princes!" Anne says, turning her cheek, "I have someone ''better '' to call on!"
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "Do not get me wrong", the Pale Angel responds to Millia, gravely. She sets the goblet down onto the table corner. "He returned the favor."
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| − | '''Anne: "He did? You mean... that night on Windia? He said you were hurt when he came back to the Manse..." She trails off... might not be the best idea to mention this...
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| − | '''Vorpal: ''' "Yes, that's the night", Vorpal nods.
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| − | It feels like an eternity since that night, and the details of it have already begun to fade. But still, she remembers the two ghosts well, the first fight in a long, long time since the last time she has been outmatched.
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| − | "Warriors do that", the Pale Angel continues, giving Cedric a very meaningful glance. "They kill, so that someone else might live. They save lives, and get saved in return." Turning her attentions to the cookie bowl, she deftly plucks a promising treat between two fingers. "So think nothing of how I 'saved' you. Maybe one day, you will do the same to me."
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| − | With that, she pops the cookie into her mouth, as if to conclude the topic.
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| − | ----
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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/ThirdMovement|Third Movement]]
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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/DanceOfAngels|A Dance of Angels]]
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