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IN THE BELLY OF THE FOE

It was all too unfamiliar to her, all too alien to truly comprehend . There was no nature to behold, no vast streams and gardens decorating the earth beneath the heavens . There were no roaring instructors repeatedly beating kids back into the line . No winding roads were bounding high cliffs and deep gorges . There was absolutely nothing around she was familiar with .

There was stone, black, terrible . Smoke, ashen, clotted above . Songs, voices, chatter, things she had never heard of in her Sect were all over here . At any given time, she could observe dozens of young and old strung about the crossings and intersections, drinking, eating, chatting, relaxing . Nobody hollered at them, nobody hurt them for it . Envy surged from within her heart as she gazed at the tepid freedom she had never known . Nobody even paid attention to her, merely greeting her as she passed them by . She would greet back, awkwardly, still unaccustomed .

They must have figured she was new here which was why no one bothered her, merely allowing her to see it all and take it in . She had somehow found herself inside a stretch of a winding road stacked with stores which sold anything and everything; things ranging from sweet bread to glowing jewelry were all stacked together . Pubs and taverns could be found at any corner, as could Martial Centers . Young and old repeatedly flooded in and out of them, but she knew, in her heart, there was no rigid system to it . She knew that they merely went when they felt like it and left when they grew tired . It was the sort of absolution she had never experienced, not since her distant, blurry childhood .

She sat down gently onto a side-street bench, crossing one leg over the other, and silently observed . Life roared like a massive beast all around her, free, unabated, unchained . It was a breathtaking sight, the like which takes a bound heart on a freeing journey . Envy, jealousy, self-pity . . . all the emotions she had come to loathe burned deep inside of her . After came guilt and self-hate, winding into a terrible, vicious cycle of regret .

Just opposite of her, a crowd was gathered around an old man who was using his toes to paint on a canvas . He did it for free, merely because he loved it . Some would offer him a drink, some a snack, some a small, cheap token, yet whatever was offered was also taken with a smile . Some didn’t offer anything but a word of praise and applause and had gotten a genuine, warm smile in return . He had painted the clouds, the fortress, the rainbow, and a portrait of a faceless, masked, winged man standing superimposed over the sun . She knew all too well who it was, yearning to walk over and rip the painting . . . yet also yearning to stare at it and admire .

She couldn’t help but feel a surge of tears come after her eyes, barely managing to hold them back and steel her will . Inside, time and again, she told herself it was all a lie, a mask, a play put on to deceive her . But, her conviction wavered as minutes ticked away . It couldn’t all be a lie, she knew . Those smiles, laughter, chortling, chatter, the sense of liberty . . . it was impossible to fake them all . She could tell . She could feel .

"You havin’ fun?" a familiar voice bolted her back to reality as she snapped out of it, glancing sideways where Lucky slowly sat down, handing her over a strange food of sorts; a conical, dull-colored shape beneath, and a spherical, white mass of some sort of cream . "It’s an ice-cream," Lucky explained, smiling faintly . "At least that’s what the old man who gave it to me told me . "

" . . . gave it to you?" Alison quizzed, inspecting the food only to find nothing wrong with it .

"Yeah," Lucky nodded . "Apparently, in here, most of the food, drinks, and entertainment is free . I’d even heard that you can order hand-crafted engagement rings and pay nothing for them if the girl says yes . Quite a queer place . "

" . . . quite queer indeed . . . " Alison mumbled, taking the bite out of it . It was tasty, she mused, and cold . Refreshing . Freeing . "It’s . . . good . . . "

" . . . pfft . . . "

"What?" Alison frowned, glancing at Lucky .

"You’re supposed to lick it, not bite it . " she replied, chuckling faintly .

" . . . you bite it . . . " Alison mumbled meekly as Lucky burst out into laughter .

"Oh my, looks like I’ve finally begun to rub off on you . "

" . . . do . . . do you think all of this . . . is real?" Alison asked .

" . . . do you?"

"I asked first . "

" . . . I do," Lucky replied, taking a deep breath and glancing around . "For me, perhaps, it’s a bit easier . I don’t have any grudges against the Empyrean, so it might be easier to accept all of this as their reality . "

" . . . you really were fearless," Alison said, her lips curling up into a warm smile, startling Lucky momentarily . "Standing up to him like that . How were you able to endure that Will of his?" Because he never pointed the damn thing at me . . . Lucky thought, smiling awkwardly .

"It’s just Will, right?" she mumbled . "That prick can take that will of his and shove it where the sun don’t shine for all I care . "

" . . . ha ha ha," Alison laughed freely for the first time since she came here, quickly drawing the attention of all those who were around the two of them . Lucky’s lips curled up into a faint smile as her gaze sifted through the surrounding ones, quickly sending hundreds of souls into the spiral of chillness as they quickly looked away . "I . . . I’m sorry for dragging you into this . I don’t know what I was thinking . . . putting you in danger like this . "

" . . . I would have come either way," Lucky chuckled, taking her hand and holding it tightly . "I would never trust that beast with a beautiful maiden like you . "

" . . . heh," Alison chuckled strangely for a moment, glancing at the topmost point of the fortress for a moment . "That’s one thing . . . I never worried about . "

"Hm?" Lucky mumbled .

" . . . for whatever he may or may not be," Alison said . "He truly . . . deeply . . . cares for Hannah, and would never do anything to harm her . "

" . . . how do you know?" Lucky asked, taking a lick .

"I . . . I just do," Alison said, lowering her head . "His eyes . . . whenever he looked at Hannah . . . they . . . heh, I must have gone insane . I’d swear they shone . "

" . . . oh my, are you jealous?" Lucky asked as Alison glanced at her strangely, lips curling up into a bitter smile .

" . . . I am," she said, sighing lowly . "That she’d found someone who’d look at her like that . Perhaps . . . for the first time . . . I realize why she would stand on his side instead of ours . "

" . . . I don’t think he’s the reason she left, Ally . " Lucky suddenly said, surprising Alison . "No matter how much she loves him," she added . "She loves you almost just as much . "

" . . . you’re mistaken . "

"No . "

"If she’d loved me just as much, she wouldn’t have left . " Lucky’s brows scrounged into a frown as she examined Alison’s expression of pain . It wasn’t the like one makes where a friend betrays them, no matter how close they may be . Ah, Lucky thought, biting her lower lip . So that’s it . . .

" . . . I’m sorry," Lucky said, pulling Alison gently toward her and placing her head against her shoulder . "I didn’t realize . "

" . . . "

"You’re too good for her anyway . "

" . . . "

"I’m serious," Lucky said, caressing Alison’s hair gently . "She’s one vile-tongued bitch . You? You are a heart-soul-and-mind-soother . Why would you ever want to be with someone who would curse you out for the smallest things?"

" . . . isn’t that exactly what you’re doing as well?" Alison smiled wryly, glancing at Lucky who coughed a few times in a row .

"N-no, of course not!" she quickly exclaimed . "When did I ever curse you out, you little brat? Humph, are you saying I’m also vile-tongued? Don’t make me hurt you, little punk . "

" . . . he he he," Alison snuggled further in, closing her eyes . "I don’t mind it . It’s just who you are . "

" . . . " Lucky sighed lowly as she looked up, gazing toward the top of the tower where she just returned from . A festive atmosphere was about to descend upon the fortress, and the rest of the people would soon become aware of it . She always found herself amazed at Lino’s timing, just like this time around . Sometimes, she felt, it was as though the entire world was dancing to his tune, unaware . They worried if he were a bloodhound, a crazed madman who would cut open their hearts . . . but, she’d never seen him as one . Even when he’d gone temporarily mad due to anger or pain, he never lost himself over entirely . He did it all for reason, when proper, when necessary .

It was terrifying, even for her . In her heart, however, she knew he would never do it to her . If anything, he would go out of his way to avoid entangling her . Yet . . . for one reason or another . . . she felt as though he had purposefully thrown her at Ally . No matter how she played out the events that led up to her meeting with Alison, however, she couldn’t quite understand how would he pull it off . Yet, nonetheless, she was almost certain he did it . Perhaps, she mused as Alison began snoring lowly, it was, at last, the time to ask .