“Oooohh…!~”

  Gwyn nearly squished her face ft against the gss as she stared up at massive tank beyond, an entire rainbow of tiny fish rushing past the window in front of her as she watched the flurry of colors swim through.

  Alice leaned in a bit behind her, her attention not quite as rapturously enthralled by the sight but still plenty interested in simply staring at them all flutter past.

  The st of the brightly-scaled fish whisked past eventually, Gwyn craning her head to try and watch them turn the corner, bonking into the gss hard enough to elicit the tiniest of pained reactions, turning back to the other girl with a smile as she rubbed at her sore skull.

  “Ehehe… i-it’s been so long since the st time I came here, I didn’t even r-realize they’d added so much…!”

  By the time they’d finally reached the aquarium, the sun had fully set for the day, crowds of te-night visitors streaming past them in every direction, the sounds of children’s raised and excited voices ringing out overtop of the constant noise from everyone around them.

  “Yeah, the pce is… a lot nicer than I remember.”

  “Oh, y-you’ve been before?”

  “Er, well, it was a school trip years and years ago now… pce had just opened, I think? Wasn’t half as fancy as it is now, though.”

  Alice scratched the back of her head as she turned around, leaning back against the wall next to the exotic fish tank, giving her cane arm a few moments to rest from holding her entire body weight up.

  “…honestly never really thought about coming back, heh. But it’s nice.”

  Gwyn took a st gnce back at the water past the window to make sure the school from earlier wasn’t going to make another p any time soon, before scurrying over to Alice’s side, that same constant warmth in the taller girl’s expression that’d she’d gotten so used to seeing over the st few days.

  “I feel like I used to come every week, a-at least. Y’know, until the whole… n-new job thing kinda took all my time, ehe.”

  “Hell, you’re telling me. Feels like this is the first time I’ve had to just rex since… all of this shit started, I guess.”

  She idly flicked at her eyepatch to punctuate the sentence, Sclera grumbling momentarily before slipping right back into the half-asleep state they usually kept themselves in.

  “I get what you mean… I-I keep forgetting it’s only been a week since this all started for you.”

  “Look I’ve had some really shitty work weeks before, believe me, but this one’s been a fucking nightmare the whole way through. Christ, I don’t even remember what sleeping in a real bed feels like.”

  “Mmmm… I’ve gotta t-try harder to get you to actually rest, then, huh? Instead of letting you just keep jumping s-straight back into harm’s way whenever you wake up.”

  “Oh, you’re gonna make sure I rest? You volunteering a bed, then…?”

  Gwyn’s face once more shot back to that familiar deep red hue, head snapping back to look back towards the tank next to them both without paying it an ounce of actual attention.

  “T-That’s not what I… I just meant that, y-you should try and…”

  She peered back at Alice as she muttered to herself, being met with a tired smirk as the other girl watched her reaction intently, snickering to herself.

  “…y’know, you’re pretty cute when you’re flustered.”

  “Oh, s-shut up already…!”

  Gwyn huffed loudly at Alice as she was teased, the taller girl quickly storming off towards the next exhibit as her companion tried to keep up, limping along after them and still giggling the whole way.

  The pce stretched on forever it felt like, entire wings and sections opening up one after another as they wandered through the massive aquarium, every single aquatic creature either of them could think of on dispy somewhere in the unending building.

  Alice stopped them at one section, Gwyn having to double back a few seconds after she’d noticed she’d stopped behind her, the shorter girl peering down into a netted-over enclosure excitedly like a kid at the zoo.

  They both stared down into the pen below, a modestly deep section filled in with water next to a smaller “beach” area of solid nd in one corner of the enclosure.

  A staff member had just tossed in a massive lump of raw meat, blood still trickling off of it as it fell to the floor below, rolling a short distance towards the water below before stopping in pce just in front of it.

  It didn’t take long for the evening’s meal to be accepted, a massive brute of an alligator all but charging out of the pond nearby and snapping up their dinner, the sb of meat completely vanishing in a matter of seconds before the pen’s occupant returned to peacefully floating in the pool behind them.

  “Oooooohh…”

  “S-Scary… doesn’t feel like they should m-move that fast…”

  “Ain’t they cool?!”

  Alice was clutching the netting with both hands as she watched the alligator with wide-eyed excitement, her eye practically twinkling as she stared down at the apex predator below.

  “…ehe, yeah, I-I guess that one makes sense, at least.”

  The pair stayed to watch the scaly reptile ze about its habitat a while longer before Gwyn finally managed to pull Alice away, the girl nearly forgetting her own injuries as she stumbled forwards on her first wobbly step, Gwyn barely managing to catch her with her one good arm as she tumbled straight into her.

  “C-Careful, dummy… don’t go hurting yourself again a-already, geez.”

  “Heh… but you’re a lot nicer to lean on than that cane, y’know?”

  “…I’m not c-catching you next time.”

  “You wouldn’t let a cute girl like me fall over though, yeah?”

  Alice gently nudged into her, still leaning up against the other girl happily.

  “…I-I wouldn’t, no…”

  She snickered to herself victoriously as Gwyn squeezed her good arm around her close, the taller of the pair sighing through her own tiny smile.

  “So you do think I’m cute then, huh?~”

  “W-Well… I do, yeah. You can be a hardheaded l-little shit sometimes, but… that part’s really cute too, ehe.”

  Gwyn turned towards the other woman holding onto her for support, finding Alice’s features a few shades more red than usual even without a yer of her own blood sthered across them.

  “…dumbass…”

  She stuck her tongue out at the smaller woman, taking her tiny victory happily as they helped one another walk, heading still deeper into the sprawling aquarium.

  The pair kept talking and teasing one another as they strolled along, neither of them even thinking to let go of the other as they walked from exhibit to exhibit, the evening stretching on and on and on as the both of them lost track of time entirely.

  Both of them kept talking and talking and talking about anything that came to mind as the night went on, the crowds around them gradually thinning out as the other patrons filtered out from their own trips.

  Eventually anything at all was able to pull their attention away from one another, a low, grumbling noise echoing between them like the growl of a wounded wolf trying to defend its territory.

  “…right, shit. I don’t know if they were even feeding me the st few days, huh…”

  “Geez, A-Alice, you should’ve said something…!”

  “I wasn’t thinking about food or anything! But… yeah, hell, I should probably eat before I pass out, christ.”

  “L-Look, there was a food court just back that way, I’ll get us b-both something to eat quick, okay?”

  “Sure, yeah, fine. Let’s just--”

  Alice tried to turn herself around back towards the hall they’d come from, only for Gwyn to swiftly bar her path, stopping her dead in her tracks as she began shoving her back the other direction instead.

  “No, I’ll get us food. You are gonna sit here and rest for once, before you r-really do pass out.”

  “Gwyn, I’m not that bad off, just--”

  She wasn’t hearing a single excuse or argument, Alice cking the strength to really fight back at all as she was forced all the way back to an empty seating area, Gwyn making sure she was off her feet entirely before stepping back.

  “I’ll be back before you even notice I’m gone, okay?”

  “Ugh… yeah yeah, mom, I’ll be good while you’re gone.”

  Alice blew a raspberry at the other girl, earning another small smile before Gwyn sped off back towards the food court they’d passed through several times earlier.

  As she quickly turned a corner and vanished from sight, Alice let out a long, nguished sigh, her busted, battered, and mostly-empty body finally catching up with her again as she felt herself defte into her seat.

  “…guh…”

  Her head flopped backwards, staring at the speckled and water-stained texture of the ceiling above, her gaze sticking upwards like that until she finally mustered the energy to sit up just slightly again, looking towards the exhibit she’d been dropped off in front of.

  The window took up the entirety of the wall before her, the lights dimmed in the rest of the room as tiny specks of light trickled in from the water beyond the gss.

  Past it, what must have been a few hundred jellyfish zily floated past, bells infting and defting in rhythm as they pumped themselves about their tank, the creatures glowing ever so gently into the dark room right outside their personal ocean.

  Not a one of them moved with any manner of intent of any kind, the scattered watery clouds of translucent bodies simply swimming past her view, on and on, forever and unending, the flow of their luminescent forms in the slow currents of their tiny sea almost hypnotic to sit and stare at.

  “…Alice.”

  Sclera’s internal voice split through her calmed thoughts like a ship splitting the waters below it, the girl realizing her eye had started to flutter closed as exhaustion set in.

  “Eh…? I’m fine, I’m awake, promise…”

  “No, that’s… something is… wrong.”

  Her mind slowly woke back up as she heard the tinge of concern in their words, shaking her head to clear it.

  It didn’t take long to figure out what they meant, the hairs on the back of her neck already standing up as some kind of sensation of raw pressure overtook her, eye widening as whatever it was became harder and harder to ignore, the cause of her own body’s unnatural reaction slithering closer and closer.

  She slowly peered about the rest of the room for whatever had her entirely on edge, finding nothing but the other visitors loitering about, and the caged jellyfish aimlessly existing just out of reach.

  “…pretty things, aren’t they?”

  Alice nearly leapt at the sudden question poised at her, neck snapping around towards the source.

  Sitting next to her was a lone woman she’d not noticed even enter the room, a simple but refined bck dress and matching sunhat covering most all of her features, a pair of expensive looking dark-framed gsses sitting across her face as a bun of fiery red hair peeked out from below her hat.

  “…do you not agree, Alice? I’d have thought you would share my preference for these things at least, even if nothing else.”

  “Who the hell are you…?!”

  “Hmm… not quite the tone of voice or accent I expected, I will admit… but I suppose there’s nothing immediately wrong with that, then.”

  The other woman pointedly did not answer the direct question, eyes fixed forwards towards the exhibit’s massive window, her legs crossed politely as she spoke in a perfectly even and unwavering tone.

  “Pretty things, aren’t they? The jellyfish, I mean. The few times I’ve allowed myself to come here, I find this to be the space I spent most all my time in.”

  “…yeah. They’re pretty, I guess. Real nice to just… sit back and watch.”

  “I agree entirely. Useless, worthless little things, devoid of any real reason or purpose, existing merely to eat, exist, and die once their lights blink out. But so delightfully compelling to watch up till then. The ocean’s bright little roses.”

  “…you seem like the kinda person that shouldn’t have pets, dy.”

  She chuckled softly, the sound entirely devoid of mirth or joy, as if it was simply a fully automatic contraction of muscles and release of expended air.

  “Perhaps I shouldn’t. But I don’t suppose anyone else is going to take care of my charges, so my work sadly must continue.”

  There was a yer of thick, icy silence between them both for a long while, the sounds of the other patrons only a few feet away from them both stretching further and further away, those few feet becoming miles and miles of empty ocean separating them from dry nd.

  A hand was extended towards Alice, expectant and awaiting a handshake, the other woman finally turning her icy gaze away from the zily floating marine life before them and back towards the injured girl.

  “Ah, but I forget myself. Introductions are customary among the commonfolk, are they not?”

  Still wholly on the back foot as the deeply off-putting woman waited, Alice peered down at the proffered hand for a moment before offering her own, shaking the older woman’s hand awkwardly.

  “I’d say nice meet you, but uh…”

  Another forced and polite ugh, the woman squeezing down on Alice’s hand just tight enough to be uncomfortable as she tightened her grip on the calloused appendage.

  “…Reina F. Lase. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.”

  It only took a few moments for Alice’s expression to cycle between awkward wariness, brow-furrowing attempted remembrance, and finally clear remembrance, the name stirring up memories of the woman Lonnie had lost her sister to chasing after, her grip tightening around Reina’s hand tightly enough to crush steel as her torn muscles contracted.

  “…You’re the piece of shit that--”

  Reina’s own grip tightened as well, Alice’s voice catching in her throat as she coughed violently, the bones in her hand audibly cracking as the gentle handshake shifted instantly into a show of force, the muscles in her wrist tearing from the sheer crushing pressure of the handshake.

  “Oh do be careful now. We wouldn’t want to upset any of the other patrons trying to enjoy themselves, would we?”

  Her face held that same pcid expression as a she spoke, smiling emptily at Alice even as she crushed her palm with all the uncaring force of a junkyard compactor fttening a broken down old sedan.

  “…and I do believe it’s only polite to utter your introductions in reply to my own, is it not? It won’t do to go without your manners, I’m afraid. But… I suppose I’m already quite familiar with you, Alice Decaras of the Library Magus.”

  She finally released her iron grip on the other girl, letting her hands csp together on her p, looking back towards the jellyfish ahead of them both, leaving Alice to cradle her smashed limb as she bit back the pain burning up through her arm.

  “How the hell did you know… ugh, fucking rich prick.”

  “Oh I keep myself exceptionally well informed, Alice. Though that enraged recognition in your voice lies outside of expectations, I fear. What stories are your little Library spinning about me these days, hm?”

  Alice didn’t bother to reply, having not even interest whatsoever in telling her about Lonnie still being alive, even if she may have already known.

  “…well, I suppose my own reputation amongst the rabble hardly matters all that much. I’ve come for business rather than pleasure, and I know time is very valuable for the both of us.”

  “Business, huh? What, you gonna level this whole goddamn pce too just to deal with me, you decrepit old sack of shit?”

  “You may refer to me as simply ‘Reina’ if you so desire, Alice. It’s a much more pleasant sounding nomencture than the drivel you seem to enjoy sputtering. And no, of course I’d do nothing such as that. Not only do I believe that it would fail to expunge you to begin with, but bringing such needless harm to this city’s people would deeply sadden me.”

  “Oh, so now you give a shit about anyone else around you? Damn, you might still have a heart after all.”

  “Of course I have a heart. One strong enough to care for each and every inhabitant of this fine city. My city, that I strive every day to bring salvation to.”

  “…right, so you’re insane on top of everything else too. Should’ve figured.”

  The both of them fell silent, Alice not letting her eye off of her for a fraction of a second, her entire body tensed and ready to pounce at the slightest provocation, like a wolf watching its prey.

  Reina on the other hand simply continued staring straight ahead, her gaze wholly unfocused, not even watching the jellyfish before her as she lost herself in thought, the polite smile affixed to her features vanishing briefly as memories of something long past brushed past behind her eyes.

  “You’re a difficult woman to track down, Alice. But an effort well-worth making to meet with you in person like this, as I fear less personable methods of speaking to be beneath the both of us, and I wished to meet you face to face like this to see the type of woman you are.”

  “...then speak already. As much as I wanna rip your goddamn throat out with in front of all the nice people here, I ain’t stupid enough to think you’d come all the way here and just let me do that, yeah?”

  “That is correct. It would be a fruitless attempt on my life that would accomplish nothing besides uselessly upsetting those around us.”

  Alice huffed at her, but continued to hold herself back from her fred-up instincts screaming at her, her entire body feeling as if a massive weight was crushing down on it from all sides, the sensation of drowning in empty air pushing at the edges of her senses as Reina’s presence alone activated both ends of her fight-or-flight response.

  “…I would offer you a job working beside me, Alice. Not below, beside. A woman of your immediate talents is exceptionally rare, and I would see those talents directed at bettering this city’s future rather than pying pretend at being a hero.”

  She once more fell silent, letting her direct offer hang in the air between them both like the bde of a guillotine.

  “…pass.”

  “Hmm. Not even a moment’s hesitation to consider the offer? If it’s monetarily involved, I can assure you that your every need will be taken care of to the highest standard of care.”

  “I don’t need your money, asshole.”

  “Then your qualms are more emotional in nature, then? I can assure you I’m not the devil you’ve been told I am. My actions are justified towards a far greater goal than simply maintaining the fracturing status quo your current employers strive for.”

  “I’m sure every st one of those lives you and your little friends keep ending were all real justified. Long as it benefits you in the end, yeah?”

  “…sacrifices are always inevitable in any attempt at fixing something as deeply broken as an entire world. Every death is regrettable, but serves a greater purpose.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you think they do. And I’m sure you never spared a second thought for any of them afterwards either.”

  Quiet fell again for a long few moments, a heavy, smothering bnket of deafening silence over top the two of them, the rest of the world past the tiny bubble the two woman occupied feeling light years away as neither of them paid attention to anything but one another.

  “So you believe the Library Magus to be the greater good between the two of us then, and would rather submit your talents towards furthering their goals instead.”

  “Nah. Ain’t much of a fan of them either, to be perfectly honest.”

  “…I’m afraid I don’t understand your hesitation, then. Where exactly lies your issue with my offer? I will gdly attempt to remedy any misgivings you may have about my work if desired.”

  Reina turned to her once more, the slightest crack forming in her professional facade, having prepared for a refusal at first, but wholly unprepared to be completely and entirely denied.

  “Shit, you really don’t get it, huh? Guessing you don’t have a lot of friends, dy.”

  “I fail to see how my social life has anything to do with--”

  Alice flopped forwards, bracing her forearms against her legs, peering down at her fttened hand as she flexed it gently, the flesh and bones comprising it already fully restored again as the meat within pulled itself back into all the correct shapes.

  “I really can’t stand the way you talk, Reina.”

  “…pardon me?”

  Reina blinked several times in rapid succession, every practiced response and prepared rebuttal being unceremoniously strong-armed off of the table as Alice pnted her foot down, all the soul-crushing weight of the other woman’s mere presence forcibly shoved off of her shoulders.

  “You seem to really like bragging about how much you’re helping people, or saving people, or fixing things for everyone, that kinda shit. A whole lotta nice-sounding PR talk that doesn’t really mean shit.”

  Reina’s crossed arms tensed ever so slightly, hands clenching down as the material of her gloves creaked quietly.

  “You ever bother remembering a single name? Send a single bouquet to a funeral? Or you just dust your hands off and move on every time?”

  A vein twitched in her neck, blood as deeply red as her hair pumping below her porcein skin.

  “You ever even bother to ask anyone else what they fucking want for once? Or--”

  “Enough.”

  The perfect tone of her voice cracked, the anger bubbling up inside her seeping free for just a single moment, clearing her throat quickly as she caught the sound escaping from her.

  “…my subordinates had made mention of your… unpleasant disposition. I see I underestimated the degree to which you fail to see reason past your petty, banal excuses.”

  “Sounds like anyone working for you would know a lot about hearing excuses.”

  Adjusting her ruffled dress, Reina stood abruptly, managing to make it a few steps away before pausing, looking back over her shoulder at the disheveled woman still sitting behind her.

  “My offer remains open should you choose to see reason. A person of your talents remains indispensable, even despite your… unbearable demeanor. And you still possess something I’d dearly like back.”

  Alice craned her neck up and to the side, staring back at her, her expression doing nothing at all to mask her bared contempt.

  “I ain’t got a single thing for you. And the only thing I want from you is a chance to rip out whatever pathetic, bckened little husk you have for a heart.”

  “…what exactly drives this… distaste you have for me? You’ve never met me before today, and yet you speak as if you already hated me before we even spoke. Is it simply an emotional response? A personal vendetta? Do you believe me responsible for the loss of a loved one, perhaps?”

  Memories of the st time she’d spoken to Lonnie stirred in the back of her mind, the Focus woven into her heart trembling in response as it recalled the death of its previous owner.

  “…holding a real good friend’s grudge for them. For a sister you killed.”

  That single remark cut through her, a knife between her ribs as she froze, an almost imperceptible window cracking open for the briefest of seconds as a rush of dammed emotions poured over her face, each and every one of them forced back down inside of her as she once more bottled herself up.

  “I… I see. Then… I believe we’re done here.”

  “Yeah. We are.”

  “…have a good night, Alice.”

  “You too, Reina.”

  Green eyes gred back at one another, icy jade orbs fixated forwards as an emerald wreathed in hellfire stared back, neither saying a single word further.

  And eventually, Reina turned away, vanishing from sight as suddenly as she’d arrived, leaving Alice alone in the quiet chatter of the jellyfish exhibit, the girl wordlessly watching the dancing lights past the window ahead.

  “S-Sorry I took so long, I’m back!~”

  Somber silence was cut short, a tall figure all but storming back in, a heavy, greasy paper bag clutched tightly in her good hand, a smile from ear to ear stretched out over her soft features.

  Alice flinched like a startled kitten, nearly unching from her seat at the sudden voice, catching herself and slowly steadying her breathing as she peered back at Gwyn.

  “…shit, you fucking scared me.”

  “Oh, I-I wasn’t trying to… well, you should’ve been w-waiting excitedly for me to get back anyways! Hmph!”

  She threw her head back in mock indignance, huffing at her date’s less than enthusiastic response to her return, Alice managing a weak smile up at her as the younger girl teased her.

  “Yeah… yeah, I really was, actually. Welcome back, Gwyn.”

  Gwyn’s eyes reopened quizzically, the genuine response catching her off guard as her face warmed, looking down at Alice with a tinge of worry.

  “...a-are you okay? You didn’t hurt yourself again while I was gone, d-did you? You… Y-You didn’t, right?”

  Alice managed a deep, throaty ugh at her honest worry, all her tension already melted away entirely again.

  “Christ, no, I’m fine mom. But hell, I might’ve starved to death if you decided to take any longer.”

  The pair blew raspberries at one another, Gwyn quickly taking a seat directly adjacent to Alice, the duo squeezed together as they spread out a mess of cheap concessions across their ps, smiling and ughing and together as the pair watched the flickering stars ahead of them, the night stretching onwards as they stayed affixed to one another’s side, every worry pushed away as tomorrow’s problem.