Tribulations

[KonokoHasano]

"Man, how can you NOT hate the Choir?! Buncha self-rightous, stuck-up pricks is what they are!" the demon yells.
At the same time, the angel says. "The Southerners are all conniving, evil people who delight in misery and feed on despair! They must be purged!"

"NOW LET ME GO!" they both say. Well, at least they can agree on one thing. Konoko is bad touch!

-----

The oni snarls at Marco as the club smacks him in the face! But apparently, his status as the son of a P.O.I, whoever that is, keeps him from pulverizing the boy. The succubi lead Marco down the stairs into a dank basement. The room is dominated by a large table and a map of Muffinville on the way, the gang's territories coloured blue and red for the Choir and Southerners respectively.

Sitting at the table is a young feminine boy. Marco likely hasn't been keeping up with the news, but this boy is Abba, leader of the Deep Southerners. He looks up and regards Marco, and despite his thick-headedness, even he can tell this boy is nothing to be trifled with.

Konoko sighs a little. "Kids should have fun, not be dragged into nonsense such as this." Pulls back from them. "So anyway, why are you two around this neck of the woods anyway?"

Marco blinks a little and goes a bit silent for a moment. "Ah, hey, I'm Marco Soreli."

[Restless Lucidity]

Julio considers this for a moment... eventually giving a small nod.

"That's acceptable. We'll get you converted, then you can lead us to these kids you're protecting."

The group heads into a small church that stands nearby. Inside, nuns do nunlike things, sweeping the floor, cleaning the stained glass windows, taking inventory of the weapons stored there...

"Can we get a moonberry over here? We got a new recruit!" Julio yells. A nun slips through a door next to the alter and the sounds of her running up the stairs echo. She soon comes back down, carefully holding a moonberry, almost reverentially. Julio takes it and places it before the boy's mouth.

"This is it. Open up kid."

He gives the angel a look of intrigue. "Conversion? What are you..." He isn't able to ask a proper question before they reach the church. He blinks, more than a touch overwhelmed by the scene that greets him. The nuns, the stained glass windows... all of it was as breathtaking as it was haunting.

At the first mention of moonberries, though, the boy widens his eyes. For the first time he completely lets down his guard. "W-wait just a minute! You didn't say anything about moonberries! What are you planning to do?" He stops himself for a moment to think. "Oh... oh no, this is what you meant by conversion, isn't it?" He considers struggling... but if this would help his friends, then it would be okay. After all... he would never go against his morals for this organization. As long as the moonberry doesn't alter his thoughts, he would be okay, but he can't be sure. He isn't well acquainted with anything in Muffinville yet, especially the fruits. He knows just enough to be wary.

... and before long, Julio is holding it right in front of his mouth. He pauses for a moment, obviously a bit reluctant to open up for it. He takes a minute to consider what he's doing and all that this could mean. And was there any guarantee that they would actually do what he asked if he went through with this?

Stupid.

As he opens his mouth, these thoughts assault him again. What if he's never the same? What would his friends do if he couldn't help them anymore? The stress was enough to make him scream, but somehow, he is able to keep it in. He had to hope that, with all of the Choir's claims to be the 'good guys', they would show some integrity here. For the first time he realized just how much he had riding on that hope. And he knows that he will never be the same again, physically at least, after he eats the... thing in front of him.

It was pretty ironic, actually, considering that he was dealing with angels. In his own way, he was investing a lot of faith in them. Rather blindly, too. He couldn't help but chuckle with the most subtle hint of scorn reflecting on the similarity that held to other religions he had encountered.

But in the end... what else could he have done? If he had resisted more, there would have been a better chance of something bad happening. As those thoughts arrive, the boy becomes awash in a new sense of calm... and lurches his head forward to eat the moonberry. He couldn't help but be proud of how he'd handled it all, no matter the outcome.

Oh, he's ready. And if anything tries to mess with his mind, he's ready for that, too.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

The miko are struck with the subsonic rounds, their shots going wide! They try to look around for who hit them, but the sedatives kick in and they slump to the ground, the families moving on, not aware of the danger they were in.

However, it seems that the gang had prepared for the fact that the CTC may start doing this. Two SUVs pull out from hiding places in alleyways on both sides of the street, obscuring the sniper's view of the families, the nuns inside getting out on the side facing away from them!

Lieutenant Morgiana allows herself a slight smile as the SUVs suddenly pull out of their hiding places! As the nuns inside get out on the far side of the vehicles from the CTC, the lieutenant guesses that they (at least in part) wanted to block line-of-sight between the CTC and the families trying to escape to the shelter of Academy City. However, there was probably no way the nuns would've realized that the CTC's Skywatch drones, constantly monitoring the battlefield, were relaying real-time sensor data to the CTC's command centers, where the AIs and analysts tasked with monitoring the data processed it and relayed it to the front-line troops, giving them full awareness of the changing situation in the area. Every trooper's head's-up display had a false-color wireframe overlaid it, indicating the position of both civilians and hostiles, even behind walls and other obstructions.

Still, the vehicles did provide one obstacle -- the "less than lethal" rounds the snipers were using couldn't penetrate them to hit the nuns on the other side.

"All right, begin the op! Gunny, fire the AFC2!"

The automatic grenade launchers in two of the emplacements flanking the street begin to fire, a stead *thudthudthud echoing across the area as they begin lobbing their grenades on arcing trajectories, aimed to land in the midst of the gang forces! The grenades, as they bounce along the ground, begin to disperse thick clouds of dark grey smoke across the area, obscuring vision!

"Assault Team Alpha, go!"

The first squad of HTR troops then charge into the fray, the thrusters on their powered armor boosting them up and over the SUVs, landing in the midst of the gang forces!

As for the drop team, they land on a roof currently occupied by a C-list demon celebrity and his film crew! They notice that the lasers suddenly seem to stop. Either Alex has moved, stopped firing, or was taken down.

The aerial vehicles do indeed stumble across the sight of a demon penguin attacking a seripham with knives. Just another day in Muffinville! Thier sensors may have spotted something suddenly leaving the cloud...

Abel pauses as the team lands upon the rooftop... finding themselves face-to-face with Axel and his film crew!

"Hmm... if it isn't the demon celebrity..." she murmurs, before pausing as Hawk Two relays its observations to her. Her own cybernetic implants bracket the area where the movement was detected, and she nods to herself. "Sergeant, you're on media duty. Don't mess up it, all right?" She turns, and briefly gives Axel a smile. "Perhaps later we can arrange a more proper interview. In the meantime, I have a ninja to talk with." She waves, and abruptly vanishes from sight!

One of the soldiers in powered armor sighs, and turns to Axel. "So, you're the media, eh?" he asks.

Meanwhile... Abel appears a few feet away from where Mendo and Alex have hidden. She glances around quickly to ensure none of the gang members are watching, before turning in Mendo's direction. "Mendokusee zei Ulthoth... I need to speak with you."

[Axel Akutare]

"Yup!" Axel gives a smile, "Just doing a bit of a travel show. Tell the folks at home what kind of fantastic carnage they can come and experience."

Camera and lights are now on the soldier. As for Rocky and the angel, Rocky lands on whatever is nearby as the angel grabs a bomb, rather than a leg.

"Prinny substitution technique dood."

[Sam]

Sam knowing the time to act had to be now, bursts into the room

Greetings demons of all sorts! I'm sorry to tell you this but there's been a change of management for this garden, it now belongs to me.

[Mendi-chan]

*Nods to Alex, frowning*
We're going to have to speak about this later, but as of this moment you're ordered to take no more offensive action against either side. Any action you take should be done only in a defensive manner. Understood?

*He looks to Abel*
What timing... as soon as we disengage here we'll have a moment to speak. Are you alright with following us back to the village?

[Blaze]

Konoko sighs a little. "Kids should have fun, not be dragged into nonsense such as this." Pulls back from them. "So anyway, why are you two around this neck of the woods anyway?"

Marco blinks a little and goes a bit silent for a moment. "Ah, hey, I'm Marco Soreli."

Both kids point shamefacedly at the outer wall of the mansion grounds. Given the spots of blue and red spraypaint, they were both about to tag on the wall even more before they noticed each other.

"Don't kill me!" they say in unison!
"Abba will rip your mansion apart if you do!" the demon says as the angel says "Sarah will destroy you with her radiance if you do!"

-----

Abba regards Marco with eyes that glow scarlet in the dimness of the basement. He opens his own 'Persons of Interest' folder and flips through it.

"Marco Soreli... son/daughter of Francesca, the color scientist?"

~*some stuff*~

"Atta boy." Julio says, putting the boy down as the berry bursts in his mouth, fresh and juicy. It has an odd subtle taste, light and sweet, barely registering on his tastebuds, but it lingers long after he swallows... curiously, he doesn't feel much happening to his body, as most color fruits are wont to do, but he does feel something... off, at the core of his being. Some strange, foreign power is welling up inside him, ebbing and flowing like the tide, getting stronger and stronger. His body is beginning to glow a gentle soft white, purer than fresh snow.

~*so much stuff*~

The overlay provided by the CTC Skywatch shows that the family has stopped before the nuns, who are packing handguns and rifles, all pointed at the family. Their leader seems to be saying something... when the gas grenades do their work, obscuring the nun's vision. They try to stagger to fresh air as the families make a break for it, skirting around the cloud and the SUVs.

However, just as they were on the final stretch, a nun escapes the cloud and spots them! Her hand glows with a white light before releasing a blast of celestial magic at their backs! However, she is no longer behind the cover the SUVs provide.

-----

The group of solidiers on the building suddenly find themselves coming under fire from a horde of airborn demons, who have apparently decided that the CTC is the cause of the sense-dulling cloud! Hellfire rains down around them and the film crew!

"Yup!" Axel gives a smile, "Just doing a bit of a travel show. Tell the folks at home what kind of fantastic carnage they can come and experience."

Camera and lights are now on the soldier. As for Rocky and the angel, Rocky lands on whatever is nearby as the angel grabs a bomb, rather than a leg.

"Prinny substitution technique dood."

Suddenly, the carnage comes to Axel and his crew! Hellfire rains down from airborn demons, increasing the temperature of the roof, and it's not just from Axel's hotness this time!

As for the angel, he stares at the cartoonish bomb in his hand, his face the picture of 'you GOTTA be kidding me.' He attempts to throw it back at Rocky!

Sam knowing the time to act had to be now, bursts into the room

Greetings demons of all sorts! I'm sorry to tell you this but there's been a change of management for this garden, it now belongs to me.

The demons, the younger boy from before and an older, more grizzled one with an eyepatch and a thick, scaly tail with spikes on the end, stare at Sam.

"Who's this punk?" the younger one asks.
"Eh, some nosy busybody. Can't let him leave now." the older one grows, taking out an enormous axe. The younger one grins and takes a baseball bat with nails pounded into it from his bag./

*Nods to Alex, frowning*
We're going to have to speak about this later, but as of this moment you're ordered to take no more offensive action against either side. Any action you take should be done only in a defensive manner. Understood?

*He looks to Abel*
What timing... as soon as we disengage here we'll have a moment to speak. Are you alright with following us back to the village?

Alex pouts and looks downward, crossing her arms and muttering something about Blaze. When Abel approaches, she gasps and points at her!

"It's the lady I gave the knife to~!

[Restless Lucidity]

The boy responds with a few idle blinks. Finally freed from the angel's grip, he gives him a stare. "I feel strange, but it doesn't seem like anything is happening to me." He pauses, taking another moment to confirm that this was still true before proceeding. "... am I going to end up looking different somehow...? Or... what is this fruit meant to do?" At that moment, he notices the faint white glow and looks at himself; his arms, his legs... he's glowing everywhere now, it seems.

"... what is this glow...?" As that feeling builds in him, he places his hand to his chest in a futile attempt to stay the feelings. At that moment, he has an epiphany of sorts. "... is this fruit... going to make me like you? I... guess that would make sense..." He mused to himself about what it would be like to grow wings... and not have a tail. Both things seem so foreign in his mind, and a flush begins to sneak on to the boy's face.

[Sam]

"Oh is it time to show off our guns? Don't worry, I made sure to bring them both."

Sam clenches his fists together as the tomapples and cocomelons from earlier are starting to show their interesting effects on Sam's body. On his left arm, Sam's tattoos glow a bright pink while his right arm begins to glow a standard blue. Sam makes a finger gun gesture with both hands at the demon gang memebers

"Better put your hands up boys, I have you outgunned"

[Jello Shot Mischa]

The overlay provided by the CTC Skywatch shows that the family has stopped before the nuns, who are packing handguns and rifles, all pointed at the family. Their leader seems to be saying something... when the gas grenades do their work, obscuring the nun's vision. They try to stagger to fresh air as the families make a break for it, skirting around the cloud and the SUVs.

However, just as they were on the final stretch, a nun escapes the cloud and spots them! Her hand glows with a white light before releasing a blast of celestial magic at their backs! However, she is no longer behind the cover the SUVs provide.

(( Time for the surpriiiiiise! ))

It has been quite a while since the Beige invasions of Muffinville, and few remember the battles that were fought back then, and the weapons that were used. Even fewer know the actual name of one of the most terrifying of these weapons, a substance known as... funicide.

However, in excavating some of the abandoned Brotherhood installations, the CTC discovered cannisters of the substance, and learned of its ability to attack anything unique or interesting about those exposed to it. Reverse engineering it and modifying it to their own purposes, the CTC was soon able to synthesize what they called "Anti-Fun Compound #2", known more commonly as AFC2.

It was this chemical that was loaded into the grenades still being fired at the gang barricades. The dark grey smoke that continued to spew from the shells is laced with it, and those exposed to it -- in this case, a group of nuns with celestial magics -- will find that their powers are rapidly being drained away, rendering them increasingly mundane.

And it's into the midst of this fray that the first of the HTR squads arrives! Their CRAVEN fields shimmer as three of them open fire on the exposed nuns with their electrolasers, while the others try and shield the families from any magic that the nuns may still be able to cast. The squad leader quickly approaches the parents. "Come on... we'll get you to safety!" he urges them.

"Yup!" Axel gives a smile, "Just doing a bit of a travel show. Tell the folks at home what kind of fantastic carnage they can come and experience."

Camera and lights are now on the soldier. As for Rocky and the angel, Rocky lands on whatever is nearby as the angel grabs a bomb, rather than a leg.

"Prinny substitution technique dood."

The group of solidiers on the building suddenly find themselves coming under fire from a horde of airborn demons, who have apparently decided that the CTC is the cause of the sense-dulling cloud! Hellfire rains down around them and the film crew!

"Yup!" Axel gives a smile, "Just doing a bit of a travel show. Tell the folks at home what kind of fantastic carnage they can come and experience."

Camera and lights are now on the soldier. As for Rocky and the angel, Rocky lands on whatever is nearby as the angel grabs a bomb, rather than a leg.

"Prinny substitution technique dood."

Suddenly, the carnage comes to Axel and his crew! Hellfire rains down from airborn demons, increasing the temperature of the roof, and it's not just from Axel's hotness this time!

As for the angel, he stares at the cartoonish bomb in his hand, his face the picture of 'you GOTTA be kidding me.' He attempts to throw it back at Rocky!

The soldier considers for a moment, before turning to the camera. Unfortunately for Axel, the HTR soldiers aren't particularly photogenic, as their full-body powered armor makes them all look the same. Still, the soldier in question does seem to be willing to play along!

"Er... fantastic carnage? Well, there's a lot of low-level punks overrunning the city, so your typicaly lower-ranked demons and other minions might be able to have a good time knocking some heads about, but I'm not sure there's much here to entertain anyone mid-boss level or higher. You'd have to grind a heck of a lot of mooks just to gain some levels in..."

Suddenly... hellfire! The CRAVEN fields of the soldiers' armor shimmers as it disperses most of the energy of the attacks, and the CTC troops immediately begin to return fire! The EDU robots take the lead, synthesizing anti-air flak cannons which begin to spew streams of gunfire into the sky, while the HTR troops spread out and take cover, returning fire with their electrolasers!

Alex pouts and looks downward, crossing her arms and muttering something about Blaze. When Abel approaches, she gasps and points at her!

"It's the lady I gave the knife to~!

Abel pauses a moment, before chuckling softly. "Ahhh, no dear, that would be my sister, Caine. Still... I should thank you for the gift. A shame we may be a bit busier for the holidays this year." She casts an unhappy glance at the buildings around them, before turning her attention back to Mendo. "Unless, of course, we can organize some way to deal with this little crisis..."

[Axel Akutare]

As Axel's crew is bombarded by Hellfire, Izumi creates a dome of extremely strong magic ice around them. Should keep them protected, at least for now.

In the mean time, Rocky's bomb explodes violently only a couple feet from the angel, which is followed up by a large slice of energy parting the smoke in front of the angel, headed right for him!

[KonokoHasano]

Both kids point shamefacedly at the outer wall of the mansion grounds. Given the spots of blue and red spraypaint, they were both about to tag on the wall even more before they noticed each other.

"Don't kill me!" they say in unison!
"Abba will rip your mansion apart if you do!" the demon says as the angel says "Sarah will destroy you with her radiance if you do!"

-----

Abba regards Marco with eyes that glow scarlet in the dimness of the basement. He opens his own 'Persons of Interest' folder and flips through it.

"Marco Soreli... son/daughter of Francesca, the color scientist?"

"Pfft, I'm not going to kill either of you, so no need to worry." Konoko looks at the wall. "Man... it's easy to remove all of that, but these walls sure are taking a lot of abuse." She then looks back at the kids. "The ridiculous part about that. You see... the two of them decided to have this entire mess go on in the first place. They have also had no qualms about kidnapping people and forcing them to work for their sides. I don't think either of them really care about a couple of deaths."

Frowns some. "And you know, I might not be a match for either of them if it came down to it, because they're probably far older than I am in relation to power and everything, but I damn well hope neither of them even THINK to touch my mansion. If they put any of my family in danger, I don't care how powerful they are. I. Will. Destroy them." Her eyes flash an intense red as she says this, and gives off quite a menacing aura. "They lay one finger on this place themselves, and no matter how long it takes, I will one day make them regret it."

She then smiles brightly. "But yes, it's rather irresponsible of both of them to allow this entire ware to happen. It's clear both sides don't seem to be getting anywhere, and they insist on putting innocents in danger." Looks at the angel. "Do YOU like the idea of involving people who are not involved in this?"

-----

"Yep! That's me. Wow, I'm kinda rather known, huh? That's awesome." Places a hand to his chin. "The Marco is going up in the world~"

[Mendi-chan]

*Nods to the two girls*
We'll carry on this conversation back at the village, we're disengaging. Stay close and don't enter into combat with the belligerents unless there is no other option for escape.
*Crouching... he jumps off back into the direction of the village, the black cloud dissipating as he increases his distance*

[Blaze]

The boy responds with a few idle blinks. Finally freed from the angel's grip, he gives him a stare. "I feel strange, but it doesn't seem like anything is happening to me." He pauses, taking another moment to confirm that this was still true before proceeding. "... am I going to end up looking different somehow...? Or... what is this fruit meant to do?" At that moment, he notices the faint white glow and looks at himself; his arms, his legs... he's glowing everywhere now, it seems.

"... what is this glow...?" As that feeling builds in him, he places his hand to his chest in a futile attempt to stay the feelings. At that moment, he has an epiphany of sorts. "... is this fruit... going to make me like you? I... guess that would make sense..." He mused to himself about what it would be like to grow wings... and not have a tail. Both things seem so foreign in his mind, and a flush begins to sneak on to the boy's face.

"That's right. A being of spirit made flesh. Lucky, in some people it just makes them women of the cloth." Julio says with a slight grin. By this point, the boy's spirit, energized by the moonberry has started to surpass the need to be confined to flesh and bone. A good thing too, as said flesh and bone are starting to disintegrate, breaking down by the pure rays his soul is emitting. Once his body is all gone, his soul lingers as a pure orb of light, before settling into a new image.

The head begins to form first, and the difference is already clear. Long, wintergreen hair trails all the way down to the floor, a pixie-like face, slim and heart-shaped with rosy cheeks, wide green eyes and slightly puffy pink lips. A slim, swanlike neck forms, made to make high, soft, girlish noises, all tinged with an Old English accent, leading down to slim, rounded shoulders, trailing down to soft smooth arms, dainty hands and slim fingers, tapering into long, polished nails. A slightly puffy chest stands above a waist slightly slimmer than the hips and rear it leads down into. A flat groin sits above long smooth legs with dainty feet. It is clear that the boy is now, obviously, a girl.

In a flash of light and white feathers, clothes manifest on the girl. A soft white pleated dress with a small training bra and white panties underneath. On top of that, a small dark blue corset with lighter blue frills, cinching on tight, but not so tight. Hanging from it is a white lacy train, like on a wedding dress, with a dark blue extension that goes down to her feet. Detached sleeves, bound on with black ribbons hangs from her arms as a while lace choker ties around her neck. A tiara with a blue gem on front wraps around her head, a blue rose attached, a transparent white veil hanging from it, going down her back.

All her new holy magic condenses into two shapes. A pair of whispy white wings extending from her exposed back, almost transparent in the light steaming through the streamed windows and a pale blue halo that hovers above her head. The former dogboy is left looking like so.

"Oh is it time to show off our guns? Don't worry, I made sure to bring them both."

Sam clenches his fists together as the tomapples and cocomelons from earlier are starting to show their interesting effects on Sam's body. On his left arm, Sam's tattoos glow a bright pink while his right arm begins to glow a standard blue. Sam makes a finger gun gesture with both hands at the demon gang memebers

"Better put your hands up boys, I have you outgunned"

"Hah! Look at this guy, thinks he's some kinda Jedi action hero!" the older demon laughs.
"Your pop culture knowledge is really out of date..." the younger mutters, taking a baseball form his bag. Lobbing it into the air, he smacks it with his bat, the nails not impeding his aim in the slightest, sending it streaking at Sam! It blazes with hellfire to make it extra deadly!

~*all the stuff*~

The nun's magic flickers and disperses in the cloud of AFC2, the nuns themself looking scared and worried. They have no defence when the HTR squad shows up, falling at the first barrage of electrolasers! The families smile gratefully at the squad leader.

"Thank you... thank you so much..." the father says.

-----

As for the soldiers on the roof, hellfire is a bit more complex that a pure energy blast. It clings to the surface of the shield, burning constantly, draining their shield's power steadily. The demons themself scatter in the air, continuing their stream of fire, dodging the shots ate AA barrage! Some go down, but they have three dimensions to dodge in! The CTC only have two, and the hellfire that missed is starting to weaken the roof!

As Axel's crew is bombarded by Hellfire, Izumi creates a dome of extremely strong magic ice around them. Should keep them protected, at least for now.

In the mean time, Rocky's bomb explodes violently only a couple feet from the angel, which is followed up by a large slice of energy parting the smoke in front of the angel, headed right for him!

The hellfire clings to ice as well, burning constantly and melting it's way through! Not to mention, some stray shots are burning through the roof, making it unstable. The added weight of the ice isn't exactly helping in that regard.

-----

As for the angel, he is blown backwards by the force of the explosion, to stunned to dodge the energy blade! It slices through a wing, sending him crashing to earth!

"Pfft, I'm not going to kill either of you, so no need to worry." Konoko looks at the wall. "Man... it's easy to remove all of that, but these walls sure are taking a lot of abuse." She then looks back at the kids. "The ridiculous part about that. You see... the two of them decided to have this entire mess go on in the first place. They have also had no qualms about kidnapping people and forcing them to work for their sides. I don't think either of them really care about a couple of deaths."

Frowns some. "And you know, I might not be a match for either of them if it came down to it, because they're probably far older than I am in relation to power and everything, but I damn well hope neither of them even THINK to touch my mansion. If they put any of my family in danger, I don't care how powerful they are. I. Will. Destroy them." Her eyes flash an intense red as she says this, and gives off quite a menacing aura. "They lay one finger on this place themselves, and no matter how long it takes, I will one day make them regret it."

She then smiles brightly. "But yes, it's rather irresponsible of both of them to allow this entire ware to happen. It's clear both sides don't seem to be getting anywhere, and they insist on putting innocents in danger." Looks at the angel. "Do YOU like the idea of involving people who are not involved in this?"

-----

"Yep! That's me. Wow, I'm kinda rather known, huh? That's awesome." Places a hand to his chin. "The Marco is going up in the world~"

Both angel and demon stare at Konoko, sweatdroping slightly.

"You ramble a lot." the demon says.
"Yeah, you really do." the angel agrees. She squirms a bit at the question. "T-They should be honoured. It's scientifically proven that religion can make your life better!"

-----

"No you're not, we just know you because of your mother." Abba says flatly.

"I'll be frank, we want to meet with her. DO you know where she is, or how we can get in contact with her?"

*Nods to the two girls*
We'll carry on this conversation back at the village, we're disengaging. Stay close and don't enter into combat with the belligerents unless there is no other option for escape.
*Crouching... he jumps off back into the direction of the village, the black cloud dissipating as he increases his distance*

"Yes Boss..." Alex says moodily. She sprints after Mendo, following him to the village! She doesn't even leave behind any clones... she's eerily serious. @__@

[Restless Lucidity]

Even with the confidence he... she felt before all of the changes transpired, now... she doesn't know what to think. For a moment, she remains stationary, blinking continually in awe. She gives Julio a long stare before making a croaking noise in attempt to speak. She immediately pauses, however, knowing after receiving only that hint that the difference in her voice will be quite jarring. At least... she seemed to have her mentality intact. She remembered her name, too: Innes. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but in her bewildered state and with her apprehension over hearing her voice taken into account, she couldn't fathom a way to vocalize even the simplest of her thoughts.

Instead, she continued to inspect herself; she felt the facets of the dress and gave the tiniest of sways to get a feel for her current figure. The moment the fabrics brush her smooth skin, a blush covers her face, slowly becoming a brighter and brighter red hue. She begins to shake in place and glances down at her chest which only serves to make her blush progress further. And finally... her wings. She makes them flutter inadvertently, possibly generating a small wind to disturb the area nearby. She reaches back with one of her almost excessively dainty hands to feel those foreign appendages, and later laments the loss of her animal ears after giving his head a pat. The absence of her tail, too, is strange... and only makes her feel more incapable of making a more substantial reaction.

Through it all, she is absolutely silent. Many moments later, she is finally able to croak out another fragment. "Julio..." Immediately after, however, she is immobilized once more by the sound of her voice. So much more breathy and airy than she was used to... could ever get used to. The sensations and sounds continue to overwhelm her, even now.

She swallows and is finally able to continue. "J-Julio... dost thou possess a mirror?" Again, she covers her mouth. As if the sound of it wasn't enough, the accent... and the words! She feels less like a person at this moment and more like... a doll to be toyed with. She continues to squirm in place as she awaits a response from Julio, occasionally shutting her eyes tightly to give her momentary freedom from the foreign visuals... but alas, nothing could rid her of the strange sensations.