With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
It was an ordinary day, it was lovely sky, it was a place where several children gathered and played under the watchful and doting gaze of their parents and loved ones.It was a simple park on the outskirts of Karakura, but what it was is not what it is now. Fire from the sky, hordes of monsters that poured from the black maws that tore open in the sky flooding the scene. Burned - incinerated - devoured, how many lived was more difficult to say than how many died, so many died - devoured by the flooding monsters - the Hollows that struck at them. What happened to the souls of those who died but were never eaten? Collected by a small pink haired girl with unblinking blood red eyes, what she plans to do with those souls - really only the twisted little sorceress herself could say.
Standing near the girl high up in the air not far from one of the tore open maws of darkness in the sky was none other than Ai. The attack was too swift and unexpected, the Shinigami it seems were not quick enough to react to save the helpless citizens as expected, "Did you get what you need, Vaaz?", the pink haired girl merely nodded as she scampered into garganta while the marauding minor Hollows all spread out wreaking their havoc after having been unleashed. What they do now Vaaz nor Ai really cared, they served their purpose for this task.
As Vaaz entered the Garganta, Ai turned to follow, but she paused for a moment feeling an oh so familiar reiatsu speedily approaching. A soft smile grew on her face. Vaaz looked back a little confused at Ai's pause, Ai looked to Vaaz telling, "Go on back to Las Noches ahead of me. I will return shortly.", Vaaz was still confused but she did as Ai told her to - disappearing in the great black void of the Garanta's maw.
Ai turned to face the arrival as they approached, and with an ever so fond smile, she uttered, "Kyra..."
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Sept 3, 2009 13:31:31 GMT -5
She wasn't alerted of the hollows attacking... hell, it wasn't even her job to be looking over the city. However, the sudden swift attack left the normal Substitute Shinigami, and whoever else watched over that district to completely miss the attack all together. One crimson haired woman, however, had not been alerted by Soul Society of the sudden hollow appearance, but in fact, was immediately pulled toward that familiar spiritual pressure, albeit faint due to the fact that the woman was more likely than not simply watching the hollows tear apart the innocent by standards.
"Ai..." Kyra muttered the woman's name with a distaste that seemed to leak venom from her lips. She had turned on her... the very same woman that had fought to protect her nearly a month ago had struck down her best friend, and sided with Aizen... of all people. Why... that was all she wanted to know... why? Why Momo-chan? Why Aizen? Why did she turn her back on her?!
A burst of her own spiritual pressure skyrocketed as she flash stepped toward the group of massive hollows, her new Captains Haori fluttering around her as she sprinted, one hand moving for her blade while the other placed the index finger toward her lips. With a small lick, she then drew a heart around her face, which summoned forth her Vizard Mask, albeit in a rather strange fashion (the lustful nature did seem to make sense in accordance to her inner hollow, though). With her Mask fully materialized, she unsheathed her swords and immediately called forth her Shikai without a single word muttered. Both swords coated themselves in a dark cobalt hue as dark blue flames surrounded them. The new Captain of the Fifth Division positioned herself right in the middle of the hollows and spun herself around.
"Konpeki Kouen Maru!!!"
With the command, those spiraling flames expanded in a full three hundred and sixty degree motion, engulfing nearly ever hollow in the vicinity, not wanting to even bother wasting her time with small fry.
"Ai!" Kyra's hollowfied hues glared up to the woman, swords drawn as she breathed heavily. She demanded an answer... she demanded to know why the woman betrayed her!
A smile curled on Ai's lips as she looked down from her place high in the air upon Kyra, though her smile was not one an enemy bears to their aggressor; but rather a smile one bears to someone dear to them. The sight of the Captain's haori donned upon Kyra's person only made Ai smile more, it was a prideful smile - out a seemingly genuine disposition of being proud of Kyra. Ai never once believed a Vizard could last long in Seireitei, and in her day - that was very much the truth.
"Kyra...", she murmured quietly at the sight of her, and her brow furrowed a bit at the display of Kyra's raw power incinerating the once 'freed' minor Hollows allowed to do as they will since Ai's and Vaaz's purpose for them had since been completed. Seeing Kyra donning her mask, however, Ai reciprocated by reaching over across her own face and making a swift action as though she tearing off her own face. The featureless Hollow Mask with its narrow eyes and pair of parallel violet downward slash marks at the far corner of either eye - Ai still did not draw her blade.
"Kyra...", she murmured once more, "I know you must be very angry with me... and feel confused and... betrayed... But, please, try to understand... What I did was for your own good...", the significance of that last line, she no doubt knew would be lost on Kyra, that in reality she had saved Kyra's dear friend for Kyra's own emotional stability and her own caring for Kyra. Still, she also knew if she tried to tell the truth - it would not have been believed given her past history and her current alliance. So, she simply gave a truth but without the explanation behind the truth, which only made it sound like a cruelty.
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Sept 3, 2009 14:03:18 GMT -5
>>"Kyra... I know you must be very angry with me... and feel confused and... betrayed... But, please, try to understand... What I did was for your own good..."<<
Those words... they were completely lost upon the Vizard, anger quickly boiling as she felt her Inner Hollow just aching to fight. Her breathing quickened as her own control over her spiritual pressure was certain to be lost at any moment, sending off unconscious bursts that no doubt could be bait to any other stray hollows in the vicinity.
"My... my own good?" the Captain couldn't believe the woman's words. "What the fuck do you mean, my own good?! You nearly killed my best friend; the only person that has ever been by my side since I became a Shinigami!"
She could feel herself loosing it, but she fought desperately to keep control. Beads of sweat formed on her face as she fought her Inner Hollow back, that dark blue aura slowly shifting to a more violet hue, the same aura as her Inner Hollow.
"Ai..." Kyra muttered, her eyes tightly closed. "You fought for me before... you saved me... I thought we were friends, Ai... I trusted you. I trusted you with my life... and this... this is how you repay me? You repay me by trying to kill my best friend? By siding with Aizen?! You're a traitor, Ai... I understood your reasoning for not wanting to side with Soul Society... but to go from Neutral to this? This... this is unforgivable..."
Tears streamed down her cheeks, visible even as they overflowed over her mask the moment her eyes opened and her head shot back up to view her fellow Vizard.
"I... I won't forgive you for this!" Kyra screamed as she unconsciously allowed her inner hollow complete dominance, her voice now completely taken over by the more darker persona. Those blue flames encircled in a dark violet hue as her spiritual pressure launched once more. Kyra made a mad dash for the woman, her emotions completely clouding her judgment as she aimed to take the woman down.
"Konpeki Shakkahō!!!"
A blast of dark blue-mixed violet fire shot towards her former friend, her tears and emotions driving her attack completely...
Sighing a little Ai tilted her head a little as she told Kyra, "I didn't think you would understand... Not to sound patronizing, but you're still too immature as a Vizard to understand... And if Shinji's band knows what's good for them they in turn would drop their animosity toward Aizen and join his cause as well. Keizen hasn't really spoken to me since I've joined Aizen, but it's not out of anger - I can feel it - it's because of satisfaction. And my Inner Hollow Des, I feel... more in tune with it. While, I am neutral - with what's to come simply staying out of the changing events is not enough. A side needs to be chosen. Seireitei... I... loathe that place... It has changed in name only, when my eyes fell upon it again after having been absent from it for three hundred years it was like staring at the past. It is a stagnant thing that will never change... You have no idea how much I hate it."
"I see no point in pretending to be a Shinigami, only the young Vizards do I see attempting to cling to such a past out of desperation to remain who they think they are.", stated Ai in a direct tone, "But, why pretend to be something that is just as willing to stab you in the back for simply being what you are? A God of Death with the powers of a Hollow. Hmph. A simplistic view. We are Hollows, Kyra. That mask you are donning now is the mask of your sins, the very mask you would be wearing were you a Hollow rather than a Shinigami. Vizards all find themselves in a neutral position within the ongoing conflict between Hollow and Shinigami. While you are a Vizard still clinging to your belief you are a Shinigami, I am a Vizard who has embraced my Inner Hollow fully - recognizing the Shinigami I once was has long been dead."
Drawing her zanpakuto - it begun glowing a brilliant blinding light as its length extended greatly into being a long nodachi sword. Its mirror shine blade and elegant red and blue clothe grip, she begun tracing a circle in the air in front of her as Kyra charged up her attack. The bright red energy pouring into the center of the circle as though Ai made the air itself bleed with her blade. The second it filled she stabbed her sword into the core of the circle. The second the blade struck the core it explode into a massive Cero energy wave of bright crimson. The two attacks launched by Kyra and Ai slammed into one another creating a massive explosion the force of the explosion creating near hurricane like winds for a brief instant.
Smiling under that mask Ai then remarked, "But, you know, Kyra... for you... I'd cut her down again... I wish there was more I could do for you.. I wish I could do the things I'm willing to do for you... But, given our situations... regretfully that's not possible... regardless of what these feelings are that I have for you.", inhaling and exhaling a deep breath Ai gently closed her eyes and opened them again before uttering a deeply mournful tone, "I'm... so sorry... for hurting you, Kyra... I wish it were another way."
With a sudden swift downward slash of her blade a blast of luminescent violet light energy burst from Ai's blade launching right Kyra...
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Sept 5, 2009 12:29:35 GMT -5
Kyra truly did not understand the woman's words, though halted her further attack as she listened. She could not help herself but to feel her own want to try and reason with the woman... nevertheless, her own emotions would not submit in wanting the woman to rid herself from Aizen's side. Then, when she had announced that she would have cut down Momo again, her entire body shook. Why... why was she doing this to her? Why couldn't she see that Soul Society had changed? If a Vizard could become a Captain... couldn't she see?
"You're being a hypocrite!" Kyra shouted as she brought her dual blades up before her, preparing to counter the violet blast that came her way. With a deep breath, she gathered a powerful amount of reiatsu, that dark violet Vizard aura mixing with her own cobalt-flame colored as she swung both blades down vertically. "Sōren Kouenno Sōkatsui!"
A twin blast of hot fiery Kido, fueled by her inner hollow, launched outward to counter the blast, creating another massive explosion within the sky. The force itself was enough to force trees to lose their branches, and the clouds above themselves to part away from the blast. As the smoke cleared, parts of Kyra's mask had started to fade away, though her demeanor did not seem to falter in the slightest.
"You're the one clinging to the past," Kyra shouted, one blade by her side, the other pointing accusingly toward the Vizard. "Soul Society has changed. You're the one who refuses to see it. If a Vizard can become Captain, what else do you need as proof that things have changed? The Central 46 is non existent thanks to Aizen. The Captain Commander herself handed me this Haori, knowing of my inner hollow! You're the one who can't let go! You're the one clinging to the past!"
Her hands were shaking. She didn't want to keep fighting her. She could feel her own anger starting to dissipate into pure sadness and guilt. She wanted Ai to be proud of her... she wanted to show Ai that Soul Society could accept Vizards for who they were now... and not just see them as a mere form of Hollows. She hadn't even noticed the tears that hadn't stopped flowing down her cheeks until she blinked her blurry vision away, sharply glancing back up toward the woman.
"Are you so certain that you're not fighting against the Soul Society of your past?" Kyra cried out. "Are you so sure that your Zanpakuto follows the path you've chosen? Or are you just becoming corrupted by your own inner hollow after so long?"
Kyra felt her own lust for battle beginning to crumble, her mask continuing to falter and whither away, leaving only a quarter remaining over the top right portion of her face, one of her eyes returning to normal. The blade that had pointed toward Ai had started to lower, resting by her side as she shook her head.
"Ai," Kyra found herself sobbing, not really understanding why she had found such a strong connection to someone she had barely known more than a month. "I don't want to fight you... I don't want it to be like this... please..."
A little taken aback by the statement, Ai did not understand what Kyra was saying - she did not see how she was being a hypocrite, but then again - when does a hypocrite ever see themselves as one? Ai squinted as their two attacks crashed into each other once again with a powerful explosion of reiatsu near blinding to the sight. Ai's clothes and haori violently waved and fluttered in the powerful winds generated from the immense blast.
>>"You're the one clinging to the past. Soul Society has changed. You're the one who refuses to see it. If a Vizard can become Captain, what else do you need as proof that things have changed? The Central 46 is non existent thanks to Aizen. The Captain Commander herself handed me this Haori, knowing of my inner hollow! You're the one who can't let go! You're the one clinging to the past!"<<
The veteran Vizard's eyes narrowed a little at those words, "Hmph. They only want to use you for your power. A Vizard is greater than any Shinigami can dream to be, and with the power Aizen has - they're desperate they need all they can get. Even if it means betraying and breaking their own laws. THEY'RE THE HYPOCRITES! NOT ME!", the woman was only making excuses by this point, her prejudice and hatred for Seireitei preventing her from seeing that she is only making excuses at this point. A third of her own mask crumbled off of her face exposing her left eye.
>>"Are you so certain that you're not fighting against the Soul Society of your past?"<<
Her eyes wend wide in reaction toe Kyra's words, visible tears could be seen running down from her left eye while those from her right remained hidden behind the mask, "Shut up!", Ai snapped - her voicing cracking under the emotional pain as the memory of stabbing her own sister with her own blade as her sister saved Ai from herself. Her breath shaking overwhelmed with emotion before the last one she truly has any feeling of caring for.
>>"Ai... I don't want to fight you... I don't want it to be like this... please..."<<
"I don't want it to be like this, either, Kyra", uttered Ai with her wounded tone as she was engulfed within black reiatsu that only burst from her body a trice later revealing her as a black feminine silhouette with ghost-like wispy tendrils radiating from her back, while wielding a fiery violet blade of pure reiatsu energy, "But it has to be... despite how much I may love you..."
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Sept 6, 2009 2:47:38 GMT -5
>>"I don't want it to be like this, either, Kyra... But it has to be... despite how much I may love you..."<<
"Ai, wait!" Kyra shouted, the shock of the woman's last words forcing her to hesitate momentarily, but the strong burst of reiatsu had already been unleashed. The powerful wave of energy forced the younger Vizard to bring her hands up to block the gust of winds that blew against her tiny frame, her eyes squinting up to the shadowed figure. Why couldn't she see... Aizen was just using her... he was using her like he used the previous Espada... like he had used Soul Society... like he had used Momo! No... Kyra wouldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let what happened to Momo happen to Ai. Not in a million years.
"Then I'll just have to bring you to your senses," Kyra muttered quietly, her voice filled with regret as her hands tightened like a vice around the hilts of her dual Zanpakuto. Her mask was nearly gone, and Ai's had only begun to crack and crumble, indicating the amount of difference between their experience in fighting with their Inner Hollow's powers. Still, Kyra had to do this... she had to release the hold Aizen had on her... whatever it was... his powers, or whatever; this wasn't Ai... she couldn't believe it. That had to be it... Aizen was corrupting her with his abilities! She could free her... and wake her from her senses!
"Ye lord..." with a build up of her own dark blue-mixed violet reiatsu, Kyra began to mutter mixed incantations. "Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six; On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens..."
With a spin of her hands, she forced the blades out, which seemed to idly float by her side, indicating she had developed the ability of her Inner Hollow's own, the telekinetic hold over her own swords. A powerful burst of Kido erupted as one palm stretched out, the other pointing her index and middle finger toward the other Vizard.
"Bakudō 61; Rikujōkōrō!" Kyra cried out as the rods attempted to trap the woman where she stood. She was not done, however, as the mixed incantation was followed up by a Way of Destruction technique. This, however, forced her blades to spiral around her, her Zanpakuto abilities mostly derived from offensive Kido. "Hadō 73; Sōren Kouenno Sōkatsui!"
Ai's eyes widened as she was suddenly bound by six beams of brilliant golden light. The turning her eyes back back to Kyra as she cast her spell, Ai muttered as she was bound there in the sky helpless, "Aw hell...", in the next instant the column of flames plowed right into Ai, the massive explosion upon hitting her engulfed the veteran Vizard completely. The explosion sent Ai rocketing down to the ground below trailing smoke behind her. Crashing down to the earth a large crater shattered into the earth with her at its focal point as smoke enshrouded her utterly.
Lazily Ai slowly picked herself up breathing heavily from injury suffered do to her lack of Mask Shielding, chunks of her mask crumbled off her face - a little less than half remaining covering the lower half of her face. With a heavy sigh attempting to catch her breath, she chuckled, "Fights like Amaya... fucking Kidou Masters..."
From the smoke that covered Ai, luminescent rays of violet light pierced through its veil. Within the next second the rays of violet light suddenly condensed within the core of the smoke rising from the ground. In a flash the large column of smoke burst open as a gargantuan wave of violet light energy thrashing through the sky like a wild ocean wave right for Kyra. Proceeding the results of the attack, Ai then stood back in the air before Kyra, her mask a little more eroded as she uttered softly, "Look at me, Kyra... listen to my voice... feel how dark and vile my reiatsu is... do look, sound, and feel like a Shinigami? I look, sound, and feel like a Hollow... One thing I learned at Hueco Mundo... my reiatsu and presence is darker than more of the Arrancar there... I'm not a Shinigami... not any more... That part of my former existence is long dead... It'll be the same for you... I am proud of you - that you ascended to Captain, out of thousands upon thousands of Shinigami, only a select few make it so far - not an easy feat... But that existence is not meant for us. In truth we are less Shinigami and more Hollow-like than most Vizards ever care to concede."
She then begun trailing her sword in the sky carving a blood red circle of spiritual energy into it. As she carved the circle into the air before her directed at Kyra while blood red reiatsu poured into the circle like blood, filling it, Ai then remarked with a kind of defeatist monotone in her voice, "We even fight like a Hollows...", once the circle was complete she stabbed her blade into the core of the circle. The circled exploded into a massive Cero of brilliant crimson energy launching right at Kyra...
Post by Shinigami Kyra on Sept 8, 2009 22:16:32 GMT -5
Kyra panted heavily after she launched her attack, the grip on her dual blades still firm, but sweat heavily pouring off her body. The exhaustion she felt was easily expressed upon her features and her form, her stance becoming slightly lazy, her back leaning a bit as she heaved for more oxygen. Only light specks of white around her eye remained, and slowly, that darkened patch of black was slowly returning to its previous white and crimson hue. She watched Ai fall, hoping that she would be able to knock some sense into her, but she knew, as she felt the spiritual pressure only increase further, that she needed to dig a lot deeper in order to do so.
>>"Look at me, Kyra... listen to my voice... feel how dark and vile my reiatsu is... do look, sound, and feel like a Shinigami? I look, sound, and feel like a Hollow... One thing I learned at Hueco Mundo... my reiatsu and presence is darker than more of the Arrancar there... I'm not a Shinigami... not any more... That part of my former existence is long dead... It'll be the same for you... I am proud of you - that you ascended to Captain, out of thousands upon thousands of Shinigami, only a select few make it so far - not an easy feat... But that existence is not meant for us. In truth we are less Shinigami and more Hollow-like than most Vizards ever care to concede."<<
It wasn't true... sure, they had crossed the line from Shinigami to Hollow... they had obtained the powers of a Hollow... but that did not make them pure Hollows. That made them as much Hollows as it made them Shinigami. Still, that dark reiatsu... that increasingly heavy spiritual pressure. Kyra had poured everything into her last attack, and yet, this woman... she could still pull out more power... was still able to dig deeper and deeper into her Inner Hollow's powers. How... how could she have fallen so far? Would Kyra's hand ever be able to reach through that darkness to pull her out?
>>"We even fight like a Hollows..."<<
Those crimson hues widened as the last of her mask faded just as the powerful Cero launched toward her. She could do little but stare into the eyes of her friend... the woman who had saved her life... and now, aimed to end it.
'She fights so beautifully...'
Time seemed to slow as that Cero trailed toward her, her chest suddenly feeling as though it were about to explode from the sudden rush of adrenaline to her heart. Her expression became full of shock as every single muscle in her body tensed and froze, immobilizing her completely.
'And here you are, sit'n on y'er ass... you think I'm just gonna sit by and watch you get killed?'
"Let... go... of... me..." That... bitch... just what the hell was she doing at a time like this?
'Why? So you die? Fuck that shit; if this bitch wants to fight, then I'll give her a fight. Why don't you just sit back like you've always done, and let me show you how a Hollow truly fights...'
"No..." Kyra muttered to her inner hollow, despite the darkness that encircled her vision. "I won't... I won't rely on your corruption... I'll be a hypocrite!"
'And you'd rather die? Feh; I'm not about to let that happen. Despite how much I loathe being apart of you; if you die, I die...'
It was then that the blast finally struck, Kyra's reiatsu exploding as she threw both her swords out in front of her, aiming to take the attack straight on. Cobalt flames erupted all around her as her feet pressed heavily against the ground, her body being slowly forced back as the heat of the Cero began to char parts of her robes and burn various portions of her skin.
"I... I... I'd become like... her," Kyra muttered within her own mind as she fought to keep her sanity. "I'm trying to bring her to her senses... I can't do that if I let you take over like her inner hollow took her!"
'Tch... don't force me... you really will die.'
"No... I won't..."
Kyra screamed as the blast began to push her further back, her reiatsu beginning to become far overtaken by the woman's Hollow ability. Still, she refused to rely on her inner hollow as Ai had. If she could prove to the woman that there was still some light in Kyra herself, then she could show Ai that she too had light within her. Her right arm held outward, thrusting her fiery reiatsu in order to keep the Cero back, Kyra threw her left hand outward, relinquishing the grip she held upon the other blade, which earned several questioning shouts from her Inner Hollow.
"Blood of my enemies spill, bones of my foe break, hell's fury is unleashed," Kyra began to mutter, bringing that free hand up to gather as much spiritual energy as she possibly could. She could already feel her right arm beginning to go numb due to basically sacrificing the limb itself to keep the attack at bay for as long as she possibly could.
'You idiot! You'll kill yourself trying to summon a spell of that level!'
"Demon's fire is poured into the world, damnation to all who see the masked one's face, all who rise against the flame, incineration and obliteration awaits!"
'I'm not relying on you anymore!'
"Hadō 94; Tennou Hakai Honoo Ryuu Nami!!!"
And with that, Kyra's vision went white. An expulsion of pure white, orange, red, and blue erupted and completely engulfed Kyra's body. The explosion itself was enough to shake the entire foundation of the park itself, and then some, smoke heavily lifted as rock and earth fluttered throughout the sky, leaving a gigantic crater in its wake. Within the center of the carnage, as the winds began to die, and the smoke started to clear, was a heavily panting, barely conscious Kyra, her eyes nearly faded to nonexistent; pupils completely faded, and it seemed only her will power alone kept her semi-conscious.
Her eyes were unfocused, staring at who knew what, one arm completely limp by her side; charred by the Cero, damaged heavily and mangled, and bleeding profusely. The other hand gripped the hilt of her sealed Zanpakuto, which was stuck in the ground and currently was the only source of keeping her entire body up. Her robes were torn in all places, the cloth wrappings around her chest keeping her breasts concealed, though even patches of those wrappings had been burnt or charred. Her pants were nearly gone, her right leg up to her upper thigh, her left down to her lower knee as the winds battled against the torn pieces of cloth, black and white pieces of robing fluttering all around her.
"Ai..." Kyra muttered the girl's name, barely above a whisper, her body moving almost hypnotically, like a puppet had brought her back to life, willing her sword from the ground's grasp and clumsily taking steps toward the woman. Each breath brought more and more blood to trickle down the sides of her lips, her body obviously far beyond its limitation. Those clumsy steps turned into a jog, and soon, into a sprint as she brought that blade up, which hung loosely in her grasp. She closed in the gap toward the Vizard, but soon, it seemed, her strength left her. As soon as she was within a few meters, her running came to a slow, nearly tripping over her own feet, a truly pathetic sight to behold. The grip on her sword was lost and fell by her side, her own momentum bringing her far enough to almost collide into the woman. Instead, her only good arm fell over one of Ai's shoulders, her body completely crumbling against the taller woman. Still, it seemed she had just enough arm strength left to hold her up.
"Ai..." The crimson haired Shinigami trembled against the woman, uncertain of the emotions she were feeling at that very moment. She didn't want to let her go... she wanted time to freeze at that very moment. Despite the dark aura that she felt from her, she could still feel the warmth of her body as she leaned against her. Her eyes closed tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks, her head resting against the woman's bosom. That warmth... Kyra could feel it... despite it merely being body heat, Kyra took it as a sign that the woman was not as cold-hearted as she appeared. Those eyes opened up, slowly fading in consciousness as that trademark, cocky smirk appeared on her featured, a cough-mixed chuckle escaping her dried, cracked parting lips.