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Andreja took the opportunity to inspect his bat. "This sucks," she informed him, giving him a little bonk with it. "Like you and your Walmart emo wear!"

Then she started examining his face. "Your cheeks are so squishable!" She marvelled. "Grandmas everywhere must follow you around, waiting to get a pinch in! You truly are the epitome of the perfect grandson. Small. Squishy. Emo."

---

"My grandma's dead. My dad killed her."

He muttered.

"Get off."

---

"Ooo, lore! I knew I could get something out of you!" She clapped, smiling. "Sooo... dead grandma, huh? And deadbeat dad. Get it, heh?" Chuckling to herself, she continued, "The ol' getting-the-milk thing leave you with some daddy issues?"

---

"If you count having your mother and grandma killed by your father 'daddy issues', I suppose."

he rolled his eyes.

---

Success! Conversation stimulated!

Being careful to keep her face calm and totally not celebrating her victory, she continued in a sympathetic voice. "Aww, that's too bad. Well, at least when he decided to no-show he went all out! Extra props to him on breaking the terrible-dad spectrum. He gave you trauma of all sorts, which will help you relate to people." She bopped his bat in place of his head. "So that's how you ended up here? Badda bing badda bang, dad dealt your mommy and grammy the old smackeroo?"

She beamed at him. Empathy! I'm great at it! And so subtle too. She'd pat herself on the back if she wouldn't look like an idiot for it

---

"..."

Miysaki glanced away, still looking for Alaire.

---

Deciding to take a different tactic, she took his bat and began to poke the wall with it. Interestingly enough, though the wall crumbled, the mildew and mold dust seemed to veer away from the instrument of emo.

---

"Oi. Hands off."

He grabbed the bat out of her hands.

"Don't touch it."

---

Andreja pouted, pawing pathetically for the bat before giving up, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Come onnnnn! Just a little hint!" She wheeled. "An eensy weensy little hint! I promise I won't tell."

Then, she blinked.

Clasping her hands together, she leaned in. "Like seriously... Angel girl over there? Feh. The child who exists solely to trip me? Perish the thought. You could be making a very lovely ally, you know?"

She stared into his eyes.

"Don't you think that's valuable here? You're so jaded, you know. You need to try new things. Experiment a little, figure out a new world. And who better than me? My whole life things've been changing. Why not rely on ol' Angie a while?" She smiled. "Won't hurt you, ya know. And besides, if you already hate me..."

With a laugh, she spun back to her original position and gave a bow. "I can serve as a noble sacrifice!" She chirped. "Doesn't that sound fun?"

---

"Tsk."

Miyasaki clicked his tongue in annoyance.

He just continued to ignore her, rather annoyed.

---

She tilted her head. "Hm? That doesn't sound tantalizing to you?" A grin spread over her face. Oh, darling. "Then you can be my sacrifice. I'll follow you around and in exchange you'll be my meat shield a while. Give it a go, I'm sure you'll have fun, and a cool story to share in the afterlife with Grams!"

After all, if he was too pig-headed to spill right now, then she could take her time with it. Whittle him down, day by day.

Kaya's face flashed in the back of her mind, and for a second it morphed into the unfamiliar one- the girl kneeling at her feet, begging for mercy.

Blinking, she found she'd just realised something strange.

The girl's eyes... were blue.

---

"Do you understand who you are even talking to?"

He laughed.

"Oh, my god. A meat shield? That's HILARIOUS!"

He chuckled quietly, looking back at her, his smile fading.

"Get away from me."

---

"No," she told him, her tone dripping, sugary sweet, honeyed. But her words were poison. "I don't think I will, darling. This is your world, is it? You're the big shot here, all tough and strong and important. Well, unfortunately for you, I don't care. You know why? Because I've decided I'm going to live."

She met his eyes.

"You think you're special, since you get all this stuff. But I'll tell you one thing; being human is what makes me superior to you. And why, out of the two of us, I am getting out of here."

Almost in a friendly way, she reached out and touched his bat. "So, Angie and the meat shield. Has a nice ring to it, hey? If you ever feel up to telling me your name, we can consider adjusting it, but in the meantime, I think I'm going to try and enjoy it. Have fun, you know?"

---

"...Tsk. How annoying."

He sighed.

"Do you have any idea- any at all- at the world you are getting into?"

---

"Nope!" she chirped. "And isn't that what makes it fun?"

Grinning lopsidedly, she took a step back from him. The world resettled into focus again. "So where to, meat shield? Going off to fight the big bad? Beat up a bunch of wolves again? Whatever it is, I'm down!"

---

"...No."

he sighed.

"The angel should return soon."

---

"The twenty-third floor, dear moth, is where all the unprepared and stubborn independent bigheads die. It's where I almost died once. But I learned and adapted. You have me, so maybe you won't repeat my mistakes." She sighed, watching Miyasaki watching her. There was a girl by him. She looked annoying... or more accurately, her dear friend looked annoyed. She ignored the surge of... no. She wouldn't even name that emotion. After a thousand years, Alaire Atlas was above such base things.

"As for who I am..." she sighed, giving at Seraphina her undivided attention for the first time. "I'm Alaire. I am... well, a veteran of this tower. I've lived hundreds of lifetimes here. After a while, you learn what to expect. Now come. We're going to join a-" she paused. "-a friend of mine so we don't die. I've known him literally forever."

She turned, wading through the mess towards Miyasaki.

"Oh, and little moth? So long as you stay with me, I won't let you die. That's a promise I will carry out to the best of my unearthly abilities."

---

"Will you two shut up?" AC groaned, covering her ears, annoyed. "There will be no stupid meat shields and no idiocy."

"You, angel bitch, will kindly shut the hell up. Your voice is at an absolutely maddening pitch. So... squeaky. And you," she pointed at the guy, "Your main characters in ink and blue are over there." She pointed to the other side of the cavern, nearly a quarter mile away. She didn't know how she knew who he was talking about, but that was them. She was sure of it. A young man with long, blue hair fought next to a shorter girl with shoulder length hair the color of bubble gum. Even from here, she could see their chemistry.

AC turned back to her companions after staring unabashedly at them for a moment. The man was staring off into space again, trying to ignore the yammering of their companion. Until AC saw movement.

"Ohmygod. Mr. Regressor? The purple people are coming towards us."

And sure enough, the elegant one was soaring through the mess, parting the waves of creatures like the red sea. She had a hard-to-read expression on her face... it looked like a smile, it seemed like a smile, but it did not feel like a smile.

---

Miyasaki's attention snapped to Alaire immediately, looking away from andreja., as he tilted his head to the side, a hollow grin on his face.

"Well, well well. Alaire Atlas."

He chuckled.

"hello there."

His gaze flickered to Seraphina, who shrunk slightly under his empty gaze.

"...You've brought the berserker, I see."

He simply shook his head slightly.

"...Tsk. Not a bad choice."

Seraphina took a step towards Miyasaki, extending a hand, smiling brightly, ignoring the sinking feeling of danger radiating from him. Maybe it was his bloody bat.

"It's nice to meet you, I guess! My name's Seraphina."

Miyasaki quietly analyzed Seraphina for a moment, making the purple-haired girl feel ever so self conscious. Then, he took her hand, shaking it.

"Nice to meet you. I suppose."

Seraphina laughed nervously.

Why the hell are two teens(?) talking like old geezers? Geez, they're just like Sa-

She paused.

"...Miss? Are you alright?"

Seraphina shook his head, blinking.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Right. I'm okay."

---

"Haha, she called you stupid!" Andreja crowed, pointing at Emo-boy. "Suck it, meat shield! Even Coathanger thinks you're lamer than me. You hear that?" Oh, and Angel Bitch! The girl had called her that, hadn't she?

What a cute nickname. And complimenting the high-pitchedness, the femnimity of her voice? Andreja almost had to wipe away a tear. Clearly, Coathanger was volunteering as the noble sacrifice.

And who was Andreja to deny her? This would be fun.

Cracking her knuckles, she turned to Coathanger with a grin. "So, darling~ which closet you thinking?"

---

Alaire frowned, crossing her arms as she scrutinized the moth's reaction to her flame. "Miyasaki, darling. We've talked about this. It's rude to assume things about people when they don't remember. Not like we do. Seraphina has yet to begin her journey."

Alaire reached up, her hand cupping his cheek. "You look like absolute shit, and I've told you a thousand times that black isn't your color. Dark grey is far more subtle, anyway. But no matter. You're here. Although I confess that I didn't imagine to see you with others this soon."

She was torn between wanting to kill him and kiss him, so nothing else was new. "Thoughts for this time? Try for the top? Build a civilization? Piss off the main characters and get our asses hand to us?" Her lips twitched as she remembered the situations Miyasaki's obsession with Artemis and Emma had gotten them into. Strung up by her ankles for pterodactyls to eat, literally thrown to a certain god of wolves, throat slit more times than she could count... her powers were useless on them once they started making kissy faces at each other.

She glanced at the other people he was surrounded by. The brunette looked perceptive enough, yet Alaire could tell she had a temper. She was currently spluttering at something the even shorter other one had singsonged at her. The blue-haired girl was an imp, destined to cause trouble. The third was blood-stained, and looked disgusted with herself. Aw. She'd grow out of it quickly. Or she'd die.

Openly squinting at them, she tried to place their faces. The brown-haired girl made it far, she knew that... no, all three of them did.

Mudslinger was the word that came to mind. The brunette...? Yes. It was a start. She'd follow that train of thought when she had time. A mudslinger, an imp, and a witch. How lovely.

---

AC's mouth dropped open furiously. "Excuse me?" Her knives were in her hands instantaneously. "What the actual hell is that supposed to mean?" She saw it useless to point out that there were no closets in this room. None for miles probably.

She wanted to punch that stupid smile. The girl was short, which meant she was probably light, which meant AC could dropkick her. That sounded amazing right about now.

AC physically turned away from her, hiding the blue-headed gremlin from her line of sight. They knew him. Or at least the older one did. She watched her, Alaire, as she approached Miyasaki. They were... close. She could tell, watching her effortlessly invade his personal space, contentment under her facade. Alaire was the first person AC had really seen who was at ease around him. And she was seriously hot. Off-limits obviously, but one could only wonder.

The other girl was...

AC swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She was beautiful in that effortless way girls were, simultaneously intimidating and attractive. Faded purple hair, an oversized hoodie, a scar on her cheek AC had the strangest urge to run a hand over... And she held a blade.

But AC could tell that she seemed unsure, which made her all the more endearing and approachable. AC found herself drawn to the stranger, no, Seraphina, and involuntarily took a step forward.

"Hi. I'm AC." The words felt foreign in her mouth, even though it was her own name. Stupid. She had just enough intelligence to direct the greeting at both of them so not to look ridiculous.

Alaire pulled back from Miyasaki, turning to her. AC could feel her assessing stare, and tried to pull herself up to her full height. In her pockets, her palms gripped the knives nervously.

"AC? Like air-conditioning?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.

"No, like Actinium," she muttered darkly. Her lame chemistry joke was met with the ghost of a smile on Alaire's face.

"How curious." Alaire said nothing more.

AC met Seraphina's green eyes, and any scornful words she had about dumb and dumber behind her died in her throat. She tried to shut down her mind as it betrayed her. Oh god, she was toast. AC crushed hard, and AC crushed stupid. Not once had she ever been right, not once had her heart led her true. No matter how hard she tried to label it as a stupid fricking neurochemical reaction, she couldn't help but wonder at Seraphina's strong arms and soft hair and-

She looked away with an awkward nod, trying not to weird her out. She needed to get a grip before she became tongue-tied. She was smart, and as long as she stayed smart, they would all be oblivious, because AC was a master of hiding said idiotic crushes. Only a few seconds had passed, (though it felt like so much longer). AC swallowed again, staring at the ground.

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