The Sound of Dragons Fighting from a Distance (Nadia/Cecil/Trinity/Isabella)

The night was dark and empty, even as they moved away from the scene. Hand in Cecil's hand, Nightingale did everything she could not to look back. There was a crowd moving away from the scene as well, some young people and children were crouching to watch behind the police barracade that had been swiftly set up. It had all happened so fast that there was a harrowing emptiness inside of Nadia's chest. get away from here, save the others. Survive They were the only thoughts her mind could mold into words.

She gripped Cecil's hand with a trembling strength; a gentle insistence, as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered, and she didn't want to break it.

as they made their way quietly through the streets, Nadia didn't say a word. She didn't think she could trust her voice. Instead, she just walked, as if on auto pilot...back through the sleepy silent streets of Endymion. She didn't think they'd be followed. Gabe would be a juicy distraction for the vultures to pick clean, but even so her mind was telling her to make sure that any pursuers were not led to the playhouse. Instead, her feet led her to the only other place in the world she felt safe: her home. They were in Mundane clothes, with no guns or anything to speak of, if a cadet came by here it would be easy enough to send them away.

"Ars Moriendi" The sign overhead said. The animal skulls in the glass display case, the taxidermied rabbits and things, all stared at Nightingale, accusations frozen in time on their dead mouths. She couldn't bring herself to look at them.

So, Nadia led them around to the stairs and climbed them, quietly unlocked the door to her apartment above the shop, and ushered everyone inside unless they had broken off to go their own way at any point. If they had, Nadia couldn't blame them.

Once inside, she shut the door quietly behind them, and turned on the light. The living room was connected to the kitchen, and had an arm chair and a decent sized futon. There was a low coffee table and a TV with a Funtindo Swap hooked up to it, which she and Cecil had set up after a rather long romantic episode - or as close to a romantic episode as the two fledgling love birds could have. Even now the memory seemed to chill her even more. She could have lost Cecil tonight. She didn't want to think about it, but it was in her nature to force herself to think through these kinds of things. She took a sharp intake of breath before turning to the kitchen, and taking off her mask. "Think of this as a safe-house for now. I'll make us some tea. Feel free to have a seat." Her words were drained, mechanical almost, and her expression was blank.

She didn't know what to say, or what to do. And her mind was aching. It was the right call wasn't it? She didn't suppose that mattered now, because she had made it. Veritas had even agreed with her. But that didn't make her feel any better really. With any luck, they would be able to get through tonight and on to the next day, with some semblance of a plan.

The trek that Nightingale led was... Difficult, to say the least. There was more than one instance when she wanted to turn back, to run to Gabriel's aid, to do... Something, anything, besides running. But every time she had to remind herself of the facts. As was, they stuck out like a sore thumb, and even if she'd gone back alone, anyone who'd have seen her could no doubt have traced her path back to the rest of the group. She would have blown her cover, shown her ture colors, and throguh that, put the others in danger.

And then there was... What could she have done? She had her persona, but it was unlike the others. She couldn't shoot fireballs, or heal wounds. The support she could have offered? The blonde found herself questioning if it would have made a difference.

Finally, they were there. Ars Moriendi. Her eyes grew wider behind her mask. That was the place mentioned on that business card she'd gotten. Well, at least she know had an idea of what it was. Creepy, for one. Taxidermy and the preservation of other animal parts, it seemed was the primary focus of the business. Not really a place Isabella expected to find an apartment secreted away in, but as her eyes briefly swept across Nightingale, she realized that it kinda fit the girl for what little she knew of her.

In a way, Isabella was thankful that the only member who'd frozen up was a child. Had it been Nightingale or Revenant, the task of carrying would actually have proven much more tiring. But her arms were still getting a little tired. Thankfully the comfy little apartment provide... suitable accommodations. Stepping over to the arm chair, the older woman lowered the young girl into the seat as gently as she could, letting go slowly as to make sure the other doesn't fall.

That done, the mask came off. Her right and simply yanking the mask off, uncaring of the way the cord holding it snapped, or how she simply let the wooden mask clatter to the floor. Her steps carried her over to the window, not saying anything to the whole thing about tea. Tea would be nice, but something like that was currently... Low on the list of priorities. Isabella leaned to the windowsill slightly, staring out, only then remembering how ridiculous her hair looked, puffed out into a ridiculous volume with completely excessive amounts of hairspray. There was a low sigh, as she pushed herself back straight, and looked over her shoulder, toward the kitchen.

"Nightingale?" She would speak in a low voice. It felt... wrong, calling her by that name, but it was the only name she had for the time.

"Do you have a a hair brush I could borrow, along with possibly some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar?" A bit of small talk, but it was quite clear from the tone that all this was weighing down on her.

As Trinity was carried her body was limp, like a doll whom strings were cut, her limp body was light as well thanks to her size and as she was carried her siblings where talking in her mind, for the first time none of them were in control as they all were busy talking to each other on what to do, though it wasn't so much a discussion as it was an all out argument.

"We..We need to go back we can't just leave him there like that!"

"Alister we can't go back, there were to many cadets...besides he did this so we would have a chance to get away without getting caught"

"I don't want to leave ether...but...we...we can't stay...we are not able to fight...and...I..I don't want to see that again....I don't want to see another friend die..."

"THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO GO BACK! We can help him, we can keep him alive, We need to fight...."

"We have no weapon...we left our gun behind for this remember....We are not fully equipped and besides...we can't throw away the opening to run he was giving us..."

"It's a hard choice to make, but tactically it's the best choice, we need to run there was to much attention brought on the area, I honestly don't know why he wore his costume...he had been broadcast to every television in the city wearing that...how did he think he could go out in it? That was Foolish"

"You stay quiet Unison....people make mistakes....we can't go back...we need to regroup and rethink...but...we need to figure out what we can do later..."

"What we need to do is Go KILL those damned Cadets, It's them and their damn leaders that Took Selenus from us...I am sure they are the ones that made Tatsui Dissapear...and now they are going to Take GABE away"

"None of us want that....but Selenus and Gabe are both doing this to make sure we and the rest of the group are safe..."

"Well what about us? how do they expect us to stay safe when they are all gone? If everyone does that were does that leave everyone else they are sacrificing themselves to save? That leaves US as the oldest Member of the Playhouse...and do you even think anyone will listen to us?"

"No one would listen to us.....we don't know any of them....all our friends...the ones we know....have ether been killed...have gone missing...or have left us for a group that would kill..."

"Then were they even friends to begin with if they were willing to leave for a group that would kill them for leaving? their leader said it flat out that is what he would do..."

"They were fools for trusting in someone that had openly threatened their lives if they wanted to leave....or if they didn't join...Even now Frog thinks he can think of a way out...or that he can trick the man...take over....but we know nothing of him....we wants to play double agent...but we know he does not have the spine for it....and Brittany wags her tail like a dog in heat and follows his every word...his every action....can we count on people like that? can we count on anyone anymore? the ones we knew who we knew we could trust are gone..."

and so the argument continued in her head, not a movement or a word coming out of the girl, and her breathing so light, one would think she wasn't breathing at all as she simply was placed on the chair her body still limp and resting there like a simple doll with no life force in it.

So. This was how it was. In another place, one they had left behind, Gabriel - and as he saw, it was him - was facing down the Cadets.
What he did was foolish. It was insane. It was going to bring calamity on them.
It was also done, and nothing could change that now.

Isabella seemed conflicted, but they kept moving, onward and resolute with the small girl in her arms. She was probably struck by this as they all had been, but they seemed to be holding together. He was glad for that.
Nadia's hand trembled in his. He kept a firm grasp on it, not just as a reminder of his presence, but a physical anchor in the world. God knows she needed it at the moment.
Unison had to be carried outright, frozen in her own mind. She was taking it the hardest of her own, a victim of her own mind and of Gabriel's sheer idiocy. He wasn't sure what would happen to her if he didn't make it out of this.
...and the Playhouse at large, too. He himself found himself with a mistrust of Shotaro he couldn't shake ever since he'd threatened to torch that poor intern, but...everyone else did trust him. He was a senior figure in the Playhouse, and had become the face of the very organisation. And for all his wariness, he had still led them this far, as the most experienced of them all.
That wasn't something easily replaced.

...Gabriel, what the fuck were you thinking? Even if your heart was in the right place, your head definitely wasn't.
It...it would have been so much easier if you weren't the leader. If everyone didn't have so much faith in you.
...you better be worth it. What I saw on that day better be something you'll never repeat again, as with what you did today. Because even if the others would be crushed, if you only come back through holding the lives of people in your hands again, you're better off gone.

Once the group was inside, Cecil retreats from his thoughts to pay attention to the world again. Everyone was unmasking, save the frozen girl in the armchair. Nobody cared for secrecy right now. He couldn't blame them. Nor would he spit in the face of the gesture.
Drawing his hood down, he unmasked, leaving his ponytail in place. A weak smile went to Isabella, with a little nod. "Surprise."

He followed after Nadia to help her as she went to make tea, not sure what else to do. She could do with the company at that moment.

Nadia pulled down a few mugs from her cabinet, and set the on the counter before she heard Isabella's question. "Oh, um, sure. There's a hair brush in the bathroom there through the door."She pointed, and reaching under the sink, pulled a bottle of apple cider vinegar from a cupboard. She walked over to hand it to Isabella, casting a cautious glance to Unison's still form, but saying nothing.

Instead, she moved back to the kitchen, setting the water to boil in the tea kettle, before Cecil came in. The sight of him filled her heart to bursting. This face that meant so much to her, she was acutely aware of how close she'd come to losing it. As soon as he came in to help her, she closed the gap between them and pushed herself up on her toes to kiss him. It was the kind of kiss she'd have liked to give him before they'd almost died. From now on she would, regardless of masks. Looking up into his eyes, her searching hands found his ponytail. It was...a more mature look for him, she thought. "I like this." She said, planting her face in his chest.

With a shuddering sigh, the reality of their events chilled through her upbeat facade, and she slumped more and more heavily against him. "Did...did I make the right decision, Cecil? I...I feel like a terrible person." She confided, in low tones, gripping his shirt with both hands. "If he gets captured...or if he dies...it will be because I chose to leave him there. I did that...what right did I have to make a decision like that?' She asked between shaking breaths. "He was only ever kind to me. And I left him there."

The blonde offered a silent nod at being instructed where she might find a brush, and did as the other said, going into the bathroom to find it. With brush in one hand, Isabella stepped out, only to be greeted with a bottle of pple cider vinegar. honestly she would have preferred lemon juice for this, but it would do for the time being. Her steps were about to take her back into the bathroom, only to see Revenant removing his mask and hood and...

She almost dropped the brush. "Cecil? You're-" She began, her tone hinting she was about to ask something, but she cut herself off. After what she'd learnedof Tomomi, this wasn't quite as much as a shock as- Well, no, it was still quite a shock. But she wasn't gonna question or argue. Without saying another word she would step into the bathroom. Opening the bottle, the older woman would pour small amounts of the vinegar into her cupped hand, before rubbing it into her hair, and repeating the process a few times. The bottle would then be set down, and she would slwoly begin going through her hair with the brush.

She could hear her talking from the kitchen. Nightingale... It seemed she was taking this pretty hard. She wouldn't blame her. Isabella conitnued going through her hair, very slowly working away the built up hair spray, when she would speak. "I doubt this is much consolation, Nightingale, but it would most likely have been a fools errand to try and help Gabriel." Her tone was apologetic, rather quite. She would pause for a moment, drawing a deep breath before sighing. "I think I know how you feel. On the way back here, there were so many times I wanted to turn around and go back that I stopped counting.

There was another pause as she would focus on a small hair tangle. "The cadets would most likely have surrounded and outnumbered us in short order had word gotten out that it wasn't just the figurehead of the playhouse who was present, but four accomplices on top." She would shake her head. A futile gesture, really.

There was another pause, as the older woman focused on slathering more vinegar into her hair. She would then step out of the bathroom, all the while brushing her hair again. Her eyes would look to the kitchen, and then to the girl who still sat upon the arm chair, motionless. She would cease brushing, and lower herself down onto one knee in front of the girl. One of her hands, smelling rather strongly of vinegar, rose to the child's shoulder. "Hey... How are you holding up?" The blonde owuld ask, with as gentle a tone as she could muster in the situation. No response, it seemed. So she gave the other a gentle shake. And then another, when the first failed to produce any effect.

"Are you asleep under there?" The hand shifted away from the shoulder, and instead came under the chin, trying to gently lift the mask off the child's face in order to get a better look.

The argument continued inside Trinity's mind, unheeding to the outside world, unknowing that the others were removing their masks to show each other who they were, her body simply stayed limp on the chair, breathing so lightly that one would have to look close to even tell she was breathing.

"Look...there is nothing we can do...the best we can do it protect ourselves now...remember what Selenus and Gabe..even Tatsui told us...we have to protect our Identity..it's the only way to stay safe...we trusted them to keep our secret and they trusted us with it..."

"But what about these people? we know none of them....we had trusted Frog and Brittany as well and they left, We have Frogs word that he will not give us away...but can we trust him to keep his word? he has already betrayed us once...as For Brittany she may very well throw others to the wolves if it means protecting Frog...can we trust someone that dedicated to someone else?"

"I actually can't believe how much I have been Agreeing With Unison so far...but the level of dependency we have seen from Brittany towards Frog is extreme as hell.....and coming from me you know it's bad...."

"But we can all agree that we need to follow the words of our friends....we must protect our identity...can we agree?"

"I can agree to that...as long as none of you try to do anything to endanger the chance of safety that Gabe gave us..."

"Fine...I'll agree to this....and as for Agreeing...I do find it strange to be agreeing with Yuuko....considering what happened before...."

"Then we can at least move forward with that agreement....we can discuss if leaving him behind and not helping him was the right choice...later...once we are sure we are safe..."

"But...we need to get...the trust of the others....don't we?"

"Can we even get the trust of the others?"

"Do we even want their trust....we have seen some of what they can do...but can we be sure they will even stick around? what if they to decide to leave...or they go missing? Gabe..Selenus...Tatsui...we knew they could be trusted....they saved our lives when we first awoke...We had a rough patch with Gabe but he learned to accept us..."

"Shouldn't we give these people that chance?"

"This is a...hard time to decide...we need to go slow....for now we protect our Identity for the time being...I think that's..."

"Some one is removing our Mask!"

"Where are we?"

Trinity hadn't been able to pay attention to her surroundings, last she knew she was standing there watching Gabe slowly get further and further away, and now suddenly she felt her mask being moved, someone was trying to take it off and she wasn't sure if she was safe, she didn't have time to take in her surroundings.

To the others it would be sudden, from a body that might as well have been a lifeless doll, suddenly it sprung to life and action the moment the mask was touched, as her small hand suddenly shot up and grabbed the hand touching her mask, the other hand shooting out to grab Isabella's throat as her voice...well not the voice they heard before...it sounded like a group of people...different voices talking as one.

"Don't You Dare Touch Our Fucking Mask"

Then it changed again to one voice talking, her hand still holding Isabella's arm and throat, tightly but it could easily be seen that tears were flowing from beneath the mask. The small child was still clearly not aware that they were in a safe place, reacting in panic and fear.

"They told us to protect our Identity" A panicked and near manic voice said to the woman.

"We won't let you See what they told us to Protect" a soft almost whisper like voice said next.

"So get your damn hands off Our mask" an oddly masculine voice said next, a voice that would be more at home on a small boy then a girl.

"Or We will have to defend ourselfs" another strict sounding voice continued, which was the voice of Unison for the ones that had met her before.

"Please understand We don't what to hurt you" a motherly yet sad tone spoke next.

"But if it means following the promise they made us make" another voice rang out a girls voice, filled with sadness and clearly crying.

"Then We will have no choice but to end you" The voice they had heard before when the child had joined them before the cadets arrived, a cold, emotionless voice, the wavering of tone one would expect someone that was crying was not affecting this voice at all.

Then suddenly the head turned to look around, mask safe for now as the small child seemed to take in her surroundings...then she let go of Isabella "We are sorry....we were not...aware of where we were..." the emotionless voice continued.

Cecil could do little other than chuckle awkwardly at Isabella's shock. "Yeah. That was me there when it was your turn. Good thing, too..." He glances away and shrugs before he continues moving on, not really sure what else to say.

Quietly sighing, the boy's focus goes to Nadia as he enters the kitchen - and his eyes go wide as suddenly the girl in question is there pressing her lips to his. He moans a little and leans into it, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close while the moment lasts.
He blushes as she breaks the kiss and starts to play with his ponytail, pressing herself against his chest. "You - really?" Something about the tone scrambled his brain slightly. He hadn't thought much of it, but...maybe if it got a response like that...
He became aware again as Nadia shifted and went lax, pressing against him as she confided her feelings. Isabella seemed to overhear from the bathroom, confiding her own feeling on the matter. And himself..."You didn't make a famous terrorist walk around in iconic garb. That was entirely on Gabriel. It doesn't matter here how kind he was to you before-" There was a strange, bitter stress on the word that seemed out of place with the rest of his words. "-he risked every last one of us by waltzing around like that. Isabella is right that there's little we could do. And more importantly, you shouldn't have to feel guilty for his mistakes. He made the decision to do this, and he made the decision afterwards to make sure we didn't get involved. Chasing after him would have just drawn us into a hell of his making that he wanted us out of in the first place."

He sighed as he realised the rising bite in his words, and squeezed her in his arms as he tried to untense. "...this isn't your fault, Nadia. I refuse to let you believe otherwise."

Cecil held the girl, doing what best he could to comfort her that way.


Then the commotion started.

With a quick apology, Cecil left Nadia to rush over to the incident playing out, prying off the small girl's hands from Isabella's throat and wrenching the arm away. He shoot a quick look over to Isabella, seeking a quick confirmation of if she was alright, before turning back to the girl as she finished her supernatural tirade. "Are you done? Are you planning to attack people again? Because trust me, that's not a fight you can win with your pawns or your own hands, and it's definitely not one you'd have won back with the Cadets. I'm pretty sure Shotaro didn't give us the chance to get out just so you could literally end up at someone's throat right after."

Nadia listened to the words that Isabella and her boyfriend imparted to her, telling her that what had happened wasn't their fault. It was true that she hadn't told him to walk around in his terrorist garb, but the only reason the Cadets had been around en masse was because of her open search for information earlier in the day. She remained quiet, not believing it quite yet, but not having the strength to argue the point. She just stared at the shadows created in his shirt by her clenched fingers and rested her forehead against his chest. She wanted this moment to last forever, just like this. In his warmth and embrace she could forget everything--

Until a riot began in her living room. Her apartment was surrounded on all sides by businesses which operation hours that ended hours ago. The likelihood that anyone could even hear the outburst outside was slight, and the liklihood that anyone was anywhere around beyond that was even less. Yet still, the sound made Nadia's whole body tense up. It reminded her of the snap of her father's disapproving voice out of nowhere, and a shiver went down her spine. Then Cecil was gone. She stumbled forward, barely registering what was going on for a moment, and when she stumbled into the living room, and finally got her bearings, Cecil was holding one of Trinity's hands and the girl was holding Isabella's with an iron grip. Then she released it, and apologized.

She didn't know where she was? Hadn't she been paying attention during the walk here? And what about all the voices? Those were all very good questions, but they would not be asked here. Intead, Nadia approached and came around the chair to kneel before the girl. "You can leave your mask on if you want to, Unison. But I'm Nightingale, and this is my home. You're safe here for the time being. I'm sorry...but we had to leave Shotaro behind." She reached up with a gentle hand to rest on Cecil's arm, as if in silent entreat that he could release her now. "We can't be fighting amongst ourselves, right now. We need to take a breath and figure out what our next course of action is."

Isabella wasn't expecting the reaction she got, seeing how there'd be no reaction or any other kind of movement from the girl, so when the other's hand came up to her throat, an instinctual response was for her loosen her grip on the brush, her now freed hand shooting up to grab the child's wrist. With the motion the brush flew away in an arc. From there, it was a combination of momentary restraint and realization that the girl wasn't in fact trying to crush her windpipe that stopped her from retaliating.

The blonde could easily have tossed the girl across the room, or perhaps break her wrist, or taken a number of other actions to get the girl off her.

But she didn't. Her hand remained on the wrist of the hand at her neck, but applied little in the way of pressure. A familiar whirring had started up in her ear, growing ever so slightly in intensity. She could see Reve- Cecil coming over, presumably to separate the two as the girl... It was a girl, right? Put on a display that was like out of some low-budget horror movie. The hand that had been going for the girls mask pried itself free from her grasp, only to reach out to the approaching Cecil, giving him a small shake of her head, hoping the two non-verbal cues get the message across to back off.

She waited for the tirade to run it's course, for the girl to let go. Isabella then stared at the apologetic girl for a few seconds, and just then, a moment of recollection struck her, the situation in a way feeling far too familiar. Just thinking of the memory brought what felt like a tinge of pain to her old scars.

She didn't say anything, not right away. Instead, the woman shifted her stance such that she was a little closer to the girl, before slowly leaning forward, bringing her arms gently around the girl. She would lean in further, bringing one hand against her back, roughly between the shoulder blades, while the other gently cupped the back of her head. Gentle, being the key word here.

And she pulled the other closer. It probably wasn't the most... Aromatically pleasant thing, with both her hair and one hand still somewhat wet from the vinegar, but Isabella just hoped it would help... Diffuse the situation, lest it escalate.

Trinity suddenly found the room full of people, one Grabbing her and she had to stop Alister from taking control and punching the guy, and then She needed to stop Yuuko from going for his eyes, it was al an internal struggle, as she sat there and the boys hand was taken off of her arm, she then looked at them all before she suddenly got hugged, sitting there once more still as a Doll the mask still on her face as she had one hand protectively over it though the tears could be seen gently running from under the mask as she sat there, no sound whatsoever left her, even her breathing was even and gentle, so gentle Isabella would have trouble even feeling it.

In her head an argument was raging and she simply sat there and decided to let it go on for now, she needed to take in what was around her, She needed time to center herself and collect information, she heard names being used, or at least one person gave their name, their terrorist name, but she was starting to remember the run back, well....when she was carried on the run back though as she sat there she turned her head to look at the boy her eyes changing color behind the mask as Yuuko suddenly focused and took control.

"What would you know about Shotaro? your always to busy Berating him, you don't think it's obvious? you don't think the air around you doesn't stink with your Aversion for her from one incident? DO you GAH!".

Suddenly her voice changed again not even sounding the same as the previous voice
"I apologize for my sibling...hopefully you can understand that this is a bit of a trying time for us..." when the voice changed her eyes had changed color yet again behind the mask, as did her posture as she sat there.

Finally the voice Cecil would recognize would speak up again, the emotionless monotoned one that he met at the gardens "we need to talk....." she said simply.

It seemed his intervention wasn't needed.
Cecil backed off and let Isabella handle it as she caught the hand lunging for her throat, but he still remained wary, watching the pair - both in case Unison tried something again, and because Isabella looked like they had been on the verge of something rather drastic.
The hug was...unexpected. It seemed they needed it though, as the tears started to stream from behind the mask. He...kind of admired that Isabella was able to do that after what had happened. Even now, his disposition to her after that outburst was far too cold to be able to do something like that, more concerned with the small girl as a volatile threat to those around her than as someone torn up and in need of help.
He felt bad for it, but he couldn't shake the need to keep a close eye on her in case something happened again. It showed in how he glanced over to Nadia as she laid a hand on his arm. He tried to smile, show he was calm - but his eyes kept cautiously flicking to the child in the chair.

He stiffened as Unison started to lash out again, preparing for her to act out again - only to for the girl herself to seemingly beat him to the punch, swatting away whatever had taken hold of her to continue her spectral light show, closing out with a voice he found himself able to recognise now that the belts and veil weren't there. "I...yeah, we do. We all do. That's why we're here. Just...please, no attacking people again." He let out a small, tense laugh, still obviously not comfortable. "Hell of a way to meet again, isn't it...? I guess I wasn't crazy to think there were a few of you...though I guess this was a poor way to meet the family."

Nadia breathed a sigh of relief, watching as Isabella calmly diffused the girl's tension. As Unison came to her own senses, Nadia slipped her hand into Cecil, and guided him toward the futon to sit down. As they went, she passed Isabella a look, a silent thank you.

After she sat down, it took her a moment to find words. She looked at her hands, still trembling a little, before finding Cecil's again. "Let's not think or talk about Mr. Shotaro right now. We don't know what happened to him, and we likely won't know for a little while either. I fear the worst...but we can hope for the best too, I think. Instead, I wanted to offer to you all a place to sleep tonight. We didn't accomplish much, but it's still been a long night, and it may be longer still. And I...don't know how dangerous the streets will be with cadets on patrol." She was worried about losing anyone else, as right she should be, but she wouldn't force any of them to stay under these circumstances.

She took another deep breath. Now that it came to it, she wasn't sure what to say exactly. There were things that needed to be discussed...but She couldn't get her mind around them. they slipped through her fingers like wisps of smoke. Perhaps it was best to leave it to the others."So...Who wants to go first?"

Isabella held on for some time,waiting out one more short outburst, which the strange girl seemed to get under control. She let go slowly, avoiding any sudden movements, before standing up, and without saying a word for the time, looked around as to where she unintentionally flung the brush. It took a bit of looking, but after a bit she would lean down to pick the brush up. But all the while she did listen.

The blonde stepped back into the bathroom, and continued the slow process of removing the hairspray that still remained. As another dose of vinegar soaked into her hair, she would finally speak. "You're absolutely right. The topic of Gab- Shotaro is clearly a touchy one, and everyone is on edge." She looked at the group from the bathroom, her head tilted over the sink as she worked the brush slowly through her hair.

It was strange, looking at the three there. With the situation they were in, where action... really wasn't an option, so her mind had a lot of free rain to think. And looking at these... Children, it hurt to think that in the eyes of the government, they were all criminals. Hell, she was a criminal now, which was kinda rich, in its own ironic way. The girl had seen a lot, or so it seemed at least. All this night had really done so far... Was highlight just how much was wrong with this city.

"I must appreciate your quick thinking and generosity in giving us a place to retreat to and stay for the night. So, thank you, Ni-" Isabella cut herself off, clearing her throat slightly before continuing. "Actually, is there something else I can call you by? Having only the name of your masked identity to call you by feels both awkward and slightly risky." Her words were targeted at the older of the two young females, the blonde having straightened herself back out as she now looked at the dark-haired girl.

Trinity continued to sit there, the older woman letting go of her now as she calmed herself, or rather she restrained Yuuko, with Unison and oddly the help of Lilith, who usually was incredibly passive, but the latest situation seemed to have moved even her to action. The two were holding Yuuko for now as Trinity looked to the group as they started to talk, but she wasn't oblivious to the looks Cecil continued to give her, she remembered him, she knew him from the garden that one time, and as he spoke it was clear he now remembered her..This defeated the point in keeping the mask on, as she watched him sit down and the other girl hold hands with him, clearly they were close...

But it was hard to simply take the mask off at the moment, Selenus and Gabe had both talked about keeping their identity a secret, but then she heard the woman in the bathroom slip out gabe's name, so he clearly knew her...with that she remembered the talk they had had before about trust, trust in the group building that trust, they were the only allies they had after all...

And so her hands moved up to her mask as the woman in the bathroom talked, the one sitting with Cecil asked who wanted to go first, though while the one in the bathroom did start talking she didn't seem to know what to call anyone...A click could be heard from Trinity's mask as she took it off, the magnets falling a bit in their places due to not being held together anymore by the pull of the other and she set the mask on her lap, her expressionless face and eyes gazing unblinkingly at Cecil and the girl next to him, tears still running down her cheeks, though it didn't seem to affect her voice at all or even her gentle breathing.

"Our name is Trinity....We are one of the last remaining original members.....We have seen the things...learned things.....You may not see us as a leader....whether due to age...size...combat ability....or from the moment just now....But...We are the most senior member...And We do have a mission.....Two now.....We also know the manners in which the others before Us have used to instigate the changes they have....you may listen if you wish or..." The girl spoke with no emotion in her voice, an emotionless monotone despite the tears coming from her eyes, a tone that would probably make someone uncomfortable matched with those unblinking eyes. But suddenly she stopped talking and seemed to stiffen a moment.

The girls eyes they changed color to pink as the look on her face changed to irritation and aggression "Or you can be like this guy and decide to hold us in contempt for one measly action without even bothering trying to talk it through and simply condemn...UGH...N..No...le...Let me...URRG" she seemed to convulse as if held down before going limp for a moment before the same emotionless look came back to her face and eyes.

"Apologies for my siblings outburst....this...isn't the first time we have lost a friend...potentially lost We should say..."  she said as she looked to the two on the couch as the one in the bathroom was behind her but she assumed she could hear her "We are...Shaken by this...We will not lie...however We are sure Many would be shaken by an event like this if they have been through what We have been through" she said as she sat there looking at Cecil and Nadia, waiting to hear what they had to say.