[IC] ANKL. Part 2

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia glanced between Lilith and this Cora. Lilith seemed panicked (not that this was unusual,) Cora didn't seem bothered. Some kind of reprisal after she left, Cora just putting on a nice face? But Cora had asked if she was staying to help with some kind of work. . . Damn, she was the wrong person to try and navigate this. Still, she didn't want to leave Lilith alone, and couldn't deny that she wanted to know what this work was. She gave one last look at Lilith as she answered, watching the other girl's reaction. "No, I can stay and help out with whatever it is. I haven't got anything else to do, anyway."

[Shamitako]

Lilith

 

Lilith looked even more panicked when Arturia offereded to help. She started to speak up, trying to stop this from progressing any further, but Cora didn't give her the opportunity. 

"Isn't that wonderful, Lilith? She said she'll stay and help."

"No, it's-" Lilith tried to protest. 

"Why don't you go take a shower, I'll explain everything to her." 

Lilith nodded submissively, she didn't really have a choice but to do as Cora said. 

 

Cora

 

As soon as Lilith was gone, Cora dropped her act. Intimidation was the key to success now, fear and power were her tools. Her eyes hardened and her voice took on an aggressive snarl. 

"You seem to care about Lilith a lot." She said, "So let me make this clear: I am that girl's lifeline. If you don't want anything to happen to her, you're going to do everything exactly as I say." 

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Platinum

 

At first, Platinum merely nodded to Esyllt. She was still drowning in surprise from the fact that she was talking to one of her favorite singers. However, soon enough, Caliko had to tell both of them a reasonably important topic, specifically her name, which was very understandable, to Platinum at least. But, it wasn't hard to notice that Platinum stiffened at Caliko's 'offer'... Before her face lit up red once more, just as quickly as it did the first time. Needless to say, by the end of Caliko's small speech, Platinum had crouched down to pick up her luggage again, suddenly finding it far more interesting than anything else, if her gaze was anything to go by, "Compensation won't be necessary. It's an easy thing to do and I don't really have anything to gain by going around and yelling that you attend here" she replied quickly, going to one of the other unoccupied beds and placing her things down, before pausing, "But... Something signed would be appreciated. Later, at least" she added, placing a hand behind her head as she did so.

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia's face betrayed startlement and fear for a brief moment; she'd been suspicious of the woman, but the sudden transition was still jarring. She quickly managed to force it back into a scowl despite the anxiousness rising in her chest. "Threaten me as much as you want, but I'm not letting you do anything to Lilith. Not any more than you already have." Maybe she could spook the woman, make her think Arturia knew more than she did. Though what she did know was more than enough in her eyes. 

[Shamitako]

Cora

 

Cora was unfazed by Arturia's defiance, and the initial hint of fear showed that she already had the upper hand on the girl. "Before you worry about what I've done, you should ask about what Lilith has done." she said, "Because I'm the only thing protecting her from the consequences." It was the truth. There was nothing this girl could do to save Lilith from herself, and that meant there was nothing she could do to save herself from Cora. 

[Chevaleresse]

"Doesn't sound like you're very interested in protecting her. Besides, she's thirteen. They'll forgive whatever it is." She maintained her stern expression despite her continued nervousness. Arturia knew she had to protect Lilith regardless of what she had done. . . but what was it? Had she accidentally killed someone, the way she'd lashed out at her once? Whatever it was, if all else failed she could ask Katherine - Kallisto - about it. She had influence, right? "That and you're doing a pretty shit job of actually making any demands, unless trying to intimidate teenagers is just your hobby. The hell do you even want?"

[Shamitako]

Cora

 

Though it didn't show, Cora was annoyed at Arturia for pointing out that she hadn't made any demands yet. But she was still defiant, Cora needed to push her now, so the girl would get an answer. "That's right, she's thirteen." Cora began to approach Arturia, pulling a stun gun out of the bag as she passed the table. Arturia had nowhere to run to, the door behind her would take too long to open and any other escape was past Cora, she was trapped. "And you're not much older, you can't do anything any more than she can." Cora grabbed Arturia by the hair, shoved the stun gun against her stomach, and leaned close to whisper in her ear. "So you're going to help Lilith pay for her dinner with your body." 

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia feigned shock and fear (well, her actual fear made that a bit easier) as the woman approached with her weapon, starting to put her hands up. She focused for a moment, despite her hair being pulled (she had a little sister, did Cora really think she'd never had her hair pulled?) trying to call up the power from before. As she transformed, she dropped the facade as she tried to knock the stun gun away with one hand - which her sword was forming in already - and threw a punch at the woman with the other. "Like hell I will!"

[Shamitako]

Cora

 

Arturia's transformation caught Cora off guard, but she wasn't the type to let an unexpected change faze her. Arturia's struggling proved futile, as Cora was a good bit stronger than the girl and her arm was not pushed away. Arturia's punch fell limp as electricity coursed through her, causing her body to convulse. It wasn't active long, but it was very effective at putting down Arturia's attempt at resistance, it didn't seem likely she would get very far by trying to fight. 

 

As she was recovering, Arturia was certain she heard the sound of a door opening, though it also sounded like Lilith was still in the shower. Maybe she was sneaking back to help. Cora didn't seem to catch it, instead telling Arturia, "Hell or not, you will do what you're told. Otherwise both you and Lilith will suffer." 

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia made a somewhat pathetic-sounding attempt at cursing as she went down from the shock; turns out it's sort of difficult to speak coherently when there's electricity coursing through you. Apparently having lightning powers did not make you shock resistant; she hadn't been counting on that, but it wouldn't have hurt, exactly. . . 

 

Resisting physically was apparently not working; the rational part of herself told her that she should just submit to the woman's demands for now, and just abscond with Lilith at the earliest opportunity for escape. What she would be forced to do in the meantime, however, was something that she didn't think she could handle. That, and she was trying not to be the type of person that gave up on something halfway through. She mumbled something into the floor - along the lines of "I don't even like girls" - while she tried to gather her strength, and then lunged at the woman once more, trying to sweep her feet out from under her.

[Shamitako]

Cora

 

Cora immediately shut down Arturia's attempt to tackle her by stepping on her back, or really something more along the lines of a stomp. The wind was cast from her, and she wasn't given time to recover as Cora knelt down and shoved the active stun gun into her again. 

 

The pain ceased to the sound of shouting. Not enraged, just loud for clarity. "Good, now turn around slowly." A woman, she looked to be in her early thirties, was pointing a handgun at Cora.

 

She was dressed in all black, like a secret agent from a TV show. Her skin was a deep brown, she had a tattoo of a knife on the right side of her face, dark red eyes, and short, curly black hair which was pushed back from her face by a red Alice headband (the only non-black item in her outfit).

 

Once Cora had complied and turned around, knife tattoo barked more orders at her. After having Cora slide her the weapon and move to one of the chairs knife tattoo tied her hands to it with some zip ties.

 

While this was happening, knife tattoo kept an eye on Arturia, waiting for her to recover enough to sit up. When Arturia did so, knife tattoo would address her. She didn't use the order barking voice she used with Cora, rather a much kinder tone, though one that still held an air of authority. "You alright, kid? I can't call the squad, but I know some first aid if you need." 

[Chevaleresse]

It took a few moments for Arturia to regain the ability to breathe properly, but when she did, she pulled herself up into a seated position using the nearby chairs and table to assist herself. "For a certain definition of alright." She took a couple of experimental deep breaths, wincing a bit. She realized somewhat belatedly that she was trembling a bit from the combination of lingering fear and its relief. "I gotta say, I wasn't really expecting to get the tar beaten out of me again when I came here. . ." She frowned slightly. It wasn't as if they had made a lot of noise, and it was a pretty big house. How did the woman know to show up here and now? Not that she was complaining; it's not as if Arturia had the situation handled. "Thank you, by the way, I don't know what I would have done if that had gone any further."

[Shamitako]

Knife

 

Knife smiled to her rescuee reassuringly. It felt good to help people, she only wished she'd come sooner. 

 

The woman Knife had tied up was scowling at her. "Who are you, anyways? How did you get in here?" She demanded. 

"Aht-tah-taht." Knife made a strange, rapid sound with her tongue and held up her finger to tell the angry woman to wait. "You first. Who are you, why were attacking this girl, and why wouldn't you lock your door before doing so?" 

The woman clammed up, her face turning red with rage and embarrassment. She wasn't going to say anything, but Knife hadn't expected her to do so anyways. That was fine, if she wouldn't tell her story, the victim certainly would. 

"So, what's your name?" She asked, "And why was this woman attacking you?" 

 

Stole Tys

 

"It's Stole Tys." Tys admonished Alva (though she did so politely and didn't seem angry). "And it's good to meet you, Alva. I am Ustole Kaede's mentor." She turned her attention to Kaede, though she tried not to come off as ignoring Alva. "Unfortunately, that's sort of why I'm here, though not in any official capacity. Apparently someone important from the church wants to talk to you about the events during your school outing, I wanted to brush up on your interview skills before she shows up."

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia glanced vaguely in the direction of the sounds of the shower before answering. Lilith wasn't going to get in trouble for this, right? Still, best not to mention her involvement immediately; it wasn't exactly hard to put two and two together, there. "Arturia Eberhardt. I came here to check up on a friend of mine, and as soon as she left the room, Cora here decided that I needed a job screwing older women for money. I disagreed." She knew why the door wasn't unlocked; the woman had likely expected Lilith to return, and. . , not to help her with her predicament. It hurt to think that, but it's not as if the girl knew Arturia that well. Plus, Cora had probably convinced her that she was doing a good thing for Lilith somehow. 

 

Somewhat belatedly, she realized something. She wasn't holding a sword made of lightning, but she was still in that platemail dress, which the police officer(?) didn't seem to notice and/or care about. Best not to mention it for now.

[Shamitako]

Knife

 

Knife was surprised at how calmly Arturia was able to relay the information that she was going to be molested. Cora was surprised by a backhanded slap to the face. She let out a yelp of pain, and started to protest before Knife silenced her with a glare. She trusted that Arturia wasn't lying, mostly because Arturia had been the one being stomped on.

 

Since Arturia had explained the situation, Knife figured it was her turn. "The name's Knife, yes, a long E, Bonnet. I'm here looking for a girl by the name of Lilith Perditia. I don't suppose either of you know her?"

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia stood the rest of the way up, partially to hide the dubious look that flickered across her face. "Yeah, I do, what do you need from her?" She had a sinking feeling about where this was going. Hopefully they just wanted to get her out of this situation and help her find somewhere to live where she wasn't being whored out by. . . was Cora actually her mother? She looked the part, at least. Hoping for things to go well hadn't seemed to have been working out so far, though it could have been much worse. If Knife hadn't showed up, and her suspicions about Lilith's lack of action had been correct. . . she didn't really want to think about what would have happened next.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Kaede

Kaede was confused at the statement. The church had never before to her knowledge taken any interest in her existence. She was nobody in... well perhaps that wasn't true. Her mothers were of import probably enough that by extention she was important. She wasn't sure why an important official would want to speak to someone such as her. She felt something about Tys coming to at the least prepare her for this,relief prehaps? She wasn't sure how things would go if she was blindsided by such.

"Apologies Alva. lt seems there's business l've to attend to." she said trying to as inconpicously as possible adjust the dog that was on the shelf behind that she'd not quite placed as she'd like. "l guess we should get to it then Tys. l shouldn't waste the time you've decided was best served helping me. l'd rather we not worry my friend with matters like this so it'd be prudent of us to go elsewhere for the timebeing, though l'm sure you had as much in mind in case Arturia was here. Lead the way please."

[Shamitako]

Knife

 

Knife noted that Arturia was on edge and smiled again to reassure her, "I just need to ask her some questions, though I made need to move her to a safer location."

The shower turned off, causing Cora to smile knowingly, "She'll be down shortly." She said, "And then you'll regret this." 

"Somehow I don't think I will." Knife answered casually. 

 

Lilith finally appeared a short while later. She was still wet from the shower and wasn't wearing a shirt. For the first time, Arturia got a clear look at her chest. It was covered in burn scars and shallow cuts, and there was a nasty looking bruise on her right breast. It was a little strange, how the injuries had been inflicted in such a way that they stayed well away from being visible past Lilith's skimpy outfits. It was too meticulous to be random abuse. 

 

Knife was visibly upset by this sight, and backhanded Cora again. Lilith responded with suspicion and anger. "Who are you?" She demanded. 

Knife realized a display of violence was not the best first impression, but it was too late to take it back. "Bonnet, Knife Bonnet." she introduced herself, "Are you Lilith?" 

"Yes. Why is Cora tied up?" 

"To stop her from hurting people, she won't hurt you anymore, okay? " Knife had begun moving across the room towards Lilith. Lilith backed away in response. Knife decided to risk pressing the issue. "Where do those scars come from?" 

"Mommy gives them to me. Are you going to tie mommy up too?" Lilith covered her chest defensively. 

Cora laughed, adding to the feeling of unease that was beginning to form. 

 

At the edge of the kitchen light, Lilith stopped backing away. Knife matched this and stopped her approach. Something was very wrong here, she felt uncomfortable approaching Lilith. She could have sworn that the shadows behind the girl were writhing about, threatening to lash out if she got any closer. Suddenly she realized that she was the one backing away now, and forced herself to stop. What was this feeling of dread? She'd faced down far worse than an abused little girl before, in fact she'd faced down an abused little girl before, this should have been a cake walk. 

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia glared at Cora venomously before returning her attention to Lilith, which fairly quickly replaced her expression with one of deep concern. Arturia was hoping her already incredibly-strained nerves would hold out long enough for her to try and defuse this situation. She felt the desire to break down and cry rising up within her, but she forced back as hard as she could manage. She slowly walked toward Lilith with her hands up slightly, her outfit clanking slightly with each footfall. "Lilith, it's okay." Step. "I'm here." Step. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Step. She realized that part of the uneasiness in the air wasn't just coming from her own thoughts on the situation. She glanced back at Knife for a moment, and jerked her head toward a door. It would probably be helpful if the woman left the room; Cora wasn't liable to be a threat at this point, and her questioning seemed to have only upset Lilith. "I'll do my best to protect you, okay? Just. . . calm down for a second." Step.

[Stalkerkain]

Esyllt

 

Lying comfortably on her bunk, Esyllt planned on dozing off. She didn't quite trust Caliko yet despite her outward personality, but there was no point in stressing out about it. If they were going to be rooming together for a while, there would be little use in constantly keeping an eye open for herself. It was a situation that was more 'wait-and-see' if things would blow over or escalate beyond return. Aside from that, there was still something that bothered her, that Sharp seemed to already be clued into by Caliko.

 

"So, for a girl who wanted to keep a low profile, why do something as open as moving into the school dorm?" she questioned. "Staying incognito in a crowded dorm doesn't quite seem like the best way to go about that, even for a publicity stunt."

[Shamitako]

Lilith

 

Knife took Arturia's instruction and backed off, dragging Cora out of the room with her, chair and all. Lilith kept her full attention on them until the door shut, at which point her gaze snapped to Arturia. The instant Lilith's eyes touched her, Arturia was stopped in her tracks by an overwhelming sense of terror. The tears that had been welling up inside her burst out, her emotions tearing free of her already flimsy control. In this moment, the yellow eyes of the girl in front of her was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen.

 

The shadows behind Lilith seemed to be pushing against the light, trying to break free. They must have had some physical presence, as a few dozen scratch marks had formed on the ground around Lilith's feet. What that meant for Arturia if they broke free was unclear, but it certainly didn't seem like she wanted to find out.

[Chevaleresse]

Arturia blanched, eyes going wide in fear even as the dam on her tears burst. She shied away from the girls' gaze, instinctively bringing her hands up to shield her face as if Lilith were prepared to physically batter her again; the earlier instance of the girl strangling her was suddenly a painfully clear memory. She was trying to do something other than cower and bawl, but cower and bawl she did, backing away from the younger girl and very nearly curling up into a ball at the edge of the room. "I'm sorry," she blubbered, "I'm sorry I'm sorry I was just trying to help you and I fucked everything up, please don't hurt me, I want to go home. . ." Lilith was going to kill her over this, wasn't she? Arturia started to half-blindly stumble toward the door, still choking out half-formed apologies between sobs, though between the amount of time she'd spent frozen on the spot and the lack of efficiency in her movement now, she wasn't liable to really get anywhere quickly should Lilith do any of the things Arturia seemed to think she might.

[Shamitako]

Lilith

 

Arturia's outburst of apologies snapped Lilith back to herself. Arturia was her find, she didn't want to hurt her. The shadows stilled as whatever was seeking to burst from her receded, and the fear her eyes cast returned to a slight discomfort. She felt miserable, how could she do something like that to her only friend?

 

Hurting Arturia made Lilith feel hollow, she needed mommy to love her and make her feel better. With a stilted, dazed looking gait, she made her way to the kitchen drawers and grabbed a spoon. A tendril of electricity formed from the back of her hand and entered the spoon, heating it up until it glowed red. She was careful as she pressed it to her chest, making certain it wouldn't be visible  even through her revealing clothing. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out in pain, Mommy didn't like when she made noise.

 

After burning herself three times, she cast the spoon aside and sat down, hugging herself and repeating a single phrase over and over: "Mommy loves me forever." 

[Chevaleresse]

The cessation of the fear projected from Lilith's gaze resulted in Arturia's progress away from her similarly halting. She dropped to the floor once again, a combination of lingering pain and mental exhaustion taking their toll now that the primal impetus to move had faded. She stayed there for a moment or two, trying to gather the scattered shards of her composure, her sobs gradually coalescing into heavier breathing and frequent sniffling. She was still crying a little; this entire situation was scary even without supernatural assistance, and a part of that apology was genuine; she really did feel as if she'd somehow made things worse for Lilith, helping to take away what she assumed passed for a maternal figure (awful as she was.) 

 

The sound of Lilith's actions in the kitchen pulled her attention back to the other girl and away from uselessly contemplating how she'd handled the situation thus far. She stood up back up unsteadily, blinking a few times to clear her eyes. Lilith's huddled figure combined with the still-hot spoon told Arturia everything she needed to know about what she had just missed. Fear rose in the back of her throat again as she started to move back toward Lilith, halting her progress momentarily; it wasn't being magically enforced, but it was hard to overcome both experiences in her current state. "Lilith. . ." Her hand shook as she reached out toward the girl, much as she had in the forest. She was already mentally preparing herself for the girl to lash out again, something that seemed to make it harder, not easier to extend her arm toward the nascent goddess. "I-I really am sorry, I keep trying to m-make things better and it just. . ."

[Shamitako]

Lilith

 

Much like in the decimated forest, Lilith lunged at Arturia. But instead of going for her neck, this time Lilith wrapped her arms around Arturia's waist. The hug was a little tight because of how strong Lilith was, but it wasn't exactly an attack like Arturia had been anticipating. Lilith sobbed against Arturia's chestpiece, just sobbing uncontrollably. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to be alone, but being around her was hurting Arturia. She didn't want to hurt Arturia, but she didn't know how to stop. And so she could only sob while clinging selfishly to the very person she should have been pushing away.