Cinia Pacifica Posts

Every night, the members of the BloodLuSt Organization in the house would gather in the living room. It didn’t matter if anyone was missing, the gathering would take place regardless. In these gatherings Ansel would serve alcohol while the others would simply socialize and converse. Usually, they’d always end up doing something every night, and it was always different. At least it usually was. Sometimes if a request to repeat an event was made, it’d likely happen.

Yesterday was a game of truth and dare. Today was to be a game of battling. One full of bone-crushing regret.

The Countess was the one usually deciding whenever she was around. Otherwise, it’d be Marco or Ansel. Sometimes even Rose, but not Claudia. Someone joked that Claudia would have truly insane proposals, hence why she was expressly barred as a result. Something Claudia didn’t exactly take offense to, but she didn’t enjoy.

Tonight, the Countess had returned from her absence. By the time Claudia came down from the second floor to join the party, her employer had a glass of whiskey and a hookah at the same time. One who knew not the sufferings that could be caused by the indulgence of alcohol or any kind of addictive intake was almost always known to be a Descendant or an abnormal equivalent to the mundanes, and the Blood Countess happened to be one herself.

Naturally, Claudia was accompanied by her maid that was Cosette, who started to dress more casually, but intentionally avoided anything too fashionable.

“Oh, good evening, my dear!” the Countess greeted with enthusiasm after seeing Claudia. At least three weeks had passed since they last saw each other, and it seemed like Catherine was very happy to find her again. “How have you been faring?”

“Good evening, my Countess. I’ve fared surprisingly well these few weeks, though not a second has been worth without your company,” Claudia said with a bow. She glanced back to her maid and smirked. “Well, some of it has been worthwhile.”

“So everything was not boring after all. How was the neighborhood?”

Claudia waved her hand to the side, portraying the city to be so-so. “Not the best place in the world, but I can manage.”

“I suppose we did choose to not stay in the very center where you may see the so-called †˜towers.’ I hope you don’t get many looks from the people,” the Countess said, but she giggled. “But that’s impossible, yes?”

“Haha, I kinda wish that wasn’t so...” Claudia said, self-consciously glimpsing at her own attire, realizing how much allure it granted.

“Would you join me for a toast?” the Countess said, ushering at the bottle of whiskey on the table beside her sofa where she was laying on. “After all, it has been a while.”

Claudia smiled. “Absolutely. A drink or two couldn’t hurt.” She took a prompt seat along the sofa, preparing her own glass. An afterthought told her to care for her servant as well, so she pat the seat next to her and beckoned Cosette over with the bottle of whiskey. “You too, Cosette,” she said with a smile.

“You should have simply taken a seat and let me pour the drinks, my Lady,” Cosette said, coming over to Claudia and sitting beside her.

“Oh come on, I’m not that lethargic.”

“Now, now,” the Countess interfered, giving a wink. “Take it as an expression of goodwill.”

Claudia simply shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself.”

Cosette took the bottle from Claudia’s hand and poured the alcohol for her as she held up a glass. She then placed it on the table.

“Alright then, cheers!” They toasted with a clicking noise of the glasses, then they drank the beverage. “Mn, I missed these nights a little.”

“I missed you guys,” Claudia added, taking a sip of her drink. “So how has everyone been? Any stories to share?”

“A lot of stories. You have no idea. These past days have been eventful, or at least, interesting foreshadowings of events to come,” the Countess said.

“Events to come? I’m curious; what might that be? Or will you save that until the last minute in a similar Countess-like fashion?” Claudia chuckled.

“Have I done so before?” The Countess raised her brows, apparently amused at the remark. “Well, regardless, it seems like Virgo will take action soon.”

“And that means we have to get moving as well, yes?”

“We will likely be shadowing the event and keeping a keen eye on things. We may attack Sagittarius, however,” the Countess replied.

Marco sighed, sitting opposite to the Countess, Claudia, and Cosette. “Another tall order. We have to skulk around a hundred magi or so.”

“Deal with it,” Rose said as she joined him. “This is all that we are good for.”

“Besides, what’s more uplifting than engaging in a few life threatening operations? The excitement is what makes it fun!” Claudia beamed.

“This will be a big operation for us regardless,” the Countess said, letting out a breath full of smoke. “Marco, your objective is to find the enemy Descendants. Rose, you’ll be finding the locations of Virgo and her cronies. Claudia, your objective is to search for the other Descendants but your main mission is to assassinate Mary Shelley… or just enslave her, or whatever.”

Suddenly Claudia’s glass of whiskey shattered in a single hand. It seemed like that extra ditzy disposition made a rather steep one-eighty.

“Say what?”

“You heard me. Your job is to take out Mary. She has been a bit of a thorn in my path for some time now.”

As if the curve in Claudia’s smile couldn’t curl further than it already had. Her shoulders jerked as the incessant crazed laugh grew, trickling up her lungs like a bad omen. Before Claudia realized it, she was laughing, not even caring to mind the blood running down her wrist and hand.

As if she had just heard a bad joke, Claudia had to calm herself down, wiping the tears of joy from her eyes.

“Understood…”

“Did I say something I shouldn’t have?” the Countess questioned, quirking an eyebrow.

Marco and Rose sighed in unison.

“Of course not,” Marco said, smiling.

“Couldn’t have been left to someone more sane,” Rose commented, chuckling.

Claudia coughed nervously, her cheeks flaring red with embarrassment. “Oh–my bad. I… got a little too excited, there.”

“Well, we might try to attack Natsu. My hope is that the Descendants will be taken out by Virgo, or they’ll take out Virgo… which I hope not,” the Countess said.

“Which outcome is better for us?” Claudia asked.

“You already know. In a way I do kind of… like the Descendant from Russia? Ahem. Anyway, Virgo may become an ally in the future, so we wouldn’t want her gone just yet,” the Countess replied.

“Granted she’s capable of getting the attention of other Descendants on strength alone, I don’t think I have any room to complain, frankly.” Claudia scratched at the back of her head, absently thinking of cutting her hair after all this was over. “So in a way of speaking, she’s a liability.” That’s funny, she likes the Descendant of… wait, what?

“A liability, you say?” Marco questioned.

“Is that not how you describe those who you are dependent of? Like an ace in a hole, or something along those lines?”

“In that case we’d become the liabilities to her, yes?” Marco said.

“I see, so we’re the liabilities. Man, I’m losing my grasp on my sophisticated way of speaking more and more… haha…” Wait… what?

“You’d fail at economics, haha,” Marco said. “Not that it matters. I doubt you like mundane schools.”

“What’s the difference between that and the Royal Academy—aside from the fact that you need to be privileged to attend?”

“It’s a big difference, fair Lady. The Royal Academy is one of the Magic Academies so only mages are allowed to study there in general. There are some mundane schools in England, but I doubt you’ve heard of them due to their infamy among the rich and the powerful. Basically, mundanes learn more… normal things. Nothing about magic but perhaps math, chemistry, sociology or the likes.”

“God forbid that I learn any of those things, especially math. Much too confusing to the eyes.”

“Hah. I figured they taught that at the Royal Academy too. It’s an important subject after all.”

“Oh yeah! Let’s hope that none of us overlook the trajectory of our attacks, or miss the square root of ten and hit our enemies in the shoulders when we intended for a headshot! Good Lord, not the trajectory or square roots!” Claudia said, sarcastically.

“Those good with math are good at targeting, though,” Rose stated. “Not that it matters since you play melee all day, but it matters for someone who hits from afar.”

“Does it matter for you? I mean– everything you hit does manage to explode in the end.”

“A precise explosion rips out the heart, or kidneys, or something. See what I mean, my dear?” Rose replied.

“Yeesh. Math’s fuckin’ brutal,” Claudia mused.

“And if you know Human Biology like Rose, you can break tendons or something specifically. So don’t screw around with her. It’s scary, I tell you,” Marco said, chuckling.

“Hush,” Rose scoffed.

Claudia chuckled. “I dunno, I often just skip the other vital areas and go for the throat, or any other vein I can find,” she began. “...On the other hand… making someone bleed out from even the smallest of cuts on something important sounds tantalizing. Haha.”

“I doubt it’s easy to hit them even if you spot them. It takes a lot of work,” Marco said, sighing. “I tried once. Let’s just say that it was something I gave up on ten days later. You have to get used to angling your weapon for every different type of height you come across if you’re melee. Same for long ranged sniping. Actually, sniping is worse. I didn’t try it, but I just know it. It’s good to fight the old-fashioned way.”

“This is why you guys lose so much,” Rose said with a “hmph” as she turned away, while the Countess burst out laughing.

“Hey, hey, hey. Blame a girl for only learning melee as a knight,” Claudia defended, puffing her cheeks.

“You had a good chance in the Royal Academy to learn everything that could help, or are you saying that you weren’t admitted?” Rose stated, smiling. “I studied there too, you know? You just never cared to notice your senior.”

Claudia snorted. “I’m just old-fashioned, and more importantly, lazy. I’m fairly certain everyone knew that I would rather stay up all night reading porn than to study, y’know?”

“Does porn even exist there?” Rose asked Marco.

“Nope. Except really rare and smuggled foreign ones by the dwellers of the Magic World. Maybe that’s how she got a few.”

“I would think most of them were Victorian books regardless.”

“Of course, they were more or less close to that century except like a few ones. If a mundane would seldom come across a book from the future, they’d start to think nonsense to the eyes of the society, after all.”

“On that note, I did play a hand in letting foreign books illegally go to the market,” the Countess said proudly. “Now you know how you got your Fifty Shades of Grey and all, dear.”

“We didn’t know this…” Marco said, sighing.

“Wow, even long before, you had a hand in improving my life,” Claudia beamed, fanning herself with a hand.

“I’m so great, right?” the Countess giggled. Wait, improving? “In all honesty, however, my influence was not so great in that field. I started to focus on growing my roots in England in other industries. That’s when I came across the family that I am affiliated with now.”

“Huh. Go figure,” Claudia said.

“So Claudia dear, how are your dancing lessons? I believe you started taking them some time ago?” Catherine asked.

“Ah, yes. I’ve improved from when I first… attempted. I finally learned how to spin on my toes and flow with the music. And I stopped stepping on my instructor’s toes, too!”

“That’s nice,” Catherine praised. “What are you practicing again? Ballerina?”

Claudia wholeheartedly nodded. “I thought it was fitting for someone as slender as myself.”

“Color me surprised that she didn’t just jump straight into hip-hop or the likes,” Marco remarked with a grin.

“That, my love, is for when I master Ballerina, of course,” Claudia explained. Though, I don’t think I have a big enough ass for what some of the women do in those… music videos. Shit.

“Sounds like a long trip, fair Lady.”

“Yeah, yeah. I think I have a better chance at improving quickly, though. I am a prodigy in most things I do, after all–though I’m too lazy to actually strive like most prodigies...”

Is that so…? Everyone in the room thought and gave Claudia a stare.

“...W-What are you all staring at? Did I get some glass in my face too?” Claudia asked, checking around her face for any stray shards.

The Countess snickered, while Marco and Rose looked away with forced smiles.

“A-Ah, yeah. You’re great, fair Lady,” Marco said.

“Yes, that’s right. I agree with Marco,” Rose somehow mumbled.

Placing her hands on her hips and nodding jubilantly, as if achieving greatness, Claudia hummed. “Damn right.”

However, the Countess burst out laughing.

“Ahh! Mi’lady, you can’t do that now!” Marco said in a hushed tone but it was easily heard by everyone.

Rose palmed her forehead and sighed.

“She beat us. So straightforwardly at that,” Rose admitted.

“I didn’t make a joke, did I?” Claudia asked, completely clueless.

“N-No, certainly not, fair Lady,” Marco reassured, somehow, it helped that Claudia was so dense at situations like these. “The Countess just has other things in mind. Right, Mi’lady?”

“Y...Yes… !” the Countess blurted out while laughing and holding her stomach. “Sorry, sorry, I was thinking of a different joke.”

Claudia reclined into the sofa and huffed. “Well, if you’re done, we can get back to talking about me, and how awesome I am!”

“Are we late?”

The door was opened and Claudia met someone familiar.

Iris Rosenberg and her maid just entered the house, and they seemed awfully late indeed.

“Ah, yes. I did invited you two, didn’t I?” Catherine said as if reminding herself. “Come, feel free to relax here with us.”

“Yo! Iris!” Claudia greeted enthusiastically. Clearly she was on her good side after making Lachesis Fang for her.

“Good evening, Miss Farris.” Iris greeted in return, giving a bow. Iris sat down beside Rose while the maid stood behind the sofa.

“I suppose only Ansel will be missing for tonight,” Marco mused openly.

“Yes, he is still conducting his investigations,” the Countess stated.

“For the next operation, I’m guessing?” Claudia assumed.

“Probably. Our agreement with Virgo is to provide as much as we can about the campaign Victoria is running,” Catherine answered.

Claudia snickered. “How is she still alive after this long? Practically everyone, including us, is at her throat. One would think someone would’ve at least gotten lucky enough by now.”

“You mean Queen Victoria?” Rose asked.

“The one and only.”

“Well… she has a lot more people supporting her,” Marco stated. “Even if she isn’t a Descendant to a lot of people, they have a lot of force concentrated around her.”

“I guess that’s natural for a Queen…” Claudia sighed. “At worst, a Descendant Queen gaining traction like that... I don’t see our odds of living normally being good at all if we manage to kill her.”

“Not like it’d change anything since we’re still terrorists,” Marco said, laughing.

Claudia snorted. “That said, I realized that I’m stacking more titles on top of my head than I could count. From Diabolist, to Vampire. And from Vampire, to terrorist. What’s next? Dictator? Slave driver? The very embodiment of Death herself?”

“Except the last, you got all of them anyway,” Marco remarked.

“Shit, really? I’m not a dictator.” Claudia pouted.

“You aren’t?” Marco said, raising his brows.

“I don’t remember manning an entire army to overthrow Victoria. If anything, that’d be the Countess’ role.”

“I’m sure a victim of your dictatorship is very close to you,” Cosette said from beside Claudia.

An ugly snort came from Claudia, possibly the ugliest sounding one to date as she burst out laughing. “Oh man, I… I completely forgot about you, Cosette,” she said, trying to compose herself. “But no, I say that’s more of my… I’ll say kind carnal acts towards you. Not dictatorship.”

“You can sugarcoat it however you want, but that’s still dictatorship.”

“Except, that’s the least I can do. You haven’t seen me act as a dictator yet, sweetie. In fact...” Claudia paused to crack her neck. “I’ll give you a front row seat for when I catch Mary, yeah?”

“Are you sure you aren’t exaggerating? Even on the conversation about prodigy earlier…” Cosette scoffed. What a disgusting bitch. “Besides, I am not coming for that operation it seems…” her voice was low and she was not heard over the next set of words coming through Claudia’s mouth however.

“I mean—I did say that I was lazy… though, that only counts for things I don’t care about, y’know?” Claudia explained, smirking. Fucking uptight cunt.

“A-Anyway, Miss Farris,” Iris began to shift the conversation from the heavy tension. “Would you mind lending me the Lachesis’ Fang later? I shall do its maintenance for your next battle.”

“Oh, sure. I don’t mind at all.” Claudia nodded.

“Would you like a drink, Miss Rosenberg?” Marco offered.

“No, I do not drink,” Iris declined.

“So… what are we doing tonight?” Rose asked. It seemed like no one had a good idea, including the Countess.

“I’m not sure…” Catherine responded lazily while letting out a puff of smoke from her mouth. “Any suggestions?”

Claudia glanced about the the room, smirking as despite her being barred from making any suggestions, she was so tempted to anyway. “How about…” she began. “We fight, Countess? You and I. One on one. For old time’s sake?”

“Oh? You’d wish to reenact that fight where you sorely lost your temper?” Catherine asked in an amused tone despite the harsh words.

“I’ve improved since then! Besides, I’ve fared well against Marco and Rose by myself, and I can mostly hold out against a Descendant on my own. Why not? It’s not like anyone else has any suggestions.”

“I wouldn’t say you held out so well against Aries…” Marco said, scratching his cheek.

“I was doing fine until he split my veins in half, the bastard. I could’ve killed him right there, I tell you!” Claudia defended.

“And you were defeated so sorely that you were unable to move for days…” Rose continued after Marco, shaking her head.

“And that’s something I’ll make sure’ll never happen again,” Claudia replied. “Frankly, I’m just about sick of getting the short end of the stick. And who knows? The Countess—Gods forbid—won’t be around to hold my hand, too. I want to show that I can actually hold out against something.”

“Well, Countess?” Marco asked, his eyes had a pleading look that told her not to cut Claudia to a million pieces.

“Well, indeed,” Rose repeated, her eyes telling Countess to cut Claudia a trillion pieces, for the sake of a laugh.

“Hm… are you sure you want this, my dear?” Catherine finally questioned.

“Right now? More than anything. I want to prove something. Anything. Please, Countess.”

“Alright.” The Countess was done with the hookah and sat up straight and yawned, stretching her body to straighten it up. “What kind of a difficulty would you like? Easy? Normal? Hardy?”

Claudia tilted her head. “What kind of question is that? Just fight me seriously. I won’t get the full experience otherwise.”

“Let’s just say that †˜easy’ is where Blayze was at.”

“...What? Blayze was… w-what?” Claudia was almost regretting this straight off.

“Well? I’m waiting,” Catherine prodded with a grin.

Claudia knew. This devil was perked up a little too much for her to back out now.

...You know what? Fuck it. “Yeah, give me easy. I’ve been out of the game too long to just hesitate to fight.”

“Pfft.”

Claudia heard everyone aside from the Countess and Iris snickering and hiding their faces from her.

“...Somehow, I’m gonna hate myself even more after this.” Claudia furrowed her brows at her own snickering comrades. Assholes…

Cosette wasn’t even laughing, she was openly chuckling, and was likely looking forward to this.

“To the basement, people,” the Countess said. With this, the battle was confirmed to take place and people no longer thought of this as a joke. In truth, Claudia’s comrades—except Cosette—was hoping that the Countess would claim that her acceptance was a joke and she’d suggest something else.

After a month now, Claudia and her gang had moved over to New York.

Here, they didn’t have a villa, but a house of their own altogether. Claudia had the novel experience of taking an airplane trip again, and moreover, a chance to experience a life in a different area for longer than usual.

She wasn’t exactly a fan of the neighbors since they’d give her gazes as if she was strange. Not that they were wrong, but she didn’t like the type of unwanted attention she was receiving.

They came over because Natsu was supposedly here, and due to Virgo too, but nothing had happened yet and the Countess had yet to divulge all of her plans. In fact, the Descendant who was known to make the Magic World shake in fear at her wake was away once again for business untold. Perhaps it was best left untold, while one part of Claudia wanted to get involved in all the different things she was up to, Claudia had her own things to do, such as learning to dance.

Claudia was probably the only one who was bored in the house, however. Rose was doing her own thing and she wasn’t an able companion to kill time with. In fact, going to Rose’s room would mean a nightmare of a day apparently. She hated to be intruded upon. Marco was also out due to some investigation missions he had taken upon himself. Ansel was also doing the same as Marco apparently, but he had very different methods of working. She wasn’t sure where George was, even. Perhaps with the Countess as usual.

As Claudia was musing about various things in her room about the recent happenings, the door abruptly opened, and Cosette finally entered, after who knew how long, her slave had returned.

“I have returned, Lady Claudia,” Cosette said, giving a bow. “I apologize for being away for so long.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” Claudia said, giving a casual wave. “Are you finding New York okay? The buildings here are amazing. The people? Not so much.”

“Well, it is better than Russia, if anything,” Cosette answered plainly, as if Claudia’s conclusions were not surprising. “The people? You have interacted with them?”

“Overhearing their conversations are interacting enough for me,” Claudia replied, turning toward her window. “So far, Americans are just as I’ve heard; hate and fear-filled fools, the lot of them. They speak of terrorists fairly a lot, don’t they?”

“Just how much do you hear?” Cosette questioned, not sure how to take the opinions of her owner. It seemed over-the-top to her. Wasn’t she too harsh to people she hardly knew? “Surely even supernatural senses of a Representative doesn’t carry that far. Unless you are, of course, going out on a walk and eavesdropping.”


Claudia snorted. “I hear enough, just from a casual walk. Maybe I’m just nosey and can’t resist hearing what others have to say. Haha.”

“You are nosey indeed. That is a lack of manners. You should be respecting private space, Lady Claudia,” Cosette scolded. “How much privacy do you respect among your comrades in the house if you pry so much on pedestrians?”

“Well…” A snide smirk struck Claudia’s looks as she averted her eyes from her servant. “I don’t always do it to you guys. Perhaps when boredom hits, but I have to be a certain amount of stult to want to do that.”

“That is… indeed rude,” Cosette concluded.

Chuckling, Claudia padded with playful steps around her room, throwing in a twirl or two. “I know, it’s a dreadful habit, one of the many I’ve developed this month passed, actually. Am I truly bad for being impulsive like that?”

“Well, you are selfish, I suppose this was a given.” Cosette sighed. “Are we to be deployed soon? Or did I miss the battles already?”

“No battles that I know of yet. It’s safe to assume that if Sagittarius is here, dear Countess might deploy us sometime soon.” Before she knew it, Claudia was absently dancing on the tips of her toes, better than the last time she attempted. “Let’s hope to not repeat last time, yeah? I’d rather not be impeded by her mages again.” She came to a sudden stop midspin to face Cosette with a thought. “By the way, where were you during the fight with Aries?”

Cosette quirked her eyebrows. “So I did miss a fight, is what you are saying, my Lady?”

“That would be the reason why I am asking, yes,” Claudia answered.

“So you say †˜no battles’ and then say †˜yes there were.’ Which one is it? ...Well, anyway, I was sent on an errand by your Lady Countess.”

“And here I was thinking you intended to hang back and watch me get my ass kicked again. Haha.”

“I… what?”

“I don’t think the Countess bought you just so you can play dumb, dear. I know what you did–or rather, didn’t do—in Japan. What I don’t know is why I didn’t address it as soon as I realized. I’m not mad, though. Rather, I would do the same if my master was an ass to me.”

“Well, you are an ass indeed,” Cosette admitted, looking down, and then she bowed. “I apologize for it.”

Claudia sighed, scratching at her scalp. “Well, I guess I deserved that one,” she said. “You shouldn’t apologize for your true feelings, though. Damned if I don’t practice what I preach. I believe the Countess told me something similar when I was on the verge of joining her.”

“No… please accept my apologies. I know it was wrong to leave my master to suffer that way, even if I was indulging my battle.”

“Jeez, you hate me, but you’re sorry for it. Why would that be so? Because you’re obligated? Give me a fuckin’ break.”

“Your Mistress bought me and you own me now. This is the least you deserve for my conduct.”

Taking subtle steps towards her servant, so much that she was able to compare sizes with her, Claudia hummed. “Is that so? Then a simple bow and apology, is it?” She touched foreheads with her and dropped her smile right there. “I don’t take well with facades, Cosette. You see that I’m just getting over mine after—I don’t know—most of my life. I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me; I hate you, Claudia. You are an abrasive piece of shit, Claudia. Say what you want about me, but lying to my face? Saying I deserve respect? Right now, that is something I hate more than the Church, or Mary, or even myself.”

“Are you saying that you do not want me to act like your slave then? Yes, I do hate you, Lady Claudia, and you are really an abrasive piece of shit—according to yourself—but that and my responsibilities are two separate things here.”

“If acting like a passive aggressive bitch is acting like my slave, then by all means; drop the act.” Claudia’s smile returned. “Look at me, developing actual feelings for you. Feeling sorry for you… what a fucking idiot I turned out to be.”

“Are you sure that first comment wasn’t about yourself?”

“We’re done talking about myself. The spotlight is on you, my dear.”

“Well, passive aggressive bitch, I think just hating you doesn’t necessarily make me similar to you.”

“Ohoho, scathing. You’re right about one thing; who’d want to be like me anyways? If I felt like it, if I lost the last morsel of my self-control, my dear, you would be given a really good reason to hate me.”

“How oppressive. As if rape was not a good reason already.”

“Would you like to repeat it?”

“That is not up to me.”

“Maybe I should. That way, I’ll be able to get that pole out of your ass.”

“What is with your silly obsession with the bums of people? It is quite disturbing, and unwell for you in a hygienic sense.”

“Oh, so you’re a comedian now?” Claudia snorted.

“I don’t really consider myself one.”

“Well aren’t you a cheeky bitch? By the by, my obsession with other people’s asses is another one of my impulses. Yours in particular… well, I’d say that started it.”

“...You disgust me.” Despite her reaction, however, Cosette’s face was beet red as she looked away.

“I’m a lot of things. Disgusting is only at the bottom of the list,” Claudia mused, pecking Cosette on the cheek.

She did not react. Rather, it seemed like Cosette was bearing with her light kisses. Albeit it was obvious that she was extremely distressed.

“Hmm? What’s the matter my dear? You don’t want to slap me again?”

She kissed her again, this time on the forehead. “I would think that’s your natural reaction to my behavior, yeah?” She kissed Cosette once more, on the other cheek. At this point, Claudia was trying to provoke the girl.

“A… A maid doesn’t—nghh, stop that!—do such a thing.”

“You did it before, what makes it any different now?” Claudia tilted her head, and went for her so-called maid’s neck, humming. Before she knew it, the girl’s own hands found Cosette’s addicting rear, and she just chuckled. “Funny. I apologized for this exact thing not too long ago… screw it. You’re just so alluring sometimes.” She ended up feverishly peppering kisses on the girl’s collarbone. “Come on, Cosette. You seemed so sure of yourself before. Express that hate in the same manner you’re always so quick to resort to—oh.” Claudia smirked. “I just remembered; that’s why I was so attracted to you, you hateful woman…”

Cosette was visibly cringing.

“Fine, I’ll just play by your game then.”

Shoving Claudia to her bed with a push, all her mistress saw was her palm that displayed great strength. Unlike Claudia, however, she was much rougher in how she held her down, and sunk her fangs under Claudia’s skin on her neck, drinking her blood.

In actual fact, Cosette was no vampire, but a dhampir, but that didn’t mean that she lacked the fangs or the abnormal want for blood. Her desires were just not as strong as the vampires.

Surprised, Claudia let out a shrill yelp. However despite this, she was so pleased, that her smirk remained.

“Oh my, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Just doing my job,” Cosette answered, her lips draped with deep scarlet blood. “I am sure you like these kinds of acts anyway, you sick perverted lady.”

“Well bless your heart,” Claudia said, chuckling at the sight of her own blood, regardless of the sting in her neck. She looked like she was having the time of her life. “Do your worst.” The curve in her smile grew larger with that.

Needless to say, Claudia’s words fell on deaf ears, and Cosette resumed drinking her blood. Cosette’s eyes glimmered crimson and she lost herself in the pleasure of drinking blood.

“My, you’re as gluttonous as I am…” she said, gasping approvingly at the pain. “Fuck—don’t tease, you cheeky bitch. You’re gonna make me lose my mind…”

Svetlana was on the rooftop of the Hotel Edison. She held her temple, and was barely able to walk.

Recently, she spent her days battling with emotions. All kinds of hateful emotions spiralled within the confines of her mind. The bloodlust for revenge coursed strongly through her veins. It was difficult to keep herself in check. She could only praise Isabelle at the corner of her mind for how strong she was in staying sane, and realized what she might’ve been going through all this time.

Svetlana’s eyes flickered black for a moment, almost letting out a bloodcurdling yell from insanity, but she blinked and found herself to be normal again. Panting, she fell to her knees and looked down. Beads of sweat dropped.

It took five minutes for her to calm down, and her mind was starting to come clean of the evil thoughts. Just as she thought it’d be alright, she roared with her eyes turning again.

“Give yourself to me…” A voice of a woman whispered to her in her mind with a tempting tone.

A pat on the shoulder, and she woke up from what felt like a nightmare.

“Are you alright?”

Svetlana looked up to find a lady before her, her platinum hair being caressed gently by the passing breeze. A person seemingly younger than her despite the difference in physique—around eighteen—her right eye was a bright golden, while the left eye was a blue like the sky.

Her name was Mary Shelley.

She met her before deciding to join the team to fight Virgo. There were many teams made for the campaign and she wanted to join Lily’s group, thus she came so far. However, it seemed like Mary could somehow see what was inside her. This was inconvenient to her, seeing as how having a demonic entity inside her would be seen as committing taboo in the Magic World, but Mary didn’t seemed to report it.

“I’m fine,” Svetlana answered after giving Mary only a glance.

“Is it hard to hold it back?” Mary asked. She ignored what seemed like Svetlana’s attempt at ignoring her, and pursued the matter regardless out of care, giving a smile, noting the drops of sweat on the floor. “You don’t have to act tough.”

“Why does it matter to you? I already said I’m fine,” Svetlana said with a glare.

“Do you want me to help with your demon? I can make it less painful for some time.”

“How so exactly?”

“You’ll know when it happens.”

“Why should I trust you on this anyway? I just met you recently.”

“We are on the same team now. You will have to trust me and I will have to do the same here and there, is that not true?”

“I suppose. Alright, but you better not try anything funny.”

“Very well, simply look into my golden eye.”

After Mary told her so, Svetlana took the risk and peered deeply into her golden eye. It felt like she was being lied to for a moment, but after about five seconds, her mind convulsed. There was something like a pulse all throughout her body. There were strange visions, like the holy cross or Jesus Christ, or the stars and celestial objects. She wasn’t sure what to make of anything before it all ended in an instant.

Svetlana then looked down at herself. She actually felt much better. Her mood didn’t change, but the demon’s grasp was almost completely gone. Likely, this was temporary as Mary herself suggested, but it was better than nothing.

“Feeling better?” Mary asked.

“Yes, but what happened?”

Mary got up, letting go of Svetlana’s shoulders. “Just a little trick of mine.”

“You can’t just leave me with an explanation like that. That was no trick. Exactly what did you do?”

“Well, why not come here at least and take a seat,” Mary suggested, going over to a clipart bench and sitting down. “It looks weird talking while being on the floor like that,” she joked, laughing.

“Fine,” Svetlana said, sitting beside her.

“I just happen to have this power with my eye. Nothing special. As I said, I am a clairvoyant.”

“That seems more special to me. Considering it can suppress the demon.”

“Only for a while. Nothing that great to me. I would wager your power to be much more capable in the long-term. If you master it, that is,” Mary said, looking up to the sky.

“Hmph. Well it made me feel better, so thank you.”

“Why did you take up such a power? As you may know, it would be dangerous if the Magic World takes notice.”

“I need to get stronger. I can’t forgive Virgo for what she did. I also couldn’t let this monster continue to live within Isabelle. I prefer it to be within me than her.”

“I see. Just be careful. You don’t want it to come out when others are around. I do not think much of the teammates will mind, but strangers likely may report it.”

“I know. I only intend to use it once I find Virgo.”

“Hopefully with the little charm I cast you’ll succeed in keeping it in check,” Mary said with a wink.

“I suppose we’ll see.”

Mary got off the seat and stretched her arms and yawned. “I suppose I shall just get some breakfast now. Want to join me?”

“Okay,” Svetlana simply said as she followed.

In the apartment where Virgo resided, Weiss had finally awakened. Her slumber elapsed for almost a month after the upgrades were implemented on her. It seemed like her body was shut off for a considerable time. She felt drowsy and it felt a little hard to move after so long as she awoke.

“How do you feel?” was the first question she heard after a minute.

Looking to the left, Weiss found the Steel Princess—her employer—wearing only a silver nightgown. She soon found herself was placed over a bed made of steel with a magic circle scribbled under it. This was the bed where she was operated on, and went over various upgrades to the mechanical aspects of her body. As an android, these maintenances were given, but this time it came along with an upgrade supposed to make her stronger than before. After all this time, what could her Mistress possibly improve? One could only wonder.

“I feel…” Weiss shook her head, sitting up straight before facing her employer. “A sudden surge of power like I’ve never felt before. I guess it’s been long since I got switched off.”

“T’was twenty-eight days. You might’ve taken longer before,” the Steel Princess stated, but her voice wasn’t robotic like before; she sounded more human than ever. Her metallic claws remained the same but Weiss couldn’t feel the very same employer as before. “If you’re hungry we can get something to eat.”

Weiss’ eyes widen after hearing the Princess’ voice. “When did—actually, nevermind.”

“Hm? Something the matter, young soldier?”

With how she worded her sentence, it was like a King talking to a soldier rather than the way it was in the past, where it was like an employer to an assassin.

“N-No, It’s nothing ma’am.” Weiss stood up wobbly. She then stretched her arms and legs. “I guess I need to drink something to sink all of this in,” said Weiss.

“It’s still morning but… alcohol? Perhaps wine, albeit it’s weak. Right now, that’s all we have aside from water.”

The Steel Princess smiled as she suggested it. Her air of charisma was something Weiss couldn’t remember feeling from her employer before.

“W-Water is fine, ma’am.” Weiss sighed. After all these decades, this is the strangest acid trip I’ve ever had.

“Is something the matter? You seem distressed,” Virgo said, carefully examining Weiss’ countenance. “Or is my true self that frighteningly different?”

“Yes, ma’am. Pardon my rudeness but it’s like I’m no longer talking to an emotionless person but rather a living human being.” Weiss sighed again and continued, “Are you still the same person that employed me, ma’am?” Weiss then knelt down and lowered her head.

“I am not a human being,” the Steel Princess said, apparently offended by the statement. “But I was once human and my personality and emotions returned as I consumed the hearts of my clones. I am now who I was originally,” she explained. “So, no, I am not the same person who hired you. I have changed, but my original objectives and notions haven’t changed.”

“I see.” Weiss stroked her chest in relief.

“By the way, I found out where the Duke is; that man called Powlett, or Agent John as The Society calls him.”

Weiss twitched and clenched her right hand. “Finally, he will die by your rifle if not by my own two hands!” She shivered with excitement.

“...Anyway, he’s in California, and he’ll be boarding an airplane soon.” Virgo divulged the information, then turned away. “Feel free to ambush him in the plane. I’m sure it’ll be harder to escape from there.”

A fight in a plane… I’ll have him go down in flames this time. Weiss stood up and bowed. “Thank you, ma’am! I shall go right away.” She looked around and found her rifle right in the corner of the room.

“...What happened to getting water?”

“I can drink as I go. For now I must go to get my revenge!”

“Alright, good luck.”

“Thank you ma’am!”

The Steel Princess shrugged, seeing the visage of Weiss running off already. I guess I can send some help later.

I claim Ekaterina "Katja" Kurae from Seikon no Qwaser as my waifu.

I also claim Cinia Pacifica from Sword Girls Online as my waifu.

Welp I should've just shut my mouth instead of typing so much.

I didn't really expect to win so I'm happy. Happy for the cash anyway. Congrats to other winners too. Good to see Xnine made it to the honorable mentions. Thanks Xenon, Leonard, and High for taking the time to read my entry as judges, and hosting this year's Winter Writing Contest. It was a pleasure to participate instead of judging after a long time. It really has been a long time since I was a participant and god I feel bad for being lazy as a judge back in the Summer Contest because the wait can make people nervous.

I want to thank those who commented on my entry. I think I have returned the favor by posting my thoughts on their threads too. So maybe I can just be lazy for the rest of the entries and sit back and fade... ahem.

Xenon please, I expected something more impressive from an ode by you. Disappointed officially... but thanks.

Judges, I'd love to know your thoughts and opinions on my entry. If there's no constructive criticism to provide, that's also fine. I just want to know what each of you think in-depth.

Aight cool.

Uh, do the bonus claim apply after all the rounds are over or as soon as approval is given?

By the way, my reply to your post in my thread is delayed thanks to studies and RPing, but it'll come soon. Your post is a bit too big.

Wow, did not expect to even win. Congratulations, Sound. That was intense.

I claim as my waifu Hoshimiya Ichigo from Aikatsu!

[1:12:48 PM] Shokuhou Misaki: oh i definitely gave you that pic
[1:12:58 PM] Shokuhou Misaki: cus im the only one who links SGO

Yep, from last year indeed. Good choice.

Good luck everyone, by the way.

Her belly is.

Because I'm not Jacob and I have other opinions. Like telling underaged kids to go home.

I'm sorry if I'm understanding about the fact that you have your own opinion, and told you go based on it. After all, aren't you the special snowflake who will steal from the artists because you want to while they toil and work hard to bring you fap materials for which they get... hardly a loaf of bread in return?

So of course you are free to go, and if you don't come back that's also fine. Fakku really just wants you to support the artists, after all.

Then stop complaining and go to the other site that has more content. By your logic, you'll be coming back in a few years anyway.

It's all about understanding. You know, so you don't waste your time typing messages here.

Too late son. This topic was created before subscriptions of FAKKU books even came to existence.

kek

Think it was Hatsu's giveaway.

>Hatsu
>expecting to deliver

You have an avi of a pregnant girl. I like you already.