A/N: WI-FI or Data Connection recommend playing the audio above
Sting has a degradation kink
_______CHAPTER EIGHTEEN_______
HATHOR
After tiring themselves out from the banquet, everyone was finally asleep in their beds no other sound can be heard only eerie silence was floating in Lireo's biome. Zero was all alone with Milady in the medical infirmary, softly caressing her hair thinking how fun would be to slaughter Sting's daughter as revenge or stay as he told Panacea earlier, earlier Odette came back with a platter of food for Milady's husband and a change of clothes for Milady and him to wear, Hibiki had to be the one to pick out Zero's clothing hence Chase doesn't know the bluette's taste yet. Whilst he was consuming the meal she volunteered to stay by Milady's side given that she is her personal handmaiden but Zero told her to rest up for the night instead, hence he did promise during their matrimony that he'd care for her, the greenette found it sweet how he takes their union agreement to heart and agreed to have him pull an all-nighter watching Milady. But what the handmaiden didn't know is that Zero choose the latter option lingering in his scape after he has made sure that she was no longer around the vicinity. Compassion must never be shown in eyes of revenge.
Deeply apologizing to Milady's sleeping form in the medical infirmary giving her a kiss on her forehead before he left to murder Sting's innocent little daughter, with a murderous intent Zero silently walked down the dark hallways of his mother's palace, on his way up the dark stairs he noticed a light peeking out from that ajar doors of Fuzuki's nursery room and her nanny came out holding a big trash bag full of used stinky diapers, closing the doors then locking it, he'd exchanged the keys later on "Cold, cold!" she said to herself whilst walking down the opposite row of stairs Zero is currently taking once she has disappeared from sight and earshot the bluette rushed to Fuzuki's nursery. He's the only child of Lireo's monarch naturally enough he'd have keys to every room in this palace he is to inherit in the future, a soft click escaped from the formerly locked doorknob.
Fuzuki was lying on her back fast asleep making her an easy target for Zero to mutilate, if the nanny comes back he'd quickly drain her lifespan out, Zero walked to the side of the baby's crib--upon seeing how similar her hair was to Milady and how she had Sting's eyes made his blood boil more than it already is, Zero placed the sharp blade to her cheek to leave a small scratch enough to bleed out the baby cried upon feeling pain be etched in her flesh not wanting her loud cries to attract any further attention he pointed the dagger's tip right at her heart ready stab the beating organ but a problem occurred out of his plans...he can't seem to do what he's supposed to do sounds of the fire cackling were gracing the room Zero's hand began to shake remembering Milady's words when they were told to collect a debt but instead they got Ignatius.
"Hag, if you have a problem with the deceased old man talk it out with him in his grave, therefore, the sins he's committed are entirely separate from mines, the descendants are innocent of their predecessor's deeds hence the fall of your first foundation was without exception, not my fault." Zero's eyes widened in anger harshly grabbing Fuzuki by her clothes lifting her above the crib, Fuzuki's cries boomed louder and it attracted her nanny to run back up the stairs vastly unlocking the doors seeing Zero--the crown prince of their tribe holding a sharp dagger to kill Fuzuki with, "Wait--" she screamed out of instinct jolting awake all those residing by the palace east's wing. Sting freaked out of his bed dashing out the doors seeing Fuzuki's nanny sitting on the floor her wits petrified beyond repose "What is going--LET GO OF HER!"
Sting helped his daughter's nanny back up on her feet but upon seeing Zero holding his child with a sharp weapon out of his skill in hand he blasted the bluette square in the torso with his talent leaving the bluette to crash on a few pieces of furniture, catching Fuzuki safely in his arms as Zero fell on his back from the impact the dagger falling of his grip and sliding into the nursery's far corner "You sick bastard! I should have known you'd something like this!" Sting cradled his daughter to calm down from her cries whereas Zero just gave him a cold glare upon getting back on his feet throwing away the curtains that dangled over him not spouting any words to defend himself knowing that the blonde and servant won't believe his reason as he's been caught red-handed "We heard a screaming what is going on here?" Queen Minea was barefaced and in a long dripping nightgown wearing a fluffy cardigan over it, behind her were several servants who also heard the loud pitched screaming.
"I'm sorry to say this Queen Minea," Sting began, his eyes not leaving Zero "But your damned son tried to murder my daughter while everyone was vast asleep." the blonde narrated shocking those present, especially the bluette's biological mother as this day was supposed to be a sign of glimmering hope for Lireo's citizens and he soured it out of blood lust "Zero? Is it true?" she asked with a shaky tone not wanting to hear only child to say that it was true "It's true." he admitted as there was no point in lying anymore "Why?" she walked up to him wanting to hear a reasonable excuse as to why he stopped this low "Why? why? how is it even a question up to this point? he raped Ultear when she was mentally unhealthy! and yet you ask me why?!" Zero snapped back annoyed by the question his pale-haired mother had inquired, pointing a finger in Sting's direction who was telling Fuzuki's nanny to be extra careful as maniac is lurking within the palace interior.
Zero flounced out of the nursery, servants who stood by the door made a clear path as he strode out not wanting to be caught in his raging emotion "Sting, I apologize for what my son has done." Queen Minea placed a hand over the blonde's shoulder asking forgiveness, her eyes downcasted "It's not you who's at fault here Queen Minea so please don't take the blame for your son's mistake, excuse me." Sting went to pick up his dagger that has been missing from his collection, then took a few bottles of Milady' breast milk from the mini-refrigerator and spare diapers bringing them to his designated room "Have someone change the locks tomorrow here in Fuzuki's nursery, I don't want an instance like this to happen again and I don't want to trouble you but please clean up the mess they cause then go back to sleep." Queen Minea told the nearest servant an order pinching the bridge of her nostrils.
"Yes, Your Majesty." the servant agreed to what his monarch had spouted "And no one lingering here any further, I don't want any word of this instance going out understand?" Queen Minea handed them a reminder before leaving Fuzuki's nursery room to retire back to her own chambers "Yes, Your Majesty." they all agreed in unison, cleaning up the mess that occurred when Sting blasted Zero with his talent causing some minor furniture breakage, a few tarnished curtains that will take up a few people to wash due to how thick it was and how heavy it will become once it was drenched in water, thankfully enough it could prevent the cold from entering the windows on use but it's drying time around melancholia might have them on a debacle as it would freeze up from time to time.
Closing the doors softly behind him, Zero lifted one of the beds close to the one Milady is resting on, removed all the unnecessary accessories, his footwear, and finally plopped himself down the fluffy mattress to rest, annoyed that he couldn't no--he didn't manage to pull through his plans of eliminating Fuzuki for good "What is wrong with me?" the bluette kinou faced palmed himself whilst facing the high ceiling above, his tantrum calmed down when Milady unconsciously hugged him in her sleep seeking warmth from Zero due to the cold weather still surrounding all of RHEA, she snuggled comfortably on his sides...I should have never entrusted Riona's safety to that stupid sunray the thought came about in his the bluette kinou's scape as he looked at Milady but would killing Fuzuki justify Riona's death? such pondering thoughts lead him to gently stroke some of Milady's soft locks.
He still remembered the day when he first held their little girl, she was so tiny and fragile, honestly Zero didn't even know how to properly hold his daughter yet, but he was willing to take each miniature step on how they will both cherish and love her. Times late at night her cries often bothered him and Milady constantly as giving her a separate nursery at the time was not an option--Raios is somewhat lingering in each crevice. Zero might have missed hearing Riona spout her first words but when she addressed him as her father for the first time made his chest contort as he never had that chance to take despite hating his own father to the bone, Zero still had this little hope of what would it feel like to have a begetter, Riona's first wobbly baby steps had him like a grinning fool and Hibiki was to see it, he'd be proud of his friend. Zero's frosty eyes kept their focus on the ceiling above, reminiscing good memories of their only child until sleep too finally overcame him that night.
When everyone within the family adored the little bluette girl, Raios wasn't particularly a fan of Riona's despite her mother, Milady, being his favorite child as Riona's facial features looked too much like Zero their hair color was a huge indicator of that fact, the only thing she had greatly inherited from Milady was her eyes, well prominent blue eyes, it is said by Raios himself that Milady inherited those eyes from her great grandmother as people often question it, as Milady is the only one who did not inherit Raios nor Evergreen's organ of sight. That amazon, Raios' grandmother, her photo has been purposely taken out of all the frames in addition to that was the things that she contributed they weren't credited to her name but instead to her eldest sister, a detail that she did not appreciate well upon learning about it in the news.
"Ultear...Ultear..."
Milady flashed her eyes fluttered open slowly pushing herself upon on a sitting position, overlooking the beautiful scenery of flowers spreading before her organ of sight to bask in. The bluish skies were floating in peace above her, birds of various breeds from RHEA's tribes flew along with the calm wind "Ultear..." there it is again the voice that plagued Milady, the calling voiced soured the picturesque scenery unfolding before the skies remained beautiful as they were but deafening silence overcame Milady's senses "Ultear..." she felt a cold presence standing behind her, vastly turning around via instinct to take out who it was but upon meeting its eyes and taking hold of the decaying hand that was reaching out for her, a bubbling fits of laughter erupted from the entity who has been calling out Milady's name "Who are you?" a question that was never answered "Time..." no longer calling out Milady's name nor asking for help to be freed instead it stared back at Milady its eyes where wavering an artic hue in them that was shifting side to side each time Milady blinks her eyes "Time..."
The stink of its decaying form did not bother Milady, as finding out who this quintessence was did. Every time Milady encounters this said entity the thought of looking into its yore had always slipped her scape like it never existed "Time..." it kept repeating on and on the same phrase, upon retracting her hand the entity suddenly had an iron grip on Milady's forearm something that annoyed her hence no had the nerve to do that to her before besides Zero and her father, Raios "Time..." Its unseeable lower limbs worked their way into walking closer to Milady, sticky black goo began to move out of its decaying hand and into Milady's porcelain skin"Time..." they settled around the regions of her right wrist tracing the invincible marks that were gained when she accepted to wield me as a driving force.
"Time..." Milady raised her brow when the entity tapped twice on her gained marks vastly darting her eyes on her wrist and the decaying corpse in front of her "How did you know about that?" the only reply that Milady had received was nothing but a sinister eerie laugh that vastly turned into a pure mist of smoke desolating the once-living healthy floras, Milady heightened her senses summoning me into her palm the laughing voice was gone and Milady was now standing atop of a high building overlooking a mash of Xeris and Calix's tribe bustling with life below "Ultear?" a deep attractive voice called behind her, his hand placed over her left shoulder blade "Are you okay?" looking over she saw the seventeen-year-old version of Zero and standing behind him were the original members of their team all smiles while waiting for her "Where are we?" Milady asked, looking around at what seemed to be the ballroom.
"Ultear...Ultear..."
"What do you mean where are we? we're in Xeris...you gentrified it." Zero susurrated the last part to Milady confusing her even more gentrified? "Xeris?" flabbergastment overcame her, much so that she almost raised the tone of her voice "Yeah, Xeris, what's gotten into you?" the bluette kinou leaned back on his proper posture watching Milady closely "What are we doing here?" Zero gave her a look of doubt upon why Milady was asking so many questions but still humored her anyway "We're here for a--" his sentence was cut short before he could finish them. All Milady could see was a blurry image of a person's smile and their tears fell to her face like a blessing.
"Ultear...Ultear...Ultear...what are you looking for?"
Sting was awoken by the morning whining of his daughter, looking on his sides to where he last left her and she was nowhere to be found much to the blonde kinou's distress "Fuzuki...?" he lifted the sheets in hopes that maybe she just rolled under it "Fuzuki?" next was the fluffy pillows "Fuzuki?" he got from the bed more anxious than ever as she was not in any spaces of the bed "Fuzuki where are you?" he swears that if can't find Fuzuki this time around he's bolting out the doors and blame Zero without a second thought regarding why his daughter has gone missing from his room, that was locked "Fuzuki? Damnit she's not here I'm gonna kill that blue-haired bastard--" Sting frustrating grabbed fist fulls of his hair walking straight to the door unlocking the locks he installed last night.
But when he was about to turn the doorknob he heard a cherry high pitched voice copy his cursing "Damnit!" the blonde kinou froze upon hearing an unfamiliar voice behind him in which case he vastly turned dagger at hand, but he immediately dropped said weapon down the floor--it was his daughter, Fuzuki, but she has grown up into a one-year-old baby her raven hair was now a bit thicker than yesterday "Damnit!" she repeated giggling, "Fuzuki?? Is that you?--Sweetie, don't say that please." Sting quickly got down on one knee to be on Fuzuki's level picking her up in his arms whilst the shock was slowly processing in his scape "Damnit!" she clapped her hand leaving the blonde kinou to regret saying such language "Say, Papa, sweetie Pa-Pa come on you can do it come say Pa-Pa." it came out more of a begging plea than an encouragement of sorts.
"Papa!" she spouted happily free of care affecting the kinou holding her to be filled with joy as well pretending that he did not just hear his daughter copy a curse word he irritatingly spoke out loud "Very good, say it again sweetie say Papa." connecting the dots together Sting finally pieced that there was only one talent user who could make any person age rapidly and that was none other than Milady, herself but what got him thinking whether or not Milady had planned this or did it on a whim last night, he be ruled out the latter part hence she was said to be still unconscious a side effect of the medicine Panacea gave her, so his first guess might have been the deal-breaker here, but why? is the lingering question in his scape, why would Milady do such a thing? the blonde kinou repeatedly asked himself "Papa!" a knock came into the door's surface interrupting the praise Sting was about to give his daughter.
"Your Grace?" Fuzuki's nanny knocked on the door hoping that the blonde kinou was awake hence if she disturbed his sleep that would temporarily annoy him but nonetheless it will dissipate "Be right there!" he answered, whilst setting down Fuzuki on his bed grabbing a sweater before opening the door "Good Morning, Your Grace if you were still sleeping I am deeply sorry to bother you," she bowed down as a sign of respect to his stature and apologize while at it incase she did bother his rest, Sting only opened the door first enough to greet his daughter's nanny "Morning to you as well and no not at all you didn't bother my sleep I was already long awake before you knocked on my door, here's Fuzuki by the way." once opening the door all the way the servant in charge taking care of the little baby raven jaw's dropped to the floor unable to process what she is seeing right now.
As yesterday Fuzuki was but a wee baby and now--she's a full-on one-year-old child, Sting giggled at her reaction "Y-Your, Your Grace, is the young miss a-alright?" her voice was shaking as she asked the question "Don't worry she's fine," Sting gently handed his daughter to the still shocked nanny "Uh?" Fuzuki seemed bothered being out of her father's arms her head looking back and forth the two adults "Papa!" She reached out her baby hands out wanting to be with Sting rather than with her assigned nanny, her little speech astounded the servant more than it should have "Your Grace, the young miss just talked!" the servant frantically spouted "Yeah, she just learned how to a few minutes before you arrived actually." said servant processed it in her scape like a machine would "Your Grace maybe we should have the young miss be checked up by Dowager Vermilion." such worry was evident in her voice making Sting chuckle.
"For now focus on feeding her breakfast, I'll come by Panacea's later on and tell her to do a run on Fuzuki." the blonde kinou instructed giving his daughter a pat on her wavy raven locks, she tried to reach out on Sting's hand before he retracted it fully back on his sides "Understood, Your Grace." the servant agreed and bowed down careful not to crush the raven baby in her care as she did, before walking off to the other room which was Fuzuki's nursery. The doorknob has been fixed earlier this morning, by around 5:30 the chosen carpenter within the palace staff finished replacing it and also added a few good locks on the inside as well. Sting eased out his shoulders by doing a few rotations here and there easing out the knots that have formed, turning the heater in his room to a medium.
The blonde then went on to get himself washed up for the morning before Hibiki barges in and bother him to hurry up because work must be done and he's not allowed to be lazy or else he'll go broke (as if the Diaz family would ever go bankrupt) or be fired from his current job and once he does just like everybody in their team, he'll be hunted down by Raios till the blonde goes back to the grave a second time. Sting hasn't had a single interaction with Milady since Fuzuki was born as he was keeping his promise to never pursue her any longer, he also took some reflecting on his actions whilst the given distance provided seeing the bigger picture--that Milady and Zero do not, and never will plan to break off their matrimony despite the fact that Riona wasn't present in their lives anymore.
Maybe once melancholia's yearly season to gloom has long moved on, he can start seeing other amazons that might pique his interest, Milady was too tall for him anyway. And hey the blonde might also find a suitable stepmother for his beloved daughter, Fuzuki Diaz. Turning off the shower the blonde kinou stepped out the bathroom with a sole towel covering his lower body, whilst skimming through his well-arranged garments he noticed upon the full-length mirror residing beside his closet how out of shape his physique was compared to Hibiki, who has started to work out with Zero every now and then. The blonde ran a hand on his still dripping wet locks shrugging the thought for now as his first priority is to get some undergarments and pants on before Hibiki invites himself over.
~
The blonde amazon sat all by herself near the helipad's edges, hair softly blowing in the wind sulking by hugging her lower limbs close to her chest. Her twin brother and other teammates have been looking around the entire palace for her a great while now, her kinou twin was the first to find her out of all them "Hey," he greeted sitting down next to her "Go away..." was all she had to say wanting to punch herself from ever saying those kinds of words to him, she itched her legs closer hiding her face away from him whilst wiping off the tears that had decorated her cheeks, for the first time in all their lifetime together "It's okay, let it all out." He advised his twin sister not to look in her direction like she wanted at the moment, her body shook as she sprouted tears of sadness through the death of her uncle--Sting, a relative whom she had a close relationship with, aside from her favorite twin brother.
Once her sobs have toned down a bit, she resurfaced her eyes to the side "Larcade..." her usually sweet cherry voice cracked upon calling her twin brother's name out loud "Want me to hold you?" He replied turning to face her in which case Arcana nodded biting her lower lip whilst Larcade scooted over closer to her bringing her on his lap for said embrace "I'm sorry for hiding," she apologized for earlier when she ran straight within the palace interior to mope her feelings out about the situation "It's alright Cana, I understand." Larcade pushed her bangs out from her face kissing her forehead the gesture made her grasp a fist full of his upper garment feeling terrible for almost shutting out her only sibling, she shared so much of her life with. Arcana remained silent for a while, letting the wind echo before the view of Xeris's capital city.
Sting and Larcade had always gone along willingly with Arcana's crazy shenanigans of making them play tea time, dress up and etc as she was the only girl in their team, and given that the three of them are from Xeris such extreme flamboyance was not an issue to the eyes of other people in fact it was viewed as a normal occurrence. If Larcade is busy getting blown by his whores on the side, Sting has to intiatively let Arcana do whatever she wants with his hair an example of this is that she often likes to braid his hair out of boredom or simply just style it so he could a girlfriend and lastly going on shopping trips with her.
"Larcade," she called the name of her kinou twin in the midst of burying her still tears drenched face on his well-toned chest, "Yeah?" he gave her his undivided attention "Do..don't, don't leave please, stay." her voice trembled at the thought of Larcade leaving her too, it was just too much to bear if he does too "I won't, that's a promise." he placed a hand on the back of her head pulling her close as the wind blew strong once said breeze has passed by the blonde kinou chuckled making his torso vibrate, Arcana looked up to him confused as to why he was chuckling he exhaled calming down "You know..." he began "If you want we could be in matrimony, it is one hundred percent guaranteed to have me stay by your side literally." such wisecrack brought a smile on Arcana's lips.
"Larcade," she tried to stop her lips from curving as she was supposed to be sad "Come on Cana, you know you want to~" the blonde kinou's tone took on a more playful manner, his face inches close to hers "Hmm." she cutely bit on her lower lip not wanting to give into Larcade's gists "If you don't voluntarily do it then," before his twin sister could react the latter blonde began to tickle her sensitive spots relentlessly, a burst of genuine laughter rushed past her lips. While the twin blondes are having a moment Hibiki contacted their peers to gather up the royal palace's common room to cancel the search and rest up as Larcade had the first chance and found his twin sister upon their palace's helipad.
"How is she doing?" Milady asked whilst sitting down on the loveseat sofa crossing her leg over the other, said question was targeted to the orangette kinou "Still mourning but Larcade managed to cheer her up, what about you Ultear? you were dating him." Zero arrived shortly after Milady did sitting at the opposite furniture "It is already obvious..." Milady adverted her eyes off Hibiki, the pain surging through "Should we take her out on a shopping trip?" Milady cleared her throat, wiping away the sadness that firmly decorated her voice at the mention of her deceased fake lover, little did they know that she was the one responsible for his demise "For now, I don't think so hence it will only remind her more of Sting, let's just give her the support she needs right now." Hibiki rested his arms and head up on the sofa's backrest eyes staring tiredly at the high ceiling above.
"Speaking of shopping trips, once Arcana gets back up to her normal self again, you're the one who has to go with her every time now." Zero gave his best friend a reminder, whilst staring at the burning fire by the furnace "It's bound to happen, and besides it's one of my responsibilities as her betrothed." the orangette chuckled, placing his right upper limbs to cover his teary eyes, still unable to believe that Sting was buried today "Just prepare your cyhea for that, because the last time you splurge her, your wallet screamed." Lireo's bluette heir and Diaz's third child might not agree on most occasions but still, we're training together since their tender ages, such mourning bitterness was there "Nah, you guys can pay up the rest hehehe."
~
Exactly right after he zipped and buttoned his pants, the orangette kinou came in full of joy "GOOD MORNING STING!! WAKE--Oh, great you're awake!" Hibiki had widely opened the bedroom doors to their full capacity, making them slam against the wall "I woke up early because Fuzuki was missing from my side--" Sting strapped his dagger belt on his hips, before proceeding to pick out his footwear "Wait--Oh shit, no way!" Hibiki face palmed himself from the shock of what his closest friend just tried to do the previous night on the innocent raven-haired baby "You just read my mind didn't you--" the blonde wore on his upper garment and socks, looking up to Hibiki from the sudden rise of his already loud and jolly tone "Obviously! How else would I know that Zero tried to kill Fuzukimmm?!!" having enough of being intervened "Shhh!!!" Sting clamped down a hand on Hibiki's mouth to shut him up before anyone could hear.
A servant came by the hallways carrying a medium-sized basket full of throw pillows not noticing the cautious glare Sting gave out the door to make sure that she didn't hear anything that Hibiki just spouted "Look...Queen Minea doesn't want the incident last night going out--" the blonde kinou slowly removed his hand off Hibiki's loud mouth jogging over the door closing it incase anyone passes by again "I know, I know, I read your scape whilst you are busy glaring out the door." A tick mark was heavily visible on his temple whilst closing said open door "Just let me tell you things okay? Don't intervene even if you know already, please?!" Sting did some gestures with his hand indicating his point at Hibiki, who had the 'oh' expression and just nodded once Sting was done speaking "Okay!" Either way the orangette doesn't care about the look Sting is giving him as long as Sting is more irritated by the smile he's plastering all over.
"What are we doing today?" the blonde asked tying the laces of his combat boots "It is actually interesting that you inquired because--uhh heheheheHAHAHA~" Milady right-hand Rhiannon pulled out his galva from his pocket scrolling through his planned and credits to Nox was the one who suggested that the orangette kinou should make list checkboxes of tasks for today and the following days ahead so doesn't forget them, retracting his fingers a bit from the holo screen upon seeing today's agenda eyes looking back and forth at Sting and the screen in his hands
"Why are you giggling?" Sting spared Hibiki a brow-raising look in the midst of tying the laces on his other lower limb "Funny thing is, the task we're going to do today actually involves helping Zero...?"
Hibiki ended his sentence with a question giving out one of his trademarked grins when my attention was vastly thrown onto what he just said "So basically you're telling me, that I have to do something for the bastard kinou that almost tried to murder my daughter the previous night? tell me I did not just mishear you right now Hibiki." getting back on his proper posture the blonde-haired kinou gave his long time comrade and childhood friend a look of disbelief "Nope!" Hibiki shook his head and shrugged his shoulders "Alright I'm going back to sleep this is bullshit." the latter clasped his hands together fake smiling at Hibiki, before turning his back mumbling to himself trash-talking Zero, whilst taking off the laces of his combat boots that he had previously tied.
"What?! Oh, come on--" Milady's right-hand took a one-step-back from his tanning point "No Hibiki, that blue-haired bastard was this close to killing my daughter it's a good Fuzuki's nanny screamed from a fight and it alerted me or else Yugen will be having a free trial of being buried ten feet under the ground." Sting made a pinch on his fingers vexedly stating his point that only a simple blow of oxygen from one's mouth would be able to waver it to close together with the added bonus of his left eye twitching from irritation of the situation he's been put in--to deal with Zero after he just tried to kill Fuzuki "Fine, I get your point, but Fuzuki's alive and well, no harm was done because you saved her!" an argument was put out by Aulora's witty heir "Are you for real right now?" Sting spared him a glance as he was unable to successfully undo the laces "Very."
"..." The blonde let out a stressed sigh, agitated on the tugging of his footwears laces as one won't come off easily as he had hoped it would whilst Sting's attention was occupied by the thing going on his feet Hibiki had thought of a plan to get his friend going as all the thinking and standing around has already dissolved the pre-breakfast plate and protein shake he swallowed prior to coming here at Sting's designated bedroom "Since you've left me with no choice." Before the blonde could react Hibiki had used his talents bolting out the door with Sting levitating above his head "This is highly against my will!" The servants they passed by stared in confusion and tightly kept their opinions to themselves towards Hibiki's blithesome traits "What did you just say?" Hibiki had a hand on his right ear in a teasing manner "This is highly your will? Then I did the right thing yey me!" Sting mentally started to question sarcastically how did his niece, Arcana, handled Hibiki's attitude.
"So did you know about what happened last night after the banquet?" Ignatius began a small talk with her best friend who was shoveling thick hills of snow along with her and a few servants who were on the far side of the vicinity on the palace's roofs "No, why? What happened last night?" Nox yeeted his freshly shoveled snow down the pavements below, Ignatius looked around them first to make sure that nobody is going to hear what she is about to gossip to the white-haired kinou, once sure she flicked her wrist for Nox to come closer in which case he promptly did curious as to what she was about to say, the redhead alcoholic amazon leaned in close to his ear whispering "That Zero tried to discontinue Fuzuki while everyone was dead ass tired from hitting it up all night at the banquet, Queen Minea and a couple of servants heard Fuzuki's nanny scream in fright so they instantly rushed to where it originated and found not only Sting confronting Zero, but beat some pieces of shit into him."
Nox had his brows furrowed confused as to why his foster father attempted to do something like that, knowing very well that yesterday's event was important to his mother "Oh, and don't tell anyone else about that okay? Queen Minea doesn't want any word of that coming out." Ignatius made a zipping gesture upon her lips "Sure you can count on it, and besides my mom's image has already been tarnished enough by Raios, dad doesn't need that kind of attention to himself even if what he did was wrong." he remembered the time Milady almost killed him back when she destroyed Calix to the dust, Zero intervened to save his life "It's nice to hear you call Milady as your mom, you really should do that more often." Ignatius paused from shoveling and stuck said tool on the snow leaning to smile at Milady's foster son, who continued on with his work.
"As much as I want to I can't because before she fully accepted me as part of their family I swore to her that I will address her like everyone else's in public to gain her trust in me...no that's not it Raios hates' it when I call her as my mom," he whispered the last part to himself "How old exactly were you when you swore those words?...come on you stupid thing come off already!" she asked in the midst of aggressively pulling out the already freezing shovel grunting as she does it "Around eight and a half, want some help?" Nox offered to her in which case she gladly accepted "Yes please, I'll hold the hilt while you hit the fucking ice." proceeding as planned he held one hand over the shovel's shaft firmly and the other on its handle grip, hitting the block of ice five times before it finally broke apart into pieces freeing the shovel Ignatius was using.
"Dude that was so long ago twenty years to be exact, Zero address' Milady by her name out in public and private all the time. I don't think there's anything wrong with you calling her your mom, I mean they did officially adopt you though, everyone knows it." she continued their topic after patting off some snow that jumped on her "I'll...try?" He grumbled, "Bruh, just do it okay?" Ignatius adjusted her beanie before proceeding to shovel the next dump of snow "I don't want to disrespect--" Nox wanted to spout another reasoning of his as to why he doesn't address Milady as his mother out in public but the redheaded amazon bluntly interrupted him getting real annoyed of his persistence "Addressing her as your foster mother is the highest respect you can give her dude! What on RHEA is wrong with you?" she lightly hitted him on the arm knocking out a few flurries of snow off his shovel "..." Nox didn't respond hence she was right.
"Look here's a bet, if we come across Milady by any chance today, out in the hallways or anywhere in the palace, you gotta address her as your foster mother got it?" the redhead alcoholic presented a wager to her best friend "And if we don't?" he's extremely hoping on not bumping into Milady today as calling her as his mother out on public would leave him in a picky situation "Then we find her duh." a bead of sweat rolled down the white-haired kinou's forehead "What makes you think she would want to be found?" the redhead's eyes twitched in exasperation "Why are you so pessimistic today?" Ignatius took the shovel from his hands pointing it at him "I'm just saying that maybe she wants to rest still from yesterday." Nox raised his hands up above his head like he was caught by a law official "You have way too many reasons, Panacea is the world-renowned physician--you were even there yesterday when she gave Milady the remedy!"
"..." the expression being plastered all over his face was full of gloom upon hearing her say those "Now quit being so unreasonable and help me shovel these, I don't want my precious titties to go numb from staying out too much in this cold." the redhead amazon gave Nox his shovel back making him lose his balance upon the slippery roof from his temporary aloofness in the words Ignatius had spouted "Nox!" he outstretched his arms out to grab hers but it was not enough his body weight has already made him fall off the edges, so before he could truly fall off the roof Nox removed his glove and activated his talent to burst out of his palms creating a makeshift rope out of ice for Ignatius to take "You okay?" A few beads of sweat rolled down her temple upon seeing how high the drop was going to be if Nox hadn't acted vastly to save himself "No!? Just pull me up already!" he freaked a truth begging to be let out of the current situation he's hanging on "Hold on tight!"
Ignatius gave him a heads up before pulling with all her robust to bring back Nox up the roof their cleaning, luckily the other servants didn't notice that Nox had tripped over, or else they would have panicked beyond repose and made the situation worse "Dude I'm so sorry, I didn't know that you were that easy to fall over." The redheaded amazon and polarized to her best friend who was currently lying on his back catching his breath "Shut up," Nox playfully slapped her leg, realizing that he has to work with one hand now from carelessly throwing away his glove in order to save his own life "Here." Ignatius offered out her hand for Nox to take and get back up on his two feet "Thanks by the way." He pocketed his ungloved hand to prevent them from freezing up "Don't mention it, it was my fault anyway hahaha."
Zero rubbed his eyes to drown out the drowsiness as he woke up first, about to get up from the infirmary bed the bluette kinou paused midway upon seeing Milady lying her head on his abdomen and her arm is also hugging at the same regions of his body. He admired her features for a little while before replacing it with a pillow so that he could put on his footwear and not disturb Milady's sleeping form hence Panacea will be arriving here at the infirmary after she had her first meal of the day, once done tying the laces of his shoes, Zero carried Milady in his arms carefully taking her back to his own chambers. Upon arriving at the doors of his room he asked a servant who passed by to open the doors for him, mentally thanking that one had passed by as he had quite a bit of trouble opening the doors earlier at the infirmary. Zero thanked the servant for his help and closed the door behind him, once near the mattress vicinity he gently laid down Milady, who moaned in her sleep snuggling the pillows.
Zero took it upon himself to walk outside the balcony dialing Odette's galva asking her to bring both him and Milady their platter of breakfast in his chambers, he didn't give her any particular reason as to why he didn't want to eat with everyone else in the dining hall but he did answer when Odette asked if Milady is doing alright by now in which case the bluette kinou had said yes, the joy in his tone was evident. Ending the call he went back inside to have a change of clothes out from yesterday's fiasco. He started by placing aside his other pistol in his arsenal that can only be opened by him and Milady and it lies behind the walls of their entire closet he kept the other one on the bedside drawer earlier just in case. After that he ran a bath for himself, the glass shower walls were covered in steam from the warm water running all over the bluette as he turned on the shower. Once done cleaning he walked out only wearing sweatpants on his lower body towel above his still-damp hair, placing it aside to look for a shirt to wear.
In the midst of putting on his shirt over his head, Zero paused to see Milady back hugging him drowsiness still evident in her system she planted her face on his muscular back "You should have just called me," he was unable to further lower his shirt on the back as Milady's head blocked it but he didn't mind "Hmmm." was all Milady had replied her warm breath tickling his skin whilst he arranged the hanged array of warmth providing clothes "I've notified Odette that we won't be joining with everyone in the hall but instead we'll eat here in my chambers, you okay with that?" Zero informed "Yeah." Milady was still not knowledgeable about what transpired last night that being--Zero almost killing Fuzuki "Do you want to wear a wireless bra before Odette gets here?" he asked once done with the hangers, taking a light hold of her upper limbs turning around to return the embrace before carrying her in his arms allowing her to get back to her sleep "I'm lazy..." Milady bluntly mumbled in which case Zero found adorable.
"I'll help you put it on, I'll lay down on the couch for a sec okay?" He offered whilst walking to the closet's middle section where a charcoal colored velvet couch stays still in case one of them needs to take a break from dress fitting or just sit down to put on their footwear "Hmmm." flopping down on her stomach once he has turned his back to the direction of the drawer, a soft hum was all Milady could possibly reply from the comfy spot she's been placed upon by her beloved spouse named Zero. Out of all the kinou's Milady has gone out, the blue-haired latter has always been the best of the best "Which one of your undergarments do you want to wear?" Zero asked in the midst of opening said drawer that contained most of Milady's different bras, her cup size when she was still in her twenties was a thirty-four B but after being pregnant and giving birth to Riona, the cup size of her bust went up a cup to that of thirty-four D, she was hoping it'd went down to a C cup after Riona was weaned from breast milk but it never did.
"Beige." upon hearing Milady's response to his question the bluette began to look for said undergarment around the drawer, once finding a wireless one he gently closed the drawer walking back to where he left Milady, getting down on one knee to calmly wake her up "Ultear, Ultear, I got the one you wanted," she slowly fluttered her sleepy eyes halfway open "I'll put it on you now okay?" Zero tapped her on the side to lie on her back in which case she did lazily, intiatively raising her limbs up a bit when Zero tugged to remove her cardigan and tank top off "Okay," Milady has been so accustomed to Zero seeing her bare bust (and vice versa) through their extreme active intimate life that she didn't mind anymore in such cases like this. "Lie on your tummy, I need to clasp the hooks on the back." once those were done he put back on Milady's tank top and cardigan, carrying her back to the bed so she can doze off again.
For the time being of waiting for Odette to arrive with their first meal. Lireo's heir busied himself in pre-reading a few papers he needs to approve later on in the day, Chase brought a small pile in yesterday per Zero's request. The paper details a report of a few residential housings in Neus (one of Lireo's cities) needing repairs as an accident of toppling log delivery had occurred circumstances like this are crucial during melancholia and they need immediate action as soon as possible because Lireo's monarch may be kind to those who seek help but some of her people aren't so considerately keen when it comes to letting other people temporarily stay in their homes and Zero is well aware of that fact. Neus is one of the cities in Lireo that is quite near to the tribes' borders meaning they are quite prone to encountering a few avalanches, just by reading the brief sentences Zero picked up his galva to dial Chase's who answered rather quickly, I have to say that good job etiquette.
"Good Morning Your Highness, what may I assist of today?" the purple-haired kinou answered the call gleefully confident to cover up the worry he's been having since hearing the gossip floating around the palace's interior walls "I've just read through one of the papers that I have asked you to bring yesterday, I want vast action on the one that has occurred in Neus, and please tell the people who are going to be sent there to minimize any casualties that might occur upon the building of each citizen's respective homes, also prioritize the relief goods that are going to be given to them." Zero placed down the paper flipping on to the next page running his eyes on each line "Noted, Your Highness," the tapping of his fingers across a holo screen's surfaced could be heard in the line "The papers I've finished going over are all placed on my desk, bring them to the throne room so the court can officially mark the seal and send them out back with approval to the respective cities they originated from."
"Of course, Your Highness." beads of sweat rolled down Chase's forehead the longer he hears Zero's monotone voice commanding him tasks to do for the day and the bluette heir of Lireo did not fail to notice it "Judging by the tone of your voice, I can tell you have something to say...what is it?" there was second lasting silence that was both intense and awkward "Not to be rude or offend you, Your Highness but...I heard two servants gossiping that you have tried to discontinue His Grace Muriel's daughter with Milady." Chase's voice was shaky whilst saying those words to Zero indicating his nervousness upon the said gossip that was heard Does it matter? is what the bluette kinou wanted to say but stopped himself as it would reflect on his image among the people his mother governs and RHEA overall.
"Why would I do that to my wife's daughter?" Yeah, why would he anyway? hmm? I wonder why? "I apologize for thinking badly of you, Your Highness." Chase scratched his nape upon hearing his boss confirm the truth--mind you, the false truth "Its' alright gossip that to people." getting angry over the lingering gossip will only attract more suspicion to himself so he'd rather avoid it, by being sincere "I'll do the task you have asked me now Your Highness, and excuse my doubts of you." Zero ended the call and a second after he does so Odette knocked twice on the doors' surface "Your Highness, its' Odette!" she made her presence known her finger drumming on the trolly's handle, Zero cleared out the papers to the side so that there would be room for the meal he'll consume before standing up from his seat to open the door "Good Morning, Your Highness, have you slept well?" was the first thing she spouted upon entering the room, something that made Zero raise a brow whilst closing the door as he was expecting her to ask the same question as Chase.
"Just fine," he replied walking past her "I see, Milady is still asleep." Odette pushed the trolly gently careful not to make any noise that would wake or disturb Milady "Place them over here," Zero pointed at his now-empty desk "I'll wake Ultear up." the greenette handmaiden nodded "Ultear, Ultear, breakfast is here." Zero gently shook her arm in which case Milady covered her face with a throw pillow "I promise, I'll allow you to hibernate peacefully after eating okay?" Odette secretly smiled at the way they interacted with each other hence it is rare to see Milady act this way, it's kinda similar to how Azula and Queen Minea felt back then when Zero and Milady first met. "Fine," Milady spoke through the pillow giving in, allowing Zero to pull her up from the comfy bed she refuses to leave since lying on it, he gave her a kiss on her cheek upon sitting up as a form of encouragement.
"Want me to carry you?" his strong arms caged her on the edge of the bedside "Uhuh." she nodded whilst rubbing her eyes to adjust to the light built in the ceiling above, he slipped one hand under her legs and the other resting on her back "How old are you again?" He poked fun of her in the midst of walking to his desk that Odette had set up to be their breakfast table for today only "Zero..." Milady pouted glaring as her beloved spouse used her own words against her, "Good Morning Milady," the greenette handmaiden bowed down her as a sign of respect and greeting to her master "Vice Versa Odette." an authoritative tone was invoked as soon as Milady's fingertips came in contact with the chocolate filled mug, such satisfaction on par with her being intimate with Zero can be seen as soon as she had a sip of the rich drink.
"Is Ethan already awake?" Milady asked setting aside the warm cup to eat her breakfast with Zero, who sliced the thick piece of meat with ease placing it inside his mouth "I saw Sir Rael earlier, he was wandering about the hallways counting the tiles saying that he got bored reading his assignments and wanted a breather when I asked him about it, Milady." Odette scratched the side of her cheek thinking to herself "Bored you say?...interesting." Milady snickered as little things like that about the little teen raven is one of the reasons why she's invested in teaching him in the first place "Good thing we never adopted him, he's an odd kid." Zero commented upon seeing the look on Milady's face, tapping on the drinking cylinder glass so Odette could refill it "I still want to." such a joke made the bluette kinou took a pause from eating and stare at Milady "The answer is still no, my dear." he said sounding serious retracting the fork a few inches away from his lips "Of course, my love." Milady winked at him bitting into her oatmeal pancake.
"We already have Nox, I don't want a water-obsessed child to be my foster son." the bluette admitted "And Riona..." Milady's voice became kind of distant upon unconsciously mentioning the name of her only daughter, the bluette failed to notice it at first being too focused on slicing the meat into pieces, that has sadly passed away a year ago leading to her being bed ridden "And Riona, our own little girl." Zero repeated chuckling at the mention of his daughter with Milady, upon looking up he felt bad for giggling hence the expression on Milady's features are wavering between sadness and joy "She always loved it when I braided her hair." there was a brief silence after Milady has spouted those words her eyes showed sorrow and longing in them, Zero reached out to hold her hand across the table "Afterwards she would always ask me if she looked pretty, every five seconds." Milady's brows furrowed in both sadness and flight glimmer of joy remembering such times.
"Have you been thinking of returning her time?" he looked at Milady to see her reaction "Sometimes, here and there...with our given circumstance." Milady's facial features contained various emotions upon them "I'm sorry." he placed his free hand over his lips breathing inhaling the air floating around in an obvious manner, upon retracting them a frown was heavily evident "It's not your fault." she fully interlaced their fingers together firmly "Part of it was." tilting his head to the side looking at their halos, Odette had to pretend like she didn't exist whilst standing beside Milady "Zero," there was a comfortable silence between them, Milady gave her spouse's hand one last squeeze before retracting it back to her side, continuing to eat her oatmeal pancakes.
"You were always her favorite because you had more spare time than me." Zero shifted the attention of their topic to a more light-hearted one hence if they continue to trek down the rough path he fears that Milady might break down because of it "Of course I was, but she is always talking about you when she's with me." Milady chuckled at the irony "Funny thing is, she did the same when she comes by to visit me at my study after her school is done." The conversation went on like that until they finish all of their breakfast. For the first time after a year, talking about Riona wasn't that bitter and painful anymore.
"People awfully yap their mouths when it benefits their attention span." Hibiki placed both of hands behind his head as they walked down the hallway carrying boxes, well at least Sting was carrying his share, whilst the orangette's levitated his beside him. He only made the commentary upon noticing the vexed look on Sting's face after they passed by a few servants who gave knowing looks that they thought the two kinou's had missed "Queen Minea might be dismissing the topic like it never existed, but her servants aren't doing so well."
"That chatter of theirs will die down soon in a few days trust me, people just tend to take the bait of gossip when it's fresh." Hibiki waved his hand telling the blonde to just disregard them "The way you said the word 'fresh' had me hearing sizzling noises." the steer on the corner taking the flight of stairs to the next floor "Don't be such a glutton Sting," the latter teasingly smirked, "I am not." a few servants they passed by greeted and bowed down to them to which case Hibiki acknowledge and Sting ignored hence after having their backs being faced, said servants whispered among themselves "No need to be defensive about it." they continued their small talk.
"What is in these damned boxes anyway?" he shifted the topic, hence Hibiki might further ensue his food options "They're papers." Hibiki yawned, playing with his messy hair "Papers? Why would that pulse-sucking bastard need papers? Can't he just use a holo screen?" the boxes were sealed with a thick banter of paper tape "Those papers aren't blank as half of them contain brief narratives of problems or instances that have occurred around Lireo that need action, while the other half are papers that are needing approval, for example, the city Holly needs hmm let's see--aha, for example, pillows!" Hibiki beamed as he thought of a great example to present "Out of the examples you could have given, why pillows?--"
"Shush let me finish, as I was saying for example the needed pillows for a huge pillow fight competition their respective governor will have to write a full narrative on many pillows they will need to use, how resources they will take, what kind of actions will they vastly do after collecting said resource and what kind of sustainable way would those used pillows will serve after the all-out fluffy competition is done." the orangette explained what kind of paperwork Zero sign's and approves with every single day since they evacuated here on Lireo "Did you just reference the pillow fight we had a month ago?" Sting raised a brow wanting confirmation of his guess "Yes, I did huhuhuh." even the guards standing by gave Sting an evaluating look.
"Okay..." steadying the box in hand as a rushing servant came by in a hurry "Hey Sting?" Hibiki nudged his companion on the shoulder "Yeah?" the blonde replied interested "I have a question." Milady's right hand wiggled his brows "What is it?" Sting sounded like he's so done with his life from all the unwanted attention he's getting "How are you...like mentally?" no one has asked him that question in a while and he was sort of glad Hibiki checked in, the asked question took his attention out of the current issue "You're a therapist now?" he joked "It's kinda in my talents description." Hibiki shrugged "I'm fine I guess...?" Sting hesitated "That's it? come on dude I won't judge you."
"I was burnt out when melancholia first hit and I feel left out sometimes when I'm with you guys."
"There we go, now tell how can we improve on not making you feel not left? And I'm sorry if we made you feel that way."
"I don't know...? talk to me because my feelings were hurt when you said that you would have had me raped just like what I did to Ultear, kick me out of the team just like that, Hibiki we knew each other since we were young and that kind of shit you spouted ached... and lastly I want proper closure with Ultear, so we could co-parent or not...yeah thanks."
"I'm sorry about that part, I really am...but you know, Milady was actually the one who told me to urge you to get Fuzuki a personal nanny."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and don't tell her that I told you that, cause she'd get angry at me if she found out I told you."
"Secret's safe with me."
"What about the bags under your eyes?"
"Restlessness--"
"Nah the right term there is that you're stressed hehehe."
"..."
"Cheer up dude."
"You almost made me drop the box."
"If you did, Zero would have to piece together a puzzle."
"Are these arranged in order?"
"Yeah, they are, from the most that need vast action to the least." Milady's right hand can read a person's scape and right now? Sting's scape is having a thought of how to extremely piss Zero off beyond repose from trying to murder his daughter yesterday night "I see then." The blonde paused from walking and began to aggressively shake the box like his life depended on it whereas Hibiki just watched with eyes and a frown etched on his lips, once Sting was done with his box he shoved it to Hibiki's hand grabbing the two boxes levitating beside the orangette shaking them with all his robust "Bruuuhh." was all Aulora's former heir had to say knowing how much of pain in the ass the messed up papers would cause his best friends wits.
"That pulse-sucking bastard should be thankful that's all I did for payback of him almost murdering my daughter," he wanted to puncture a hole on the box so bad "Remind me not to mess with you." Hibiki chuckled placed a hand over his mouth to prevent his laughter from erupting, imagining Zero's reaction "It's relatively harmless compared to what he did, he should be glad that's all I did." Sting however was quite satisfied with what he did, such enormity of seriousness was evident in how his tone "You can't really, mess with any of the amazons in Zero's life...except for that time you took advantage of Milady, I still can't believe you did that, it's disappointing honestly." he cracked a mini second frown.
And those amazon's are none other than Queen Minea and Milady, let's say for example that Sting did try to harm Lireo's monarch--he'd get instantly kicked out and banned from ever stepping foot back in RHEA's third tribe. Secondly, he can't really hurt the amazon he formerly had romantic feelings for, and if he did manage to try try and harm Milady he'll have to go through me first "I know, and don't worry I've been regretting doing such a foul assertiveness to her." he kicked the box, leaving a small dent on it, Hibiki's eye twitched upon the sudden reaction Sting had upon the mention of him raping Milady a year ago when she was still under the influence of a meshuga spell "As you should though, but hey you got a daughter now." Hibiki pulled on the chain of events aiming to pass it as a jest "I don't even know how to respond to that statement." Sting pushed back his hair his eyes still glued to the box he just kicked.
"Come on let's go before Zero finds out that it was you who messed these papers up." Hibiki patted Sting by the shoulder, walking past him to levitate his share of boxes once again after they got all shambled up "And here I thought he and you are the best of friends." the blonde chuckled, at the irony of Hibiki's words confiding against Zero "We are, I just don't want him to know yet that I stood idly by while you messed up all of his paperwork." Hibiki admitted, waiting for Sting to match up with him before taking the hallways.
"CHASE!" Zero angrily yelled the name of his assistant from his study "Yes? Your Highness," the purplette haired kinou scrambled to his feet from hearing his boss' loud voice "What is this?" Zero pointed at the opened box with the new pen he's been using "Papers...?" it came out more a question than a statement, Zero took it as a passive-aggressive one "Yes, I can see that, but why? why? is it like this? hmm?" he tapped the pen multiple times against the box's opening "I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that, Your Highness, I apologize." Chase bowed down an excuse to not look at Zero straight in the eye or else he might accidentally slip out the truth.
"Who brought these boxes here today?" Zero finger-combed his hair back his other hand placed on his hips, biting the inside of his cheek "I didn't get to see whom they were exactly, your Highness, hence I had my back turned from arranging the finished papers when they came in the study." the purplette kinou lied like he promised Hibiki who snickered earlier as Chase went along "Zeus' pole... Chase just tell me already." Zero cursed under his breath "Your Highness? I don't quite follow." playing dumb to the questions as a cold nervous shiver ran up and down his spine, the longer decision to go on with what he promised the orangette and blonde earlier "I know that you're lying to me, I can tell by your pulse."
"Forgive me, Your Highness." Chase bowed his head again "Who is it?" Zero blew out his cheeks "His Royal Highness Nimue and His Grace Muriel." Chase plastered a nervous smile to Zero, who had his eyes wide upon hearing the name of the kinou he had an issue with "Say that again one more time." the bluette haired kinou gave a tight-lipped smile as he leaned with both his hands on the desk's surface "His Royal Highness Nimue and His Grace Muriel." Zero had a feeling Hibiki just stood by there whilst Sting messed with the boxes' contents laughing his ass out "Which one is Hibiki's share?" Zero narrowed his eyes across the room seeing the unopened ones "The three unopened ones, Your Highness." Chase fidgeted with his hands.
"And these in front of me?"
"Was brought by His Grace Muriel, Your Highness."
"That mother fucker... "
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