Elfen High 2: Gotterdammerung

[Individuality-ness]

Caspian immediately grabbed Divia's shoulder, noting that it had helped her earlier and that she likely needed some help right about now.

Smiling cordially, he said, "Azazel, isn't it? We haven't me, but your reputation is going to have been preceding you."

He blinked and said softly, under his breath, 'is going to have been preceding you, now there's a clause for the textbooks.'

He slipped his free hand into his jacket pocket and wrapped his fingers around the device that was in it, ready to draw.

Azazel. The name hit her, as she remembered this man haunting her underneath that church in Hell — not that long ago.

Cue the blanching, as she was now face to face with the monster from her history books in Heavensgate and in her vision underneath that church. Azazel.

"Oh COME ON," Divia cried. "Lord, why did you forsake me in order to torment me with this monster? Must you hate me so?" Her right hand had begun to turn into claws, sharp and long, ready to scratch this demon's hide off.

[Astrolinium]

Caspian raised both eyebrows and dropped his hand down to his side, off Divia's shoulder.

He hadn't been expecting her to have claws.

[Constaniana]

"Sir William Nilark- British knight, mentor, master of Excalibur, war hero and master of exposition." Crowley snarked, looking at the former student of his. The information given was still processing in his brain.

"John Calhoun?" Sanchez asked. "That Canadian?" He said Canadian very nearly as though it were a disgusting racial slur, as Horn was not here to object with his fist. "I recall him. He was an ass, but not like you describe."

"Clearly, people can change over time." Daisuke muttered. Zoryana shot a glance at Carry.

"Crowley, I get paid to teach kids how to make toast and baked beans from a tin and occasionally stab whatever the threat of the week is, not do the bloody 'Previously on Elfen High' recaps," William responded. "As for what Calzazel is trying to do, since he's working for the Fae I'd imagine it involves lots of genocide and mind rape, the usual components of any plot by the glittery gits."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Caspian immediately grabbed Divia's shoulder, noting that it had helped her earlier and that she likely needed some help right about now.

Smiling cordially, he said, "Azazel, isn't it? We haven't me, but your reputation is going to have been preceding you."

He blinked and said softly, under his breath, 'is going to have been preceding you, now there's a clause for the textbooks.'

He slipped his free hand into his jacket pocket and wrapped his fingers around the device that was in it, ready to draw.

Azazel. The name hit her, as she remembered this man haunting her underneath that church in Hell — not that long ago.

Cue the blanching, as she was now face to face with the monster from her history books in Heavensgate and in her vision underneath that church. Azazel.

"Oh COME ON," Divia cried. "Lord, why did you forsake me in order to torment me with this monster? Must you hate me so?" Her right hand had begun to turn into claws, sharp and long, ready to scratch this demon's hide off.

Azazel chuckled. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to give you a present. When I kill him," a gesture at Caspian. "I'll give you his head. Then I'll remove yours as well. But first, you have attracted my attitude with that interesting use of grammar. What do you mean by that? Is going to have been preceding me?"

[Nude East Ireland]

Alice and Francois appeared on a relatively uninteresting street in Dublin, in front of a brutalist building with few windows and a simple glass door. A sign hung next to the door, and read 'Government Property, Trespassers Will Not Have Fun'. Francois opened the door for Alice, and followed his superior into the unimpressive lobby. At the front desk was a receptionist, who appeared as old as Ireland's current government. Alice walked forward and nodded.

"Acting Head of Faerie University, and this my number one," she said. "Where is the Taoiseach?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

"Sir William Nilark- British knight, mentor, master of Excalibur, war hero and master of exposition." Crowley snarked, looking at the former student of his. The information given was still processing in his brain.

"John Calhoun?" Sanchez asked. "That Canadian?" He said Canadian very nearly as though it were a disgusting racial slur, as Horn was not here to object with his fist. "I recall him. He was an ass, but not like you describe."

"Clearly, people can change over time." Daisuke muttered. Zoryana shot a glance at Carry.

"Crowley, I get paid to teach kids how to make toast and baked beans from a tin and occasionally stab whatever the threat of the week is, not do the bloody 'Previously on Elfen High' recaps," William responded. "As for what Calzazel is trying to do, since he's working for the Fae I'd imagine it involves lots of genocide and mind rape, the usual components of any plot by the glittery gits."

D raised his hand.

"OK, you loutish prick," D said with his usual warmness, "let's make this clear - a decade ago, we recruited a notably unstable mercenary to work for us. He did jack shit and got killed, but he lived in the school during the war and was nested deeply within our tactical discussions and personally knew most of our best soldiers. Now, he has somehow risen from the dead - despite being pretty fucking stone cold - and merged with our also dead greatest historical enemy; a psychopath with a torture fetish, the leader of the second-largest empire in history, and the man who killed my father. This ungodly combination now serves a race of Lovecraft ripoffs who will stop at nothing to destroy the very fabric of our reality. Am I the only one who thinks that the timing is slightly convenient for all of this?"

[Individuality-ness]

Azazel. The name hit her, as she remembered this man haunting her underneath that church in Hell — not that long ago.

Cue the blanching, as she was now face to face with the monster from her history books in Heavensgate and in her vision underneath that church. Azazel.

"Oh COME ON," Divia cried. "Lord, why did you forsake me in order to torment me with this monster? Must you hate me so?" Her right hand had begun to turn into claws, sharp and long, ready to scratch this demon's hide off.

Azazel chuckled. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to give you a present. When I kill him," a gesture at Caspian. "I'll give you his head. Then I'll remove yours as well. But first, you have attracted my attitude with that interesting use of grammar. What do you mean by that? Is going to have been preceding me?"

"Oh go to Hell, you demon," Divia hissed. Her claws had grown quite long now, and sharp. "You're not going to be cutting off heads in this timeline." And with that, she steped forward and slashed her claws at the demon, aiming for his neck.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Alice and Francois appeared on a relatively uninteresting street in Dublin, in front of a brutalist building with few windows and a simple glass door. A sign hung next to the door, and read 'Government Property, Trespassers Will Not Have Fun'. Francois opened the door for Alice, and followed his superior into the unimpressive lobby. At the front desk was a receptionist, who appeared as old as Ireland's current government. Alice walked forward and nodded.

"Acting Head of Faerie University, and this my number one," she said. "Where is the Taoiseach?"

"Arse!" barked the receptionist. "Gobshite!"

Alice felt a looming, angry presence behind her. "Hello there." said the Taoiseach, surprisingly calm and polite, in the same manner as an unset nuclear bomb.

[Astrolinium]

Caspian coolly pulled a gun out of his pocket. It was black -- black as night -- with a long barrel. It looked, in appearance, vaguely like something out of an old western movie. But it was... no, it was different. There was definitely a sense of the futuristic about it -- notably, the glowing plasma chamber near the butt of the gun, full of unbelievably hot, uh, plasma.

He cocked the gun and then shot at one of the angel's heads.

Then reached his other hand into his other pocket and pulled out a goddamn taser (a slightly more advanced model than modern tasters -- first manufactured by the Winchester company in the mid-2340s, it was banned in every nation in the galaxy except the Independent Kingdom of Pluto by 2351) and shot that at one of the other angels.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Azazel, in boredom, grabbed Divia's arm at lightning speed, as well as her other arm. They didn't even come close to his neck.

He then looked at Caspian with an exasperated expression as one of his angels saw his head blown apart by the bullet. Hope jerked in surprise when that happened, and the two surviving angels ducked, avoiding Caspian's later attacks.

Azazel sighed. "If you will not stop shooting with that strange weapon, I will end the life of your friend here, do you understand me? I will end her slowly, brutally and painfully and I will make you watch every last minute. And if you do not, defiling her corpse just knocked up to my top priority on my to-do list. Put that weapon down and explain to me just what that is."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Alastor was expected to deliver a speech at Base Rico, a demon town that bordered an American settlement populated by Latinos. It was a sort of vacation spot for Rick Sanchez, which explained the Spanish language usage here and in the bordering settlement.

Though poor, Base Rico was producing a fairly large agricultural output and slowly expanding into the technological industry. However, there were other problems too.

Gunfire rang out throughout the town as Mexican cartel members stormed a farm, shooting down one of the farmhands. The six cartel members held their guns tightly, searching around the farm for the head farmer and for the drugs they would pick up. Normally, payments and such went well, but this farmer hadn't delivered his share in months, and the cartel was getting angsty about it.

They shot down the door...and came now face to face with Alastor and a few demon guards, as they had been previously tipped off by an anonymous email to be here at this time and this place, and to send the actual farmers here on vacation.

One cartel member stared blankly at the King of Hell, fear behind that expression. After a pause, he expressed his view. "Oh fuck."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The demon guards, though well armed and armored and perfectly capable to take down the six Mexicans, did not even raise their weapons, and Alastor himself, sitting behind a table with several chairs laid out in front of him, merely stared sternly at the cartel members, his attention only momentarily diverted by one of the member's comment.

"Sientense." He commanded, expecting them to obey and sit down.

"It appears that you are, in the words of many wise men who speak your language, jodidos." He continued. "Now, this does not have to end badly for anyone involved. I am aware yours is a rather lucrative market and understand why many are drawn to it. However I can't tolerate this kind of activity within my domains." He explained.

"Thus, I offer you the following: You may cooperate with me in getting rid of your fellow dealers that endanger peace in these lands and perhaps be granted mercy, or you may discover how a demon king makes a breakthrough in human anatomy." He stated. "What will it be?"

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Crowley, I get paid to teach kids how to make toast and baked beans from a tin and occasionally stab whatever the threat of the week is, not do the bloody 'Previously on Elfen High' recaps," William responded. "As for what Calzazel is trying to do, since he's working for the Fae I'd imagine it involves lots of genocide and mind rape, the usual components of any plot by the glittery gits."

D raised his hand.

"OK, you loutish prick," D said with his usual warmness, "let's make this clear - a decade ago, we recruited a notably unstable mercenary to work for us. He did jack shit and got killed, but he lived in the school during the war and was nested deeply within our tactical discussions and personally knew most of our best soldiers. Now, he has somehow risen from the dead - despite being pretty fucking stone cold - and merged with our also dead greatest historical enemy; a psychopath with a torture fetish, the leader of the second-largest empire in history, and the man who killed my father. This ungodly combination now serves a race of Lovecraft ripoffs who will stop at nothing to destroy the very fabric of our reality. Am I the only one who thinks that the timing is slightly convenient for all of this?"

Sanchez paused. "Well, if Kronos is waking up, then I think timing is now effectively going at the speed of plot. No, plot's only in stories. Timing is frankly up in the air now, from what I understand."

"I know Kronos." Raphael said. "I was around last time he was awakened, as was Crowley. Those were interesting times. Events would happen in no particular order and quite randomly as he gained more and more power."

[Nationstatelandsville]

D raised his hand.

"OK, you loutish prick," D said with his usual warmness, "let's make this clear - a decade ago, we recruited a notably unstable mercenary to work for us. He did jack shit and got killed, but he lived in the school during the war and was nested deeply within our tactical discussions and personally knew most of our best soldiers. Now, he has somehow risen from the dead - despite being pretty fucking stone cold - and merged with our also dead greatest historical enemy; a psychopath with a torture fetish, the leader of the second-largest empire in history, and the man who killed my father. This ungodly combination now serves a race of Lovecraft ripoffs who will stop at nothing to destroy the very fabric of our reality. Am I the only one who thinks that the timing is slightly convenient for all of this?"

Sanchez paused. "Well, if Kronos is waking up, then I think timing is now effectively going at the speed of plot. No, plot's only in stories. Timing is frankly up in the air now, from what I understand."

"I know Kronos." Raphael said. "I was around last time he was awakened, as was Crowley. Those were interesting times. Events would happen in no particular order and quite randomly as he gained more and more power."

"No, you aren't listening!" D barked, "Kronos is only part of it. He hasn't been around very long, can't have been, or else you would've noticed. Unless you've been slacking off!, and you can't have been, 'cause I would've noticed! No, no, no. This is all too perfect...

Reality doesn't have coincidences. I know, whatever genre savvy bullshit the Internet has fed you has got you thinking like this is fiction, but it is not. This is real. This is reality. Things don't just happen. Kronos is not just waking up! The Fae are not just attacking! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, think! Something is making Kronos wake up, something convinced the Fae to attack now. There's something, someone, I just don't know who."

D smacked the sides of his head, "THINK!"

He froze, "OK. OK. This is how it is, this is what we know - Uriel is making some unknowable move..."

"I remember!" Aziraphale interjected, "Yes, yes, the desert. Uriel is... is turning humans into angels. I don't know how. Genetic engineering, I would assume. And we can assume he's turning angels into robots, into androids."

"Yes!" D shouted, "Yes, that's it! He's building an army, loyal entirely to him, brainwashed. The Fae are posting their lieutenants on this plane of reality and, if we're right about the vampires, building an army of their own.And then there's Kronos. Kronos doesn't have plans - can't, he isn't around to make them - but someone could use him in theirs. Time is an intrinsic piece of reality, rip it out and there goes the universe. Maybe if you confuse time, you weaken reality, you make it easier to tear a hole in it. A hole for the Fae or a hole for Uriel, either way.

So, so maybe they're working together! Build up an army, attack the only people that could stop them, then bring Kronos in and use him to deliver the final blow. But no, not the Fae, they aren't clever enough to do that. Don't think too highly of anything physical. But Uriel! He's a smart one."

D went pale.

"And this invasion is exactly what he wants," he said, "Trap us in Heaven, slaughter us, use the Fae to clean up the mess, then destroy them with Kronos. It's very nearly genius, maybe not a plan entirely his. Probably just picking up the pieces around him and putting them together. But no matter what, this is a very bad idea.

We're playing into his hand."

---

There was a shift in the light. A flicker of darkness. A rustle in the grass.

Rosalind bolted awake and leaped up, grass clinging to her body, breath beating out of her lung. She was poised to pounce, either in fight or flight. Something had invaded her meadow. Something had invaded the school, or very nearly; mere fear, or a foe?

"What is it?" she demanded, "What do you want?"

[Agritum]

"Sir William Nilark- British knight, mentor, master of Excalibur, war hero and master of exposition." Crowley snarked, looking at the former student of his. The information given was still processing in his brain.

"John Calhoun?" Sanchez asked. "That Canadian?" He said Canadian very nearly as though it were a disgusting racial slur, as Horn was not here to object with his fist. "I recall him. He was an ass, but not like you describe."

"Clearly, people can change over time." Daisuke muttered. Zoryana shot a glance at Carry.

"Crowley, I get paid to teach kids how to make toast and baked beans from a tin and occasionally stab whatever the threat of the week is, not do the bloody 'Previously on Elfen High' recaps," William responded. "As for what Calzazel is trying to do, since he's working for the Fae I'd imagine it involves lots of genocide and mind rape, the usual components of any plot by the glittery gits."

William would suddenly hear his modern smartphone/old-ass shitty cellphone ring, announcing him that he had just received a text message.

The message itself read like this:

Code: Select all

"Where are you, [i]dummkopf[/i]? You do know that leaving your business partner alone without telling her where you are going is quite a vile thing to do, [i]Britische schweinhund[/i]? Anyways, reply to my questions! [i]Schnell![/i]"

[Nationstatelandsville]

"Crowley, I get paid to teach kids how to make toast and baked beans from a tin and occasionally stab whatever the threat of the week is, not do the bloody 'Previously on Elfen High' recaps," William responded. "As for what Calzazel is trying to do, since he's working for the Fae I'd imagine it involves lots of genocide and mind rape, the usual components of any plot by the glittery gits."

William would suddenly hear his modern smartphone/old-ass shitty cellphone ring, announcing him that he had just received a text message.

The message itself read like this:

Code: Select all

"Where are you, [i]dummkopf[/i]? You do know that leaving your business partner alone without telling her where you are going is quite a vile thing to do, [i]Britische schweinhund[/i]? Anyways, reply to my questions! [i]Schnell![/i]"

"TURN THAT FUCKING THING OFF!" D roared within the instant, "This is a goddamn war tribunal!"

[Nude East Ireland]

Alice and Francois appeared on a relatively uninteresting street in Dublin, in front of a brutalist building with few windows and a simple glass door. A sign hung next to the door, and read 'Government Property, Trespassers Will Not Have Fun'. Francois opened the door for Alice, and followed his superior into the unimpressive lobby. At the front desk was a receptionist, who appeared as old as Ireland's current government. Alice walked forward and nodded.

"Acting Head of Faerie University, and this my number one," she said. "Where is the Taoiseach?"

"Arse!" barked the receptionist. "Gobshite!"

Alice felt a looming, angry presence behind her. "Hello there." said the Taoiseach, surprisingly calm and polite, in the same manner as an unset nuclear bomb.

"Henry is dead, sir," Alice said, matching his calmness. "And the Canadian mercenary named John Calhoun appears to be at large again."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Arse!" barked the receptionist. "Gobshite!"

Alice felt a looming, angry presence behind her. "Hello there." said the Taoiseach, surprisingly calm and polite, in the same manner as an unset nuclear bomb.

"Henry is dead, sir," Alice said, matching his calmness. "And the Canadian mercenary named John Calhoun appears to be at large again."

There was a pause as the Taoiseach started to laugh quietly, barely audible. "You know what, you know what's really fucking sad here is that I don't even have the energy to pretend I already knew." he sighed, rubbing his temples. "This situation right now, all this fuck shit, it's like a clown running across a minefield. It's like taking a giant shit in the loo that's backed up so the shit just keeps building until it touches your anus again. Explain to me, further, just exactly what happened and how. You're the acting head now?"

[Nude East Ireland]

"Henry is dead, sir," Alice said, matching his calmness. "And the Canadian mercenary named John Calhoun appears to be at large again."

There was a pause as the Taoiseach started to laugh quietly, barely audible. "You know what, you know what's really fucking sad here is that I don't even have the energy to pretend I already knew." he sighed, rubbing his temples. "This situation right now, all this fuck shit, it's like a clown running across a minefield. It's like taking a giant shit in the loo that's backed up so the shit just keeps building until it touches your anus again. Explain to me, further, just exactly what happened and how. You're the acting head now?"

Alice went on to explain to her superior the entire situation, in beautiful narration that could only be described as 'Morgan Freeman orgasming', which impressed Francois, and most likely the secretary. However, Alice tried to remain calm and stoic, since she wasn't quite in the mood for being inspiring or entertaining; she was there to report to her boss, and - by extension - her government. Or perhaps it was the other way around? The Taoiseach was basically the entire government.

Finally, Alice sighed. "So, yes. I suppose I'm the acting head of school for FU."

[Astrolinium]

Caspian licked his lips, his heart quickening.

He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, and shrugged. He said, "She isn't my friend. I don't even know her name."

He kept the gun in the air and leveled it at Azazel. He said, "This is a Smith & Wesson 12836 triple-plasma-action revolver, first produced in the year of our Lord two-thousand, three-hundred ninety-eight. The retro look was in. It's nicknamed the Demonslayer, after its effectiveness in the Great War of 2402. I don't know what it'll do to you, though. In the interest of keeping the web of time in good health, it'd probably be a very, very bad idea for either of us to try to kill the other. Although, you know, curiosity was always a weakness of mine."

[Nightkill the Emperor]

The demon guards, though well armed and armored and perfectly capable to take down the six Mexicans, did not even raise their weapons, and Alastor himself, sitting behind a table with several chairs laid out in front of him, merely stared sternly at the cartel members, his attention only momentarily diverted by one of the member's comment.

"Sientense." He commanded, expecting them to obey and sit down.

"It appears that you are, in the words of many wise men who speak your language, jodidos." He continued. "Now, this does not have to end badly for anyone involved. I am aware yours is a rather lucrative market and understand why many are drawn to it. However I can't tolerate this kind of activity within my domains." He explained.

"Thus, I offer you the following: You may cooperate with me in getting rid of your fellow dealers that endanger peace in these lands and perhaps be granted mercy, or you may discover how a demon king makes a breakthrough in human anatomy." He stated. "What will it be?"

The Mexicans gave a sort of shuffle. "Well," one said in shit Demonic before switching to Spanish, realising it was better to make him understood rather than accidentally saying "Please, shoot me in the dick*."

"Well, I suppose we could join up in your market." the head of the operation seemed to mutter. "I could talk to my own bosses, and we could try to work something or the other out, if you like."

Alastor's own phone would buzz. It was a text message from the Irish government, basically saying "Can you come by to our Dublin offices? It appears events have occurred that we could need your help with."

*You would be amazed how many deaths throughout history have effectively gone like this.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Alastor merely stared on, unamused, as the Mexican cartel members tried to save their asses by negotiating with him, though he winced a bit when the head member spoke in Demonic. However his attention was diverted when his phone rang. He picked it from his pocket, noticed the message and promptly read it, before taking a minute to wonder why in the nine circles the Irish government was contacting him and then standing up and changing into his armored form, which likely triggered a few brown stains.

"I have to go." He said as he turned around, facing one of his guards and handing the demon a couple papers. "But I am certain my subordinate here will be more than happy to continue negotiating with you lot. I trust you will prove to be cooperative with them, for the good of both your people and my own." He continued, addressing the Mexicans, before opening a portal. "Now farewell, and pray I never see you acting illegally on my territory again." He stated, before stepping through.

The guard, after watching his boss depart, turned to the cartel members. "Well, you better tell us all about your operations in the area. Or I'll shoot you in the dick." He said in broken Spanish.

Meanwhile, Alastor appeared in the offices of the Irish government in Dublin, in his human, suit-clad disguise, thus demonstrating that while he was a diplomatic person, he enjoyed scaring people shitless on occasion.

[Constaniana]

William would suddenly hear his modern smartphone/old-ass shitty cellphone ring, announcing him that he had just received a text message.

The message itself read like this:

Code: Select all

"Where are you, [i]dummkopf[/i]? You do know that leaving your business partner alone without telling her where you are going is quite a vile thing to do, [i]Britische schweinhund[/i]? Anyways, reply to my questions! [i]Schnell![/i]"

"TURN THAT FUCKING THING OFF!" D roared within the instant, "This is a goddamn war tribunal!"

"D, you're a bloody ten-year-old. I wouldn't expect you to know this sort of thing yet, but ignoring a text from your woman is generally a terrible idea," William responded as he texted Hilde back.

Code: Select all

"Pretty sure I said where I was going.  Anyways, sorry about that, was giving the recap of what happened in the demon village and with John  Azhoun to Crowley, Sanchez and co.  I'll be out in a minute."

"This is probably a good time for me to step out anyway. I don't have a rehash of Stark Industries, centuries of combat experience, wings, massive armies or an insane dragon corpse school. I've got an ancient sword of +1 arse-kicking, an angry German woman, and reservations for dinner with said woman. Well, and a Jag..." Sir Nilark let his sentence trail off rather than go into a list of his material possessions. The Yorkshireman rose from his chair and headed towards the door. "Unless any of you have other questions about Azhoun?"

[Nationstatelandsville]

"TURN THAT FUCKING THING OFF!" D roared within the instant, "This is a goddamn war tribunal!"

"D, you're a bloody ten-year-old. I wouldn't expect you to know this sort of thing yet, but ignoring a text from your woman is generally a terrible idea," William responded as he texted Hilde back.

Code: Select all

"Pretty sure I said where I was going.  Anyways, sorry about that, was giving the recap of what happened in the demon village and with John  Azhoun to Crowley, Sanchez and co.  I'll be out in a minute."

"This is probably a good time for me to step out anyway. I don't have a rehash of Stark Industries, centuries of combat experience, wings, massive armies or an insane dragon corpse school. I've got an ancient sword of +1 arse-kicking, an angry German woman, and reservations for dinner with said woman. Well, and a Jag..." Sir Nilark let his sentence trail off rather than go into a list of his material possessions. The Yorkshireman rose from his chair and headed towards the door. "Unless any of you have other questions about Azhoun?"

"Just get out you ball-less fuck," D grumbled, "and tell no one about what happened to you or what we're discussing. Tell the German bitch the same. The last thing we need is a kerfuffle.

Fuck you, Crowley, kerfuffle is a word! Shut your goddamn mouth"

[Swith Witherward]

D was correct. Kerfuffle was indeed a word. There were plenty of words rattling around Fen's brain at the moment and all of them had been pushed further and further from her tongue the longer she sat in the Headmaster's office.

A war tribunal? Holy fucking shit, I'm so out of my league!

She didn't dare move, however. Where would she go? What excuse could she possibly use that would be plausible with exception of raising her timid little hand and telling every last man in the room that she seriously had to wee? She didn't have to wee. She had to go lie down with a cool rag over her face.

But no, that was the old Fen. The New Fen was about being brave. She'd run away like a frightened mouse only if they turned on her and demanded to know why she was still there. The Polynesian leaned back in her chair and allowed her toes to grasp the fabric of her makeshift bundle. A stiff drink would be nice.