CE 3.0 2017-2018

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo

His hand split before her fist could reach him, though the bones had scattered all around in jets of fire, it kept his hand from being crushed.

"Respect is earned, not given. It has nothing to do with weak and strong, but you're not being very honest right now. You're jealous of my magic and afraid of looking weak, so you used a magical item to seal your strength in exchange for what you didn't have. It's fine to have talents in different fields, but in that case why aren't you proud?"

[yinsukin]

Medaka

Medaka nodded, putting one hand underneath her chin in a thinking pose.  This was part of the reason she used to love this city.  There was so much here she couldn't possibly learn about.  The girl before her could actually construct a human body and wear it like a coat.  Furthermore, she seemed to be in possession of reality warping abilities.  Nothing like that could exist in her old world.

"Well, I can tell you that she is the one who turned me and that her vamperic powers are far more potent than mine.  After all, she is a full vampire, while I am only half.  Outside of that, you should probably ask her yourself."

[Kat]

Mitsuba

"Wait a moment, how you can be a half vampire if you got turned by a vampire? Vampires are dead humans and when they turn a human into one of them, the result is obviously a vampire. Well, some of them can just give blood to humans without draining them to the point of death, but those people are still biologically human and only get miniscule fraction of their powers." That really sounded strange and unusual to her.

[SINIB]

Saber

"Oh is that so?" She nodded along with Olga but in an almost mocking imitation with maximum effort put into being as condescending as possible when doing it. Saber then put her arm around Olga and leaned against the slightly taller woman. "If you're that experienced in the manners of courting then perhaps you would be so kind to take me out and demonstrate your great talent. It would go a long way to convice me  in this matter."

Olga Marie

Olga chuckled mirthfully at Saber. "What, are you asking me to take you out on a date?" Olga laughed once. "Would you like some more casual clothes? You'd fit in more if you weren't wearing armour all the time'l

[yinsukin]

Hazel

Hazel tried and failed to fight back more tears before leaning in, pressing her forehead against the pirate's skull.  Her touch emitted a feint heat, just enough to keep your butt warm on a cold day.  "Can you feel that?  Thats the extent of my magical power, a small bit of heat that can keep you warm on a cold winter night.  My father was a fire mage even stronger than you.  My mother was an ice mage of similar power.  I was supposed to be a child prodigy, a mage above the other mages.  Instead, I was born with this pointlessly strong body and emotional problems."

The broken gangster straightened her back and spread out her arms.  "Look at me!  I'm a mess!  "I'm a stupid weak wreck!  Your right.  I'm just a scrub using some fancy toys."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo

Lorenzo couldn't think of anything about what she talked about. When she touched him, he could feel no warmness or coldness,making the whole example pointless. In the end, nothing she'd say or do would change the way he felt about her. So while his burning fingers flew back towards his arm, he rose back up slowly and wiped off his ruined coat.

"You're right. You're a mess, a stupid ball of flaws and annoyances. You're overtly harsh and reckless, and you act all high and mighty even when you're hurting deep down inside. You're the sort of person people don't want to associate with, you smoke without any consideration for those around you, and your magic is so sad even I can't laugh at it."

For a second, the heat around the two intensified as the skeleton recovered. His words might come as harsh, but his tone betrayed him. He felt sorry for her, because she reminded him of someone from long ago.

"And so what? Being a complete and utter scrub didn't stop you from beating me. Despite your weakness, you didn't give up, you endured burns that would have any man cower. So stop beating yourself over, and stop taking the easy way out and blame lack of talent for your shortcomings." He grabbed her shoulders tightly and locked stares with her. He wouldn't let her cry a second longer."You are weak, and that's okay!"

[yinsukin]

Medaka

"Because part of it is gone," Medaka said, her gaze wondering to the floor.  "I lost a piece of my soul a few months ago, but I intend to get it back."

[yinsukin]

Hazel

Hazel tightened grabbed hold of his ribcage once more, inching her face even closer than it already was.  At this distance, her lips were practically touching his boney jaw.  "OF COURSE I'M WEAK!  I KNOW THAT!" she yelled, before her face softened.  "But it doesn't mean I still don't want to be talented like you.  Seeing that fire... it makes it all come back."

Then, she shook his stupid undead body.  "BUT YOU MOTHER FUCKER!  YOU STILL DON'T SHOW ME ANY RESPECT! AND YOU KEEP DODGING MY QUESTIONS! WHY DID YOU SAY THAT!" She was back to yelling.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo

She was shouting so loud she might actually snuff his flames out through sheer vocal prowess. Sheesh, this woman was outright dangerous, especially to his mental health. Well, he didn't dislike that.

"Hey, can you please staph shouting? You'll wake up all the neighbors." He told her casually, despite the fact all the fire and explosions would have woken any sane person up already. That aside, he put a finger on his boney jaw as if pondering.

"And said... what exactly?"

[yinsukin]

Hazel

Hazel froze.  Her entire body suddenly became still, as if she trapped herself in her own ice.  She let out a small subdued squeel and said, "Y-you k-know, the thing you whispered in my ear.  I-I asked why."

She began twiddling her thumbs, pushing them in on each other like a guilty child.  "I want to know..."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo

Pfffft, she's so cute!

The poor skeleton rubbed the back of his head. "Huh? That? I just thought it'd sound cool, you know? No need to overthink it. Felt like something that might make you happy, sorry if it was awkward." He answered meekly. Damn, now he was the one getting all flustered over this.

"Hey, Hazel. Can you make me a promise?"

[yinsukin]

Hazel

Hazel's entire body began glowing red with embarrassment.  Naturally, it spun back around to anger as she raised her fist without even thinking about it.  Jst as she was about to crush his ribcage, he said something.

"Hey, Hazel. Can you make me a promise?"

"What?" she asked, her eyes still wide with rage. Her fist pausing just as it was about to strike his chest.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo

The pirate didn't flinch when the fist was about to strike him, but for the first time, he sounded sad.

"Live strong. Believe in yourself... Your wounds mean nothing so laugh more, stand up straight... fall in love... and stop lying to yourself. You want to become strong, that's fine. Then show me you can do it, that you can beat your weak self to a curb. Cry when you want to cry, laugh when you want to laugh, and scream when you want to scream."

He knelt before his lord truthfully and laid his hand on his chest, where his heart should be. He vowed an oath.

"If you can do this much, I promise, I will respect you."

[yinsukin]

Hazel

Hazel stayed completely still, her eyes wide as she took in the pirates words.  It was strange.  The pirate's request bounced through her head, releasing a grand canyon's worth of relief.  No, it was more than relief, it was a piece of the pride she had been looking for.  In this single fleeting moment of happiness, she wondered if maybe her parents were looking for that too.  Caught up in the endless search for prestige, she wondered if they had lost something along the way and unintentionally froze their hearts.

Tears streamed down the broken gangster's face, sizzling as they touched the pirate's body.  The steam flowed upward.  "I promise," she said, nodding with a strong determined look in her eyes.  The tears flowing down her cheeks seemed to glitter in the light created by the fires around them, her face as warm as the sun itself.

At last, his flames had thawed out a bit of her heart.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo

"Heh!" He chuckled approvingly and gave the girl a genuine thumbs up.

And then he remembered.

"Oh. Oh..." Crap, how could he had forgotten the most important bit. "Um, Hazel, remember the thing about the mission? There's something I forgot to tell you about."

...

"The girl escaped."