"We paid a visit to Solaria recently and discovered something quite concerning. We think it would be of use to you in your efforts to take them down," explained Favian.
"And what would that be?" Asked Li, very clearly uninterested.
"They're engaging in human experimentation," blurted Gwynevere.
Li's eyebrows rose, Gwyn's words having finally caught her attention. "And how pray tell did you come upon this piece of information."
Anduran's lofty form shifted before Li. "We had gone to Solaria in the hopes of finding something to use against them," he said, leaving out the part where they were there to betray her. "We happened to come across their court physician discussing procedures with Gabriel and a few others."
"Gabe? They're experimenting on prisoners?" Li tapped on her chin, glancing to the side as she fell into a deep contemplation. "My, how far they've fallen," She said sarcastically, a smile breaking across her face as she turned her attention back to the council members.
"YOUR MAJESTY! THERE'S TROUBLE!"
Li sighed, massaging her temples as a distraught guard frantically ran into the throne room. "Mysterious statues have been placed all over!"
Li kissed her teeth. "You rushed in here frothing at the mouth over some art project?"
The guard swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Forgive me your Majesty but I really think you should see this!"
Li rolled her eyes and stood up. "For your sake, this better be important."
The guard escorted Li to the town square. The High Council followed closely behind, curious as to what could have frightened him so much that he would drag Li all the way out here.
As early in the morning as it was, there was already a large crowd gathering where the kneeling statue of Illya was. However, the closer Li and the others got, the more it became apparent that something else had taken its place. A large statue cast in gold of Illya snapping a noble's neck with her tail now stood tall where her kneeling form was once found.
"They're all different but there are dozens more like this that were put up overnight to replace the ones of the disgraced empress in all of the lord's territories," explained the guard.
By the time realization finally struck, it was already too late. "Has anyone contacted the nobles from Solaria this morning?" asked Li.
The guard frowned. "We did but....the guards on patrol thought that the statues might have been made in an attempt to make a mockery of them as retaliation for the ones we put up in Solaria but well..."
"What is it? Spit it out!" said Li, growing increasingly more frustrated.
"All of the statues turned out to have shown how the nobles were killed."
Favian gasped in shock. "They're dead?"
The guard nodded slowly. Li grabbed the few people standing directly in front of the statue and threw them out of her way as she knelt to inspect it. Sure enough, the runes at the bottom of the statue were the same ones on the statues her people had placed in Solaria. Li stood and turned to the council, looking utterly livid.
"I thought you had locked her away."
They stumbled back, the sheer force that Li's gaze held was enough for them to lose their breaths.
"We did! There's no way to prove that she is the one behind thi—"
Gwynevere tried to reason with Li but she was violently stopped mid-sentence by the stomach churning sound of knuckles making contact with her face. The silence that preluded Li's furry told them all they needed to know of what their fate was about to be.
"YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS! WHO ELSE COULD BE BEHIND THIS SICK JOKE? THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF THING SHE WOULD DO."
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Li was right of course.
|4 Days Ago|
Raehar slammed the door to their base open. "GUYS! The magic blocking my clairvoyance was broken!"
Callisto and the others looked at him with hopeful eyes, urging him to tell them what he saw. He made his way over to the table, flipping his journal open, he sat down, ready to start writing. His eyes began to shimmer, waves of violet and gold dancing in them as his pen began to move. They observed his words carefully as he recorded the details of Illya's circumstances.
"Looks like she's infiltrated Li's tower...oh— she's writing something down..." Raehar squinted to see what she was doing.
"What's she writing?" Asked Callisto.
"It looks like...a letter...for us!"
In Raehar's vision, Illya began explaining the situation and her plan to him. When she was done, the colours in Raehar's eyes drained and returned to normal. He put his pen down, looking over what he recorded. The group went over what he transcribed of Illya's letter and came up with a plan of their own.
"I received a report from Sin a while back describing the situation with the cursed statues in Solaria. We can ask Hecate to help us use the same magic to put Illya's statues up," explained Seibel.
"Sounds like a plan...we'll have to wait until we see her again to re-forge our contracts..." said Zagan.
Callisto stood and walked to the door. "At least we have direct confirmation that she's safe right now. Let's go inform Hecate and the others. Send word to the Dollhouse of our plans as well."
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
|Present Day|
Eyes that speak words the lips do not
The phrase was very neatly inked in small letters on Ea's wrist. When Koteru was finished, the words briefly glowed pale blue before drying into simple black ink. Yiran watched as Ea's eyes emitted the same blue light for a fleeting second.
"How do you feel?" asked Yiran softly.
Ea squinted as light gradually began to filter through his lashes. His face twisted in discomfort.
"...I...you...have you slept at all? You look homeless," said Ea with a smile.
Yiran breathed a sigh of relief, smiling hard enough for his cheeks to start hurting. "We are homeless. Thanks for noticing."
Koteru put away his instruments before coming back to check on them. "So how is it?"
Ea pushed himself onto his feet. He wobbled a bit, needing to get used to the sudden change. He caught Yiran's arm to steady himself and looked toward Koteru.
"Things are a bit blurry but I can still see again!"
"I thought that might be the case. Here take these." Koteru handed him a pair of glasses. "They're one of my brother's old pairs. I don't know how well they'll work but I'm sure someone in the village will be able to help you get it fixed up."
If he was being honest, Ea had some mixed feelings. He still felt incredibly guilty but part of him was also happy to have his sight back.
"I can't thank you enough. I wish there was something I could do to repay you..."
"Don't worry about it. You've been through enough as it is."
It still didn't sit right with Ea. As he was trying to think of a way to repay Koteru, a painting behind them caught Yiran's eye. Koteru followed Yiran's gaze back to the painting and suddenly an idea struck him.
"Actually, there is something..."90Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqw432S06VY
