Liberation of Slaves: Yuzuki/Azurius Tade

credit to nat of adoxography and gangnam style.

DON'T TRUST ANYONE

WHAT THE HECK WAS SHE FREAKING DOING BACK HERE?!?!

Yuzuki slammed an angry fist into a nearby pile of rubble, glaring angrily at anyone who got anywhere near her. This was stupid. This was stupid, this was idiotic, it was just about one of the worst possible decisions she could possibly make... Ugh. She slowly turned around, leaning against the thing that had once been a stone wall. She slowly slid down, plopping hard onto the earth. Sometimes, you know, she hated herself. It was almost a thought of betrayal to her personality, but occasionally, she would wish to be one of those normal kids out playing, or at her age, some normal adult living a peaceful life like the ones who had once lived here.

This place reminded her of how weak she could get, how easily she was overwhelmed. Just that terrorizing memory of the wave, creeping up in front of her in slow motion, the crazed, feral way she had been, slashing off shark after shark. Then, how she'd purposefully sought a do-good mage's help! Seriously? Not to mention she now had a scar all over her hand, an ugly blue in the light she held her hand up to. It was like she'd been branded... Her hand instinctively went up to her ear, where the tip had been ripped off. Brands...tags...labels... She hated them. The semi-fey ground her teeth in frustration, then decided to vent her emotions on the wall she leaned on. Silver flashed as Katsuki was straightened, and after a few minutes of furious slashing, the wall was reduced to rubble as well.

Panting hard, Yuzuki finally ripped out the paper that was the reason why she had come in the first place. Of course, that traitorous side of her had been curious as to what the place was like now, but this job request had been the main reason. It offered decent pay, and seemed easy enough. As her breathing returned to normal, she stood, and began to walk towards the place she had been told to wait for another mage who had also accepted the request. She wasn't happy about it, but oh well.

Hopefully it wasn't someone too annoying. As she reached the approximate location, she flopped down on a pile of rubble, not at all seeming to mind the bodies she could be laying on. It wasn't like she cared, anyways. Humans could go extinct for all she cared. Sprawling on the uncomfortable surface, Yuzuki could feel that feral fear that had been creeping up on her slowly resume its normal ornery state. By the time she got back up, she would be the grouchy, bad-tempered little girl again.

credit to nat of adoxography and gangnam style.

DON'T TRUST ANYONE

'Hopefully it wasn't someone too annoying...' Well, time to scratch that. Here comes just about the most annoying guy in the world! Hip hip hooray! "Ga-arrghhh!" the semi-fey groaned, banging her head back against yet another rubble pile. What was with her luck these days? THIS guy, the old immortal masochist goody two-shoes? Prepared for some stupidly big-brotherish greeting, Yuzuki jerked her head up in surprise at the legal mage's unusually blunt words. Raising an eyebrow, she prepared some other cutting-edge comeback then stopped in surprise as Azurius turned and stalked off in the other direction. Well, something was wrong, no dur.

"Jeez, what's up with the oldie today anyways?" she muttered, hating how she had to jog to catch up. Well, not that she cared, anyways. However, there was just that tiny bit of traitorous site in her that kept wondering why his personality was changing. Did it have to do with the atmosphere they were currently in? Did something just happen? Did he eat something bad? Yuzuki clicked her tongue against her teeth irritably. Though her instincts had gotten her out of trouble time and time again, there were these annoying moments where it simply refused to let her be. Annoyance began to build up inside her, and her tongue clicked faster and faster, fingers drumming a rapid beat on the silvery surface of Katsuki.

While Yuzuki had been itching with curiosity, the ship had come up before him. "What the heck is that?!" she snarked, glaring towards Azurius, who was once more stomping off into the ship. Okay, something was definitely up. She watched as he coldly cut off his crew, something she would've never expected him to do. Tilting her head to the side at this odd and unexplainable phenomenon, she decided to risk the weirdness of the ship and go after him. Twirling Katsuki over her shoulder in spear form, she was deep in thought as she leapt on board, only to receive a gun in the face. Her eyebrow started twitching irritably, and just as she was about to run them all through, the guy barked out a command for her name.

Yuzuki closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and simply stabbed her fingers in a V shape at the ground, and tried to shove past the guards. "Hey, get back here!" Shouts would rise up as the semi-fey struggled angrily, kicking and spinning in one big mess. She actually made it fairly far down the hall before she went down, bringing a pile of guards down with her. As the men untangled themselves, Kelly would point the gun at Yuzuki again, demanding to know who she was and what she was doing here. "Baka 'zurius..." Yuzuki scowled in anger, letting her chin drop down on the ground. Now, Yuzuki would never, not ever reveal to anyone her real name. It was a basic rule of survival out in the slums of Talonia, and she knew people might still be looking for her.

"Daezuyu Tsuki," she announced stubbornly, silver eyes adopting pure hatred at the woman. Nope, she never did make things easy. When it was obvious she wasn't about to let Yuzuki go anytime soon, the semi-fey began to look around and loudly observe her surroundings, pointing thinly veiled insults at the ship and the people inside it. "Oi, oi, whadda we have here now? Some ridiculous invention by humans or something, weird boxy things everywhere. Jeez, these colors sure are ugly, I mean, seriously? Have you all got any sense? And I believe I can hear the non-ceasing chattering of that germ on your tooth, miss. Seriously, it's really loud. Oh, hey, y'know what? I think it's calling its friends over since it's found some sugar, oh, dearie me, have you been sneaking in candies or something? Hmm, might wanna check your weight, never know." She did her best to shrug, a slight smirk crawling up her face. After all, one of her favorite pastimes was provoking people.

"Gosh dangit Oji!" she yelled in an annoyed tone, "Just cuz some girl rejected you or someone dropped a piano on you this morning doesn't mean you get to act like a friggin' kid!" As if she didn't act like a kid.

credit to nat of adoxography and gangnam style.

DON'T TRUST ANYONE

Now, if Yuzuki wasn't in a strange new environment she knew near nothing about at the moment, she probably would have given everyone there a few good whacks over the head and a tongue-lashing. However, her instincts for survival won over her trickster instincts and she began carefully noting her surroundings, possible ways to escape, and locating weak points on the people around her. She would almost skip down the hall, following the arrows and pretending Kelly didn't exist. Honestly, she couldn't understand who would want to be cooped up in a place like this. She would shudder as they passed another control board as the memory of something like it popped into her head. Except in this situation, she could walk freely and of her own will.

Her hand brushed the ripped ear briefly again before she continued on. Whenever she faltered for even the slightest of moments, a sudden shove from Kelly would cause her to resist the urge to run the woman through and focus on walking through the hall again. Now, this was exactly why legals and humans were stupid inventions some crazy god had decided to make as a cruel joke to every other living organism on the planet. Legals always thought they were in charge, and many considered their own morals to be the correct ones. Just because there was a group of old guys who never did anything productive standing at their backs didn't meant they had any extra authority or power!

And humans! Ever since humans had evolved, become mages, developed technology and got oh-so-smart, every other species had their lives ruined. I mean, humans were terribly destructive after all, and had such insufferably high self-esteem that it was a huge nuisance for her to even talk with one. Which was exactly why she had decided to completely ignore Kelly. Instead of continuing to move forward at a fairly brisk pace, Yuzuki suddenly stopped, shifted her weight to her back foot, and shoved off the ground, invisible wings boosting her forward in a series of aerial somersaults. Landing in the doorway, Yuzuki was greeted with the sight of Azurius pointing at a chair nearby.

Yuzuki glared at it. Did she really have to? And there were seat belts... For a second, memories flashed through her mind again, rough belts, chains, ropes, wire tying her down, chaining her down. Sweat dripped down her face, but she shook it away quickly. "I refuse to be strapped in," she said abruptly as Kelly came in, "If I hit the ceiling that's fine by me." From years of experience, she was obviously accustomed to hiding how she truly felt, for her tone was just as bristly and bratty as before. Still, once more, Azurius' voice was off. His entire personality was off. And that annoyed her. It seriously annoyed her.

Brushing Kelly off with a shove and a death glare, the semi-fey plopped into the chair like some bratty teenager and barely kept from flinching at the tight, artificial feel to it. As the ship began to lift off, Yuzuki covered her ears in annoyance as they popped from the rise. When the ship was cruising along normally, the semi-fey would shoot a sideways glance at the Lamia mage and was immediately even more annoyed. Yup, just looking at the guy pissed her off. I mean, what was up with that gloomy, grouchy look on his face? Was he trying to imitate her or something?

"Hey, look old guy," she started, having pulled out a strip of jerky and ripping off a piece with her teeth. She slowly turned, and her fists clenched in annoyance. "Aren't ya a little too old to be having mood swings?!?! You'd think that after being alive for who knows how many years you'd be through puberty by now, huh? What's next, the acne? The annoying pick-up lines?" she snapped angrily, ripping off piece after piece of jerky with each sentence. Stupid people. What was it with them and their weird emotions? If they got sad and angry every time something happened to a thing they loved, why not just not love anything in the first place?

credit to nat of adoxography and gangnam style.

DON'T TRUST ANYONE

The semi-fey glared straight back at the angel, silver eyes glinting in response to his golden ones. “That’s right, I don’t care at all,” she said, turning back around, and crossing one leg over the other as she continued chewing. She would simply stay in that position, curiosity growing by the second, but her pride squashing it back down each time. When Ene spoke from the screen, Yuzuki raised an eyebrow. Was he for real? Locking her inside? At first, the only emotion on her face was annoyance, but when it fully dawned on her that she was inside a ship she knew nothing about with her way out of the room locked, she stiffened. Once again, curiosity was getting the better of her. Determined not to show how she felt, she shifted slightly so the roughly cut bangs that were much too long for her covered her face and the sweat that was beading on the edges of it.

She would hear Kelly’s voice, and tilted her head back to glare at her. About to release some snarky comment, she would stop as the woman continued. She frowned, closing her eyes at the name Lamia Scale. She never really even tried to remember the names of things she didn’t deem important, and the names of guilds was one of those. All she knew that whenever someone came by with any sort of guild stamp, she should probably run off as fast as possible. After all, no one really appreciated a thief, whether legally or dark affiliated. “Oh, that was the guild that got smashed?” she said in a dull tone, trying to shove away the embarrassing memories from when she’d been there herself. Listening to the rest, Yuzuki dropped her chin down to her chest again, heaving another annoyed sigh. She couldn’t comprehend it. Why did everyone want to be with other people even though only pain ever came of it?

In her opinion, whichever option offered the most for her out of it would be the one she chose, so why would it be such a difficult decision for somebody? However, there was one thing Kelly said that she understood. Confusion definitely brought on anger at times. But, then again, everything that happened seemed to be able to make the girl angry in some way. Watching as Kelly opened the door, Yuzuki would pointedly ignore the smirk, though she would hurry to get out of the room. If she was locked inside for any longer, she felt she would go crazy. Barely looking, she would grab the breathing mask, and after a few seconds of hopeless struggle, managed to get it on.

Following Ene, Yuzuki could feel the pressure of being stuck in one place slowly ease off. The semi-fey could feel the air pressure slowly beginning to weaken, her skin tingling at the unfamiliar feeling. Even if she could fly, her wings had never been substantial enough to bring her to these heights. Sensing Azurius’ breathing up ahead, the semi-fey paused for the briefest of moments, pondering what to say. After all, she wasn’t so stupid as to not have learned a thing about how humans and other creatures usually felt. And that she knew mostly the bad side of, how selfish they could be, how cold and uncaring, and unwilling to adapt to new things. Sadness, she had rarely felt before. Just anger. Someone tied her up and wanted to sacrifice her to some demon king? Boom, spears everywhere, problem solved. Closest friend and mentor just revealed themselves to be an enemy? Boom, more spears.

“You,” she said suddenly in an unusually cold voice for her, “Are just some other idiot out there in the world. So what if you were some all high and mighty angel or something? Guess what. I’ve got news for you. You’re in just some other crappy body out here designed to take care of yourself and not EVERY LITTLE PROBLEM THAT COMES YOUR WAY. You wanna be some sorta hero? Find some other perfect world out there that doesn’t make it IMPOSSIBLE to do that! Every time you help someone, equal damage happens to someone else somewhere in the world. It’s how the friggin’ universe functions! Everyone attempting to cause destruction or to help is only going to end up realizing things don’t work out! What you try to do is going against the laws of this stupid universe!” There was slight hurt in her voice, from years of slowly realizing how unfair the world was. How the only way she could survive was to be selfish, and as selfish as possible.

credit to nat of adoxography and gangnam style.

DON'T TRUST ANYONE

Yuzuki raised an eyebrow at Azurius' response, then sighed, shaking her head. "So weird." Honestly, she felt a lot better after releasing all that pent-up energy, the way she usually did. With a slightly less grumpy expression on her face, she followed more slowly after the older mage into the control room again. Ripping off her oxygen mask, she flopped into the chair, staring at the confusing mess of buttons, levers, and flashing lights until her eyes glazed over. Technology had never been a strong point, and she doubted it ever would.

However, she did understand enough to be slightly prepared as the ship began rushing downwards, the semi-fey's hands gripping the armrests with all her strength. This wasn't an unfamiliar sensation for her, as many if her attacks were done crashing down right on top of an enemy, but it was unusual that she had no control over things, no way to feel the air rushing up around her and acting according to that. In battle, she could feel the air brushing past her, sense the distance she was from something, and tilt her position if her aim wasn't quite right. Here, all she could do was pray that these people with zero sense of humor were skilled enough to get her down safely. That was the worst kind of feeling to her, having to depend on others.

Through narrowed eyes, Yuzuki watched as the enemy ships appeared and began to fire at them. As the team began striking back, Yuzuki's grip faltered uwhen the ship suddenly swerved to the side, nearly throwing her across the room. So, this was what he'd been talking about? She sighed, refusing to show that he had been right. Taking out Katsuki in chain form, she would loop one end around the chair, securing it tightly and securing the other end around her waist. At least this was a restraint that she had complete control over. And it was a good thing she had attached the chain after all, as the ship would go into a dizzying routine of twists, turns and all sorts of complicated shizzle that would have left Yuzuki smashed up against the screen.

Really, most of what she understood was that the team had unleashed a bunch of big gun things and started shooting the enemy up without getting them all killed. Good 'nuff for her. Noticing that Azurius had gotten up from his seat, she began to hope that they were actually going to get out there and do some good ol' fashioned combat. Sitting around and watching people tap at buttons was getting boring for the constantly moving, and constantly in danger semi-fey. Hey, you're never exactly safe when you're a street thief. Gripping the end of Katsuki, the chains would suddenly shoot out into it's full spear form which Yuzuki held gingerly, afraid the length would accidentally destroy things inside. She would quickly condense it back into chain form, looping it through her belt as usual.

Stepping out and looking upon the ship, a small grin spread across her face. A good amount of slavers stood on their main ship, ready for battle. Being small in size, a large group was perfect for her tactics that included a lot of jumping on peoples' heads or weaving through them, low to the ground. It helped that they were in the air, giving them a chance if falling to their deaths as well. Of course, she wasn't about to wait for Azurius to bark out any orders and such, so she would leap off their ship impulsively, relishing the sudden freedom she felt.

Feeling her wings slightly catch at the air as she opened them, she would curl into a ball, using the wings to keep away from the bullets being shot towards her. As she neared them, she would undo Katsuki from her belt in midair, releasing the spear in a whip-like fashion into the group before landing in their midst and rolling away, rising again and prepared for battle.

credit to nat of adoxography and gangnam style.

DON'T TRUST ANYONE

As soon as she raised her head again, she winced slightly at the sound of gunfire from both sides. Having been in situations like this before, she knew the best way to survive was to keep low. It wasn't too hard for her, being very short. Checking that Katsuki was in spear form, she would practically slide across the deck, spear extended and slicing into the legs of the slavers, tripping up the rest. Despite being so small, the semi-fey had surprising strength. Even though she knew Kelly was helping with the gunfire, she felt unsafe in such a situation. Guns were unnatural weapons. Their power was surreal, deadly bullets travelling at surreal speeds shouldn't exist in her mind. Unbalancing the connections between humans and everything else... no wonder she hated them. Why didn't they ever consider the balance of the world and all the species they had to share their precious space with? Guns had only widened the rift that had already existed, an unnatural weapon with too much power.

By now, several slavers had been alerted to her presence, though, and the semi-fey knew she had to stay on the move. Or, of course, she could always... As the idea sprang into her head, she considered for a second that her "allies" might be confused, but shook away the thought almost as quickly. Who cared about them? Not her, that was for sure. Tendrils of moonlight shot from beneath a dirty sleeve, the beautiful silver threads a stark contrast to the rest of the girl's rough, ragged appearance. They wove together beside her as Yuzuki fended slavers off with Katsuki blocking and stabbing at them with graceful movements. Suddenly, as the threads finished their product, an exact twin of Yuzuki appeared next to her, looking exactly the same besides its lack of a shadow. The two shot off in different directions, confusing the slavers nearby.

Yuzuki smiled slightly at the chaos she had caused, with some still trying to follow her and some slavers rushing after her copy. Now, there were much fewer slavers for her to deal with. She hoped none of the slavers were fast enough to catch her imitation, as it couldn't fight. Deciding to focus on her current opponents first, the semi-fey would begin, swinging the chains around back into its spear form, and slashing the weapon through the slavers. It was slightly more difficult than most battles, due to the fact that these had guns, but if she knocked them all away, they couldn't be used anymore, right? With quick jabs from either end of the spear, she soon knocked away the guns from the slavers closest by. Just as she started really getting into the battle, spear clashing with blades, she spotted Azurius and Blade coming out the door. What were they doing now?

Springing up into the air with a boost from her wings, Yuzuki landed squarely on a nearby slaver's head. Leaping around atop the heads nearby, she called out, "Oi, what're ya doing now?"

credit to nat of adoxography and gangnam style.

DON'T TRUST ANYONE

Frowning when neither man responded, Yuzuki followed on top of the sea of heads, elfin made boots kicking off each one extra hard to fell some slavers at the same time she ran. When a few shot upwards with their guns, a few expert flips and anglings of the silver spear neatly warded them off, the soft ping sound barely audible to anyone but the sharp eared Yuzuki. Unlike Azurius, the semi-fey didnt care whether or not anyone was killed, and would just go along, thrusting her spear randomly into the crowd occasionally without looking to see if the unfortunate victim was alive or not.

Suddenly from the corner of her eye, she spotted a key forming, displaying the symbol of Aries. She would raise an eyebrow, not altogether too surprised that Azurius had such a powerful key. When they reached a door, immediately Yuzuki could sense the presence of a way out, from the sound and feel of sound waves bouncing off of it and back at her, powerful fey senses at work. She would watch calmly as the key would summon a, well how to put it...sparsely clad woman stepped out. If anyone was watching, Yuzuki's jaw would have clenched slightly, showing her hatred of those who purposefully wore clothes that displayed their body. Having lived her life on the streets and in the darkest and most dangerous areas of cities, she'd had bad experiences with such people.

However, she did recognize the spirit from previous jobs with the legal mage, and knew what Aries could do. Turning away, she would let the woman do her thing. Feeling the drainage of magic from the area, the semi-fey didnt feel much of a loss. Being used to mostly fighting with Katsuki, she was far more comfortable with the spear than her magic. Seeing there wasn't really much for her to do now, Yuzuki just kind of stood back, seeing as there wasn't anything much she could do now, and watched as her "allies" would kick the door down to reveal a, well, extremely...large woman. The semi-fey took a double take at simply the sheer size she was, noting the bulging stomach and incredible number of chins. "Are you an actress or something?" Yuzuki blurted incredulously, looking the captain up and down. To think she could actually manage to move to get into the ship, to come to the door... she had to admit she was impressed.

Deciding that this was a moment for the legals to do their diplomatic and professional talk, the semi-fey would seem to almost blend into the dirty, old walls of the ship. It was a trick she had learned on the streets, how to fit into places so peoples' eyes would simply dart over you. The right position to be in, the right colors to have as a background, it was a very precise science. Quickly growing bored of the situation, Yuzuki would drift down the hall, not caring in the least if anyone saw her or not. Suddenly, she heard the slightest noise, one she barely heard with her enhanced senses. Eyes widening, the girl's curiosity got the better of her and she was soon creeping around corners all over the ship to try and find the source. After turning another corner, she blinked in surprise at the sight of a teenager girl, around twelve years old huddled in the corner, sniffling softly. Surprised that no one was around, the semi-fey approached silently.

Suddenly noticing Yuzuki's presence, the girl leapt back, terrified out of her wits. Why? Oh, I dunno it couldn't possibly be that oversized spear she carried with her all the time? Pfft. The semi-fey blinked twice, slowly. "You one of the slaves? What're ya doing out here?" she asked, curiosity tinging her voice. Surprised that the woman, no, girl hadn't dragged her back into the slave holding area yet, the girl mumbled a muffled, "I escaped," before burying her head beneath her arms again. She was fairly certain the girl wouldn't hurt her, though not particularly because of her appearance. After all, the girl wore rough, dirty street clothes and boots that were made for combat. Her bangs were much too long for her, flopping into her face every here and there, while the rest of her hair was somehow held back with a messy ponytail. Still, she radiated a sort of aura of curiosity, an almost innocent aura.

Yuzuki tilted her head to the side, wondering what to do next. Should she get her out of here, what about the other girls? What condition were they in? Suddenly, Yuzuki's mind began to conjure visions of what the girl could be subjected to in the future if not helped, visions of what slaves were used for. Sharp memories prickled at the back of her mind, memories she roughly shoved away before suddenly picking up the girl, hoisting her up piggyback style. "E-ehhh?!" she blurted in confusion, eyes widening. "I'm getting you outta here. Be thankful," came the brusque response as Yuzuki shot back a silver eyed glance.

Carrying the girl outside into the battle again, she raised a cover of invisibility, flying them into the sky. She would soar up into Azurius' ship, plopping the girl down inside. "Computer girl, watch her, mkay?" she asked Ene gruffly before leaping back off. Landing back on the ship, Yuzuki watched with a raised eyebrow as the slavers began to bring out the slaves. Welp, legal 'diplomatic talk' had apparently worked. Her invisibility swiftly shed, the semi-fey let herself free fall down onto the slave ship deck, watching them board the Salvation. In the end...was she really as tough as she thought? The way she had helped the girl without a second thought...Yuzuki sighed. What was wrong with her? Blaming it all on Hargeon's effects, she boarded the ship as well. Watching the now abandoned slave ship far in the distance, Yuzuki would only close her eyes, and sigh, ready to get back to land soon.

It had been a bad day.