Ending the Cycle... Permanently

How long had it been since the albino woman had been standing in the spot that she was currently standing? She had only known this place for fifteen years of this so far short cycle, the last six of them had been within a place that those within it could call 'home', that place made the fifteen years she had been through seem like summer camp. It wasn't because the trials she had been put through here had been simpler, they themselves had been hell but she had six others she could lean on for strength, she had never felt alone due to this. It made everything seem fine, well it wasn't exactly like she knew better anyway, she had been raised here since she was a new born. To be honest now she knew her heritage she wondered how they managed to get her. It wasn't exactly like it was any small feat to enter the void let alone the realm of death and steal one of the primordial's children from their crib. Right now she was wearing a plain black training suit like she once wore, her feet bare on the harsh rock filled ground but it didn't seem to bother her, her hands clenching as did her eyes shaking her head "They still don't trust me..." she said to herself as she now wondered if they ever would, she couldn't exactly blame them from their point of view she had left their side not once but twice. Had she been in their positions she likely would have never forgiven them but as she wasn't in their position she couldn't say one way or the other how she would react in their position.

She didn't know why but she felt a sirens call back to her original home, it was like a need for her to be here. She hated this place, this place that turned her and her family into elite weapons of destruction, they had been tasked with cleansing the world so the new gods would be able to 'create' a new utopia but were normal people would likely be praising and praying to them they would be nothing more than puppets to the powerful, wealthy people who had orchestrated the entire situation. She knew they deserved to die for all the pain, suffering and death that they themselves caused via hers and the others hands, still, she had no real wish to make them suffer other than to make sure that they couldn't do this any longer to anyone else. Shaking her head she smiled weakly putting some loose strands of hair behind her ear as a semi gentle gust of wind moving past her the dust from the ground passing her eyes making them close for a second. Her every fibre was telling her to turn turn and run but that was never hers or her families way they pressed on were others would falter and run. Standing there for a few moments longer she felt the pulling stronger than it ever had been, it was like her old home knew she was there standing just on the outskirts of its domain, wanting to welcome her back into the darkness she was raised within "Perhaps something here will help." she said thoughtfully but then she already heard Cirven calling her an idiot for coming here, especially alone. He had already told her that he knew much on each of them, but she had been separated from them meaning whatever they had planed for her wasn't complete. It was part of the reason she felt pulled here she guessed.

After a few long moments she took a deep breath and started to walk forward, her eyes looking one way and the other, she now remembered why she hated this place it was like a maze designed to mess with her, at least after they figured out she read some of the people's minds to get correct paths and know where they had placed traps. She sighed rolling her eyes for a moment before closing them "Feels like I'm back in training..." she complained to herself "Fine, lets do it your way." she said starting to walk completely blind knowing in this place the others could rely on their eyes no navigate this place but she couldn't, she had to rely on her other senses. Was never an easy task and it would have cost her a few times had she even been a fraction slower, she was actually glad that she was always forced to improve one way or another. She moved through the winding secret paths within the mysterious canyon, several times stopping suddenly for a blade to swing past her before continuing. She stopped suddenly at a point that she never would, it was to dangerous for her to have stopped at this point, they released all manner of spirit and beast at this point and she knew she wasn't able to use her magic it only made the things here that much stronger. Hearing a voice she moved to open her eyes, something she knew she mustn't do but still she couldn't help it. The moment she did she felt a pressure around her body that she had never endured before, with her eyes going around the area trying to figure out where the glyph was for this but she couldn't see one and even with her eyes she couldn't see it even with her unusual vision. 'Crap, novice move...' she scolded herself she could already imagine Cirven calling her out on it.

Before her however she seen a younger version of herself, it was the first time she had been allowed outside the facility that was beneath the guild, she had been given three hours to get from the guild hall to the entrance via the hidden trail and she was failing miserably "I remember this... I was so fragile... afraid of the outside world..." she chuckled a little a gentle pinkness coming to her younger self's cheeks as a blue haired boy who had been several meters ahead of her had seemingly turned back and took her hand the big goofy grin she always remembered him wearing "He was always so strong even if they didn't see it..." she turned her eyes away from the memory "He could have easily have completed the task but he didn't... because he stopped to help me... we failed... he failed because I couldn't keep up with him or the others at that point." she remembered the guilt she felt because of the punishment they had to go through due to it, it was so painful, she remembered crying to him apologising that she caused him to go through this but he had never hated her for it, she remembered how he had told him that he would do it again if it ever happened again. It didn't make it any easier on her but she tried her best from that day on to get stronger and faster so he would never have to go through such things again, she had even started to train within her mind so she could strengthen herself in every way. It wasn't always easy given there were times she was just so tired that she couldn't but she still tried, it was how she ended up finding out she was a telepath in the end, something she tried to hide from the scientists and it had worked for several years but all secrets eventually come to the surface.

"These days are behind me, I no longer hold regrets for the suffering I caused him or anyone else for that matter!" she called out her tone holding conviction, her voice echoing around the caverns, as if heard by some unseen force the pressure over her body ebbed making her cough a little, she really did hate this place her eyes once again came to a close as she moved forward but this time she ran dodging traps and jumping up cliff faces as if her muscle memory had finally clicked in. It had been almost seven years since she was last here but her body remembered everything as clearly as if she had just went through this the day before. It wouldn't be to long before she was at the entrance of the guild, the smell of ash in her nose made her open her eyes, it wasn't something she ever remembered here so was curious as to what was before her. "Can tell he was here... what a mess..." she said scratching her cheek a little before laughing "He always did say he'd blow the place up if he got a chance, seems like he got a chance." she giggled but it still made her wonder as to why she felt a pulling to a place that seemed destroyed at least from the outside, then again this guild was not exactly as it ever seemed at least from what she could remember.

She thought about using her magic or even her scythe but that would just let people know someone had been here of late and it was something she would rather avoid if possible. Moving closer she crouched and squeezed through the hole in the door that seemed to be slightly off its hinges and a jar. Walking into the main hall her eyes looked around the place she once called home, she couldn't help but shake a little, this place was never really held many good memories for her or the others. She managed to cope after her reaper abilities had shown themselves by taking the lives of those who seemed to be suffering or she knew wouldn't make the trials that they had to be put through. She always thought of herself as a kind of angel of mercy, turning what she was to do some good for the world but now she realised even if for a good cause she was just as bad as those who made them kill. The only comfort that she got from it when she realised that was the fact she hadn't been ordered to do it, it was because she wanted to do it, she wanted to save them for additional pain and agony. In honesty it was something she often wished that would happen to her and the others within her unit but such prayers went unheard and so unfulfilled it seemed. She also had to wonder at that age why her touch killed, it wasn't like she was given any information on what was going on with her, all she knew was they took additional care with her to the point they kept ever part of their bodies covered and had her bound as she rested. It was so damned uncomfortable from what she could remember but then she would have taken it over what happened in home, then again people tended to avoid her and she couldn't blame them she wasn't exactly normal, her skin colour proved that but then she didn't think anyone there was exactly normal in all honesty.

She started to walk forward her steps leaving no sound, the dust under her feet didn't move, it was like she had never been there in any way. That trick came in handy when it came to her need to assassinate people, can't track something that doesn't leave prints after all. Her eyes kept looking around the area, she hadn't seen this part of the guild why would she? She and the others were hidden under the guild and only released when it suited the needs of those who controlled their lives. When they weren't doing jobs or what they were made for they were going through harsh experiments, training or sparring it wasn't exactly ideal living conditions but they had rooms that had some things that could keep them occupied, food and clothing. The only thing that was limited was their freedom and the time that they could call their own, it was strange that most of the time she wanted to remain by herself at least at first because eventually she spent times with Cirven. She had no idea if it was because of how they trained or just what they were put through but being near him made her happy, before long she was allowed him to wander her mind and she wandered his in ways that the others would never be allowed. Their was one place in her mind however that she would always prevent him going, the door that now laid in ruins thanks to the very person she fell in love with as a child, she didn't mind to much as keeping that part of her locked away was draining in itself but it she knew now it also kept her weaker.

Her door had been destroyed for around a week she thought but as she needed to sleep she didn't really know for certain. Her reaper sight picked up those who had already passed and so her hand went forward collecting the souls as she went, she didn't want them to remain in this terrible place though she guessed many of them actually deserved it, still she had her duties as a reaper and so would fulfil them as and when she could but that was no longer her main priority as far as she seen it. "If nothing else they'll come in useful for something." she said placing a green and blue orb into a pouch that was on her side. It was after around fifteen minutes moving through the winding corridors she came across doors that she recognised all to well that caused her to stop, she wanted to turn away, her every fibre of her body was telling her not to go even a step forward, she could even feel her body shaking right down to her soul and it was something she would rather not feel again but she couldn't turn back not now. With a deep breath she pushed the white doors forward and walked through her eyes looking over the areas that she knew better than she knew herself. Her left her hand going to the wall her fingertips gliding over the pale blue walls, she stopped as she came to the training room she opened the door and looked to the now damaged room. Another memory was triggered here she watched as herself and Cirven had been training but it was the first time they had every fought seriously with each other, she couldn't remember what had caused it but they hadn't held back like they had before. It was during this fight that her reaper abilities manifested and her scythe first turned up, even with this added boost the fight wasn't exactly easy but she ended up leaving several scars on him and she really didn't care.

At the point this happened she wanted him dead, her killer instinct had fully taken her over her and she truly aimed to kill him. With a graceful twist of her body and elegant movements with the scythe, she had almost taken his head from off his shoulders, it was as if she had been using this weapon for years when in reality it was the first time she had ever used such a weapon. She had been trained in things like kodachi and jian swords before this so she had even surprised herself, when she came back to her senses the scythe had vanished and she screamed out seeing what she had done. She turned her head away pulling back from the door the glistening purple tears had welled in her eyes once more "I thought I had killed him, but luckily his healing factor kept him alive though it though it took a while for him to heal the damage. They really seen me as a threat for that..." she shook terribly even now "It forced me to place the stipulation on their lives that I would be the only one to claim my family, I realised then I couldn't bare to lose them." she said to herself, she shook her head she knew after that fight they wanted them to go at it with everything they had, if they didn't well the alternative was even worse but it forced them to become stronger and they even found fun in it eventually, to them it was like some sort of dance just to see who could get the upper hand. It never went quite as the ones who 'cared' for them expected as they went until they both collapsed out of exhaustion, as far as she could remember it seemed to make their superiors curious about them because they would always hold back on the others, it was like they knew there was no way they would survive the sparring they put the other through. The only one that seemed to somewhat be able to keep up with them was Ves but even he struggled and was taken down in a fraction of the time it took them to tire.

After she came back to her senses and continued down the hallway to a room she despised with a passion, she doubted any of them liked theirs in honesty, these rooms were where they had their 'lessons', even though like every other place in this god forsaken guild told her to leave she moved through the door without hesitation. Looking around she seen souls that died in this room "They really done a number on you guys..." she really couldn't blame them and gave the head scientist a corporeal form for a short time "Wraith!" he called out surprised to see her standing there "Demiari actually" she corrected him "Don't correct me Wraith, it has never ended well for you in the past." the man said aggressively making her glare "Fine... I need your help..." she said knowing for now she had to play along at least until what she wanted was done. "With what exactly and shouldn't you be training?" he said crossing his arms seeming less than impressed "Trase is on a task right now and he was my partner for the day." she explained knowing it wasn't uncommon that this would happen a few times a month for each of them "So what do you need help with then?" he eventually asked watching her "I think I'm falling behind the others, I was separated from them before my training was complete." she said to him, the look she got back was a look as if to say she was crazy "Wraith, you need some rest I think." he said making her shake her head "I've been out of this facility for a while... after I protected Trase..." she explained making him rub his child "I remember hearing about that but didn't think it was true, especially since you're standing before me now." he said making her nod slightly "I guess you're right, I was wondering if I could continue my lessons while Trase was gone... Please, I don't want you to hold back either." she knew that asking for this was inviting a world of pain but the man nodded "Very well, you have missed several lessons and we will do what you missed plus a little more." he said pointing to a capsule "You know the drill Wraith." he explained watching her nod before getting in the capsule her eyes closing before she realised that the machine would have kept a record of when it was last used and would give her training equal to the days missed with the additional of whatever he gave on top 'I'm going to eat that soul after this.' she thought to herself as she went still liquid filling it up knowing this was going to be beyond painful for her in several levels

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~~Word count met, will be continuing as a job~~

When she got into the capsule she knelt and allowed the needles to enter her arms, legs, torso and spine without fuss. There was no need for it she couldn't feel the pain of it and even if she could she knew better than to fuss about it. "Any discomfort?" the man asked her eyes turned him "Wouldn't really matter if their was, now would there?" she said in a calm tone "Wraith.." his tone warning her not to push her luck "No, there is no discomfort or pain." she replied looking down, her hand going to her stomach she realised the wound caused by Cirven not so long ago was still not healed yet "I fought Trase recently, it isn't healing well." she explained placing a bloodied hand on the glass showing him, the man quirked an eyebrow "What happened?" he enquired making her blink "Like I told you already, we fought." she said to her it really was as simple as that, well at least that is all he needed to know about the situation "Information will be given or I won't add the healing solution" making her let out a deep sigh while holding back the want to roll her eyes "We are having a few issues and so fought, it eventually came down to me almost slicing his head diagonally in half with my scythe and him almost putting his hand right through me. I'm still more resilient to damage even from him but he still got through the front and as I said it isn't healing well." she explained to the spirit of the male that dealt with her before.

She watched as he took some notes, this was also something that she was use to "Show me your torso Wraith." he said his tone showed this wasn't merely a request but an order, standing she unbuttoned her top enough so her torso could be seen through the glass, the hole left from what had happened in the hidden village of demons obvious to the other "See..." she didn't seem at all effected by the wound, in honesty when it had happened when she woke she was more annoyed that another one of her dresses had been destroyed. "Any pain or discomfort when it happened or even now?" he asked only for her to shake her head "No, but I did want to kill him for destroying another one of my dresses." she said telling him the truth, the man looked less than impressed with the answer "Wraith...""Yes, I know, but you want us to attack with everything we have." she interrupted him which made him glare she wasn't phased by it however "Not over a stupid piece of fabric" he said coldly "I know we are an elite unit." she said turning her eyes away as she spoke that single sentence 'Some elite unit... they don't trust me any longer...' she thought her eyes closed she was saddened by that but there was nothing she could do about it right now as much as she wanted to, she was far to tired and injured to be anything but a burden to them and she knew she was nowhere near as strong as she should be which was also frustrating her.

The scientist looked to her "Something wrong?" he asked her his tone showing he really didn't care if there was "No, just in a world of my own, I apologise." she said opening her eyes starting to do her top up properly "I see..." he said he had taken the notes needed about her injury watching as she moved to kneel once more once she had sorted herself. Demi closed her eyes awaiting what was to come next, she was actually was now wondering what it was like to feel discomfort and pain, it was the main reasons she cut herself across the palms with the blade of her scythe. She hoped that one day she would feel something from it but she wasn't ever so lucky it would seem, her eyes opened suddenly as she screamed out her hands going to the glass of the capsule. It felt like similar to when Cirven had cut across her crystal, this meant only one thing her crystal was being damaged but she found that she couldn't move to find out what it was or even remove it. "Now Wraith, I've decided that it is about that crystal of yours gets studied so we can help you get stronger." he said watching as the woman inside the capsule was clearly in agonising pain, glistening purple tears falling from her eyes as she tried to calm herself but she couldn't, she wanted to be dead right there and then.

It felt like something had pierced her very essence, she wanted to scream for it to stop but the words never came, beforehand she would be able to burst out of the capsule on a whim but right now she really was at his mercy. She was now willing for the Devil she now held an eternal bond with to come and help her, she knew with a single mental cry he would likely be there but she bit it back. 'N.. no... I.. I...' she tried to remind herself, she had come here so she could level the playing grounds between herself and the others but this was still beyond agonising as though it was a centre point the pain spread around the still healing crystal making it hard for her to form a clear train of thought "Any pain or discomfort Wraith?" he asked looking almost smug, how she wanted to knock it off his face but she couldn't even answer him, then again if she could he wouldn't like the angered and sarcastic reply that would come from it. Right now all she could do was breath heavily looking at him with dulled eyes, she could see the fact he wanted to laugh at her pain, she was quite sure the only reason he wasn't doing it externally was because he knew eventually she would be out of this capsule and be recovered. "Try relax Wraith, it will make this process so much easier on you." she wanted to scream at him that she would put her scythe through his heart and soul and see if he could manage to relax but all she could manage right now was silent screams as the capsule started to fill with liquid surrounding her. She thought it would help her but no such luck it just heightened it, she still fought against calling out to the others as she wanted to complete this, she had to in her mind.

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It was an unusual sensation as she felt as if her body was in just as much pain as her body as the solution slowly filled the capsule. As it entered the wound in her torso her seen the deep purple almost black liquid that was her blood float up, she couldn't help but scream out, as much as she tried to bit it back, she just couldn't. The pain wasn't centralised thanks to that god forsaken needle in her crystal it was like she could feel every single cell and fibre that made up her body and soul separately, each and every one telling her to give the one doing this to her a slow and horrifying torturous time before giving them a true death. She normally tried to stay away from eating souls as it wasn't quite her taste, she also had a belief that everyone deserved to go to their afterlives, this guy was the exception to the rule as it would turn out. She learned when she was younger just how sensitive her crystal was and what pain a mere touch could do to it, she had ended that threat quickly and it ended up with them taking extra precautions when dealing with her as they found just her touch was enough to kill people if she so wanted it, and in this place that was pretty much near everyone.

Right now their was a needle stuck in the heart of her very essence that was still healing and so still sensitive from when Cirven himself damaged it. It was then her eyes went wide as she realised the solution had never been around her crystal when damaged so she had no idea how this was going to go. She wanted to shake her head and scream for him to stop the process but she knew this guy was sadistic in more than one way and would have made it slower if she could, then again she was in so much pain at current all she could do was silently weep and wish for her twin to put her out of her misery but knew he would be sharing her fate right now. As much as she had turned her back on him and her cousins she was glad that he still had their cousins who would at least make him as comfortable as possible, she had no such comfort and knew she didn't deserve it after the path she had decided and was fine with that for better or worse. The scientist could see just how much pain she was in, this was what he wanted to see, the one that had never shown pain was now feeling it in such an agonising way that he could only imagine what she was begging for. "Don't worry Wraith, it will pass I'm sure..." he said with a chuckle "You'll likely pass out soon." he continued his chuckle becoming a manic laugh.

She was in so much pain and hated the spirit that was showing the true colours it would have never been allowed to show when it was alive. Her she clenched her jaw the laughter reminding her of Cirven in some way, she would never give that clown the satisfaction of seeing her passing out because of what was going on with her regardless of pain, there was no way she was going to let a lesser being see her do it. 'You wish, I'll take it all and I'll be awake while doing it!' she was in so much pain but found the resolve to send that one sentence without pain to the scientist who's laughter become louder at her defiance of what he believed was an inevitability. To her he obviously didn't know who he was dealing with but he would soon learn, that when she said something with such conviction she stood her ground regardless of just what she was going through or what it would cost her or anyone else, she knew it was selfish but why should she give a damn for those who done nothing for her. It wasn't that long before she started to float her eyes closing as she knew what was to come, this wasn't anything unusual the solution bothered her eyes and it was easier to take in the information if she didn't have to worry about what was going on around her.

Though the pain was at an unfathomable level she brought her knees to her chest her arms going around them, it was a strange fetal position but after a few minutes though it felt so much longer it she found the pain more manageable. The solution however was getting into the grooves of the scratches of her crystal making her wanting to kill something but right now she couldn't, she needed what only he could give her right now, the missing training, skills and perimeters that she would have been given had she still remained with the other members of her family but she had no such luck she had decided to protect Cirven from the fate of killing one of their numbers. To be honest he was only doing what they had been raised to do, next to their missions the only thing that was important to them was the others in their unit. One of their former members had almost killed Ves and so to protect him Cirven had killed him, then again it was one of the head scientists children who she had fed stupid thoughts of grandeur into. She remembered how the kid thought he was better than what he was but Cirven and herself could easily to knock him down as if he was an ant under their boots. She also remembered just how much he hated that but facts were facts she and Cirven would always be the strongest because they gave no damns about their existences or the existence of the other.

They had always made sure to hold back against the others because they knew if they didn't they would end up killing them, that kid however had been asking for it, for years him almost killing one of them was just an excuse to give him the punishment he had needed for years. It was one of the taboo things to them and nothing would change that for them as far as she knew, it is why she took the blame of the death of the idiot who almost broke the rules. She wasn't classed as a failure so they wouldn't kill her but the punishment they had given her was far worse, so much so she actually wished for death, she was taken from them all and placed within the facility that made puppet gods. He was still alive and that at least helped her continue for a time as she hoped that he and the others would come and get her. It never happened and the hope died out, she pushed her family memories out of her forethought of her mind and eventually forgot them completely when she met Ruvel.

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Though still perfectly aware of her surrounding she managed to ignore it for what she was having to learn, the problem was she wasn't fully concentrating on it, her mind was elsewhere as she tried to think of why they wouldn't believe her when she said she didn't abandon them. She didn't understand the distrust of those who were her family, who she had given everything up for and would even give up her life to defend and protect, even if it cost her own life. 'Why don't they trust me... I've done nothing to them... so why?' the same question went through her mind over and over again as she tried to work through it. She had never been asked to be separated the first time but she either protected Cirven or Cirven would have been killed due to them believing that he was a failure and beyond redemption. Those within the unit knew this wasn't the case, hell she knew first hand that this wasn't the case as she 'sparred' with him with everything she had and he not only survived it but gave as good as he got. She had to wonder why if he was so much of a failure then why did they keep him around at all, why didn't they just do what they done to everyone that failed.

The only thing that she could come up with is the fact that they really didn't think him a complete failure, that he still had use even if it was just to be her sparring partner, but that kind of thought actually annoyed her. Cirven was far more than that to her, he always had been as far as she could remember, though in truth she had pushed him and the others out of her mind after the first few years. It hurt to be alone in such a situation, they honesty before hand believed that their lives couldn't have been worse but she found out first hand just how wrong they had been. It was true she was equipped to look after herself but still she had defended herself once and it ended up with her attacker dying, she was trained to kill threats and that was exactly what she had done but she was harshly punished for it. She had spent two weeks hanging upside down by her ankles from a tree for two weeks and had been hit by any person walking past her as if she was a pinata, she wasn't exactly happy about it but she couldn't do much about it. During that time she took mental notes on all who had struck her, one by one they each fell to mysterious 'accidents' and though there was speculation that she had done it there was no proof she was in fact the cause.

Though she was able to defend herself it didn't mean that she wasn't scared, she had always been with six others her entire life and at that time it felt like she was voted off the island so to speak. It wasn't an experience she enjoyed at any point. She had spent what she perceived as a year on her own, the others within her new home had taken to avoiding her because of the rumours that surrounded her. She was fine with that within reason she'd end up killing them most likely so she couldn't blame them for fearing her, it was when she was slowly starting to have doubts of connecting to another she came across a snivelling glowing toddler. He tried to speak to her but she had no clue as to what he was saying and started walking past him but he had taken her hand and continued to try get her to understand. She didn't know why but she felt sorry for the wretch of a child and stopped, she was also confused as to why touching her skin hadn't killed him like it had done so many others. It was then she noticed the paleness of his skin and the fact he was glowing, she had to wonder if this was why he had been brought to such a horrible place. Her eyes could see that he wasn't as strong with his life force so it brought her back to why he could survive touching her without her trying to suppress that part part of herself.

She remembered how he continued to try and speak to her but there was such a barrier between them, she had done her best to teach him the sign language of the place but it was so difficult because she didn't understand and neither neither did he. This bond had seemingly not went unnoticed and the two had been pulled into the facility one day, she had been told that they were to be paired, she didn't understand what that meant and she was pretty certain neither did the youth that sat next to her to afraid to even move. It had been a few weeks and she could still feel the essence of death on him, it either meant he was like her which she highly doubted given he was crying and his own force was fragile or a lot of death had happened around him and so the essence had clinged onto him, she suspected this was why he hadn't passed when he had touched her. That had been a thought for another time she had remembered and had forgotten only to remember now when it no longer mattered. She still wanted the answer though. When she was told what it meant she was far from happy, though she had been separated from her family there was only one she considered herself 'paired' with and it wasn't a child eleven years her junior. It was explained that that nothing was expected to happen until he was of age, she however was the one tasked with teaching him and was informed that if one messed up both got punished though one could take the punishment for both. She wanted to argue but she knew better especially with the sniffling child behind her, she was contemplating just killing him and putting him out of his misery but again she knew better if he was needed for something, well that and she was finally no longer alone.

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