Lycoris walked down the hall with the regal poise one would expect of the Heir-Significate, except… she was returning to her room with slumped shoulders and head tilted slightly downward. Mother would probably disapprove.  The reason was marching along beside her as her escort, arms crossed as he tutted at her despite her position as Crown Princess of the Empire. Not that Doctor Galahad Lynnvel was stepping out of line or being supercilious. Lycoris had snuck out of her room in direct defiance of his simple request, causing a small commotion as the Doctor panicked over her sudden disappearance.  One brief uproar in the hospital later, and she was on her way back to her room.

"I deeply apologize for the commotion and dragging you back like this, Your Highness, but your health is too important to ignore. I would never live it down if anything happened to you because of my negligence," said Galahad.  "I certainly wouldn't wish for Mother to inflict her wrath upon you, either," Lycoris agreed, "but I assure you, I feel perfectly fine. A few glasses was all it took… astonishingly."  "Yes, quite astonishing. But that is exactly why we need to go through some tests first before releasing you. Nobody has ever treated a zeroth generation Vampire before now, and sometimes you can't tell if there's something wrong beneath the surface or not."  "I… find that a touch hard to believe," said Lycoris, pausing in the middle of the hall to look up at Galahad. "The idea that for hundreds of thousands of years, not a single Vampire like Mother has suffered an injury worth an examination from the priests is…"  "The Exaltare has ever been an existence wrapped in enigma and mystique. You are, after all, the first natal child of one. Which has led to a lot of other questions…" Galahad added in a mumble.  "So, what? Have they all just," Lycoris waved her hands through the air as she shrugged, "known how to handle themselves when stuffed full of blades?"  "Yes."

Lycoris felt her jaw loosen, a groan about to escape her lips before she caught and composed herself again. But thinking about it, she could easily see her mom simply ripping out a sword and throwing it aside. Her logic—and presumably the logic of those who came before her—was simply that far removed from Lycoris's…  The girl shivered, hoping that she would never become so far removed from her humanity. Perhaps it was hypocritical, given that she had only recently begun to cherish the value of her own life, but even still.

"Also, Your Highness, we should keep moving to avoid obstructing traffic in the hall."  "Hm? Oh, of course."  "And, might I ask why you're so insistent on being up and about? I know children relish freedom, but I would think you're… well…"

The two of them began walking, while Lycoris immediately frowned at the obviously loaded question. He was both calling her a child and also trying to put her on a pedestal of understanding the weight of social etiquette. Whether or not that was part of his affectation towards children or just exhaustion causing his mouth to outpace his mind, Lycoris still felt a touch miffed.

"If you must know, it's because there is a… personal reason I even came to this County to begin with. If I am to be stuck in Kranes, then better that I work toward my goal as well, than waste time sitting around on my laurels."  "Oh? I assumed you were here because of the situation in the town. Still, surely even a goal as important as one for Your Highness can wait for you to—"  "My friend Emma was abducted and brought here, and I have reason to believe this entire conspiracy was partially to drag me here to begin with." She knew she shouldn't be admitting this out loud, but Lycoris was starting to lose her temper. "If I just sit around, then that only gives them more time to work with! That's how I even ended up in Kranes to begin with."  But, unexpectedly, Galahad's eyes lit up in acknowledgement. "Did you say Emma?"

Lycoris spun on the spot, suddenly realizing that she had forgotten to reclaim her scythe and was bereft of arms. Sharpening her claws instead, she lunged at and tackled Galahad to the ground. The clipboard in his hands went flying, papers scattered, and his eyes widened in alarm as she straddled him with her dagger-like hand raised to strike.  Nurses at the far end of the hall shrieked, but otherwise looked at a loss for how to handle the situation, given who was involved.

Slitted pupils narrow, Lycoris hissed, "How do you know her. What connections do you have. And what have you done with Athena and Seraphine."  "Aghck! I-I'm sorry!? Seraphine is still in her room, and Athena is currently being taken care of by E—eagh!"  "Do you know a man named Bartholomew!?"  Terrified, he shook his head. "N-No! I apologize for upsetting you, Your Highness! I promise I have never heard that name before! Emma… Ms. Gansley was… she volunteered her services when she arrived at this hospital alongside the other survivors. She assisted me as a nurse while she was here."  "So you know what happened to her, then?"  "I would be lying if I said yes, but…"

Breathlessly, Lycoris slowly lowered her hand, but kept her eyes squarely locked on his. She tilted her head slightly, gesturing for him to continue.  The urgency hadn't left his voice, but Galahad spoke carefully in a measured tone.

"My memories are a little hazy, but we were working together when I was struck in the back of the head. The next thing I knew, I woke up on the other end of the hospital bed and she had gone missing. If any other details come back to me, I'll inform you right away, Your Highness."  "Did she say anything about her situation, or why she came to Kranes?"  "Not to me. Everything was hectic as soon as the disaster broke out, we didn't have any time to talk about anything but the patients' care. I didn't realize she was so important, my apologies."  "Did she speak to anyone else?"  "I don't know. I'm sorry. We can ask the staff here for you, but… first we should really stop blocking the hallway… again."  "…Right."

Lycoris was still less than enthused about the idea of giving him any modicum of freedom, but relented and stood back up. She kept her eye on him after backing away and letting him get to his feet, while Galahad let out a breath of relief.  Regaining some measure of composure, he looked at her with the same sincerity as before, but spoke with much more hesitation and humility.

"There is also… the matter of your checkup still, Your Highness."  "…Right," Lycoris sighed.

＊　＊　＊

Though while looking at the results on the screen after taking a sample of her blood and running it through a little machine, Galahad furrowed his brow and sighed.

"I'm not really sure what I expected, but I guess you're healthy. Your blood pressure isn't precipitously low, your pulse is okay, and everything else seems… to have broken the machine, so as far as I can tell, that's as clean of a bill of health as I can offer."

They had gone through several procedures: he struck her knee with a small hammer, had her put her arm through a strange tube that tightened around it, and he flashed a bright light in her eyes briefly.  She nearly embarrassed herself as she recoiled from that last one, an unpleasant reminder of how she had made a foolish blunder earlier. Naturally it didn't sear her face, but the memory of the sensation of her skin prickling had her hairs standing on end. And she had to wave off giving an actual explanation of why a little light made her so jumpy.

"Then, does that mean I'm free to go around asking people about Emma?"  Galahad frowned. "I won't stop you, or rather I can't, but… what do you intend to do?"  "Ask around for information about Emma, obviously."  "I mean after that. Until the Whispers are dealt with, it would be—"  "I carved a path to reach this facility, if necessary I'll do the same to leave. I intend to hunt down Bartholomew Vanas, and save Emma." She slowly got up out of the chair and stretched her arms out. "In a best-case scenario, I'll deal with the Whisper problem here too."  "Are… you serious?" Galahad stared in disbelief, nearly dropping his clipboard through his hands.  "But of course. On that note, do you happen to know where my scythe is?"  "Scythe? Um, Probably somewhere near the entrance. I think I recall someone making a remark about a particularly heavy weapon…"

Even moreso than when Lycoris threatened him, Galahad looked thrown off balance as he struggled to keep up with Lycoris's youthful exuberance.  Of course, she didn't have time to waste for Galahad's sake. Nothing would get done if she bothered to wait for every single person she interacted with to connect the dots. Considering such a thing was all but impossible for her very own maid—speaking of,

"And where is Athena?"  "In room 606, alongside Miss Ethlow. I'm not sure how long it will take before they are well enough to leave, considering the current situation. It's hard enough just keeping all our patients alive while rationing supplies."  "…Can you not use healing magic?"  "It's not a cure-all for missing limbs or broken bones, Your Highness. It still puts a heavy tax on the body by purposefully agitating its supply of mana."

Lycoris had never heard that before. The priests always healed everyone back to a perfect state of health, no matter how injured they were. So long as they were still alive, at least. Granted, that was a far harder feat to maintain, there were very few places a human could be impaled and actually survive long enough to make it to a proper healer.  Though… Lycoris never actually saw the process by which a priest healed someone, the critically injured were given field triage and then taken to the Church, where they were properly healed. And, naturally, Lycoris had never been so critically injured during all her tenure as a knight, so she had never experienced it personally.

"Is that why I was so hungry…"  "Exactly! Unlike Plainstriders, or say, Humans, our bodies are naturally designed to restore themselves immediately upon suffering physical trauma. Which means for Plainstriders—specifically Fangchasers, I mean, I have never treated or looked into treating any other of their group but it is probably the same—it is important to let the body recover naturally from severe injuries, even if that means finding alternative means of support for missing limbs. Attempting to forcibly 'regrow' or produce missing limbs or organs would cause—"  "Okay! I, I get it. Vampires are special and all that," Lycoris huffed.

She was more than done hearing him ramble, and hadn't meant to get him started in the first place. She had business to attend to that had been put off for too long. Besides, she still didn't like hearing how different she was now; the reminder she had become something inhuman was something she couldn't move past so easily.  And, she was feeling incredibly antsy without her scythe in hand, or in… side. Though she had long grown accustomed to the physical—or, ethereal—sensation of having things stored inside of her blood, on a conceptual level it still felt incredibly bizarre. Which was, perhaps, the problem with her managing "inventory" as efficiently as Lilianna.

Lycoris immediately hopped out of her chair and started walking directly to the door without another word, like a restless child. There were no more excuses Galahad could pull out to stop her from leaving, and while she was at least a little curious to hear more about how healing magic worked and all that, Lycoris couldn't sit still any longer.  Galahad scratched his chin and wrinkled his brow.

"My apologies, Your Highness."  Lycoris paused with her hand on the doorknob. "Whatever for?"  "I didn't mean to bore you with inconsequential details. You just… reminded me of my niece, I suppose. Take care."  "I see."

With a twist of the doorknob, Lycoris left the room.

＊　＊　＊

Fortunately, it was easy to find her scythe. It was heavy enough that they hadn't moved it very far from the warzone-like entrance to the hospital, the haunting cries of Whispers just on the other side of the door as they banged and tried to get inside too unnerving for anyone to spend time cleaning the lobby up, most likely.

`Buy now… Buy now… Buy now…`  `Hark, dost thou hearest the call?`  `Let me in!! Let me in! Please I can't stand it out here!`  `hello manager.`

She knew better than to bother responding to the nonsensical words, shouting wouldn't make them any more likely to stop speaking. Unfortunately, the cacophany was distracting enough that she couldn't concentrate on stowing her scythe. Her mother was capable of doing so in the heat of battle, but magic itself was still a novel experience to Lycoris even after much practice, so instead, she wandered back up the stairs with it slung over her shoulder like she were some sort of back-alley thug, rather than a member of royalty.  Of course, such an imposing sight immediately drew attention when she walked into the first of several gathering spots.  The higher floors were relegated to the Vampires, as apparently the anti-sun measures were more robust compared to the shoddily boarded up windows of the lower floors. Which meant that everyone present was both healthier and more energetic, and… more terrified of Lycoris's presence. Every time she walked up to someone to try asking them a question, whether it be about Emma or Cecily or the hospital staff, they would clam up and bow their heads.  At first she was irate and suspicious, but when that was the same reaction she got every single time… It reminded her of the frustrations she faced when trying to get any of the guards in the palace to open up to her. Unfortunately, she had been incapable of finding a solution at the time, other than praying to whoever would listen that they'd be reasonable enough to give her an actual response.  Unfortunately, none of the civilians here were in a good enough state of mind to brave the dreaded waters of conversation, and losing her patience would only further complicate matters.

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But all that meant was that she couldn't count on them to give her any details on Emma. She could still spend her time looking around for exits… or looking for Cecily. Unfortunately the two goals were at odds, given that she and her sister were likely on the higher floors, while any useful exit to the building would be… not. The tallness of Vampiric architecture was proving to be a larger thorn in her side than Lycoris anticipated.  She also wanted to visit Sera and check on her, and obviously grab Athena to assist with reconnaissance. And she needed her maid to tie up her hair so it wasn't just loosely trailing behind her.

As luck dictated, Lycoris found neither of the people she was looking for until she reached the sixth floor. It came as no surprise in Athena's case, Lycoris already knew her and Seraphine were situated in room 606, but apparently the Vampires from the shelter had all been relegated to that floor as well.  Lycoris wasn't sure if there was any sort of hierarchy or sorting arrangement they were following, or if it simply happened that they filled open space wherever it was available. Whatever the case might have been, when she reached floor six and walked down the hall, she saw a familiar green-haired girl waving energetically at her before she even made it three doors down.

"Lycoris!! You're okay! Over here!" shouted Cecily.  "Cecily! We're in a hospital. Keep your voice down!" shouted her sister Vanessa. "And don't run in the hospital!"

Other people watched from behind with varied expressions of awe and terror as Cecily ran down the hall towards Lycoris and tackled her with all the enthusiasm of a young child. Of course, Lycoris didn't flinch in the slightest, the weight of a child crashing into her was basically no different than if she'd been a fully grown adult. Though she did move her scythe's pole to the side just in case.  Cecily happily wrapped her arms around Lycoris and squeezed, mumbling into her shoulder after her momentum came to a stop.  Lycoris chuckled and gave the girl's head a little pat. Her mannerisms were almost eerily reminiscent of Fawaris when she was a few years younger. …The thought of Cecily being in her thirties when the Princess of Dauwen was born put a rueful grimace on Lycoris's face.

"I was worried about you…"  "There's no way I'd be in any danger. Did you forget who I am?"  "No but… it was scary."  Lycoris looked from Cecily up to her sister, who was rapidly walking over. "I apologize for worrying you then."  "Cecily, please stop clinging to Her Highness, you're getting in the way."  "Am not! We're friends! You missed me too, right Lycoris?" Cecily pulled her head away, meeting Lycoris's eyes with a hint of concern.  "Actually, you were one of the people I was looking for."  "See!?"  Vanessa blanched as a look of concern overtook her. "Wh…Why would you be—"  "'Cause we're friends, duh."  "Ahaha… kids," said Lycoris sheepishly. "It's true, I was a little worried about the two of you, but actually I wanted to ask you a favor, Cecily."  "Aren't you a child too…?" muttered Vanessa quietly.  "Ask away! I'll do whatever you wish, Princess!"  "Can you take a look at Mira? He's being kept down below. I think one of his arms is injured, but you're the only other person I know who's worked on a farm and might know how to take care of an animal. The Bishop said he didn't know."

The two sisters exchanged a look of intense confusion, before both looked back at Lycoris in unison.  Before either of them opened their mouth to speak, Lycoris realized the mistake she'd made and hastily backed up, set her scythe against the wall, and waved her hands in front of her.

"W-Wait, what I mean is… I… um, looked it up! On my phone. I, like animals a lot so… *ahem* My point is, I'm worried about Mira."  Cecily nodded, innocently taking her words at face value. "Of course! I don't know how much I'll be able to help on my own, but I'll see what I can do. What's a bishop?"  "Oh, um… don't worry about that."

Lycoris waved the comment off with a smile, though Vanessa kept a watchful eye on the Princess. She seemed terribly protective of her little sister, but the worst part was Lycoris couldn't even blame her, considering the nature of Lycoris's mother and also the display she'd put on before while getting them here.  But that didn't sit right with Lycoris, so she attempted to address the older sister directly, hoping to get her to realize she wasn't some horrific despot.

"You worked on the ranch too, right Vanessa? Do you think you could help Cecily as well?"  "But of course, Your Highness," Vanessa curtseyed formally in response, "I was going to accompany her regardless."  "Oh, good. I'm sure Mira will be in good hands if you're both looking after him!"

Though Lycoris tried to be encouraging, Vanessa grimaced when she piled on more expectations while trying to assure the two of them. So much for trying to make her feel relieved… but at least Cecily seemed gung-ho.  The girl gave Lycoris another big hug before patting her shoulder with a broad smile.

"Leave it to us! Come on Nessa, let's go take care of Lycoris's friend!"  "What did I say about shouting in the hospital…?" sighed Vanessa.

The two of them rushed down the hall at a brisk walking pace, with Vanessa keeping a hand on Cecily to keep her from going any faster.  As much as she would have loved to join them and see what they were going to do to treat Mira, Lycoris was quickly picked up from behind. Her immediate reflex was to panic and reach for her weapon, only to find it just out of reach.

"Curse these tiny arms… Who dares to pick up the Princess?!"  "Oh Your Highness, it was your voice. Goodness, I truly made an ingloriamful display of your hair! I'll accept whatever punishment you deem worthy, but please allow me to put the finishing touches on your appearance!"  Upon hearing the familiar self-derisive speech, Lycoris released the tension in her body. "Oh, Athena… My hair seemed fine when I checked it after you were pulled away. W-Wait, does this mean you're all better already!?"

She twisted around in the maid's grasp, grimacing as she tried to turn herself around to actually look at Athena. Understanding Her Highness's body language, Athena set her back down and took a knee before her, crouching at head height with Lycoris.  When Lycoris turned around to get a proper look at her, she saw the same maid from before in the same hospital gown… except sitting atop her face was a dark black frame—a pair of spectacles like a historian or scholar might wear. Though the style was a little different—far more rectangular—Lycoris had seen something them before.

Huh… I don't think I've ever seen a Vampire wearing spectacles before, come to think of it.

"While decidedly lacking in class or elegance, they managed to find something tenable as a temporary solution. I will make no complaints about my appearance, but I would request that Your Highness permit me to continue wearing them even if they offend your sight and sensibilities." She bowed her head, briefly fumbling to keep them pressed up the bridge of her nose. The sight of Athena being somewhat off-guard and so unaccustomed to something was remarkably charming.  Lycoris chuckled into her hand, "No no, it looks good on you, I think. Maybe a different color would match your features better, but that's not our most pressing issue right now!"  "True, we must do something about your hair! And… hm, that choice of clothing is…"  "It's fine. As you said yourself, a tenable temporary solution, right?"  "…As you say, Your Highness."

Feeling a knot untangle in her chest, Lycoris shyly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her maid.

＊　＊　＊

It didn't take long for the next piece of good news to arrive. Something Lycoris was quite thankful for, considering her chest had immediately tightened once more as she saw Sera resting in her bed. According to Athena, the doctors said that her condition wasn't critical and she simply needed time for her body to properly flush her mana or… something like that. At least they were able to exchange greetings, and Lycoris gave Sera a gentle bedside embrace while profusely apologizing for involving her in this entire debacle.

"I'm so sorry, Sera. Here it was my fault that you two became involved in this in the first place, and now—"  "It's alright, Lyco. Technically it was Her Majesty who hired me. And besides, I would have agreed to support you either way, even knowing the end result. And, it's my fault for bringing up that bottle in the first place. I checked the seal on it, but I didn't think they'd go to such lengths to abduct us…"  "The Vanas surely won't live this down. I guarantee Her Majesty will finally bring down the hammer of vindixtermination on that pack of leeches!" Athena clenched her fist resolutely, before returning to brushing Lycoris's hair.  "But, I still feel responsible for you… I mean, Emma's gone and you're stuck in a hospital bed…"  "Like I said, it's alright Your Highness. I'll be up and about before you realize it, I promise. I've always bounced back from illness quickly!"

But Lycoris couldn't afford to waste time with Emma's life on the line. She wasn't keen on leaving Sera behind either, though, and it was a somewhat eye-opening revelation as to how vulnerable Vampires actually were. They had always seemed like nigh-invincible oppressors, but they were just as easy to defang with poison as Humans, apparently.

Though, that of course relied partially on her ignorance of how rare and difficult said poison was to manufacture—not to mention its obvious illegality.

Just as Athena was putting the finishing touches on Lycoris's hair—they had to use some backup hair ties Athena apparently always had on hand—an urgent knock at the door brought all three occupants' attention to the man's arrival.  Even though Lycoris verbally granted him permission, Gier couldn't stop the awkward look from spreading across his face when he saw Athena sitting behind Lycoris, and the other woman still resting in her bed when he entered. If it was just because of the fact he was the only man in the room, Lycoris could sympathize.

"Do you have something to report?" she asked.  "Report…? Er, I mean yes. I asked some of the staff—who were remarkably unhelpful until I mentioned I was acting under your orders. Somewhat alarming to think that they'd one-eighty so quickly…"  "Okay, but… What'd they say?" Lycoris sighed, wondering if this was simply part of a curse that came with being royalty.  Gier's ears drooped as he bowed his head. "Oh, right. They suggested that there might be an exit in the basement labs, since there's a lot of sealed doors that lead to unused outdated facilities."  "That sounds promising… but also a little troubling. There's no map of these, I assume? Doesn't sound like they'd know where those tunnels would lead. Sounds a lot like ancient ruins…"  "Nothin' that romantic, just stuff that got built over and forgotten about. There's no telling where it might lead out, but at the very least… should be a way to sneak out of the hospital without having to go through the parking lot crowd."  Lycoris smiled broadly. "Then it sounds as though we've found our first investigation point!"  "Are you sure this is a good idea, Your Highness?"

Serving as the voice of skepticism, Seraphine called out from her bed. She had propped herself up against some pillows, and a crimson tube connected from a hanging bag to her arm. It didn't look like there was anything visibly wrong with her—aside from looking almost as pallid as Lycoris did—but apparently she couldn't even feel her legs.  It made sense to Lycoris that she'd be wary about it. Seraphine probably didn't want to be left alone in a hospital filled with unidentified people. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem for her, but she was bedridden and in the place where the love of her life had disappeared from. Not to mention the reason she was currently bedridden was because of assassins coming after her by virtue of being in proximity to Lycoris.

"I don't think we have much other choice if we want to get out of this situation in a timely manner. I'm a little worried that our 'acquaintance' in town isn't even present anymore. I don't have any proof, but I… think you'll be safe here."  "If Your Highness says so." Sera closed her eyes pensively.

Lycoris couldn't place where that instinct came from, but she was confident enough in it to allow Seraphine to stay behind. It had saved her once before, when she was about to let Athena convince her to take a sip of that poisoned wine, though her internal voice hadn't started shouting at her again just yet.  She knew "gut feelings" wouldn't be enough to convince anyone, so she chose to keep it to herself.

From behind Gier, another figure entered—one that Lycoris wasn't familiar with. She had the same sort of clothing and coat on as Galahad, as well as a similar set of tools hanging from a lanyard around her neck. She had a severe scowl on her face as she looked at the group of people in the room, though it shifted to an uncomfortable grimace upon seeing Lycoris present.

"Might I ask why there are so many people inside my patients' room?"  "Your Highness," Athena leaned forward to mumble to Lycoris, "this is Doctor Erina Kanna, the one who took care of us and helped me with these glasses."  "I see," Lycoris nodded, then sat up straight as she looked at Erina. "We are discussing a private matter, Doctor."  The Doctor tilted her head with a frown. "I've heard that you've raised a commotion in this hospital already, Your Highness. Dare I ask what you're doing discussing things in here?"  "Gier, the door."

The Fangchaser shuddered at her order, but complied and closed the door behind the doctor.  The woman looked visibly uncomfortable, immediately regretting the question that she just asked. Of course, in response Lycoris asked her own question.

"Do you know a Bartholomew Vanas?"  Rather than shock or surprise, she looked confused. Doctor Kanna shook her head. "No, I've never had any business with the Seven before today," she gestured to Athena to emphasize. "Just so you know, Miss Ethlow can't—"  "Good. You will forget that you ever heard that name," Lycoris cut her off in a commanding tone. "Also, Seraphine Ethlow has nothing to do with me. I realize this might come a little late, but if rumors have spread, quash them. If anything happens to Sera while I am absent, I cannot guarantee the lives of the hospital staff. If anyone else is privy to their care, ensure that they understand as well."  "I… I understand." Doctor Kanna looked shaken and confused by the topic, but only for a moment. As a professional, she recovered her calm immediately. "I…"

She began to speak, but immediately stopped, thinking better of it. Instead, she paced over to check the bag hanging beside Sera's bed, and looked at the display terminals present as well.

"Oh, Doctor, while you're here," Athena spoke up in the lull in the conversation, "Can I trouble you to return my clothes? I'll be accompanying Princess Lycoris when she leaves."  "I… would advise against that, Your Ladyship. Your condition is still—"  "Fine. I may be slightly under the weather, but the only real issue with my body has been taken care of." She adjusted her glasses pointedly. "And I would sooner perish than permit Her Highness to leave without me."

Doctor Kanna clicked her tongue in irritation, but didn't press the matter further. Clearly she knew better than to try and force the issue, even if she'd never met a proper noble before.  That suited Lycoris just fine, as it'd make her life easier. Plus, she felt somewhat comforted by the notion of Athena going with her, even if it meant leaving Sera alone. Maybe she could convince Cecily and Vanessa to keep her from getting too lonely…

"We can continue the briefing later then, Gier. For now, let's wait for Athena to get dressed, and then head down to the basement. …I should probably speak with Galahad and Cecily as well."

With her twintails bobbing, Lycoris bounced off of Athena's bed and grabbed Gier's hand—much to his bewilderment.

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