2017-03-25: The Mission to Destroy All Hamburgers

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<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

HALF AN HOUR AGO:

"Alright, I figure that we can check and just... y'know see if the Teardrop actually thinks that this guy is some crazy Herald of the End and that way I know if I need to like... punch him until he stops doing bad things."

FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO:

"DAMNIT FEI, OPEN UP THE DOOR AND GET IN THE ROBOT, WE JUST WANT TO SEE HOW GOOD A PILOT YOU ARE!"

NOW:

"I swear I'm half tempted to give the guy back to Gebler on occasion, see how they like it. Just run into their base and be all 'LOOK WE'RE GIVING HIM BACK' and watch all the screaming or whatever." Bart sighs, seated at the table downstairs in the Starfall Saloon. This had originally been a quick trip for two particular reasons. The first, and probably most pressing reason, was that for REASONS THAT COMPLETELY ESCAPE THE SAND PIRATE there was no ground beef left in the kitchen in Adelhyde Castle. There had clearly been NO INSTANCES of boxes of it being shipped out, and by no means did the remainder get cooked last night in a gigantic burgerthon.

And so Bart had invited the local princess and longtime acquaintance down to take a gander at his latest prize, one 'badass Gear pilot' liberated from Gebler's new secret base. At least that was the stated reason.

The unstated reason is the giant platter of hamburgers that are resting on the table where Bart is sitting. The delicious meat and buns are piled high, and if they were still the bovines they once were would probably be looking quite uncomfortable at the looks Bart and Cecilia are likely giving them.

"Ah well, if we could do everything we wanted in life then I'd have some awesome flying sky ship that I could use to shoot giant laser beams at Shakhan or something. Anyways - man I've not had any Starfall Burgers in a while. Let's see if they're as good as I remember."


<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.

For the most part, the Holy Mother of Nisan has been laying low in Adlehyde. No announcement, no flamboyance. As far as anyone knows, she is just some pilgrim or priest of the Orthodoxy.

Besides, surely nobody of importance would be quite so young?

As of late, though, she's been a regular fixture in the Starfall Saloon. The environment of Drifters is a healthy one, she finds, and one that she may have need of when the time comes. But of course, this time, Margie wanders in, and immediately comes face to face with someone so very important to her.

"...Bart!" she exclaims, scurrying over to the legendary Sand Pirate and his pile of burgers. "...It's...so good to see you again! I had no idea you were in Adlehyde...uhm..." Only then does she indeed notice the mountain of beef. "...are you that hungry?"

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

LAST NIGHT:

"They warned us...we should've listened...we should've listened...!!"

"Uhm. Head chef, are you..."

"The...Glutton Woman....the horror....the horror...!!"

HALF AN HOUR AGO:

"I don't know that this is how it works, but...I'm certainly happy to try. The Teardrop will surely show us something."

FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO:

"I feel like yelling is not helping this situation, Bartholomew."

NOW:

Cecilia sits in her seat, tittering at Bart's frustration. "Well, you did kidnap him, even if it's from Gebler. I imagine it's natural to be conflicted..."

The hike out to wherever Bart's parked his sub was long enough that Cecilia got some combat in, which means she is primed and ready, for--

"...Margie!?" Cecilia squawks. She's Ignas royalty, of course she knows the Holy Mother. "What are you doing here?? Is it--" .... The notion that the hamburgers are for Bart almost offends her, and in the kind of move you'd expect from someone who lived in a dorm populated by ravenous wizards for ten years, throws her arms around the platter protectively as if to shield it with her body. "This one's mine. His hasn't come yet," she declares, possibly falsely.

<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.

Last night Lucia wandered Adelhyde asking people if they knew of a way to fly between Filgaia and Lunar.

She was doing it half an hour ago, too.

And fifteen minues ago.

No one understood why she'd want to do such a thing, much less how.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

For what it's worth, she's concentrated her efforts at the fair, which... kind of makes sense. Kind of. Rumors are flying that a rich-looking lady with blue hair is interested in space travel. Whatever space travel is. More like interested in blowing herself up, ha!

But now she's found herself somewhere else entirely -- is it the marvelous aroma of burger that has led her here, or just a random happenstance of wayward steps? Regardless, a tall figure in a blood-red cloak is blocking the light from the doorway, and stares blankly upon the diners within.

That is, until she spots a familiar face... taking an unfamiliar action.

The way that Cecilia hugs the platter -- it's obviously something very important to her, something she's determined to protect. Lucia respects that kind of fiery commitment.

And she doesn't know very much about social mores like 'an acceptable length of time to stare at something she's interested in.' The Princess of Adelhyde may eventually start feeling a tingle at the back of her neck, or maybe an urge to sneeze, because Lucia is gazing at her wide-eyed like she's the most interesting girl in the world. (Accurate!)

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

Bart leans back in his chair, and picks up a burger from the pile. Delicious, yummy Starfall Burgers. You just can't go wrong with one of the classics. He raises the burger (appropriately stolen from Cecilia's pile, PIRACY IS THE GREATEST THING EVER), preparing to inflict such horrors upon it as no burger has ever seen since the last one Cecilia had encountered...

...and Margie just comes BURSTING INTO THE SALOON.

Bart flails about for a moment, and manages to keep from falling over on account of incredible balance and hooking his knee under the table. He raises an eyebrow and states, "Margie! What are you doing out here! It's incredibly dangerous to be out here all by yourself!" the man with the wanted poster for more than a million gella hanging RIGHT BEHIND HIM (albeit defaced with a marker to add glasses, a beard, and devil's horns to his hair) proclaims.

And then he pauses, because a statuesque beauty has wandered in and is just staring at the mountain of burgers that Cecilia is protecting. Bart pauses for a moment, and raises an eyebrow as he levers himself back up to the table. "Ah... miss? Are you OK?" he asks. Which Cecilia might think is directed at her except that he's not called the princess 'miss' in years.

<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.

With the most serene smile on her face, Margie clasps a hand to her chest. "...Bart, you can't be the only one risking your life and limb for what's important. I needed to come too. The exposition and the Arms Tournament...it is an excellent way to gain allies for our cause. So believe in me Bart, okay? And you didn't answer my..."

She trails off, as she notices the princess of Adlehyde guarding those burgers and generally seeming to be Bart's company. Staring at Cecilia, Margie looms with as much looming as her relatively small frame allows, eyes almost...jealous? "...Cecilia! I'd...not expected to see you in a place like this either! What...ah...is going on here, anyways...?"

And then, like being in a bar with Bart isn't dangerous enough, the fabled Lucia enters. Margie immediately feels the...that weird aura emanating from the woman where she's almost unfitting in her environment. Margie's voice goes hushed, that spot of tension fading as she whispers to Bart and Cecilia, "...she's staring at the food...you might want to protect it a little more!"

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

The one time Bart called Cecilia 'miss' that she remembers, it was for a bit, and her skin crawled.

Ah, speaking of skin crawling, she's being menaced by her young... ...friend seems wrong. Ally? Friend of a friend. duderino... Cecilia only slowly releases her bodily protection of her stash, but remains poised to protect it, because you learn things at the Abbey. Important things. "Yes. My 17th birthday was a few weeks ago, so my time at the Abbey is now finished." She smiles. "And with the Exhibition coming up, Father has said I can spend my time in the town if I wish." 'What is going on here' gets Bart a slightly wry look before Cecilia turns her smile back on Margie. "We are eating lunch."

But her senses tingle. A presence...she's felt like this before, but usually it's emenating from the Medium or the Teardrop; a feeling like some force somewhere has its eye upon her. Silently gauging. She slowly turns, and...

...Wait. ...her! "Ah! I remember you. From Lahan...I think?" ... ... that stare is weird and ok actually the teardrop is definitely doing something and that's even weirder. The glittering pyroxene, key to so many of Filgaia's mysteries, releases into her some strange, quiet emotion that she doesn't entirely know how to place. Her look grows slowly curious in kind. "Can I..." she hedges, slowly. "Help...you?"

<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.

Lucia is unfazed by Bart's stumble, but also by the discomfort she seems to be causing him and his cousin -- not to mention the actual recipient of her painfully undivided attention. She could be an infant. It's like locking eyes with a baby.

Only babies can't talk, and they can't walk, and oh god she's coming over here, yep, now she's looming over the entire table. This comes as something of a relief for the owner, since she was a fire hazard (and a customer suppressant) when she was blocking the door.

"Yes," she says quietly, and her voice lacks affect, so completely devoid of guile and pretention that for a split second she doesn't seem ridiculous at all, just a woman who is utterly and completely herself, an identity unfiltered by the veils of self-awareness.

An identity keenly interested in what's on the table.

At any rate, one doesn't have to hold a sacred artifact to get really weird vibes off of Lucia.

"At Lahan we spoke of parts of Filgaia at risk. Is this what you meant?"

'This' is lightly emphasized; she is clearly unfamiliar with the contents of Cecilia's arms, and studying them as intently and curiously as any archeologist might a freize.

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

Well, this was... um.

It was a THING. That's what it was. And Bart was never really one to try and figure out how THINGS worked because they just tended to be too confusing and ridiculous. He'd rather just try and bash the situation into something that he's more comfortable with.

And so Bart takes matters into his own hands to address this entire situation in one fell swoop. He looks at Margie, who is asking what is going on, and answers in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE. At least that he can think of at the moment.

"We're eating burgers, what does it look like? Me, Cecilia..." Pause, and he points. With his burger. "You, and... whomever you are, miss." He points to the other two chairs at the table surrounding the burger pile. "Sit! Let's eat and be merry, because who knows what is going to happen tomorrow."

He has totally offered up Cecilia's burger stash for others to consume, but really how bad can it be? It's not like they're going to run out of burgers here any time soon.

"Barkeep!" Bart calls, and holds up a hand. "Let's get a couple bottles of some of the better wine out here, you can put it on my tab!"

Glasses and the wine arrive fairly quickly, and Bart... just kind of prays that Margie and Lucia are going to sit. Having 95 percent less looming in the room will help the situation immensely.

<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.

Margie gazes back and forth between Bart and Cecilia, looking so very dubious...but then she laughs and shakes her head, heedlessly grabbing one of Cecilia's burger hoard at Bart's behest and nibbling on it daintily. "It is true that I am rather hungry. Very well. Thank you for sharing with us, Cecilia." She avoids the wine...for now, ordering up a water from the barkeep instead.

"...Well, in any case, I was very much looking for you, Cecilia. This isn't the right time to talk about something so pressing, but it's...important, and part of the reason I came here. Maybe another time...when do you think it might be best?" Margie speaks seriously to Cecilia, eyes closed as she spins in her stool a little. "...Unless you've already talked about...relations between Adlehyde and Aveh, Bart?"

Lucia remains looming muchly, and Margie tips her head. "Filgaia at risk? I...do not know much about that..."

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

my burgers :(

"Yes," Cecilia replies, slightly woodenly. "Sharing. Is what is occurring." She can't even call it theft 'cuz that'd only encourage Bart. But--

Bart moves to amend the awkwardness of the situation, but she's wrapped up in Lucia somehow. It's an arresting presence she has - strange and naive, yet commanding. The Teardrop breathes...something, but it's not the immediate wave of rushing, screaming emotions she felt the other day. It does, however, make it so very hard to focus on anything else. "We--" We did, Cecilia remembers. Wow. That feels like years, sometimes. It wasn't so very long, come to think of it. Cecilia slowly withdraws from her horde; her initial impulse is to feel slightly stung by Lucia's words, but after a moment, she notices the tone. That wasn't...really the point she was making, was it? "Uhm. Not really?" she says, quietly. "This isn't that kind of threat." The total purity in Lucia's eyes makes her feel like she needs to be specific that way, somehow. "And yet..."

Cecilia looks at the mighty horde of food, but also at the people at the table; at the bar; a few people wandering past the door; before her eyes sweep up again. "...At the same time, yes."

... ....oh hey margie totally said like tons of stuff to her, didn't she, Cecilia only realizes like a solid minute after Margie spoke. "Ah!" she starts, like waking from a daydream. "Uhm! Y, yes, let's talk...later? We have some things to -catch up on, yes."

<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.

Lucia, at first, is reluctant to join the group -- Marguerite's urgency is something else she can recognize and respect. But Bart's friendliness is implacable, as implacable as someone else she knows, and without quite remembering when she made the decision, she finds herself seated and holding a glass of wine.

This, at least, she recognizes, and downs the entirety of the goblet in one shot like it's Margie's water. It doesn't seem to have the least effect on her. Big drinker, apparently?? But this can only distract her for so long from her original quest.

She, too, is implacable.

"I have never seen such objects before," she explains softly, though the light behind her eyes is putting two and two together as people start nibbling on them. "This is a kind of food, yes?"

Lucia has.

never heard of.

hamburgers.

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

Look Ci sometimes you need to give up a few burgers for the greater good. And besides there are more where these came from.

Bart does give Cecilia a look as it seems like she completely spaces out, which means that his is probably someone who's weird factor was well above Bart's pay grade. But he doesn't really SEE anything weird about Lucia-

Okay he sees a LOT of weird things about Lucia but nothing that seems to stand out more than anything else. The sense of innocence and the lack of self-consciousness is certainly different though. And the pirate isn't sure what to make of that.

But Bart's good eye swings back to Margie, and he makes a sort of circular gesture in the air with his burger. "Margie, the only relations that Aveh is having with other people right now are that rat bastard Shakhan going 'AND THEN I'M GONNA BLOW YOU UP! AND THEN ATTACK YOU! AND THEN GIMMIE THAT THING I'M LOOKING FOR!' Sure we'll have relations once we get rid of him, but I'm a simple pirate..."

And he gives Margie a *sharp* look there. Because there is someone they don't really know at the table.

"...so I just try and be a massive pain in that bald bastard's ass because it gives me no end of joy."

But Lucia's commentary means... huh. "You must be pretty far off if you've not seen hamburgers before," Bart comments, and demonstrates the proper way of eating one. It takes about two seconds, has a total lack of table manners, and would do Cecilia proud. "...mmmrph mrr mrhfmph mrrrpf," he explains, then actually finishes the burger and adds, "Okay maybe savor them a bit more than that, but they're good. Give em a try, miss..." Pause. Think think. "Aqua."

<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.

Margie's eyes close with a smile to Bart. "...And it is important that you do that, Bart. I'm here to make your efforts worthwhile. What I mean for Adlehyde is, of course..." She glances left and right, trying to figure out how to put this subtly, before... "...what I mean is a possible way to get him ousted externally. That is what I have been looking for these past few years, and that is why I am here."

She sighs a little as Cecilia obviously overhears that - the Holy Mother proposing that her kingdom go to war? "...The Golems. If those are working, then this place becomes that much more powerful. Truthfully, I didn't know you were so acquainted with Bart here...that will make matters easier for sure."

As Margie polishes off her own burger before reaching to grab another, she spies Lucia as she handles the common food item like a baffling prospect. "...Oh, that's...do they not have those in your homeland? It's fairly simple, just a number of vegetables and meat wrapped in bread. It's filling and tasty, do try it! ...Might I ask your name, and where you come from? I'm...Margie. Just Margie, at the moment," she emphasizes, glancing between Bart and Cecilia knowingly.

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Bart's managing Margie, kind of (Margie, predictably, defies management; as far as Cecilia knows this is basically how the Fatimas work), so Cecilia busies herself with attending to Lucia, head slowly tilting at her open confusion and curiosity. ...oh wow. Ohhhhhh wow....is this...is there some far-flung corner of the world where...??

"I..." she says, slowly. Bart covers her opinion pretty nicely. "Y, yes," she finally says. "They're food. Yes. It's, a kind of sandwich?" providing additional data seems like the correct reaction, and also seems completely insane, so Cecilia is having some cognitive dissonance right now. "I like them," she finally settles on. "The chef at the abbey said his hamburgers could restore you from any kind of weakness or injury! If you had enough, anyway."

This is much more pleasant than the Holy Mother of Nissan saying some seriously crazy business. She slowly turns her head toward Margie again. "...." She looks to Bart, with a look like a person drowning. "Uhm," she says. help me. we just talked about how well i do politics omg

<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.

Lucia hasn't quite learned that eavesdropping is rude -- since this conversation is taking place at this table it's a dubious definition anyway. She watches Bart and Margie speak to each other and to Cecilia about stuff she knows nothing about, and if she's learning anything she keeps it to herself.

If nothing else, Lucia has learned a little bit about not interrupting.

Besides, Cecilia is teaching her about something equally important. Maybe even moreso. Obligingly she leans in, and sniffs deeply.

"A pleasant aroma," she comments, like the most droll and boring food critic in the world. "And my name is Lucia. Lucia of the Blue Star."

She picks a burger up. Hefts it a bit, feels its weight. Turns it over and around (losing a couple of condiments onto the table for her trouble), inspecting it from all angles like a painter about to draw her subject in minute detail.

Finally, after all that, she sticks it in her mouth and takes a very hardy bite. Moderation is not something she's learned very much about.

Munchmunchmunch.

Munchmunch.

Munch.

Swallow.

She looks across the burger at the other three, a strange light in her eyes. A joyful light.

"Hamburgers," Lucia declares, like an apostle or prophet making a profound pronouncement, "are wondrous."

Munchmunchmunchmunchmunch!!

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

This is a conversation that Bart and Margie have probably had a few times already, and he knows why she favors external action vs. something internal that topples Shakhan. Bart just doesn't see it happening - they're going to need to take the renegade minister down on their own, otherwise too many people would be hurt as Shakhan threw all manner of expendable people between whatever force was coming and himself.

But he nods in recognition of what Margie is trying to do. "I hope you can find something - the help would be useful. But let's just say that Shakahn and Gebler have their hands in things here too - I don't think we're going to find any easy answers."

Sigh, business. Well, it was the first time he'd seen Margie in a while, so he wasn't too put out by her wanting to talk shop. "We'll probably be heading out towards Nisan after the festival is over - if we don't get a chance beforehand, I'll fill you in then," he offers to her, and then...

Well he watches the creation of another devotee to the Starfall Burger. He and Cecilia had fallen into that category a while ago, but there was nothing wrong with a new convert. "They are indeed good!" he declares, and snags another burger from the pile. He munches down on it enthusiastically, enjoying the burger all the more in the light of someone discovering their deliciousness for the first time. "I'm glad you like them, Lucia. Heh, I was wondering if you might have some..." Pause. "...well, unusual tastes given that you'd never tried them before."

<Pose Tracker> Marguerite Fatima has posed.

Margie sees Bart's doubts in his expression. "Both options are useful. When the time comes, we'll see about how we can coordinate them together. But..." Another sigh, as the robed Holy Mother suddenly flops against Bart's side, looking so very tired. "I know how you feel though. Let's not bring it up now. Company is too close...on a lighter note, I truly hope Sigurd has been well? It's usually only you I see that often, too many months have passed without me getting to say hi to him."

As Cecilia frets a bit, Margie reaches out and rests a hand on the princess's shoulder, mumbling slowly. "...It's okay. The Orthodoxy is patient, I will not move hastily. If it is beyond you, then find peace. It is only something you will do when you decide it is something unquestionably in your heart. I wouldn't have it any other way." Margie pats Cecilia's other shoulder as a distraction from how her hands move closer to yet another burger, before she snatches it up with a light laugh and chows it down more heartily.

Before she stops.

Lucia. That Lucia? The one those two from...Lunar mentioned? They did say 'blue star' a lot, so surely...

Margie clears her throat. She'd thought about what she'd say when she bumped into that person, but, truly looking at the tall, confounding figure who seems so thoroughly fascinated with the hamburger, Margie feels...lost. "...I've heard of you, Lucia. Your friends...Hiro and Sephilia? With the fox and the cat? ...I met them in this very place. You're a lot different than I imagined...uhm. ...What kind of things did you eat?"

...yes, that's the question that comes out from such a critical meeting.

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

thank you bart. Cecilia gives Margie an apologetic look. "We can talk about this later," she advises her, quietly. Margie's words are kind, but in a way the damage is done; the thought is in her head now, along with so many others. The Golems...even father, even Margie, can only see them as weapons. But isn't that...

Cecilia smiles and titters at Lucia's visible excitement. The presence of someone appreciating the craft causes her to take a rare moment as well, in the way someone with an artist's eye can bring new life to familiar scenes. Ahhh. There is a kind of peace in hamburgers.

While attention is on Lucia, Cecilia's hamburger disappears. She has her wine glass the next anyone can tell. She nods, with growing eagerness, at Lucia's declaration. "Ha ha! Aren't they, though? They make them well, here."

Her attention briefly slips to Margie repeating the name, the way she seems...attentive? Maybe? The name does trigger something for Cecilia, too, though. Didn't she hear...some other thing...? From that strange woman in Linga! Right!

The Destroyer is a force of evil, a being that opposes the Goddess and seeks to destroy all Innocent people and the world, my dear. It has taken the form of a young woman, Lucia, possessed of striking blonde hair and a silvered tongue that speaks nothing but cajoling lies.

Oh, right. That's somebody else, then. Cool.

<Pose Tracker> Lucia has posed.

Lucia might be a Destroyer of Hamburgers, she is imperiling the stack by eating another three before Margie's through her next one. It seems dubious at this point that she'd actually be listening -- caught in a reverie of beef, bread, and vegetables, could she hear anything important? It seems unlikely.

Nonetheless, the conversation has turned back towards her, and she has to swallow before answering not because she's trying to be polite but because now her mouth only has two states of being: 'so much burger in it that there's no room for air, much less words' or 'empty, very briefly, so briefly.'

The only thing that makes her eyes light up like these burgers is a mention of Hiro and Sephilia. She glances between the cousins, who are so eager to hear of her past, apparently.

"I don't believe I taste unusual, but I confess that I lack much of a basis for comparison," she replies to Bart first, in her usual idiom, which is to say an inability to distinguish idiom from regular speech...

Uh oh, is she about to bite down on her own hand? No, she's stopped to answer Margie, instead. "Mostly I did not eat," she says, cryptically or else looking for pity. There's not a trace of self-sympathy in her eyes, though. "Hiro and the others have introduced me to many good foods on Lunar, however..."

There's the barest hint of a pleased, impish smile in the corner of her mouth, the most expression those lips have held this whole time.

"I think the food on Filgaia might be superior."

MUNCH.

<Pose Tracker> Bart Fatima has posed.

Bart seems terribly unconcerned about the presence of someone who may or may not have a truly colossal bounty at the table. One is because he knows what a non-bullcrap bounty looks like, because he happens to have one on his head. He has no idea why Vash the Stampede has a ridiculous 60,000,000,000 gella bounty, or why this strange Lucia has a smaller but still obscene figure attached to hers, but he had decided a while back that those two had gotten on the bad side of someone important who has no real desire to pay out.

And thus Bart seems SUPREMELY UNCONCERNED about all this, except for pointing his burger at Lucia for a moment and then looking at Cecilia. "See, this is more my idea of what a moon princess looks like, as opposed to that lady in armor," he admits, and takes another bite out of his burger. "Tall, stunning, and a little lost when it comes to our strange Ignian ways."

Really this is Bart attempting to lighten the mood, and he's... well not bad at it, but not that great either. He does finish off the burger, and takes a long sip of his wine. This really wasn't bad, although he was sure he was going to pay for it later.

He does, however, pause to make a point in the previous conversation. "I know the idea of having some awesome divine help against that rat bastard Shakhan is nice, Margie - but remember that they've got Gebler on their side too, and I'm sure even if we could persuade the Golems to help us, or even if we figured how to turn them on and got them to fight for us..." He shrugs. "Those Gebler bastards would probably do a fly over and bomb the city in retaliation or something similar. Shakhan's our problem - I don't want anyone else getting hurt if I can help it."

He picks up another burger and chomps it, looking away from the table pensively. "Damn war is already chewing up more of Aveh's people than I'd like..."

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Someone should really teach Lucia about like, table manners? Eating slowly...enjoying the--

Oh Cecilia's just blown through another one and is back to sipping her wine. She is an old pro at this game, just about keeping pace with Lucia despite the ravenous woman's seemingly unending hunger. The Glutton Woman will not be so easily surpassed...!! (why does she have pride in that.) (school does weird things to us all)

But her light, almost passive teasing of Lucia is interrupted when Bart says a certain thing, and her face cracks. "...the Golems..." she says, slowly. "They weren't for fighting each other. They were created to save us, not destroy us. And even then...isn't it cruel to want to only make them fight?"

The sudden moment of gravity makes her pause, and her eyes cut away, withering a little in embarrassment. But she doesn't apologize, either.