Order and Freedom

[Kotone]

"Stupid Blaze," Kotone grumbled as she walked down the streets of Oak Town near lunch time. She had followed the flame user to Oak Town, a quick, if risky, stop in their travels to... wherever they were going. Kotone honestly wasn't sure, but she didn't intend to let the man go out on his own. She still wanted a chance to beat him properly without being interrupted by nosy paladins. It wouldn't happen here though, since Oak Town was crawling with them. Still, they didn't tend to have any trouble unless they drew attention to themselves, so Kotone wasn't worried. Not that she couldn't beat a council lackey in a fight.

Raven had said a few things Kotone was angry with him for. That happened a lot, especially since she hadn't forgiven him for letting her think he was the crook she was after instead of the wimpy little man who had escaped. Not to mention that due to his stubbornness the two of them had ended up sharing an inn room, which was obviously inappropriate as far as Kotone was concerned.

Kotone normally paid a lot more attention to her surroundings, though in her anger she was forgetting to, despite where she was. She rounded a corner out of an alleyway, and started walking down the main street, past a couple of Paladins who were questioning a young woman. She cast them a glare, but did nothing, since it appeared the woman was, in fact, a member of Blue Pegasus and thus doing nothing wrong.

[Charlotte]

Charlotte was walking down a street in Oak, having returned two days ago from a small mission her brother sent her on. She nodded at every guard or paladin that bowed towards her, wishing for once in her life to be invisible so that people won’t bother her much. She was certainly not in a good mood that day and the scowl on her face showed it. Just a couple of hours ago, she and her father was in his office screaming at each other. To say her father was surprised when she barged into the room was an understatement. He didn’t expect her to speak so intelligently about his new order either. It must have come as a shock to him that his irresponsible daughter had spoken so sensibly. But to no avail, he had stayed strong in his decision and in the end called guards on her. Can you believe it? Called guards on her! ON HIS DAUGHTER! The last thing she saw before the poor guards dragged her away was her brother standing to the side giving her an apologetic but amused grin. The pig found it amusing!

Clenching and unclenching her fists, she was holding herself back from uttering profanities at everyone that passed and gave her odd looks. At one point, she actually lost it and snapped at a guard that had the galls to laugh at her angry profile. He ended up running away screaming after that along with the other men that took several steps away from her. So then, even after two hours, she was still angry, stomping down the street and cursing under her breath.

So, to put it in simple words, if anyone crossed her paths that day, God help them for she had no control over herself. Even Jade had stayed behind, obviously scared of her as well. Just as she rolled her eyes at the thought and turned a corner, she felt herself crash into someone before falling down back on the ground. “THE HELL!” She screamed , closing her eyes as anger rushed through her.

[Kotone]

Kotone had just turned around another corner as she finished glaring at the guards when a young woman crashed into her. She stumbled back, but didn't fall like the other woman, rubbing where she had been crashed into the hardest. "Watch it, jerk!" She told the ebon-haired woman angrily. Examining her, she looked to be slightly older than Kotone. Not that it mattered.

The dragon slayer flipped her ponytail back over her shoulder as her cat, Sid, fled her backpack looking for cover. He was practically gaining a sixth sense about when it would be bad to be around his owner. "You could hurt someone plowing into them like that. At least say you're sorry." Not that Kotone ever apologized.

She found herself angrier than she normally got, probably because of the ginger-haired man she was already furious with. "It's bad enough in this town with all of those Council idiots flipping out and ID'ing anyone who they can bully without people slamming into me!"

Kotone needed to vent, and this poor girl was the one that had earned the privilege of Kotone's wrath being unleashed upon her. Not that she was ready to get into a fist fight yet, especially since she had no idea Charlotte was a wizard. Violent as she was, she never picked on the weak and helpless.

[Charlotte]

Charlotte found herself back on her feet in no time as the girl who strangely resembled her a little started firing at her like an angry kitten. She stared at her eyes darkened at every single word that fell from her mouth. She had gone through more than enough a couple of hours ago and now this little girl was yelling at her? The vague whispers around Charlotte never reached her ears as the girl kept going on and on before starting to talk about the council. Blood rushed to Charlotte’s ears as she found everyone around them take a few steps back but still watching. Everyone that knew her were staring at the girl as if she had grown two heads. Clearly, they knew that the girl in front of her had started venting about the council to the daughter of Sir Argon the head of the said council.

“You...” she started menacingly. “What did you just say?” she asked taking a few steps towards her, stopping one feet away from her before glaring daggers at her. “First of all, you little girl, you bumped into me! You should be APOLOGIZING to me! Secondly, who the heck do you think you are talking about the Council like that?” Charlotte yelled at the girl, watching as the others around her took more steps back from them. It probably surprised them that the usual cheerful girl was now yelling at someone with her face red.

‘Well, aren’t you surprising a lot of people today,’ Charlotte asked herself sarcastically with a roll of eyes. She indeed had been surprising a lot of people that day starting with her very own father. ”Look you little brat, “she started again, narrowing her eyes at the girl. “You have no right to talk about the council or the councilmen that way. They are doing their job! And their job is making sure nobody makes trouble! Their job is to capture people like YOU!”

She knew she was taking it too far. The girl had only bumped into her and she was already making a big scene for it. The sad part was that the unfortunate girl had to run into her when she was ready to bite the head off anyone that crossed her path and she was ready to fight! She wasn’t going to use her magic. No...that would be too mean but she was ready to make this girl’s ears bleed.

[Kotone]

Kotone was actually surprised when the other girl started yelling back at her. She was hardly surprised when people started backing away. The dragon slayer was used to people being intimidated by her. She was actually surprised this girl wasn't as well. And it didn't help her mood any. The seventeen year old thrived off of fighting, verbal and physical.

"I bumped into you?! I'd just barely rounded a corner. what are you, blind?" she retorted as Charlotte continued her rant back at her. She even started defending the council. So she was one of 'those' people. "The council is supposed to keep people safe, not run their lives!" Kotone yelled angrily. "They're overstepping their bounds and deserve more than I'm giving them with a few angry words! They're just lucky I don't concern myself with politics or I might punch Argon and his councilmen in the face, myself!"

Kotone didn't much like Charlotte's words about catching people like 'her.' "Do you even know who you're talking to, you brat?!" She retorted, talking to Charlotte like she was younger instead of older. Kotone had started to notice that the girl seemed similar as well, though she didn't draw the connection of looking like her at all, unlike Charlotte. It had to be something else.

[Charlotte]

Charlotte’s blood at this point was boiling as her eyes narrowed dangerously at the other girl. Everyone else either gasped or started murmuring with each other as Charlotte just kept glaring daggers at her. Yes, it was her who rounded the corner and it was her who actually bumped into the girl but she was not going to admit that. Nope. She wouldn’t admit that and let the girl win at all.

Not only did the girl talk ill of the council but she also just talked about punching her dad. HER DAD! If looks could kill, she knew that the annoying little girl in front of her would have dropped dead by then for she was absolutely fuming, steam escaping her ears. “For your information, you little girl, the council IS keeping other people safe! They always had and they always will!” Her voice rose higher at the last part, reaching a place where it sounded much like a promise than an angry retort. Charlotte had placed her life on it from the day she was born. She had promised herself countless times that no matter what she would protect everyone and prevent a war from taking place. She had promised that if her father ever fell, she would take over with Kai’s help and lead.

After a pause, she closed the distance between them so that she was now standing nearer to the girl. “And you dare say you will punch Argon?” her voice was calm maybe a little too calm as she raised a fine eyebrow at the girl. “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! TRY PUNCHING HIM AND I SWEAR YOU WON’T HAVE YOUR HANDS ON YOUR BODY” She screamed at her this time. How dare she talk about her father that way? Of course, two hours ago, she wanted to do the same thing but that didn’t mean she would listen to some girl talk like that about her father.

When she asked her who Charlotte thought she was talking to, the raven haired girl snorted, a small smirk forming on her lips. “Do you know who YOU are talking to?” she asked, her voice dangerously low and taunting. That’s when a guard who had been listening to the whole conversation decided to approach them. He was brave...she got to hand it to him for he just got in between a heated fight between the two. Although, he was shaking as he spoke. “Uhmm Ms. Charlotte......I think you two should calm do...” The poor man didn’t even get to finish the sentence when Charlotte quickly turned her head towards him, screaming “SHUT UP!”

[Kotone]

Kotone turned to the man at the exact same time, also shouting "SHUT UP!" at the man. Had she been less angry, she probably would have found it amusing that they both did it at the same time. Instead, she simply turned back and went right back into her argument. "I don't know or care who you are!" Kotone said, resuming as if they hadn't stopped to yell. "I am Kotone, Spell Breaker." Kotone didn't elaborate and say anything about being a dragon slayer. Anyone who had heard the name knew the Spell Breaker was a dragon slayer. What they didn't always believe was that she was who she was claiming to be.

"I don't care if you're Argon's daughter. A person's station doesn't mean crap if they aren't doing it right." That was probably taking too far and throwing it again. Kotone didn't care. "You don't make people safe by giving them more stupid rules to follow. You keep them safe by keeping the idiots who would hurt them off the street!"

The crowd around them were enthralled now. Argon's own daughter and the temperamental Spell Breaker were both having a yelling match. What better show was there in the city? The poor guard had fallen silent and shrank back into the crowd. You could practically feel the anger in the air between the girls.

[Charlotte]

When the girl turned to the guard and yelled the same thing at the same time, Charlotte’s eyes widened and filled with humor which was replaced by anger in less than a second. This was no time to be laughing; she scolded herself as she focused back to the girl who was starting to introduce herself. Finally she knew who the girl was and was a little surprised by it. Her eyes darted from her head to toe, the anger in her face being replaced by a thoughtful one. A spell breaker, huh? Spell breakers are dragon slayers, she had heard before, those powerful beings that had the power to slay a dragon. There weren’t many in the world and it was her first time meeting one. She couldn’t believe it at first but decided that the brat who had openly criticized about the council to the daughter of the head itself had no reason to lie. If this was some other time, she probably would have been impressed by the little ball of fire as well.

Her thoughtful expression was pushed aside as anger flooded into her again. There she went speaking ill of the council again. Her eyes darkened as her glares got more powerful. “Spell breaker? More like trouble maker,” She snorted, a look of amusement flooding her darkened eyes before continuing in a serious tone. “Rules are for the safety of others, you idiot! If there aren’t any solid rules, trouble makers like you are going to roam the street and cause the biggest trouble. So, in a way, we ARE keeping idiots off the street!” She hissed.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw the guard shrink back into the crowd, having his hands up in a defensive position. She guessed that the argument really was heated that everyone were staying at least three feet away from the two girls. It wasn’t every day that they got to see a dragon slayer having a fight with their beloved council head’s daughter. And though Charlotte knew very well that the girl was talking about the new law about guildless mages, she refused to admit that she had the same view. Admitting would mean losing and something told her she should never lose to the girl in front of her.

[Kotone]

Trouble maker? She had never gone out of her way to cause trouble in her life! Okay she had. A few times. Quite a few times. But never anything that would hurt anyone! Besides, just like Charlotte she wasn't about to admit anything that would put her at a disadvantage. "Laws get in the way of me doing what's right more often than not!" Kotone informed Charlotte.

"I don't care what your council means to do! Intentions are a load of crap. Actions are what tell you everything you need to know." Kotone believed this firmly. Her father had intended to raise her to be a dragon slayer for some purpose, and she had bought into those good intentions and thought of him as family. Then his actions showed how much he cared about her when he ran away from her nine years ago. Tears nearly welled up in her eyes as she thought of this, and it pushed her rage further. He had been the second family to abandon her on the side of the road, unwanted.

"Who the hell are you, anyway," Kotone demanded. "to think that your self-righteous council buddies are so flawless despite everything around you?!"

[Charlotte]

Charlotte snorted at the first comment as she lifted both of her hands up and crossed them over her chest. This little girl had no idea of what she was in talking about, did she? Charlotte scrutinized the girl, narrowing her eyes as the look of anger was soon replaced by her usual calm demeanor. She had been pretty upset that day and yelling at that girl had helped her enough to let her slowly slip back into her original personality.

A corner of her lips curved up as she smirked at the girl who was just a little shorter than her. “You are correct. Actions are what matters the most,” as she said this, she slowly started circling the small girl. “So, tell me, if the Council hasn’t been “acting” then how would you be standing here right now without a care, hmm? If the Council hadn’t acted and stopped the war, how would anyone be living peacefully now? And even at this very moment, the Magic Council is acting…THE Magic Council has members that are ready to give up their own lives for the benefit of people. Everything the Council do is for the common and that is how it always will be.” It was there again. The voice that made it sound like a promise. She noticed how small smiles graced the lips of people around her as she stopped in front of the girl again. “Let me tell you something, little girl, you don’t know anything. You have no idea of what the Council is and what it does. No, someone as naïve and ignorant as you will never understand what the Council is about. So do us both a favor for I don’t want to do something I might regret later and NEVER talk about the Council as if you know all about it because trust me, you know nothing,” she finished in a low voice as she took a step back, pushing her fists into the pockets of her baby blue jeans.

“As for who I am….My name is Charlotte Von Argon. I’m a Magic Council paladin sworn to do anything in my ability to protect this country and the people in it. I’m Sir Argon’s daughter,” she finished with pride in her voice, lifting her head up and keeping them in a proud manner.

[Kotone]

When people complained about the Magic Council, they didn't complain about the grunts per se. They didn't say 'oh that paladin standing guard over there is such an out of touch fool' or anything like that. Even Kotone knew better. "Well of course the Magic Council has decent people in it I am referring to the idiots in charge who make them waste their time doing stupid stuff like question that poor girl back there who hadn't even done anything wrong!" She pointed at the street behind her for emphasis and direction. The guards and girl were likely gone by now, truth be told.

Not that Charlotte was listening. She kept going on about the council and how important it was and how they'd been responsible for stopping the war and a lot of other things Kotone was well aware of. But agreeing with Charlotte was about as high on her priority list as Charlotte agreeing with her was, so she mostly glared as she continued on. That is, until she introduced herself as Charlotte Von Argon.

"...So?" Was her only response. Kotone wasn't impressed by titles, including one as high as Argon's station. She cared less about people related to people in a high station who hadn't even done anything. "Look, preachy girl, I don't care who you are." Kotone took a deep breath and calmed herself down slightly as she noticed the people around her smiling at Charlotte's name. Was it because of who she was, or her father that they cared? "Stop yelling at random people in the street that 'you' bump into and do your damn job if you really feel that way. I've got better things to do than make all these people sad because I showed up Preachy Girl. Even if you're smug enough deserve it."

[Charlotte]

The raven haired paladin’s eyes twitched slightly at the nickname but remained calm none the less as she swept her eyes over the girl one more time before breaking out into a laugh. “For one, little brat, he is doing his job and I wouldn’t have been here yelling at you if you hadn’t started it first by talking ill about the Council. I will tell you this and I’ll tell you this only once. Next time you talk ill of the Council, I’ll make sure you are behind bars where I can teach you how capable the council is. Lastly, I don’t care what you think about me, little brat, I don’t do what I do for recognition or fame.” She came to a stop as others around her gave her a warm smile. They have known her since she was a kid and they all knew her sense of justice and her passion for doing what is right even though they thought of her as an irresponsible little child.

She was about to move away and forget that the whole situation ever happened when she heard a loud scream come from her left. Her eyes darted towards the direction of the voice and as she found it coming from an ally way, she took off in her top speed in the same direction. As she stepped into the ally way, she found herself looking at a man with a dagger standing over a woman and a small child who were cowering in fright against a dirty wall. “Drop that damn knife and step away from the woman,” she muttered calmly as she too two steps towards him where the guy with an almost feral look moved away and motioned the dagger towards the woman and child. “I swear…if you move that dagger one more inch, I’m going to detach those arms from your body. "

[Kotone]

That was cute, threatening to put Kotone behind bars if she spoke ill of the council. Now that certainly wasn't an abuse of power if Kotone had ever heard one. Then again it probably wasn't technically legal to berate a council member either... so she had a point. At least Kotone had calmed down enough to think rationally about  it, or she might have gotten herself into more trouble.

Charlotte didn't become a paladin for fame or recognition, and from the looks of the people here, she could tell they believed that about her too. So she was a decent person. That didn't mean Kotone liked her. Nope, she could dislike people for a whole lot less of a reason than having just spent several minutes in a yelling match and being the bad guy because she wasn't the other person regardless of the points she'd made.

That was when she heard the same thing as Charlotte - someone was stupid enough to try and mug someone with a dragon slayer and a goody two-shoes council member this near? They were either really cocky or really dumb. Kotone took off immediately behind Charlotte, pushing through the crowd with ease before stopping right beside her in the alleyway, their anger at each other temporarily forgotten. "Drop the damn knife and step away from the woman!" they both yelled simultaneously again, though Charlotte continued with some rather specific threats. "I don't care that I'm standing next to a paladin," Kotone continued, mostly for the sake of intimidating the man as ice formed on the wall nearest her and the ground around her feet. Kotone allowed her magical power to practically bleed off of her for intimidation factor. Poor Charlotte would probably find it rather cold. "People threatening innocent people make me sick. If you harm one hair on that woman I will personally end you."

[Charlotte]

She blinked and turned her head to the side as she heard her exact same words being shouted out by the other girl. ‘The heck? What was it with them?’ she wondered with one eyebrow raised as she gave the girl one odd look before looking back at the man with the dagger. She only ripped her attention off hima gain when she felt a sudden chill all around her and looked beside her to see the area around Kotone slowly getting colder and colder. “Ice dragon slayer!” her mind instantly clicked as she kept her calculating eyes strained on the girl for a few seconds before moving them to the idiot with the dagger again.

“Now, you have two very angry women in front of you that can make you wish you were never born. If you know what is best for you, drop that damn dagger and move away from them. Spend your time in prison till you have realized what you have done wrong and we will see about what we can do with you after,” she was strangely calm as she explained this, the area around her starting to heat up a little as sparks flew from her. Literally.

As he moved with a growl, Charlotte was fast, moving quick enough to get behind him and grab the hand he had the knife in. It was a little hard for her seeing as he was a little taller and bigger built than her. Her only chance was to use her magic but she had the woman and child close to her meaning that using her magic would mean electrocuting them. “Dammit!” she cursed as she ground her teeth together, looking over the guys shoulder to see Kotone. “Knock this idiot out cold or something!” she yelled at the ice dragon slayer kid.

[Kotone]

Charlotte was swift. Kotone was pretty fast, herself, though she didn't have magic augmenting her speed with her ice magic. Rather quickly, the Paladin had the man's arm in a grip, and the man struggled against her, trying to use the knife in his hands. It wasn't that the man was tough. It was that physically he was strong, and there was a woman and child in the way. Which was definitely a problem. Kotone's eyes shifted, figuring out what the best thing to do would be. Her dragon roar would be powerful, but catch Charlotte, the woman, and the child as well. She couldn't have that, even if seeing Charlotte covered in ice and shivering would be hilarious. So what?

Simple would work better. Kotone didn't waste her time with righteous speeches or give him a chance to give up. He'd made his mistake by starting at all, and now he would pay. Inhaling, Kotone spit out a bullet-like ice projectile the size of a large piece of hail, which traveled fast and pegged the man's knife hand, since he could barely move it in Charlotte's grip. He cried out in pain as the knife fell from his grip, clattering on the ground in front of the woman's feet.

"No more hiding behind innocents!" Kotone shouted, as the woman realized the man now had no leverage keeping them there and slipped out of the man's grasp quickly, running as fast as she could to take her child out of harm's way. Kotone didn't blame her. It was the right thing to do. "Care to do the honors, Paladin?" She asked, her anger turning into a smug grin as the man's face went from feral to realizing he had lost. It didn't stop him from struggling even harder to escape, however.

MP 190/200:

[Charlotte]

Impressive. The word revolved around Charlotte’s mind as she watched the girl take care of the criminal without much of a hassle. But then again, she guessed that was to be expected from a dragon slayer. Though, it was pretty obvious to her that this ice girl didn’t think before she took action. Her movements seemed to be more controlled by her emotions than her brain. She wondered if she could ever fight with a calm mind and not like a child who lost her toy.

Shrugging, she simply watched and nodded as the woman and child ran off together. “Since that’s out of the way,” she started, golden light flowing in a string like manner from her right hand. In seconds, she had a whip in her hand made of electricity. “Don’t mind if I do, little brat,” she answered before swinging it once, hitting him on his torso. As the man cried in pain and fell down on the ground, she pulled the whip back but didn’t strike. Unlike many other council paladins, Charlotte wasn’t a fan of torturing criminals even though Kai had told her it is necessary sometimes.

“I am not going to kill you but you are going to serve a long time in prison for the little stunt you pulled here,” she said, striking the man one more time, rendering him motionless before gesturing to the guards that followed her to take him away. The whip disappeared from her hands as she took slow steps forward, analyzing the surrounding a little. In a couple of seconds later, she stood in front of Kotone, motioning forward with her head before walking out the ally way. “You were not bad, kid.”

Spoiler:

[Kotone]

Okay, maybe she'd deserved the brat part. Kotone wouldn't deny that. She knew what she was like, after all. And maybe this girl didn't appreciate the generic name of Paladin when she so obviously wanted to stand out amongst her peers. That was fair. But did she really have to call her kid? "I'm not that much younger than you." she stated flatly. "I'm seventeen, you know."

Kotone was determined not to get into another shouting match. She had to get back to Raven without getting arrested, for one thing. For another, she had no desire to be chased out of Oak Town by this woman's adoring fans. The way they worshipped her with their gazes when they passed was nauseating. At least to her.

"You're not half bad yourself," she decided, recalling the ease that Charlotte had managed to get to and hold the man's wrist. She smiled a cocky grin, one that people in the wrong mood often found infuriating. Not that she cared if Charlotte did. "Well, Charr," she started, deciding to try and diffuse potential arguing before she got either of them back into it. "Maybe I'll take back what I said about your precious Council. For now." She knew they were trying, after all. She just also knew someone there was profoundly stupid for punishing people who weren't even connected to the terrorists.

[Charlotte]

“You know, it doesn’t matter whether one is older or younger. Age is nothing but a number, Kotone, and real maturity depends on one’s actions. You are a good fighter but you are brash and you let your emotions control you than anything. Be careful with that,” she advised, feeling all her anger go down the drain. Taking care of that criminal had took out most of her anger leaving her in her usual cool persona.
She smirked at her comments before giving her a big grin. Charlotte mode turned on, she singed inside her head as she clasped Kotone’s hands in hers, giving her a starry eyed look. “KOTONA CHAN!” she chirped in a high pitch voice, intended just for annoying her a little. “Thank God you are finally seeing reason, Ko.to.ne chaan! Magic Council will always protect the weak and needy!” she made a pose with a wink before skipping off towards the woman from the ally way. “Are you alright?” She asked, her voice taking a sugary sweet tone as she ruffled the little girl’s hair when the woman nodded.

She was very well aware of the people chuckling around her. Some of them were giving her odd looks. Of course they were used to this Charlotte but they probably didn’t foresee a sudden change in her attitude from the beginning to the one at that moment which gave her a sense of satisfaction. It wasn’t time to reveal her true self yet, she concluded with a small nod in her head.

[Kotone]

Kotone didn't exactly like being lectured about her emotions. She had done just fine so far. But here she was, with Charlotte telling her how to live her life. She opened her mouth to protest, but before she did a high pitched squeal of "Kotone chan!" stopped her, instead causing her to cringe. That hurt her ears! "Now wait just a-" the dragon slayer started as Charlotte tromped off to talk to the young woman and child. Was she insane?! That was an abrupt change in personality... Kotone hung her head. "Ugh. Forget it." she mumbled, putting her hands in her black longcoat's pockets.

She walked up next to Charlotte to join the conversation as the woman thanked the two girls profusely for saving her and her son. Kotone simply shrugged, making a 'tch' noise. She was a hero as far as she was concerned. She hadn't had much choice. Especially since a kid was involved. "It's what any good wizard would do," Kotone said, blowing off her thanks. "It wasn't anything special."

Which was true to her. Why other wizards didn't use their power to protect people more, she would probably never know. It only seemed right. Especially since she was a Dragon Slayer.

[Charlotte]

Charlotte kept her hands intertwined behind her as she turned her head to look at Kotone with a knowing smile. There was something about the girl that arose a sort of curiosity in her. For some reason, she looked a lot similar to her though her personality was completely different. The previous incedent told her that she wasn’t a bad person either. She gives off a rude aura because she doesn’t know how to behave well with people, especially with people that thanked and praised, it seemed. Maybe she wasn’t used to it or maybe she hides her embarrassment and shyness with an attitude that says she doesn’t care.

Nodding her head to the thought, she moved back towards the guards to give them instructions, telling them to take the troublemaker back to prison. She would decide what to do with him later after getting back or she would simply put the decision up on Kai’s head like she always does. Shrugging at the thought, she went back to Kotone before giving her a big grin again. “So, if you don’t have much to do, Ko.to.ne chan, then do you want to walk around the town with me?” she asked, tilting her head to the side with a cute expression.

Charlotte wondered when she was going to tear this fake character off her. So far, she only knew that the time hadn’t come for it yet. She still had things to under the pretense of a naïve woman. She had a lot of understanding to do. So far, she has a mental list of everyone in the council, the brave, the kind, the good, the sycophants, the greedy, the bad, the cowards and the power hungry people. When the time comes for her to throw away her mask, that would be the day that some of those mental lists will disappear from the council, she had promised herself, and it would also be the day that the council will be reborn. Not as just some ruling body that take advantage of the common folks, but as a strong body that consists of people with only one goal. Protecting the weak.

[Kotone]

Kotone's arms were crossed, and she certainly was trying to look like she didn't care. She was actually pretty good at convincing herself that she didn't, most of the time. Charlotte intrigued her as well though. There was something about her that she couldn't put her finger on... but Kotone couldn't be sure if it was the fact she seemed to be some... adorable form of crazy, or if there was something else. "..." Kotone blinked at her offer. Wasn't she just yelling at her and calling her names? Eh, whatever. "Why not?" Kotone shrugged, acting as if the entire thing was for Charlotte instead of her own secret curiosity.

Kotone started walking beside Charlotte, the happy bubbly persona of the daughter of Argon and the dragon slayer’s more broody façade making them stand out in the crowd a bit. Why would these two hang out anyway? Even Kotone couldn’t answer something like that, truth be told. “What’s your deal, anyway?” she asked the accusatory sentence in the most non-accusatory way possible. She wanted to know more about this Charlotte, and how someone like Argon could have raised someone who was the opposite of all of Kotone’s perceptions of the Magic Council lately. She sighed, realizing her words were probably too hostile sounding. “What I mean is… I’m curious.”

[Charlotte]

Charlotte’s big eyes held an innocent light as she skipped off with Kotone beside her. People were staring at them and Charlotte noticed it. She guessed that they found something like this strange and she was actually quite shocked at the fact that Kotone actually took up on her offer to walk with her. She wanted to simple get to know this interesting loud mouthed dragon slayer.

When Kotone broke the silence, Charlotte simple chuckled to herself. “What are you talking about, Ko-to-ne chan?” she asked, cutely titling her head to the side with her big eyes sparkling in the golden light of the sun. “What are you curious about exactly?” she asked, cheerfully twirling around her. She had an idea of what Kotone was talking about but she wasn’t quite sure about how to answer the question. If she started, there were too many things to go through. There were thousands of situations that made her what she is now. From the age she started figuring things out, she had only had her eyes fixed on one person. Her father. Back then, she had always wanted to put herself in his shoes and become someone just like him. That was simply what drove her forward this far and will keep driving her forward. He had taught her what is right and what is wrong and that she should be able to judge someone based on facts she knows rather than by what others tell her.

She had kept those words close to her and had made sure that she would differentiate between the right and wrong and grew up judging people with what she knew of them. Protecting the weak was always her goal and it always would be. She grew up between many kinds of people. She had grown up to have her own opinions and thoughts on everything though her father never really got to know about that. To him, she was always an irresponsible kid.

[Kotone]

Charlotte chuckled, and Kotone wondered why for a moment. Earlier, she had taken offense to not having Kotone dive out of her way. But now that she’d calmed down she just seemed to take everything in stride. Kotone was made almost entirely of contradicting personality traits… and she was confused by the slightly older girl. “What am I talking about?” she mumbled to herself, repeating Charlotte’s words. “I mean I’m curious about you. I don’t know what to ask exactly because I don’t do this stuff.” She let out a sigh and tried again. “You’re confusing.”

She kept walking in silence as she waited for Charlotte’s answer. The daughter of Argon was putting on a front. That was what was going on. It dawned on her as she finished her sentence. Kotone put on a front all the time, and that meant that Charlotte was similar, in a different sort of way. Kotone wanted to know why this was, and hopefully Charlotte would give her some sort of insight to that. The dragon slayer brushed her hair out of her face and adjusted her ponytail so that it was a little bit less loose. Sid, now back in her backpack, mewed softly as they walked.a

[Charlotte]

“I’m confusing? That’s odd...especially considering the fact that you are confusing to me as well. Something about you reminds me of someone...someone whose face I seem to have forgotten,” Charlotte mused, walking along with Kotone again. There was an odd familiarity between them and for the first time in her life, Charlotte was left unable to identify this air around them. They had a lot of dissimilarities and she can name them one by one but they also had a lot of similarities which she couldn’t completely guess at that moment. It was just a distant feeling from the bottom of her conscious but it was taunting her none the less.

“I’m just me. I might be confusing to most but that’s because it is my goal to be so,” she chuckled, winking at Kotone before turning her attention to the road ahead. “There is a reason to this madness...” she trailed off not wanting to complete the sentence. She was aware of her real persona slipping back into place and she let it back in. Why hide from someone who had already guessed her little charade?

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself? hmm?” She finally asked, intended to gather some knowledge about this person that she had taken an interest in. ‘Strange,’ she wondered. ‘Who does she remind me of?’

[Kotone]

Kotone was confusing Charlotte as well. She admitted as much. It brought a grin of satisfaction to the difficult young dragon slayer’s lips.  She also reminded Charlotte of someone. Whomever that was. Kotone honestly had no idea what she was babbling about. She’d never seen the daughter of Argon face to face in her life. She felt something there too though, and it only made her more secretly curious. She wasn’t going to tell Charlotte that though. Not until she learned more.

Charlotte told Kotone there was a reason to her madness. Kotone’s grin turned into a full-blown smirk at that point. “There’s always a reason, Charchar.” She told her, not using her proper name, as usual when it came to people she was talking to. She flipped her ponytail back over her shoulder as the wind blew her hair, looking confident and calm compared to how she’d been when they first bumped into each other. “Some of us don’t want people close to the truth.”

For Kotone, that charade hadn’t stopped. She didn’t drop it even when Charlotte dropped hers. The truth was, behind the mountain of defenses and abandonment issues, Kotone was actually a pretty sweet girl, and that was why she  did so many nice things, and managed to let off steam then have a nice talk with people she’d previously hated. Her hot-headed stubbornness and even her alternate uncaring exterior were learned responses, not who she naturally was.

“About me, huh?” Kotone asked, shrugging a bit and relaxing her shoulders as she looked down, eyes closed for a moment. She reopened them and stared ahead as she talked. “There’s a lot to say. A lot of it you don’t get to hear. A lot of it that isn’t true.” She looked over at Charlotte again, that smirk visible once more. “But I’ll tell you this. I was raised by a dragon after my family abandoned me. I was abandoned by that dragon. Shortly after I became the first and so far only publically known dragon slayer, and I was given the nickname Spellbreaker for defeating so many wizards as a child during that war your father cleaned up. Skip a few years, and here I am.” It wasn’t a lot. In fact, a lot of that was probably public knowledge if you were up on famous figure knowledge. But it was Kotone trying.

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