God Yet Lives

"That's good."

*She pokes the barely eaten food in front of her some more then stands up.*

"I'm going to bed. Thanks for the meal..."

~The next day~

*Senthose walks into the kitchen, stops, & double-takes the wall calendar. The 1st of December has "Invasion day" scrawled over it in red ink.*

S"What is the date?"

A"Hmm? November 30th."

S"Oh...fuck."
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*Venezuela slept on the couch, the floor of the living room, basically wherever she could lie down.*
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*Euryale is sitting on the deck with the cage of miasma.*

"The last day of vacation...I wonder how this is going to work. Does he plan to just Garganta in here & wisk us away?"

Sab and Mortal walk in a bit later, still tired. "You're up and about early..." Mortal said, "You must be full of energy."

--

"I wouldn't be surprised," Noct said, "Kind of makes me wonder why we bothered buying plane tickets back home."

"I didn't know you did. You also didn't tell me you talked to John about the situation with you-know-who in your you-know-what. I thought for sure you'd want me there for you on that."
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A"Well, I guess I must be in shape, from all of the exercise I had last night."

S"Ignoring that, you ought to be, too."

*He points to the calendar.*

S"I don't know how much you think you've improved, but I know for a fact that I've yet to get Lilith to develop a new Hollow technique. Not even after we discovered a Garganta could be opened with Kido."

"I have not talked to John in a while, and I have no idea what you're talking about with my 'you-know-whats'."

--

"That sucks."

"You know...the voice in your head."
=============================
S"Sab, does she appreciate the direness of the situation? I can never tell if she actually understands the words that are coming from my mouth."

"Oh, yea. I still never talked to John."

--

"She does," Sab replied, "She is simply eager to square off against Keter again. Despite your misgivings I'm sure she just wants to get things rolling as soon as possible; she is a bit too prideful for her own good, and she has been sitting on the embarrassment of loss for far too long in her book."

"I'm not telling you anything anymore..."

"You didn't tell me this."

"That is my point."

S"You can't defeat Keter."

*Senthose throws some fruit & ice in a blender & starts blending it. Lilith stumbles in soon afterwards with her usual 3 feet of bed hair.*
==============================
"That's odd...I wonder why he would lie about something like that."

"You don't know that..." She waited a second, "I don't care, that isn't the point."

--

"I don't know, maybe he was jealous that I was talking to you so much, and lied. Admittedly lying isn't really his thing, he usually just flaunts his jealousy."

"I wouldn't like to think he'd do something so...malicious."
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S"If you want to avenge your loss...you're in for a disappointment. Frankly, you're lucky she's wanted you alive so far."

*He pours some smoothie in a glass, then holds the container out for Lilith to take.*

Kira points in Noah's general direction, "Hado 88, Hiryūgekizokushintenraihō!"
With another of his hands he prepares a follow-up kido spell, black and purple light sparking around his fingers.

Mortal crosses her arms, and leaves the kitchen, shoulder checking Lilith on her way out by accident, though she didn't stop to apologize.

--

"Me either."

*Noah slashes, causing the Kido to explode prematurely. The Hollow dashes past the explosion, aiming to bodyslam Kira.*
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*Aroma quickly tells Lilith that she didn't mean it before following her out.*

L"I think you upset her."

S"I don't care."

L"Well, maybe you should. I know this isn't exactly easy, but you'll be fine with everyone's help. So try to eat something solid, okay?"

*Senthose grumbles something Soul Reapers always projecting on him when she leaves.*
=========================================
A"Mortal! Mortal, wait up! I have short strides!"

Kira clicks his sparking fingers and the Hollow (and Noah?) become trapped in a Kurohitsugi which immediately slices them from all directions.
Now having all four hands free, he begins charging four more yellow kido attacks.

*The underpowered Kido does little to the Hollow, who barrels through it & wraps the chain around Kira's neck. While he's doing that, Noah points his sword behind him & fires a blast, rocketing forwards & punching Kira in the face.*

<Fifteen seconds, in case you lost count.>

Kira released a pair of Raikoho's into the Hollow and another pair into Noah.

Sab had stayed in the kitchen, and looked at Senthose, "So... are you cooking, or...?"

--

Mortal slowed down a bit and waited for Aroma, "I'm sorry Aroma, I didn't mean to just walk out..." She said, running a hand through her hair.

A"It's fine. It's just...to be honest, I worry about you. If you're upset because Senthose thinks you'll lose, don't be. You'll always be the strongest to me. Probably Sab, too. You don't have anything to prove."
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S"Not a chance. Anyone who returns, tell them to meet me outside."
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*They just kind of ignore them. While the Hollow continues choking Kira, Noah holds his Zanpakuto in a reverse grip & starts stabbing into his mask.*

"Your Kido are only getting weaker. But I'm just getting warmed up."

Mortal smiled a bit, "Thank you. It is nice to hear that, but I'm afraid it isn't the issue. I'm not worried about what others think; I'm holding myself to my own standards. I'm not the strongest, I've literally been shown so. But I won't let that stop me from getting stronger, and I won't let that stop me from getting Keter. I refuse to act like I have no chance, I refuse to give up. It is worse than losing, because if I lose it means I at least tried."

--

Sab starts making steak and eggs, "Would you like something, Lilith?" Sab asked, peeking at her over her shoulder.

"No, if you lose, it means she'll kill you. I don't want to tell you to give up, but isn't it important to be here, with us?"
===============================
*Lilith had already left.*

Mortal crossed her arms, "I've lived for thousands of years... I've never had to weigh my views against something like a family. It is... why I'm so scared, why I don't want to hear that I might lose. I don't want to do something that would make me lose you... but I can't change who I am, or how I feel about this."

--

Sab furrows her brow, "She left quietly..." She went back to cooking.

*Aroma throws her arms around Mortal, choking back the sniffles.*

"I love you, Mortal. You don't have to fight. And you don't have to win. Just..please don't get hurt."
============================
*Lilith eventually comes back in, with her hair combed, her Shihaksho on, & smelling faintly of strawberries.*

Sab restates her question.

--

Mortal hugs her back, "I love you too, Aroma. I'm sorry that isn't enough to stop me from doing this. I'm sorry I'm such a bad person, but I have to fight until I win. I'm sorry that I'm going to get hurt. I'm sorry that I'm so selfish that I want you to still love me, even though I can't even do something so simple for you." With that she runs a hand through Aroma's hair, and tilts her head back slightly so that she could kiss her.

*Aroma returns the kiss, tearing up a little.*

"Don't be too sorry. After all, that's part of the woman I fell in love with. Just...if it ever looks like you're in deeper than you can handle, promise me you won't push it. You can always fight Keter again, but you don't get a second...third chance at living."
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L"Nah. In spite of what I told Senthose earlier, I don't think I could keep anything down. Are you nervous?"
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E"Well...enough about that. We should do something special for our last day of vacation."

Astarte stepped into the room and looked to Senthose with a slightly confused expression, but said nothing.

Enkidu was still in his cross-legged position atop the rock in Hueco Mundo, but had finally grown tired of the silence.
"Are you both awake and alert?" He asked Aera and Iris without turning.