[22:28] Roland Halbmond exclaims, "Kateto!"
[22:28] Maria Malibu says, "Oh-...poor dummy...."
[22:28] Maria Malibu shoots the dummy in the face.
(Maria Malibu)


[22:28] Kateto Espero says, "Damn, making me want to master my Occult more."
[22:28] Roland Halbmond says, "Don't do thaaat. That would be sooo terrible."
[22:28] Roland Halbmond does not keep a straight face.
(Roland Halbmond)


[22:28] Maria Malibu says, "...Need to shoot more things..."
[22:28] Kateto Espero says, "I mean, it's a perfectly reasonable school of magic."
[22:28] Maria Malibu nods, crossing her arms.
(Maria Malibu)


[22:28] Kateto Espero says, "Oh, and yes it's nice to see you again, but I do have to go."
[22:28] Roland Halbmond says, "Of course. See ya."
[22:29] Maria Malibu waves!
(Maria Malibu)


[22:29] {Item} You picked up Rowboat..
[22:29] Maria Malibu says, "Sit."
[22:29] Kateto Espero says, "You know, part of me wants to talk to Felice again, but I feel she's not the type to like me."
[22:29] Maria Malibu says, "I will...m-make...tea"
[22:30] Maria Malibu asks, "Felice?"
[22:36] The cat obediently sits down on the couch as they continued talking. Floating over the back of the sofa and plopping themself on the seat in a cross legged position.

"Ah, Felice, she was an ascendant I served under in Atrellya. Saw her turn into a demon on my first Sabbath. A right terrifying sight most definitely. Yet seems she's gotten a free pass to adapt far easier than I." With a small chuckle they rubbed their cheek.

"One of our few interactions was her slapping me for not using the proper honorifics back in Atrellya, but I still hold some care for her family. Roland's a real nice boy after all, so she must be pretty decent deep down herself. Despite our pasts..."
(Kateto Espero)


[22:49] "Y-you...have...b-been through alot." Maria nods. She'd begin to brew tea for herself and Kateto. Her mind wavered, but at least she was sharp enough to do something as simple as brew a cup for them both.

Simple garden tea, brewed to perfection as she hands a cup to Kateto and one for herself.

"I..s-see.." She nods, taking a sip of her tea.

"Y-you...a-are..." she hiccups! Catching her throat, and her words. She'd massage her throat, already seeming to speak so much causing strain on her circuits.

"Also good, Kitty." A gentle smile. As she takes another sip of her tea. Something bothered her that she wanted to talk about, it would seem. Perhaps Kateto knew full well what it was like to suffer and find those sort of magics in your heart.

But she'd speak on that sooner, instead tilting her head at Kateto.

"What did...y-you...want to talk...about?" she lingers.
(Maria Malibu)


[22:49] {Item} You drop Rooibos Tea.
[23:00] With a smile, the cat took the cup of tea and begin sipping on it as they listened to Maria speak. Enraptured by the pure fact they could hear her voice and all the progress she had made. Their face betrayed that they were quite happy with everything she's been able to accomplish.

"We're both been through a lot...that much we've bonded over. I just had the misfortune of acting upon my impulses and the consequences which came when my mind was clear once more." They had been much more in tune with their circuits over the years they had been imprisoned. Having all the time in the world to meditate and control their occult-driven emotions.

Though their lips down lower when they noticed the strain on her circuits which speaking caused, glancing at her throat as she rubbed it. "Feel free to speak in your thoughts if you feel your throat being strained. Let your body adapt to the usage of those circuits slowly." They advised, mostlyjust to make sure she didn't overexert her circuits speaking."

With another sip of their tea, however, they nodded towards the gunslinger. Smiling as they placed their cup on their lap. "W-well I've been able to save up quite a bit of money in the time I've been here, and well, Hoshi and Majora were talking about looking for a place for their house, so I was just wondering a bit..." It was incredibly nervewracking to even imply, let alone outright say, but Kateto continued on.

"Do you wanna get a house somewhere? You know, and like...live together." Their face flushed red as they finished their thought. The last two words soft to the point of near inaudibility, were it not for the room itself being quiet already.
(Kateto Espero)


[23:12] "Y-yes..."

The trauma was still fervent in her heart. The deaths of her siblings, the many trials Maria had to endure being a resident of Meranthe, all still at the forefront of her mind.

A aching loneliness, only now being whisked away.

Maria felt confident. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she did not need to wear a facade. Her anxiety when it came to speaking would lessen, ever day becoming but a learning experience for her. It would take many mistakes for her to reach this goal, and perhaps many more.

But she'd get there. One step at a time.

Especially if Kateto was at her side.

Maria's voice was exactly the same as her thoughts. A rural accent, carrying a western twang. It was soft and raspy at times, but every now and then one might catch it. The accent of a girl who grew up in the farmlands of Nilharra.

"I...k-know...the feeling." Maria says, softly. She too, knew what it was like to act on impulses.

More than anyone.

And it almost cost her everything.

"I-..t-tried. T-to...kiss...Tab."

"I wanted...t-too...have s-...sex with her."

"I was wrong." she says boldy. Even Maria made mistakes, to try and deny them, to try and make excuses...it did not help anyone.

"I have...a-..d-darkness...too."

"I was wrong." she says again. Yet again, another sip of her tea, canary hues flicking toward Kateto once again. "B-but...my mind...it is...c-clear now."

"Like you." A nod, as she smiles toward Kateto's own. It was straining her, speaking so much.

But she didn't care.

"I feel...I am...m-m...my..."

"Myself, lately." A nod, it seems Maria too was more in tune with her circuits. It was because of Sound magic and Maria's singing, that she was able to break through her muteness in the first place.

"N-no. This is...g-good practice." Maria nods. It was evident she was straining herself. Yet breaks were frequent, giving her more than enough time to catch her breath. The tea too, would relax her throat and her circuits, allowing for more speech.

She was allowing her body to adapt to those circuits, to adapt to something different than what her body's main source of magic used to be. It would take time, yet they were right in that it was best to allow her body to adapt to the usage of those circuits slowly.

The darkness still lingered, after all.

"!!!"

She listens, widening her eyes at Kateto's offer. It was a mere instant, but her answer was clear.

"Y-yes!"

"I mean...I-...I would...l-like that!" she says softly. Nodding with a tender and innocent smile.

She'd miss her home, of course. The very same one they were sitting in right now. It was her childhoodhome, how can she not miss it?

But just like with Lavenza and Levius, she knew now it was time to move on.

Plus? It wasn't like she couldn't visit.

"...I w-want...t-...too...live...with you."

"..."

A flush of red to her own too. Maria had her answer. She had made the wrong choices lately, she didn't know who or what love was. And how it differed from lust.

But now? Looking into that cat's eyes?

Her answer was lying right in front of her all this time.

She'd finally understand.

"Hehe..."

She smiles bashfully, breaking eye contact with the Felinae as her answer echoed through the house.

And yet another would gaze her skull. Something important, as it was evident by her words.

"Another thing...I wanna...a-ask about. If...th-...th-..." A pause, she massages her throat once again. Another sip of tea.

"That is all..."
(Maria Malibu)


[23:41] It always felt wrong comparing their losses to hers. Maria's lost half of her family, while Kateto only felt the loss of the one they were close to. Someone who had helped them find who they were, and who loved them despite everything. Were Lavenza able to see what they had become, Kateto had no doubts they'd still feel the same way they did back then.

Yet, that loneliness was something they were an expert upon. Something they weren't ever able to escape until they met the people of Fortune, and especially the Malibus.

Their own goals were lofty now, but they wished to stay by Maria's side until they drew their last breath. Just to see her succeed in her own goals and become a better person than Kateto ever was.

They continued to sip their tea, as their ears twitched listening to Maria. Their hand stopped for a moment as they processed the confession she made. There wasn't any anger or anything of course, nor disappointment, itjust took them a moment to parse it.

"Well there are worse people to make mistakes like that about I suppose. Tab's cute I'll give you that." A light-hearted chuckled escaped their lips between speaking and sipping the tea once more. An attempt to lighten the mood a bit and wash away any concerns Maria may have had about their reaction.

"We both have that darkness though, Maria. Part of me still wishes to break this restraint off and ask you to run away with me to somewhere away from Gloomlight and the Vigil, but...I know I wouldn't be able to rest easy if I worried you and the others with the state of my soul as well as the pressure and sacrifice that'd take..." It had been years since they saw the rest of Meranthe. Those urges came up everyday, yet they silenced them again and again.

Though a smile returned to their face soon after hearing Maria say she felt more like herself. "That...that really makes me happy, you know?" Maybe they finally understood how Lavenza felt when they helped Kateto realize the cat's own gender. Seeing someone become more and more true to themself, and able to be happy with who they are as a person. It was nice to behold.

As worried as they were about Maria's circuits, they always knew worse case scenario they could help. The cat was quite an experienced doctor at this point, but that would be a last resort. For now, the herbal tea would have to work to soothe her circuits. "Just...don't be afraid to take breaks if you need alright?"

That reassuring smiled stayed on their face until they asked the question about getting a house together filled their face with blush. Though, as agonizing as the few moments between their sentence and the gunslinger's answer was, their fears were washed away immediately by her answer. Their ears perking up, and a wide smile covering their face as a giddy giggleescaped them.

"T-that's great! Th-then we should look at some places to settle sometime! There's plenty of land which has gone unused, so I'm certain we can find a place to call home!" Their voice filled with excited delight, they nodded at Maria's next question.

"Oh yes, please do ask away, Sunflower. Take your time though if you need to, alright? I promise I'll wait forever for you if you need it."
(Kateto Espero)


[23:53] Maria's losses were plenty. Yet it was wrong to compare her own to even Kateto. They had lost just as much as her, if not more.

But there was always time to move on.

It could take years, it could take decades, but eventually you would get up and brush your teeth, and realize that you were not thinking about it anymore.

A day you would realize you were moving on.

Maria had that day already. She was happy. Even if she made mistakes, even if it seemed as if the world was against her. She was happy.

Knowing that she wasn't alone anymore.

Lofty goals. To become the world's greatest gunslinger. To reach even a footnote of the stories she has read as a child. For once, to bring something to this world that no one else can ever bring.

A true wildcard, through and through.

She wished the same. It was clear from the mere look in her canary hues. The smile on her face, and the beet red that permeated her skin. She wanted to be there with Kateto, until either she or them drew their last breaths.

Just to see them succeed, the same as she.

She'd make them proud.

All of them.

All of those she had lost, and the ones she can still save.

"Y-yes. She is cute. But she is in love w-...with...Aricles. I was w-wrong...t-to...take...th-...that...that away."

A lengthy sentence, but she'd learned the errors of her ways. She had learned what such a dark and selfish soul can twist her into, lest she wasn't careful.

She was worried about their reaction. But Maria couldn't dare hide anything from Kateto. She couldn't hide her thoughts or her woes. If there was one person she had trusted with the deepest pits of her soul and her life, it was that little kitty right in front of her.

"I kn-..know the...f-..feeling..."

"I want too...too." A bold response.

"...I can easily...t-t...take it off." Maria was an expert artificer, after all. Nor did she care for the laws of the land as much as she did her own.

But she wouldn't do anything that would hurt or break Kateto..

"...B-but...I know..."

"Anywhere you go...I go..."

It pained her, the favor Maria was to ask of Kateto. It was their choice to continue to help her, if they wanted. But the risk was there.

What she was about to ask might make those desires in their heart even worse.

"Hehe.." she smiles. Proud to see that Kateto was happy at their growth. She too, was proud to see that the kitty had found themselves as well. That the future did not seem so bleak as it did in days past.

"O-okay..."

The question comes. Maria takes the final sip of her tea. She soothes her voice, for the time being. A few seconds, to give her throat and circuits room to breathe before she'd explain.

Alas, it was best explained in thoughts, here and now.

Their query...their request.

Maria softly places the tea back down. Her steps were light, walking over to sit besides the cat here and now.

She grabs their palm, caressing it gently as her thoughts radiate in their own psyche.

["I have a request, kitty. I don't want you to hate me for this. You don't have too...if you don't...want too."]

["But I have a darkness inside me too."]

["I want it gone."]

["...I-is there...anything you can do? I know you know Occult magic. Or at the very least, know how it feels."]

["I think my Shadow magic is more than just that. Is there any way you can...get it out of me?"]

"..Th-this...darkness...?"

"Occult magic..."

"..."

A pause, a thumb gently wavering against their palm. Soft breathes, and this close? Perhaps they can sense the shadows of her heart still writhing.

They were a doctor after all. And perhaps they'd notice the clammy palms, and the writhing, black veins under her skin.

She awaits their answer.

For while it might help Maria?

It could hurt Kateto, if they were not careful with those selfsame shadows...
(Maria Malibu)


[23:53] * You have been awarded 1 Levels! * [00:26] The once stray had finally found a home. Even throughout the loss, the regret, and the poor decisions they had made up to this point. At the very least, they knew their time of wandering was at a close. They found Maria, Tate, and the rest of their family.

They still felt that loneliness from time to time, but they had found the emptiness caused by it starting to shrink. All the tears they shed over it feeling like a distant memory. Though the friends who listened to their cries were ever dear to them.

The cat chuckled as those memories came back, a reminder of what they wished to cherish for the future. "Yes, it isn't a good thing to be a homewrecker, but we all make mistakes. I'm certain Tab and Aricles understand that much, right?" They held faith in their friends that they'd understand her feelings the same that the cat does.

Kateto accepted everything which Maria was. They loved the flaws, darkness, and everything else which she held within her because those aspects were a part of what made her Maria. And seeing her grow from those, it felt like watching a beautiful flower bloom once more into something even greater.

They genuinely hesitated at the fact that Maria would accept their offer if they had asked. An urge to go through with it rising for a moment, before quelled once more. Speaking quietly as they responded. "Nomul offered the same...But your family. I can't tear you from them, even if we'd still be on Meranthe..." It was one thing to be a fugitive, but when that meant those you cared about couldn't be seen again, the sacrifices started tipping the scales.

"But outlaws stick together, right?" They spoke with a smile.

The future wasn't bleak as it stood, but they didn't wish to make a hasty decision which would jeopardize that now. Not when they were so close to being free. Maria knew their own darkness just like they knew hers. A mutual intimate understanding of one another's troubles. Something they've cultivated over the years they've been like this.

As Maria took her final sip of tea and sat beside Kateto, the cat put down their own cup in order to hold her close. Looking into her eyes as she made that request. The coldness did not go unnoticed, nor did the clammy hands when they were holding hands together.

Their attunement to the occult and telepathy made them incredibly sensitive to these afflictions. That darkness of the heart which could increase those destructive tendencies and emotions. Ones which Kateto had to control themself, lest they go and destroy their life once again.

Their gentle hold became tighter as they were worried, before letting go of Maria when it became obvious their expertise as a doctor would be needed once again. When asked about if they could do anything, they nodded.

"Aye...I...I think I can do something here. I'm an absorption magi as well, so excising things like has become my specialty." Though this seemed...rather extreme in comparison to a burn or cut infused with this energy.

"I'll take it on for you, Sunflower. I don't wish to see you wilt because of this influence..." 'Even if it was at the cost of their own sanity', they wished to say, but the words didn't come out.

Shaking their head, they gently grasped Maria's hand, looking at the veins tinted black and clammy palms. It definitely was a cardiovascular issue as well. Both physically and mentally affecting the heart. A concentration which they had only seen somewhat in the flowers they permanently affixed to a few unfortunate souls.

"I'll make sure you're alright, don't worry. This is my job, you know?" A reassuring smile crossed their face, despite their own worries about the operation. "I'll...have to take an extreme amount of mana out of you, so don't be afraid if you're tired afterwards for a bit, alright?"
(Kateto Espero)


[00:43] Maria too, had found her purpose. It was one that would come from many trials and tribulations, with many more upon the horizon.

Yet she'd finally move on. From all of the pain, the sorrow...the aching loneliness in her heart.

But she could not do it alone.

To finally move on. To be better, than the aching shadows that toiled in her heart. She needed the help of another.

A sacrifice.

Where the shadows would only hold her back, until she was nothing but a shadow of her former self. Perhaps it can help another.

The tears were a distant memory.

All the future held now, was the path they still walked.

Together

"..."

As Maria gazed into those tender hues. She'd understand. An innocent little girl, who wanted nothing more than to break from her loneliness. To move on from the shadows of her heart, and pave her path to become who she was truly meant to be.

The tears were distant, the sorrow was gone.

All there was now, was the present.

Maria made mistakes, but it did not make who she was.

Neither did it make Kateto who they were. She loved every aspect of them, flaws and all. And it was here and now, holding their palm in their own, that she'd become who she was truly meant to be.

Her growth upon the horizon, into a hero.

An outlaw.

"..."

She grips tight to her palm. Maria knew full well what she was asking, putting this burden onto Kateto. Who else could she ask?

As stubborn and prideful as she was, she needed their help to grow. To bloom, rather than wilt into a pained and tortured woman that had settled in her heart.

And so she'd ask.

Burrowing her hues deep in their own. Her expressions told of her plead more than her words.

"Yes..-"

"Outlaws...s-stick together." A fervent, confident nod. For evenif the world was against them...

She knew she wouldn't be alone.

Not anymore.

The shadows of Maria's heart still bellowed. She was so, so close to being free. From finally moving on. From being who she was meant to be...

Her siblings deaths, her sorrow, and her shadows.

They wouldn't hold her back any longer.

She echoes, moving forward gently. A hand reaches to caress the Felinae's ears. She scritches them gently, her head moving softly across their shoulder and their chest.

A gentle hold, becoming tighter as Maria coddled against them. They could feel those shadows, writhing in her heart. Wanting to erupt, as much as they have been quelled already. All it took was one last, final step...and she can move on.

"Y-you can...aborb it?"

"Please..." Maria pleads. She was scared. She knew unless someone did something, she'd be overwhelmed with her sorrow once again.

She needed to move on.

And she couldn't do that without them.

"R-really?"

"Hah..." A breathe of relief. A smile, as she gazed into the cat's hue.

Relief, finally.

Peace...

Even if it was the cost of their own control of their influence. Maria grabs their hand. Holding tight...allowing them to do what must be done.

To siphon this black magic. All of it.

So that this Sunflower wouldn't wilt, and become what she was meant to truly be.

The question remains...why was Shadow magic so natural to her? And why was she so dangerously close to transforming it into something so much darker?

A question for another day, as they hold tight to Kateto's palm.

A palm clasped into another. Already she can feel the pain in her heart being absorbed. Shadows that were attached to her very being, sorrow being drawn from her heart. It was...painful.

Agonizing.

"Ah-...agh...ahg-...gh..."

She groans in pain. Excruciating pain, darkness siphoned from her veins. Her heart no longer being burdened by her sorrow.

Finally free.

"Ah-...aggggh!"

She screams and cries, holding tight to Kateto as they siphoned a very natural part of Maria.

No longer.

"I k-know...I trust you..." she says. Looking deep into that Felinae's eye. She grabs tight to their palm. Nothing but trust lingering from her hues.

She'd fight the pain. She'd fight the sorrow.

For it was nothing compared to what she had already felt time and time again.

"Do it."

She nods. Ready to feel the brunt of the absorption.

The shadows of her heart.

Whisked away.
(Maria Malibu)


[01:18] Yet another trial for them to overcome together. And to them, awfully reminiscent of the night of their first kiss. Kateto treated her wounds back then as well, hadn't they?

A precious memory they kept in their heart always. They weren't alone anymore, and the burden of sacrifice did not need to remain on Maria's shoulders, as one of Meranthe's thousands of sacrificial lambs were right here. Self-sacrifice was a real problem in the adventuring business...

Whether or not the world would be against them because of Kateto's impatience, they'd grow together. Become outlaws together and support one another.

Now, though, the time for reminiscence had past. It was time for them to do their job once more. Turning over her hand, they felt around for a pulse, taking a deep breath as they began to focus on finding that access point. Needing a spot close to the arteries to use as a point of extraction.

Once they found it, they nodded with that ever present determined look in their eyes, gazing into Maria's own hues for a moment before closing their eyes, vines trailing out of their sleeve and wrapping around Maria's arm, dark blue flower buds blooming along the vine as the end rested around Maria's pulse.

Ironic that the flower they made out of grief of Lavenza's death would eventually treat their sister. Something made to corrupt being used to heal now. To use it's ability to draw out mana to pull out an entire part of Maria which was corrupting her.

Once the absorption apparatus was in place, Kateto grasped onto Maria's other hand tightly. Partly to give Maria some reassurance, and an equal part to reassure themself.

With the flowers connected to their vines, it was possible to take a larger amount of mana into the flowers and as such up the vines without damaging the mana circuit permanently like it had in the past when applied directly to the circuit. But it also meant that Kateto took the brunt of that energy instead of sacrificing the flowers like they usually did.

With this in mind, they took another deep breath, speaking as their visage was distorted. Darker as the mana from the surroundings were disrupted as they focused upon the magic within Maria. Rainbow energies swirled around the vines, brightening the flowers up beautiful hues before it began.

The cries caused the Cat to wince and flinch, debating on stopping it right now, but deciding not to unless she asked them. They grit their teeth as the pseudo-occult magic was extracted into their own core where the vines sprouted from, having to keep the vines from wilting as the flowers jolted with shadows and corruption.

No matter the corruption, their soul was already gone, they could handle more. They had experience dealing with this, they could handle the shocks and pains which out of control energy magic inflicted upon the wielder. Like an overcharging generator, Kateto's heart quickened, bolts of Occult power charging along their chest and head. The cat doing their best to keep it there so that Maria wasn't harmed.

However, as with most things, this torment eventually ended. The vines quickly retreating back into their sleeve as they let go of Maria, that occult-like magic still overloading their system. "Stop it...get under control..." They muttered to themself as they grasped as their shoulder with troubled breaths.

But, after a while, they stabilized. While they sweat from the experience, and you could swear their hair got a tad bit lighter, they let go of their should and collapsed upon Maria. Still awake, just wanting to bury themself in her embrace.

"Sunflowerrrrrr, I didn't hurt you did I..." it was almost like nothing changed, though the effect on their psyche was yet to be observed in full...
(Kateto Espero)


[01:29] Another trial. Another tribulation, to overcome together with the love of her life.

That was what Kateto was...right?

Maria couldn't find any other to fit that role.

She'd apologize. To so many others who wished for her hand. Yet it was from her eyes that she'd realize who she was truly meant to be with.

A precious memory. Twisted, yet repeated here and now, as her darkness is siphoned from her very soul.

Her burdens did not have to be shared alone.

Not anymore.

An access point is found inside of Maria's palm, right behind her wrist. Yet another was to be found soon...

The most potent, right behind her lips...

The lips were filled with capillaries and veins, were they not? Vines would trail, wrapping onto Maria's skin, twisting and turning to feed upon the darkness that ached in her heart. A flower made to corrupt, now used to heal the very echoes and sorrow of one's heart. Thevery same sorrow felt upon Lavenza's demise.

Peace and tranquility. Finally set upon her heart. The most important traits of a gunslinger after all were loyalty, courage, fortitude, and integrity. Traits that cannot be developed, if one's heart was basked darkness

It didn't matter, that Maria was the daughter of a Necromancer and a Witch.

It did not matter, that those shadows beckoned her so.

She denied them.

As any outlaw would, she'd follow her own sets of rules. Her own Justice.

And she wouldn't deny the help to whisk all of that pain away.

"AAAAAGGGGGGH!!!!!" Maria screams. The pain was nothing but agonizing. It was apart of her, the daughter of such dark people. Who had let these magics into their very veins and soul, to give birth to a woman that would no doubt touch every single inch of sorrow that was brought upon her.

It was a miracle, that she did not give in.

Perhaps it was those stories, perhaps it was her own desires, that allowed her to forgo everything.

She would not listen. She would deny fate, even if it meant her death.

She would not become like them.

She holds tight to Kateto. Until eventually, she lurches forward. Maria marks a kiss directly upon their lips. She holds them tight, burrowing her tongue into their lips, her palm squeezing their own as if it was no tomorrow.

The darkness escapes Maria. It is absorbed into their own frame. Touch

It was here and now, that Kateto would feel...

Everything

Every moment of sorrow and loneliness. Every moment of darkness, carved inside her soul. Every single time she had cried and weeped, every single time she had wanted to put a bullet right into her skull.

Every memory. Every single inch of sorrow that weighed in that poor girl's heart.

It is poured into their own.

"..."

As the kiss reaches it's climax. As those memories flow into Kateto's heart. From the simplest of sorrows, being thrown dirt and being called a freak by the neighborhood bullies when she was a young child. To watching two of your siblings be buried side by side together...

It filled Kateto's heart.

It was overwhelming. It was maddening, the sorrow and the pain. Every inch of Maria's heart, hold bear toward the Felinae.

The kiss would never escape them.

"..."

It was her only anchor.

Rainbow vines, flowing throughout the woman's body. The kiss remains fervent and permanent, as Maria held the poor Felinae close. A flower once used for death, being used to give her a chance at redemption.

A chance at life.

Vines flow throughout Maria and Kateto's frame. At the end, they are found entangled in a web of vines. Thebeautiful, tender nature of the vines flow into Kateto's heart. It was painful. It was as agonizing as the very pain that lingered in Maria's soul.

But when it was all said and done?

Those vines curl. Maria leaves her embrace, looking gently into the Felinae's eyes.

A hand passed over their ears, nothing but love and care, into the person that she had cared for the most in this life.

She was droopy. So much mana had been absorbed. She felt dizzy, any movement would cause her to faint.

And it did.

"Ka...Kateto..."

Peace..

Finally.

After all these years.

She felt nothing but peace.

"Hah..."

She smiles in their embrace. Only one word is uttered, before she'd collapse in their arms.

"My...Kitty..."

"..."

"Thank you..."

She collapsed in their arms. So muchmana siphoned in such a short little time, it was no wonder.

Peace filled her soul.

A symphony.

As she closed her eyes, does she realize the gentle embrace of this symphony.

No more pain, no more sorrow...

Merely the present.

She rests upon their chest.

"..."

(Maria Malibu)

[01:29] Her eyes close.

Marked within an abyss of peace.

"..."
(Maria Malibu)


[02:09] That was indeed what Kateto was, a doctor, even if their feelings compromised their professional demeanor they tried to take with their proceedings.

Yet she was the only one whom they had trouble with that. They'd also have to apologize to the many or wished for their hand as well over the years. Their popularity had no doubt contributed to their confidence in saying they were cute. Yet, so long as they could stay by Maria's side, they'd be happy. That special place in their heart had been occupied by her for eternity.

Even if there was comfort in not sharing these burdens alone, Kateto still felt guilt at the pain which they inflicted upon her during this process. Every jolt of pain she felt was a pain in their heart as well. One which they wished to hasten through for her sake.

They remained as professional as they could be, going by their usual procedure, even if this particular operation was far more extreme than the others. Luckily, it would only be the cat suffering from the aftereffects of the darkness absorbed into their own body.

One who was nothing more than the child of common alchemists. Natural scientists with nothing more to their fame. Now, that child was taking on the burdens of one whose blood was far above their pedigree. A common witch, taking upon the darkness passed along from that much more experienced one.

The kiss took them aback, not enough to break the procedure they were doing, but enough to surprise them. After that moment of surprised passed, however, they returned it, despite the pain they felt as the darkness corrupted their own form. The passion in the kiss only growing deeper as the memories began to flood in, their minds practically melding through this kiss as their tongues intertwined once more. The gentle grasp upon her hand tightening throughout.

More and more of those memories filled their heart all those sorrows intermingling with their own. That rage at Delphina, the spite they felt for the Vigil, and regrets at every opportunity missed in the interim of their imprisonment. Their similar darkness intertwined well, like two hands clasp in union. The loss of their parents mirroring her siblings. Being kicked in the dirt and called names mirroring the cat's own experiences with having rats put in their bed and locked out in the cold from the kids at their old orphanage.

Different yet similar, but it made it easier to hold it within themself. Yet still, they felt like they were going mad. Their emotions feeling as if they were ripping themselves apart, only held on by a thread through Maria's kiss.

Maybe it was subconscious for Kateto's vines to entangle the two of them, the cat wishing for that to happen as the rainbow tinted vines webbed around them, absorbing more and more energy as the process neared it's end.

Eventually, those vines would retreat as the pain and madness began to subside. Returning to their green hue as the absorption magic faded from their system. Exhausted and in mental and spiritual disarray, they merely held onto Maria as she spoke, smiling as their hold tightened.

"You're welcome, my Sunflower." They said as they rest, looking at the ceiling as the absorbed mana continued to rage within them. It felt almost like when they collected essence. That pain followed by vile ecstasy. Yet as they pet Maria's head as she headed off to that abyss of newfound peace, Kateto was put somewhat at ease.

Their spirit was a cacophony in comparison. At least to their untrained ears, but one day, they'll make it a masterpiece...

From one host to another, but hopefully the Witch could hold this far more naturally, given its source. If that was where the presence from the telepathy class came from, then they'd have to make peace with it as well.

But, that was a question for another day...just like last time, the two seem to have fallen asleep in each others' arms. This was starting to become such a pattern that Kateto was worried for Maria when she'd go to other doctors.

Or rather worried for the other doctors.
(Kateto Espero)


[02:13] As Maria fainted in her arms, would she find the echoes and sorrows of her heart taken by another.

Her burdens.

All of it. Given to Kateto.

She wouldn't remember. The sheer force of mana that was siphoned from her body causes her to faint.

"Hah...hah..."

"I...love..."

"I love you..."

The final echoes of her words, before caught in their embrace.

Upon a simple little couch, her head resting against their chest.

She slumbers.

When the morrow comes, she'd hope to finally move on.
(Maria Malibu)


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Pub: 20 Sep 2024 06:26 UTC
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