[Jaykobell]

Her last few memories were a little foggy. However, what she did remember was that she'd gone from the top to the very bottom, and in a matter of a few battles.

Who she was was a bit of a mystery to this world. To most, she looked like a renowned tactician who had fought in a terrible war; a war that had been waged in order to conquer and to resurrect a powerful entity: a dark dragon God going by the name of Grima. Things had gone according to plan, for the most part, and the dark dragon God had been resurrected successfully. She was necessary for this to happen: a human born with the ability to withstand and welcome the soul and power of the God. Born with the Heart of Grima, she was known as the human vessel to the dark God. And for a moment, she had tasted that power for herself, with the revival of the God allowing her mind and body to get a taste for truly malevolent power.

Everything would've continued to go according to plan if it hadn't been for that tactician and her merry band of happy soldiers. The truth of the matter was that she was not from this "present" timeline. She belonged in a different universe, in a different time happening in the future of this particular timeline. Because of others trying to thwart her plans in that future universe, the vessel had traveled back in time with them so that destiny would remain unchanged. In the end, she had come so very close to her goal. Even in this timeline, the God had been successfully revived, setting her vengeful plan into motion once again.

Negative: she was the one who had ruined everything. If it hadn't been for her, she would still be enjoying Grima's power and the satisfaction that came from ruining the lives of others just as they'd ruined her own.

Instead, she was now powerless and homeless, together with a few missing memories and a blurry recollection of what did happen in the last few years.

[Jaykobell]

Perhaps "powerless" was an understatement. While she had lost the God's power, she could still use swords and manipulate the basic magic elements: fire, thunder, and wind. Not only that, but she did have a very small amount of the God's power still lingering in her body. She had been exposed to it for such a long time that the dark magic had become imprinted into her abilities. She'd mastered that, too, over the years: something that herself from this timeline couldn't do.

She was Negative, and Negative was her: they were the exact same person. What set them apart was the fact that they were from two different timelines, but also their decisions and upbringing. While they shared the same appearance and skills, they shared very little else in common. Negative had lost the memories of her childhood, and she was found by kind, friendly people who had given her a reason to live. On the other hand, she had every single memory still intact, and they were nothing short of grim. Put a pedestal, yet oppressed and secluded, with her life being lead and driven by everyone but herself. With the exception of accepting Grima's power and finally accomplishing something great of her own, she had no reason to live. Her only source of motivation was vengeance, and Grima's Godly powers were like a safe haven to her: the gateway to finally giving others the despair she'd had to endure all those years.

That was why she had accepted the God's power and allowed it to use her body as its link to the human world. On the other hand, Negative hadn't been interested in the God's power, which was why the two had been at war to begin with. Of course, the tactician had help from Grima's counterpart: the divine dragon Goddess Naga. If it hadn't been for the intervention of the Goddess, surely she would've gotten rid of Negative and her army of pests.

That was all in the past, now. The albino tactician was well-known all around the world for her exploits, together with her tactician partner who had helped out in the war. She had turned her back to a much greater purpose, and instead had decided to simply stick with her little human friends rather than accepting the unimaginable power of a God.

Meanwhile, her future self was left in her shadow as a nobody. From someone who had the world at her fingertips to a meaningless nobody. The thought was sickening.

[Jaykobell]

When they looked at her, they saw Negative. They saw the happy, friendly tactician who had saved the world from ruins and despair. That, too, was a sickening thought.

The two looked identical, save for one particular detail: Negative had a scar going across her eyes, while she did not have such an injury. That and their different clothes were the only two differences. Otherwise, they were both albino women with long, messy white hair and red eyes.

So when people mistook her for the tactician herself, she usually used it to her advantage. They would offer items and food to her as a token of thanks, things that the wandering albino accepted without thinking twice about it. A quick request and some nice words covered in honey, and the villagers would kiss her feet with admiration. It felt good, in a way, to be admired by others. The only problem was that the admiration came for someone that, really, was not her. Needless to say that, if she didn't look like Negative, she wouldn't be able to abuse the tactician's renown in any way.

So who was she, really? While the vast majority recognized her as Negative, there were still some ignorant people who had absolutely no idea who the tactician was. They were either senile or too uninterested in the war story to care or to have kept up with the development of the war. In such a case, she went by a different name: Sibyl. How fitting: a woman who, in ancient times, was known for conveying the oracles and prophecies of a God. As the one who had willingly accepted the power and soul of Grima, it only seemed fitting to use that name.

While Sibyl mostly lived in unpopulated areas — to avoid the "Negative Effect", and to prevent it from wearing off too quickly — she occasionally visited a few different villages in order to get free food or shelter. She often used the excuse that she was the tactician who was currently traveling and in search of food and shelter. Most inns simply checked her in for free, or they checked her in for a ridiculously low fee. As for how she did cover the fees they requested: a few killings or a few shady jobs here and there, and the wallet grew fat.

[Jaykobell]

This next town wasn't as prestigious as the others. It was filthy and dark, but despite that, Sibyl wasn't discouraged from entering its walls. She wasn't a helpless little village girl who couldn't defend herself. Despite feeling powerless without Grima's power, the albino was ridiculously powerful by regular standards. Most criminals and malevolent people stood very little chance against her. Those who didn't run away from seeing the renowned tactician Negative were meant with a powerful chunk of magic. Sibyl wasn't afraid to leave them for dead, either: that would certainly teach them to mock her. What didn't kill you made you stronger, didn't it? Let them come at her: if anything, it allowed her to expel from frustration.

As she set foot inside the town, she immediately started looking for a food store. Bread, fast food, or anything that sold any kind of food: eating would come first. The town surely wasn't a five-star attraction, but it certainly didn't look quite as bad as some other towns she'd seen before. All she had to do was to be careful so that people didn't rip her off. And if they did, she would rip something off them. It did sound like a fair trade, didn't it?

Sibyl was walking down the sidewalk when she came close to an intersection. As she was walking towards it, a child appeared from the turn, running straight into the albino.



While the woman suffered very little injury save from taking a few small steps backwards from the hit, the child almost lost her balance as she came to an abrupt stop. She stared up at Sibyl for a few seconds, looking in a hurry, yet apologetic. However, fear could also be seen in her eyes, and it only grew as the albino narrowed her eyes and glared hard at the child, whom seemed to be latching onto a big baguette. "Watch where you're going," she scolded coldly, making the child wince.

"I-I... S-sorry!" the small girl squeaked as she quickly started running again, holding onto her bread tightly as she ran past the albino, forcing the grown woman to take a few steps to the side.

"Pest," Sibyl hissed as she gritted her teeth at the child, but without going after her. Just a kid running from some danger, most likely: she'd get what she deserved.

Right after the child had bumped into her, a small group of boys looking just about as old as the girl appeared from the same same turn. "There she is!" one of them pointed out as they ran past the albino nomad as well, heading straight for the girl.

[Jaykobell]

Sibyl watched with mild interest as the small group of boys caught up to that girl. Perhaps she had stolen that baguette, or maybe this town had a very jungle-like mentality: survival of the fittest. Perhaps those boys wanted to steal from someone smaller and weaker than them, and that meek girl seemed to fit the bill quite nicely.

The chase didn't last long as one of the boys — our of a group of four — pushed the girl down and forced her to lose her balance. Despite that, the child was still holding on to her food, and she tried to get back on her feet quickly to continue running. The boy was so close, however, that it didn't take long for him to fall right onto the girl, pinning her to the asphalt. There was a scream as the girl was caught, and the three boys quickly caught up to the two.

"You think a stupid girl like you can outrun us?" the boy on top of the child said, putting his whole weight onto his prey. "Hand over the food, you stupid thief!"

"Give it or we'll make you!" one of the standing boys threatened, and the others joined in in agreement, like a little flock of sheep. Sibyl watched the pitiful display as she wanted quietly by the intersection, gloved hands in her pockets and her scarf blowing just slightly in the breeze.

When the threatens started flying and with her being pinned to the ground, it didn't take long for the girl to start crying. "Pl-please don't... I-I haven't—"

But she was quickly interrupted by a hard kick to the face by one of the boys. Instead of finishing her sentence, the girl screamed in pain and moaned in tears as she still desperately tried to salvage her small meal. "P-p-please, I—" But again she was interrupted when another boy kicked her in the legs, making her scream and moan again through her tears.

The boy sitting on top of the girl made it even worse by joining the fray and punching her before grabbing her by the hair and forcing her head up. The child was already bleeding from her face, dirtying her rags and her hair as she continued to sob and choke. "I-I..." she continued to cry pitifully, but the more she spoke, the more aggressive the boys got.

[Jaykobell]

While a few people bothered to stop in their tracks to see where the screams were coming from, none of them lifted a single pinky finger to help. Most stared with curiosity as to what would happen, while others continued on their way after seeing the scene. This town showed the true colors of human nature: while most people claimed to be friendly and kind, the majority did absolutely nothing to those who seemingly needed help. At its core, human nature followed that very principle that Sibyl had thought of earlier: survival of the fittest. Who cared about the sad, pathetic little weaklings that were around?

As the small battle continued and the boys got more violent with the girl, Sibyl started turning around to leave the children to their quarrel. She had no interest in meddling, and whatever would happen to that little street girl was none of her concern. She would forget about the event by morning, so there was little point in wasting time by the scene.

The boys eventually got what they wanted and managed to get the bread from the girl. The child cried loudly as she tried to reach out for her food, but she was stopped again as the boy on top of her punched her. The girl screamed more as she fell to the ground, panting and breathing hard from the beating she was going through.

"What else do you have that's not yours?" the boy on top of her asked as he started to grope the girl below him. "We can take that too!"

That agitated the girl some more as she again pleaded for them to stop. "N-no! L-leave me—" Again with a kick to the face as the boys joined in to rummage through her clothes, with some groping her and others continuing to beat her so she wouldn't struggle.

Eventually, the girl stopped screaming. She gritted her teeth and kept her head against the asphalt as she winced  and bled from the attacks. "L-leave... me..." she whispered through gritted teeth as something started to well up inside her, and the more the boys hurt her, the more intense that feeling got. "L-leave me... Leave me alone!"

The words were like a magic spell. As she yelled to that group of boys to stop, the girl started to glow a blinding purple color, and seconds after screaming, a powerful shockwave of dark energy was released. The four boys were sent flying a few ways away, and a loud booming sound was heard across a few blocks.

The energy released from that blast made Sibyl stop dead in her tracks.

[Jaykobell]

By the time Sibyl had turned around to look at the scene again, the energy was gone and none of the kids stood out in any particular way. However, she had recognized that blast as dark magic: an element that was very hard for someone to control and use. It was especially hard to find the talent in a child, and while the girl obviously didn't know how to handle the magic, it was definitely inside her.

The moment she was freed from the boys, the girl scrambled to her feet awkwardly, wobbling her way away from the boys. The blast hadn't been enough to hurt them as much as they'd hurt her, but about two of them looked unsteady on their feet, as well as a little disoriented. The other two, however, were making their way towards the child, now enraged by her retaliation.

One of the boys grabbed a pocket knife from his pants and flipped the blade out towards the girl as he was dangerously making his way towards her. "You witch! I'll cut you!" he yelled angrily as he continued to approach the frightened girl, whom had her back pressing against the closest building. The fight was now about a matter of pride rather than just taking the bread from the child. As the boy came but a few inches away from her, the girl put her injured arms over her head and face as she prepared herself for the pain to come.

However, the pain didn't come. Instead, a loud but brief crackling sound was heard. The girl heard a muffled gurgle coming from the boy afterwards, and when she opened her eyes to see what had happened, she was surprised to see the boy paralyzed in front of her. He was staring with wide eyes, and it didn't take long for the armed kid to fall down on the ground, twitching and convulsing a little from whatever had hit him.

"Wh-what in the...?" the boy closest to him mumbled out, looking at his twitching friend before looking around to see what had hurt his friend like that. That was when he noticed the albino woman making her way slowly towards the group, a few sparkles crackling from her gloved hand.

[Jaykobell]

This wasn't something Sibyl would have done, under normal circumstances. The fate of a single little child living on the streets was of no concern to her. However, the woman was interested in the raw power that the girl had displayed just earlier. Her magic only reacted according to her emotions: something that was common in young and inexperienced mages. Even under the raw power of emotions, however, it had managed to push back all four boys away from her. Maybe if Sibyl could tamper with the raw energy inside the girl, she could train her into a powerful and deadly dark mage.

Sibyl liked— no, that was wrong — she loved power. Negative was a fool if she thought Sibyl would simply let herself wither away and die after losing to her. Her desire for revenge against tactician burned brighter than anything in the world, and if the vessel could obtain something that would help her in her quest for revenge... She would certainly welcome it.

That was why she was interfering and trying to get this girl for herself. "Maybe you didn't hear her when she told you to leave her alone," Sibyl said coldly as she stopped just a few steps away from the remaining boys, glancing only shortly at the one that was convulsing on the ground. Whoops. Had that little lightning bolt been too powerful for the kid? Seemed like it had.

"We... We'll hurt you too if you meddle!" The boy yelled, but already his confidence was gone at seeing someone who was clearly more powerful than he was.

"Do you want to dance like your friend, then?" she asked as she raised her hand a little and readied herself to snap her fingers. A single movement, and another lightning bolt would leave both boys twitching together on the sidewalk. "No?" she asked as she watched the boy take a few steps backwards slowly in silence.

"D-dude... Isn't that the tactician everyone's been talking about?" one of the other boys pointed out, and immediately Sibyl's attention was drawn to that particular boy. They had ran past her so quickly earlier that they probably hadn't recognized her at the intersection. "The one who got rid of Grima?!" The last part made the albino curl her lips in a snarl, but she said nothing.

"What?! I'm not going anywhere near her!" the last boy said, and without giving his friends much time to reply, he made his escape by running back the same way the group had come from.

"C-come on!" the boy said to the defying one as he grabbed onto the legs of their unconscious friend. "Help me! Before she kills us!" It took a few seconds, but the boy eventually helped his friend lift the other from the ground. With a few terrified gasps and pants, the two kids fled the scene, awkwardly carrying their unconscious friend with them.

[Jaykobell]

The two stood in silence for a bit as Sibyl watched the boys run away in terror, while the girl simply stood by the wall of the building behind her.

Once the boys were out of sight, Sibyl slowly turned her attention towards the child, and immediately the girl gasped in fear. What the woman going to hurt her next? She had helped her, but there was no telling if she just wanted to hurt the girl for her own amusement.

As the albino approached her, the child's legs gave way, and she let herself sat down on the asphalt, clothes and hair still bloodied and dirty. She put her arms over her head as she curled into a small shivering ball on the sidewalk, once again expecting pain. She sniffled and moaned quietly, still shaken from the fight and still too emotional not to cry.

"Stop crying," Sibyl ordered the child curtly, staring down at her with cold red eyes. There was a quiet moan from the girl as she winced from the order. There was very little Sibyl could do with the child huddled in a ball, so the woman grabbed the child by the shirt and forced her to stand back up. The act hadn't been done in a hurtful way, but the force of the act had shaken the girl even more, to the point of making her shriek in fear. "Shh!" Sibyl hushed coldly, the same way a human punished their dog for doing something wrong.

"W-will you... W-will you h-hurt me?" the child cried pitifully, keeping her arms and hands huddled against her torso, breathing hard and quickly from the shock of the event.

"No," Sibyl answered without hesitation as she narrowed her eyes at the child. "Child, what I want to do..." she started as she grabbed the girl's other shoulder, bending down so she could meet the child eye-to-eye, "... is teach you how you can hurt others," she answered, giving the frightened child a small, dark grin.

[Jaykobell]

The words left the child wide-eyed, a few remaining tears sliding down her cheeks. She was tense under the older woman's hands, and the grin was unsettling. The words of the albino left the girl confused, and she simply stared at Sibyl for a few seconds in silence. "I-I don't understand..." she said in a terrified, high-pitched voice, shrinking just ever so slightly under the grasp of the dark woman.

"You have immense power inside of you," Sibyl replied as she tightened her grip on the child's shoulder, which made the girl shriek and wince. "What was that energy that you used earlier?" Even as she gripped the child, Sibyl could feel the raw power that was inside that small body. Dark magic was particularly powerful, but very few people had the ability to wield it, and even fewer could wield it well. That was why it was such a powerful and terrifying type of magic: it was unpredictable, unlike the more common elements of magic.

The question now was if the girl even realized what kind of power she had. At her question, the child stared again for a while as her eyes started welling up with tears again. "I-I don't know what it is," she cried pitifully, her voice getting all the more high-pitched. "S-sometimes it h-happens, a-and people tell me to s-stop." She had no idea what it was. Sometimes when she got angry or distressed, she could feel a strange power welling up inside of her, burning her and just begging for her to unleash it. It wasn't something she could control, and when it did happen, the people around her told her to stop. That it wasn't a power for her to use, and that it was the mark of a dark witch, someone with a curse that would bring misery and despair to the village. "I-I'm sorry. I-I don't w-want any p-p-problems," the child cried out, hiccuping and twitching a little as she started to cry again.

"Stop crying," Sibyl ordered again, this time gritting her teeth slightly at the child. She had the tendency of losing her temper when things didn't go her way, and this child would have to learn that quickly. Still, it would be impossible for her to speak to the child while she was still so terrified.

With a quiet grumble, the albino let go of the child slightly, but not entirely. She kept one hand fisted tightly around the girl's clothes as she started tugging for her to follow. "Tell me where the nearest clinic is, child," the albino ordered as she quite literally started dragging the child along, leaving the girl very little choice as she awkwardly skipped along to follow.

[Jaykobell]

It had proven rather difficult to drag the girl to the nearest clinic in town. Probably from the shock of that battle, the girl initially refused to cooperate. Fortunately, it didn't take much for the child to start listening; a quick hush from Sibyl and the question again, and quickly the girl quieted down. She ignored the curious and funny looks she got from the passersby and villagers as she followed the child's directions and dragged her along through the streets. She was bleeding and dirty from being pushed around on the ground, so until she was cleaned up and calm, Sibyl wouldn't get to really talk to the child. However, that power was something she wanted to develop. She wanted to learn just how powerful the girl could be, but it would have to wait.

Luckily for the both of them, the clinic wasn't too far from the intersection. To make it even better, the staff got the Negative effect going right away, and wrongly assumed that the albino standing in front of them was the renowned tactician. Upon hearing that, the nurses took the girl with them right away so that they could clean and patch her up properly. While they did that, Sibyl waited patiently in the waiting room. While she was at it, she also requested that the child be given proper clothes. If she was going to drag that kid around with her, she would need proper clothing, and not some dirty street rags. Since this was a request coming straight from the famous tactician Negative herself, the nurses didn't even question Sibyl's demand and simply complied. Oh, yes, being mistaken for the tactician did have quite a bit of delightful advantages.

As she was waiting, Sibyl was eventually spoken to by the receptionist who was watching over the entrance and the small waiting room. "Milady, what brings you to our town?" she asked Sibyl, completely unaware that she actually wasn't talking to the tactician.

The annoying part about being mistaken for Negative was that Sibyl had to play the "nice" card. If she acted too differently from the real albino, rumors would spread around and her cover would probably be blown, eventually. That was why she avoided interacting too much, but she couldn't always avoid it, like in this case. "Oh, I'm just traveling around," she answered, trying to put as much emotion in her voice as she could; something that had once been awkward, but that was now becoming more natural. "I stop in every town I come across to eat and rest, is all."

"It's such a great pleasure to meet someone like you," the receptionist added, and the words burned Sibyl on the inside. However, in order to keep the charade going, the albino simply smiled slightly as she tried to keep a happy face.

"Likewise," she replied quickly, the desire to snarl and growl at such words growing all the more.

[Jaykobell]

Unless the receptionist had a specific question, Sibyl avoided engaging in a conversation. Fortunately for her, the receptionist was either timid or very busy, because the discussion didn't go any further. At least, the two waited in a silence for a while before the receptionist spoke again. "I'm glad you brought in the girl. It's not the first time the poor thing has ended up here."

Talking about herself or her motives was a problem, but talking about other things — especially things that interested her, as few as they were — was fine with Sibyl. It seemed like the nurse knew the girl, so perhaps she could steer the conversation into a more interesting topic. "Is that so?" she asked, hoping the cue would motivate the receptionist to continue talking.

One of the oldest tricks in the book, and it worked. "Oh, yes. She comes here at least once a month. The poor girl has no home to call her own, and she's been forced to steal from others to survive. She lives in a small home for abandoned children in some part of town. She gets into a lot of trouble with the other children, and she doesn't seem to have too many friends."

Sibyl ignored if the nurse included all those comments in the hope that the great tactician Negative would do something about this child's unfortunate situation, or if she was really just laying down the facts. It sounded like the kid had been abandoned by her parents, and not only that, it sounded like whatever power she did have caused a lot of trouble for others. That was the child had said just earlier, wasn't it? She clearly lived in an environment that didn't favor her magic, despite the obvious raw power that she had for it. "How unfortunate," Sibyl eventually replied, just so the receptionist got the impression that she sympathized.

"She's such a sweet girl, though, always willing to help. Well... that's how she was, at least, before she was forced to turn to stealing. I'm afraid that's the reason why she ends up here so often: she probably gets caught."

And that was right, because that was exactly why she was here today. Those boys were clearly after the bread, so the odds of the kid having stolen the food were high. Perhaps this was a good thing: clearly the child was capable of pulling off some bad deeds, even if only because she was forced to do them. Some people couldn't do it, regardless of their situation. If that little girl could resort to stealing, and if she had a pure source of dark magic inside of her... The possibilities made Sibyl grin. With a little training and shaping, she would most likely be able to use the girl for her own needs.

[Jaykobell]

The conversation seemingly stopped there as the receptionist started getting busy typing and making calls. For a clinic in a shady town, it was certainly empty. There was literally nobody in the waiting room; perhaps those who got injured in this town died before they got decent medical attention. That, or they simply couldn't afford to get stuck in the hospital due to their criminal records. Maybe people stayed in their house and avoided all human contact to decrease their chances of being mauled and assaulted.

"How much longer?" Sibyl questioned the receptionist after a while, wondering just how much longer this would take. They just needed to clean the girl and patch her up, and then dress her in better clothes. Just how much time did this take? It had been over an hour, if not more than that. Considering that there was seemingly no one else right now, what was taking so much time for those nurses to do their job?

"Oh, it shouldn't take too long, now," the receptionist assured the albino, shifting her attention from the computer to the woman. "Finding good clothes is probably what is keeping you waiting here for so long. We sadly don't have very many, so they are probably struggling to find something that will suit her well," the nurse explained as she smiled sheepishly, probably hoping that she hadn't insulted the world-renowned tactician.

"Ah, I see. That's all right." Considering the status of the town, it wasn't surprising to hear that they didn't have all that many resources. Still, the kid didn't need anything fancy or expensive: just clothes that actually looked like clothes.

Shortly after asking the question, a nurse appeared from the hall up ahead, making her way into the waiting room with the small child in toe. Now that she was clean, Sibyl to got to get a better look at her. Her face had a few bruises and patches from the kicks and punches, but it could have been worse. She wore a simple black pullover with some dark blue jeans that had started to fade. With her hair cleaned up, Sibyl noticed that the kid's light blond hair was relatively long, with a few stray locks of her hanging down at the front over her ears.

Her blue eyes stared at the ground below her as she silently followed the nurse back to the waiting room.

[Jaykobell]

"Here you go, milady," the nurse said as she gently pushed the child forward towards Sibyl, "She got a shower and we disinfected her injuries and put gauzes to keep them from getting infected. We also tried to find the best clothes we could for her, but we don't have very many, so this is all we can offer her," she explained apologetically, bowing her head to the albino. "I'm sorry."

It was ridiculous how people could make such a big deal out of absolutely nothing. Didn't the kid look better? She wasn't dressed in a girly little dress and she didn't have cutesy little hair pins to pull her hair up, but who cared? Those were much better than those dirty rags from earlier, so what were they fretting over? But the albino had to keep those thoughts to herself and bite her tongue. "Please, she looks just fine," Sibyl assured the nurse, trying to make her smile look as genuine as possible. "Thank you for patching her up," she added quickly after, trying to make the conversation go as fast as possible.

"Oh, it was nothing at all," the nurse assured the woman, bowing again — something that made the vessel hiss internally. "We're very grateful that you bothered to bring her here. You can leave her to us: we'll make sure—"

"No, please give her back to me," Sibyl quickly interjected, lifting a hand to tell the nurse to stop right there. Her words caused a little bit of confusion, with both the nurse and even the child staring at the albino. "The receptionist was just telling me how she lives in a home for children somewhere in town. I'm traveling right now, so I wouldn't mind seeing more. I can also make sure that she doesn't get attacked again on the way there." Those were all lies: she had no intention of bringing the child back there. Her parents didn't want her, and from what she could tell, the people and children at that home for abandoned kids didn't want her, either. So no one would quite care if she decided to take the child away with her, would they?

There was a short pause as the nurse blinked at the albino's words, but eventually she smiled and nodded. "I wouldn't expect any less from the great Negative," she answered, and it took everything for Sibyl to keep herself from hissing and grimacing at the nurse in front of her. By now, the vessel was used to withholding those urges.

Giving a light push to the child, the nurse encouraged her to join Sibyl's side. "Go on, now, Danika," she gently said, calling the child by what was probably her name: Danika. "You'll be safe with her," she assured the child, her push eventually being enough to get the girl to move forward and to stand by Sibyl.

[Jaykobell]

After clearing up everything with the clinic and making sure everything was in order, Sibyl left the building with Danika in toe. While the nurses thought she was going to bring back the girl to that home, the truth was quite the opposite.

For a while, Sibyl walked in silence along the sidewalk. She occasionally glanced over her shoulder to make sure the child was still following her, and she was pleasantly surprised to see her still obediently following. For now, Sibyl's intention was to find a restaurant. She was hungry from her travels, and surely the child was hungry as well; she could probably establish her interests to the girl as they ate.

The small child known as Danika followed obediently. She had no idea who the albino woman was, or even what she wanted to do with her. Did she know where the home was? She had told the nurses that she wanted to bring Danika back to her home, but considering she had asked for direction to the clinic, Danika figured the woman wasn't from here. She had mentioned traveling earlier, too, so it was likely she was just passing through this particular town. Perhaps she didn't know where to bring the girl, and that was why they had been walking for a while? The albino had been looking around the whole time, seemingly looking for something.

"Um..." Danika piped up after a long time, and while she did have something that she wanted to say, the older woman hadn't reacted to her call. The child figured the adult hadn't heard her, and simply dropped her line of thought. Maybe she did know where they had to go.

"If you have something to say, say it," Sibyl said coldly to the child, and she felt the kid jumping a bit from the sudden answer. She had heard her; she just didn't think the child needed an actual vocal confirmation.

"I-I just thought... Do... do you know where the home is?" Danika said quickly after she was prompted, now that she knew the woman had heard her earlier. "I can tell you—"

"I'm not bringing you back there," Sibyl replied, cutting off the child mid-sentence right away.

At those words, Danika stopped walking and simply stared at the albino woman in front of her. "You... You're not?" the child questioned, now feeling a little anxious about following the woman. "Th-then where are you...?" The words Sibyl had spoken to her before bringing her to the clinic were still echoing in the child's mind. Teach her how to hurt others as they had hurt her. What did this woman want from her?