Thunder raged and lightning crackled. A fist barged into another's and an explosion ripped through the space, shredding the asphalt floor into brittle.

Brian Chaz leapt back, holes upon his body as he glared at the woman before him, who was likewise in the same boat.

"The war's already over, dammit Liz! Walker's dead!"

Her head of crimson hair blew and she spat blood onto the ground before her fists collided.

"You know I lost my 3rd rim, right?" She snared. "I don't care if the old man's dead, let me beat you up!"

The dark-elf slum lord gripped his bloody fists tighter.

He scoffed.

"You never cared about being a slum lord all that much anyway. Now be honest, gorilla, you just wanna fight, don't you?"

She laughed.

"So what? Gonna run away with your tail between your legs?"

He sighed, "What a crazy woman. . ."

Then grinned.

"Fine, let's play for a bit more."

— — —

Rose stated as a satchel of mana orbs dropped on the ground before her. In the split moment that the flap was open, she counted 10 of them attached to a mechanical contraption that kept them in place. It seemed it was a storage designed specifically to hold cores.

Her emerald eyes trailed up, looked past legs of brown, a tight, business-like, skirt of white, and a crass face with crimson eyes and golden hair.

"Here." The dark elf pointed, feet gently tapping the thing. "We meant to give you this earlier but, well, you can see how that worked out, can't you? It's a Core Storage used by mages and the Sol. Series. Consider it a gift."

Elsa stared wide-eyed at the thing. "That's fricken awesome. Huh, can I get one too?"

"You? What do you need it for?" At some point, Mare had also sat to the left of Rose, eyebrow raised.

"Tch, I'm a mage you know, why wouldn't I need it?"

The info-broker grinned. "Oh? Where's your license?"

"Why you little shit—"

Rose ignored both girls and grabbed the satchel. It was belt-like and could be wrapped around her waist. She watched as the mana orb in her hand was fully drained and took another one from the bag before equipping it where she sat. she nodded, watching her arm regaining its skin.

"Thank you," She said.

Then she looked to the distance.

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She didn't have to squint. With her eyes. She could make out the shape of the figures still going at it even as the cloudiness of the sky was receding.

The dark elf exasperatedly sighed.

"Those two. . .honestly. . .they're quite similar. Don't mind them, they're simply having fun." Lucy Chaz provided a wry smile, hands to her hip as she crooked her head in the direction of the iron castle. "The war's already over."

Rose looked at the boxed thing shining under the slowly receding clouds.

"You won't tell us what exactly that is?"

Lucy smiled.

"Like we said, a relic is a relic. It once belonged to us and was used during the Great War. We simply rightfully took it back. In time, you'll surely know what it is, but there's a more pressing matter at hand."

She reached into a satchel of her own and pulled out two bracelets. They were black and reminded Rose of the one on her left wrist.

"These are higher grade pads than the ones you have. Their cores are small but powerful and they include security systems. You'll need to set this up before you can enter Alos."

She tapped the smooth surface of each, twice, and the familiar translucent screens popped up.

"I've already entered in your citizenship identification numbers, all we need now is names." She glanced at Elsa. "You? Full name?"

"Elsa Mont," The girl replied after glaring at Mare.

"Mhmm mhmm." Lucy nodded. A few taps later and she tossed the thing to her. "Finish the process with the voice and body recognition features. It'll scan you over for a bit."

She held the last one and smiled at Rose.

"Yours is a bit special. . .but it'll be set up the same. What's your full name?"

Rose tilted her head.

"It's Rose. Just Rose."

Lucy furrowed her brows. "There's probably thousands of people called Rose. If you don't have a surname, you have to decide on one right now."

She could choose a last name? Rose mulled that thought in her head. It was a small thing that shouldn't have mattered but she latched onto it. Her mind wandered. Ever since she entered this world, only confusion awaited her. Twists and turns came but one thing remained the same: there was always fire. She thought of the flames that initially consumed and 'killed' her, she thought of her flames and the attack she stole from Shana Striker, then she thought of her weapon. Since she had existed, the image of that bird followed her.

"Ausra," She smiled. "My name is Rose Ausra."

In an odd sort of way, a completed name brought to her the feeling that she was more whole. Her last name was the first thing that was a part of her not directly created or given to her. She liked that fact.

Lucy nodded after only moments of tapping and tossed the new pad to her.

"I would transfer all funds and important documents now if I were you two, and. . ." She furrowed her brows at Rose especially. "We're going to have to disguise you a bit, then finish the process."

The homunculus blinked her eyes. "Hmm?"

Lucy raised a brow. "What do you mean hmm? You look exactly like the CEO of Alos's largest company's wife-to-be."

Rose thought of the girl named Idris. Her former master. Indeed, she looked exactly like someone else. Someone assumed to be high profile. If she were to walk into Alos as she was. . .recognizing her as a homunculus would be a simple thing.

Still, she asked, "And how would you disguise me?"

The dark elf chuckled.

"You're a homunculus, Rose. Changing how you look isn't too hard to do for an expert. Of course, I'm not an expert at working with homunculi, so I'll only replace two parts of you. Your eyes and your ears. Then I'll permanently reshape your eyebrows and hair."

Rose felt a sudden recoil at the lady's words. She glared.

"There's no way I'm letting you touch me."

Lucy, however, shook her head. "Then who's going to disguise you? You? We both know that's impossible."

The woman was right, she couldn't. It wasn't as simple as removing her core and adding a defensive egg around it. No, the memories in her mind knew that working on anything more than that would need another mage's hands.

"Plus. . ." Lucy smiled. "I worked under the Silent Witch for a time. In these slums, I'm the most fit to change anything about you."

At those words, Rose's eyes widened.

"You—"

The dark elf shook her head. "You'll meet her soon. Don't bother asking me anything. Even I don't know much about her."

". . .alright," Rose said somewhat reluctantly. Sometimes, she needed to make herself vulnerable to reach her goal. That, however, didn't mean she would trust someone she had just met. "Disguise me. However, I want Elsa there by my side."

The girl who was toying with her new pad suddenly perked her head up. "Huh?"