Kita's eyes widen at the blue-eyed princess's offer.

"You know where he is?" Kita stammers, caught off guard by the sudden awareness.

"Do you still seek revenge?" The princess asks.

Kita doesn't respond, this posh girl has her number. 'Still'? She doesn't want to give away all of her leverage, what kind of an interrogator gets interrogated?

"I've looked into the dark one's eyes," The princess adds. "I saw something similar to what I'm seeing now,"

The black eyes? Is the dark one missing their soul as well?

"What'd you see?"

The girl pauses, squinting at Kita before shrugging her shoulders. "Loss,"

"Tell me what you know." Kita orders.

"I will tell you, if you take me with you,"

"Huh?"

"It's obvious you aren't an interrogator. Your methods alone are beyond mediocre,"

"You an expert victim or something?" Kita scoffs.

"Not quite," The princess chuckles. "I will tell you anything you want to know if you get me out of here,"

"What makes you think I can do that?"

"I've seen you destroy armies, Kita."

Kita shuffles backwards. This princess doesn't just know about her soul, she knows more about Kita's past, than Kita. Armies? She remembers nothing of destroying armies. The idea of being so powerful sends a shiver down her spine.

A curiosity. A new desire. Such power sounds enticing. She couldn't fathom losing to the dark one despite having so much power- She may be underestimating the number of souls she needs to consume. The amount of power she currently has is barely a fraction of what she's achieved before.

"I'm not really that girl anymore," Kita stutters, trying to deflect the information.

"I noticed," The princess responds, rising to her feet. "You're much more polite now,"

"I am?" Kita says, stepping backwards as the blue-haired girl steps towards her. The girl is tall and walks with a towering posture. A royal walk. Slow and encroaching.

"You've forgotten everything this time? It is as if you don't even remember who you were,"

"And what do you think I was?" Kita asks.

"A warrior. A leader… A monster,"

The princess reaches her arms out to Kita, prompting a defensive stance. But before Kita can prepare, the princess's arms drape around her shoulders and then pulls Kita in for a warm, firm, hug.

"You poor thing," The princess whispers. "You're the shell of your former self,"

Kita pushes the girl off of her, overwhelmed by the sadness being expressed. She doesn't see herself the way this woman does and being called a shell is degrading. Is this some kind of disrespect? The way royalty manipulates the minds of others?

"People change," Kita scoffs. "I don't need your comparisons,"

"Sorry," The princess responds politely, surprising Kita yet again. "We were good friends in your past life… You usually remember me,"

"Well, I don't… Not this time,"

"Then I shall befriend you yet again," The princess passes an endearing smile.

"Not interested," Kita dismisses, "I'll get you out of here if you tell me everything you know about the dark and my past,"

"Escaped prisoner!" a voice yells from beyond the door, echoing through the stairwell. Prompting a look of urgency as they both glance towards the door.

"We have a deal," The Princess nods. "My name is Raya,"

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"Listen, Princess. There's a kid named Jan who also had his soul stolen. I'm getting him out of here as well,"

The guards definitely noticed Kita's little mess once they got back. It's time to get out of here- she steps over to the door and knocks twice. Raising her hand in preparation for the door to swing open. The moment the burly guard reveals herself, Kita consumes her soul and catches the falling body to pull it into the room. From the corner of her eye, she sees Raya grab a knife from the guard's body and strap the rifle over her shoulder.

"You know how to use that?" Kita asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I've never met a royal who couldn't," She responds with a focused expression on her face.

Kita glances out the doorway to see only two other guards on the floor- the rest must have left to search for the prisoner. She walks straight towards both of them with her hands raised and from a reasonable distance she casts another consume spell. That's thirteen. It's not enough. After what the princess told her, it all feels so distant.

"Come on," Kita clears her throat. The floor is empty, and they need to get a move on before they realize she's on this floor. She positions herself by the door to the stairwell, taking a deep breath to focus up.

The princesses' blue hair and rags stand out like a sore thumb. Anyone would notice her or know she's a prisoner- sneaking about won't do. They'll have to fight their way out. This girl had better know what she's doing.

"They're planning on trading the kid, do you know where they would take him?"

"Vlad's office, on the second floor,"

This is the fourth floor, so his office is up six flights of stairs. Nothing too crazy, from there, are three more flights to the exit.

Kita cracks open the door to the stairway, looking through the gaps in the railing below to see if the coast is clear. She then looks up to see an open door three flights up, on the third floor.

They step into the stairwell and scurry their way up the three flights of stairs whilst trying to remain as quiet as possible. Before she reaches the top of the third-floor staircase, she pauses to look into the door. She sees four sets of poots huddled together by the door and readies a spell.

As she takes another silent step to the top of the stairs, the group of raiders breaks and each of them step into the stairwell. Kita freezes in a moment of panic, and one of the raiders looks in her direction before a look falls on the raider's face.

"She's here!" He yells, raising a pistol at her as the others turn to raise their weapons as well.

Raya instinctively steps up close to Kita's back as she rotates her wrist. Kita's natural reaction to danger comes with a muscle memory she was hoping to see. The same one from the rich folk's tent- Shield.

The raiders open fire in the stairwell, bullets erupt in all directions as bright streaks of light ricochet into the sphere of energy surrounding Kita and Raya.

Click.

The first raider runs out of ammo. Kita raises her arm across her body, preparing to strike.

Three more clicks follow. The nearest raider is out of her reach, and still reloading. She drops the shield and announces a spell in her mind.

Slice.

Her arm extends, and like a sword- she slashes across the nearest raider's chest. In the same motion, a sharp slice of wind crosses the raider's chest- Creating a deep gash from his shoulder to his pelvis. The upper third of the gun in his hand falls clean off the rest of the weapon before his body falls to the floor.

Without a second thought, Kita raises her hand at the two raiders nearest to the door and casts a push. The doorway to the third-floor busts open, sending the two raiders through the newly made hole.

As Kita raises her arm to the last raider, who's just finished reloading. Raya suddenly appears in front of her. With a few swift strafes, Raya kicks the gun out of the raider's hands and uses the blade she'd collected in three swift moves. An X marked by two cuts to the raider's chest, and a cut to the throat.

"Holy shit. The Princess is violent," Kita jests.

"I led an army," Raya chuckles.

"Sure, but those two extra cuts were just-" Kita exhales and puts her hands on her waist.

"Oh please, did you see what you did to that guy's chest?" Raya rolls her eyes. "I've never seen you do that one before,"

"Is that right? Your pal Kita the conqueror couldn't think of that one, huh?" Kita smiles, a knowingly smug one. She jokes, but she genuinely feels proud of herself for thinking of it.

Raya laughs, readying her rifle, "You're different, but you haven't really changed,"

"What's changed?"

"For starters, the old Kita would've taken them all out with one spell," Raya responds, stepping into the hallway of the third floor.

"Well, I prefer to make it a fair fight," She sasses, stepping into the debris-filled room to hear the sound of a few coughs. They step over the bodies of two other raiders who must've been on the other side of the wall.

Two sudden pops erupt from Raya's gun, dropping a guard at the opposite end of the room who was still on his feet. On one half of the room are rows of bunk beds, with the other half having a kitchen and a seating area. The place is a mess- understandably considering how many people probably stay here.

"How many souls?" Raya asks, surveying the room.

"Huh?"

"How many do you have left?"

"Feels like… nine," Kita answers. "We should head upstairs,"

"We got lucky. This is usually where they all congregate," Raya says, turning back to the stairway.

"Where would they be?"

"Mostly likely a job,"

Kita's eyes widen, thinking it might have something to do with the kid. She double-times her way out of the room and up the stairs when she hears the ricocheting of bullets before the sound of crackling emits from the floor below.

She casts a shield all around her, and Raya steps inside moments after. They both start moving up the staircase, trying to shift in unison to avoid either of them being exposed to the whizzing bullets.