Violett stumbled backwards, tripping over the suitcases as she yelped in startled surprise.

"I don't know the name! If I knew, I wouldn't be asking why you have it tattooed on your neck!"

She scooted backwards slowly, bumping into a wall and raising her hands abover her head, whimpering and trembling.

"Please don't hurt me, Hiruka...."

Hiruka stared at Violett, then slowly reached back and felt her own neck, fingers tracing over the slightly raised surface of the tattoo, grimacing at the tenderness of the skin.

I won't hurt you Violett-san. I'd...never hurt anyone. X-S...X-S is my 'Onii-sama'. He's the one who sent me here. And apparently, he decided to leave his mark on me before doing so. "I'll always be with you." That...that bastard.

Hiruka lowered her hands, face falling as she saw how Violett was curled up away from her. She blinked back tears and grabbed the two cases, turning and pulling them through the door to the east wing, mumbling quietly as she stared at the floor in front of her.

I am sorry Violett-san. I'll come back for my cases, you can just leave them there.

Violett stood up, trembling, staring at the mark on Hiruka's neck.

"If it's all the same to you, Hiruka... I... I still want to help you."

She picked up the suitcases, a pensive, faraway look on her face.

"X-S... Excess... Obviously a pseudonym.... Did you ever hear his real name?"

She made her way toward the stairs, her mind working furiously.

"Most of us were sent here under false pretenses, Miss Hiruka. My mom and dad are probably expecting letters that'll never come. But if he sent you here on purose... I have to ask why he did it and how he knew what really happened here."

She turned to stare Hiruka in the eye, her big blue eyes glinting like steel.

"The truth will set us free, Hiruka-san. When we find the system, we can start cutting its wires."

The silver haired girl nodded mutely, glancing up to find her room, sighing as she counted off and figured it to be the last room on the left. She shook her head when asked if she knew X-S' real name.

I don't think he even remembers his name anymore. And, thank you, for helping me.

She set the suitcases back on their wheels, unlocking the door and wrestling the large luggage through one piece at a time, taking in the open and well lit room. The window in the far wall was open, letting in a warm breeze, filling the room with the smell of tropical flowers in bloom. A small smile flickered across her face. There were worse places to be sent.

I have a suspicion about why, Violett-san, but I'd rather not share it just yet. As for what he knows, and how, I stopped questioning that very early in our....acquaintance. It is safer to assume he knows everything...

She turned after getting the fourth and final case into the room, looking at Violett with an expression of pity and sympathy, though her head was shaking. She pulled the first case up on one of the two beds, looking at the lock in consternation.

Violett set the cases she as carrying on the floor, nodding softly.

"I'm sorry, Hiruka-san... If... If you did something bad, I won't press the issue... I just thought it might help me put the pieces together. I was just... Is he Japanese? Because if it's at all possible that his name might be Charles, things might click."

Hiruka slowly shook her head, looking back at the lock, then sighing, patting the pockets of her dress, hoping she'd remembered to pick up the key on the card she'd destroyed.

He was Japanese. And I've never heard the name Charles used by or near him, so that is unlikely the case.

She stopped looking for the key, pulling her hands in front of her and staring at her palms, expression wistful and deeply, deeply sad.

I did nothing bad, Violett-san. If anything I was doing too much good.

"Then why won't you tell me?" Violett asked, hoisting a suitcase onto the bed.

"You're worried a girl who's been living on an island full of rape monsters, had her brain probed, and knows of at least one classmate who uses magic won't believe you? Right about now, Miss Hiruka, I'd be ready to believe you if you said X-S was a secret organization that sent you here on a suicide mission to stop a gang of space pirates from stealing all our underwear!"

Rape monsters? The shoe finally finished dropping, a jackboot more like it, the heel clicking to the floor like a gunshot. That was what this was all about, why he had sent her here, why he'd never had his way with her directly. She filed that bit away for later, already dreading the near future. She turned and sat on the bed, folding her hands in her lap and looking at Violett with a resigned expression.

I suppose I owe you that much, for helping me with my luggage. You may not believe me anyway. You might as well sit down, as this may take a while, depending.

Hiruka waited for Violett to sit, smoothing out her dress as she thought about where to begin, how best to explain the series of events that had brought her here. She hadn't dredged up these things in over a year, and it was...painful at best to dig them up anew. She began hesitantly, gaining momentum as she continued.

Have you ever heard, of Mahou Shoujo? Maybe called Magical Girls in America?

Violett sat, nodding softly.

She chewed her lower lip pensively, trying to figure out what to say...

"Are you here to save us?"

Hiruka's smile was a fragile thing now, brittle on her pale face.

No, Violett-san. I'm not here to save you. I couldn't save my friends, my parents, my brother, or even myself.

She looked at her hands again, a tired, defeated aura hanging about her like chains.

I asked, because I...used to be a mahou shoujo...over two years ago.

Violett glared at Hiruka vwnomously, drawing closer.

"No! No! You are NOT giving up! You're the girl who LIVED, Hiruka! You're the only one who has a chance of making it RIGHT! Heroes DON'T give up! NEVER! You've spent two years in the belly of the whale, Hiruka-san... It's time somebody lit a fire!"

Hiruka listened to the tirade silently, her smile cracking and vanishing into a resigned, blank look. When she finally responded her voice was flat and cold, empty.

I'm not a hero anymore Violett-san. I have no powers, no magic. They all vanished when X-S killed Pyon and the others. And yes, he spared me, to keep as a pet, a toy. He holds my brother's life over my head, and there is nothing I can do to stop him, or reason with him. Nothing I can do but obey.

Tears welled up in her eyes, tracing clear trails down her cheeks.

I've tried fighting. Every time, I am beaten, every time, I am punished. Not because he is worried, but simply because he enjoys hurting me.

She shook her head slowly, a hopeless smile crossing her tear streaked face.

I'm not saying there is no hope, but you won't find it in me, Violett-san. I can't afford to hope....not anymore.

Violett shook her head, sighing softly.

"If he's human, he's not here, Hiru-kun. You're the second Japanese girl I've met in the past couple days who's had run-ins with monsters before they came here. I can't help but wonder... You see, I disn't have the heart to ask Yae-xhan when she was hurt... And now I'm thinking maybe it was in the past two years. She'd repressed the memory... But I tried to warn her and she almost said nothing had happened to her but couldn't, and she remembered bad things if my hands went over her scar.."

Violett stood up, staring out the window.

"You might as well give me your clothes, Hiru-kun. It sounds like you won't be needing them."

She frowned, eyes moving slowly as she thought over what Violett said. Shaking her head she looked up at her.

I haven't seen a monster in two years. And all of the ones before that I...we...defeated, or destroyed. And it doesn't matter if you take my clothes or not...I doubt they're mine anyway.

Hiruka stood, wiping her tears away with her sleeve, back rigid as she turned away from Violett, finally digging the key out of a pocket and opening the first suitcase.

She stared at the unfamiliar clothes, skirts, blouses, dresses, all brand new, all expensive, the tags still hanging on most. She rummaged through them, noting with a mental sigh that everything was white, black, gray or a shade there of. X-S hated bright colors...

She waved a hand at the case, looking at Violett sadly.

Take whatever you want. Like you said, I probably won't need them.

Turning her back once more, she hefted the second case up onto the bed, fidgeting with the lock.

Violett looked at the clothes, sighing softly.

"Fine. Not sure they'll fit me, but if you're gonna be like that, maybe I can find someone who does alterations. What suitcase do you have your panties in? Those will probably fit me more easily, and you might as well never wear them again... It'll just get in their way. Really, if you're not going to stand up for yourself, you might as well give me the key and I'll take all your suitcases. Oh, while we're at it? Get naked! I'll take what you're wearing now, too! I'll get you a big cardboard sign that says 'Hey, world! Fuck me up the ass!' and you can wear that instead! That oughta let everyone know where you stand."