Blue color exploded as Quia's head dodged narrowly by instinct.
"Hey!" Quia lost her balance as she fell down, glaring up. "You actually fired?!"
"...you tell me to." A frown spread on Ciel's calm, cute face. "Should I not have done so?"
"Argh… stop being dense!" Quia huffed. "You could tell I wasn't actually trying to kill you, no? I'm just getting you to finally speak up!"
"..."
"...okay. Maybe, just maybe, I was a little too forceful." Quia folded under Ciel's pressuring eyes. "You being a Queen did not help. At all."
Ciel raised her staff again.
Yet this time, the aim ended just short of Quia's head, lingering mid-air awkwardly.
"Was I being a Queen… truly a major concern?"
Quia's deep scowl answered Ciel's doubt the best.
"But I didn't choose to be a Queen." Ciel clutched her chest, her staff left at the side, forgotten. "I didn't want to be a monster."
"And how am I supposed to believe you?" Quia rolled her eyes. "I admit you perform your emotions the best out of all of shadebeasts, but-"
"I'm not one of them."
"...pardon?"
"I am not one of them."
Ciel choked out every word, tired as she didn't realise she raised her voice.
"What should I do to prove I'm not acting, like them?" Ciel asked bitterly.
"Should I open up my chest to reveal my heart? Should I gouge out my eyes to show I didn't look at humans as prey as they do? Or should I just take my own life?"
"Ciel-"
"Miss Quia." Ciel scolded. "Don't be ridiculous."
Silence perpetuated, overstaying its welcome as two unlikely souls shared the much-needed time for themselves.
And a cough shattered it apart. Quia watched as Ciel unsummoned her staff and clutched onto her heart, the human limit proven at full display.
Something clicked inside Quia. Before she knew, the elf sprang up and wrapped Ciel into a quick, tight hug.
Her palm stroked Ciel's back, tracing each heave as it pressed against her touch.
Quia caught another scold on her tongue. Then, a chuckle, so tired and helpless, broke away the last of her stubbornness.
The elf hugged tighter. Regret bloomed on her face, hiding itself as her chin settled on Ciel's shoulder.
"Sorry," she attempted to salvage, trying to kill any anger in her voice. "I was not in my right mind after executing one of my… my families."
Ciel could find nothing to respond to Quia with.
Instead, her tired hands returned the hug with the clumsy strength she could muster.
She hated this human body.
Maybe being a monster wasn't so bad after all.
"...I'm not hurt," Ciel stated. "Sorry for not giving you time to process everything properly. And… sorry for lying to you."
The elf's lips pursed.
It was what Quia wanted to hear at the start, yet now it only soured her mood.
She didn't want to hurt Ciel like this.
"...dummy…" the elf whispered.
Ciel sighed. "We both were."
A brief pause, then the second threatened to drag on.
Feeling it was appropriate, Ciel pulled back to meet a wavering, albeit sincere gaze from Quia.
She left the embrace, freeing herself of the warmth that made her inside flutter, and aching at the same time.
"The Queen of Hunt was still at the loose." Ciel reminded, her breath steadying. "I… I promise to explain everything later. Answer your every question, would that sit well with you?"
Quia blinked, her lips frowning as if unsatisfied. The elf started the fight, so Ciel's submission didn't feel right.
So instead, the elf shook her head. "How about this?"
She raised an index finger with a serious, albeit casual smile, trying to dispel the gloom between them.
"We were both technically at fault, so how about this?" Her finger danced. "Each of us fulfills one demand from each other. You can leave the truth to yourself, I promise not to pry until you're ready."
"But-"
"No but." Quia warned. "I will make my own judgement about you. For both of us."
Quia separated herself further from Ciel, a flashy grin gradually touching her widened smile.
"Or are you afraid of what demands I will make?"
The teasing, almost dramatic tone only assured Ciel.
"You won't take advantage of me." Ciel shook her head with a serious face. "I trust you, Miss Quia."
A breath hitched in Quia.
"...you really shouldn't."
Because she was totally going to take advantage of it.
Ciel, unaware of Quia's evil mechanism within, continued as her palm caressed her burning lung in patient circles.
"The last mimic may be somewhere near Miss Dragon's house."
She continued. "The Queen of Hunt's ability is unknown to me, but I predicted the mimic would monitor Miss Dragon's position."
Miss Dragon, huh? Quia almost had the urge to interrogate, but she knew better.
"What if the Queen of Hunt told it to lie low though?" The elf pointed out instead. "You did say we, the examinees, were perfect for hostages, even if we had this spellbind thing to prevent our deaths."
"A Queen's power defies logic." Ciel sternly warned. "She could easily break a spell bind like this. So-"
Ciel froze.
Her enhanced senses flared, as usual.
Unlike the usual, that flare heightened in astonishing speed, as if the danger would approach the next second.
"Qui-"
Then Ciel fell with a push from Quia.
Her eyes widened, catching Quia's urgent expression with her hand still stretched out.
That was until a flash flickered, and Quia's arm flew away, detached clean off from its shoulder.