"No need for violence, we are all friends here, no?" I said, and slowly my hands rose to show her I had no weapons. Though I don't think my attempt at looking peaceful worked, because not only did her hand stay on the sword, but I even felt the others with her move into position. They had me in a nice pincer.
"That's not very nice, ganging up on a guy like that, Miss." I let my arms drop. That caused the woman in front of me to tense up even more.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied tersely.
"Hmm, no? Two on the rooftop to my left, one is making their way behind me as we speak, and the three others are directly under us. So, how about you call them off? There is no need for this. I just came here to talk." I implored her. I really did not want to unnecessarily fight these people. As for her, she studied my face, probably looking for any sign of deception on my part. When she found none, her posture lightened very slightly, and the way she held her sword changed as well.
"...We can talk, just the two of us. My comrades stay where they are."
"Sure, if that makes you feel better." I shrugged. Not that I really cared that much. They would still hear about what was said if they weren't listening in right now. Then I slowly went to the nearby railing to lean on it, deliberately turning my back on her in the process.
"Look, I have a pretty good idea why you're all here. The lightshow, right? That must have spooked you." I said once I turned to face her again.
"That lightshow, as you so aptly call it, was visible to the entire city. The panic it caused was lessened only by the fact that it occurred so early in the morning. What was it, and do you know anything about it?"
"Considering the fact that I caused it, yeah, I know all about it. Though I assure you, there won't be a third time. At least not anytime soon. I even made the hollow safer, you know? Both Nineveh and Geppetto will not cause trouble anymore, I promise you that." A look of disbelief, followed by another sharp look, she was giving me a lot of those, flashed across her face.
"How— How do you know that name? Nineveh is a known entity, but any information about Geppetto is a tightly held secret."
"And more importantly, could your claim be any more outlandish?" She added.
"Pray tell, what exactly did I claim, hmm? I never said they are gone. Just that they won't cause any more problems for humanity."
"Speak clearly! Who are you? What did you do to the hollow? And what did you do to those Ethereals? Answer me, or we can get the answers the hard way." I could see that I was getting on her nerves because with each question, she took a step closer to me, and her sword was fully drawn by the time she stood face to face with me.
"I did nothing to the hollow itself. The ether reacted to what I did to those two." I said, looking her right in the eyes.
"And that was?"
"I gave them back their humanity. I made them better." Her expressions changed, cycling through doubt and disbelief.
"*sigh*... come with me. I don't know what Black Ops project you were part of, but you're clearly suffering from corruption-induced psychosis." She said with a look of pity. Do I come across as crazy? I don't think so… Wait, did the Colonel think I'm mad? That would be quite a problem.
"No can do, miss. How about a demonstration?" I shook my head and held up my palm. Slowly, a white ether crystal, with the same golden markings I placed on the Colonel, materialized in the middle of my palm. The effects were the same, albeit a little less pronounced, since it was not part of the body.
"See this crystal? It gets rid of ether corruption, no matter how severe it may be." She eyed the crystal, and her stance shifted. Weight on the back foot, blade angled to intercept any attack coming from me. She was preparing for me to do something.
The others, meanwhile, resumed their movement. This was not going well… Damn it.
"You just conjured an ether crystal out of thin air. What.Are.You!?"
"I want to be your friend."
"You are an ethereal…" She looked baffled.
"And you're a fox woman, I don't see how that matters." Yeah, I had no clue about how that came about, because I was pretty damn sure that there were only ordinary humans when I was… well, before I was sealed away.
"What?"
"You're clearly not just human, so does it matter that I am not just one as well? Am I wrong to think that both of us are capable of rational thought?"
"What are you insinuating?" She bristled.
"Nothing… Look, I came out here with a purpose. I wanted to clear the air. Possibly establish a friendly contact with the humans outside, that's it. I am not going to attack you, so can you promise me the same? If not, I'll just leave, and you're never going to find me or the answers you seek ever again."
"How about you think of me as an alien? You would not just attack another sentient being outright, right? You would try to communicate with it first." Her ears flicked, and she looked offended.
"Don't patronize me. You said it yourself, you're not an alien, you're an ethereal, and my job is to exterminate them."
"Sure, but they don't talk to you before you kill them, right? I think that changes the situation slightly."
—
Miyabi, for the first time, probably in her life, wasn't sure how to proceed with an ethereal.
His words rang true in her mind. They did not speak before they were exterminated. They did not even look human. Vaguely humanoid, sure, maybe, but this one looked like he was made of flesh and blood.
And yet, the second he made that ether crystal float above his palm, the situation changed dramatically.
At first, she thought that maybe he was some lost hollow raider, or a part of some off-the-books TOPs thing. But no. It was way worse.
~* Chief, the subject appears non-hostile. Do you want me to take over the communication? *~ She heard Yanagi ask over the comms.
So, after weighing the pros and cons and planning an escape route should the situation change, Miyabi gave a subtle nod to Trigger, who was perched on a rooftop alongside Harumasa, who then relayed the information to Yanagi.
~* Okay, Chief, coming up. *~
She watched the man's eyes briefly flick down, right to where Yanagi was supposed to be, before he gave her a slight, satisfied smile.
"So your friend is finally joining us?"
Miyabi didn't answer him.
She couldn't. Not without giving away how deeply it unsettled her that he could track Yanagi's movements, all of their movements for that matter, without ever laying an eye on them. Her grip tightened on the sword hilt, but she didn't raise it again.
Hopefully, Yanagi would sort this out.