Description: Directed by the cards, Rose makes a weekend soujourn to Metro City on a hunch. There she encounters one of Vega's Dolls for the first time. A clash is inevitable, but Rose leaves with more questions than answers...
Metro bridge, December, night time. It's an interesting time to be out, forced to deal with bracing winds coming from being so exposed to the elements, and the steady draft coming from oncoming traffic. It's not the sort of place you'd expect someone to loiter in, but at least one person has been staying on the bridge for a while.
Perhaps she's admiring the view, the loiterer's view focused down the river, following its semi-frozen trail as far as the eye can see. Too far from the ocean to see it flow into the much larger body of water, there's still the contrasting view on either side of the river to hold one's attention. Glitter and glam on one side, and rusty hulks of factories on the other. Dreams here, reality there.
The pedestrian is dressed rather well for this weather, in a trench coat that flaps in the wind, and her hands clothed in leather gloves. Still, there's some concern as to just .why. someone's standing on the bridge.. well dressed or not, a jumper will die all the same once they land in the frigid river.
Thematically speaking, Rose lives her life waiting for things to come to her. Even if she weren't simply by nature inclined to patience and observation, being a fortuneteller and a genuine psychic also means you have to do very little in terms of seeking things out. It's simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. For many moons this particular methodology has served her well.
Sadly, with new times comes the need for new methodologies. Vega is a man on the move, and if Rose is going to oppose him -- as Chun-li has dared to do, reminding Rose painfully of her own obligations -- then she needs to step outside once in a while and get into the world. Of course, when the cards point to a major metropolis, a young female, and the damned The Devil card interposed with them... well. Thus Rose is making her way across the Metro Bridge on foot, following her instincts. Vega's psycho power -- diluted though it may be residing in another's body -- is here. She can feel it. If she can just find the person whose aura is giving her such an unsettling feeling...
That feeling again .. psychopower stirring her senses like blood calling to blood, it's almost recognizable if you know what to look for. While she's felt traces of it here and there, and perhaps even stronger amounts coming from rare individuals, this one is .. unique. Its size is simply amazing--it rivals even that rush she gets from Vega.
It is clearly time for Juli to move. Focusing on that feeling, she tries to follow it, and finds to her surprise that it's coming from quite close away. A pair of unsettling blood red eyes peers out from the white scarf Juli wears over her face, the scarf's ends tucked into the fabric of her trench, and the doll starts to move.
The interesting thing about psychic energy is that when the mind is dormant -- sleeping, waiting, and other activities -- it, too, is hard to place. However, once the mind is in motion, thinking complex thoughts, doing complex things... then psycho power stands out like a lighthouse on a foggy night, piercing through the veil of everyday senses. Thus when Juli leaps into motion, Rose's vague senses sharpen to laser acuity. Whatever it is, it's coming her way.
And so she... waits. Rather than continue on across the bridge, she simply stops along the pedestrian walkway near one of the tall stone towers that keep the engineering marvel in place, slightly loosening the golden shawl that winds its way around her neck. She is dressed, despite the cold weather, no differently than ever, the dark purple of her overcoat and vibrant gold scarf making her stand out against the dull, oxidized greenish-brown of the bridge itself.
The woman's unmistakable. On the side of the bridge, at this hour of day and time of year, foot traffic is rare. Foot traffic in the form of a woman dressed from another era? Even rarer. As soon as Juli's watchful eyes find the woman up ahead she reaches out with her psychpower in an attempt to read her.
The simple truth is, however, that Juli's psycho power is weak. It's like her personality, muted, perhaps even stifled under the severe indoctrination she's been through. Weak as her psycho power is, it still has its uses... Despite Juli's lack of emoting, there's little wrong with her empathy... it's a tool she's learned to use as well as she can, and now's no different.
This close to her target, Juli tries to read the purple haired woman up ahead. Is she a threat? Or is it an innocent? Or, perhaps like some others she's met, someone strong in her raw potential without the training to use it to its full strength.
Should Rose be trying to filter through the Doll's thoughts and emotions, they'll likely find a wall. A wall with a rather large sign on it--if they knew how to read it.
Now that IS curious. There are very few people -- even among psions -- whose minds are closed to Rose, but Juli's is. Of course, that would say volumes even if the scent of Vega's own psycho power weren't clinging to Juli like a shroud, and in a way that reminds the psychic of one other person she's met. An eyebrow raises in confusion, for Juli's sense is quite different than the other girl's, and now Rose has many unanswered questions.
Presuming the time is right, the fortuneteller lets her mind guide her gaze until her bottomless violet eyes are locked on Juli, or at least as near where Juli is as she can manage. "You must be her," the psychic says, mentally, at the Doll... of course, whether she can hear that or not depends rather on how Vega structured that wall his scientists built... "The Queen of Swords, inverted. A spirit as keen as the edge of a blade, yet... come to me, child. We have much to discuss."
Communication with Juli's mind is easy enough. There are ways in that lead to an open box of sorts, deposit your thoughts there so the Doll can pick through them at her liesure, open but dark, these boxes allow scant evidence of the mind of the person who may be .reading. said boxes. Of course, with a way in, one could simply attempt to .force. their way through, bang on the deposit slot of the box until it collapses on itself and exposes the girl underneath. If one was so rough, a good number of surprises might occur.
Surprises, however, that are not explored at this moment. Communication, Juli can do that. Keeping her distance from Rose, a good 10 meters or so seperating the two--enough to study each other through physical means as well as mental, and still far enough away that there'll be no physical surprises towards the others intent--Juli responds through the same mental means.
As is her physical stare, and the flat monotone Juli uses when she uses physical expression, so is Juli's mind. Her aura is grey with the occasional spark of color running through it. Enough, perhaps, to suggest that on the rare time a true color might flare.
"I do not know your meaning. What is it that you wish to discuss?" She responds mentally.
Rose just isn't the hammer and chisel type, particularly not mentally. If anything, she is all the more opposed to it for that Vega uses said technique whenever it suits his whim. Her frequent and fervent statement that she is all Vega is not could not be more true in this instance. As it stands, it's much better to hear it from the girl's own mouth... as it were.
"You, child," the psychic responds calmly, continuing to watch the watcher. "Your anomalous aura. Your borrowed power. Things that drew me here to find you." Pausing a moment, Rose steels herself to remember her pledge of proactivity: do not wait, do. You owe it to Chun-li, she has told herself. And thus she begins moving toward Juli at a walking pace, purposeful and deliberate steps. "I would hesitate to use the word 'aberrant', but you simply... should not be. I seek to know why that is."
A prickle of something at the edges of her mind, irritation, surprise--both? So often those emotions runs so close together, and in Juli's case it's too small to get a proper read out of it from that one example.
If her emotions are hard to read through psyche, they're even worse physically. Indeed, it's hard to show a flicker of .anything. in the woman's stoic face. There's a stare of blood red eyes, the same stare she's used since this conversation started, thin lips drawn into a tight line and .. little else.
"Whether I should be or not, it is undeniable that I am here." Juli's mind returns after a moment to read these thoughts she was left with. "My power is a gift. I cannot deny that. I do not approve of your tone."
"Your approval is something I neither need nor want," Rose says matter-of-factly, drawing nearer, her fingers unconsciously dancing a beat across her palms, almost like a nervous tic. In an ideal world, she can get what she needs from this young woman without it coming down to an exchange of blows. Though somehow, recent events have made this seem not quite as likely as she would hope. "What I do want is to help you. Whether you know it or not, that which you call a 'gift' may be as much a prison as anything else."
And then she draws nigh, her own almost expressionless but, in some ways, incalculably old visage washing over Juli carefully. "I cannot say for certain. But something tells me you are the key to unlocking the mystery of what Vega is searching for. You and... one other." Flashes of Cammy shift through Rose's brain... her defensiveness, the Devil card, the familiar feeling of psycho power she's sensed before. Of course, Rose's mental defenses are at least as ironclad as Juli's, if not more so.
The defenses--at least the passive ones, the ones that keep anyone who wishes from digging about her brain like the leftover bin at a flea market--are Vega's. The offensive and active defensive techniques draw on what Juli can tap from the reserves in her body--at the best, her ability to read a subject is purely at s surface level. There's no real trick to keeping Juli out of your mind, all one has to do is try to keep her out of it. And to an advanced psi like Rose, it's not even one really has to think about.
Those mental flashes are just ghosts of an idea to Juli.. though cammy stands out. She's recently seen the girl, so the memory is fresh in her mind, making picking it up from other's easier. That thought, and Vega forces Juli to shut down communications--Rose has stumbled to close to be allowed to be in her mind any further without a fight.
A scowl crosses Juli's lips briefly, then her fist clench into fists. "You ask too many questions. It is time for you to go." Juli warns as her body shifts into a combat stance. Anyone with much experience working with the Bee would almost immediately recognize Juli's posture as she bounces lightly on her heels.
"I have no intention of leaving," Rose says patiently, in the same tone one would use to explain to a particularly young and confused child that s/he has done something wrong, and why they must be punished. "Your resistance is enough to tell me that you have answers I need. I had so hoped that perhaps you would see the logic in the situation, but I suspect you won't." And here her expression darkens. "Or perhaps, can't."
Setting her feet slightly farther apart, the psychic loosens the shawl around her shoulders slightly, the fabric settling gently across her own slender, uncovered shoulders... yet despite the cold, she seems perfectly at ease undressed as such. Her eyes settle on Juli's stance, and things begin to fall into place. "You say this power is a 'gift'. I believe, however, you are using a power in which you have not been properly trained and which is not yours." And here, the psychic's gaze hardens. "Before we speak any further, allow me to give you a free lesson."
No, Juli's not getting rid of the trench coat. While removal of her jacket may have been a trademark for Cammy, the undisputed fact is that Japan is damned cold in winter. Especially when you're used to the weather in Thailand. At least Juli's had some experience fighting in the heavy coat, and it promises to be less irksome than the school uniforms she wears on occasion.
"Do not worry. Once I break your legs we will have plenty of time to 'talk'." Juli promises, then dashes towards Rose, closing the gap between them quickly.
COMBATSYS: Juli has started a fight here.
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Juli 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here.
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Juli
Before Juli comes within striking distance, she finishes the advance in a running leap. Using the psycho power that makes her so distinctive to power the speed and acceleration of her leaping attack, Juli swings one of her feet out, the dark red of her psycho power shrouding it. Juli's other leg remains behind her, thrust out the other direction as the girl all but flies sideways into her opponent.
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Juli's Sniping Arrow.
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Rose 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Juli
With an appearance of ease that belies the effort involved, Rose swivels 90 degrees outward from Juli's attack, the Doll's psycho-enhanced flying kick breezing by the fortuneteller, her heels making loud click-clang noises on the deck of the bridge as she evades. "Young one," she says patiently, turning to face Juli as she flies to the opposite side, "it's best to make such boasts after the fact rather than during or before. Soul Spark!" With a flick of her wrist, Rose sends the shawl snapping at Juli, a violet orb trailing gold sparks of Soul power flashing outward at the young girl.
COMBATSYS: Juli blocks Rose's Soul Spark.
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Rose 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Juli
This is a new one to Juli, psycho power being used as a projectile. She'll consider that later, for now .. she'll just cross her arms and catch the ball with them. As she expected, her body's more than capable of accepting the damage, taking the hit.
Psychopower likely isn't the way to win this fight .. she .knows. Rose is stronger than her in those regards. She knows this because practically everyone else is. She has other things to rely on, however. Once Rose's psycho power is dealt with, Juli advances again to striking range, then lashes out with a high axe kick at Rose's head -- well, perhaps not that high, the woman's taller than she is, after all.
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to interrupt Falling Arc from Juli with Soul Fade.
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Rose 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Juli
In theory, it seemed like a reasonable plan: Rose's specialty, after all, is using the barest touch to focus Soul Power into a throwing maneuver that gives her the space she typically needs to breathe and think things through. However, she severely underestimates Juli's speed, and in reaching casually for the girl's chest as she comes in with the kick, manages to take the crushing axe blow on the upper arm, leaving Juli unharmed. Wincing in pain, the psychic pulls her arm back and adjusts her shawl again, hurt but unruffled. "Interesting. A mistake I shall not make a second time."
That's much better. And, what was with that grab towards her chest? Psycho powered something, she figures but still--her chest. Surprisingly, this seems to annoy Juli a considerable amount. While Vega might prefer his Dolls to have certain features, some of them just get in the way.
Once her feet are back on the ground, Juli sidesteps around Rose while she recovers from her failing attack. Making her way to the side she's already attacked, Juli continues to work on that arm, delivering a sharp elbow strike towards Rose's shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Juli successfully hits Rose with Quick Punch.
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Rose 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Juli
At close range, Rose isn't so great on the evasion from continued attacks. However, she does have enough time to turn just enough so that Juli's punch is diverted into her torso rather than the already damaged arm. Small consolation, since it was still a solid hit, but at least she's not letting her injury become any more worried. Interestingly enough, the psychic does not counterattack; instead, she simply squares off with Juli again, watching wordlessly, centering herself. Of course, under the calm exterior, Rose's inner Soul Power burns brighter than ever.
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
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Rose 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Juli
Hrmph, for someone who asks a lot of annoying questions, Rose likes to stand there and get hit on. Keeping her focus on that arm, forcing Rose to offer less vulnerable places to hit instead of that limb worked well last time .. let's see if it works again.
Making a grab for it, Juli attempts to wrap her leg around the arm if she manages to get a hand on it. From there, it's a short trip to the ground, likely resulting in a solid smack of Rose's back on the ground, and Juli getting in an armbar lock with her strong legs. If it doesn't work? Juli'll look foolish. It's a small cost to pay.
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Juli's Medium Throw.
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Rose 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Juli
Sadly for Juli, it doesn't work; attacking an enemy's expressed weakness isn't exactly an unsound tactic, but doing it with any degree of repetition leaves one open to increasing defensive countermeasures. In a flash, Rose's scarf is in her hands, charged with Soul Power to the strength of iron and interposed between Juli's hand and the psychic's own arm. Of course, such defenses are not without their price; the psychic energy used to slow Juli's attack has to go somewhere, feeding back into Rose's body, but certainly nowhere to the extent that the Doll's planned through would have been.
"I could be doing more talking than I have been," the psychic says conversationally, drawing her arms back. However, the scarf, still shining with an aura of psychic force, suddenly lashes out at Juli, intending to catch her in the stomach with more force than Rose could ever personally put behind a punch. "I simply feel that if we must fight, it's best done in silence. Wouldn't you agree?"
COMBATSYS: Juli dodges Rose's Aura Scarf.
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Rose 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Juli
Juli seems to have no problems with the 'talk little and focus on kicking butt' method of fighting. She's the epitome of focused at the moment actually, her eyes bearing on your figure with an unwielding stare, her lips set in a tight, thin line. No, it's quite likely that Juli'll see this through to the finish without saying a thing.
Talking, after all, distracts one from the fight and causes them to commit foolish errors like the one Rose just commited. It's a simple matter to dodge the scarf, using her long legs to dart out of the way of the scarf at the last moment. Out the range of your scarf briefly, Juli hmphs, and continues staring. Obviously, she's up to something--watching how you move and letting the programs that takes over her mind during battle to lay out a few possible routes of attack.
COMBATSYS: Juli focuses on her next action.
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Rose 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Juli
Well then. Sprightly little thing. However, the longer the fight goes on the more Rose's suspicions are being proven right. There is some connection between this girl -- her lithe movements, the 'gift' of Vega's psycho power -- and the blonde of similar build who flipped around Rose's own home like a superball on crack. The question, of course, is what that connection IS. And if she wants to find out, Rose is going to have to best Juli.
Of course, she doesn't have to acquiesce to each of the Doll's wishes. Her tone remains conversational as she draws out her hand, holding the fingers straight, a knife-like wedge of Soul Power igniting around it like a halo. "Tell me..." she asks, and then... bam. Gone! Blinking in and out of space, Rose is suddenly behind Juli, Ash Crimson-style, swiping at the Doll from behind with that Soul powered strike. "...do you happen to have a sister?"
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Juli with Medium Punch.
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Rose 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Juli
There and gone again, the teleportation trick that Vega uses so skillfully. It's not supposed to leave Juli so flat footed, but there it is. By the time she turns to face her opponent, she feels that fist slamming into her kidneys. It's a brutal blow, and leaves the girl staggering on her heels.
And Rose is still talking. Filling her head with questions that Juli isn't nearly ready to answer yet. After one of them falls, then perhaps there'll be time for talk. Now though?
Now, Juli knows where Rose is, and she has to do something about this. Jumping up, Juli tries to wrap her legs around another part of Rose's body... this time it's her head and shoulders though, so she can pull her weight back and send Rose crashing down on her head. At least, that's the plan .. that last throw didn't go quite how Juli wanted it to.
COMBATSYS: Juli successfully hits Rose with Frankensteiner.
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Rose 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Juli
Now that was unexpected, and Rose has a few moments to consider the failure of her distraction tactic shortly before Juli's throw slams her into the bridge. Which... hurts, true, but not quite as bad as Rose might have expected. You do have to sacrifice something to move so quickly, after all, as Rose herself well knows. Oofing in pain, the psychic slowly draws herself back up, facing off with Juli again.
Now, perhaps... time to bring out the big guns. "Interesting. It truly is as if he just drained the emotion right out of you," the psychic murmurs. "And this may be why your ability to control that power is so weakened. You have no hate to sustain it. Only..." And then she frowns. Moving back toward her opponent with surprising speed, the psychic simply puts out her hand once again, attempting to simply place it on Juli's sternum, fingers sparkling with a violet halo of Soul Power...
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Juli with Soul Throw.
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Rose 1/-----==/=======|=======\===----\1 Juli
...and gaining just enough purchase, she looks up at Juli, finising her previous statement: "...obedience. Interesting indeed." And then, with a flick of the wrist, the psychic tosses Juli away with a rush of pseudo-psychokinetic force, adding a dose of raw Soul Power to boot, the surge of psychic energy manifesting as blue flame as the ego-tearing psionic attack pulses through Juli's mind and body.
And it has the desired results. She never did like having psychopower used .against. her like this, and as the psionic blast rips through her body and soul, Rose is rewarded with Juli's first utterence of the fight. It's a growl of pain, a heavy pant of exertion as she tries to fight it back, to muster her limited control of psi to fight it back. A fight she's destined to loose.
When it's over, it's clear that Rose has the upper hand .. Juli's simply left torn and ragged, her breath coming in hard gasps, chest raising and falling every time she lets cool air back into her burned and abused lungs. Oxygen, breath, focus .. the doll's eyes suddenly snap back to focus again.
And then she's moving again. Juking to the left, then to the right, Juli suddenly drops at the last moment into a sweep kick in an attempt to knock Rose off of her feet.
COMBATSYS: Rose endures Juli's Light Kick.
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Rose 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Juli
It works! Well, sort of. Rose doesn't actually appear to put up much of a defense; in fact, it's almost as if she simply let Juli trip her. That might be the case, as before Rose would hit the ground, her face contorted in pain... those dark violet eyes suddenly open, and once again she simply... blinks out, not immediately returning.
Instead, her voice rings out from seemingly all directions, disembodied and echoing. "A worthy effort, child. But so long as you are trapped in this... automaton-like state, you will never be anything more than Vega's toy to do with as he pleases. Eventually, he will have no use for you. Mark my words well."
And then... there she is, coming right at Juli with a psycho-charged punch... or maybe she's over there, driving a kick at Juli's midsection and using her shawl as a 'handstand'. In fact, Rose appears to be everywhere at once, images dropping in to deliver hits and then simply disappear, an unending tide of strikes leaving one to wonder, which one is real and which is simply an illusion...
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Juli with Soul Illusion.
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Rose 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Juli
Throw her away? Those words seem to have an affect on the doll. Previously, her blood red eyes were scanning from face to face, trying to figure out which was the one that was .real. And just when she thinks she has it, she's distracted with the fact that she's disposable.
Of course ehs's disposable. Lord Vega is everything--she is LOrd Vega's tool. The sheer stupidity of that statement causes Juli to hesitate, to lose sight of her target .. to get hit harder than she can remember being hit in her life. As the solid hit connects, Juli suddenly loses all connection to her feet and is slammed backwards several meters--narrow avoiding being hit by a car as her ragdoll body tumbles and rolls until it's stopped by the opposite wall of the bridge.
How much more can Juli take? Not much, she realizes.. indeed, she's surprised she's still on her feet. She's rather wobbly on them as it is, and it's quite obvious that she isn't long for a vertical position at all. There's only one thing left for Juli, then.
As soon as a gap in the traffic opens again, Juli charges at full blast towards the woman with the scarf and her questions. Halfway across the street she drops down and summons all of the psycho power that she can use -- it carries her low to the ground, her body moving in a fast spiral, a twirling spear aimed straight for Rose's legs.
COMBATSYS: Juli can no longer fight.
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Rose 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Juli's Spin Drive Smasher.
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Rose 0/-------/----===|
Again, Rose makes what appears (falsely) to be an effortless dodge, simply turning slightly to the side, just enough so that Juli's attack carries her right past the psychic and harmlessly (well, harmlessly to Rose) onto the ground. Heaving a sigh of distress, she turns to look at the fallen Doll, breathing out slowly, her sigh misting visibly in the air. It doesn't look like Juli's in any condition to be answering questions.
"Who are you..." Rose asks, more rhetorically than expecting an answer. "and what do you have to do with Cammy?" Walking a few steps closer, she glances down at the young girl. "But perhaps most of all, what within you would think such a terrible thought, that any life is disposable? Particularly in 'his' service..."
Passive, positive psychopower is good.. it allows ones wounds to heal themselves, for broken bones start to mend, and for a thoroughly battered body to actually look somewhat human not too long after the brain inside it is jostled to a quite painfilled state of haziness.
Rose is rewarded with a grunt for all of her questions, one of Juli's eyes flicking open lazily .. peering around to see if she's still in one piece. "We are Lord Vega's dolls. We serve Lord Vega's will." Juli groans absently.
If she were awake enough to notice it, Juli might be smugly pleased to see both of Rose's eyebrows go up at the mention of that word, which resonates rather too well with her accusation that Juli herself is nothing more than a puppet... a 'doll'. More to the point, memories of Megumi's angry declaration that she would be nobody's doll spring forth immediately.
"Many serve 'Lord' Vega's will," Rose says carefully. "But if he granted you his power, you in particular must be special. Why?"
A stare. A very long stare ... and even more staring. Both eyes are open now, watching the woman who so easily beat her unconscious, but her lips no longer open. Perhaps she's said too much already.. there is some concern to that regard quite obvious to someone as close to her mind as Rose is.
Frowning in annoyance and no smal amount of disgust at Juli's situation, Rose simply collects herself, taking another deep breath, and begins to walk away. Sifting through the girl's mind would be... difficult, and more to the point, would only draw Vega's unwanted direct attention. She does check, mentally, to make sure Juli is no danger of serious harm, but doesn't seem inclined to help the young woman up either. As she leaves, she sends a last, lingering message to the Doll: "When you tire of being a puppet, come to me. I shall unbind the chains that surround you."
Pushing herself to her feet, Juli keeps her gaze focused on you .. an unwavering stare that seems to look straight through you.
"There is no need for me to tire of being a Doll. I am not broken. My sister, Bee, is the broken one. She does not know what she was. She does not know what she was. Perhaps you should fix her." A shake of the girl's head, then Juli straightens.
Log created by Rose, and last modified on 20:06:24 12/15/2005.