Karen scanned the beach as she trailed after her sister towards a table at something that might be a restaurant. The fact that she did this in near perfect silence was, strictly speaking, not a needed clarification - she hadn’t said anything for years. Which was both a blessing and a curse. A curse because she literally could not speak, and a blessing because it meant she got to spend time with her sister. And also she could curse inside of her head as much as she wanted to with no risk of it ever slipping out.
Because holy shit what the fuck. Karen was a Dawn. The strong sword arm of the Unconquered Sun. Her sword was so big she had to fold it in half to reasonably carry it around. She should not be getting casually outclassed by any kind of mortal. Like, okay, sure, they were a half caste sidereal. That's not as good in a straight fight as a full sidereal, which is only sometimes as good in a straight fight as a full solar. Not discounting caste specialties or psychological warfare, like putting Misho up against Nemen.
But no, some random mortal that Nemen blackmailed into joining the competition just absolutely made everyone eat shit and die a little bit inside. Which sort of made sense, Nemen was obviously cheating, but at the same time... Karen can't do that. Marena can't do that. Ten Winds, as amazing as he is, can't do that. Hell, someone who knew all of the charms they'd used and was able to use them all at once miiight be able to do that, but they'd never be able to pay for it. The girls essence hadn't even flickered. That was normal for her, and that was fucking terrifying.
Which is part of why Karen had to resist the urge to jump into the air when the mortal in question slipped into a chair at the table she was sharing with her sister. Behind her followed a number of others. An abyssal - non participant, not currently a threat, another half caste sidereal - twitchy, potential violence, and a pure mortal - the girls mother. Lurking just behind them was another Alchemical.
Meanwhile, Karen and Marena's company was Ten Winds and Thimia. ...Misho may or may not count right now as he had been dragged into judging by Costora. And unlike Nemen, he probably wouldn't blatantly favor his circle the way she would the other sidereals. Either way, the balance of power was in their favor. Three full exalts and a demon against an exalt, two half exalts, a mortal, and maybe another full exalt, depending. If it came down to a fight, at least.
"So, Messier..." Marena began ever so subtly. "How'd you do that? Because that was pretty fucking cool."
Sun damn it Marena there was no way she would ever answer-
"I just copied all of the go fast charms everyone else was using and used them for myself."
...WHAT THE FUCK.
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