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Salt and Sulfur (MessedupRp x Skeith Takahata II)

As Charlotte was helped to her feet by Maria she was still dazed. It all felt unreal. "I... I've always loved you." She confessed. "It's always been about you, since you chased me the first time. N-no one else would play with me, but you did." She looked down at her feet. "It was like having Mum and Dad back." She looked up at her, nodding. "T-together. Partners." She smiled, more genuinely and normally than she ordinarily would. A brief break in her usually psychotic behavior.
 
Maria's eyes brimmed with tears as she pulled Charlotte into a hug. "We'll find them Charlotte... We'll fine them... They'll be so proud of you for what you did. They'll tell you how much of a hero you are, then we'll all be together, you, me, your parents and Flopsy." She looked at Charlotte once more and took her hand, leading her onward toward the hatch, it still felt so strange and surreal. Charlotte had been doing all that she had, destroying things and making herself a target... Just to get Maria's attention. It was the most eccentric and most romantic thing anyone had done for her.

The hatch was large with a round wheel to open it. A set of brass buttons in a six by six grid on the door. "It seems we need some sort of combination."
 
Charlotte returned the embrace, as Maria once more promised to find her parents. She was a little surprised by the use of the word 'hero'. She had never thought of herself as a hero. The only heroic action she had taken was liberating the brothel. As Maria echoed her dream, that they would all be one happy family, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She nodded eagerly. She looked down at Flopsy as Miara took her hand to lead her on. "I told you so." She whispered to the rabbit, still smiling to herself.

She followed behind her, still dwelling on what being reunited with her family would be like. At the mention of a combination, Charlotte looked at the combination device in confusion. "Hey! It's made of metal... That means..." She plopped down onto the floor in front of it, pulling a scrap of paper and a charcoal pencil. She adjusted her goggles to look at the device more closely smiling to herself.

Her manic mind and genius capability allowing her to process data rapidly, she quickly began noting different possible combinations based on the scratching at the base of the metal buttons. She assumed the scratched buttons were frequently used, all she had to do was assemble a list of likely combinations. Once she finished the list, she held it aloft, still not standing from her sitting position. "Dad and I use to play number games like these." It was almost like her revolutionary parents had bred and raised her to be an anarchist and criminal mastermind, as unlikely as it was.
 
"Maria took the paper and looked over the combinations, "I'm try... 4218." When the code was punched inc a red light silently went on above the door. Maria pulled Charlotte into an alcove in the wall as the two salt mages ran around the corner. Looking around for what had acuased such a disturbance. Maria looked at Charlotte, "we need to get them distracted so they'll bust the doors for us."
 
Charlotte pressed up against the wall, holding her breath as the mages returned. At Maria's whisper about a distraction, Charlotte's lips spread in a wild smile. Silently, she reached into her bag, producing one of the explosives that she had packed, despite the plan to leave this place in one piece. She held the device aloft, hoping that it was what Maria was planning on.
 
Maria's eyes widened and she pulled her arm down. "If Dalia is here we can't let ourselves be known. We'd both be better off with her not knowing where we are." She looked at the mages and smiled, "we just need to get them to open the doors and we can get in."
 
Charlotte frowned momentarily when she pulled her arm down. She tucked the explosive away, nodding unenthusiastically. She looked back to the mages, with a curious gleam, wondering what plan Maria had for them. "If no boom, what do you think?" She asked, looking back to Maria.
 
The detective looked from the mages, to the room around her, she would need something that would grab attention. She finally decided and took a bomb from Charlotte's belt, she silently pulled a grate off a small vent. It couldn't fit them by it would fit the bomb. She Didn't bother ignoring it, just letting it clatter around the inner room. The mages meanwhile snapped around to the sound. "What the hell was that." The first one asked. The other pressed his hand to the door, the very shape bendig to his will. Creating an opening for him to walk through.

As the two entered, Maria slipped around, she snaked through the opening and quickly hit both men in the head with the butt of her rifle. Once they were unconscious, she dragged them back to the little alcove they had been in and motioned Charlotte over. "It seems like some sort of elevator... I think we should check the top floor.
 
Charlotte pouted when the bomb was dropped to make a noise but didn't detonate. Why play with explosives if not for the explosions? She looked up at her as she knocked each of the mages out. She looked back down the vent with another pout. "What a waste..." She mumbled. She looked back up when Maria motioned for her to follow. "Come along, Flopsy." She whispered.

She gave a quick nod, entering the elevator. The day's mission was extremely quiet. She knew it was the point, but she was clearly restless. Still she didn't complain. Hell, her head was still spinning from Maria's confession and kiss. "So, top floor and then what? Look for the Elf-Lady? Maybe I blow up the bad lady?" She asked, thinking about what would happen if they encountered the woman who had caused Maria so much pain.
 
Maria shook her head and pushed the button for the top floor. As the elevator droned on it's upward route Maria drew a silver revolver from a holster at her hip. "I have this especially for her..." Her voice was filled with a mix of anger and fear. She wanted so badly to kill Dalia, just as she had killed Maria's mother. But she was afraid of whst would happen if she saw her again.
 
Charlotte's eyes turned to the gun Maria carried then back to her again. Charlotte was much to childish to recognize a motivation like revenge. Finding her own parents was about finishing a game after all. She could tell that it bothered her, though. Her ears twitched as she worried about her. Her large elvish eyes never leaving her. This woman had clearly hurt Maria in more ways than the scars on her back, and that was something she could not tolerate. Her hand slipped into Maria's as they waited for the elevator to reach the top floor.

"She might not even be here, right? Maybe it'll be easy. We find the elf lady and get out. It could happen." It was like a child trying to reason out of a terrible situation.
 
Maria's anger melted for a second. She smiled at Charlotte and gave her hand a squeeze, lacing their fingers together. "Yeah... It will be real easy." She smiled at her as the elevator stopped moving, the door sliding open.

They were greeted by a room with vaulted ceilings and large windows. Tables littered with tools and half-finished mechanical devices scattered the room. Models and devices sat around, the most prominent was a clockwork eagle about fifteen feet tall, it's crimson eyes scanning the room. It'd head swiveled toward them and cawed, spreading it's wings.

Someone stepped out from behind one of the larger devices, a long cane in hand to feel the ground ahead of her. She looked around, her brunette hair up in her bun. As she got nearer, her eyes were milky white. "H-helo? Is someone here?"
 
When the elevator opened, Charlotte entered without hesitation. She looked about at all the devices with obvious delight. A tinkerer herself, she was fascinated by them. When giant bird looked at them, moving and alerting the woman to their presence, she smiled widely. She looked back at Maria with a smile before skipping forward. "Hello! Good morning! My name is Charlotte Marigold. Anarchist and Arsonist extraordinaire! You may have heard of me." She raised her hands above her head as if making it a show despite the woman being blind. "I'm here with Good Guys Incorporated. We go door-to-door, blowing up bad guys and saving good guys! Like heroes do! You seemed to have a bad guy infestation and so, Flopsy and I decided to pop by and offer our services!"

She looked back at Maria with a wide grin before settling her eyes on the lady. "So, which are you? Good guy or bad guy?" She asked curiously.
 
The woman looked a bit perplexed and seemed a little frightened at first. Maria stepped in and spoke, "what my friend means is... We're here looking for a missing politician, an elf woman. We thought that we might find her here. My name is Maria and this Is Charlotte."

The lady smiled and reached out, her hands gently feeling Charlotte's face, tracing her features. "Oh I... I see my name is Lilly... My father lives here and he let me have this space as my bedroom.and my place to tinker with things." She felt Charlotte's pointed ears and gasped. "I never met an elf before! This is so exciting! She giggled and went to Maria, feeling her face as well. "I don't know about any woman, I can't see very well... I'm.trying to make a device to let me see again but it isn't working." She motioned to a set of brass goggles with knobs and dials and thick lenses. "I can't get them right though."
 
Charlotte grew stiff all of a sudden as the woman touched her face. Her lips spread in a smile as she talked about meeting an elf as if it were exciting. When she motioned to the goggles, Charlotte hummed in curious thought. "I build stuff all the time, I bet I can help." She said, redirecting her attention as if she'd forgotten the reason they had come. She skipped over to the table leaning over to inspect. "Mum and Dad taught me stuff like this when I was really small. I can build all sorts of things!" She set her tools down beside it as she sat down, examining the goggles closer. "Do you want to play for a bit?" She asked hopefully, looking back to the blind woman.
 
The girl smiled and nodded, using her cane to guide her back to the table. Her hands drifting over to the goggles before her. She reached out to where her tools were, feeling each before taking the ones she needed. Maria just stared in wonder at the two, "what's your name?"

The girl smiled, "Saren. My name is Saren."
 
"It's nice to meet you Saren!" Charlotte said cheerfully. She watched carefully, examining the goggles to learn how they were supposed to work. As an idea popped into her mind, she reached into her bag, pulling out some tools and a spool of copper wire. Normally they were meant for on the fly explosives, but her tools would work just fine here. "May I?" She asked, reaching for the goggles. She began carefully coiling the copper wire to make an interior coating on the goggles beneath and above the lenses. She then moved to make adjustments to some of the wiring elsewhere, reinforcing them. She was perpetually amazed by how Saren managed to do these things without her eyes. It was incredible. "Try that." She said cheerfully, sliding them over to her.

She twirled around to look at Maria. "I like her!" She looked around the room at the other inventions. "S-so, if the Elf-lady isn't here, what do we do next? This was kind of our only lead." She turned back to Saren while waiting for Maria to answer to see how the goggles were working.
 
Saran gingerly slid the goggles on over her face and gasped, she looked around frantically at everything around her, staring at the windows and at her two visitors before her. She grabbed Charlotte and pulled her into a hug as she began to weep, "I... I can see! I can see everything!" She smiled and looked up at them both, her eyes still brimming with tears. "I... I think I heard my father mention something about an elf woman."

The door opened and a new voice entered, "she's right here." Standing there was a woman in all black wothb a long black overcoat and jet black curly hair, she had a gorgeous but gaunt face. Behind her stood a strange person In a copper robe. The woman's eyes seemed to glow the same color. Flanking were eight guards with guns trained on Maria, Charlotte and Saran.

The woman grinned softly and pulled something from behind her back, a woman with pale skin and almost white hair stumbled out, her ears were pointed and elven. Around her neck was a noose with the end trailing back to the woman in black's hand. She smiled at Maria and spoke, "wonderful to see you again darling. You're tricky to find you know."

Maria gasped, she free her revolver and aimed it at the woman who reacted by holding her own gun to politician's head. "Move and she dies, then you all die with her." She growled. The person in the brown robe seemed to speak the same words just before she did.

Maria begrudgingly atwooed back, still holding her gun aloft. "why did you kidnap her Dalia, why are you here." Dalia only chuckled, "isn't it obvious... I did it so I could reclaim what's mine Maria... You... I did all this so I could walk away with both this little elven beauty and my old flame." She chuckled and pressed the gun against the politician's neck. "But I can take one out of two if need be."
 
Charlotte beamed when it turned out that the goggles worked. She happily returned Saran's hug. When she was about to explain, seemingly in return for Charlotte's aid, the second voice came. Charlotte stood quickly. She instinctively put herself between Saran and the intruders. She raised her arms, guantlets ready to fire. When she saw the elf woman, her eyes widened for a moment. Then they narrowed, bitterly.

As the woman spoke, Charlotte was surprised for only a moment. Hearing her reasoning. Charlotte's arms slacked for a moment. "Bitch, stole my move..." She said in disbelief. Her arms straightened again. "Hey, causing trouble to get Maria's attention is my play!" Her eyes shifted to the politician before realizing that she was a wanted criminal trying to rescue the very embodiment of law and order. "Don't worry Elf lady. I'm with the good guys... For now. We're gonna get you out of here."
 
Dalia chuckled, "no I'm not trying to get her attention. No... I didn't want her to know I was even still here in the city limits. I've been discreetly hunting my old lover. I know she Won't come along quietly, but it's nothing a few more scars on your back won't solve. Soon, I'll be able to add her to Mt collection, along with this lovely politician." It became a bit more obvious hat every word Dalia spoke, every movement she made was done by the robes figure only seconds before, something was afoot.

Maria looked from Charlotte to Dalia and back. "Dalia... Lower your gun, I'll make a deal... I'll turn myself over to you so long as you give us the elf lady and do not hurt Charlotte."

Dalia chuckled and pressed the gun deeper. "Aaw is wittle Maria in wove?" She teased.

Maria tensed her muscles and noded "yes I am, and I wipl not let Charlotte get hurt because of some bitch like you."

Dahlia's cocky smile fell into a scowl. Maria set her equipment down and looked at Charlotte, tears brimming her eyes. She mouthed, "I love you" and slowly began walking towards Dalia and her gang. Dalia's scowl lifted again into a twisted grin as she pushed the politician away. Holding Maria in her tight grip. "Finally... After all this time... You're mine Maria." Tears rolled down Maria's cheeks as she was dragged away in Dahlia's arms.

The black haired villainess shouted, "kill them, then regroup on my airship!" Maria gasped and began to thrash, shouting Charlotte's name as the guards aimed their guns at the three remaining people.
 
Charlotte was quite observant, simply of things most didn't notice. While some might have mistaken her for slow. Her brilliance operated differently. She had seen the robed figure acting seconds before Dalia. She didn't know what it meant, but it stuck out to her as peculiar. When Maria offered to surrender in exchange for their lives, Charlotte's confidence fell away all at once. "N-no! Not okay!" She looked as she lowered her equipment and walked towards the dark haired woman. For one of the first time in Charlotte's life, rage overcame her. A proper scowl fixed in the normally childish and energetic elf's face.

Then came her order. Charlotte was hardly surprised. She caught the politician, turning away from the armed people, predicting what was coming. "You want to play a game then?" Charlotte asked, a manic grin spreading on her features as she looked at Dalia. "You'll lose! They all do!" She pulled a cord from her belt, loosing a string of smoke grenades onto the floor. "Run! The window!" She shouted to the others. As gunfire tore through the smoke, she ran with the others in front of her. She let out a shout as a few of the bullets tore through her. She grit her teeth, feeling blood trickle down her legs, her arms, and her back.

She tackled both the politician and Saren out the window. She fired the grappling hook from her gauntlet into the framework of the building, clinging to both of them with her other arm. She let out a pained shriek as her shoulder dislocated. She wanted to save Maria, but she had made a promise to her. If she had to choose, she had to save the politician, and Saren was innocent. As they reached the bottom, she retracted the cable, glancing back up at the building before hurriedly rushing the women away. An airship. She could remember that. She had to attack an airship.

She escorted the women, not to Maria's apartment, they could search there. Not her hideout, also easily located. There was one place left, not that she liked the idea. She lead the two women to an old decrepit house, long since abandoned. She wiped grime from the name plate, revealing Marigold. She sighed, pushing open the door. As it opened, she saw her child like self, awaiting her parents. Then fading through her, two silhouettes, one presenting Flopsy. She shook her head, hiding the tears that formed. "We'll be safe here." She quickly fixed food from her parents storage in case of all out war. It would still be good. She also gathered blankets for the women. Then she moved to the floor, setting Flopsy down. Ignoring her wounds, she tried to form a plan. Maria was better at planning these things. She kept trying to formulate a Maria-style infiltration, til she realized that the best option might be to do this Charlotte-style. All out anarchy and destruction.
 
The elf looked from Charlotte to Saran with surprise, taking her time to comprehend what had just happened. Saran out a hand on Charlotte's shoulder. "You gave me my eyes... I'll give you your friend." She pressed a few buttons on a bronze bracer and after only a few second something slammed down outside of the house. When the three women ran to the window, they were greeted by the giant eagle, spreading it's wings. "He can fly you to where you need to go. Just hold tight and let him do what he will." She motioned toward the eagle. "Get going."
 
Charlotte stood up slowly. She looked back and forth between the two other women. She had a bit of a nervous twitch, standing there in her parents home like this. It was in such blatant disrepair that it was in no way livable. She breathed out a heavy sigh before smiling. "Thank you." She pulled her into a hug. "I will." She looked to the two women. "Don't leave this place until I return. It isn't safe. They won't look for you here. The basement is safe." She remembered hiding their as a child, wincing some. "It's all a game..." She whispered lightly. "Hide and seek. It's your turn. Hide and I'll come find you." She grinned then.

She went down to the basement. As she did so, she moved slower. Her eyes watching as the ghosts of hooded figures searched the place. She approached the old wardrobe, pulling it open. Briefly she saw herself as a child before she vanished. She looked down at Flopsy, patting his head gently. "It's okay Flopsy. We're gonna get her back. Then we'll be a family." She reached into the wardrobe, pulling out her father's coat and rifle. Setting her mother's hat atop her head.

When she returned to the top floor she looked the spitting image of a sky pirate, which she felt appropriate given her mission. "Be safe, now." She told the ladies. She climbed onto the giant eagle, holding on tightly. "Take me to Maria..." She whispered to the machine, patting its neck.
 
Brass pieces locked onto her arms and legs, holding her tight to the machine. This seemed intelligent design as what happened next was that the eagle shot into the sky like a gun. Streaking toward the zeppelin ports. One was leaving the ports and slowly rising into the sky. The eagle slid in toward it and flipped upside down, rlewssong the locks and setting Charlotte down onto the metal deck around the zeppelin.

It arced away, flying beside it while Charlotte did her work. From inside, two guards ran out. Charging at Charlotte with trencheons in hand.
 
charlotte let out an excited shout as she rocketed into the sky. No fear at all played across her face as she flew. She screamed in joy as she rode out the flight. As the zeppelin came into view, she grew quiet, but only vocally. Her eyes were wide and manic, an insane grin on her features. She landed on the deck, furling out her father's long coat. She corrected her mother's hat before looking up at the guards.

"Only two?" She asked walking forward. "I'm insulted." She let out a gleeful laugh as she charged them. She jumped, grabbing the railing before pinching the first guard's neck between her legs. With a quick twist she threw him overboard. Once she landed, she dodged a couple quick swipes with the truncheon before slamming her head into his in an aggressive headbutt. "You're no fun. I'm already bored!" She raised her gauntlet, squeezing the trigger. As he fell dead, she looked op at the bird. She gave it a mock salute before ducking inside the zeppelin. There was no hint of stealth in her approach, nor a care for her personal safety. This woman pissed of an anarchist, Charlotte was about to enter a battle of wits and madness.
 
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