Female Showers - Day 19

[lustful_thing]

Lust hadn't minded being ushered out of the dining hall in the least. She was still irritated over the fact that the woman from last night seemed so close to River. It was ridiculous to be jealous over such a thing, but Lust found herself unable to help it. She had precious few personal connections in this place, and in a strange way they were

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[lustful_thing]

"A great deal always happens in a small space of time here," Lust said, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. She nodded to what Scholar Ling was saying, understanding well the desire to make a trade of information.

"Of course. Information is hardly something to give away for free in this place. And what do you wish in exchange? I agree with you on Kyo, however. He can hold his own well enough if pressed, but I find him all talk and very little else."

And of course, it would be now that that infernal woman showed up. Lust had hoped she'd died the night before. It would have made things so much easier.

"It will go easier if you just shower now with the rest of us," Lust said, forcing her tone to be kind. "No one is going to care about... your illness. Besides, the staff won't let you out of it, and you'll find yourself drugged or in solitary if you protest." As much as Lust would have enjoyed that, she knew she'd catch hell for it later. And the thin line she was walking was growing thinner and thinner everyday.

"Simply be quick about it and be done before more patients arrive."

[lapis_inferno]

Dante growled under her breath, absolutely livid at the other women's behavior. She resisted the urge to shoot Lust's companion a hateful glare, instead reserving all her loathing Lust, making a point to smile sweetly at her before slinking away into the corner. She hated to admit it, but Lust was right, and she had no choice but to shower and be done with it.

Loosening her hospital robe, she whimpered slightly, careful not to let the others see. It had been years since any human had seen Dante's "condition", though she figured the doctors had also seen her body when she came to this place. The very thought made her want to scream. Tears of anger licked at the corners of her eyes, but she quickly shoved them aside, not wanting to expose her weakness even further by letting them catch her cry. She wouldn't give Lust that satisfaction.

Facing away from the others, she let her robe fall, painfully conscious of the smell that wafted through the air as she snuck into the shower and as far away from the others as possible. Oh, Lust, she watched the other woman out of the corner of her eye, biting her lip as she took in flawless ivory skin and perfectly-formed muscles. Dear Lust, you'll pay for this.

But then she noticed something else: something that made her eyes widen in shock. The skin between Lust's breasts was completely clear. The Ouroboros was gone. Suddenly, Lust's disloyalty all made sense.

[soulofdiscord]

There were only a few things, in Scholar Ling's experience, that caused such corruption in a human. Ghostly possession, demonic taint... or the twisted curse of cannibalism. Considering the woman's simpering demeanor and pathetic manner, Ling guessed it was the latter. And in that case, her plight did but one thing for the woman.

Ling laughed. A cold, derisive chuckle; utterly amused by Dante's despair and vindicated by her weakness. Ling had long ago found that politeness only got one so far; in this case, emphasizing her disdain by showing that she had no fear or indeed any respect for the other was far more easily accomplished with her tone and the way she turned away as though finished with Dante. She no longer held any interest for the Scholar.

"Information about this place, in exchange for information about this place. Tell me what you know, and whatever interesting tidbits of information you might have, and I promise that what I know will be well worth the price." Her voice, when speaking to Lust, was one of calm politeness; that of between mutually respectful scholars. In her opinion, Lust had far more to offer than Dante did... though Ling's eye had also been caught by the woman from earlier. Shortly, she would plan to speak with that one as well. For now, however, there was much to learn and in a very small amount of time.

[lustful_thing]

Lust raised her eyebrow at her dark haired companion and cast a look to her Master, huddled in the corner in an attempt to hide her condition.

"That woman," Lust said, quietly, for Ling's ears only, "is dangerous and quite powerful. Don't let her demeanor and body fool you - small and petulant though she is. She has crumbled empires and subverted governments and mastered skills that few other humans from our world could ever conceive." She continued to wash, her expression mild as though she were discussing the weather. There was no reason to give Dante any reason to be more suspicious.

"This place is called Landel's. Every one of us came here in the same way. We awoke in this place with no knowledge of how we came to be here. Any powers we possess are muted. We're taken from different worlds. During the day, the staff acts as though everything is normal. We're told we're mad. On some days we're forced to visit with the doctors to discuss our 'madness'. But..." And Lust lowered her voice once more. "On my last visit my doctor admitted that this is a ruse, that we're here for the purpose of experiments. Patients are taken away after dinner and not seen again until morning, and sometimes they're different." Lust's hand went to her own breastbone, resting over a symbol that wasn't there. And she froze, because she realized Dante had to have seen. But there was nothing she could do. Dante would see her with Scar, as well, after all.

"There are various types of monsters that roam at night, but all can be killed in my experience. Weapons are easy enough to come by, if needed. Take apart your bed for a metal rod that serves as a staff, or offer an alchemist a deal to forge you a weapon."

[lapis_inferno]

Dante sniffed in indignation, squinting as she tried to read the words on the other women's lips through the streams of water rolling down her face. She hated secrets, and she hated them even more when it was one of her pawns telling them. Dante had been the only one allowed to keep secrets! A soulless monster like Lust had no right to keep things from her master, the one who raised her to look human and taught her how to behave in the world. And yet now the roles were switched, and Dante had become the one on the outside, excluded from the lives of everyone she had once controlled. It wasn't fair, and she hated it!

But the absence of the Ouroboros aggravated Dante even further. That tattoo, which should've warned the world of her pawn's abnormality, had faded away, and now she had no way of proving to the others what Lust really was. Dante knew better than anyone that, even with the Philosopher's Stone, it was impossible to attach a soul to a created body, and yet Lust stood before her, apparently human. The whole thing reeked of Edward Elric, pushing it to the front of Dante's mind.

"It's funny," she interrupted the other women, tossing Lust a knowing grin. "The Lust I remember had a tattoo between her breasts warning the world that she was a soulless monster. I suppose our dear Edward removed it for you?"

[soulofdiscord]

As for the whispered secrets, about the warnings that Dante had subverted governments and toppled entire empires, and about skills that she alone could master... it merely brought a smile to the Scholar's face, and the gentle phrase, "As have I." Perhaps the other woman was worthwhile to know, but it was just as likely that Dante was a two-bit manipulator, one who sought power but did not contemplate on the nature of that power. The fact that her body was so hideous, compared to Ling's flawless form, was proof enough of that fact.

Besides, if she was someone worth knowing, Ling would discover it all in the fullness of time. Having her riled would be a means to that end.

She took the information in quietly, nodding slightly as she listened, cleansing herself with such precision that, had her eyes not been alert, made her seem almost preoccupied. "Monsters are nothing new; I will be able to deal with them. What you speak of, however... fascinating. Would some such 'experiments' deal with transformations and imbuing otherwise normal humans with power?"

Then Dante spoke, and Ling considered both her and Lust. When she spoke again, it was dismissive of the much older woman and directed towards the homunculus once more. Dante was proving her worth, though; providing Ling a name and more importantly telling her that there was quite a bit more here. Ling wasn't surprised by the implication; quite the contrary, she was intrigued. She'd seen souls without bodies... so the corollary of bodies without souls was not a difficult one to make. "A 'soul-less monster'? That is quite the accusation."

[lustful_thing]

"Their experiments come in a wide variety," Lust said, her eyes focused on the tiled wall in front of her. "Giving powers, taking them away, altering them. Manipulating a person's physical body - there seems no limit to the power of these experiments."

And wonderful, that damn bitch of a woman had to intrude with something that actually tied in to the conversation. Lust's eyes narrowed, and then her expression smoothed once more. She cast an eye over Dante's rotted flesh, realizing that perhaps her fears were overstated. This woman, in this place, had no hold over her. And Scar was no longer quite the loner he had been - he could protect himself and there were others who could protect him as well. Perhaps she truly had no need of playing pawn any longer....

"Edward has nothing to do with what I am now," she answered honestly, working the shampoo through her hair. "And you haven't the slightest idea what I am." As though to prove it, Lust extended her claws a fraction of an inch to display that she wasn't human. She turned to Scholar Ling. "Soul-less monster is something of an exaggeration. If we find time to speak in private, I'll tell you more."