#fujimori kikumi

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Kikumi’s Nemain attire.

I feel that while she tags along with Signy, she would need a more fitting outfit for the terrain and so I came up with this. I tried to keep some elements of her Cerridwen roots, while blending it with Nemain aspects such as fur on the shoulder, brown leathers, the shine guards on her boots, the belt, etc.

The colors are a bit close to Signy’s in terms of the tunic, but... it has a greener hue to it, so I felt it still was distinguishable from her design.

[kazekothestrange]

"If it's a vampire, we've got this covered. But if it's not... we're way ahead of you, heh! Just keep an eye over your shoulder and enjoy the party, kid~"

Kazeko and Kazuno: Me

Kikumi: @caffeinated-chaos-bean

Stage: はぎの

Skydome: MMDAnimatio357

Cross: destony001

Effects:

Autoluminous4 and SvSSAO: Sovoro

HgDiffusion: Harigane

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

While the Hamon user heals the brunette, Rose steps up to the plate and delivers a round house kick to the succubus' head. Her heel makes contact with the being's skull, a loud crack being heard. "Such an arrogant brat!!"

"Out of the way Rose, the next blow is mine!"

Kikumi summoned her stand once more, Four Winds materializing as the elf makes her way back over to the enemy.

"Girls, she's getting weak, I can feel it!!" The elf shouted. "I believe that if we combine out efforts and attack as a group, all at once, we'll have her!!"

Kikumi model: caffeinated-chaos-bean

Vampire Queen Rose model: @strawberry-metal

Halloween Stage: HanbitSoft and UnluckyCandyFox

Poses: Snorlaxn

Effects:

SvSSAO: Sovoro

Diffusion: Sovoro

Pixeledgeblur: Otamon

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

The succubus from the vines conjured by Mother Earth, her battered body now laying upon the cold, stone ground as flames erupted from her.

The elf walked towards her, cautious but determined. “Any last words before you perish?”

“P-Please…. I-I’m sorry…… I-I’m trying to just get f-food….. t-to survive….”

Kikumi cocked her head to the side, confused. “I understand your kind’s nature, but I must ask if you truly believe that this is something I’d believe? Simply getting food to survive? There are plenty of other means of doing so rather than hoarding humans and causing mass disappearances.”

The curly haired demon weakly tilted her head to look up at the elf. “P-Please…. I u-used to have my own source of f-food so that I w-wouldn’t have to d-do this…” The succubi sniffled amidst the flames. “B-But he l-left me…. a-and I have b-been left to s-starve….”

Silence. Kikumi didn’t take her eyes from the woman before her, nor did she turn to look over her shoulder to the rest of her group before she summoned Four Winds to blow out the flames. “You’re lucky I’m being merciful. Take us to the victims and then perhaps we'll hear your story.”

The succubus was quiet for a moment before looking up at the elf. "If I... mn... if I take you to them, and tell you my reasons, what.... would be in it for me..? I still need to feed... to survive..."

Kikumi looked to the girls behind her. "If we are taken to the victims and then hear her out, do we agree to help her find a better form of food?"

All the girls looked puzzled. "What? After all the attacks in that battle and all the things she said!?" Shanna stated.

"I wouldn't trust her to even do my nails, Kikumi." Rose chimed in.

The demoness weakly made her way to her feet, her claws outstretched before her. With what little strength she had left, she conjured a portal. "If there... is a chance you are willing to help me.... then I'm willing to do what I have to... By stepping through this portal, you'll be taken to where I've kept those I've taken. They're still alive, but weak..."

"Tch..." Shanna did not like these terms, especially after everything that creature had said and done.

"Kikumi, do you really think this is a good idea?" Kazuno chimed in. "It would be much safer to get the victims free and get rid of her for the safety of everyone else."

Kikumi sighed. "I know. ...I know... but if there is a chance to end this peacefully, should we not try to go that route?" The elf watched each girl exchange a cautious glance before anotehr voice chimed in.

"Fine." Shanna blurted out. "“She’d better take us to those girls and release them…” Her tone was cold and bitter as Mother Earth appeared behind her. “Otherwise I will bash her skull in like there’s no tomorrow.

hanna and Rose models: @strawberry-metal

Mother Time, Mother Earth, Kazuno and Kazeko models: @kazekothestrange

Kikumi model: Caffeinated-Chaos-Bean

Teto model: kitzabitza

Blue Aura Thingy: MrWhitefolks and Junk-Hoes

Halloween Stage: HanbitSoft and UnluckyCandyFox

Knife: gamebanana, Millenia, SeSS, Rufus and AbyssLeo

Poses: Snorlaxin

Effects:

Self Burning: Beamman

SvSSAO, Autoluminous4 and Objectluminous: Sovoro

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

The elf smiles and nods, taking the sage in her hands. "Thank you, it's more than likely going to come in handy."

Kikumi looked out the windows of the upper floor, her gaze wandering to the starry skies. Who or what was behind these disappearances? What was the source of those droplets of blood?

Her thoughts were broken as her ear perked up, hearing a bit of the conversation going on across the way. Something about... a succubus? The need for a resistance ritual? It appeared as though one of the twins may have found a lead in the investigation, but the third voice mixed in with them was unknown to her.

The elf looked around and found the younger of the non-twin sisters, and made her way over to the bunny-clad girl. "Oi, Kazeko. I overheard the girls talking. I think we might have a lead. Did you find anything on your end?"

The bunny turned to her. "Ah, them too??" she clenches her fists, eyebrows furrowing. "Upstairs… at the balcony, we found several scuff marks on the carpet, and claw scratches in the railing, like something had been coming in and out that way."

Kikumi's brows sharpened. "Claw marks and scuffs? Hm... on one of the candle poles I found coagulated spots of blood. Perhaps the two are related?"

"I'll go find Kazuno and tell her it's time to meet up." Kazeko stated, her tone firm. "…Please watch your back, and call us if anything happens-!"

Kikumi model: caffeinated-chaos-bean

Bunny Kazeko model: @kazekothestrange

Angela Scream Doll: AceYoen

Stage: はぎの

Skydome: MMDAnimatio357

Poses: Snorlaxn

Effects:

SvSSAO: Sovoro

Diffusion: Sovoro

Pixeledgeblur: Otamon

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Hey, small oni!! You NEED to try the fruit punch and snacks, we worked hard on the refreshments table, so stop by~

Kikumi is snapped out of her train of though when a girl dressed as a doll puts a hand on her shoulder, beaming with a smile. "You really gotta try it, hun!! It tastes divine!!"

"O-Oh?" The elf stammered, caught off guard by the sudden interaction. "Well, I mean... if you insist! I'm sure they taste delicious! What kind of snacks are they?"

Kikumi model: caffeinated-chaos-bean

Angela Scream Doll: AceYoen

Stage: はぎの

Skydome: MMDAnimatio357

Poses: Snorlaxn

Effects:

SvSSAO: Sovoro

Diffusion: Sovoro

Pixeledgeblur: Otamon

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

The elf parted ways with the sets of twins, a certain portion of the decorations having caught her eye. Surely there was evidence somewhere here, but where? Not everything is in plain sight, and if these events are being caused by something paranormal or by an enemy Stand user, then something would be hidden amidst the room.

Above the coffin decor, an occultish skull is mounted on the wall. The elf eyes the decoration, looking back to the pumpkins, to the stone fixtures, and then back to the skull.

"Hm... something just doesn't seem right about this."

Kikumi eyed the skull further, noticing how it didn't match the other Halloween decorations in terms of quality. While the pumpkins and the stonework and candles were beautifully crafted, they clearly were fake if you looked hard enough. This mounted skull, however, almost could pass as being real...

Gosh I didn't mean to be THIS late on this. I forgot I have physical therapy when I got off work, and then my mother wanted to go to the store. Thankfully its here though! My brain is currently soup and I have one ask atm, I will answer tomorrow. ><

Kikumi model: caffeinated-chaos-bean

Stage: はぎの

Skydome: MMDAnimatio357

Effects:

SvSSAO: Sovoro

Diffusion: Sovoro

Pixeledgeblur: Otamon

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Behold, for we have Kikumi all dressed up as a royal oni for this year's Halloween!

Shanna, Kazeko, and myself are dipping our itty bitty toesies back into doing some events, starting with Halloween. It's been a while since the three of us collectively did something together that lasted more than a day or two. Event collab hooray!!!

This event is going to last for about a week or so during October, and while I will be late posting on Mondays due to work, we DO intend to start this event Monday!! We hope you all enjoy and please do feel free to ask any questions during the even that pop into your heads, lest they go unanswered and make your head pop off instead!!

Kaz's blog: @kazekothestrange

Shanna's blog:  @strawberry-metal

My blog: https://caffeinated-chaos-bean.tumblr.com/

The downloads for our event models will only be going to one another, as some parts don't allow for distribution. I could have gone with a simpler preview image, but I needed to do something more~

Credits below the cut

Pose: OzzWalcito (with tweaks done by myself)

Base/Face: Montecore

Texture Edits: Myself using Paint Tool Sai and FireAlpaca

Buns: Hutariwap

Pigtails: Reina

Bangs: Daiger1975

Ears: MMDFakewings

Horns: MMDFakewings

Outfit + Shoes: Montecore

Expression: MonoCereal

Stage: 天堂不去

SvSSAO: Sovoro

Object Luminous: Sovoro

Diffusion: Sovoro

Bleach Bypass: Otamon

And full simple soft shadow SHOULD be: Beamman

Pixel Blur: Otamon

[kazekothestrange]

"Oi!! Sorry to keep you waiting!" Running towards the other gathered ladies, Kazuno waved to catch their attention., Kazeko close behind. "Everybody ready?"

"Yo! Yeah, we're all ready!" Shanna waved, Rose letting out a little sigh under her breath and folding her arms. "Good, you're safe." The twins greeted in reply, Rose stepping forward and gesturing for Shanna to choose a dance partner as suggested.

"Haa, just in time. The next song is about to begin." The elven woman gently gestured towards the skull, to let everybody know there's something up with it, sending a telepathic message to the two other stand users. "That skull is trouble. Don't stare at it."

One by one, the girls settled in with another and started moving to the music, covering their information exchange.

"We found some pretty telling things on our end... and you, dear?" Kazeko murmured as quiet as she could without being drowned out.

"Us, too. But go ahead. What have you discovered, Kazeko?" Rose muttered back, glancing over her shoulder.

"Well, we found what is definitely an entry point, probably for what's responsible for this. Claw marks on the balcony railing, and shoe scuffs in the carpet. Kazuno used a torch to look at the ground below, and there was no sign that anybody had been jumping down."

"That lines up perfectly with one of the things we learned." Replied the noble, spinning around her dance partner. "There've been sightings of a winged humanoid creature around this mansion. It must have been using the balcony for takeoff."

"We got two solid witness accounts." Kazuno spoke up as she shuffled over to the other twin, stopping with a swing. "A friend of one of the missing people said he raved like he was out of his mind, about a beautiful woman he just had to ask out, as if he would die if he didn't. And another kept hearing what sounded like a person growling whenever she got too close to this place at night!"

"Hmhmhm... it's all coming together..." Shanna started to smile. "We found a long lock of curly pink hair, and that clock upstairs? It wasn't broken, because it was battery operated and just removed from the wall. But yet the batteries were taken out, to forcibly stop the clock, but it wasn't placed back on the wall, as if this was all done in a hurry. So whoever it was didn't know how to work a modern day clock, and tried to trick everyone into staying longer. Perhaps to get more victims, or by chance, to give this being more time with its CURRENT victim." She closed her eyes in thought as she did a twirl, flaring her skirt.

"So, something that looks like a person, and crafty too... but doesn't have all its marbles together, huh?" Kazuno mused, smirking as a similar idea started to form.

"Not to mention the blood spatters I found on a candelabra." Kikumi interjected, backing up towards the others.

"A-and I've got a bloodstained scrap of fabric in my bag... I found it on my way downstairs...!" Kazeko replied once more, eyebrows upturned with worry. How many people had fallen victim...?

"Plus, would you believe it? We found Sakura here at this party, so we were able to get a witch's opinion on this! She said we have three choices from all the information she knows. Dragon, Succubus or Incubus, or a Chimera. Now, I know Chimeras, and so do you, Kazeko, Kazuno. You met Kyle and Koryea. I can't possibly imagine the reason for Chimeras to kidnap many victims and keep coming back for more. Plus I highly doubt a human mixed chimera would go after this many humans as well. Dragons are also meant to be guardians, so unless we're a danger to the Earth, it shouldn't be a dragon either. So. You thinking what I'm thinking, Rose?" Shanna looked over at her sister.

"I guarantee I am." Rose answered with a firm nod.

"I'm thinking... succubus. Are we all on the same page, ladies?" Kazuno piped up, cartwheeling close to the converging group.

"Definitely..." "Without a doubt." "Yep, it's gotta be!" "Mmhm." One by one, everyone confirmed their suspicions are the same, slowing to a stop as the song came to a close.

"Alright, everyone, let's go meet up with Sakura!" Shanna pointed a finger up to catch everyone's attention, and the brunette led the charge out of the foyer, everyone under the watchful eye of the skull looming menacingly over them...

Kazeko and Kazuno: Me

Shanna, Rose, Spy: @strawberry-metal

Kikumi: @caffeinated-chaos-bean

Stage: はぎの

Skydome: MMDAnimatio357

Poses: Taken from various motions, I will track down all the credits later

Effects:

Autoluminous4 and SvSSAO: Sovoro

HgDiffusion: Harigane

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Have you got a theory, Kikumi?

"I do have a theory. Truthfully, something about that skull doesn't sit right. Not one bit."

The elf narrowed her brows, slightly on edge. "It feels like it's watching everyone at this party... like someone or something is using it as a means to spy on those of us attending... but for what reason?"

Kikumi knelt down beside one of the candle posts, her eye catching something odd.

"Mn... this isn't the same shade as the punch. It looks more like blood." She hesitates for a moment, pondering if touching or sniffing it would be the right action. In the end, she decides against it.

The elf sighs. "At least going by appearances, it seems have started coagulating. It's fresh, but not too fresh."

Kikumi Model: caffeinated-chaos-bean

Stage: はぎの

Skydome: MMDAnimatio357

Crouching Pose: kaho-3000

Effects:

SvSSAO: Sovoro

Diffusion: Sovoro

Pixeledgeblur: Otamon

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Be careful Kikumi!!! O.O

"Ah, I should be fine. Thank you for your concern, though! You never can be too careful~"

--

"M-Me?" The elf blushes. "I'm... I'm glad you like the costume~"

Kikumi model: caffeinated-chaos-bean

Stage: はぎの

Skydome: MMDAnimatio357

Effects:

SvSSAO: Sovoro

Diffusion: Sovoro

Pixeledgeblur: Otamon

Dream Shader: Ianami

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Some model updats for y’all~

Signy’s outfit was commissioned by ChrisieBDK.

Kikumi’s royal attire is a commission by Heaventa. Her sandals are Montecore, jewelry from o-DSV-o, and tiara from uni_deluxe.

Kikumi’s official outfit was a commission from Arneth-Myndraavn.

Amka’s main outfit was put together by @strawberry-metal​ a while back and has been updated to fit her new base. Her maid attire is a combination of Montecore parts with their textures edited by myself.

Next to the girls, you can also see that Signy’s outfit has sliders to remove her chest armor, the bear-skin mantle, and her bracers. Each is a seperate slider, so you can remove each one individually.

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Their outfits really do contrast where they’re from, lmao.

I really wanted to go all out on Signy with the bear theme, so she has a bear skin mantle that still includes the paws and claws. The trimmings of her tunic under the steel chest armor is also made of bear fur, as are her leg wrappings. She has a traditional celtic/viking/norse belt that wraps around itself and I also included her weapon holster, although I don’t have an exact idea for what her axe will look like. The inner fur lining of her steel bracers, once again, is bear fur. The tunic is made from linen, and her pants are tempered leather. She has two steel shoulder guars that go over her bear skin mantle.

Can you tell I was looking at various pieces of Skyrim armor in order to get an idea for what I wanted her design to be like? ^^;;

Kikumi is so smol and elegant next to Signy, lol. She’s got a bear woman as a bodyguard, lmao.

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Cerridwen: Kikumi’s Race

Cerridwen

The name originates from the Celtic-Irish goddess of of the moon, magic, agriculture, poetry, music, art, and science. She was also the Keeper of the Cauldron. Her name means “chiding love.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Racial Background:

Cerridwen (pronounced “see-ruhd-wen”, unlike its namesake pronunciation of “keh-ruhd-wen”) are an ancient race similar to that of Elves with a civilization built around nature and it's elements. While not fully advanced in the area of technology, they are profound in tuning in with their surroundings as well as the wildlife tied to their individual element, keeping a keen affinity towards their cultural upbringing and their abilities. They are known for their pointed, Elf-like ears, fluffy hair, and enhanced senses. The most common elements are water, earth, fire, and wind, with the exception of the Royal family being able to use derivatives of each element to some extent. Cerridwen claim silver as a prized mineral and have an almost regal or divine feeling that radiates from the race, even if it does not correspond to their individual personality. While not immortal, Cerridwen are known to have quite a long lifespan. They can live up to 3-times that of a human with a maximum age of 750-years. Due to this prolonged life, the Cerridwen culture is highly based upon agriculture and lunar philosophy. Most hold titles related to poetry, music, art, and scholarly teachings.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Environment:

They inhabit lush forests and greenery, keeping in touch with nature as they live within their kingdom known as Salene (pronounced as "suh lean"). Their agriculture is rich and their biggest export and source of income is silver, a mineral claimed to have the ability to heal those who are pure at heart. While many Cerridwen live together in Salene, the kingdom is divided into sections to help better those with distinct elemental properties, with each having it's own God/Goddess to worship and cultural upbringing. This makes for Salene to be a multicultural kingdom. Those of each elemental faction dress according to their respective element, though they all share two common fashion traits - the wearing of soft, flowy fabrics and a touch of silver in their clothing. At the head of the kingdom lies the Royal Palace, home to the kingdom's rulers. The Cerridwen call it "The Palace of the Divine", believing that the Royal Family has deep ties to the Gods/Goddesses. The Royal Family is marked with the Brand of the Moon, an intricate design linked to their main Goddess, Cherika, who their race claim to be a spiritual embodiment of the moon itself. The Royal Family tend to dress in soft colors and long, cascading clothes. The fabric is the softest in the land and flows almost spiritually.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Appearance and Variations:

Each Cerridwen is unique, be it how they dress or their physical appearance. One can go from very pale skin and freckles to a lush tan and hair as white as snow. While each personality is different, they tend to tie into the element that they were born into. Those of Fire tend to have a more "heated" and "bold" personality, Water having a more "calm" and "thoughtful" demeanor, Wind being "free-spirited" and "breezy", and Earth being "caring" and "shy". The Royal Family are the only ones who defy this, as they tend to have a graceful and firm-but-gentle aspect to their personalities.

Within the elemental factions of the Cerridwen race, there also lies Divine-, High-, Mid-, and Low-Blood classes.

Those born into the Divine-Blood class consist only of the Royal Family, as it is said that their family line was blessed by Cherika, herself. Each have the Brand of the Moon, though it is in a unique place for each member of the family. One may have it on their upper arm while another could have it on their lower back.

Those of the High-Blood class consist of those with an attitude in which they believe they are above all classes (and in some cases, even Divine-Bloods). They tend to be closer to the way High Elves think about others, but won't outright claim to be above all else - instead, they'll simply think it and imply it by their actions. That is to say, however, it is possible for a High-Blood to not have this attitude; it's just very uncommon/rare. High-Bloods deal with teaching the elite and usually obtain the job of scholars and philosophy. Elements that are usually tied, but not limited, to this class are Fire and Water.

Those who are in the Mid-Blood class are the Cerridwen counterpart to Wood Elves and the Human working (middle) class. They are hard workers and strive to be above petty accusations, sticking to the ideal of being "honest and true." Mid-Bloods take care of the children and the animals, being the most connected to their surroundings. Mid-Bloods are usually seen keeping peace when not with animals or children. Elements that are usually tied, but not limited, to this class are Earth and Wind.

The Low-Blood class consists of either half or element-less Cerridwen and is the counterpart to Half-Elves and Drow/Dark Elves.

Those who are born into this class and still retain a curiosity for the Cerridwen culture are the Half-Cerridwen, also referred to as the Dwai. They're like their Mid-Blood brothers and sisters, but have a more rebellious streak to them due to their Human half.

Element-less Cerridwen, referred to as the Kehn, are full-blooded Cerridwen whose elemental abilities never took shape. They're very polite, though it has an almost sarcastic hint to it no matter what they do. This is why they are viewed as the Cerridwen counterpart to Drow/Dark Elves. Due to High-Bloods treating them lower than even the Dwai, this form of Low-Blood has begun to draw away from their traditional Gods/Goddesses and turn more towards what they call the "Divine Warriors", the most prominent being the Goddess Elli who believed that all have the potential to be strong throughout their years and is said to have struck down all those who opposed her. The Kehn usually take part in being palace guards and the royal army.

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

Kikumi = smol.

[caffeinated-chaos-bean]

The Queen and the Bear

The wind howled as the queen put further distance between herself and the kingdom. The lush, green trees slowly turned to tall pines with snow-covered branches as her feet to her further and further into the woods. One would think that the bitter cold would slow her down, but the unrest in her heart kept her going. As she stopped to take a breather and ensure that she still had not been followed, the queen was caught off guard as her feet were knocked out from under her. Before she could even react, she was pinned down in the snow with an axe to her throat.

“Who are you, and why are you trespassing here?” her attacker demanded, their voice harsh and loud. “This is Nemain territory, and your kind isn’t welcome.”

The queen attempted to brush some of the snow out of her face but was stopped as the blade of her attacker’s weapon pressed harder against her neck. “If you really must know, I’m the current reigning Queen of Salene. Or rather, I was the reigning Queen...”

The brutish woman scoffed at those words. “Oh, so we have one of the dolled-up royals in our lands, eh?” The woman still did not let her up, but her tone was less sharp. “Why would you ever choose to leave the comfort of your precious palace let alone the fragile safety of your kingdom?”

“Because I...” the queen trailed off, feeling small. “I don’t have what it takes to rule...” She averted her eyes from the blonde, clearly having difficulty saying those words.

The Nemain woman looked at stared down at her for a moment before finally lifting her axe away from the royal, unsure of how she was supposed to take that statement. “What do you mean by that? Don’t your little followers always agree with their ruler’s choices?”

The purple-haired Cerridwen remained silent for a moment. “...It isn’t that they won’t agree, it’s that I don’t have the experience.”

The blonde finally stood, releasing the royal from her grip. “Experience? Bah! You were raised by the previous leaders, how the hell don’t you have experience?”

“I wasn’t.” the queen stated as she sat up. “I... I never was taught how.”

The Nemain looked at the pitiful Cerridwen before her, placing her axes back into their belt loops. “...Well that’s ridiculous, why wouldn’t they teach their next in line to rule the kingdom? ...What’s your name, anyway?”

“...Kikumi...” the queen said. “And it wasn’t that they chose to not teach me, the kingdom was practically sacked before they really had the chance... My parents never made it, and had it not been for those...disgusting...necromancers....I wouldn’t have, either.”

The warrior woman gave her a puzzled look before taking an abrupt seat beside the elf. “What are you saying, you’re technically supposed to be dead or something?”

“...Yeah.” Kikumi muttered. “I don’t know why I’m bothering to spill my whole story to someone who just tried to kill me, though... so, who are you?”

The blonde kept eyeing how forlorn this young woman was, because her royal status didn’t match the look she now had. “Signy. Signy War-Bear, Nemain warrior with the title of Slayer.”

“....Well, Signy... you’re right.” Kikumi told her, still not having looked away from the snow. “I’m supposed to be dead, but when the kingdom was sacked all those years ago, necromancers stole the bodies of the dead. Reanimated them for their own purposes in hopes they had capable puppets, and I was one of them... I only took the throne after returning on a mission for those they worked alongside, and things... were explained to me by one of the few survivors. But really, who am I to rule a kingdom? I have no experience in governing other people, let alone dealing with political affairs... they should just find a replacement for me before I screw things up...”

At that, Kikumi was met with a hard slap to the back of her head. She turned to see Signy frowning at her, her brows furrowed. “What the hell was that for?!”

“How pathetic.” Signy growled. “You’re running away from your duty because you don’t have the courage to face it head on! How can you even call yourself a queen at all if that’s the stance you take? A Nemain would take the reins and go with it even if they didn’t have the experience!!”

“Well then maybe you should go and be the queen then.” Kikumi sneered.

“Tch, as if.” Signy laughed. “I’m not refined like your kind. I’ve better things to do with my time.”

Kikumi shook her head. “And what would that be?”

“Adventuring.” Signy stated. “Being able to see what’s out there and what tries to put up a fight. Strengthening my arms in battle. How else do you think I got the title of Slayer?”

Kikumi sat silent for a moment. “You certainly seem to live up to your title, then... perhaps I could learn a thing or two from you...”

“Oh no, I ain’t teaching no fragile palace girl how to do her job. Not like I know how to be a royal, I swing an axe and things fall dead. Simple as that.”

“It’s a metaphor.” Kikumi stated coldly. “Not like your people want me around, either.”

Signy stared at the sorry excuse for a queen, pondering what to do. After a bit of silence, the blonde stood and began to walk away. Kikumi stared for a moment, watching her go before pulling her knees to her chest and looking away. Signy heard the minor movement and turned around, looking back at the royal. “...What, you’re jsut going to sit there?”

“...What else is there to do...”

Signy rolled her eyes and let a massive grunt escape her lips. “Get up. You can tag along with me until you’re ready to go back home.”