Hello from the other side [Zuqetta]

A familiar power had graced the planet for some time, a power that Zuqetta had felt she'd never see again. She'd been aware of it since it's arrival, but considering it's previous location, she'd made every attempt NOT to acknowledge it. After she'd had a quick encounter with an individual out in the wastelands however, she'd taken notice of the power's movement. It was Azoth, and he'd gone to Hachi city...

"Why are you here...?" Zuqetta mumbled to herself as she sat upon her interesting cloud far in the sky.

She held no animosity towards Azoth, and could only imagine that he had visited both sides of Plant in his campaign of peacekeeping. She wanted to see him again, but had no idea what to even say. Her mind was plagued with thought after though of how their interaction would go. She had vanished without a word after their fight on Earth, failed to assist him when he rose to power on Arcose, and even abandoned her own people by allowing some random demon to claim the throne. She had done noting but bring upon failure after failure, she believed that surely... there would be no kind words to be had.

Still, after so long in seclusion, her curiosity was beginning to get the best of her. Even if they didn't speak, she wanted to at least see him one last time before returning to her isolation. She wished she could see everyone one last time, but refused to get her hopes up so high.

With her power GREATLY suppressed, Zuqetta would ride her cloud into the city; taking advantage of it to avoid the patrols and scouters. She had no idea where the cloud had come from, but hardly cared. It had appeared before her some time prior in her deepest moments of loneliness, and though she'd been wary of it's strange face and slightly ominous aura, she accepted it. The cloud seemed neutral after all, neither aligned with the morally righteous or nefarious; something she could stay beside without having to think about her actions.

As Azoth moved through the city, Zuqetta kept at a distance upon her cloud; watching and many gaped and waved. "Heh, benefits of royalty?" Zuqetta stated to herself with a weak smile as Azoth made his way into a small shop.

She knew better however, Azoth had always had a good way with most; he was a seeker of peace and justice after all, in spite of what some individuals might of thought. That was the biggest quality that had drawn Zuqetta in after all; she wanted to be a hero, in the end, all she did was play at one... her lack of conviction being her downfall.

Leaping from her cloud, Zuqetta would land in an alley near the shop; emerging casually without much care. She dressed in her casual attire; a white oversized sweater, black stockings, and bright red boots. With her hands in her sweater pockets and tail safely hidden beneath, she appeared no different than any other teenage girl. Compared to the Tuffles however, she may have seemed just a slight bit taller; though, still only reaching five feet in height.

Confident in her bit of disguise, she made her way towards he shop entrance and peered inside; immediately taking notice of Azoth as he sipped upon his drink.

"The city seems peaceful enough... guess you succeeded at your goal... hehe..." Zuqetta whispered, slumping her stance a bit as she tried to back away; yet, something stopped her.

She wanted to leave, she was too ashamed to face Azoth after all of this time; but she couldn't. She desire to talk with someone, ANYONE, but especially a friend was just too strong. What would she even say? Would it be okay to simply say hello? His was an Emperor now, she knew that much; but this was simply one of the many excuses she told herself as she attempted to pull back. She had abandoned him, that was obvious; he was sure to be furious, and yet...

Zuqetta's hesitation was quickly turned into an inconvenience for others; though she had been too distracted by her thoughts to notice, a small and annoyed crowd was steadily beginning to form outside the entrance. Though the Tuffle patrons were attempting to be polite, the annoyed tones of their whispers began to rise in volume as they waited for the girl to hurry up and make a decision!

---

As the guests began to pile, finally one would speak up; nudging Zuqetta as politely as they could before asking if she needed help on deciding. The action had distracted her, albeit only briefly; but that brief moments was more than enough, for as she would turn her head back, she would immediately be greeted by Azoth's sudden presence directly before her.

"A-Azoth..." She would mumble, though with a bit of surprise.

She prepared herself for some form of lecture, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist. She knew she deserved punishment; and yet, that didn't appear to be what Azoth had in mind. As he spoke, she could feel his kindness and worry; and upon mustering the courage to look him in the eye, she would feel a lump form in her chest.

"No... I'm alive." She would respond lowly, in a somewhat apathetic tone.

Without hesitation, she would take him up on his offer; accepting his embrace with a feeling of regret before following him to his table. Upon taking her seat, Zuqetta would pull her feet up onto the chair; hugging her knees to her chest, she would drape her sweater over them before resting her head down atop it all.

"Welp, long time no see... heh" She would say lowly, giving a brief smile that quickly began to fade. Being a bit hyper aware of herself at the moment however, she was quick to force her smile back; hoping to maintain a particular manner, at least around Azoth. Though it was clear she was no longer acting as how she did so long ago.

---

"Heh, yeah... I heard." Zuqetta would respond with a brief smile, before turning her head away and averting her gaze.

As Azoth went on to explain the situation, Zuqetta could only feel more and more ashamed. He had achieved his every goal and showed no signs of stopping. His was a true defender, a guardian of hope and light who would bring about peace; Zuqetta however, felt as no more than an imitation. How could she even be allowed to stay in Azoths presence when she had failed at her own objectives so terribly? Worse yet, with all of her claims to bring about peace as queen having fallen short, she may as well have been considered the universes biggest liar.

"I wouldn't say... too urgent..."

Just the fact that Azoth continued to hold any hope at all for her felt like a weight of immeasurable size. The feeling became even worse upon hearing that her room back on the Freezing Horizon was still intact. Zuqetta hadn't touched, let alone even looked at a piece of technology in months; but she could still vividly remember the layout of her room and her strewn about experiments...

"I hope MP is doin' okay." She would mumble as a faint but genuine smile would come across her face. She had been pretty attached to the Mini Paladion's, and often found herself worrying on if they needed maintenance or not.

Her teeth would grit tightly however as her thoughts strayed; what was she even doing here? She didn't deserve to be around people, let alone be around Azoth, and yet here she was, having a conversation like nothing had ever happened...

"Azoth..." Zuqetta would begin quietly, before clearing her throat and forcing herself to meet his gaze properly, "Aren't... aren't you mad?" She asked in a somewhat meek tone; almost as if she was requesting a scolding, "I..." She continued, hesitating for a moment before shaking her head and continuing, "The truth is, I ran away... I failed you and anyone else who had any hopes in me..."

As she spoke, her voice would crack slightly; it was clearing a painful matter to speak about, one that brought with it a great deal of shame, but of all those in the universe, Azoth deserved the truth.

"I failed to become the warrior my sister wanted... I failed to become the queen you wanted... I failed to bring peace, I failed to bring hope, I've just been failing, over and over and over again!" She would explain, nearly seeming as though she would lash out violently; before quickly doing the opposite and calming down, a clear sign of having given up, "I... I'm happy to see you again." She would say softly with a smile; a smile that would unfortunately, quickly fade away, "But I'm not worth it..."

---

As she spoke, Azoth had patiently listened; and now the time had come. As Azoth lifted his hand, Zuqetta would close her eyes. She knew Azoth, and knew he wasn't a bad or aggressive person; but after what she had done she still expected some form of discipline. If it had been Vennel, then Zuqetta could have expected a swift punch in the face; as such, she tensed up and readied for whatever Azoth had in store for her. Upon feeling a touch upon her head she would flinch; however, such a soft interaction and the words that would accompany it were not at all what she expected.

As Azoth began to speak, Zuqetta would steadily open her eyes and meet with his. Rather than any form of harsh scolding, once again, Azoth would give words of encouragement. His brief and simple words filled her with a hope she felt was undeserved, and his request for her help in his endeavors gave her a sense of belonging that had previously been misplaced. She had experienced failure after failure, but he spoke true; giving up was the only REAL failure. She was still here, still alive, and still capable of trying again; and even after everything, Azoth was still there for her.

Zuqetta's face would redden and eyes would begin to become watery as she did her best to hold back her emotion. As he removed his hand, booped her nose and greeted her however; Zuqetta simply couldn't contain herself. Though her face may have seemed incredibly ugly as it happened, tears would begin to flow down her cheeks uncontrollably as she began to loudly sob and cry unintelligibly. It was as though a great of negative emotions had piled up into this singular moment and had suddenly been allowed to finally flow freely all at once. Though she would rub at her face over and over as she cried with the sleeve of her sweater, the tears would simply never stop.

She attempted to speak as she cried; though nothing she said would come through clearly enough to make out a sentence. What would be clear however, was that she missed him; and Emperor or no, she would push forward in an attempt to hug him, finally feeling genuinely happy and relieved, something she hadn't felt in so long...

---

Having the chance to finally express herself was exhausting. The previous her from so long ago would have consider the current her weak for displaying such emotions, but Zuqetta had moved past such mentality. From the distant, strict teachings of her father, to the tough love of Vennel; Zuqetta had always been told to keep her emotions buried, and not simply the bad, but the good as well. Leaving Sadala all that time ago, meeting Azoth on Earth, and finally joining the Galactic Frontier; she had felt a freedom like no other, and enjoyed expressing herself. The fact that now, she could continue to do so without being reprimanded soothed her soul dearly.

"Heh, your weird skin shell is super cold." Zuqetta would comment with a bit of a laugh, "Feels nice though... my face is hot, hehe." She stated with a smile, sniffling a bit as she finally ceased her bawling and began to wipe her final tears away.

She would continue to cling for a few moments longer, getting the most out of the accepted hug as she could; before finally pushing away and adjusting herself back onto her chair. Strangely, she still felt like crying, but held a real smile on her face. After having spent so much time in isolation frowning, smiling actually hurt just a little bit.

"I'm... calm now, heh." Zuqetta would say with another sniffle before taking a deep breath and suddenly shooting Azoth a serious expression, "Azoth!" She exclaimed, hesitating for only a moment before steeling herself to finally speak the truth of her heart, "I... I don't want to be Queen!" She stated firmly; feeling just ta bit worried about what Azoth's possible reaction may have been.

This may not have been the time or place to have brought up such a declaration, but inside Zuqetta felt she had no choice. Having had such a roller coaster ride of emotions, the last thing she wanted to happen was to resign herself back into her shell.

"I..." She began once more, her eyes darting a bit as she quickly thought of how to express her reasoning, "I'm only fifteen!" She explained, "And I don't wanna be stuck behind some desk, or trapped in a palace!" She stated, clasping her hands together nervously as her tail twitched anxiously beneath her sweater, "I DO still want to help people, and I wanna help you bring peace to the universe! But... but I also wanna explore that universe! I wanna experience thing's I've never experienced, learn things, build things, and go on adventures!"

Finishing her explanation, Zuqetta would take one final deep breath; doing her best to remain calm and firm in her decision.

"So, I'm sorry... but, I just... I don't wanna be Queen." She said somewhat meekly, "I know there's some demon lady pretending to be Queen right now, but that's an issue for the other adults." Zuqetta continued with a huff, "I mean, if she or anyone else acts up and tries ta be evil, heh, then yeah! I'll go and give em a good smack!" She stated with a sharp grin, "But I don't wanna be anyone's leader."

As Zuqetta had spoke and explained herself, her energy would steadily begin to rise. Though she was not aware of it, this encounter with Azoth had bolstered her confidence; still, she was far from feeling back at one hundred percent.

---

Though her admittance and explanation felt trying, upon hearing Azoth's response an immense feeling of relief would wash over her. Her tail would casually slip out from beneath her sweater and her energy would rise to a much more comfortable level; now only slightly suppressed. She hadn't noticed the drinks that had been brought before, but now that the heavy weights that she had imposed upon herself were lifted, her relaxed mind had finally taken in the surroundings.

"Hehe, I'm glad ta hear you say that." Zuqetta would say softly with a smile; her tail waving about playfully as she took hold of the drink nearest to her to try it, "Mmmn~, and yeah! Of course I'll be there ta help ya out!" She exclaimed, before pulling back a bit, "Oh... uh, I kinda lost my scouter though..." She said with a bit of disappointment, "I have Vennels old scouter right now, so until I get a new one, you'll have ta contact me through this." She stated, pulling out Vennels old model one scouter from her pocket; ready to send Azoth the communications access code whenever he requested.

It was a bit disappointed to be without her personal scouter, especially after how much she had modified it. Considering the events that had happened with Zerori in Hatchi City all that time ago however, it was perhaps for the best.

"Heh, this is pretty good." She would say with a smile as she took another sip from her cooled hot chocolate, "I should bring Rensou here sometime!" She exclaimed; blissfully unaware that her friend had also vanished in much the same manner as Vennel and Onnio had, "Uhh, where exactly IS here anyways? Heh, I just kinda... followed you once I felt your energy." She finished awkwardly, scratching at the back of her head a bit before taking yet another sip of her chocolate.

---

Though she knew Azoth was only teasing, she still felt the need to hold the scouter close to her after he had accepted her communications code. Undoubtedly she'd get a new scouter soon, and would probably even be the one to build it; after all, she'd had such fun building her last scouter. That in no way meant she would do away with this scouter however; Vennel was never the type to keep mementos after all, which made this scouter the last reminder Zuqetta had of her.

I wish we had taken a picture... Zuqetta would think to herself as she remembered her casual day off with Vennel and Onnio at the mall in Sadala.

Such things simply weren't Vennel's way, but that hardly mattered now. More importantly, as Zuqetta took another sip of her hot chocolate, her gaze would move along with Azoth's before she suddenly came to a realization along with his words.

"The... the Chancellorship...? Heh..." Zuqetta would respond nervously, her power lowering as she slowly slipped her tail back underneath her sweater, "I uhh, I wasn't really thinkin' when I followed you." She stated meekly, "Um... how's the war situation?" She would question; feeling thankful that most Tuffles didn't sense energy. Even if some enforcers decided to come around after picking her up on their scouters, she was luckily with an Emperor at the moment; though she hoped not to cause any unnecessary problems for Azoth.

Azoth didn't seem to think it was any big deal, continuing instead to speak of his ongoing efforts. Zuqetta was glad to hear that the demon who'd become Queen was at least nice; and if she had the same line of thinking as she and Azoth, the the future was looking bright. For the most part however, all the talk of politics was lost on Zuqetta; she only knew one thing for certain, she didn't intend to run away again. Once Azoth found the leader of the Tuffles, Zuqetta knew she wanted to be there for whatever it was he had planned.

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