White Noise (Ise)

While under the influence of the LoFi beats of her music, Zerori was blissfully unaware of the danger that was nearby, her body relaxed to such an extent that she didn’t even feel Ise’s power fluctuate as she approached. It wasn’t until the air seemed to change and a sensation of something wet splattering over her face jolted the girl from her music with a violent tremor of shock, a screech echoing through the area as her headphone fell off her head and clattered to the ground. Wide-eyed and more than a little shaken, Zerori wasn’t self-aware for a few frozen seconds until she looked up from the viscera and acid that splattered the ground.

In front of her, shaking her head as if to ward off a bad headache, with the same blood on her hands was Ise. Backed up against the wall, Zerori hadn’t realized what had happened until Ise had turned back toward her - her expression looking more than a little uncertain as she awkwardly greeted her. “I-Ise, what are you-?” Trying to stave off the tremor in her voice, Zerori raised a hand absentmindedly toward her face to wipe off the odd-colored blood and giving it a look of clear worry in her eyes before she returned her gaze to her friend.

Was she scared of Ise? Worried she had lost her mind?

The truth was perhaps a little more disturbing than that as Zerori’s suspicion was replaced instantly with concern as she noted the acid burns that smoked from Ise’s arms. Whatever terror Zerori might have had about what happened was immediately forgotten as she scrambled up from the ground, “You’re hurt!” She yelled, reaching up to gently take a look at the burns and realizing belatedly with a wince that she was also feeling a mildly burning sensation on her cheek. “What in the-?” She used her other hand to touch the acid and winced again at the pain. What had attacked them?! Where had Ise come from?

Instead of asking these important questions, Zerori just looked up at Ise with concern, “Are you okay?! We… I need to wash that shit off you!” She suddenly felt compelled to quickly get some water and moved her hand away from her own cheek to hold it out.

With a stern expression, a bucket of water was materialized expertly - likely honed by her determination - before Zerori started to try and pour it over the acid on Ise’s arm carefully; her own burn upon her cheek completely ignored.

As Zerori washed away the acid, her expression forlorn and wrought with worry, Ise’s words would have Zerori look up suddenly (as if she were surprised) before she relaxed a little and smiled softly out of relief that Ise wasn’t upset with her or in any pain. Her mind was a vortex of emotions; not just because of the shocking manner in which they’d met again but the previous conversation with Azoth and the guilt that ate at her persisted even a day after it had concluded. As Ise moved her hand to wipe away the acid on Zerori’s face, eliciting another wince but thankfully mitigating the numbing stink, the girl’s face would redden a little before she stepped back and dropped the bucket to the floor with a clamor.

Hearing that Ise had been protecting her from a creature, likely a Saiba-wolf, actually had the hybrid blink in surprise before she held a hand to her chest and sighed, “Is that all it was? Shit, that… that’s good,” Even if it was objectively NOT good, especially from Ise’s perspective. Realizing this, Zerori backpedalled a little, “Okay, not ‘good’ good but, like… better than I thought it was, but only because I-” She forced herself to stop rambling, worried she’d blabber herself into a corner.

She ran a hand through her hair awkwardly, looking away, “Sorry, I’m just… still on edge. Not because of you- well, sorta, but not because of the reason you might think!” Once AGAIN Zerori had to stop herself before she said something stupid and finally just got to the point enough to blurt out with plain anxiety on her face, “IfoundoutaboutyourDad!”

A long silence from Zerori stretched out, stomach coiling in knots as she looked expectantly at Ise for any kind of anger or disappointment. Zerori felt she was at fault because she didn’t get the potion to Hibernal in time, but knew that there HAD to have been other ways for Hibernal to have kept his life in the face of Azoth. There had to have been. Finally, Zerori muttered, “I’m sorry. I-I should have done more. Should have given you the potion sooner, met your Dad sooner. He could have been strong enough to fight Azoth!” Her fist clenched at her side tightly, popping and cracking loudly from the force as she struggled to give Ise what felt like an empty apology.

Briefly, Zerori’s face flushed out of embarrassment at the mention of her being off guard. She didn’t think she would have been that hurt, either, but to have been caught in such a shameful situation - in front Ise, no less! - was a deeply mortifying feeling. Thankfully, Ise didn’t press the topic further, allowing Zerori to focus on the serious moment at hand, even if she was worried about how Ise would feel about her guilt. When her friend explained that it wasn’t her fault and why, Zerori’s ears lowered slightly, not entirely believing her the more she went on about them still not having time, Hibernal being stubborn and Azoth being stronger than she’d first believed.

At the very least, Zerori accepted that much. She never met Ise’s father, but Ise would know him better than anyone. At least… that was what Zerori wanted to believe.


Zerori bit her lip, trying her best not to remember Azoth’s words even as they haunted her. She didn't want to believe him, but after what Ise was telling her about Hibernal and how it wasn't her fault. How could she feel grateful that Ise didn't blame her when she knew something like THIS?!


The way Ise hissed Azoth’s name, more venomous than Zerori had ever heard before, a cold chill rushed down her spine. She usually liked it when Ise was angry and ready for a fight. It was endearing in a way Zerori didn’t really understand but could relate to rather easily! But this… this was something darker. In spite of knowing where Ise's hatred came from, Zerori felt herself take a step back without realizing it.

“I… Ise, you have every right to want to kill Azoth, believe me,” She started, nervous that she was making a mistake too soon. It just felt like the bridge she held between her two friends was falling apart too quickly for her to try and repair. She had to be careful. She had to be sure. “-but are you… are you askin’ me to help you kill Azoth?” The look of uncertainty was evident, as was the hesitation but the real fear Zerori felt was unspoken.

She wasn’t sure if she had it in her to kill Azoth if Ise asked, but neither did she have the willpower to step aside if Azoth decided to do the same to Ise. She’d protect Ise with her life.

She just wasn’t sure if she’d kill for her. Why did that feel so wrong to know about herself? Did she not care about Ise as much as Ise cared about her?

While Zerori was relieved that she wasn’t being asked to help kill Azoth, something she wasn’t sure she could even do, Ise’s words didn’t alleviate Zerori’s worry in the slightest! Still spurred on by revenge, Ise had made it clear that she wanted Zerori absent from it. The idea of being away from Ise as she happily pushed Zerori to safety and putting herself in danger-

Almost immediately, very similar to how Zerori felt when Azoth spoke to her about doing what he believed was best for Ise, the hybrid felt an intense surge of aggression and - unthinkingly - her hand came up to snatch at the front of Ise’s armor. She leaned in toward Ise, passionately exclaiming, “I don’t want that, either!” She knew of Vocado through Azoth; that he was encouraging Ise to seek out revenge in what Zerori was certain was framed ‘in the Saiyan way’. In her time on Plant, Zerori was becoming more and more irritated with how the Saiyans did things! Zuqetta’s cynical few of the Saiyans certainly didn’t help.

When Zerori continued she really wasn’t sure she could shut herself up, “You think I’m going to just sit around while you throw yourself at Azoth when he killed your Father like he was nothing? I may not know much about… like, peace and shit in the galaxy because I’m a Demon but I don't think that Azoth isn’t as shitty a person as you think he is! But if you challenged him when you’re strong enough and he thinks your threat, Ise-”

Zerori’s grip on Ise loosened up, her arm shaking now, “-He’ll kill you. He says he won’t, but when I argued with him… when I told him that I wanted to protect you, I saw something there. Something that I saw in my King back home.”

Leaders did what they had to to protect the people they ruled. Some were good and some were bad; these were simple concepts Zerori understood. But they all had the same burden of power; they would kill anyone that was a threat to them. Azoth may have told her that he did what did to keep Ise from becoming like Hibernal… but even she could see that Azoth made Ise into the exact person he was trying to avoid. She just wished he understood that.

Zerori would release her hold from Ise, assuming she hadn’t upset Ise, and look just as guilty as before, “If you fight Azoth to the death, putting yourself at risk… I’m not going to stand by and ignore that. I won’t kill him, but there’s no way I’m letting you do this alone. I wasn’t able to help your Dad, but I told you-”

She held out her hand, “-Chakkapak never go back on their promises.”

“I want to hope that he won’t,” Zerori clarified, bringing up a hand to wipe at any tears on her face that might have almost escaped and taking a deep breath in before releasing it. “He’s scarily strong, but also kind of a dumbass like me, so… “ She crossed her arms, “If there’s a chance we WON’T have to fight him, I’m taking it.” She didn’t want to seem like she was trying to change Ise’s mind when it came to what she had heart set on but Zerori was anything if not determined to make Ise see that there were better ways to handle her hatred.

That being said, even if she was trying to be smart about this, Zerori noted that Ise seemed to believe Vocado to be an ally of hers that would be making a reappearance in their next showdown. Briefly, Zerori grimaced but tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible. I don’t want her to know that I plan to give this Vocado guy a few choice words of my own, but… Could Ise see expressions? She felt bad for trying to take advantage of her inability but Zerori was also uncertain if Ise had her own ways of reading people.

At the question of how she knew, Zerori didn’t see any point in lying about it, “Azoth told me himself. We had… a LONG conversation about it.” For a moment, Zerori thought that it might be best to just leave it at that, but didn’t feel right about not giving Ise everything. Well, at least what she COULD tell about it. Azoth was honest to her. Ise deserved the same treatment that she got from Azoth. “He told me about what happened on Arcose and how the fight between your Dad and him ended. And he told me how you attacked him with a guy named Vocado. I was angry at him, but I...” This was the hard part. “I understand why he did it. Even if was pissed that he killed your Dad.”

Now it was Zerori’s turn to ask questions, “This ain’t my business, but it feels important to ask. Just-” She grinned nervously, “-try not to hit me too hard for it?” Clearing her throat, she threw it out there. “Besides the obvious, why are you upset that Hibernal wasn’t killed? I know why I’m upset but it’s not the same reason you are. Ain’t nobody deserve death like that, no matter how evil they are… but you knew what he did, right? All that ‘gencide’ stuff?”

She wasn’t going to pretend she understood how Arcosian culture worked, but if Hibernal was a really bad dude and other Arcosians like Azoth didn’t want him around - there had to be some split down the middle about how people felt, right?

Zerori gave a wince when Ise had yelled, thinking she was upset at her, only to feel immediate relief when Ise was just telling her not to call herself dumb. Zerori didn’t think it was such a bad thing, especially considering she wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. But… It still felt nice that Ise didn’t think of her that way. Even if she didn’t like hearing in the next moment that Ise saw no future with Azoth in it, she could appreciate that her friend held such a conviction within her and was honest in that regard. While she might not like hearing that her two best friends may find themselves locked into battle, she was grateful to know that she could prepare for such an event.

Silently, and with a lot more patience than Zerori thought herself capable of, she listened to Ise explain things from her side. In spite of not liking how much he encouraged Ise, Zerori knew that family was important to her. That Vocado was some of the last of her family… it made the halfling’s heart go out to her best friend. With a smirk tossed to Ise for her joke, Zerori couldn’t help but slyly slip in, “I’m always game for a rematch; just don’t get mad if I win, y’know?” She finished with a wink.

But the moment of lightheartedness wasn’t meant to last.

Gradually, taking in the emotional outpour of what should sound like years of torment that Ise had to persevere through a matter of weeks, Zerori grin would fall - leaving her to gape at Ise in disbelief. She could see how much it hurt her to open up and say these things; even Zerroi wasn’t sure how to digest the incredible depth of what she was being told. The urge to pull her into a hug was strong, almost overwhelming but Zerori waited - jaw clenched tightly to keep herself from crying with Ise. Zerori needed to be strong for her.

Hearing how reliant Arcose was on subjugated worlds very likely did not hit Zerori the way Ise had likely hoped it would. Whereas Ise was raised to believe that the work Hibernal and her did was only for the best for Arcose, Zerori was raised by a clan of Demons that were subjugated by other clans of Demons for eons. They’re only means to survive being how spread apart and clever their people were. She wasn’t willing to argue with Ise about the morality of it; not after everything Zerori had said about what Demons were all about.

This wasn’t about that. As Ise finished, the final nail in the coffin being the mention that Azoth had taken Ise future with her and by laying the conditions of her life on Arcose in his hands, Zerori’s self restraint was gone in an instant. The sudden surge of power didn’t bother Zerori (even as Ise seeked to contain it just as quickly as it had happened) as she stepped forward with her arms out to pull the girl to her into a tight embrace that she hoped was strong enough to comfort her. Whatever words she had on her tongue had long since died off - either out of respect for it not being the right moment or because Ise didn’t need it right now!

She wasn’t sure what words would help, if they did at all, but she said them anyway, “I’m sorry, Ise, I-” If it was possible, she held on tighter, her own tears falling down her cheeks as the rage and helplessness that her friend felt seemed to be reflected in Zerori’s own emotions. “You don’t gotta do this alone. Ain’t nobody deserve that, least of all YOU! So when you wanna fight him… we’ll fight him. But I want you to know somethin’, okay?” She made to pull back, looking into Ise’s visor as if the Arcosian noble could see the emotions on her face. “Whatever happens after that, whether you win or lose-? You got me. Mom, too, but she’s not as cool...” She forced a smile, “We can be your family if you ever need a fresh one in a pinch. It’s kinda our thing, y’know?”