He extended his hand towards her, and she hesitated a second longer before accepting it. What reason was there to resist that gesture now, she tried to rationalize with herself, considering how close they'd already been?[break][break]

The warmth of him didn't make processing his concern for her any easier. How much of this was him trying to say what he thought she wanted to hear?[break][break]

How much did her life matter to a man who was content to turn his back on the League itself, with such little provocation?[break][break]

You can't rely on him, if this backfires on you, a small voice reminded her.[break][break]

She'd learned that lesson from other men, first.[break][break]

"I can take care of myself," Elisabeth said finally, casting her gaze downwards. "Don't worry. I'm used to it."[break][break]

Her fingers disentangled from his own, curling into her palm protectively.

[attr="class","ooc"] MATIAS SILPH[break][break]

Something in his earnestness made her pause mid-step. And how much help have I ever given you, she almost asked, but knew better than to say. Her own kindness had stopped being a given some time ago.[break][break]

But this was meant to be a two-way street, at least in theory, wasn't it?[break][break]

"Here." A small vial was thrown into his waiting hand, glittering a dark amethyst color, with a stopper that he'd discover was a reverse syringe. "They're going to ask you questions when you don't appear. If you don't have any better alternatives, inject yourself with this."[break][break]

It could sound like dark humor, but her carmine eyes reflected full sincerity.[break][break]

"It's Nihilego poison. My own's unique variant, no less. Tell the League you were compromised and that Underboss Elisabeth Fiorelli did it. If they don't believe you, they can check your bloodwork."[break][break]

This was an insane ask by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the best option she figured she could give him. Though it required all of the trust he purportedly had in her.[break][break]

"One injection sound be enough to cause minimal symptoms. Just isolate yourself, and you should be fine." She offered a careless shrug. "If not, the League has improved the state of their medical supplies significantly since the Ultra Deep Sea."

[attr="class","ooc"] MATIAS SILPH[break][break]

"I do." He might have been kidding, but she wasn't in the least. "I've learned to be prepared."[break][break]

priam conrad had leaked that advancement in League technology and other information to Rocket, which she suspected most of the League already knew, given his recent change in status with Eva Morales's laboratory.[break][break]

Then again, Matias didn't seem the type to keep an eye on those things, either.[break][break]

"Consider it a last resort. I'm a convenient villain in your story, should you need one." She smirked despite herself, amused at her own joke. "You can let them know how my nefarious attempts at seducing you are going."[break][break]

What was that saying? 'The truth is stranger than fiction.'[break][break]

"But it will probably be some time before we see one another again."

[attr="class","ooc"] MATIAS SILPH[break][break]

"When the dust settles."[break][break]

Elisabeth didn't have a better answer than that one. She wasn't sure what might happen after killing FERNANDO SILPH, assuming she succeeded. Or what might happen to her, assuming she failed.[break][break]

She'd not promised MATIAS SILPH she'd live, because she didn't know if that was a promise she could keep. It was equally possible that she found herself in League custody after, and would have to rely on this fragile bond they'd formed to escape.[break][break]

It occurred to her fully, in that moment, how much power she'd given to him here.[break][break]

He could show up outside Dewford regardless of what he promised her. He could offer her poisons to Eva Morales for study, preparing measures against her own chemical warfare. He could inform Rocket of their rendezvous before she had the chance to decide that narrative herself.[break][break]

He could warn FERNANDO SILPH of her intentions, if he was savvy enough to piece her mission together.[break][break]

"Until then, I suppose we have no choice but to trust one another."

[attr="class","ooc"] MATIAS SILPH[break][break]

And as he took his leave of this place, she did the same, departing the mountain by herself as her mind raced through countless possibilities.[break][break]

He might betray her, or he might not. It didn't matter, she told herself, so long as she defended herself first.[break][break]

The Unown-M found her again, as if it had been waiting for her to be alone all this time. Naomi Sato had always treated them as friendly, curious creatures, but Elisabeth had never thought them so until this moment. It blinked its single eye at her expectantly, and she slowly figured out that it was waiting for her to speak.[break][break]

It wanted an explanation for her actions, she realized, before it retreated back to its mistress. It had been too far away to properly understand the events that unfolded for itself.[break][break]

She took the olive branch and seized it, plunging the first dagger between them into the other's back.[break][break]

"Tell declan walsh that Groudon's Avatar is compromised," she said in a firm, decisive voice, pushing down any panic that might have built inside of her. She held herself with the poise of a woman who possessed no shame, the look in her eyes unclouded by emotion and reflecting pure calculation.[break][break]

If you have nothing to hide, then you should show no fear, she reminded herself. You can't show any weakness.[break][break]

A miserable decade had taught her that lesson, painfully sculpting a porcelain mask she still knew how to wear when needed.[break][break]

"I'll be reporting to Walsh in more detail after the upcoming battles. Please do inform Admin Bee of the matter, to keep the department of intelligence apprised."[break][break]

Desperately, she hoped that the lurching sensation in her stomach at the mentioning of BARNABY FINCH's name wouldn't be audible; she didn't know what he'd think of her for this, although part of her told herself it shouldn't matter.[break][break]

"For the glory of Rocket, then."[break][break]

She kept on walking forward, her path set whether she wanted it to be or not.

[attr="class","ooc"] MATIAS SILPH[break][break]