The Time Has Come...

Hilde Von Creuzfeldt stepped out of the Limo and nodded to the two pale girls in the front seat. She pulled one large duffel bag out from car and heaved it over her shoulder. She'd leave the rest to the twins. She turned and looked at her house. Finally she was back "home" even though she had just returned from Germany. The place where she had grown up and where her family had resided for generations almost seemed like a distant thing. Her home had been Japan and the thought crept into her at times and left a melancholy taste in her mouth.

Hilde sighed softly. She was away on business. Von Creuzfeldt business that had little to do with the AFW. Still, she found time to get in some work there as well, staying on top of the game in the interconnected internet age. She'd done some recruiting and scouted some locations in between taking a look at the Von Creuzfeldt Master Estate in Ulm.

hilde pushed open the door and let her bag drop tot he floor. She looked around the Japan Mansion and smiled. It was pleasantly quiet.

"I'm home." She said in a voice a little louder than her normal one, as if to send a message to those who were within but not loud enough to actually get anyone's attention. She smiled softl to herself. The feeling WAS good.

((SCREW YOU TAT YOU AINT GETTING THIS SHIT RP THAT EASILY YOU HAVE TO DISPATCH MY BUNNY FIRST))

Lia Cross sashayed through the halls of the Von Creuzfeldt Estate, Japan Branch (VCEJ), lost in reverie to the music pumping through her earbuds. She had finished a her workout and stayed in her casual clothes; a tight, gaudy t-shirt that read "I'D FLEX, BUT I LIKE THIS SHIRT," a pair of sweat shorts, sneakers, and her trademark rabbit ears. Right now, she did not have much to do, so she was cruising through the house, looking for a fight.

"Curve your little spine and tell me that you're mine. It's all about the game and what you flaaaunt. Yeah, I know that there's no pleasing yooou, when you know that you're not teasing meee. She's an absolute--" Lia's singing was cut off by rounding the corner into the main hall and seeing Hilde. Despite the circumstances, Lia looked neither surprised nor ashamed. "Why, howdy Hilde." Lia took out her earbuds and looked away, smiling to herself. "Man, that's fun to say." She giggled. She turned back to the German. "Haven't seen you in a while. I had thought your little sis had abused you to death or something." She patted Hilde on her back playfully, her lack of shame matched only by her lack of tact. "I keep forgetting you're the big sister," Lia added in thought, "You know, I should remind Big Bad Lukey-baby of that every chance I get..."

Hilde's eyes raised as she saw Lia walk in. Last she knew the bunny girl had gone off on another mission. Hilde cringed at the thought of reliving that time after she left with Chesna. The woman was already hard enough to deal with, but it seemed like she knew how to tweak herself in a way that made her utterly insufferable. She was pretty sure that the girl had been on suicide watch for a while. And now? She was looking at a ghost.

"Miss Cross. Guten tag." She said smiling softly. "I am shocked to see you again. I had honestly thought you had..." Hilde bit her lip and lowered her head.

"Anyway..." She said, waving her hand. "You're here to see Miss Matu?" She asked before waving her hand. "Nein, nein." She said. "I just happen to be a woman who shares the same last name when it comes to Lukretia. She may not consider me her sister and I'll always think of her as MY baby sister, I'M the one who made the decision. I'm the one who chose to put her in a position to disown me. Please don't take it up with her." Hilde said, looking at Lia with pitiful blue doe eyes.

Lia shrugged, "What? That I found another girl? Please. Rabbits fuck a lot but you can't get rid of them that easily." Lia winked and wagged a lecturing finger at Hilde. "Already caught up with the Doc. Our first night back was... well, one of her other girlfriends barged in and nearly choked me to death then Ches dosed herself into unconsciousness. Got a cool ring out of the deal though, so I guess it wasn't a total loss." She held up her hand and admired the band Chesna had given her.

Lia's rabbit ears perked in interest, "Reallllly now? She disowned you? That sounds like a story. I'll have to get HILDE'S LITTLE SISTER to tell me some time..." She gave Hilde a playful slug on the shoulder, "Psh, don't be a pussy. The sentence is 'She. Disowned. Me.' Not 'I made her do something.' You don't have that power over her, and you aren't responsible for her being a general piece of human trash either." Lia was unmoved by Hilde's pitiful look. "Except that you enable her unwarranted self-importance by hanging around." Lia's face darkened, "I mean that. The psychopaths and broken little sluts here are one thing but people who could do better with their lives like... well, you... and that's it... really are part of the problem. Unless you got a life insurance scam going on, she ain't worth your time, your energy, or your life." Lia took a step closer to Hilde and spoke a little bit louder than usual, "Both of you are part of the problem. Make that bratty German have to actually do some REAL work in her miserable life. Don't clean up after her."

"Found another girl... yeah..." Hilde said, trailing off. She was thinking more like 'murdered by terrorists' but Lia's explanation was much better to think about. She smiled when Lia flashed the ring. Who knew that Chesna could be romantic! "Congratulations!" She said in earnest, smiling at Lia.

Her smile faded though. First at the jovial chastisement and then from Lia's serious accusations. By the time Lia was finished, Hilde was nervously shifting and doing her best to keep from scowling. "She's my baby sister. I love her and I'd do anything for her without thinking about it. But... she doesn't want me here and, frankly, leaving her is the one thing I'll never do for her. I have to do what I can to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

Hilde sighed. 'Miss Cross, you're absolutely right about me being part of the problem, however, why you think that way is completely mistaken." Hilde lowered her eyes, staring at Lia's collar. "This is a house of monsters. It's not a place for the feint of heart However, of all the monsters that lurk here, I am by far the worst." She did not speak with threat or malice in her tone but rather sullen acceptance and morose. "It's where I belong."

Hilde stepped past Lia. "I'm sorry, Miss Cross, but if you're done visiting your fiance, could you please retire for the evening? You can always come back and see her another day."

Lia folded her arms. How not to get Lia Cross to leave, by Hilde von Creuzfeldt. "Oh," Lia said, "I don't recall seeing your name on my paychecks, Hilde-baby." Lia said with a playful wink. Hilde had a point, if Lia were a guest, she would have definitely worn out her welcome. "So, sorry, Boss's Big Sis, but I don't think you can give me a paid night off."

Life as a mercenary taught Lia to keep an open mind. Hilde's self-pitying melodrama sounded like so much bullshit, but there was an edge to Hilde's tone, a subtle shift in her posture. Whether or not it was stupid bullshit, Hilde believed it. So Lia did too, at least for the sake of the conversation, "Look, I've been in the business of monsterdom for a while. You can't. You can NOT let that stuff rule you. The regrets, the nightmares, those times where you remember what you did and it feels like it's going to consume you... You have to make peace with that by hook or by crook. Devoting your life to some sort of self-imposed penance isn't healthy. Hell, it's selfish, practically masturbatory. It helps nobody and all it offers is an addiction to self-loathing. The debt you imagine for yourself is the one you will NEVER, EVER repay because you grow to love hating yourself. I've seen better men than me fall to that crap." Lia's eyes had lost their focus for a second. "You need to live. For yourself. And you have to forgive yourself to do that."

Stepping over to the coat rack, Lia grabbed one of Violate's top hats. Turning to Hilde with a knowing smile, she said, "You know, we got off on the wrong foot, I think. Let me show you this place isn't just for monsters. I've got a magic trick for you!" She showed Hilde the inside of the hat as she took a few steps toward the closet door. "Nothing up my sleeves..." Lia pulled down her t-shirt sleeves to emphasize the point. "And, presto!" She opened the closet door and stuck both hands inside.

A muffled voice came from the closet. "Eek! Ah, let go!" Cardia yelped as Lia pulled her out of the closet by her pig tails. She tripped and stumbled to the floor at Lia's feet as Lia shook the hat out above her.

"Aha!" Lia said with a grin, "Guess I don't know my own strength. Bet you never saw a rabbit pull a girl out of a hat before, huh?" Lia bowed to Hilde with a flourish, adding to Cardia, whom she was now looking at, "I'm a bodyguard, sweetie. It's my job to figure out when people are hiding from me."

Cardia blushed and pouted. She muttered sheepishly, "H-hi Hilde," before facing Lia with an indignant glare, "Everyone in this house wants to violate me, okay?"

Lia held her hands up, "Whoah, I ain't judging. Just letting you know, if I wanted to rape you, I still could, totally."

"Oh... You're back on the payroll..." Hilde said, lowering her head. She guessed she couldn't be THAT surprised about it either. "Well, it's good to have yo back, none the same." She added. She was a little annoyed about not being told about it, but other than that, it wasn't so bad. She liked Lia, even if right now, for some reason, she was purposefully trying to get under the blonde's skin.

She listened to Lia's words and they sounded wise enough. She was probably right but she clenched her fist and pressed it into her chest. She turned her head as Lia stepped towards the hat rack. "You don't know what I've done..." She whispered solemnly before suddenly seeing Cardia spill out from the closet.

Hiide's eyes widened and she took a step back like she was seeing a ghost. Her lip quivered and her knuckles whitened against her chest as she stared at Hilde.

She suddenly felt her heart race and her breath quicken. She tilted her head and looked past Cardia to Lia. "Miss Cross." She said, almost exhaling instead of speaking as her voice began to quiver. "It's time for you to find someplace else to go." She tried to be as calm as she could even as her whole body shivered.

Hilde was obviously impressed with that magic trick. Very, very impressed. Lia winked at Cardia, who did not appreciate it. For all intents and purposes, if Hilde got hit by a bus, Lia was certain she would not care. Getting Hilde out of here was all to try to undermine Lukretia's support network...

And yet...

And yet...

Lia took a step close to Hilde, grasping the German's ears and turning her to face Lia's eyes. "I'm serious. There's no end to that road. You'll sink deeper and deeper and... drag down everyone who cares about you." It was a guess; but the way the maid and Hilde exchanged glances. There was something going on between them. An emotional sucker punch might just be enough... maybe. Lia paused for a second and sighed, that was probably about all the attention she could pull from Hilde. She had not taken her eyes off that maid since Lia pulled her out of her hat. Plus, she was not sure what else to say. She had seen this sort of pain so many times before and as always she was powerless against it. She patted Hilde on the cheeks and forced a warm smile, "You kids have fun." She winked at Hilde before ambling off.

Standing up, Cardia dusted herself off. "I hate that rabbit nutjob." She muttered before turning back to Hilde. If Lia had not been there, Cardia probably would have stayed in that closet. She wanted to see Hilde again but, at the same time, dreaded actually seeing her again. Hilde deserved better than a slut who fantasizes about her sister regularly.

Even now, stop dammit. Cardia blushed, forcing a nervous smile as she looked away from Hilde. Just seeing what was building up in her was almost terrifying. "Hilde..." It was odd. She had thought through what she wanted to say to Hilde after her absence so many times, but it completely escaped her. Part of her had hoped Hilde had found someone better, someone she deserved in that time so she would not have to answer for her absence. She clasped her hands together so tightly that the pain brought her into focus. "I'm sorry."

Hilde 's insides were roiling. She felt like she was going to burst with every second the rabbit remained. Unlike Cardia, Hilde didn't hate Lia. She didn't really hate anyone anymore, but girl's cavalier attitude to the situation, and life in general, was wholly inappropriate as the German blonde set to meet her lover for the first time in a long time.

When Lia finally scampered off, Hilde inhaled deeply. She then pivoted her body and shot her hand as hard as she could, stinging a slap across Cardia's cheek with as much force as she could muster.

Hilde exhaled and already felt tears creeping up underneath her eyes. "Y-You didn't even... say goodbye." She said. "and you didn't even... SAY HELLO!"

Hilde stamped her foot on the ground. "Do you know how many sleepless nights I had wondering where you had gone!? When you'd be back IF you'd be back!? If fucking Val went bonkers and KILLED you!?"

Hilde was crying while she screamed. "Und Sie glauben, eine einfache Entschuldigung geht alles in Ordnung, machen? Mein Gott, ich weiß, ob ich dich verprügeln oder fick dich hier im Foyer nicht!" She screamed in German, her face red with passion. She just didn't know what kind.