[ Akua watched as Hayame reared back, as powerful as any Liessen Charger, and the glass shattered to pieces under her hooves. She had... rarely had the opportunity to see Hayame in battle, or truly observe her. Their paths had often taken them toward different goals, but seeing it now --

My.

Akua knew and appreciated power more than anything else, she always had. The pursuit of it was inherently Praesi, inherently villainous, but more than that, she could appreciate what a powerful ally Hayame represented at that moment, in watching her crush underneath her hooves. It's one thing to know, and it's another to see it, and understand.

Her lips curled, though, because Hayame's words -- the other Hayame's words -- cut deep, not just to the woman they were directed at, either. She had believed such a thing too, that people made one weak, and relying on them even more so. She had nursed at the altar of iron sharpens iron, and had killed a girl she'd been close to with her own two hands, to remind her that she must never be close. ]

Do you really think having allies is pathetic?

[ She asked -- it is not directed at Hayame, but at the mirrors. ] Or a lover?

[ She had, of course. She snapped a finger, and an entire line of the mirrors shattered, in sequence, as if affected by an earthquake, even though the ground was still. ]

It is no such thing, to find support to fill those gaps we each hold, and a hard lesson that we must learn.

[ Her eyes slid to Hayame then, as if it were for her. ]