Lady Lilac - Butterfly's Tale (Part 1)

SHANG TU
Royal Palace, Main Throne Room
Neera-Li, Lady Sash Lilac, Unknown Visitor

There was polite rapping on the door to the Royal Chambers, followed by a soft creak as they opened. The noise of clomping boots spilled into the azure chambers as the panda began her graceful walk down the halls towards the throne. Her purple clothes rippled and blended with the extreme cobalt themes within the room, the massive window overlooking the skyscrapers beyond the palace and casting soft light onto the long walk to the podium. She stopped before the throne, its golden arches laid with gems and jewels of all kinds, before saluting and dropping to one knee.

"My Master..." she began, her voice low and sophisticated, aimed at the person within the throne, "The visitor from another world is ready to see you now. Shall I let him in?"

The lavender dragon sitting on the throne looked up from whatever part of the floor she was staring at, a look of amusement spreading across her face, "Yes. Send him though."

"Yes, my master," the panda said, before she turned to walk out of the room, making it to the door in little time and gently closing the massive open door behind her. Lady Lilac sighed with happiness, getting out of her throne and walking towards the window. She looked at her reflection, cast as if she was a ghost, shrouded in the light reflecting off of the skyscrapers in front of her. For a lavender dragon, she was quite the unusual specimen, a golden crown draped over her head with a ruby-red gem set in the front of it. Awaiting her guest, she brushed down the drapes of her cobalt blue dress, dusting off dark blue sleeves and midsection ribbon with her bare and scaly hands. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled lovingly; she looked absolutely perfect. Well, almost. She tussled with her hair, moving it away from her face and subconsciously touching the two areas where her tendrils should have been. Even now, with her steely resolve and stoic mannerisms, her missing tendrils were enough to bring a tear to her eye - just the one, however - and a small frown to her face. Of all the things they couldn't do...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doors creaking open again, this time fair more gallantly, coupled with the clomping of boots as Lady Lilac's guest began to walk briskly down the hall. He was a hedgehog, his build and face very different to the type of walking talking animals that seemed to roam Planet Avalice, his fur a cobalt blue and his eyes a deep green. He was lanky, with long arms and legs but a small body, clad in a rather unusual set of clothes; a red jumpsuit that was quite clingy, a golden chestplate that covered his stomach and shoulders in chunky and engraved armour. He wore dark blue gloves with similarly-bulky cuffs and large green boots that reached up to his thighs and were held in place with more golden braces around the ankles. He didn't wear his face-concealing helmet - he rarely did around Lilac, a sign he had gotten to know her - leaving his pale skin, spiky quills and stoic face on display. He reached the end of the red carpet that snaked across the marble floor, stopping before the throne and turning to face the dragon queen. The panda was once more in the room, having silently slid across the room with the hedgehog, and saluted once more.

"Your guest, my master," the panda barked, standing upright and as straight as a pin.

"Thank you, Neera. You can leave us, now. Go have a coffee or something. An iced one, maybe?"

Neera-Li sneered at the odd pun but nevertheless took it in stride, quickly turning and walking towards the doors once again. As she marched, she could hear the queen and her subject beginning to converse; her voice was dainty and polite, an air of sophistication within it, while his voice was more gruff and carrying the tone of a soldier.

"Miss Lilac of Universe FP-003. It is nice to meet you again."

"That is Lady Lilac of Universe FP-003, I will remind you..." Lady Lilac spoke, waiting until Neera had left the room with the odd thunk of the door being her signal. Her voice changed almost instantly, becoming much more informal and with the new air of an adventurer in her wiser years. She reached out and shook the hedgehog's hand, "Zonic the Zone Cop, right outta the No-Zone. I honestly thought you'd never get here. I tell you, I was beginning to get bored!"

"I can't imagine the sort of life spent ruling an entire continent can be described as 'boring'," Zonic said in his almost emotionless drawl.

"...Well, no," Lady Lilac shrugged, "Stressful is perhaps more apt. But you know what I mean, right?"

"...No."

"Oh," Lady Lilac's two lavender horns dipped a bit, like if she had ears that could droop. They straightened up as she resumed her tract, "So, you decided to take my invitations? You would like my...assistance?"

"Yes," Zonic said, "Your previous efforts have been almost invaluable to us. You've helped us to capture criminals with far less collateral damage. A stable, powerful, flexible individual with a knowledge of the multiverse that...doesn't cause that individual to break out screaming. Agent Amelia's been ranting about you for a while now. Said you would be quite helpful."

"Well..." Lady Lilac looked a bit coy, "It WAS one of your boys who helped me get over those events at the Thermal Base. Helped me get where I am today. I've gotta repay the favour in SOME manner."

"Well, we don't know yet," Zonic stated, "All we know is that whoever helped you was a Zonewalker. Not exactly like us. Anyway, we have looked over your suggestions, invitations and ideas and we are happy to say we will be considering it in the future."

"Really?" Lady Lilac asked, a larger smile on her face, "Thank you, Zonic. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," Zonic said, shaking Lady Lilac's hand once more, "And I believe we can start with your assistance as early as today. We have something that requires you, a task to prove how helpful you can be in a...non-violent fashion. Agent Amelia has set up a few meetings for various types of you across the multiverse. The normal ones, the alternate-gender ones, the homosexual ones and so on. And there's one we could use your help with. The Fallen Lilac Group."

"The Fallen Lilacs?" Lady Lilac asked, scratching her head in confusion, "Who would they be?"

"I'm afraid I cannot give such information away outside of the No-Zone," Zonic sighed, opening a panel on one of his bulky cuffs and pressing a few buttons underneath it, "We will have to travel there to divulge it. I trust you do not mind being transported as well?"

"Not really," Lady Lilac mused, "I have General Gong look after my throne while I'm away on my...adventures. All I need to do is change into more fitting clothes. Give me...five or so minutes and I should be ready."

"Ready?" Zonic asked, "So you accept?"

Lady Lilac flashed a coy grin as she walked into the sleeping quarters behind the throne area, slowly unzipping her dress from the back on the way, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

NO-ZONE
No Zone Prison, Rehabilitation Centre, Reception
Five Minutes After Previous Scene
Draigfech, Amelia Rosalina

There was a powerful flash of light as the portal phased into existence, a large blue swirl that howled and whined as it drew in air and pulled it into its whirling form. There was another flash and an otherworldly hum as someone stepped out of the portal and into the reception. It was Lady Lilac once more, now in her self-assumed "battle dress"; gone was the form-inhibiting blue dress and golden crown, now she wore less modest but certainly more flexible clothes. She wore a light blue tank top that showed off her stomach and a scar that ran across it, a sports bra underneath, a skirt with white fur trim and the Shang Mu symbol on its front and her old boots with their golden soles. Her crown was gone, in its place were two light blue orbs on either side of her head, with a purple whip and a blue dagger in holsters around her waist.

This most unusual dragon stepped further out of the portal, landing with a graceful tap onto the pale green floors of the reception. Zonic followed suit, his heavy boots once again clomping on the floor and disturbing the others waiting in the room. It looked like any other sort of waiting room in any other hospital, being a pale green on the floors and a pale beige on the walls, with blue padded seats and a reception desk nearby with a small rabbit at the desk. In, on and around the chairs were all sorts of duplicates; hedgehogs, foxes, echidnas, bats, snakes and more, all in all sorts of shapes and sizes and colours, all waiting patiently for reasons unknown. Most of those were looking at Lady Lilac and Zonic as the portal vanished into the ether, leaving the two alone.

"WELL..." Lady Lilac almost nonchalantly, brushing off her sort-of clothes, "That was a rush!"

"I know. Multiversial Portal Travel can be a bit of an unsavoury kick first few times 'round," Zonic said, still stone-faced, "You get used to it after a while. Said to be less dangerous than using particle-based teleportation, but...well, not as inconspicuous."

War Lilac said nothing, simply walking a few paces around the reception, strolling up to a water dispenser in the corner and pouring herself a small plastic cup's worth. She walked back, sipping on the water, and eventually spoke, "So, this is the No-Zone, huh? People told me it was more...sideways."

"The No-Zone is, for all intents and purposes, an anomaly," Zonic stated, "We did indeed used to stand at alternate angles, but the whole...shifted following the revolt of a few rogue Elder Masters. They sapped a lot of the energy outta this place. Everything's different now. Darker."

"As expected..." Lady Lilac flashed another smile, "So, what's the plan?"

"Amelia said she'd pick you up directly. Said she'd even bring her understudy with her."

"Understudy?" Lady Lilac asked, "How so?"

"Behind you, kiddo," came another voice, one almost identical towards Lady Lilac's own. She gasped and swung herself around to see behind her. From the doorway in the far corner of the room came a figure, one around Lady Lilac's height and wearing a large black cloak with a hood covering almost all of her face. She had black horns, pale lavender skin and two odd mechanical tendrils spilling out of the back of her head, so it was clear she was another Lilac of some kind. She wore mostly black clothing - a black t-shirt with a corset and black trousers - alongside leather boots and a pair of heavy-cuff leather gloves. Behind her was a female hedgehog, clearly older and more weary, with a pair of sunken eyes and a small wrinkled frown to call her own. She had blond fur, strawberry blond in fact, with lightning blue eyes and her quills up in a ponytail. She wore a white shirt, black dress trousers and a large overcoat with patches and pockets that had obviously been stitched on after the fact, with the odd black gloves and boots to match. The alternate Lilac stopped just before the two, standing stock still like a soldier, while the hedgehog approached further and reached her hand out.

"...And you are?"

"The slightly-insane woman who brought you here," the hedgehog said, taking Lady Lilac's hand and shaking it, "Amelia Rosalina. Chronomancer, Agent of the No-Zone Police and burgeoning Director of the No-Zone Prison Rehabilitation Centre."

"Geez, you think highly of yourself," Lady Lilac snarked, "Who's your friend? The, uh...the other me?"

"Yeah, another you," Zonic stated as he always did, "A Fallen Lilac who turned herself around with Amelia's help. Doesn't think she's deserving of the Lilac identity so she goes around calling herself DraigFech."

"Welsh for 'Dragon Girl', before you ask," the cloaked Lilac spoke, "A language not many universes really have, so it keeps me mostly anonymous. And keeps me from using...well, Lilac. Zonic's right, I don't deserve that sort of identity."

"Why?" Lady Lilac asked, "What did you do?"

DraigFech remained quiet for a bit, "...You'll see."

"Indeed you shall," Amelia smiled, turning around and walking down towards the exit she had just come from, "Follow us."

Lady Lilac looked at her cloaked duplicated for a short while, shrugged and began walking down the hallway with DraigFech and Zonic in rapid tow. The corridors of this No-Zone, the supposed gateway to every other world, looked like any other hospital corridor, even back where Lady Lilac herself hailed; pale white walls, pale green floors and doors and corridors leading just about anywhere and everywhere. Bright lights kept the hallways warmly lit and a number of other creatures were walking back and forth with more No-Zone members to guide them. There were many Lilacs wandering the halls, there was a Lilac wearing Carol's clothes, a male Lilac, a Lilac in a stunning red dress and with vampire fangs, even a Lilac who could only be described as a walking pile of muscle and abs. Lady Lilac couldn't quite get over that last one. Trying to shake the image from her head, she walked a bit faster to catch up with Amelia.

"This is, uh..." Lady Lilac began, "A bit strange. I heard the No-Zone was this weird and wonderful place where everyone stood sideways and they talked funny and they saved people!"

"Well we're not in THAT bit," Amelia said, "We're in the No-Zone Prison, yes, but still in a sub-section. The actual Prison contains the inmates. The repeat troublemakers, you could say, those who never stop causing trouble both in and out of their universe. When I joined the No-Zone Police and rose through their ranks, I decided to, uh, build a wing for rehabilitation, to bring hope to the no-hopers. It did used to be all...strange, but the Elder Master Wars put a stop to that."

"Basically a number of the creators of this 'verse..." DraigFech sounded as if the sentence tasted vile in her mouth, "They tried to revolt against the higher ones, tried to gain even more power. They were vanquished and as further punishment...well, as a deterrent to anyone else who thought revolting was worth a shot, they wiped all of their creations from the quote-unquote 'main universes'. We survived because the No-Zone is situated in the Void - the stuff inbetween."

"We lost a lot of energy when the focus shifted away from us," Zonic said, his heavy boots still audible as the group exited the hallway and entered a large and busy courtyard, "Things stopped working, a number of our patients went insane, a number more of our inmates vanished into the ether overnight. We sorta became desperate for new staff and the moment we saw someone with powerful time-changing powers, we knew that would help us. Next thing we know, our version of Amy ends up cooked to a crisp in a freak fire-related accident, Amelia takes over, a whole new batch of universes are discovered and we're back in business."

"...Thanks for the history lesson," Lady Lilac snarked, "So, what exactly am I doing here?"

"Well, part of my plan is not simply to keep these people locked up," Amelia sighed wearily, "The Elder Masters care just enough to prevent as many time paradoxes as they can, so we have to let all these people go after a while. So the point of my exercise is to rehabilitate them and turn them, for lack of a better word, good. But I haven't been getting any progress with just me, so we need another Lilac to talk to the crazier ones. Consider yourself a...motivational speaker, if you'd like."

"That's about right," DraigFech said, "I'd do it, but I tend to get a bit violent when I'm unnerved. Which is, what, all the time? ...We're here."

The group stopped, having crossed the courtyard and entered another hallway. They were now in front of a door, with another a few steps away from it and "FP-XXX MEETING ROOM 021 - FALLEN LILACS" stamped on both. Inside were vague silhouettes of even more Lilacs sitting around in a circle, while the shadow in the other door revealed some stealthy surveillance equipment, and presumably a one-way window. Amelia silently nodded both Lilacs on and vanished along Zonic into the other room. DraigFech reached into one of the pockets stitched to the inside of her cloak and pulled out a large bunch of keys, flipping them over one by one until a blue one was found. She used it to unlock the door with a vaguely satisfying clunk. It twisted and the door opened, thrusting both Lilacs into the room and putting them faces to faces with the other dragon girls in the room.

There were about five in total, all the same pale dragon girl but in different, very noticeable ways. The first Lilac in the circle was the only one Lady Lilac recognised - and she hated that. It was War Lilac, her dark purple scales and frizzy hair almost complementing her black eyes and pale, blood-stained and scarred skin and cracked black devil horns. Her normally-rather-visible patched and faded blue clothes were covered, wrapped in a straightjacket that bound War Lilac's arms around her torso, with her normally clipped on synthetic tendril spread across her lap. The other Lilacs weren't any better. The next one over had a muted colour scheme, drooping horns and was positively soaked from head to boot while carrying a miserable look on her crying face. Next to her was a Lilac in what appeared to be a close (if rather revealing) approximation of Brevon's orange armour, lacking a cape but ending in an arm cannon around her left hand. Lilac #4 was a most unusual one, singed scales and a smell of burnt flesh permeating her being, while she wore a cyan blue puffy jacket and white undershirt with matching blue shorts and mysterious holes in her hands. The final Lilac, for lack of a better description, looked like a Cold War era soldier, what with the grey clothing and an eyepatch and bandoleers holding shotgun shells pretty much everywhere.

Lady Lilac had a little time to take in their details as DraigFech closed and locked the door behind the two. Each Lilac turned to look at the two in turn; first War Lilac's growling sneer, then the waterlogged Lilac's despairing frown, then the armoured Lilac's giddy glee. The singed Lilac did not do the same, having fallen asleep long before the meeting, while the soldier Lilac was fiddling with a (hopefully deactivated) grenade. It was War Lilac's stare that caused Lady Lilac the most unease, and she turned to DraigFech in the awkward quiet as the sleeping Lilac was slapped awake.

"Uh, Draig?" Lady Lilac asked, "Amelia mentioned Fallen Lilacs. Who are they?"

"Fallen Lilacs..." DraigFech sneered, "Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Dragon Girls who've been lead down paths of insanity, corruption and depression by outside forces, mainly rogue MasterSelves. They are, for all intents and purposes, broken. And our highest priority."

"Oh..." Lady Lilac cringed a bit, "Are...are you a Fallen Lilac?"

DraigFech looked a bit bitter, "...I used to be."

"Oh joy..." came War Lilac's voice. She sounded the same as any other Lilac, but with a sickening sting to it, like she had lost her moral compass overnight, "It's the Miss Goody Two Shoes Lilac. My personal fave. Didn't you capture me a few weeks ago? And left me in considerable pain?"

"I believe I did..." Lady Lilac stammered, the awkwardness showing in her voice, "Now I'm aware I didn't exactly treat you well back then..."

"You threw me though three plate glass windows, you hussy!"

"B-But I'm here now to help you all with your problems. I am a...motivational speaker, you could say."

"So, you're another one'a US, are ya?" the soldier Lilac spoke in a gruff tone.

"Yeah, are you one of those no-fun good ones?" the armoured Lilac asked, her voice higher-pitched and almost squeaky.

"looks like one of 'em," came the singed Lilac, her voice low-pitched and mumbled, "looks like the sort of person to be dragon her feet."

The last Lilac, the waterlogged one, said nothing at first, but she eventually (and slowly) turned to Lady Lilac, with what could only be described as a thousand wailing cries spilling out of her mouth alongside the dirty water, "ArE yOu GoInG tO hElP uS? wIlL yOu MaKe Us FeEl BeTtEr?"

Lady Lilac was taken aback by the last voice, but she collected her nerves and continued, "I am. Here to calm you and your troubles. Now, since this is the first meeting, I suppose it would be the most logical to introduce ourselves by name and universe. I am Lady Lilac of FP-003, Queen of Shang Mu and Warrior Princess. You?"

DraigFech looked blank when Lady Lilac turned to her, "...Oh. I told you kid, I'm not Lilac. I don't come from anywhere."

Lady Lilac appreciated the good talk and turned to the others silently. One after the other, they spoke their names.

"War Lilac, FP-115"

The waterlogged one, "DrOwNeD lIlAc, FP-009." Lady Lilac just barely got, "Drowned Lilac" and her stomach took an unexpected plunge.

The armoured one, "EVIL Lilac, FP-231!"

The singed one, "sans lilac, FP-356."

And the soldier, "Freedom Snake, FP-MGS." Every Lilac turned to look at her incredulously, which she took with a sneer, "What? Not EVERY Lilac has to be CALLED Lilac."

"SO..." DraigFech barked, hauling a large and rather unusual domed machine into the centre of the room on a trolley, "This is what we are going to do. This Lilac here, this...Lady Lilac, I beleive, will talk with you over the weeks in an attempt to help with your conditions and...issues. But before all else, she needs to know exactly what made you. So we have this new technology, the boffins in the Science Wing call it the DresmScape. It reads the brainwaves that appear during dream-related activities and translates them into visual images. Static ones, but still. We shall test it on Lady Lilac first, to prove it's safe."

"Wait, wha-" was Lady Lilac could get out before DraigFech added a basin-shaped device to the DreamScape on a hose and plopped the basin on Lady Lilac's head like a hat. Almost instantly her mind became a blank, leaving her arching forward and going limp but otherwise staying upright. Her senses went numb as her face fell, a soft murmur subconsciously escaping her throat with a silver of dribble down her mouth. The draining feeling finally ceased as the memories were taken and recreated and DraigFech looked with an odd sense of satisfaction as she walked over to Lady Lilac and snapped her fingers in front of her. The latter recoiled almost instantly, blurting out gibberish as her body and mind came back to life and she regained conscious.

"Y-yes Majister, just eating my cereal!" she blurted out, eventually coming to her senses and looking around, bleary-eyed, "Uh...wha...what happened?"

"As I said, new technology. Got a few kinks to work out of it yet. Still, this should be enough. How was it for you?"

"I..." Lady Lilac gibbered, "I feel like I want to say some REALLY specific things. About...my backstory."

DraigFech smiled again, "Well then?"

Lady Lilac got to her feet, clearing her throat as the DreamScape machine chugged and whirred behind her. The cylinder on the front of it spewed a light into the upper areas of the room, projecting a sort of cosmic fog that darkened the room and created an image in its wake. It was of...that scene. Every single Lilac in the room winced painfully at the mere thought of it; another Lilac, deep within a thermal base, shackled to a pillar with a hateful, smirking green insect alien in orange power armour cackling in glee as the poor dragon girl was electrocuted to within an inch of her life. War Lilac cringed, while Sans Lilac kept her bored frown.

"So?" Freedom Snake growled, "She got a million volts up the ass. We ALL have."

"That does seem to be the case..." DraigFech mused, "A common factor of all Fallen Lilacs. They all start here..." her voice became haunted, and it became clear she was talking about herself, "All of them."

"This is how we all start," Lady Lilac sighed, looking up at the image, "We as Lilacs, as heroes, we're born in this flash of light. This agony, this...this torture."

"Not that it affects them," War Lilac crowed bitterly, "Most Lilacs get into those healing baths! They go FULL Mary-Sue and walk away."

"But not everyone..." Lady Lilac's own voice became haunted, "Some died, some went mad. I knew most perished among Brevon's forces, they'd turn into either corpses or his servants. I wasn't going to join those statistics..."

The image above them misted over and demisted soon after, a changed and more violent picture. It was the same scene, with the machine broken, Brevon on the floor...and Lilac plunging his bleeding dagger into his chest.

"I wanted to SURVIVE."

The scene changed again, this time to the Throne Room where this story began. Only this time it was The Majister, a bird-creature with face encased in shadow, seeing the battered and charred Lilac before him and his cohorts, the pandas General Gong and Priestess Neera-Li. Lady Lilac cleared her throat and begun again, "After I, uh, dealt with Brevon, I tried to go back to Jade Creek to find Carol and Milla, to apologise for what I'd put them through. Instead I just found a darn ambush waiting for me. Next thing you know, my aching body's being dragged in chains towards the Majister's throne room in Shang Mu. After my daring escape (and beating the tar out of his second-in-command), I was certain the man was going to finally execute me. The Thief who Turned Her Back, the potential hero of Planet Avalice, with her head in a bucket. But that didn't happen...he offered me a job."

The other Lilacs all looked confused and somewhat annoyed, while War Lilac just grumbled and pouted, like she had heard all of this before. The image changed once more to a shot of this Lilac, still charred but now in the same clothes as she was wearing now, training alongside Neera-Li and General Gong. They were smashing targets and knocking arrows out of the air with their weapons. Lady Lilac was using something most unusual; her two separated tendrils, now a glowing and twisted-knot whip, "He said he had seen how I took down Brevon and went to apologise to my friends. He decided, despite my past, I had the strength, the will and the courage to lead Shang Mu in his honour. He kept me under his wing, trained me in secret, and gave me all-powerful weapons. Brevon's Blade, which I, uh...borrowed, and my tendrils turned into a whip, both submerged in the healing baths and blessed by the Kingdom Stone to become holy weapons that would smite all evil."

"Don't I know it?" War Lilac grumbled again, "Freaking Mary-Sue..."

"So what, did the torture just not affect you that much?" Evil Lilac grinned in a sickening manner, "Did it set you free?"

"At first? Yeah it affected me..." Lady Lilac said with no hint of shakiness, while an image of her doubled over and panicking with tears streaming down her face was shown in the fog, "It kept coming back to haunt me, I got panic attack after panic attack. The Majister's therapists couldn't help me, and no other kingdom could know I was a thing. It looked like my memories would be the end of me...but..." the image shifted to see this Lilac being comforted by a figure, their features hidden under a large cloak that covered everything but their peach-skinned and smiling muzzle, "Someone came. A person from beyond my universe. He said he could help me. I met up with him every week, going through his therapies, calming my spirit and helping to get over my past. And...it worked. I no longer felt Brevon's influence clawing at my being. I could think, I could focus, and it helped me become what I am now. I never got the name of this mysterious stranger, just his profession...a Zonewalker...what exactly IS a Zonewalker?"

"Another of those odd sub-types," DraigFech explained, "You've got us, the Time Agents, then the No-Zone Police, then Multiverse Vigilantes...then at the very bottom are Zonewalkers. People who roam the multiverse to explore, to trade, to talk...to escape. Still, it was through this anonymous Zonewalker that this Lilac eventually came across the No-Zone Police and struck up a deal. Hence why we're here."

"Joy," Freedom Snake sighed.

The fog finally shifted away and Lady Lilac took the device off of her head, almost flooring her in the process, "Well, that's pretty much my story. I killed Brevon, I trained under the Majister and took over his role when he finally died years later. I'm still ruling it to this day...argh, that hurt. Does it have to be so draining?"

"At least until the technology is perfected," DraigFech said again, "So, how did you all see that. I found it...interesting, to say the least."

Once again, all the Lilacs spoke one after the other, giving their opinions in brief snippets.

"Freaking Mary-Sue..." War Lilac grumbled again.

"SoUnDs LiKe YoU hAd It LuCkY..." Drowned Lilac wailed.

"Needed more Majister death," Evil Lilac chirped.

"Not exactly a tough upbringing," Freedom Snake growled.

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" snored Sans Lilac. Freedom Snake took a single look at the sleeping skele-dragon by her side and groaned in frustration, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. Sans Lilac awoke, chuckling, "its alright kiddo. i got your life story. and i gotta say, its pretty...cool, i guess. but i sorta agree with the others in that you kinda got lucky in every part of that tale."

"Well, it DOES happen..." Lady Lilac said, trying not to offend, "I mean, not EVERY Lilac exists in the multiverse for someone else to maim and torture, right?" a silence filled the room, causing her to look around nervously, "R-right?"

"...asking the wrong lilac, kiddo," Sans Lilac sighed after a while, "well, who wants to go next? perhaps someone who has a backstory a bit more ab-war-rent?"

War Lilac cringed even further, "Geez, that was stretching it. And why me? Doesn't everyone know my backstory at this point?"

"Not EVERYONE," DraigFech said, holding the helmet in her hands, "Besides, I do believe some people would enjoy a refresher. Here we go."

There was a clang as the helmet of the device clapped onto War Lilac's head. As with Lady Lilac, her face fell and her body went limp as the machine processed her thoughts and dreams. Finally she regained consciousness and the fog reappeared, showing a different scene. This one showed the scene of Lilac and Carol finding Coalition of Planets agent Torque in the forest, what started this adventure for the majority of Lilacs. Only now someone else was there too. A hedgehog, clearly not from their world, with ravaged brown fur and sneering, angry eyes. His blue and black clothes were accentuated by the two most notable things on his person; a red scarf around his neck and a old and glowing dagger in his hands.

DraigFech growled, "...Traveller."

Lady Lilac turned to face her, "You know him?"

"We all do..." Evil Lilac said, "He...he's why we are what we are."

"It was, after all, him who gave me the tools and the attitude to become...well, me," War Lilac said, "It all started when Carol and I came across Torque. I hear a lot of people just met him, but there we were with this...edgelord, I suppose, with his large scarf and his talking Blade. Next thing you know, I'm being whisked away to a faraway adventure with him by my side. And he...urgh, he just made things worse. He badmouthed everyone, he killed Neera, basically got us thrown out of every kingdom we came across...but he never seemed to do it maliciously. It always felt like he wanted to escape what he did, but...he couldn't."

The fog swirled into another image, this one with Lilac and Milla and this Traveller sitting around a campfire, with an image of another form of Traveller above them in a speech bubble; this one lacked a scarf, instead having a green bandoleer and a muzzle with one side completely split open and stitched up again. War Lilac spoke up, "Carol despised him from the start, and killing Neera was the last straw. She..." War Lilac choked a bit, but continued, "She abandoned us for the Red Scarves again, and Traveller took the time to explain why he was. He said he used to be War Master, this warmonger, this creature hell-bent on destroying everything just because he could, and he was here to stop me becoming the same. This was when Torque was captured by Brevon, so I decided to save him and the day...alone."

The fog shifted to a scene roughly similar to Lady Lilac's first. Only now it seemed to be AFTER the torture had taken place, with Lilac already charred grey and hanging from the machine, but there was another, vaguely-new figure in front of her. He was like War Master, but even more ravaged and dishevelled with crazy black eyes and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. The image showed him with the Blade of Hysteria in his hand while War Lilac continued, "I was stupid. The guy caught me, fried me, mutilated me and then tried to kill me. But then along comes another of Traveller's past mistakes. A clone of himself. Next thing you know, Brevon's on the floor in a pool of his own blood, I've been shot through the stomach and the Blade of whatever-it-was is in MY hands."

Another shift of the fog showed this Lilac, charred and covered in bandages, doing an number of things; fighting Carol, fighting another War Lilac herself and looking like she was going stark-raving mad throughout the whole thing, "That Blade changed me. It whispered dark thoughts and made me violent. It urged me to kill, showed what it was like to revel in it. I resisted to the best of my abilities, but fighting your friends and yourself doesn't exactly help you. Carol came back, she promised me she'd fight to the end...and I chopped her hand off for it. I held on for a while, we got to fight this clone in the Final Dreadnought but...Milla..." War Lilac's eyes began to water, "P-Poor Milla..."

The fog vanished and War Lilac ripped the helmet off her head, "That's why I am what I am. Corruption, mental torture and I just...I lost everything. I lost my house, I lost my friends, I lost my innocence and sanity...I just lost my whole life."

"And replaced it with killing," DraigFech reminded.

War Lilac bowed her head down, with a small, depressive smile, "Yeah. Yeah. I guess you're right. Right, that's enough about my trauma conga line. Who's next?"

"OOH, OOH! ME!" Evil Lilac cried, jumping up and down and waving her arms like a fangirl.

"Hush, Evil Me, you'll ALL get your turn!" Lady Lilac called out, "I'm running this session and I say we do it clockwise. Besides, out of all of you, there's one backstory I REALLY wanna know..."

She turned to look at Drowned Lilac, who merely stared longingly at Sans Lilac's smirking form. She turned at the mention of her name, "WhO? mE?" Lady Lilac nodded, to which Drowned Lilac looked rather distressed, "PlEaSe No. YoU wOn'T lIkE wHaT i'Ve BeEn ThRoUgH. nO-oNe DoEs..." the others continued to stare at the waterlogged dragon for a while, making her even more nervous until, "...AlRiGhT. pUt ThAt On Me. YoU'lL bE sOrRy, ThOuGh..."

Lady Lilac sighed, but nevertheless picked up the device and planted it on Drowned Lilac's head. There was an etheral humming as the machine worked its magic. Drowned Lilac herself didn't respond like the other Lilacs, though; she actually seemed to become MORE responsive, looking calmer and just a tiny bit happier. The fogs formed once more and this time showed a different scene - this one was of Lilac, once again a mere and normal one, posing happily with another dragon like her. This one was far older and with darker scales and longer black horns. She wore a white shirt and black overcoat, her arm wrapped around Lilac and the other flashing a peace sign. Drowned Lilac spoke, her voice still etheral but a lot more stable, "I...I used to have a good life. I defeated Brevon, he never came back, I got vaguely famous. I had my whole life ahead of me. But it just happened. I ran into trouble with my relatives-"

"Which NONE of any other us have, by the way," War Lilac said.

The fog shifted again to being in front of an inside pool. It was the two dragons from before, only now in swimsuits with a steel pod in the background, "...Yes. I was lucky enough. After we incarcerated my power-mad uncle, my godmother decided to help me out somewhat. Her name was...Catalina. And she said she'd help me. Apparantly she thought I would've stood a better chance if I could've escaped Brevon's restraints during...that. So she decided to tie me up in a steel pod and throw me into the pool."

"...What?"

"It was some dumb training exercise," DraigFech turned to the confused Lady Lilac, "Restraints around the wrists and ankles,  the pod spins around like a hedgehog in the water and she was timed to see how long it took for her to get out. And just to make it even more pointless, she was given a key. But...it went wrong, didn't it?"

"...Yes..." Drowned Lilac weeped. The image shifted to something truly horrifying. It was within the steel pod, deep within the water, with the key floating out of a hole in the pod. Water had long since rushed in and Lilac was clearly terrified, thrashing against her restraints to no avail. This image was even animated, like a gif, showing her struggling and screaming for mercy. Lady Lilac could only watch this, horrified and tears in her eyes. Drowned Lilac continued, "The pod had become damaged in transit. The pressure couldn't be contained and it blew a hole in the pod. It sank, kept spinning, the key floated out of my reach, I struggled and screamed and begged for help from Catalina...but the bitch had gone for coffee..." Drowned Lilac continued to sob as her old voice returned and the version of her in the image finally gave up the ghost and went limp, "...AnD i DrOwNeD."

The room had gone deathly silent. War Lilac and DraigFech had more neutral expressions, having seemingly heard it all before. Evil Lilac's happy face had dropped like a stone, showing genuine shock, while Sans Lilac had more of a surprised look on her never-changing face. Freedom Snake stared at the floor, then at Drowned Lilac, then back at the floor again. But Lady Lilac...mere words could not describe what she was experiencing. She was shivering and gibbering, arms wrapped around her waist, tears streaming down her face. She walked up to Drowned Lilac, herself looking up at the other without blinking, and quickly grabbed and hugged her tight. Lady Lilac was crying now, sobbing into her soggy counterpart's shoulder, whispering, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

"...well she did warn her," Sans Lilac said after an awkward silence, "i suppose you could say her ambitions went down with the-" she stopped, feeling DraigFech glower at her in rage, "...okay, never mind. probably not the best time."

"Yeah, bad time..." Freedom Snake turned to Sans Lilac, then back towards the still sobbing Lady Lilac, "So...does that happen to every Lilac who hears her story?"

"Of a sort," Evil Lilac shrugged, "I mean, there are more painful ways to die...but none THAT long and nightmarish."

"Oh trust me," Freedom Snake growled, "I can think of a few more ways. So..." she turned to DraigFech, "What now?"

"She's probably not going to be...responsive for a bit," DraigFech sighed, watching Lady Lilac stroke Drowned Lilac's ruined hair, "We should probably, uh...take a quick break."

TO BE CONTINUED