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Maybe it was terrible. And honestly, it might've been.

But at this point? He was just glad that Minnie was out of the house. He knew that Minnie left with Michelangelo, because Michelangelo had offered to take quite a few of her things so it was easy to arrange how to get some of them over to his place if he just took her over now. That meant he would have to give away the fact that he was rich as hell, but that would be another issue for later.

He seemed to trust her. At this point, Ignacio would have to let Michelangelo feel that himself.

Ignacio's breathing was a bit uneven.

“Ah, of course,” he replied when Sadie came to him, even if that sounded more forced than he might've wanted it to be.

Ignacio honestly wasn't sure if he should be frank. This involved her sister. Was saying that he was a little bit afraid of her sister a good thing?

Was it wrong of him?

“... No.” But that was the truth, wasn't it? She kind of already had seen through it considering she was asking. She knew him at his worst in a lot of ways, she knew he had been a monster of his own right. She knew that he had actually been a member of the Negaverse! That was something very few people knew!

He sighed, leaning back as he debated in his own mind.

“Feel safer with her out of the house actually, even if she's fine. Worried about Michel a bit as contentious as our friendship tends to be.” Michelangelo was probably fine! He didn't know what he was worried about! It was Sadie's sister! He didn't see Sadie being the sister of somebody who was a bad person!

Of course, considering some of his family were bad people themselves, maybe he was not one to talk there!

He did actually appreciate her apology, even though he also appreciated the fact that she cited the Bell House felt safe. That was one of the main goals of what they were doing. It was just meant to be a safe house, and that was part of the reason why Ignacio’s anxiety had ramped up when he realized what Minnie was.

But in some ways, what was done was done, right? No one had zoned in on her being there and used it to realize what their house was. She hadn't transformed and taken starseeds or killed any of them, or abducted any of them. It was fine. In theory. Ignacio let her rub his knuckle with a shaky sigh once more.

“I'm sure Arra will appreciate hearing that, for what it's worth. Mom and Dad too.” He glanced to the side. “About the house feeling safe, eh?” She had moved in. Her feelings on it were probably obvious…

Right.

The traitor thing.

Arguably, Ignacio had shaken that. He had probably gotten lucky in that if the Negaverse knew at all that he had been a Youma, they either had forgotten or only had it connected to some kid that slipped out of their grip. Most who had been powered would never quite. “Don't think the traitor label is an easy one. I'm pretty sure it's part of the reason why some people never power up again.”

Which was a fair thing to do. He didn't necessarily blame any of them. Once someone purified, their life was their choice. Finally.

It was just too bad less people chose that.

“What do you think she'll do?”

“Think so,” he quietly agreed. Sadie identified it for him. He didn't have to do it. He had noticed the way her entire persona had changed when she had decided to go ahead and simply move in with them. It had been slow. At first, she had been staying on their couch, mostly just staying there to help him out after the relapse. But then, it seemed she stayed there longer and longer, and then she started moving stuff into an extra room they still had.

Now, she belonged there. And she felt better for it. He could tell.

… And, yes, “They did, too. Save me, I mean. Pretty sure I'm a large chunk of why Arra got this idea.” That one was not hard for him to admit. He knew they had. If it hadn't been for the Bells, he wasn't sure where he'd be today. Probably not the actor he was at least, and certainly not as well off as he was. When he had initially gotten kicked out of his home, he had just moved into an apartment by himself and spent a lot of his days on autopilot.

There had been no reason to break himself with that until Richard had insisted on following him around and doing so. He would be forever grateful for that.

So he supposed Sadie was right figuring that this was the place to take Minnie. He just had trouble wrapping his mind around the concept that they had just had an agent in the house. That almost felt like the first rule, don't bring chaos in there.

At least she was purifying. In theory.

“I mean, I doubt she will. She already knows that you don't approve of her fighting, and I doubt she thinks you're going to approve of her fighting the Negaverse.” There was a quiet laugh that he did his best to stifle. He might have approved of that a bit more than Sadie did, but Sadie also knew that about Ignacio. He had a whole moral tree he went through about it.

The Negaverse had worn on his patience hard, though, even considering that.

“But we already know, we have some people in our group that are very pro-fighting.” His husband being one of them, considering he had almost gotten himself killed a few times- “We can probably get her hooked up with some people who will at least help keep her safer. Most of them would be at a higher level too, so that would be a bit of protective thing for her, right?”

If she actually did purify, better she didn't die.

He wasn't surprised by her response, and by the same wasn't surprised by her quick agreement that it would be good for her to get connections. They both knew that those connections would probably end up leading to, considering the most frequent contacts even here. There wasn't just Basiluzzo, of course. Hy-Brasil, one of their most recent additions, was also very pro-violence.

At least when it came to the Negaverse, anyway.

Michelangelo was definitely a connection she'd approve of. He hadn't patrolled with Abzu–seemed Abzu mostly went out with Pendour, Stromboli, or by himself–but he had gotten the impression that Abzu was also fairly conflict avoidant. “I think they're getting along quite well,” he snickered quietly, noting that she was talking about the new benefits.

He could gather what she was referring to considering the prior conversation.

“Building a network over here is part of what we're here for though, right? Know it's harder to get connected over here because we don't have some kind of,” he waved his hand, “military-industrial complex telling us to get on it or else. We'll make sure she has one, not just you.”

Though her coming over with at least her was certainly a better position than other purifications had been, and certainly a better position than a lot of newbies ended up in. Minnie would be fine if she actually went through with it. There was a lot in motion now, though. And with Cybele being the princess tapped, could Minnie actually say no?

He tried his best to keep that thought to himself.

It was easy enough with the combination of his acting skills and the adjacent distraction. “Ah?” great answer. He cleared his throat. “I'll… do my best. You could probably use the backup, right?”

This did, after all, hit very close to home.

If she liked people who were inclined to take the fight to the enemy, she would definitely like Cybele. Their attitudes had a lot in common that way. Perhaps it made her a good fit for Minnie's–Minyulite’s–purification, right? Someone who would probably connect with her instantly. Help solidify the desire to instead of making her flee.

On the contrary, though, he could understand why it would probably increase Sadie’s panic. He didn't even want Minnie near this in the first place. Hadn't wanted Felis near this, either. Her attitude toward it had been a bit different than Encke's in some ways. Encke hadn't wanted Anser near it, but her involvement had come with some relief.

Civilians couldn't get transcended. Senshi could.

… Of course, none of his family awoke as chaos, either. That made the tales a bit different. Her pleas with him to come with her were different. She could use the support as much as he didn't want to be part of it. “Suppose you know first-hand why purifications make my heart skip a few beats now.” Or ten.

He knew there had been some successes since then, though. He had run into Murikabushi! He was purified now! That had to count for something, even if he had been a member of the dark mirror and not Negaverse.

Encke took in a shaky breath, turning their hand over to take hers, instead. “... Alright. For you, yes.”

And Ignacio knew that. He knew it was honest. He could always tell from the way Sadie tilted their voice, and from the way she murmured, and from the way she reinforced the same message. It meant a lot to them, honestly.

Just like Sadie meant a lot to them.

“For you,” Ignacio let out a quiet sigh, “anything.”