Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Nembus."

Her smile was grim.

"I'll decide what new name my fake self would like to be called once I know how I'm feeling."

"Yes."

There wasn't really any avoiding the total truth of that.

It was part of what had kept her complacent.

It was part of what kept her willing to draw energy.

It was part of what kept her willing to kill, willing to abide by the concept of what the Negaverse stood for, part of what kept her loyal if not unshakably so.

"But I would rather live ten minutes in my own air than an infinity more in Metallia's false embrace."

Would Albite kill her?

... No. It seemed unreasonable. The concept of him turning his binding abilities against her didn't seem to resonate, even if she was arguably abandoning him. He depended on her. Saw her as the den mother. And yet --

Would Lilith kill her? Would Alkmene? Would Celadonite? Would Haymitch?

-- Oh, how terribly unlikely was that last one.

Would Faustite?

She wanted to believe he wouldn't, not the unwilling general she had found an alarming amount in common with. She wanted to believe she could at least see eye-to-eye with him, to at least find understanding in trying to find meaning in a mutually lost humanity. And yet--

"Likely. I know there are other force corrupted who have purified who are marked for death. I would likely be much the same." Something about Nembus' smile seemed too wide. "Cybele's former general wrote in our databases that she should be killed."

And she would probably be written of in such a way, too.

"I hope my former team will not. I have told myself to watch out for them. I hope that they'll understand. But I will still be branded a traitor." Her gaze seemed extraordinarily harsh. "And I know what happens to traitors."

"Depends on who finds me." Perhaps she would be lucky, and those that would find her would be like how she was to Sedna. "But it is likely."

"Correct."

There wasn't any mincing words about this, either.

She knew the risks she was taking.

"It's why I'm trying to leave while the Negaverse is distracted with their ill-gotten gains. You'll just have to trust me."

Her mind flashed back to what had happened a week ago so easily, the way his uniform had been tainted blood red as Soyala slipped around their legs and attempted to coax him into Metallia's embrace--

"Not intentionally, at least."

Nembus stood up, then, stretching out, realizing just how tall this guise had her standing as she felt the impact of towering over the table. It wasn't enough to be daunting, but it did remind her of just what she was under the surface. A myth in human skin in an actual abomination's skin.

Only one of those felt fully false.

"I don't want to linger too long. The longer we speak these things into existence, more likely they'll happen, and I'm not in the mood to tempt fate." She quickly clocked all parts of the alleyway, checking for anything that may have come their way, before turning back toward him. "I should get going. Promise me you'll be there, Phaethon?"

"Thank you."

Nembus turned her gaze away from him, looking out to the alley.

"'Til we meet again, Phaethon."

She didn't leave any space for him to speak, disappearing in the blink of an eye.