The Second Coming

Hilde's eyes softened and she frowned when she heard Cassie's words. Instantly her hands were on Cassie's shoulders and she knelt down next to Cassie. "Cassie." She said in a gentle tone. "I would be more worried if you weren't scared. Someone who would not even think twice about going into this kind of match, well...." Hilde looked down and bit her lip. "I think my heart would break if I saw a sweet girl like you let this place turn her into a monster."

Hilde then turned her head, making sure not to look at Lukretia even though her head faced that way. Her grip tightened on Cassie's shoulders and she squeezed as though if she didn't hold on tightly, Cassie might drift away. She stood up and began to soothingly rub Cassie's shoulders. She could feel the knotty tension and frowned. ""You're a good girl and... you're trying to stop a bad one. I don't know if I approve of the methods but... I don't know if you have a choice either."

Hilde lifted up her head and looked at Lukretia. "But life doesn't come with easy choices, with clear and simple answers to everything. So... be scared because that fear means you're still human and that little bit of fear will help you overcome something that's even scarier."

Hilde wished that she could do more. Say more. Not just for Cassie but Dark Angel as well. She knew who the masked girl was and the fact that she couldn't say it to Cassie now churned her insides. Worse yet, she could see the red head going down a similar path but for much different reasons. What if Talia had someone to tell her everything was going to be ok? That she wasn't just here to be chewed up and spit out? Or just hugged tightly?

Suddenly Hilde found herself weeping and hugged Cassie tightly, crying softly into Cassie's neck. "Everything's going to be ok. You'll see." She managed with a big squeeze before pulling herself away. She had to turn to collect herself and pulled out a handkerchief from her suit coat and dabbed her eyes.

Cassie stayed quiet and allowed Hilde to hug her. In the span of a few minutes, she'd been hugged by both Von Creuzfeldts, and received a specific sort of encouragement from each of them. She wondered if anyone else in AFW had ever managed that.

While Hilde began to cry, Cassie remained emotionally absent. She stared off into space and patted Hilde's shoulder. Maybe she understood, and maybe she didn't, that Cassie was more afraid of what would happen to her if she won. She wasn't worried about losing so much. The idea was so far fetched that it seemed silly to even entertain it. She knew what Dark Angel had, and this time she wasn't going to fight like an idiot and assume that her opponent was going to offer her the same respect that Cassie gave everyone. It was a level field now, and that was the last thing that someone like Dark Angel ever wanted. Cassie was going to hurt her, and she shuddered to think about what that meant.

"Thanks." She said. The pen in her hand stalled in mid air for a moment, quivering ever so slightly, and then like ripping off a band-aid she quickly scribbled her signature on the line and stood up.

"If you need anything else from me, you can contact my..." Oops. "Just call me."

She hurried toward the door without looking back. She wanted to get home as soon as possible, and she was already planning on how to get up to her room without being intercepted by Akashi.