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[GodofGamingRWBY]

Astarte

The sword swing was, admittedly, not what Astarte was anticipating from someone who just got punched into the ground, and she paid for it with a solid strike to her ankle, briefly threatening to send her toppling to the floor as well. Only briefly, however, as Astarte merely pushed through the sudden pain and following discomfort. She was used to the cold anyway.

Regardless, seeing the woman have some fight in her at least, Astarte... Simply took a step back, keeping herself out of the range of the cutlass and letting her opponent get back up, gesturing for them to come at her this time, before rapidly creating her own sword in her hand. The frustration at the whole scenario never left her eyes, but Astarte wasn't a fool. Getting this woman to go on the offense would make it far easier to get her out of the way.

[Twinwolf]

Estela

Estela rubbed her forehead. Crying? After killing someone trying to kill her? She didn't pretend to understand how Damnation worked, but at least that meant she wasn't trying to attack Katrian forces. "Understood. Keep an eye on her, then. Safe distance and ready to bolt if you need to." she said. She let them take a pause in their return to base to let Mirka see what could be seen with her binoculars.

[Takosher]

Mia

Far too tattered to fight back, Mia simply accepted her fate as another flash signaled Kirari stealing another piece of her. She only had two needles remaining for the next battle, but she was still determined to survive. She mattered, her actions would play a part in the game that decided the fate of the world. She couldn't die here, not to a nobody. She closed her eyes, centering herself. She would be ready for anything.

But when her eyes opened, all of her determination instantly drained away. Raw terror took its place. She squirmed and pulled, trying desperately to free herself from the needles that had crucified her against this wall.

"Pathetic." A flash of unbearable pain shot through her as another needle pierced her stomach. "Aren't you supposed to be a Prince?" Kirsten twirled another of her needles on the back of her hand, taunting Mia. She smiled, but it was corrupt. Her silver eyes were not joyed, but rather contorted with sadistic pleasure. "Ah if only you weren't so worthless, I could use a Prince on my side." In one motion, she dropped the spinning needle into her palm and flicked her wrist to throw it. It pierced Mia's arm, causing her to scream in agony. Even with her inhuman pain tolerance, Kirsten's needles were torture.

At the time, Kirsten had done something very strange. She had turned towards the empty air behind her, and started speaking to it. It had been impossible for Mia to understand until this very moment. But now she could see what Kirsten was talking to.

"Now then, who might you be?" Kirsten asked Kirari.

Mirka and Estela

Given the distance, Mirka's binoculars were only so useful. But she was able to spy Lily. She couldn't confirm that Lily was crying, but the Dame Supreme did seem to be staying put for the moment.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

Acknowledgement by anyone but Marionette was something she hadn't expected in this dream. If this was someone from her past. . . who was Kirsten? And how had she seen Kirari then? It doesn't matter."Kirari Arceneaux. I'm going to kill her." She gestured with her rapier, pointing the blade at the screaming monster before them. A part of her flashed with jealousy at the woman's weapon, then that same part replaced the feeling with a sort of smugness about her lack of reliance on a weapon that did the torturing for her. The rest of her, the parts that the people she'd known for the last three years had given to her, forced that to the back of her mind, under lock and key where it belonged. Mostly. "As much as I hate to interrupt the entertainment, she's transgressed too far to be a simple plaything."

[Takosher]

Kirari

The dream woman smiled and did a curtsy that reeked of condescension. "Kirsten Inferno." she introduced herself, "You're quite bold, but you're going to have to wait for me to finish." She tossed another needle over her shoulder, prompting Marionette to scream again. "This wretched thing may be of use to me. She has great power, yet no will of her own. I plan to become her puppetmaster."

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

Kirari made the barest of curtsies in return, the motion a carefully practiced one to ensure that it was very clear that she had remembered the need for politeness and consciously decided that the receiver didn't warrant it. Kirsten Inferno? It seems I wasn't the only one with unusual tastes among the Ladies of Tyran. Of course, that thought didn't last long. The woman continued, and Kirari's expression hardened. "I don't care." Tendrils wrapped themselves around the blade of her rapier, not unlike the hackles raising on a wild animal as it prepared to attack. "She is going to die and I am going to kill her. You can't stop me." She walked toward Marionette, acting as if her focus were on the monster she hunted.

[AzyWng]

Mirka

"No... no activity from her. She just seems to be standing still. Can't tell from this distance whether she's crying, though." Things just kept getting stranger and stranger. What had happened to make Lily just... stop like that?

[Takosher]

Kirari

"That wasn't a request." Kirsten said. She stepped in front of Kirari, blocking her way. Kirari could probably pass through her physically, but the gesture still held psychological weight. She studied Kirari with her gaze, as if seeking a weakpoint. And then, unexpectedly, she smiled. "This is the last round of the game, isn't it?" A sinister glint in her eyes turned the smile into a threat. "I guess I'll have to make it count, then. Go ahead, Kirari, do what you will. I'll be waiting on the other side."

Kirsten's needles snapped back to her hand all at once, tearing a bloodcurdling scream from Marionette. "Oh, one more thing." Kirsten said as she stepped aside, "Once you wake up, try looking behind the veil."

Marionette made a break for the door, throwing aside her body's wellbeing in favor of escaping at all costs.

Monika

As Monika ran, a flash of light decided to interrupt her. Evidently her mysterious luck had run out, because Lily of Damnation had just appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Even if she weren't already weakened from her fight with Saro Ven, she couldn't be certain of her ability to win against the strongest meister in the world.

"Fate, I've finally found you." Lily's declaration sounded like she was speaking to herself more than Monika, and not just because Monika could barely understand her, "I need you to come with me, please. I can explain on the way but if you have even a shred of blind faith in your heart, I need you to entrust it to me right now. The world is quite literally at stake."

Although her features were uncomfortably stiff, Monika was observant enough to pick out a clear sense of fear. Like a cornered animal, though Monika had no way to know what was cornering her.

Lunete

"I have it," Mirala answered, "I'll return it to Ishma when we tell her what happened here."

~~~

At the sound of the door, Ishma's eyes shot up. What met them was a very disappointing sight. She glanced back and forth between Mirala and Lunete, making no attempt to hide her displeasure.

"What did you do?" she asked angrily.

Yava

Siren nodded. "I can't give you a lot of details, but I know she's in Lanica." she said. She rubbed at her arm and shifted to show Yava her side, as if trying to make herself small. Something else was up.

Astarte

Spackle slowly groaned to her feet, but that was as far as Astarte's plan got. Rather than advancing, she simply took up her guard position and held herself in a ready stance. As boorish as she looked, Spackle was clearly experienced as a guard and knew better than to take up the offense without good cause.

"You can consider that a warning." she said, "Now get lost, both of you!" She waved the cutlass threateningly again.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Yava
Lanica? Made as much sense as anywhere else, she guessed. If she recalled correctly, that had been the very place where she first set foot on this continent. Not that the few days she'd spent there had granted much familiarity. Yava filed it away for now as she debated how to much further to probe. Technically she had what she needed, but...

"That was not all though, was it?" She asked, stepping back into the room and letting the door shut behind her. She wore a look of sympathy as she approached the bed, for the first time considering that maybe the abject horror she'd felt at the sight of Siren's weapon wasn't so different from what Siren felt at the some of the futures it showed her. Had she a mind for such esoteric bullshit, she might've even speculated there to be a thematic link between the two.
...
Part of her was still amazed she could think that way despite seeing Kallisto herself in the flesh.

"I'm not going to ask if everything is alright," she continued as she sat down at the edge of the bed, "because clearly it isn't. There's something rotten about that woman, isn't there? If so, I suppose that makes choice of what to do with her easy. I've already helped one too many monsters rise to power."

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

She didn't pause to consider the woman's words further, instead tucking them away in the back of her mind. Whatever her motives were, whatever had somehow allowed her to speak to Kirari directly through Marionette's dreams, she had something more important to address first. I already have a hold on you. You can't run any more. She raised her rapier, and darted toward the fleeing doll, angling to take half of her remaining power.

Lunete

"Ishma!" She attempted to stumble her way out of the Katrian's support, as she could (mostly) manage on her own at this point. "I tailed this 'diplomat' and her subordinate on suspicion of their nefarious. . ." She paused to inhale, given she was using a bit more air than normal. ". . . nefarious plans to snoop through our documents. Documents that I had to extract poor Shinko from. . ." She trailed off again, this time not because she ran out of air. The reason they were actually here had reassembled itself in her head for the moment. "And when I confronted them, Shinko. . . I don't comprehend what happened. Maybe we were infiltrated by impostors, or she was a plant the whole time. . ."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

As soon as the lightning flashed, Monika practically skidded to a halt, instinctively taking up a fighting stance as the Lily of Damnation herself appeared right in front of her. It was one thing to fight Saro, but Lily shortly afterwards? Monika was skilled, but she wasn't a miracle worker. She couldn't take on Lily in her state, but she'd at least go down swinging if she had to.

... At least, that was Monika's initial thought before Lily, instead of going for her throat, spoke to her. Not only that, but also going as far to ask her to come with her. As expected, the fierce look of determination on Monika's face quickly switched to one of confusion, and for a brief moment, a thousand thoughts ran through Monika's mind at once. By all rights, she should either fight back or retreat. On one hand, Lily was an enemy, but also one of the most dangerous Meisters in the world. Just being in her vicinity was bad enough. But on the other hand, Monika was tired. She had just finished fighting Saro, and truth be told? If Lily wanted Monika to help her with something, she was gonna get her help. Either voluntarily or through force.

... Besides, the 'world being at stake part' peaked her interest, and if it didn't happen to be that major, Monika could simply leave when she had rested up. Though Monika felt like it was a major thing... Lily, for whatever reason, didn't seem to be faking the fear in her eyes.

"That makes the second time I've been addressed as 'Fate' recently. Can't really say I know what to think of the nickname" Monika commented as she relaxed her posture, ignoring the continuous silence in one of her ears as she spun her halberd around, resting the weapon on her shoulder, "... Logic dictates that I don't listen to anything you say. My gut, however, tells me to hear you out. So that's what I'm gonna do" Monika explained, taking in a breath to at least center herself before taking a few steps towards Lily, only stopping when she was about arm's reach of the latter, "Paperwork's gonna be hell for me when I get back though, so whatever help you need from me better be important enough to dictate me helping an enemy."

[Takosher]

Lunete

Ishma frowned. "I didn't ask what Mirala was doing, I already spoke to her earlier today." She folded her arms in disapproval. "I asked what you did. You had one job! Do you remember what it was? It was to stay away from the Katrian envoy. Nerys's right buttcheek, Lunete! I gave the Katrians the run of the place so they would be able to trust us. But we can't just give up all of our secrets, so everything that they absolutely weren't supposed to know about is hidden. That means you."

She glanced at Mirala and mellowed momentarily, "I assume you already knew that?"

"Yes, of course. I won't pry any further into what you've hidden away." Mirala answered.

"Thank you, I'm glad someone around here has a sense of secrecy." Ishma said. She then looked back to Lunete and continued her glaring rant, "YOU ARE A NATIONAL SECRET, LUNETE. You're our strongest weapon, strong enough to face the likes of Kellen Sydow, Camilla Rayze, or even Solamon Inferno. And you are fiercely loyal to your country. I can trust you completely, because I know you'd look me in the eye and shoot me if I ever put my interests above Lanica. There is nothing more important to keep secret than you, and you FUCKING blew it. I should have locked you up like I originally planned, I know better than to trust Shinko with such an impor- Wait," she looked around, "why isn't Shinko here?"

Mia
{hahahahahahahahaha}

The scene changed again and Mia's needle plunged towards Kirari, aiming to remove her heart. But before it could begin, a glowing orb smashed into Mia's face, sending her sprawling and giving her a nasty burn. Surprised by the attack, Mia rolled to her feet and leapt backwards, ensuring plenty of space between herself and the unknown assailant.

"Hi Kirari!" the one who had given Mia her current voice announced cheerfully.

She tackled Kirari to the ground, seemingly oblivious to the threat looming just beside them. Mia might have been able to end it right then, if she weren't so taken aback by the whole ordeal. Instead, she just watched as Verna helped Kirari up and the two of them turned to face her.

Before Mia had time to sort out a battle plan, Verna charged her. It was completely foolish, they'd already seen how that turned out, but Mia wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She readied her needle to strike forward as Verna pulled her arm back in anticipation of a punch. Needle and fist leapt forward at the same time, sealing Verna's fate. But rather than rip Verna's arm apart, Mia's needle was deflected by the sudden appearance of Verna's weapon as it spiraled up the madwoman's arm. At the apex of the punch, the ball snapped forward, taking the place of Verna's fist as the thing that collided with Mia's face. It seared into her face again, and even Mia felt the need to wince a little at the painful burn. The weapon fell into orbit around Verna as she took up a standing position in front of Mia. No matter what speed or angle Mia used to attack, the orbit always seemed to deflect her needle.

It was extremely frustrating, moreso than any other time Mia had found herself unable to win through the sheer power of her weapon. She was a Prince, one of those chosen by Fate itself to decide the Truth of the world. And this girl, she wasn't even a piece! How could she stand up to one of the chosen?

"I should thank you." Verna told her, "Before you tried to kill me, I wanted to die. I thought that was the only way to not hurt anymore. But I learned some stuff from you. One: Dying fucking hurts. Like, Kallisto turds that was really painful. But more importantly, you taught me what Love is.

"So thank you, Marionette. It's because of you that I can keep my promise. I'm not going to die. Not ever. No matter how much it hurts, I'm going to keep living."

In response, Mia charged forward in an attempt to overpower Verna physically. Her needles kept the ball occupied, and Mia was much stronger and faster than Verna.

Bang!

Mia's entire body recoiled back as a bullet punched through her chest. Before she had time to react, the ball smashed into her side, burning it just like her face. A barrage of attacks and two more bullets sent her stumbling back limply, she didn't even bother to fight back. How could she? She was supposed to be important, it wasn't fair that she would die here. Die? she wasn't going to die. Not like this, not before she could walk up to the god of this world and demand to know why she had been allowed to suffer for so long. She needed to know why someone who mattered had been made to go through so much anguish and hardship, just to survive. She was supposed to be special.

"Damn you..." Mia grumbled, "You're not even a piece, you don't matter."

"Whoa, you sound just like me!" Verna exclaimed in surprise, "That's so cool!" The fact that she could remain so cheerful in the face of extreme danger only served to increase Mia's vitriol.

"I'm a Prince, one who is protected by Fate itself. You're nothing. By the rules of the cosmic game we're all subject to, you're nothing but a pawn. So how? How the hell can you stand up to me?" Mia demanded.

"Well that's easy!" Verna responded as though Mia had just asked the stupidest question in the world, "You're a monster that wants to hurt my friends."

A scream of pure rage roared forth from Mia as her needle sprung to life once more. "I'm not a monster!!!"

With her fighting spirit restored by rage, Mia's flurried needle was able to force Verna's weapon on the defensive. Taking advantage of the situation, she leapt forward to tackle Verna to the ground and rip the girl limb from limb with her bare hands. But Verna didn't back off, she fired her gun twice more as she dove forward, rolling under Mia's tackle and coming back to her feet in time to meet Mia's gaze when she whirled around. Blood was dripping from Mia's multitude of wounds, but she didn't falter. She was far more angry than she was hurt. Her needle had moved even faster than her gaze, and she was certain that Verna would finally take the first and last attack that Mia would have to land in this fight.

But Verna was ready this time, and Mia found herself once again deflected by the girl's orbiting weapon. Their attacks became a blur as they clashed over and over again. Verna tried to shoot Mia again, but Mia used her needles to redirect the bullets. When the two had closed the distance enough, Mia sprung forward into arm's reach. she knew it was arm's reach, because Verna's outstretched palm had manifested directly in front of her face. The ball sent Mia's needle flying hard enough that she had to actively redirect it back to the fight, but by the time she had finished that thought, it was too late. The ball abruptly halted its orbit between Verna's hand and Mia's face, and Verna's face split into a manic grin. Her fingers snapped shut into a fist.

{serious verna theme}

The metal rods embedded in the ball's outer edge snapped towards the center of the weapon. Upon making contact, they emitted a brilliant flash of blue light across the smoking battlefield. Mia wanted to be angry, but her rage was starting to waver. Fear coursed through her throat as she screamed, clutching at her blinded eyes. The remaining bullets in Verna's sidearm tore a hole in Mia's gut, spilling her organs out on the ground. Verna continued the assault with a string of punches and kicks, each accompanied by a strike from her weapon. For the second time in her life, Mia was forced backwards by the sheer force of an assault. Her blood splattered across Verna's cackling face, grinning wide with the sort of glee that only someone truly insane could muster. Mia used her needle to keep herself upright, but it wasn't enough to prevent her stumbling backwards, out of Verna's range.

Desperate to regain some ground, Mia sent her needle forward in one final bid to tear Verna apart. But it stopped short, held fast by the invisible string that limited her range. Verna held her arm out to the side, prompting her weapon to stop abruptly once more. This time she did not close her fist and the rods moved inwards much more slowly. As they neared each other, a bright golden glow began to spread over the battlefield.

Verna's cackling ceased and she glared menacingly at Marionette, who was only just starting to recover her sight. Her gleeful grin was now a sneer of raw contempt. "No limits." she said quietly. A deep breath followed.

Verna ran towards Mia and leapt into the air, catching the rotation of her weapon as she went up, sending her into a high speed spin. Her weapon closed into a tight orbit around her, going from a hard-to-follow blur to a solid ring of glowing energy. Verna shot down towards Mia, whose needle was unable to even attempt to scratch her with her weapon moving at such high speed. Using all the momentum she'd built up, Verna slammed her fist into Mia's face, smashing her jaw. At the same time, Verna's weapon punched through Mia's torso, ripping it in two.

Verna landed into a roll that took her away from the two halves of Mia's body. Mia was bloodied, bruised, and burning--literally aflame where Verna's weapon had bisected her--but she wasn't dead yet.

{the last stand of someone who matters}

Mia's needle strung her body up like a puppet, holding her in the air as it reattached her useless legs. She shambled towards Verna, snarling through what little remained of her mouth. A growl crept out of her, fed by sheer determination. Verna's eye looked down on her, meeting its stolen partner with pity.

Desperation crept into Mia's broken voice as she tried to speak. "You... Don't... Matter..." she croaked.

She knew what happened next, and rather than force herself forward uselessly, she turned to face Kirari behind her. "And now, neither do I." she said, defeated.

[Chevaleresse]

Lunete

"I told you already. . ." Lunete shook her head. No she had not, in fact. Her voice was decidedly less bombastic than usual as she spoke, the fierce tongue-lashing having left welts in her usual presentation. "My. . . deepest apologies, Ishma. I trust you as well, of course, but I did not believe in the goodwill of our benefactors." She looked down for a moment, then back up. "That, however, is irrelevant. Shinko has disappeared and taken the other Katrian with her. Where, or how, I do not know, but I have never seen that expression on her face before." The confusion and distress she felt at the girl's betrayal - for that's what it was - was beginning to leak back through her concussion. Had she really misjudged the girl that badly? She'd churned through countless would-be leaders, but had missed the poisoned needle in her bed.

Kirari

"You could have mattered. But you chose not to." Kirari readied her sword for the final blow. "I will matter. And it starts here."

She lunged, tendrils lashing out at the solitary remaining needle as the point drove straight toward Marionette's eye.

[Takosher]

Eilyth

The sound of an engine roused Eilyth from her rest. Though the overnight watch was being taken in turns, Dragon was never the type to sleep deeply when danger loomed. With how long they had been waiting, she was actually starting to tire out from so much lightweight sleep.

The vehicle's headlights passed over her tent momentarily, quelling any hope that she had imagined the sound and could go back to sleep. It was go time. She was the first one out to meet Patty. The orange on the horizon indicated that the sun was about to crest it, just in time for their confrontation with whichever goddess had just arrived.

The RV that had parked beside their campfire didn't exactly scream "Kallisto", it wasn't trying to murder them all on sight, so at the very least that fight was yet to come. The rest of the team had started to gather as a ragtag group of women clambered out of the RV. The last out were a pair: A short, western looking woman with a bat in one hand and a child riding her shoulders. The child surveyed the area, taking in all that stood before her from her superior perch. Her gaze was intense, as though merely being looked at by her could bare one's sins to the entire world. Then she yawned and started to doze off, as one might expect from a child after a long road trip.

Allia stepped forward past Eilyth, who was otherwise the closest to the potential enemy. "Iyeseteru?" she asked the woman in cheap, ill-fitting clothes near the front.

She nodded. "The fountain of dreams acknowledges the guardian of the fae queen."

"Oh. Hi Gravestone." Allia sighed, "Can I just talk to Nerys directly? We don't really have time for riddles."

"The mistress of the ancient dragon slumbers, lest she become cranky."

"Let me rephrase: Can I talk to literally anyone else."

"Hi! Me!" Fairy called out from above Eilyth.

Gravestone looked up at Fairy and smiled. "Another great loss speaks with the riddles of the forgotten."

Fairy floated down to take Allia's place as envoy, apparently. "I fun." she said cheerfully.

"Why has the river stilled? The trial is yet beyond, hidden within the brother's loss. Is the war to begin before itself?"

"No fight. Just rest. U rest?"

Gravestone glanced back at the little girl asleep on the shoulders of another before nodding. "The trial sleeps, so too the queen." she extended her hand to Fairy, who despite taking it upside-down, still managed to shake it successfully.

Behind Gravestone, a silver-haired woman leaned over to a girl wearing a mask and whispered rather loudly, "What the fuck just happened?"

The woman shouldering the child stepped forward to speak to Allia. "Hey so, if we're bein' all cool and stuff, can we put Fairy up in one of your tents? Kid's been gettin' carsick, would help her a lot with sleepin'."

Allia looked over her shoulder to Eilyth. "Would you let Nerys rest in your tent?"

Monika

Lily exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank you." she said, "As I said, I'll explain on the way, but we need to go quickly. Do you need a healer? I can try to have Mia heal you, although she's fickle enough she might refuse."

Lily started off northward, taking up a fairly quick pace, but clearly holding back to ensure she didn't outpace Monika's maximum speed.

Mia

Mia's fire flickered weakly as a freezing gale swept through the trees, threatening to extinguish her last source of hope. There was a sweet, salty taste in her mouth. She remembered it like it was yesterday, and her stomach turned at the thought. As quickly as she could, she spit it out. she never wanted to experience that taste ever again. Knowing what she would find, but unable to stop herself, she looked to her right. Her eyes widened in horror as the memory of the first time she had truly felt afraid washed over her.

With an anguished yell, she dragged the dream away, forcing it elsewhere. She couldn't face that, not even on death's door.

A whirlwind of blackness surrounded her and Kirari, ripping apart the memory and revealing the hierarchy behind. Mia was entirely under Kirari's control. the battle was over, one thought and Marionette would come to an end. If that was the case, then there was only one place Mia wanted to be...

The little girl kneeling in front of Kirari couldn't have been more than six. She looked pale and thin, clearly malnourished. Her blue eyes were muted and tired, like they might never open again if they were closed. She probably should have been terrified, but this was the last time Mia remembered feeling safe. After this point, her life had been nothing but fear. Her stomach gurgled angrily, chewing desperately at its empty contents. Mom reached out to pat her head reassuringly.

"I know you're hungry." she said, "I'll get you something to eat soon, so hold me tight until then, okay?"

Mia wrapped her arms around her mother, holding her close. The wind was cold and harsh, their crappy little lean-to was barely able to protect the fire that kept them from freezing to death. The fire was warm, but the freezing touch of her mother's embrace felt warmer. That was the power of love. No matter how cold or hungry Mia got, she would always have mom's arms to keep her safe.

"I'm tired, Mom." Mia said, her eyes flickering.

"I know, but don't sleep yet." Mom said reassuringly, "I want to hold you a little longer."

"Okay."

"Mia?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Do you remember why you're strong?"

Mia nodded weakly. "Because I'm your special daughter."

"That's right." Mom said, "Always remember that. You're a special girl, Mia. One day you're going to change the world. And I'm going to be right there with you when you do."

Mia's eyes slid shut and the scene froze. She let go of Mom and stood up, facing her end with what dignity she could muster. Her crystal blue eyes shone with a radiant defiance, as though she thought she was destined to always be the most important person in the room.

"I'm ready to close my eyes for good now." she said calmly, "I'm not special, but she was. If you're going to matter, would you take her with you? I've never forgiven myself for leaving her behind. I don't want her to be forgotten."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

"Oh, most certainly" Monika stated as she ran after Lily, keeping up with the other meister while gesturing to her bleeding ear, "Ear's just busted to hell. Hopefully this Mia will be willing to, I rather liked having full hearing."