bitter sparks to the friendly fire

Lucia Marino · 05-18-2010, 05:34 PM

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Cambi! wc:484

She almost believed herself to be lost by the time she stumbled upon the Crimson Dreams borders. The girl had traveled this way only once before, and being just a young pup at the time made it difficult to remember the path to take. Passing west through the city was the easiest part, but the majority of the trip to her father’s home was through many unfamiliar forests where it was quite easy to get turned around. A triumphant grin spread across her lips when she finally scented the borders to the land of Dreamers, easily banishing her thoughts of being lost as if they were never there. Lucia slipped easily into the claimed lands, jade gaze taking in the increasingly familiar sights as she walked. She could see the huge lake in the distance, the sight calling up memories of her awe when she’d come here as a pup to visit her father’s side of the family.

Her destination was easy to spot, the large manor sticking out clearly amongst the surrounding greenery. The Valley wolf adjusted her course toward the large building, studying the little details of the brick structure as she approached. Papa’s home was huge, so much bigger than any of the little cabins and cottages that dotted the Valley landscape back home. She hoped that he was in there, not wanting to scour the unfamiliar pack lands to find him. Papa needed to know that Momma had left, journeying off to who knows where in search of family. The girl didn’t know how her father would react to the news—she didn’t quite understand the sort of relationship her parents shared. But Lucia knew that her father would want to know, so she decided to come here to tell him herself.

Lucia only slowed in her pace as she climbed the steps and drifted through the manor’s large front doors. She had no fear that her actions were trespassing, that fact that her father and a number of apparent family members lived here justifying her unannounced visit in her mind. She halted only once she reached the main living area, silently glancing around the room. If she recalled correctly, her father’s room was somewhere upstairs, but she didn’t have a clue where to go from there. The great room looked much the same as she remembered, though the furniture had been pushed back into what she assumed were their original positions. Someone had even went about lighting a fire within the fireplace, the flame’s light casting flickering shadows across the room. She spotted the stairway off to one side, but the thought of the fireplace gave her pause. The cool and rainy weather she had been traveling through made the crackling fire look like heaven. The girl drifted toward the fire, a touch of a smile coloring her features as she felt its radiating warmth brush against her fur.

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Cambria Marino · 05-25-2010, 04:57 PM

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:o 300+

The days had been pretty cold and gloomy as of late, and so the Marino girl had taken to spending most of her time in her room, either tidying things up and reading her book on herbs. With her healed up her lessons with Dawali had resumed and thanks to her effort she really hadn't fallen behind at all. That trip to the city had been a very intense day, but she was incredibly glad that she had the book now. It would prove to be an invaluable resource to the young Practitioner. Currently she was cleaning out Enzo's cage, the mourning dove perched upon her shoulder as she worked. She worked hard, scrubbing the bottom of his cage. "When did you get so messy? I think you need to relearn your table manners signore," she teased him. In truth though it did seem like he was getting messier as of late, throwing his seeds about with little care. Perhaps he was getting a little too comfortable in the mansion. If her door was open she kept the cage shut, not wanting him to fly around and pester the rest of the pack. She thought most would be pretty kind to him, but she didn't need the bird catching someone in a bad mood.

Gathering up the soiled papers and swept up seeds in a bag, she left her room and walked down the stairs, planning to make a quick trip out to dispose of the things and then return to set fresh paper down in the cage. The crackling of the fire was a familiar and comforting sound in her ears, but a strange scent came to her nose as she descended to the main level of the manor. Brows scrunched together in confusion, was there a stranger in the house? At first she figured that someone must have just brought a guest over, but as she came to the bottom of the stairs she saw the stranger, sitting all by themselves in front of the fire. The hair on the back of her neck rose slightly. How could someone have just waltzed into the mansion? Swallowing, she took a hesitant step forward, looking at the unknown wolf. "Uh, hello?" she said, the confusion obvious in her tone.

Lucia Marino · 06-04-2010, 06:31 PM

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wc:311

As soon as the fire’s warmth started to settle into her, Lucia began to glance around the room, trying to distract herself from her idleness. She quietly eyed the collection of furniture, some pieces more worn than others, and the little bits of decoration placed here and there. There was a touch of familiarity in many of the sights from her previous visit to the manor, but it was all in all very unfamiliar territory to her. In spite of her assurances to herself that her family ties made her welcome here, she still managed to feel out of place as she stood alone in the fire lit room. She shrugged off the feeling and turned back to the crackling fire. It surprised her how quiet the manor seemed to be and she could only assume that many of its inhabitants were out and about, despite the cool and damp weather that greeted them outside.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs cut through the silence, alerting the girl that she was not alone within the huge old house after all. She turned to find someone coming down to the main level, a bag in her hand and a bird sitting upon her shoulder. The young woman was completely unfamiliar to Lucia, unable to recall seeing her at the little family gathering that had occurred months before. The Dreamer regarded her cautiously as she stepped forward, offering her a questioning and confused ‘hello’ as she did. The sandy furred youth regarded the other in silence for a moment, jade gaze studying her briefly. “Hello,” she said in response, the faintest signs of a grin touching the corners of her mouth. She let the silence settle between them for a moment before speaking up again. “Why don’t you come warm up by the fire?” she asked, question sprinkled with a false sweetness.

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Cambria Marino · 06-25-2010, 04:11 PM

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The stranger turned, eyes casually studying her as if she were meant to be here. As if she belonged here. Cambria could only catch the faintest hints of her scent, but it was clear that she was not a part of Crimson Dreams, and so did not belong here. She responded with her own greeting and while her voice seemed pleasant enough it did not put the Marino at ease in the least. She did not care for someone sneaking in here and then acting as if they were right at home, nor for the fact that the girl wasn't owning up to the fact that she was trespassing. Cambria wasn't the type to enforce the borders, but she wasn't going to let this just slide by either. The tip of her tail twitched irritatingly and the dove on her shoulder puffed up his feathers and cooed, unused to his companion's agitation.

The chocolate hued femme took a few more steps forward, but still kept a good amount of distance between them. Even if this wolf was younger than her, she didn't trust her and absolutely did not want to get too close to her. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Her tone wasn't overly harsh, but she couldn't keep her annoyance from her voice. Who did this girl think she was? Cambria wasn't going to stand for anyone invading her home. She would be more or less civil unless the girl became hostile, and then she'd call for the pack and this stranger would be in serious trouble. Even if she was alone right now, she was in Crimson Dreams and help wouldn't be more than a few seconds away.

Lucia Marino · 07-02-2010, 09:26 PM

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That chibi-Cambi sig makes me go aldkfjwoignlskdgj from the cuteness, haha. Also, short post is short. o:

The woman just wasn’t going to have any of her friendliness, it seemed. What a shame. She was clearly agitated with her trespassing, but Lucia wasn’t going to let herself be bothered by that, oh no. As far as she was concerned, she had every right to be here and she wasn’t about to let this chocolate furred lady and her little bird tell her otherwise. Obviously this Dreamer had no idea who she was, but that wasn’t Lucia’s problem, now was it? She had important news to bring to papa, and more than a few questions for him, but if she got to have a little fun here in the meantime, well. All the better.

Lucia just stared at the other for a moment, arms crossed over her chest as she internally debated how she should go about this. She could continue to traipse along with false pretenses, play dumb to the Dreamer’s obvious annoyance. How wound up could this stranger get before lashing out or calling attention to the rest of the pack? In the end she just decided to go the more direct route. She had questions, and what sort of guest would the sandy furred youth be to ignore them? “Lucia. I’m here to see my papa,” she stated matter-of-factly. Her words were still painted with that sugar coating, but the gleam in her jade eyes spoke otherwise. Go ahead and challenge me, they said. Tell me I don’t belong here.

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Cambria Marino · 07-22-2010, 06:38 PM

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I know, it's totally cute overload X3 and I don't mind short posts!

There was a pause between her accusing questions and the strange girl's response. The other seemed to be studying her and deciding which move she could make that would yield the best results. It managed to annoy the Marino femme even more. She had never really been around anyone with a cool and calculating personality before, but already within minutes of being in this outsider's presence she knew that she didn't care for it at all. Why couldn't people just be open and honest? If she had apologized and acted sincerely sorry for her trespass, Cambria wouldn't have had a problem with her. That wasn't how things were progressing at all though, and the usually mild mannered girl's nerves were crackling with strange energy.

When the answer finally came, confusion once again crossed Cambria's face. She had never heard the name Lucia before, much less knew who her father was or why he'd be here. The only fathers in the pack were her own, Uncle Jazper, and... it clicked. Her spine went rigid and her jaws came together, mouth a tense thin line. This was one of her Uncle Ehno's illicit children. The ones he had fathered with her. Cambria could see her in Lucia's eyes, and it made her skin crawl. "I don't know where Ehno is right now, but he's not here," she said tersely. She wanted the girl to go, to get out of the manor. Cambria didn't want to be in here alone with her.

Lucia Marino · 07-28-2010, 04:22 AM

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The play of emotions across the Dreamer’s face was rather entertaining to Lucia, a silent picture show of her thoughts’ progression. First there was the confusion, a clear indication that she had no idea who Lucia was speaking of. She watched with a bemused grin as the other no doubt tried to puzzle out the Valley wolf’s lineage, and she was almost tempted to give her a little hint when she suddenly went rigid, as if some switch had been flipped inside of her and sent a wave of tension through her. Lucia’s eyes widened a fraction at the display, wondering exactly what could have crossed her thoughts to elicit such a response.

When the woman finally spoke, she made it clear that she knew who her papa was, and the terse nature of her words displayed her distaste for something in this situation. Whether the displeasure was still directed at her blatant trespassing or the subject of her father, Lucia wasn’t sure. Not that it mattered much anyway. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait here for him then.” Her gaze flickered briefly to the fire before focusing on the Dreamer once more as she spoke. “Unless you’d prefer to give me the tour. Maybe we’ll run into him along the way," she suggested, more of that falsely sweet sugar coating the words. That was sure to get a rise out of her.

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Cambria Marino · 08-13-2010, 03:44 PM

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so much sucky wait D: 300+

Cambria had never felt like this before. Had never been so uncomfortable around someone she didn't even know. She was shy by nature, but there was a feeling of disgust in the pit of her stomach. The first encounter she had with one of her cousins would be a difficult one, she knew, but she didn't think it would be this difficult. Lucia wasn't helping matters at all, acting like an entitled little brat and being so obliquely disrespectful. Not to mention the fact that she seemed to be enjoying Cambria's discomfort. There were very few memories she held of the woman who had caused so much damage to her, more monstrous nightmares than anything, but the way this girl was acting was immediately connecting her to the cold-hearted witch more so than just her lineage, and it made her blood boil.

Her dismissive response made the hair along the cocoa wolf's spine stand on end and a dangerous glint entered her eyes that now looked more like roiling tempests than the calm oceans they usually portrayed. The last "suggestion" was more than she could take, and her hands balled into fists at her sides. "Or you could call for him, instead of waiting for him to be served up on some silver platter for you, you little brat," she spat. Things had been pushed too far, and her self control was quickly running out of grasp. "Cut your sweet and innocent act. I know who you are, I know where and whom you came from and I don't like any of it! Don't act like you belong here!" The volume of her voice was steadily rising as she spoke. All she could see were those eyes and to her they didn't even belong to Lucia, they belonged to who the girl had inherited them from.

Lucia Marino · 08-17-2010, 05:16 AM

wc:306 No worries. <3
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Each of her little comments seemed to be wearing away at this woman’s patience, bit by bit, and Lucia was more than pleased with the progression. How easy it was to rile this one up! Simply play the part of the falsely innocent visitor and continue with the charade until she snapped. And the chocolate-hued woman certainly seemed to be nearing her breaking point now. She spat out her own suggestion to Lucia, the added insult only causing a grin to blossom on the girl’s features. The woman continued to speak, her slowly rising tone betraying her anger. And all it took was one comment, one particularly emphasized word, to stir the embers of Lucia’s own anger. She had to be referring to her mother. The mere thought of her sent Lucia reeling beneath the swirl of confusing emotions that surrounded Naniko ever since she’d run into her half-sister in the city.

The youth felt her lips pulling back instinctually, flashing her white teeth in her agitation. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asked, sweet tones no longer concealing the venom. Did she think she was better than her because her mother had been a supposed drug abuser in the habit of turning her back on her children? Could she even believe that to be true? This Dreamer’s apparent distaste for her momma only served to further cement the possibility that the words Mati had spoken that rainy day were correct. Lucia didn’t even want to think about it anymore. The sudden turn this conversation had prompted her thoughts to make simply agitated her even more. All she wanted was to find Papa and forget about all this. She didn’t know how the tides could have turned so quickly in this little game of hers. This wasn’t how it was supposed to work.

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Cambria Marino · 08-19-2010, 05:02 PM

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<3 300+

As she had come to expect, in the face of her temper the girl only seemed to enjoy herself more, her lips turning up in a wicked grin. It was all Cambria could do to not throw herself at the impudent little brat and start hitting her to wipe that awful look off of her stupid face. Amazingly though, it seemed that some of her own words had finally hit a nerve in the other and Lucia's whole demeanor suddenly changed. She saw the white flash of teeth and at any other time the slight Marino would have quailed at the sight of it. Not this time though. This time she had her own hateful fire burning and it gave her a strength that she had never had before. A strength to stand up and say exactly what she wanted to. To not cower in the face of the other girl's sudden anger. Cambria would not be a weakling, not this time.

All the fake sugary sweetness was gone from the lighter wolf's words now, now there was only simmering anger. "It means you spent too much time with her and not enough around decent people. People like your father. If you hadn't grown up with that woman you wouldn't be such a little brat!" Cambria didn't care right now that the woman she loved was raised by the self same woman that had raised this girl. She didn't care about logic or the other's feelings. All her pent up anger towards the female that had caused her so much pain and suffering was being released and she had no desire to bottle it back up.

Startled by the rapidly rising tension in the room, Enzo left Cambria's shoulder and flew up onto the railing of the stairs, watching the verbal altercation nervously.

Lucia Marino · 08-20-2010, 07:21 PM

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wc:304 Mati can swoop on in now. o:

Jade eyes remained focused on the other as her anger silently built itself up. She didn’t like the high and mighty stance this Dreamer was taking, and instead of finding amusement in it as she had moments before, now the act was only pissing her off. Where did she get off acting like she was better? Like momma had tainted her? Confused thoughts blended in with the anger for a brief moment. It didn’t matter what anyone said, momma had always been so kind, been so good at teaching them what they needed to know when they were growing up. She hadn’t been some kind of witch, like this woman seemed to imply. No, that was stupid. This was all so stupid. She didn’t want to hear this Dreamer talk about her like that anymore.

“Shut up, shut up!” she yelled, the building anger preventing her from throwing a proper argument right back at her. She stepped forward as the little bird took off from its perch on the girl’s shoulder, but she paid it no mind. Her eyes remained focused on the chocolate-furred woman, set in a glare that reflected the fires of her anger. She halted quickly, hands curling into fists. A tiny, rational part of her thoughts prevented her from lunging forward, but the blooming anger she now found herself with was doing its best to push that aside. She wanted to hit her, wanted to make her shut up if she wouldn’t do it herself. “You don’t know her!” But hell, did Lucia even truly know her anymore? All the supposed truths her half-sibling had shared with her only a short time ago served to shatter all her previous assumptions. The back and forth thoughts she was having only frustrated her further, prompting a snarl to mar her features now.

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Mati Church · 08-20-2010, 09:29 PM

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lulz, catfight please?

She was in her room, seated by the window on a high stool. The easel had been rigged to lean against the window, the painting filled with bright colors. Yellows and oranges. It was nothing in particular, abstract and her brush strokes were loose and uncontrolled. As she painted her mind was normally lost within itself, her thoughts straying to the outskirts of her memories and back to the lines of the painting. She was in a daze, thinking of things that had long past and days that were very different then the present. She thought of her brother Haven, and days when things were easier and simple and always fun and carefree.

But her memories of puppyhood were dashed to the side when voices broke through. Her brown ear turned towards her door. They were high pitched, female and familiar. She waited a moment, they came again and she was on her paws and her mouth tight in an unknowing frown. What she opened her door she could hear that sweet voice of Cambria twisted into something Mati had never heard before. Then more, and she hurried down the hall. “Shut up, shut up!” came forth and her purple eyes caught the face of Lucia around the corner. The tall bronze woman walked with haste towards the two female’s. There was something burning in her gaze, something made her stare at the Valley female and caused the fur along her neck to rise. The thought of Cambria in any trouble made every inch of her skin burn and her thoughts threatened to spin uncontrollably.

She came quickly between them, hardly glancing at the Marino female before stepping up beside her and forward to block any advance that Lucia might make. The Church fey didn’t know what was going on between them but the pale youth was automatically in the wrong in her eyes, standing beneath their roof and giving a toothy snarl to the face of a Dreamer. Though of course this was not just anyone and her half sister would regret coming here if she did not calm down. It took every inch of Mati’s control not to match the smaller female’s snarl with her own, though the beginnings of a rumbling growl could be heard in her voice. Her eyes looked as if they sought to burn through the other girls face. Control yourself Lucia. She spoke, caring so little about what the argument had been about and who deserved to feel what. She turned to look at Cambi, her gaze softening and questioning her with a glance. Was she okay? And what the hell was going on?

Cambria Marino · 09-07-2010, 09:13 PM

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*slaps self* NO MORE SLOW D< 300+

Cambria was glad that Lucia was mad. The little snot needed to see the reality that had clearly been kept from her. She held no illusions; the pale woman wouldn't have ever told these children what she had done. Hell, she probably hadn't even told them that she had lived here once upon a time. Cambi wasn't going to play into that little web of lies though. She knew the truth. She was the truth. To her, there was nothing beyond what had happened to her. It may have been selfish and wrong, but what had been done to her was selfish and wrong. The D'Angelo had never apologized to anyone for what she had done. She had even blamed her own mother and father for what had happened to her. No, for once in her life she was taking a stand and she didn't care what this girl said. This time Cambria wasn't going to back down. She didn't even flinch when Lucia took a step toward her with hands balling into fists.

What did make her flinch though was the sudden imposition of Mati between herself and her cousin. Only vaguely had she heard the sounds of someone else approaching and she wouldn't have guessed it to be the Church fey. Now that she was between them though, and their private spat was exposed to the woman that she cared so much about, all the steel went out of her. Her head lowered almost submissively and her tail hung limp behind her. Cambria wrapped her arms around herself. She didn't want Mati to see her like this, this wasn't her. It was, but it wasn't a side of her that she had ever wanted the multi-hued woman to see. Even though Mati was protecting her and taking her side she still felt ashamed for losing control of herself as she had. Cambi didn't look at Lucia anymore, pointedly avoiding any sight of the girl. Mati's violets caught her gaze for a moment, but the slight Marino quickly looked down to the floor. She didn't want to be here anymore. She just wanted to run away and pretend this had never happened.

Lucia Marino · 09-21-2010, 08:53 PM

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Lucia had been so wrapped up in her anger that she hadn't even noticed that she and Cambria weren't alone anymore until Mati suddenly stepped between them. Jade eyes blinked in confusion, and for the briefest moment she was tempted to push past the figure be within clear sight of the chocolate-coated woman again, until she realized that it was her half-sister that had stepped between them. Her anger faltered for a moment as she blinked up at the towering form of her Dreamer sibling. Mati's warning and the beginnings of a growl that coated her words were enough to both make the sandy-furred girl flinch and stoke the fires of her anger nearly back to full force. She stiffened, but allowed her twisted snarl to soften after taking a step back.

The Valley wolf tried to look past Mati toward the girl she had been arguing with, catching a glimpse of her hugging herself and averting her gaze. The sight brought the beginnings of a half-grin to her lips, but it faltered as soon as she looked back to her half-sibling. She felt the sudden need to explain herself, but found it difficult to find the words for how she felt. "I..." She sighed in frustration. The argument played back through her head, and she hardly seemed to notice when her eyes squeezed shut and her hands balled tightly into fists at her side. "She... She was talking about momma," she said, straining to keep her voice calm. "I couldn't just..." The defense sounded flimsy even to her own ears.

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Mati Church · 09-28-2010, 10:55 AM

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sorry for the wait!!

She hadn't noticed the bit of fighter that she saw now in Lucia the previous time they had happened to come across one another. Mati had of course seen the small amount of rough attitude when they had spoken before, and wouldn't have called her welcoming of their short conversation. Though Mati knew that she did not fully know the Valley fey well at all, their genetics and single conversation gave her little to go on and the Church woman was not about to place her trust in the lighter hued female. She did however know Cambira, and knew that she was easily moved to speaking such harsh words nor giving even a growl to another. It made her believe that what they had spoken of was either insulting or threatening and when her pack mate and friend said nothing her eyes bore into the Valley member.

There was no real explanation, and the few words that Lucia did speak were not enough to make Mati understand. She spoke as if their mother was someone that Mati cared about, someone that was worth her effort to defend. The elder fey took a deep breath. There were words on her tongue, nasty things that would shame her later and Mati needed gather her control and settle the situation rather then make it worse. But the idea that she had made Cambi upset, and now knowing that it was the topic of Naniko did not help with the collection of her wits. Finally the words that came from her mouth were ones that were not perfect but did not hold the hostility that was soaking into her as she stood between the two females.

Anything that Cambria says would only be the truth. Her tone was heavy, giving sight to her true feelings. Their mother failed many more the Lucia would ever know. She had been an alpha that fell fast and hard, and it was her own doing. Hadn't she told her that their mother was no good? Mati now wished she had gotten that across, perhaps Lucia would have more understanding. More consideration. You should go, I can see you out.

Cambria Marino · 10-04-2010, 05:18 PM

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sorry short :x not much for Cambi to do/say

Cambria wanted to run and she wasn't sure what exactly held her feet in place. She listened only distantly as Lucia tried to defend her actions. A moment ago she would have retorted, explaining how rude the girl had been from the start and how she had just waltzed in here without any kind of permission or humility. Maybe if it were anyone other than Mati she would have spoken, but now her throat was constricted and all she did was stare at the floor. She couldn't bring herself to look at either of them. Cambi could feel the tension and anger rise up in the Church fey when it was made known that they had been yelling about her birth mother and she felt even more guilty. She knew how painful that topic was to Mati, nearly as painful as it was to her. Why couldn't someone else have intervened? Someone who wasn't as deeply touched by the subject of the pale woman.

Mati spoke heavily once again in her defense, and offered to show Lucia out of the house. Cambria hoped that stubborn girl wouldn't fight it and would just leave quietly. She wanted to put this whole ugly mess behind her and she could feel the pressure of tears behind her oceanic orbs. She never wanted to talk or think about that woman, and now it had all been brought up and caused problems again. It was just more proof that she was good for nothing and only caused pain to everyone around her.

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