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Wait, what?
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Madrid, Spain
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Throughout every volume are intermissions and intervals focusing on people like Risya, the Nameless ("Anonymous"), Sallinga, the Emperor, some of the other Saint Apostles, and background events leading up to the violence in 6 and 7, as well as the aftermath in 8 and 9.
Spoiler for Volume 5:
Alice returned home and has to try and damage control what the Zoa family can say. They have no proof (Jhin destroyed all the recording equipment on Mask) but they are claiming that Sisbell is working with the Imperial Army. She has learned now that Sisbell is the one who was saved by Iska one year ago - but Sisbell still keeps her mouth closed about what happened or why she was caught in the first place. She can't see far enough into the past to be certain who is not a traitor or a unknowing accomplice.
Sisbell stays in the independent country and makes a different deal with unit 907. In exchange for safely and secretly escorting her to the Nebulis Royal Palace (avoiding the Zoa and Lou family), she will give Mismis the Star Iron patches that will suppress her spirit energy and disguise her skin, allowing her to not have to worry about being caught by the Imperial Army. Negotiations are terse (especially after what happened with that Maid and Alice!) and aren't helped by Sisbell's constant efforts to try and convince Iska to be her subordinate (Mismis and Nene are NOT happy) but the deal is made.
The Queen and Alice try to find Sisbell within the 8th State of the Nebulis Sovereignty before the public forces (or Zoa family) find her (gotta spin and preserve the public standing of the Lou family) but Alice ends up watching Sisbell hug Iska's arm, walk with him in public (disguised) and take some smoothie foam off his cheek and eat it. The jealousy meltdown is absolutely incredible, and someone should TL it for great justice, along with the scene later on that night where Alice calls upon Iska to explain himself. In the mean time, plans are being put in place in order for Sisbell to secretly get back to the palace.
But someone with the voice of Mask uses spirit power to try and blow up the Queen and her cabinet plus Elletear, Zoa royals get arrested and restrained left and right, and a true "witch" smashes up downtown in order to try and kill or capture Sisbell. Iska has a murderous fight on his hands from someone who can use eternal fire and blackholes, and Alice and Rin get the credit again. The epilogue is also the formal introduction of the Hydra family head, Talisman as well as the head of the Zoa family, Gouda.
Spoiler for Volume 6:
Sisbell's butler is missing. He went to the palace during 5 in order to make the plans to get Sisbell back (and she is desperately needed right now to actually find out who tried to kill the Queen), but he never arrived, though Sisbell received a message from him that he did arrive.
In the end, a different plan is followed and it seems like this is the end of the road - 907 gets the patches and are going to leave the country with knowledge of where to get more from outside the Empire. But Elletear intercepts everyone, and cheerfully persuades / threatens everyone into waiting ten days at the private Lou villa 2 hours from the Nebulis Palace. According to her, she was a double agent for Nebulis when she infiltrated the Empire, but still has ways to send messages to Imperial Command. In order to not make problems (no leaks about 907 to the Empire or reports to her mother about Sisbell's "foreign mercenaries) everyone goes along with it although not happily. Alice is sent to the villa to bring back Elletear, which is also a test to show that she will be the next queen instead of Kissing from the Zoa family or Mizerhyby from Hydra. Elletear and Sisbell cannot be queen because their spirit power is far too weak for combat. Elletear can only reproduce voices and sounds (like Mask's voice) and Sisbell sees the past - she cannot fight either.
Alice shows up right when both Iska and Sisbell who were searching for bugs or surveillance devices are in Alice's room and Sisbell is going through all the adult (naaaaaaughty  ) underwear in her secret closet. Maximum spaghetti dropping. This is also where Alice's ability to lie (or rather her inability to lie convincingly at all) comes into play.
Elletear agrees to go to the palace tomorrow (no problem! but late at night, no?) but Sisbell stays because of the agreement. Elletear calls Iska to her room and goes maximum predator on him, which leads to a three way argument (my guest / belonging, my subordinate, enemy who cannot be trusted with my precious sisters) and is ultimately ended by forcing Iska into the same bed as the rest of the family. Alice gets touchy / jealous while her sisters are asleep and tries to pull off Iska's pants to see his underwear (you saw mine!)
Alice stays with Sisbell while Elletear goes back to the palace for questioning, which is interrupted by a massive Imperial Army bombardment. The entire palace is going up in flames (the rest of the city is taking only minor damage) and it is invaded by elite members of the Imperial Army and the Saint Apostles. Alice is called to immediately return, and she doesn't say what's going on but tells Iska not to leave or fight otherwise she will show no mercy. Sisbell has to replay the call and is utterly confused by why Elletear would betray the nation like this, when the villa is attacked as well by Imperial soldiers!
Except they are only disguised soldiers, all of them are spirit users. And Talisman is here to collect Sisbell. The betrayal is only known to Sisbell and 907, anyone nearby is only going to see the evidence of an Imperial attack, gunpowder residue and Imperial equipment. And Talisman is a combat madman much like Iska, someone who cannot be outsped due to his physical focus on strengthening the body and enhancing his hand to hand ability with his Waves spirit power.
Spoiler for Volume 7 part 1:
Kissing, Mask and Gouda of the Zoas are fighting Apostles "Mad Dog", Risya and the Nameless, while Apostle #1 fights the Queen. The Hydra family is not in the palace and their section of the palace is not being attacked. A well planned arson campaign is being carried out, while snipers and anti armor soldiers hinder Alice's return, and force her to take command of the Nebulis army on the outskirts of the city to fight the fire and the enemy although she cannot simply freeze the entire area without hurting her people, nor can the artillery shelling the palace be found in all the chaos.
We get Elletear's motivation here - she has done absolutely everything she could, become the perfect princess in all regards, ignored all the scorn and mockery, become beloved by the masses, and it will never be enough to become queen. She is weak. The Nebulis sovereignty only cares about power in the end, and will never accept the weak, and actively scorns them for being born without the power, regardless if they have Spirit power or not. Alice in her sister's eyes is not fit to become a queen because she genuinely believes that her overwhelming power will make everything OK and save everyone, although she has no idea of what's going to happen if it wasn't enough.
This is not "paradise" and never will be when so tainted by hatred and misplaced pride, and it is time to take a stand to change things.
Talisman and Iska are getting nowhere against each other, and the other members of the 907th unit escaping with Sisbell have defeated multiple Hydra family members through improvisation and cunning. Talisman cuts his losses and has the villa destroyed with a gravity bomb, which doesn't kill Iska but is enough of a surprise attack to momentarily incapacitate 907. Sisbell is captured (and cannot be taken back because of the bad decisions of Lou maids), and Iska leaves the villa in pursuit.
The Queen's wrist is almost cut off by Apostle 1 and is about to be decapitated, when Elletear jumps in the way and takes the shot for her. Her head stays on, but the Queen faints with her daughter's blood all over her.
Alice arrives just in time to see this (also because she got the message that Elletear was running to the Queen's room and was trying to get in time to stop her elder sister).
She goes nuclear (why couldn't I save them! Why did I doubt my sister! How did this happen!) and is about to throw everything she's got at the Apostle when he picks up her sister, and Rin has to stop Alice from doing any more damage to Elletear. He escapes via a secret passage, and Alice ends up following a car out of the city in pursuit. Which turns out to be a high tech decoy bomb, and another subordinate is badly hurt protecting her from the blast.
And that, is how she meets Iska in that color spread, who is chasing after Sisbell.
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