"What makes me better?" Rei laughed, an ugly, cold little laugh. "What makes the dozens of people who came here to rescue us better? Meril, you already know the answer to that. They haven't tortured us, they haven't gone into our heads andinstalled a tracking chip, and they haven't been using us."

The wind around Rei stirred, hot currents of air swirling around her as she angled her body away from Meril. The gesture wasn't missed, and she would be lying if she said it didn't hurt, but there was little she could do about that.

"I feel quite a lot for the people I met here. You, Mai, Yosuke, Jamie, Rarity, Bill, Orion, Ankh, Nariko, Koumei, Squalo, Mother, Father, Sister, Brother. That's why I came, to let you know that I wasn't dead. And neither is Rarity, or any of Flowers over Bones. But I can see Blanche got his claws into your head again."

She set her legs, ready to spring.

"And I know you'd turn me over to him in a heartbeat, but you wouldn't have before. You were so concerned with me being used, being turned into a sex symbol, and now you're trying to get information out of me and shame me. Think about that, think about what's changed in the last few weeks."