Lucy Caldwell suffered a disaster in her childhood - her house was burnt, which turned fatal for her parents. She grew up in a children's house together with other orphans. She could never forget the fire incident and was sure her parents were murde...
Once the friends arrived in Shadow Masters High School, it was already empty as if the students had evacuated. Instead, they were met by Seiji Yamada and the Kaninchen rabbits: a red-haired old man - infamous Feuer von Kaninchen, his daughter Gretchen, his son-in-law Hans - that same green-haired guy, Lucy's classmate, who had returned his original bunny spirit form, and their subordinates. All of Lucy's classmates - the advanced group of students, including her two old friends Rose and Lola, were with them. They all had their guardian spirits already unleashed and ready for battle. It seemed that they were already instructed by the bunny spirits to fight against them.
"No way! Rose! Lola! You too?" tears filled Lucy's eyes.
"Hmph! You have betrayed us, Lucy, not vice versa!" Lola frowned, "You have teamed up with man-eater spirits!" she pointed on her spirit friends. Indeed, all of them were man-eaters - the Huli foxes, the Kujaku peacocks... "The ones who wish to harm us, humans! You are the one at fault!"
"I knew something was not right about this girl!" Evilia smirked.
Rose had an accusing gaze too, standing with her arms crossed. Lucy put hands to her chest, her heart sinking - they accused her of being unjust when, in fact, such gruesome calamities had befallen her even in her past incarnation! How shameful of them! But then, they actually didn't know anything about her past... So she frowned and cried:
"These man-eater spirits became man-eaters because of the gruesome deeds of those foul bunnies you have teamed up with!"
Lola gasped with indignation:
"What are you saying? That's nonsense! Bunny spirits are harmless!"
The Kaninchen rabbits smirked. However, Lucy didn't give up:
"Then I'd suggest you hear this story!"
She retold them everything of her past incarnation, of how she regained her memories, what had happened to the De Lapin royal clan of rabbits and what the real reason was the Kaninchen Clan had ever got to join the nine supreme clans of spirits. Hearing such terrible stories, both Lola and Rose gasped and looked at Feuer von Kaninchen, the school headmaster:
"Is it true?"
Before Feuer would answer, Rose's guardian spirit, young Long Xiao-Hong, furrowed his brow, left Rose's side, and stood beside Yuehong, against his own mistress. At such a behaviour of the divine dragon prince, everyone widened eyes - how could he betray his hostess?!
"X... Xiao-Hong?" Rose gasped.
The friends weren't less surprised.
"Xiao-Hong? What gives, child?" Yuehong raised an eyebrow.
Xiao-Hong just chuckled in response, made a lollipop appear and put it into his mouth.
"My grandfather, Imperial Dragon Long Hong, is your close friend, Lord Huli. My big sister, Long Luhua, is the best friend of Big Sister Mei and Lord Zefiro. I myself am a best friend of Lord Hoshiro," he benevolently grinned at the young phoenix king, who returned a playful smile. "So there is no way I won't trust you in anything you say. After all, I know very well the true story behind Lutecia De Lapin's tragic death, just like all of you do, so I'd rather stand on the side of justice than on the side of my hostess who has decided to team up with losers," he sternly eyed astonished Rose.
All of the friends smiled, while Rose grew sad:
"S... So you say, they aren't lying, Xiao-Hong?"
"Huh? Nonsense! They're man-eaters, enemies to all of us! We must obliterate them!" Hans got worked up.
"Yeah, Rose, what gives? If your spirit was so shameful as to betray you and team up with them then so be it! Let that fool go! You will find a better spirit!" Lola agreed with Hans. It seemed that she and Evilia would not give up on their team, after all.
But Rose didn't listen to them now. She sadly gazed at Xiao-Hong, whose blue eyes shone with strictness.
"Xiao-Hong..." she murmured, and then looked over at Lucy, who watched her with sad, but sincere eyes, twinkling with the hope that she, as her friend, would believe her words... So finally Rose clenched her fists, adjusted her glasses, and stepped out of her team, taking a stand on the side of Lucy, Xiao-Hong, and the man-eaters.
"Huh?" Lola was dumbfounded.
"If Xiao-Hong and Lucy say those bunnies killed their princess and committed shameful deeds, then I shall believe their words. I'd better trust my friends than some bunnies whom I met just now at high school. After all, I know Lucy since our time at middle school, and she is my true friend!"
Lola astonishedly listened to Rose's whole conversation, and then sneered:
"Ugh, you both are fools! Well then, if you have such 'grand' reasons to fight alongside man-eater spirits, then be so! I have my own reasons - my father always said that those man-eaters are our enemies, and they shall soon exterminate us if we don't take action. So I swore to myself - I shall purge this world of man-eaters before they defeat us, humans!" She heard white peacock Hoshiro's sarcastic chuckle. She flared up with anger: "What's so funny?!"
"You talk about confronting man-eaters, and yet there is a man-eater spirit in your group," the young king pointed on the panda spirit of Wang Tang, Xiongmao Meili.
"Meili is not a man-eater! She has given up on violence long ago!" Tang exclaimed with rage.
"You talk about us being violent, but I shall never forgive neither you, Meili," Lucy lanced a furious gaze at the panda princess, "nor you, Evilia," she then glared at the owl spirit of Lola, "that you pitilessly murdered a poor squirrel's husband and two kids!"
Her body shone bright and collapsed, giving way to a tall, beautiful, grey bunny woman spirit that rushed out of it. Seeing her, the Kaninchen rabbits shuddered with horror, and the friends gasped, while Yuehong's eyes even filled with tears - it was not Lucy anymore... It was Lutecia De Lapin!
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