ᴇᴍʙᴇʀꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ᴅʏɪɴɢ ꜱᴋʏ | ᴛᴇɴᴢᴀɪ & ᴄᴀʀᴘᴇ ᴅɪᴇᴍ

[Tenzai]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ꜱᴛɪᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ʙᴇʟɪᴇꜰ | ᴅʏɴᴀꜱᴛʏ ᴡᴀʀʀɪᴏʀꜱ: ᴏʀɪɢɪɴ - ᴏꜱᴛ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​ "Do you wield your weapons. Or do they wield you? It is like a child wearing a tunic three sizes too big for them. Such equipment is wasted on a coward like you." Her eyes furrowed at the idea that her taunts were cutting deep into her pride. Her armor was glamorous, befitting of the higher circles of her species, though as a result of it given her young age, many others in Heaven had assumed the same. Her title and her parents had afforded her power and status at the cost of being seen as an inheritor of it, rather than someone who had earned it via her own works. "I'll release it from the disgrace of being worn by you." The first slash came fast, much faster than Idra had expected. However, the holy warrior princess did not move nor stumble. Her divine shield was resolute, acting as a match for Ophelia's carving darkness. "Tough words coming from someone who wasted her years in a tower." Her armor seemed unscathed by the swiftness of her first strike. While she herself might have gotten the question of the divine, her armor was blessed by a holy blacksmith, one that could be seen handling the work of gods. "I've trained with the armor of gods. All you have is nothing but experience with shadows." Despite her words, her boots were pushed back, leaving a trail of shifted dirt from the force of her attack. Her armor was impeccable but her stance had hinted at her dependence on her gear for her success. Ophelia had the speed to go against Idra's resilience. She wielded darkness against Idra's light. "Tell me, Idra," A plume of dust had shot up from where she landed, leaving clouds born of sand around the battlefield. Even though the crowd had cheered their names, to Idra, her battlefield was silent. All that mattered were herself and the woman in front of her and she knew she couldn't afford to lose, especially not to someone so new in name and title. Ophelia was no champion. She was no renowned warrior. She was a lucky human that ruled over a backwater world generations ago, nothing more. "Have you ever personally buried one of your subjects? Have you given them their passing rites? Have you laid down flowers on their last resting place?" "My subjects are eternal. They are perfect. They know not of defeat." A smirk crossed her face from underneath her helmet finding another significant difference between her kingdom and Ophelia's. "Looks like your kind are only good at dying. Quite like your team, how fitting." The pain from her past fight was made apparent, leading to her limbs moving slower than they had when fighting Neon. Though where she lacked in freshness, her vitriol had served instead as fuel for her speed as well as some other unknown dark force. "Have you had to meet the eyes of a widow as you tell her that her husband remains could not be recovered? Had a child ask you why they couldn't see daddy anymore?" Idra grew quiet, hearing the same thought be brought up by her dad before he passed. The painful memory of his lectures alone had caused her to grit her teeth, making her shield grow even brighter with divine resistance. "If you have not suffered along your subjects, don't you dare call yourself royalty!" "What do you know about royalty?!"​ Pointing her spear at the growing amalgamation of darkness in front of her, the princess of light had readied herself to pierce through the corruption that came from Ophelia's patron's boon. However, before she was able to stab through it, the small ball of darkness suddenly grew massive, overtaking her shield, leading to it cracking upon impact and finally... Breaking. With a single attack, Idra's concentration on her defense had cracked, shattering the indomitable protective outer shell that so many others had struggled with piercing through in the past. The fact that she had done so that quickly had caused a roar to take the stands, leading to even Neon standing from her seat to cheer. While Neon herself might have been able to break through the shield, it wasn't without tons of sacrifice to come before. Perhaps Ophelia stood a chance. "KICK HER ASS!" "THATS MY PRINCESS!" "MAKE US PROUD!" "... Clap clap clap. Woooo." Her team had offered Ophelia her hopes as Idra swiped her blade to clear the arena of the dark soot and smoke that clouded her vision. Her armor was still stubbornly standing, though from the looks of it, it was the last layer standing in between her and her vulnerable flesh. "Until... you can resonate with the suffering of others, you will never be a true monarch. Give up now... before I make you regret ever crossing paths with me." The offer of surrender had made the princess laugh. "You're asking me? The future queen of the Northern Sky, to give up? How ignorant you are! Let me show you the power of someone deemed to lord over Heaven." Her spear glowed annoyingly bright, illuminated enough to render those too close and without protection blind. From the channeling of its energy, it seemed that the denial of vision was not its only intended effect as the very air molecules around began to heat up with divine fire. "Try and dodge this if you can." With her massive weapon, she threw a wave of light back in Ophelia's direction. Though her attack was slower than Neon's were, it made up for that lack of speed in size and power, bathing the arena in force as it traveled towards Ophelia. However, while it might've made short work of her if she was unable to rise off the ground, Idra was far from done. Following after her first volley, the back of her armor sprouted wings as jets underneath had given her speed to adjust for her armor's overwhelming weight. It was through the expert use of her gear that made her a dangerous foe to most, one that required Ophelia's answer to her god. Wielding her massive spear, its point reached Ophelia's rapier as she charged, forcing it to bend as it parried away most of its force into the ground, causing the very floor itself to crack, bending light as it collided only to leave behind a glowing mark of consecrated dust behind. "How dare you speak to me like we're equals! Your entire kingdom had lived for only a portion of my father's own!" Massive thrusts had afforded Ophelia enough time to strike twice in between every handheld artillery strike driven into her position. Though with every cut of her rapier, the tip bounced from swiftness alone. Whichever force that existed behind her blade needed to work in tandem with her and her deity. "I will not let you speak ill of it or me! You haven't earned that right!" Becoming disgruntled at the fact that her spear was too slow with her shield unable to block in time, Idra finally let go of the shield, letting it fall with a heavy thud as she wielded her spear with both hands. If she simply let this fight go on as is, neither of them would be able to strike down their opponent and she wasn't going to let someone speak ill of her entitlement to her royalty without suffering the taste of defeat at the hands of her light first. By surviving the first attacks and breaking through her shield, Idra had deemed her worthy of her effort and her fight. "Is that all your tough words have? Is that all your strength amounts to? Don't make me laugh." "If you were worthy of your title, you would've landed a meaningful blow by now."​ Realizing that Ophelia's method of escape was to always remain out of reach instead of casting a shield to protect herself, the princess had shifted her tactic, casting a spell that created a shield which forced her inside. The wall was transparent, too thick to cut through easily without risking herself with another eldritch fireball. "All that talk just for you to disappoint your friends." Reaching towards a sheath that rested at her hip, as she let go of the spear, it vanished into golden sparkles. only to have a certain vampire's blade take its place. "It would be poetic for Neon's blade to be what does you in." A fan of the theatrics, the angelic princess had infused Ophelia's friend's weapon with a shroud of her own light, tainting its darksteel-forged origin with consecration gold. "A perfect end for such an imperfect being." "Be proud that your common blood had brought you this far."​

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ "Looks like your kind are only good at dying. Quite like your team, how fitting." ​ "You may be right..." Ophelia smiled bitterly, finding no lie in Idra's words. "But it is through my kind's deaths that we continue to grow. Though we may never reach the heights of the divine, my kind continues to muddle through, finding their own way. As I'm sure those four will, whether I'm there or not. That's the kind of people they are." She did not let Idra's taunts get to her, instead glancing towards the stands, where the four stubborn girls remained despite Ophelia's request for them to not be around for the fight. She should've known they wouldn't leave for any reason, but she still sighed with a shake of her head. "What do you know about royalty?!" ​ The princess smirked, knowing that her words had found effect in the once indiscernible angel's exterior. It seemed that they truly were a match made in heaven - diametrically opposed, never to find each other agreeing on a single thing. Every word that Ophelia uttered got under the blonde's skin, just as every word spoken by Idra fanned the flames of her anger, making her magic flare ever higher with each moment that the battle went on. With her shield shattering, Ophelia's confidence only grew ever higher, her sardonic smirk deepening as she gripped her rapier tighter, readying herself for another bout once their exchange had ended. Of course she didn't expect Idra to surrender, but the fact that she responded to the offer was enough for Ophelia. The fact that she would even give the statement the benefit of a response meant something. What that something was would only show itself with time. Time that Idra was not willing to give her. "Try and dodge this if you can." Like usual, the angel gloated before she was even done making a move. The human princess stood ready, though her feet were wobbly from her fight against Neon still. Whatever reaction she would have wouldn't be as swift as it had been when she fought against Leandro or her vampire companion. True to her word, Idra's attack blinded her, forcing Ophelia to jump in one direction. She barely missed the brunt of the attack, sacrificing her left arm to the divine fire in order to not be scorched completely. It had already been left useless from her clash with Neon, so she decided that it was a worthwhile sacrifice. She didn't pay any mind to the pain of divine magic burning her to her eldritch-touched core, as if it was nothing compared to what she had endured. It was not enough to dodge, however. Idra's overwhelming strength left her with little options. It was the best she could do to parry the spear, keeping her body safe from being impaled by the divine weapon. "How dare you speak to me like we're equals! Your entire kingdom had lived for only a portion of my father's own!" "And yet for as long as they had me as their scapegoat, they prospered! It wasn't until... until...!" She could not rebuke her. It was her own fault the kingdom had fallen; how could she claim that her kingdom was any better when they had suffered? And Ophelia had borne witness to every second of it, courtesy of her patron? With the difference in strength growing apparent, Ophelia's rapier fell to the ground as she herself fell to her knees, stabbing it into the hard floor beneath her. She gazed up at Idra, her chest heaving with exhaustion, as if she'd given it her all. The angel's furious, righteous onslaught had left it clear that the difference in strength was overwhelming even for her. And with the shield brought up around her, there was no place for her to run, for her to hide. "If you were worthy of your title, you would've landed a meaningful blow by now." "I never claimed to be worthy of my title, Idra." ​ [Ophelia shook her head with resignation; yet another misunderstanding between them. While Idra claimed pride over her title, Ophelia only found shame in her own. She only continued to carry it out of a sense of shame - a reminder of who she was; and what she had done. She was the reason her kingdom had fallen, when her desire had only been for it to prosper. In the end, she let herself be seduced by dark power. It brought peace, but it also brought shame to her father's legacy, and taint to her lineage. Her red eyes looked up from the ground as she let go of her weapon, exchanging it for another. In that moment, Ophelia's eyes lit up with understanding that this was what Idra had wanted all along - to cause a rift by not only forcing her to break Neon's blade upon losing the match, but by making said blade be the one to take her down. The theatrics of it all could only draw one reaction from Ophelia. "Ha... hahahaha..." It was soft at first, barely but a small giggle. "Be proud that your common blood had brought you this far." "A piece of advice, Idra?" ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Mili - Paper Bouquet ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ "Never monologue. And never let go of your weapon..."​ As if her earlier docility had been nothing but an act, Ophelia's red eyes glared up at the supposed victor. "I think... under different circumstances, under a different sky, you and I..." She stared straight up, letting out a sigh that made her chest feel light. "... could've come to an understanding. Maybe... I could've seen you as a friend. Who else could ever know the weight that a crown bears? All dream of holding it over their head, but none know the feelings of inadequacy that come with it... And yet..." "Every word you say... every sentence you form... every time you look down on me, or on those that I care about..." Ophelia dodged to the right, barely evading the downward slash of Neon's blade by Idra. The divine light scorched her yet again, but there was something different than a moment ago. Where Ophelia's arm had been rendered completely unusable by Idra's attack earlier, it was now completely fine. Her arm was completely exposed, not even Umbra's superb threadwork being able to withstand Idra's attack, but the human's arm was completely fine, other than the sizzling as the muscles and skin reformed in real time. "IT PISSES ME THE HELL OFF...!!!!!!" ​ Imbued with every bit of eldritch magic that her body could handle and more, Ophelia swung under Idra's arm and smashed her fist straight into her visor, letting the recoil of it send her flying against the barrier of her own making, but not before she used the opportunity to snatch Neon's blade from her filthy angel hands with her other hand. It was better used in her hands, a person who was more acquainted with the dark arts. She pushed down the sword on the ground next to her rapier, creating a small but powerful eldritch barrier around both of them to protect them from what was about to come next. "So you have learnt to use your armor and weapons to a masterful degree. I'll take back my words about your gear wearing you. However..." Eldritch magic crackled in one of her palms, while the other crackled with her own, divine magic in the form of pure, unfiltered and unformed energy, glowing an ominous red. She pushed both hands together with some difficulty, as if trying to press magnets together while they were on the same pole. "... You're still naive! To gloat over an enemy you have not yet defeated. To assume you know every trick under their sleeve. 'Appear weak when you are strong, appear strong when you are weak'. Even as a child, I knew this. Yet you... you're nothing but a stupid child if you think something like this will stop me from using magic...!!!" She pushed both palms forward, sending the ball of chaotic magic straight towards Idra with blinding speed. Even if the angel were to put down the barrier in an attempt to run away, it was too late; the explosion would catch them both in its detonation. The barrier broke regardless, sending Ophelia flying back against her own barrier, where both her rapier and Neon's sword remained unscathed. She could feel every bone in her body shattering from the sheer force of the explosion, but they reformed within the same second, leaving her insides to crackle as punctured organs and muscles healed themselves back in an instant. The pain, however, could not be avoided. It took a moment for Ophelia, who had grown used to pain by now, to recover as she stood back up, putting down the barrier to retrieve both blades from the ground. "And one more thing..." "I'm ambidextrous. But I'm sure my acting lead you to believe my right hand is weaker, no?" ​ Ophelia smirked, giving Neon's sword a few swings to get used to its weight. It was a lot heavier than her own rapier, but she had some extra strength thanks to her patron, so it was hardly a problem for the time being. "I'm actually most comfortable when I have two blades in both of my hands. Thanks for the gift!" The princess mocked, tapping her boots on the ground beneath her. "Now that I've shown you a few more of my tricks..." "Shall we kick it up a notch?"​ Using the debris that her earlier blast had created around them, the princess took inspiration from a certain spell her witch friend had used to help her not too long ago. The stone and concrete rose from the ground, levitating at varying heights and distances around both of the princesses. One moment, Ophelia was on the ground. The next, she was a blur as she hopped onto a nearby piece of debris, before hopping onto the next. She jumped around several times, adding an element of uncertainty as to which direction she would attack from before mimicking the way Neon used her own blade against her to propel herself towards Idra. She imbued Neon's sword with her patron's magic as she slashed at Idra's back. "You won't mind if I get a little serious now, will you? After all, you're the one that wanted this!" With even more speed than before, Ophelia jumped away to a piece of debris that was high up in the air before Idra could trap her in another one of her barriers. "I wonder how much it'll hurt when I beat you with Neon's weapon?"​

​

 

[Tenzai]

"A piece of advice, Idra?" Advice? Who was she to offer the princess leagues over her advice? "Never monologue. And never let go of your weapon..." Crimson hues stared with intensity back at the angelic warrior. The sigh that followed was akin to someone dealing with a nuisance rather than their greatest enemy. "I need not try my best against you. Now that I've seen your works in all its power, it's safe to say..." "You're a lot more disappointing than I thought you would be." ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴠᴀʟʟᴇʏ ᴏꜰ ꜰᴏᴏʟꜱ | ᴍᴀʀᴢᴜᴋᴜ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​ "It seems that the most dangerous part about you is your choice of words." Refusing to take her advice without being seen as an equal, she continued to gloat, believing that she held full advantage with Ophelia being trapped within her bubble. Its gilded surface was impenetrable from both directions, inside and out. "I think... under different circumstances, under a different sky, you and I... could've come to an understanding. Maybe... I could've seen you as a friend. Who else could ever know the weight that a crown bears? All dream of holding it over their head, but none know the feelings of inadequacy that come with it... And yet... Every word you say... every sentence you form... every time you look down on me, or on those that I care about..." Believing this moment to be the perfect opportunity to strike her down, Idra swung with Neon's blade, whiffing towards what she believed to be her wounded side. However, one clear look had hinted that in the time she had spent speaking, Ophelia regenerated her strength, taking full advantage of the princess' pride. Underneath her helmet, she gritted her teeth as the stubbornness of her opponent's body, finding it annoying to face another opponent similar in resilience to herself. Her armor was made to be impenetrable, a stalwart tool against all adversity. Its greatest weakness was the wielder inside of it. "IT PISSES ME THE HELL OFF...!!!!!!"​ "How unbecoming of you." Ophelia's anger was something she deemed unlady-like. "If your body could heal that fast, then it just means you'll bear more of my punishment. You'll simply lose for longer." Idra swung again, finding her divine fire scorching her opponent's body a swing earlier being a good sign. Though, as if she had expected it to come, Ophelia had moved at a cross angle that was hard to see given Idra's visor's sight limitations. With her hook sent straight into her visor, the sudden momentum had caught Idra off guard, forcing her armor against the shield itself. [Armor integrity at 70%] Regardless of what her armor warned, her own body was much more fragile than its divine reinforcement. With Neon's sword dropping as she was sent in the opposing direction, both glowed with a dark hue as they fell under her god's protection. "So you have learnt to use your armor and weapons to a masterful degree. I'll take back my words about your gear wearing you. However..." [Warning. Level 5 eldritch magic has been detected in your vicinity. Warning. Level 7 eldritch magic has been detected in your vicinity.] Standing herself back up, as her armor warned her of what was to come, she prepared to plant herself in place to prove that her magic would not move her. She was a massive target, one that was heaving from the pain she felt when her armor had been used against her, turning it into a painful, brunt force prison. By now, Idra was coughing, each contortion of her chest being heard from the speakers on her armor. "... You're still naive! To gloat over an enemy you have not yet defeated. To assume you know every trick under their sleeve. 'Appear weak when you are strong, appear strong when you are weak'. Even as a child, I knew this. Yet you... you're nothing but a stupid child if you think something like this will stop me from using magic...!!!" Dark sparks had led to sweat dripping from her brow as she felt her survival instincts scream for attention. A chill had ran down her spine finding the rapier wielding mage risking herself as she prepared a high level eldritch spell befitting a battlefield rather than that of the arena. With each flung spark came a loss of color from their surroundings, only to grow more rapid from its channeling before finally being released in a blast that broke her concentration. [Armor integrity at 50%] The wall had shattered. Her armor, while still standing, was showing signs of wear and tear from steam shooting out of the exhaust ports for having its electronic components be overworked to the point of heat exhaustion. She couldn't deny that her body was in pain. As she stood up once again, Ophelia could see her joints wincing. Regardless of how strong the armor was, the blast had reached Idra inside. "And one more thing... I'm ambidextrous. But I'm sure my acting lead you to believe my right hand is weaker, no?" With her weapon in her enemy's hand and her body recovering fast from the sudden snap of her bones, now it seemed like Idra was on the losing end. Her body was moving slower, as if each limb was just as heavy as her lance, and surprisingly, she was quiet. The sting of her wounds had placed her priority away from her gloating. Unlike her former opponents, this one had the power to hurt her through her divine construction. "I'm actually most comfortable when I have two blades in both of my hands. Thanks for the gift! Now that I've shown you a few more of my tricks... Shall we kick it up a notch?" And she was far from done. The dust and debris had lifted itself, beckoned by her mana and will to act as a bridge for the eldritch princess to hop across. With each shard of rubble, orbiting around the woman who could barely move, she was given freedom in her attacks, allowing her to strike Idra from any angle. "You won't mind if I get a little serious now, will you? After all, you're the one that wanted this! I wonder how much it'll hurt when I beat you with Neon's weapon?" 'Shit. I need to give my armor some time to recharge.' With her energy dedicated to her shield capacitors, she couldn't wield her magic as well without her armor having more energy to spare as a catalyst. Though, before it was given a moment to charge, strikes from above, behind, and below had rendered her batteries overwhelmed. "Ach... Oof... Mhmphf." She was but a sitting duck, a punching bag for the very sword she had stolen from the vampiress a year ago. Their duel had begun to turn into an embarrassing display once it was made obvious that she was too reliant on her armor; That without her father's gifts, she was nothing. [Armor integrity at 40%] With each passing moment, her armor was losing its combat capability. [Armor integrity at 20%] Soon, it would be stripped of her, leaving her with nothing but her own flesh to handle Ophelia who only seemed to be gaining more momentum now that the tides of battle were shifting in her favor. [Armor integrity at 5%. Shutting down.] Quietly, she muttered a prayer to any god that would listen to her for strength befitting that of a queen. However, as if the gods were made aware of her taking their gifts for granted, none had come to her aid once the last swing had knocked the armor off of her, unveiling itself into a metal box that landed to her side, leaving her in nothing but her jumpsuit. Without her armor in the way, Ophelia was able to see the bruises she had left on the supposedly perfect princess' body. She was not immune to her attacks despite her best attempts to act as such; In truth, she was just as ordinary as most others in the galaxy, save for her overwhelming sense of pride for a species whose gifts she inherited instead of earned. Taking her sidearm, she attempted to make a last ditch attempt at gunning down the princess, only to have the weapon knocked out of her hand. Nearly defenseless, the princess bit her tongue hard enough to bleed, hating the feeling of so many eyes on her watching her at such a vulnerable state. "Why won't you understand your place?" She swung her arms with terrible posture, being easily dodged before feeling the blunt side of Ophelia's strike. She was but prey to be toyed with; A terrible woman who had yet to be met with the consequences of her pride. "Take me down. Stop playing these games with me." She thrusted her arms again, causing the angels in the stands to look away from her shame. They were meant to be the epitome of species when it came to combat; Not victims who were incapable of defending themselves. "Do me the honor of a proper defeat, Ophelia! What are you scared?!" Throwing her hands in a wild display of disgrace as she charged forward in heels that never belonged in the arena in the first place, taking merely a side step for her to end up falling to the ground, covering her once perfect face in a layer of dust. Coughing, as she attempted to get up, she eyed the shadows of the princess she looked down on, finding herself now being the one to be in the position beneath her. Their fight was over. The posturing she had delivered had come to an end. Now it was merely time for Ophelia to decide how she wanted to end this fight. With the eyes of the crowds from both in person and online looking towards her, her own found family watching from the stands and the very hero that ordered them to find her in the first place observing her as well, Ophelia was given the spotlight to decide the fate of the woman that had done so much damage to her team before. "What do you think she's gonna do?" Medina tilted her head, sitting crisscrossed on her seat with popcorn in her hand. "I don't know." Given the sheer amount of distance in between them, Shiro was unable to rely on her future sight to determine the fate of the princess below her boot. "Oh no, I hope Lia doesn't go too far." August seemed nervous, watching how her magic was beginning to corrupt her speech. However, Neon was of a different mind. "What do you mean? Have you forgotten what she did to us last year?" The vampire samurai had yet to forgive her for the wrong she committed. "She hurt us, Gust. She hurt me. Made me a fool in front of everyone." She sighed, remembering the feeling of loss. "The rights of the defeated go to the victor. Its up to her to decide what she wants to do. Whatever happens, Idra has no right to complain if she can't grant grace in victory herself." Gripping her skirt, nervous as to what Ophelia would do, the witch was of a different mindset. At the end of the day, they were still allies fighting on the same side of the front. While she wasn't against Ophelia teaching her a lesson, she didn't want her to be unnecessarily cruel as well. "But Lia isn't like Idra! She's better than that." Both women had faith in the princess from different directions; Neon was proud of her combat prowess, finding her victory to be the work of perfect cinema. August had seen Ophelia for her humanity, remembering the joys they had in the peace. "Then lets leave it up to her to decide, Gust. However she delivers her lesson, I'll accept her. No matter what happens, she'll always be our Lia."

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ "Why won't you understand your place?" "I'm trying to. Gods know I'm trying to." ​ "But I know it is not kneeling before you. Not in a million years, Idra." The princess that had spoken about disappointments less than a couple of minutes ago was now screaming at her like a petulant child who had lost a game and was now throwing a tantrum. Ophelia's boiling yet cold rage was incapable of retaining that heat when he saw Idra like this, when she saw her for who she really was - a girl trying her hardest to fit boots too big for her. It cooled to a simmer, but refused to fully leave her as it was now accompanied by an aloof sense of pity. "Take me down. Stop playing these games with me." "Not yet." Her eyes left her opponent - a careless mistake against someone capable, but a luxury she was afforded against someone powerless like Idra - and looked to the crowd, searching for that head full of pink. So much for saying she only fought for herself; here she was, trying to find the best way to honor her friend. The same friend she had blasted away and cursed off just the night prior. A small scoff left her lips, not out of disdain or mockery towards Idra, but towards herself. What a hypocrite she was, saying such words and yet acting so recklessly. Using so much of her patron's powers would surely come at a steep price once this was all done, but for now she only cared to do right by Neon. "Do me the honor of a proper defeat, Ophelia! What are you scared?!" "You dare speak of honor after what you did to Neon?" "The rapier that Medina made for me along with her gloves. The dress that protected my body from your attacks, made by a seamstress who accepted me despite my rudeness. The bandages of an angel who said he would offer no discounts, yet gave me them free of charge. And the sword of a friend that you tried to strike me down with." "You insulted all of them. Yet you would ask for grace in defeat after all of that?" ​ Ophelia took a step back out of reflex, the movement so telegraphed it didn't even warrant thinking about as she dodged her awkward lunge. It was almost like sidestepping a child who was running without paying attention to their surroundings, except she didn't bother to catch her as she tripped over her own feet. Instead she looked down at her with disdain and pity, her lips sealed tightly in a slight scowl as she found herself conflicted. "You don't deserve honor. What you deserve..." Ophelia's own high-heeled boot made contact with Idra's chin, an upward kick to send her reeling back as she bought herself some more time to reflect. She scanned the crowd yet again, finding Neon's expectant gaze over them. And next to her, August's concerned eyes. She frowned in confusion; why was she so disconcerted? Ophelia had won. Without her armor, Idra may as well been weaker than a wild boar that she could easily dispose of with a single thrust of her rapier. There was no reason for her to be worried any longer. Other than... If she lost herself. ​ This was why she didn't want any of them to watch. Because once her emotions ran high, it was hard to control herself. The grip on her rapier tightened for a moment before loosening in the next, a deep, quiet sigh escaping her as she sheathed it within the scabbard Medina had made for it. Neon's blade remained in her other hand. "... is a bitter lesson. Just like the one I learned when I became trapped in that tower. Except you won't have to simmer in this lesson for that long. You won't have to stare into the abyss to understand." She shook her head, trying to erase all the times she'd nearly blinked while staring into that deep, endless darkness. How close she had become to losing herself in the madness. Instead, she focused on the single ray of light she had been blessed with. "... You wanted to follow in his steps too, right?"​ Her gaze and voice both softened in that moment, staring down at Idra. But what she saw was not the angel that had mocked her endlessly from the moment they met. Instead, she saw a reflection of herself, younger and innocent. Amber hues stared back at deep crimsons, her expression unreadable. She bit back bitter tears of regret. "Boots so big you could put your entire arm in them and still couldn't reach the bottom. Crown so big you couldn't even dream of it ever fitting your head. Yet you still dreamt, and dreamt, and became so desperate. You could hear the whispers. A child. How will she ever measure up to him? Anger. Frustration. Fear." 'You would do anything if it meant you could stop feeling that way.' "But those voices will never be satisfied, no matter what you do. Instead, you need to follow your own heart. Do what you think is right, not what others expect of you." ​ "There will always be regrets. But the path you choose for yourself is the one that will have the least." If only she'd known that before. Despite what others said, she would live her life filled with regrets. This moment was but a nanosecond compared to the memories that would haunt her for as long as she was allowed to live. It didn't have to be the same for others. "May this be one lesson you can never forget, Idra." As if she was done lecturing her now, a green flame coated Neon's sword, its ghastly hue telling of its origin. Despite its simplicity, the enchanted flame was of a higher degree than anything she'd used in the entire prior match, sucking the very light surrounding the blade. With a single, swift and surgical movement, Ophelia swung it down, creating a cut that started from just above Idra's brow and ran across the bridge of her nose all the way to the top of her cheek. The wound didn't even have the chance to bleed as the flame cauterized it instantly, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't fill the angel with pain. Such powerful magic that she had imbued into the blade meant that no ordinary healing magic could ever hope to heal the scar. Only divine magic of the highest order would have the hopes of removing it entirely, and even that was a maybe. The scar would burn now, and at random intervals for as long as it remained on her, to forever remind Idra of her loss here today. The blade dragged over the ground, sizzling against the concrete as the flame burnt through it and then vanished. There was silence in the arena, the crowd stunned for a moment before... "WE HAVE A WINNER!!! IN AN UNPREDICTABLE, UNPRECEDENTED TURN OF EVENTS, THE LAST PRINCESS OF THE LAMPROS KINGDOM WINS TO TAKE ALL!!" ​ It erupted into deafening cheers and screams of disbelief and amazement. The very ground rumbled under the sound of the crowd exploding with excitement, and for the first time Ophelia felt dizzy. She stumbled back, holding her face as the world around her began to spin. She granted Idra one last glance before she turned on her heel, straining herself to keep an air of dignity as she left the ring behind the same way she'd entered it - exuding nothing but pure confidence and determination. The moment she was out of the limelight and on the hallway, however, she nearly tumbled over. She felt as if her body was being torn from the inside out. "I knew you wouldn't let me have this victory for free..." Ophelia laughed bitterly only to spit out black blood from her mouth, her hand shooting up to catch it rather than let it stain the floor. "Gone silent again already? You were having so much... fun earlier...!!" The pain. It was excruciating. Every bit of pain that she had caused to Idra was reflected back on her a hundredfold, and then some more as a reward for some good entertainment. But Ophelia remained stalwart, using Neon's sword to support herself as she forced herself to the nearest locker room and shut the door behind her, falling onto her knees as soon as the door clicked closed. "Gods... this is always the worst part..." It felt like a million needles were stabbing her at once, like her bones were being liquefied and crushed at the same time. Like her blood was being turned into acid. And in the literal sense, it was. Just not to her. Not the her that was lying on the ground, anyway. But no matter how much it hurt, she could never let anyone know of the cost that using her patron's powers took from her. Because she knew that those four would do something stupid and reckless if they knew... That the Ophelia they knew was nothing more than projection. ​ In a way, she was a conduit for her patron to see through her. To enact its twisted desires upon this foreign world. Foreign from itself, at least. In flesh and blood, this Ophelia was real, but she was not the real Ophelia. That one was still trapped in the very bottom of the tower, suffering thousands of deaths for every spell she used that wasn't her own. "Haha... It's okay. I-I... I took back your sword, Neon. I hope... I can see you smile once you have it back. F-For now... I just need a little bit of... rest..." Holding the blade to her chest as if to protect it with her life, Ophelia crumbled to the floor, lying on her side as the pain ravaged her insides to the point of exhaustion, forcing her body to shut down from pure shock. Even so, she wouldn't let go of the sword for any reason as she laid there, blood dripping from her mouth and nose. "Just a little... snooze is fine, right...?"​

​

 

[Tenzai]

"You insulted all of them. Yet you would ask for grace in defeat after all of that?"​ "It is my right as a princes-" A swift boot to the chin had knocked out all sense of confidence and certainty. Without her armor standing in the way, the pain had genuinely stung. Blood dripped from her lips due to how fragile she was underneath her father's gifts; Now stripped from the strength of her bloodline, she was little more than an ordinary girl with an affinity for holy magic, a child forced into a role she should have never been inside in the first place. "You don't deserve honor. What you deserve..." With her eyes turned to the crowd, August and Neon had looked on with curiosity, each holding their opinions of what was most right. However, despite their looks, they still seemed to look on to Ophelia with hope. Regardless of what would happen, at the end of it all, their friend had claimed victory. That alone had made them proud of her. "... is a bitter lesson. Just like the one I learned when I became trapped in that tower. Except you won't have to simmer in this lesson for that long. You won't have to stare into the abyss to understand." Now brought to the floor, Idra did not offer any counterargument. She did not speak against Ophelia. Instead, she listened. It was Ophelia's right as the victor to speak as she wished no matter what the content of her words may be. "... You wanted to follow in his steps too, right?" And it seemed that her message would be far more involved than any she received in the past by someone else that wasn't her father. Where there were once fierce eyes that sought to best represent her father's valorous own, the Lamprosian princess had found softening hues as a response to the words she embedded within her opponent. Despite the massive gap in time period, there were few others who could understand her more than another princess that held the weight of her kingdom on her shoulders. "Boots so big you could put your entire arm in them and still couldn't reach the bottom. Crown so big you couldn't even dream of it ever fitting your head. Yet you still dreamt, and dreamt, and became so desperate. You could hear the whispers. A child. How will she ever measure up to him? Anger. Frustration. Fear. You would do anything if it meant you could stop feeling that way. But those voices will never be satisfied, no matter what you do. Instead, you need to follow your own heart. Do what you think is right, not what others expect of you." "...But what if I don't know what's right?... What if I do something I'd regret?"​ Her words were too meaningful for the once proud princess to ignore. Strength combined with humility in victory was what made her father great. He always held better goals than pride alone in mind, making her wonder what he valued so much that made him different from the many other angels in his cohort. To see the very same in Ophelia was a reminder that she was far from what she wanted to be; She was no more deserving of the title of princess than the vampire she tried to break. Cursing herself, not for her loss against Ophelia, but rather for her loss against her own pride, Idra slapped herself in the face, tearing up from the sudden addition to the previous pain only to hear a certain depth behind her words that feigned wisdom tempered by immortal experience. "There will always be regrets. But the path you choose for yourself is the one that will have the least." At least Idra wouldn't be forced to make the same mistakes nor would her future people be subjected to it either. "May this be one lesson you can never forget, Idra." Watching as the green flame overtook the eldritch spellcaster's blade, Idra didn't step away as she approached. With a precise and quick slash, Ophelia's had left her signature on Idra's body where it will never heal; A soon to be scar was made present from the side of her forehead down to her chin. "... I won't forget it... I- I'm S... Sorry, for what I've said and done to you... And your team..." Whispering, a crack of honest understanding had shone through her gilded heart, giving the princess a glimpse of the girl underneath the noble blood. Underneath everything else, Idra was still a princess that wanted to make her father and her people proud, taking this lesson as a painful memory that would act as a foundation to helping her become the princess her kingdom deserved. With the crowds watching the once proud champion be brought to heel, they roared as once the announcements were made, crowning one of the newest talents of the citadel as the champion of the arena. The girls on her team cheered, barely able to be heard while they were drowned out by the audience excited over the upset. Though their cheers would be cut short noticing the sudden lack of strength in her legs, Ophelia was soon to fall, assumed to be most likely as the result of her using so much magical ability and strength so quickly. "Neon, you see that?... Neon?" August was the first to note the shift, only to turn to see Neon already missing. "Medina, Shiro. Come with me!" The three others rushed through the crowds to reunite with their fifth quickly. "Just a little... snooze is fine, right...?" Boots had sounded from the door leading up to the halls where the arena's contenders would pass, only for Ophelia to feel the familiar, cool hands of a vampire samurai wrapping around from underneath her legs and behind her back to lift her up. "Snooze all you like, Lia. You earned it." ──────・୨ ✦✦✦✦✦ ୧・────── ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ɴᴏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪꜰꜱ | ꜱᴀᴘᴘʜɪʀᴇ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ ──────・୨ ✦✦✦✦✦ ୧・──────​ The smell of fresh apple cider over ice had tickled Ophelia's nose by the time she woke up. The ceiling above her was familiar: It was her room's ceiling, this time accompanied with the sounds of the few voices that she had grown to be comfortable with. "Yes. I think she would find the gesture welcome." Standing at the door, Shiro was speaking with Idra on the other end. In her hands were painkillers meant to help aid with the recovery of the unconscious woman as well as a few candles and snacks to act as a housewarming present. "... And tell her to get some rest when she wakes up. I don't want the girl who beat me to end up losing to exhaustion." On the couch in the living room sat Medina and August. August had her eyes scanning through some books, curious as to what spells she had casted and how to cast it the same herself. Medina on the other hand was more keen on keeping track of Ophelia's diagnostics ensuring that her recovery process was going well. Though, right as she turned in search of Neon, she felt the softness of a pillow underneath her head shift. It was far too warm to simply be one of the pillows she was given, each ensuring a coolness to sleep thanks to the quality of their material. No, these pillows belonged to someone that was living. "Good morning, Lia." Smiling as she looked down at the princess, it seemed that Neon didn't let the princess leave her sight ever since they left the arena in the first place. "Or well... Good midnight, specifically. You were out for a while. A few hours to be exact." Taking a cloth from her hand stained from previous wipes, she cleaned the excess tar from her lips. "You might've pushed yourself too hard back there but... You did one hell of a job. Thanks for winning for us." Blushing as she remembered the feeling of the touch of their lips, the vampire didn't make any sudden moves. "Relax, those drinks aren't alcoholic. its apple cider, specifically. Cider from real fruits." Stroking her head with her free hand, once she put down the rag, she grabbed her glass from the table nearby to show her the delicious solution. "It was a gift from Sen for performing so well." "Oh! You're finally awake!" Medina was the first to come, only to be followed by August next. "How are you feeling? Thirsty? Tired? Horny? Hungry?" The doctor rattled off her questions to the amusement of the others once they saw that she was awake again. "Don't mind her. We all just wanna know how you're holding up." Sitting beside her, the others in her team had sat around the woman that had accomplished what many believed to be improbable. "Especially after going against an angel. You were pretty cool out there! The dark magic explosions! The acrobatics! All of it! It was..." Taking a sip of her drink, Shiro looked up at the girl that disrupted her foresight. "Incredible." Noticing her shifting, Neon shook her head. "Lia, its cool. No need to get up. You've pushed yourself through enough today already. Way more than you ever need to for a while." The vampire samurai didn't mind the feeling of being her pillow. It was the least she could do after seeing how far Ophelia was willing to go for her team. "Just rely on us, yeah?" "We're your friends; Your team." "Give us a chance to have your back too."​

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ ✦ ── ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Breathlessly · Katawa Shoujo ── ✦ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ "Hey, you're back." ​ Ophelia's eyes opened to find herself in a deep, dark, endless void. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, as if she'd just woken up from a deep, deep dream, and was only now waking up. There was nothing as far as the eye could see. So dark, so infinite that a mind would shatter at the mere mention of it. But Ophelia knew this void already. She'd only seen it once, when she first entered a contract with It, but she'd never been able to forget it. If she was here, it meant... "You died, yes. Not just your projection, but... your real body." ​ "I didn't break the conditions of the contract, by the way. Your body... it simply couldn't take the pain. Thousands of years of not using my powers will leave you rusty. What did you think would happen, pushing yourself so hard?" "I didn't think anything. I'm sure you're well aware of that. I just had to. For Neon's sake, for..." Ophelia's eyes gazed up, meeting the gaze of another woman who stood in the middle of the void unabated. She wore an easy smile upon her face, contrary to the seemingly mocking words that she spoke. There was no sense of malice or mockery in her gaze or voice, but simple curiosity. In her hands was a shoddily-made book, like a picture book put together by a child, and ready to fall apart if it was handled the wrong way. This was the form It had taken when they first met in Its domain. A random face it was not, instead taken from deep within Ophelia's mind. If it wasn't for the fact that the princess knew it meant no harm by it, she would've thought that It was mocking her by putting on such a face. That was the worst part of it; the lack of malice in any of Its actions. No matter how terrible the things It did were, they were done not out of malice or sadism, but out of some childish sense of curiosity. Like It wanted to know how she would react. Like a child might poke a bee's nest with a stick or prod a dying animal it found on the side of the road, prolonging its suffering without even meaning to. The face It wore was of Sabrina, Ophelia's first friend. She was a farmer's daughter that the princess had met by pure chance one day, when she had grown so tired of the castle walls that she snuck out with the help of some of the maids. Sabrina had been running around with a bag full of copper coins when she ran into Ophelia, scattering the entire contents of it all on the floor. Ophelia immediately went to help, and even offered a gold coin when she heard the money was to buy medicine for her grandmother. The two had become instant friends and Ophelia snuck out often to meet with her. Sometimes, she even made it as far as the farm and helped out tilling the fields just so they could play together faster. Sabrina had no idea that Ophelia was the princess, and yet she had accepted her all the same. For the first time in her life, it felt like someone had seen her for who she really was rather than her title. They grew up together, and Ophelia felt like Sabrina eventually figured it out, but never once brought it up. It happened years before the war. A great disease had struck the kingdom, taking out most of the populace of the Lamprosian Kingdom. If it hadn't been for that, maybe they wouldn't have lost the war. Maybe Ophelia wouldn't have had to take the contract. But what ifs were not her concern. Sabrina's father was old and died shortly after the outbreak. Sabrina took taking care of the farm without a second thought, without even being able to shed a tear or properly grieve her last remaining family member. She herself had lost sight in her left eye, and yet she soldiered on. Ophelia had, just like when they were children, broken out of the castle despite her father's warnings, only to find Sabrina standing in the middle of the field, hoe in hand, tilling away like she had grown used to seeing. Except, as she approached, Ophelia noticed that she wasn't moving. She had died standing.​ When Ophelia first made a contract with It, It only had one condition for using Its power. It would bring her back if she died, but in exchange, she would have to give up a precious memory of hers, for her to keep. The memory of Sabrina's death was the first that it took. But it had left the knowledge that it had been taken in Ophelia's mind, just so she would know t hat she had lost something precious. In turn, it took her face, just as she had looked when she died. ​ "For someone else's sake, as you always do. And yet the same thing happens. You hurt, while they don't. Why did you push yourself for a swordswoman that put her blade to your neck before you even had a chance to exchange words? The same person you said you hated the night before. Why would you die for someone like that?" "Because I couldn't bear to see the pain in her eyes as she was forced to relive that painful memory. She's so quick to blame herself. She's an idiot, and I..." "And the witch, so presumptuous. She took you out of the tower and thought you would be so grateful. She said so many grand things, but isn't she just so useless?" She was sitting on a mahogany chair, an ivory table in front of her and It sitting across from her, sipping tea in one hand while still holding the book of memories in the other hand. Not just her memories, but the memories of every person it had killed, seeking something within the pages, yet never finding it. "Maybe she is. But she's trying her best. She's obviously so good with magic, but so helpless in everything else. I just want to..." "And then there's the cat. So taciturn, so hard to read. Even I can't tell what she's thinking half the time. What I would do to get into her brain too..." "I can never tell what she's thinking. I want to know. I want to learn more about what drives her. I..." "And the dog! Quite the polar opposite. She would talk your ear off if she could, and then talk some more. What's her obsession with watching girls kiss anyway..." "She cares so much, I'm afraid she'll get hurt. The others say she's tougher than she looks, but diamond is the hardest yet also so brittle. All it might take is a blow on the wrong spot and she'll break. I know it. That's why I..." "And that silly princess. The wingless angel. So useless without her toys. It was so fun to see her break! The most entertainment I've had in the five thousand years we've been together. Oh, it was so worth it to see her scampering around, crying like the snotty brat she was!" "I want to go back. I want to see them again. Even if it's just one more time, I..." "Why?" ​ "All you do is suffer. The amount of pain they've brought you outweighs whatever fun you've had with them, as far as I'm aware. So why? Stay here. You don't have to suffer while you're here. Isn't that what you want? To forever be free of the pain you feel? I'll take it all. I'll take all of your memories, leave you an empty, unsuffering husk. You can just sleep forever, as you have wished for so long. Just--" "Fulfill your end of the contract. Bring me back. I want to see them." "You know the price. So pay it."​ Ophelia bit her lip, shrinking back only now that she actually had to face the consequences of her actions. "What do you want this time?" "The memory of your first kiss, with that vampire. It looked so precious." "No." "Then the memory of your victory against that princess. What was her name again? Ah, so insignificant, but her eyes were so honest." "Her name is Idra, and again, no. I won't let you take any memories about them. Nothing recent." It rubbed its chin, pensive for a moment. While it could not fathom why she was so adamant about keeping those memories over any others, it did not question it. "Then... the memory of your mother's face. The face that flashes in your mind every time you brandish your weapon. The face you call upon when you need the bravery to fight." ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ "Good morning, Lia." ​ "Ughhh... why's your dumb face the first thing I have to see when I wake up... Why couldn't it be Gust..." She teased, sticking her tongue out at the vampiress. She looked around as well as she could, her body still exhausted and with no strength left even after 'sleeping' so long. She didn't know how long she'd actually been sleeping, and how long she'd been actually dead, but seeing as she was in her room rather than in the morgue, she supposed it hadn't been that long for them to notice. And she hoped they would never find out. "Guess Idra's not joining for the celebration, nor is Sen, huh? So much for being the champion. Where's my buffet..." "Or well... Good midnight, specifically. You were out for a while. A few hours to be exact." "Good to know... What's not good to know is what you've been doing to my unconscious body all that time. If I find something weird, like a bite, I swear I'll put you through worse than what I put Idra through." She joked again, her smile sweet yet menacing. She didn't expect Neon to be that kind of person, but, well. One could never know for sure. "You might've pushed yourself too hard back there but... You did one hell of a job. Thanks for winning for us." "Hmph. I won for me. Idra was pissing me off. -- Hey, don't start blushing on me. You'll make me blush too..." If she could punch Neon's shoulder, she would. But she was too tired. Too tired to care either way. But if Neon kept on blushing, the others might realize something was up between the two, and Ophelia didn't have the energy to explain. "Relax, those drinks aren't alcoholic. its apple cider, specifically. Cider from real fruits." "Neon, I'm fine getting drunk. I just want to be fully lucid if something... between us happens. I want to be able to remember." Heavens knew memories were a luxury to her. If something was to happen between them, well... "Oh! You're finally awake!" Whatever conversation they could've had was broken by the eager puppy that came to greet her, smiling and wagging her tail so hard she could feel a cool, pleasant breeze. "How are you feeling? Thirsty? Tired? Horny? Hungry?" Ophelia laughed lightly. "Hmmm, all of the above? I'm sure you could help me with at least one of those things, though." She winked at her before turning her gaze towards August. "It's fine. You'd be surprised at how fussy maids get over the smallest cuts. Oh, the tree branches I've fallen through in my days. Branches are surprisingly sharp, did you know?" She reminisced for a moment, but even just remembering her past invited that empty feeling in the back of her mind. "Especially after going against an angel. You were pretty cool out there! The dark magic explosions! The acrobatics! All of it! It was..." "Incredible." "Thanks, you all. And I'm sorry that I made you worry about me. If I'd been stronger, I could've finished that fight sooner. I just... nghhh..." Ophelia attempted to push herself to a sitting position, so as to stop being a burden on Neon, but her body barely budged. "Lia, its cool. No need to get up. You've pushed yourself through enough today already. Way more than you ever need to for a while." "Nonsense. We have a mission in a few days, don't we? I'm supposed to guide you once we're at the castle. I can't be a burden to you four..." More than a burden, she needed to make sure they all made it out alive. Otherwise, what was the point of her coming back? She needed to be stronger so that they could keep smiling. "Give us a chance to have your back too." "Ffffiiine..." For once, she was willing to give in without a fight. Just this once, she'd share the load with others. Maybe this time, she'd be able to achieve something without regrets. But only time would tell. "Then feed your champion. I can't reach the snacks or the cider. And those painkillers. My arms and legs are killing me. Quick now, before I crumble to dust..." She huffed and puffed dramatically, like the kind of theatrical plays they would put on in her father's court. Except she couldn't gesture exaggeratingly like the actors did. "By the way, what does winning the tournament even get me? I joined out of a whim, so I didn't really investigate? Is it just the clout and glory of being the champion for a year? Am I expected to 'defend' my title next year, or can I just bow out of it? I'm not too keen on repeating this all next year..."

 

[Tenzai]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ɪᴡᴀᴛᴏᴅᴀɪ ᴅᴏʀᴍ | ᴘ3 ʀᴇʟᴏᴀᴅᴇᴅ ᴏꜱᴛ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​ "Then feed your champion. I can't reach the snacks or the cider. And those painkillers. My arms and legs are killing me. Quick now, before I crumble to dust..." The sound of her selfish demands had brought a smile to the vampire's face, seeing her exaggerations a welcome change. After all she had experienced and endured, being able to find an ordinary Ophelia capable of complaining like everyone else was a good change from her unconscious state. "Yes, yes. Need me to sing you a love song too your highness?" The vampire slowly lifted her head off her lap to fetch her a plate, chuckling. As Neon made her way towards the table that held all the cooking, August took her place, sitting beside Ophelia. The prior comment of her preferring the witch's lap over her robotic counterpart had left evidence of what it did to her on August's cheeks. "Hey Neon, can you get me a drink too? Watching the fighting had left me parched. You all were really quite the show!" The vampire waved the compliment away, prepping another glass just for the witch to join them in their drinking. "Gotchu. I'll grab you a glass of the mead-lite." "Thanks for being kind, Ophelia." While she was away, August whispered. Regardless of what she may have done, something about Idra's past had made Gust feel that there was some good still lingering underneath the surface; All she needed was some humbling to finally bring it out. "I know how hard it must've been, and I just wanted to let you know how proud I was of you." Stroking Lia's hair out of her eyes, she gave her a kind look. "You really are something special." "By the way, what does winning the tournament even get me? I joined out of a whim, so I didn't really investigate? Is it just the clout and glory of being the champion for a year? Am I expected to 'defend' my title next year, or can I just bow out of it? I'm not too keen on repeating this all next year..." "A favor from the heroes." Overhearing her talk from the couch, Neon spoke up while she poured out the drinks. "Last year, I wanted to win our boss a spot in Sen's super soldier program. Wanted to get her the best help we could find for her replacement parts and what better than cybernetics from her childhood hero... Then that happened." She sighed, taking a drink first before uncorking another bottle to pour out a refill. "What Idra got in return for her victory was a massive upgrade to her ship." August shook her head at the idea that people would fight for reputation and the maintenance of their title alone. "The title itself is nothing more than that, just a title. What matters more are the people that notice!" She hummed, thinking of the many people that had asked for Ophelia's autograph while her team had carried her through the halls of the citadel. "You became an inspiration, Lia! I don't doubt that there are some interesting people that wanna get to know you too!" Both humans and kind eldritch alike made the most of the people that could be considered Ophelia's fans, though the crocodile tribe she had bested the leader of had also joined the company in favor of her presence aboard the ship. "Especially after an exciting performance like that!" "Makes me wonder what Sen is thinking." Medina scratched her chin, wondering what was to come given the fact that Ophelia's capabilities were now known to those within his cohort. While most people within his company were loyal, there were others that were more than happy to dismantle whatever power he could have to keep him within control. Though, instead of overthinking, she shook her head at the conclusion that there were more battles to come as a result. The galaxy was a big place after all; What was one watched tournament when it came to the grand scheme of the galaxy? Let alone that of the system itself? "Well, I'm sure we're going to have some good come from it! Even if it is an one and done!" "Here, for both of you." Offering the two girls a drink once she sat back, she nudged herself in between Ophelia and August, amused at the response that Gust delivered back. "You two are awfully stingy of Ophelia." Shiro was first to note the added chemistry of the two girls, causing them both to chuckle at their little game of being their newest companion's lap pillow. "Don't worry you two, there's more than enough of her to go around I'm sure. We do have a day and a half before our mission." Slowly pulling out her rapier, now repaired and reinforced with new material bought with the bet money, Medina presented her new gift to the duelist princess. "Oh yeah! I wanted to give this to you, Lia. Now that I got to get a good glimpse of what you're capable of, I thought about using the money from betting on you for something special! Behold, your first set of combat armor, courtesy Umbra herself!" Following rapier came a new set of clothes: Similar to that in which she bought earlier, this one was a bit heavier, still offering freedom in movement while offering more protection and channeling capabilities to bring out the best in her rapier. "Apparently her business got a huge hit of attention after your performance! Safe to say, you earned it!" Her tails wagged on hearing Ophelia's response. "Awww, thank you! I'm sure Umbra would be happy to hear that too~" "So what now?" Scratching her chin at the best course of action, Neon was the first to answer. "We celebrate and we relax. No point in pushing ourselves any harder until our actual battle." Slowly lifting her own family's blade, she gave it a long look before hugging it, welcoming it back to her side. "Thank you, Lia. For everything. I think you should choose the favor for yourself." The girls smiled upon turning their focus to her. "Just the fact that one of us was able to win is reward enough." With Medina and Shiro raising their bottles and Neon and August lifting their glasses, they all clinked theirs right on top of Ophelia's to give her a cheer for the drink before finally splitting off into their own food and activities, leaving the princess with the samurai and the witch. "... So uh..." With a blush across her face, August traced her finger in circles above her skirt. "About what you said earlier, when it came to... your needs." Focused on her response, she didn't seem all too against spending the night with the princess alone, already finding her company something she felt welcome to and safe around. "I don't mind attending to them if you're willing to show me how." Hearing August's bashful attempt at flirting, Neon wrapped an arm around the back of her head, chuckling. "Just say it how it is, Gust. If you like her, say you do." Licking her lips, the vampire looked up and down Ophelia. "If you need help though, I'm down to help you both make tonight memorable." The sudden invitation had made August gasp, rubbing her thighs together at the thoughts that ran through her imagination. While the idea of having three people engaged in the same act was alien to her, it wasn't something she was against either. Neon was someone she trusted enough to respect her words should she feel uncomfortable. "Don't worry babes. I promise I won't drink. I want to stay sober if you're willing to be adventurous~ But if you prefer just the company of each other or just me, I won't bite." Neon gave Ophelia a wink. "Given what you did already, let's just say you gave me more than enough fuel to help me relax." Going around August to sit on the opposite end of Ophelia, she slowly picked her up so she could feed her without making a mess. "... But let me feed you first. If you're gonna have some fun tonight, the least you could do is do it while not starving, right? Don't want the fun to get ruined because you're hollow... Say aaa." Lifting a piece of cheese gifted by Idra embedded in between two crackers, she offered her a sample of some of the best cheese money had to offer. "Good girl- Oof. Haha." An elbow cut off her tease, leading to another giggle from the two girls that made her new world feel a lot less lonely. "Well, we shouldn't be pushing you much. What do you think we should do?" A lewd grin cracked over her fanged lips. "Then it means, we just have to let her relax while we give her our reward." ──────・୨ ✦✦✦✦✦ ୧・──────​ A flicker of candlelight had lit up Ophelia's bedroom as the angel and the ghost had made their way back to the shared room leaving behind the human and the vampire. To allow for a bit of privacy, only to come in if the vampire was welcome, August walked in with Ophelia by herself, her lips tainted with the scent of fruit and alcohol. She was nervous, given that it was soon to be her first time doing anything like this with anyone else; However, regardless of how anxious she might have been over whether she would even perform well enough to feel good in the first place, she was excited. Ophelia was attractive to her and the feelings that Gust felt towards her were real. "H-hey, Lia. Woah-" Stumbling into the bed as a result of her buzz, the witch that welcomed her first had ended up looking up to the princess. Ever since the haunted house itself, this was the first time they had genuine alone time from the rest of the other girls in their cohort. "...D-don't just stand there and look at me; You deserve more than that. There's more than enough space on this bed for both of us and I'm yours for tonight so... Come here..." Slowly lifting her arms as if welcoming her into a hug, the witch gave her a warm smile, her thighs slowly spreading apart to welcome the princess' body in between. "I want you to enjoy me as much as I enjoy you... And I want you to show me how to make you feel good too." "Care to teach me how to treat you right?"​

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞​ "Thanks for being kind, Ophelia." "...?" She looked up from her spot lying down on the couch, her eyes meeting August's as she whispered her gratitude to her. "I know how hard it must've been, and I just wanted to let you know how proud I was of you." "It's nothing so grand, Gust. I just..." She swallowed her words. How could she say that she'd seen a mirror of herself in Idra, that she hated the idea of the princess committing the same mistakes that she had? Given their longevity, it was entirely possible for Idra to make a grave mistake that caused her empire to fall, only to become a disgraced princess like herself. If anything, it was out of some selfish feeling, like she didn't want to see another one of herself. One Ophelia was more than enough for the entire universe. "A favor from the heroes." Neon enlightened the princess on the winning prize for the tournament. It was simple in theory, but these heroes were apparently a big deal around here, so maybe that was actually a huge deal. The fact that it was a favor of all things, however, made her a bit curious about whether they could deny it for any reason. There were obviously certain requests that they probably wouldn't fulfill no matter what, but Ophelia was curious about the degree of the favor she could ask for. And what she would even use it for. As far as Ophelia cared, there was nothing that the heroes could really give her; she had want of nothing, at least currently. Letting the bitter memory of last year pass by without comment, August was the one to clarify about the title and 'defending' it. In an honor sense, Ophelia felt compelled to still participate next year, but it would depend on how much stronger she could become. If possible, she wanted to win without relying on her patron's boons, but that meant better controlling her own magic and using it to her advantage. While she had done a good showing of it, the problem was that she lacked the proper spells to make the most out of the seemingly-bottomless well of magic that resided within her. Her explosive spells were all she could manage as of now, but she knew that she could do more if only she learned how to harness it properly. "You became an inspiration, Lia! I don't doubt that there are some interesting people that wanna get to know you too!" "Ugh, I've never been good at meeting people. Maybe I could stay holed up in my room?" As a child, she had always used any chance to sneak away to her room to read books whenever there was a banquet or a ball. As she grew older, it became harder to do and so she had to learn to make nice with strangers and influential people she didn't like. Her people skills had all but vanished over the eons, however. One could call her cranky and socially inept and they would not be wrong, though Ophelia would still smite whoever disrespected her like that. "Oh yeah, speaking of which, Gust... That sword that you got from Leandro? Is it possible you could give it back to him, if you have no need of it? I know it was your wager against h is, but I can't help but feel it is wrong to rid someone of their precious weapon. It would be no different than what Idra did to Neon." Well, there was something different - Ophelia had never meant to humiliate Leandro, unlike Idra. She had only met his taunts equally, and only when he was the one who started it. Even then, she just felt it was right to give back what was his, but it was ultimately August's prize and not hers. She had put her own grimoire on the line, after all. That was no small thing for a spellcaster like her. "Makes me wonder what Sen is thinking." "Humph. I wonder if he's regretting having you guys take me out of that tower yet." Ophelia took a sip of her drink with a dismissive huff, brushing her hair behind her ear as if she was literally brushing off the thought of Sen. She was not shy in making it apparent that she was still none too fond of the so-called hero, although she had no real reason to hold any legitimate animosity towards the man. It just so happened that she had little concern for all the politicking and running around struggling for influence instead of actually doing something for the good of the world. Until she saw someone doing something, her opinion of them would not change. "You two are awfully stingy of Ophelia." "...?" Ophelia hadn't really noticed until Shiro pointed it out, but Neon and August were being awfully clingy now that she mentioned it. She sipped on her drink, staring at the two as they seemed to hold a competition on who got to sit next to her when there was plenty of space on the sofa for all three of them. She granted them a bit of a side eye, letting them squabble with each other as she remained unbothered by it for now. "Oh yeah! I wanted to give this to you, Lia. Now that I got to get a good glimpse of what you're capable of, I thought about using the money from betting on you for something special! Behold, your first set of combat armor, courtesy Umbra herself!" "Something about you betting on me feels shady..." The princess mumbled before looking down at the dog girl's offerings. "Oh! I'll have to thank her personally when I have the chance. I felt awful about the dress she gave me being destroyed, but it did give me enough time to win that fight. Without her outfit, I likely would've lost. And without your rapier, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did. It's thanks to you two that I was able to win." She contemplated them both before neatly folding the combat armor and setting it down properly. She'd need it for the mission. As for the rapier, she studied it, noticing that it looked a lot sturdier than before. She sheathed it back into its scabbard. It would surely make the perfect partner to that. If the castle hadn't been looted to hell and back, it should still be there, right where it had been left. With Medina's rapier in one hand and it on the other, she felt like she'd never lose a fight again. "Thank you, Lia. For everything. I think you should choose the favor for yourself." Ophelia sipped from her cup again, considering Neon's words. "Well, I have nothing for now. I suppose I'll save it for the time being. You never know when you might need a favor." Something told her she would need it after the upcoming mission. Call it a sixth sense. "About what you said earlier, when it came to... your needs." "What?" She was blindsided that August of all people would bring that half-joking utterance of hers up now, after so many minutes had passed. And why was she fidgeting so much? She expected it out of Neon or even Medina, but not the witch herself, who seemed so socially awkward that even the mention of sex felt like enough to send her spiralling. "I don't mind attending to them if you're willing to show me how." "What." Her shock came not from disgust to the idea, but rather how sudden it felt like it had been brought up. Just a minute ago they were talking about all the benefits that being a champion brought with it, and now August was offering to... tend to her needs? Ophelia was blushing from cheek to cheek, across her nose, and Neon's teasing didn't make it an easier to deal with. "If you need help though, I'm down to help you both make tonight memorable." "W-Wait. You're not joking, are you? I-I..." She searched for help by looking between Shiro and Medina, but found none as the girls seemingly accepted that this was the natural order of events. At what point had Ophelia managed to woo the witch and the vampire to such an extent that they were both eager to bed her? And while she was still reeling from that taxing fight, too. There was no fight left in her, if she ever dreamt of fighting her fate here. She wasn't going to. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ​ "H-hey, Lia. Woah-" "You have legs like a newborn fawn, Gust. Maybe you shouldn't drink at all." The princess teased her as she helped her to her bed, big enough to let three people sleep in it comfortably, without getting in each other's way or tangling unless they wanted to. The way things had progressed, however, they were going to be tangling quite thoroughly. "...D-don't just stand there and look at me; You deserve more than that. There's more than enough space on this bed for both of us and I'm yours for tonight so... Come here..." "To the victor go the spoils, Gust. I'll watch as much as I like. And what a masterpiece you are." ​ She pressed her index to her own lower lip, licking her tongue as her mouth watered at the sight in front of her. How was it that such an innocent thing like August could look so luscious and seductive? There was a slight haze in her eyes, the product of slight intoxication, but clearly just enough to lower inhibitions. A bit of liquid courage, so to speak. "I want you to enjoy me as much as I enjoy you... And I want you to show me how to make you feel good too." "How could I ever say no to such an enticing invitation?" After feeding her eyes on the feast that was the witch, Ophelia joined her on the bed, being welcomed by her arms in a gentle, warm embrace. Her body, slightly cold, yearned for the warmth that she offered, and Ophelia simply locked eyes with August at first, her own lips curling in a small, mischievous smile before she shut them. Her lips met the witch's soon enough, the soft smack of soft lips against warm ones bouncing off the walls, the soft lighting of the room causing their bodies to meld together as Ophelia let herself sink into August's body. Her chest pressed against the witch's, her clothes loose enough to hide Ophelia's above average bosom. They were closer to D-cups than they were to C-cups, and they were plush and pliable to the touch, not that anyone had ever had the chance to feel them before this. "Care to teach me how to treat you right?" "You assume I know. This is my first time doing something like this, August." ​ "I want you to touch me like you desire me. Put your hands on me. Anywhere you want..." Her voice was sultry and soft, yet also vulnerable and fragile, as if she was equally amounts of excited and scared of this. Of intimacy. Of letting someone else in. What if August could feel the influence of the eldritch all over her body and was disgusted? Then she would never lay hands on her again. "Just promise you'll be gentle, August. My heart is more fragile than you could imagine. Just..." Her lips brushed against August's, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Let us both enjoy this moment alone. Then..." She allowed herself to glance behind her, at the closed door, remembering that the vampire was waiting on the other side, either to be invited in or shooed out. Ophelia, of course, had no intention of letting her leave the apartment tonight. But for now, it was just her and August, her first friend in this world. And now, her lover. "... we can call Neon in once I-I'm ready. If that's okay with you."

 

[Tenzai]

"You assume I know. This is my first time doing something like this, August." Upon having her lips relinquished from the sudden intimate show of affection, August gasped in relief, breathing slowly to catch her breath once her heart had found itself catching momentum at the feeling of her princess' breasts pressed against her C-cup own. "That's a relief." Her face was red; Though shy, she was excited. "I didn't want to disappoint..." Extending her arms around Ophelia's neck, she met her partner's romantic advances with that of her own, chasing what felt good rather than what looked good. As a result, the human girl, while inexperienced, was quickly learning how to kiss the princess properly. Their lips were bound in where they felt the most right, filling the gaps where each other had left behind in a bath of saliva and warmth. "I want you to touch me like you desire me." Her vulnerable whispers in between kisses were tantalizing, making the novitiate lover yearn for more. "Put your hands on me." Her voice was a haunting invitation, one that August could not ignore. "Anywhere you want..." As if each syllable were magical when combined with the texture of her lips, she felt compelled to act, bringing her hands from Ophelia's neck down to her waist, tracing her form before slowly coming over the lower rim of her shirt. "You make me feel so weak, Lia. Especially when you talk to me like that..." Her bewitched lover whispered in exchange, looking deep into the eyes of the woman she took from the tower, the same girl she offered her home and heart. "I can't help but wonder how to respond with anything better than... Wow..." August was not one who was well read on books of romance like her team's medic. To her, Lia was the first that she had ever found herself interested in romantically, and all the more the first that had ever managed to bed her as such. "Mind if I....?" Slowly rolling her fingers against her skin around her waist, she gestured in a way to ask non-verbally if she was ready for August to explore her body without fabric separating them. "Just promise you'll be gentle, August. My heart is more fragile than you could imagine. Just..." Another kiss had followed, only this time, August did not simply remain subject to her advances, following through with her own as their lips melted into each other's. Closing her eyes, she took her time, letting Ophelia's tongue bend her own to her will, only for a string of saliva to act as evidence of a shared longing for each other. "I'll be as gentle as you want me to be. Its only right since I want the same too." She chuckled, finding herself barely able to avoid stuttering from how excited and nervous she felt experiencing these new feelings. While arousal was something she had felt before, to act on it with another was something that she never fathomed. "Let us both enjoy this moment alone. Then..." A look over her shoulder had insinuated she was referring to Neon. "... we can call Neon in once I-I'm ready. If that's okay with you." Nodding her head, August slowly turned her around so the princess would be underneath her to give her a moment to rest. "I would like nothing more. Really." Now sitting atop of Ophelia's lap, the witch gingerly brought her shirt over her head, tossing it to the side to examine the very same skin her mind was scrambling to inscribe in her imagination. "Just leave it to me. You must be exhausted... Sore..." The witch brought her lips down to Ophelia's own at first, pecking her mouth before leaving behind little warm touches as she made her way down her chin, only to stop at her neck. With her hands brought down to her bra, the witch's gloves catered to body from beyond her clothes. "I know it might sound a bit crude of me... But I like the way you taste, Lia." Reaching towards her hand after whispering into her ear, August kissed from her arm down to her hands before placing her finger in her mouth to suck. "The way you sweat for us. The way you fought so hard. The flavor your body gives off tastes so right to me." Not knowing the right words to choose to explain how she felt, August chose to utter what felt the most right in the moment, making her heart transparent all throughout. With a face red seeing the trail of reflective saliva bouncing off Ophelia's skin, she smiled, finding her leaving a mark on her body. "I'd offer you a massage, if you'd like. I'm not that great at them, but... I don't think I could do that bad of a job if I make you sound like that already~" The witch giggled, before returning back to Ophelia's neck, working her hands down her body just to stop around her thighs. "Every inch of you must be so sore... Let me see if I could help you with that." Whispering a spell right on her tongue, her mouth began to glow dimly, only for her to brush her fingers over her lips to give her gloved hands the same enchantment as her tongue. "This should help you feel better." Bringing her mouth to her neck, as she kissed Ophelia's body, the princess could feel the soreness escaping her body, as though this was some sort of healing magic. "Mhmm... Bmhmmtter?" She mumbled into her neck, her eyes finding contentment in Ophelia's vocal response and facial reaction. Working on both sides of her neck and shoulders, August's hands made their way underneath Ophelia's skirt, tracing the skin in between her crotch and her sock in order to offer her thighs the same service. Brushing from the outside towards within, her fingers grazed mere centimeters away from Ophelia's panties, only for the witch to be struck by a lewd thought made apparent in her stare. As she made her way from Ophelia's shoulder down towards her breasts, a magical hand had tugged at her bra, assisting the princess with taking them off. "I love the way you look topless, Lia." She voiced, accidentally grazing her hands over Ophelia's panties. "I wonder if I could feel your heartbeat on my tongue." With her lips now pressed against Ophelia's breasts, her tongue swirling its glow around her nipples, her hands had slowly worked their way down Ophelia's legs, stripping her socks to free her from another layer that got in the way of their intimacy. "Oh... You're a little cold. Here, let me help you with that." Refusing to let her be the only one topless, Gust brought Ophelia's hand to her shirt, undoing the buttons for her to make it easy for her to loop over her head. With her long hair coming free of her fabric, she was met with the sight of a black bra covering her lover's chest. "...I know I'm not perfect and all but... If its fine, I'd like it if you could act like I'm pretty." Humble over her own features, now that her body was made known, Ophelia could see the sight of past magical mishaps. Mana scars had covered her shoulder to her left breast and a bit of her stomach as well. "I'll be fine, I promise. These don't hurt anymore." Bringing Ophelia's hands to her scars, she didn't seem to wince, suggesting that they were old. "But... The nerves underneath them aren't dead, so I could feel you touching me here..." Smiling, she began to undo her bra, letting it fall to the side right where Ophelia's own was. "Do you like what you see?" She gave a pause, only to hug Ophelia with her breasts pressed against her lover's own. "They might not be perfect, but I think they'll feel nice against you, don't you think?" Wrapping her hands around Ophelia's back, the witch began to make out with her with her breasts exposed. With her body rested in between the witch's thighs, as August began to lose herself to the princess' touch, she unconsciously began to split her legs as well, resting her thigh against Ophelia's panties while Ophelia's own pressed in between her legs. "You make me feel so good like this." She bit her lip, not realizing that some of her newfound euphoria came from her grinding against Ophelia while they were kissing. With her panties growing increasingly wet, she had left the princess' thigh moist to the touch. "I hope I'm not being too rough with you or anything. But its really hard not to want more..." Ophelia's saliva was still present on the witch's lips as she spoke. Her body was covered with goosebumps from the cool touch of her lover's body. With the low light of the room illuminating her pale skin, Ophelia was offered a sight that none other knew: Of the human witch wet and in need of touch and affection. "... So would you allow me more, if I asked nicely? Please?" She spoke with longing eyes, lifting her hand to her chest for her to feel her increasingly rapid heartbeats. "I wanna get to know you more..."

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ "I know you'll treasure me all the same." ​ "I'll do more than just treasure you, August..." Lying back on the bed, petting the witch slowly within her palm, Ophelia smiled up cheekily at her, licking her lips moments before they were taken in yet another kiss. It broke off just as it had began, leaving the princess breathless as she watched her lover remove the last pieces of clothing that kept them both from fully connecting their bodies. Ophelia's cheeks flushed as she stared up, admiring the body that August felt so insecure about, scars and all. In fact, she was particularly enamored with those, her mind wandering to the kinds of stories they told. She didn't stare as one would stare disrespectfully at a maimed soldier on the street, but reverently in the face of someone who had struggled repeatedly and overcome it all. "Ah~ H-hey, that's unfair." "What are you gonna do about it...?" Ophelia giggled, undeterred by the witch's complaint. If she wanted the princess to stop, then maybe she ought to do something with her own two hands, rather than whine about it. Of course that's exactly what she did, practically restraining Ophelia under her weight as she went on to remove her own bottom. Ophelia bit the inside of her lip, suddenly feeling insecure herself as she was slowly stripped of her clothes. It didn't stop her from wriggling her fingers around while she still could, "Mmmfff~ Ahhh~" An eye for an eye, she supposed. After teasing her, it was only fair that August got to toy with her too, though wasn't she going overboard? Ophelia's knees pressed together, trembling as a pleasure she'd never felt before took over her body. "If you want me too... I won't mind acting a bit more selfish." "Mmm~ Ahhnnn... m-maybe... not so selfish~" This was embarrassing. She couldn't even speak properly, and it was just because a little bit of touching. How was she supposed to remain regal and dignified when pleasure could seize her so completely? "If I had to be honest... You have come to mind when I was... Alone, maybe once or twice... Or thrice..." Such a lewd thing to confess to. Had she known August would be so unashamed, she wouldn't have been so quick to rile her up. She would've expected her to be the kind of meek, shy girl who would freeze up in bed, but it seemed that it was quite the opposite. The flame that Ophelia had set alight was only getting hotter the longer they spent together. "And your moans... They're hotter than what my imagination had conjured up... Even in lewd dreams... And I'm happy you're my first." "Y-You're my first too, s-so... so be... s-slow down a bit... ahhh~" Although she said that, her voice kept leaking out those moans that August praised, her brows knitting together slightly as she tried and failed to keep her voice down. She really was shameless, pulling Ophelia's fingers out of herself and not only staring at the mess, but brazenly licking her fingers clean. The princess shuddered, simply watching the spectacle unfolding in front of her without a word, only blushing as August's tongue ran over her digits. "... Pervert." she mumbled, adverting her gaze from the witch as she cleaned her fingers up like she was cleaning pudding or some other treat off of her. "... H-Huh...?" Of course, taking her eyes off the enemy during battle was a fatal mistake, and Ophelia knew it. To think she'd be so careless right after lecturing Idra about being cocky. This battle was different, but it was one that Ophelia was set to lose because of her carelessness. "W-Wait... d-doing that is... Ahhh...!" She threw her head back slightly into the pillow under her head, sinking deeper into the bed as she felt both magical and physical warmth envelop her clit. It was both soothing and maddening, her hands shooting down to grab at August's head. Her legs draped over her shoulders, almost clenching against her shoulders as if to keep her there. Even though her eyes were traced with panic, there was also an undeniable arousal and hazy pleasure plaguing her red, eldritch-touched eyes. The thing in the back of her mind wiggled in excitement as well, but Ophelia still had the presence of mind to settle it down. No way It was going to be getting any of this. That said, between the pleasure, the embarrassment of having someone lick her insides, and having to fight back the being in her head, Ophelia was not having an easy time keeping it all under wraps. Something had to give, and that was her voice. Her lips parted to let out a loud, steamy gasp as she finally gave in, letting her voice out once it became apparent that she couldn't push it all down. She couldn't even come up with a cheeky or witty response to August's words, simply moaning in response as her small, pink tongue hung out slightly from her mouth. The worst of it all was her trembling, her attempts at keeping the mounting pleasure from pushing her over the edge becoming like a beaver's dam upon a tsunami. "Hnnghhh... I can't...! I can't-- not yet-- no... mmm~ I'm... I'm...!"​ Her resistance was null, futile as her mouth let escape the accumulated pleasure she'd been pushing down. She cried out without restraint, her nails digging into the witch as she let go and let it all go, climaxing with her entire body and giving August a taste of exactly what she wanted; her cumming. It was far from the dignified, honorable persona she put on around others, yet still sweet and girly, as she'd never felt what it was like to be made to cum. Only ever made herself cum. She didn't even know she could make sounds like that, and yet August was determined to bring them out of her all the same. "Haa, haa... W-Wait..." This time, her voice had a little more strength to it, showing that it was more than a weak protest. She didn't push August off, but she did use her arms to push herself up to a sitting position. Her legs still draped slightly over the witch's shoulders, hanging lazily off of them with no strength. "I-I think I need a second to recover. H-Ha. And... I'm a little, uh... thirsty?" She could use an actual glass of water right about now, that was for sure. But they had nothing right there, so she'd probably need to go to the kitchen to get something. "And, uhm... I think I'm ready. W-We should call Neon in. If you're okay with it too. I don't mind it just being us either, but..." She did feel a little bad for making Neon wait any longer than this. She didn't know if she could hear them from behind the door, but she couldn't imagine the anticipation being easy to deal with. "Your call though... I don't think I'll be able to walk with these jelly legs anytime soon..."

 

[Tenzai]

Wholesome deliverance made possible with her tongue. August might not have been the best nor most experienced when it came to the topic of serving another with her mouth, but where she lacked, she had made up for in her passion, effort, and curiosity. It was enough to make her friend squirm, coating the witch's tongue with a splash of her princess' flavor as a reward for being the right person to make her melt. As she shuddered, August hugged Ophelia's legs, holding her close and embracing her lower half as it grinded in response to her physical euphoria. She was her first; Her one and only, and she wanted to make sure that Ophelia knew how much she treasured this moment with her. Only when her body collapsed did she finally relent in her overwhelming offensive, releasing her from her hold as she licked the release off her lips. "Happy to be of service~" She winked, blowing a little kiss with a bit of pride At first, going into the bedroom, the witch didn't know whether she would be enough to sate the princess' desires; However, upon her satisfaction being made evident through the cum that coated the walls of her throat, she felt like she earned the right to flirt back; This time, she was enough to entertain the company of someone she genuinely enjoyed spending time with. Her anxiety for the moment had ceased. With her princess panting to catch her breath, once her request for water was brought up, a glass had dropped itself onto the table, filling itself up with water. It seemed that the engineers of this place were keen on the activities that would happen within their bedrooms, and as such, designed the responsive functions for the rooms well in advance to ensure that the Citadel's warriors were well taken care of in exchange for their work in ensuring the galaxy became a safer place. Slowly crawling up from the part of the bed she ate her lover out in, August slowly wrapped her arms around Ophelia's neck, letting her legs rest in exchange for giving her top half some post-release intimacy and aftercare. "I'd tell you I'd be thirsty the same, if not for you quenching my thirst." She teased, not as someone who saw herself as someone above her partner, but rather as a partner proud that she was able to deliver in the first place. "Though..." Slowly tracing her fingers down her neck towards her chin, Gust gently stroked Ophelia's cheek. "I wouldn't be against more if you would be so welcome." "Uhm... I think I'm ready. W-We should call Neon in. If you're okay with it too. I don't mind it just being us either, but... Your call though... I don't think I'll be able to walk with these jelly legs anytime soon..." The sudden welcoming to more had made August's face brighten up. She didn't want their first moment to end so quickly, especially if her body was left yearning for touch as well. Ophelia had struck the first spark in her fire; It only felt right that she would also be the one responsible for extinguishing it too. "I'm not against it! I'm sure, Neon is just as excited to get to know you like I do!" Slowly lifting herself off the bed, the witch reached for her panties and her bra, donning both to ensure that her friend wouldn't immediately catch her naked should there be anyone else left outside. "I'll be back soon! Promise~" Slipping towards the door, Ophelia heard Gust's giggling from the other end as her footsteps drowned out due to distance and material getting in the way, only for a pair of two footsteps to return to the door outside. "You don't think she would be against me, would she?" Neon blushed, a little hesitant to act after their first rendezvous had went the way it did. While she might have acted confident immediately in front of Ophelia, behind her back, she was just a normal girl when it came to the other members of the team, holding onto a number of vulnerabilities she otherwise preferred to keep secret. "Not at all!" Gust wrapped an arm around her neck, gently patting her bare shoulder supportively. "If you don't know, she asked for you herself. Don't second guess it." Finding her warrior friend embarrassed over her own body, the witch couldn't help but try to reconcile her feelings. Her pride was still somewhat diminished as a result, though she couldn't blame her. Neon did have a tendency to act rather brash after all. "And besides, you're really pretty too, Neon. I don't think you should think yourself as any lesser when it comes to how you look." Tracing her hands over Neon's body, she felt confident, especially after having her own flesh be so respected despite its scars and bruises. "Just be patient with her, okay?" Neon nodded her head, blushing as she noticed the wet stain on August's panties. "If... If its okay for me to ask, do you mind giving me a few minutes alone with her too?" At first, August's thighs rubbed against each other, eager for her release. However, after seeing a sudden pleading in her friend's eyes, she felt that she could stave off her needs for the moment; If it meant that they could all be happy, she wouldn't be against being deprived just a little bit. "Sure thing Neon. Just don't keep me waiting for too long, okay? We both deserve to have our time with her." As Neon returned to the room, August made her way to the couch outside, only to find sweat and lubricant on the dark couch cushion that made it glisten in the light. Given the distance the couch was from the bedroom itself, it was easy to assume that, while the words were muffled, the moans and screams weren't. "Oh, Neon. Maybe I should apologize for keeping you waiting." She whispered to herself, finding another chair to make a mess in the meantime. "Hey, Lia." A new voice spoke in the dark room. With neon pink eyes glowing in the darkness, it was clear just who was talking and where she was looking. "Shit. Gust must have done a number on you, hasn't she?" She smirked, finding the stains on the cushions displaying clues of what might've occurred between them. Though that smirk came to a slow halt as she laid by Ophelia's side, sharing the same pillow she had screamed incoherent praises on moments ago. "You look really fucking good in the dark. You know?" The way that the stars touched her body, making her sweat glimmer in the light had made Neon's hands run across her own body. "And the way you moan too? Fuck. I couldn't help myself from... Touching myself to your sounds." Like August, she showed little shame when it came to expressing her intimacy. However, there was something different in the way she spoke. Where August held a sort of emotional drive to explore her partner's body, Neon on the other hand, in spite of all of her experience, seemed to be speaking from a place of tender want and desire, much unlike how she was when she was drunk. She didn't see this moment in bed as an intimate duel, but rather a sensual partnership; One born of a trust earned by defeating the very girl that had broken her just a year prior. Finding her shared thoughts amusing, Neon didn't cease in her tenderness when it was brought up. "Can you really blame me for feeling this way? A girl, pretty as fuck, suddenly comes out of a haunted tower full of eldritch shit and beats the shit out of someone that broke me with swordsmanship unlike anything I ever seen." She blushed, slowing her hands to a stop as she confessed. "I don't think it gets any more storybook as it gets. You've made me feel like a princess damn it. Let me crush over you too." She rolled her eyes playfully, before slowly bringing Ophelia's exhausted hand to her cheek and taking a deep breath. "Hey... I really appreciated what you did back there for me. Even if you didn't do the same to Idra, what you did there was enough, and.... Hell... More than I could've ever asked for." Neon held her gaze, staring at her own reflection in the princess' eyes, finding not a warrior but rather an ordinary girl that sought love and companionship too. "Whatever happens tonight between you and me... You earned it." Slowly bringing her hand down her robe that left her shoulders exposed, she let Ophelia split her clothes apart, only to find no underwear underneath the surface. To Neon, undergarments only got in the way when it came to feeling free in her body outside the battlefield. "Think of this as my thank you for being there for me, Lia. Then again, is it really a thank you if I want it bad too?"

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ ​ Chest heaving, sweat glistening against fair skin, staining the sheets under her, Ophelia's arm crossed over her face, her legs still shaking from such intense lovemaking. It didn't take a genius to see that August had done a number on her, though Ophelia still had to put on an air of dignity through it all. Her pride wouldn't let her stay a mess for long, even if she couldn't hide the evidence. She grabbed the glass of water the room gave to her (she was still coming to grips with all this weird technology stuff, though her patron fed her information she shouldn't be able to know) and then, in a bit of a gambit, "Uh, how about a towel?" she made another request. Sure enough, she was given one by the room as well, allowing her to clean up a bit before she was visited again. She prioritized her upper body, drying the slick film of sweat from her arms and chest and stomach, but it didn't take long before the door slid open. "Hey, Lia." The vampiress came alone and for just a moment Ophelia looked over her shoulder, half-expecting August to be tagging along. "Hey Neon. You and Gust are going to be taking turns on me all night? I thought I was supposed to rest..." She teased, shrugging her shoulders to show that she wasn't actually bothered by it. She could do with a bit of alone time with Neon too. Stars knew she'd been waiting long enough for her turn. "Shit. Gust must have done a number on you, hasn't she?" Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Ugh, for heavens' sake, don't be crass about it. I'm a princess; treat me like one." She giggled. For someone who had renounced the title, it would seem hypocritical, but Ophelia was aware, and only took the title back when it was convenient for her. It had always been that way for her. She never really cared about being a royal. In a way, the fall of her kingdom had been a curse and a blessing, granting her freedom at the cost of so much pain. Hers, and that of others. She had wanted nothing more than to break free of that gilded cage, yet she didn't know what to do now that she could spread her wings and fly. "You look really fucking good in the dark. You know?" Again she rolled her eyes, letting out a soft 'pfft' in response to Neon's praise. "I always look good, Neon. But thank you, I'm glad my shameful looks don't turn you off." She once again teased, slightly covering herself despite herself. It was still embarrassing. It wasn't as if she was unused to being undressed in front of others - she'd be dressed by her maids on a daily basis - but it was different given the context. And given that they had only known each other for about a day now, it still felt like a dream to Ophelia. It would not be the first time her patron had put her in a dreamscape, giving her so much that she wished for only to take it away. But this felt too vivid. The joy she felt was nothing like the hollow happiness that It made her feel in those moments. Ophelia chose to move past the carnal detail that Neon offered to the spectacle she and August had offered her. Instead, she only responded with a slight flush and the averting of her eyes, even more mortified that Neon had heard all of that. "Can you really blame me for feeling this way? A girl, pretty as fuck, suddenly comes out of a haunted tower full of eldritch shit and beats the shit out of someone that broke me with swordsmanship unlike anything I ever seen." "If you think that was impressive, you should've seen the one who invented that swordsmanship. It was-- ughhh--" It was a sensation that could not be described as pain, but it was unpleasant all the same. Like static. Like someone had grabbed a picture and scribbled all over it. She could remember the details separately. Deep blue eyes, a small nose and plush lips. Brown, flowing hair that she had inherited from her, while she had inherited her once amber eyes from her father. But it was like having all the puzzle pieces, yet none of them fitting together, no matter how much she tried. It hadn't just taken the memory, but fragmented it in her mind, forever lost, yet still taking up space. "I-I'm fine. This sort of thing happens sometimes." Noticing Neon's concern, she brought her hand up. No need to tell her that it was self-inflicted. That no matter how futile she knew trying to remember was, she still tried to. Because choosing to forget would leave a bigger hole in her than trying to remember would. "I don't think it gets any more storybook as it gets. You've made me feel like a princess damn it. Let me crush over you too." "You and August both..." She sighed, the static slowly clearing from her mind as she pushed the thoughts away. "Just don't go falling in love now. Everything I loved. Everything that's ever loved me... it's all in ruins now. I don't want to ruin you too." But they would do it regardless of what she said, wouldn't they? It didn't matter what she said when they were both so stubborn. Honestly, it was a bit irksome, but also kind of cute. "Whatever happens tonight between you and me... You earned it." "Neon, you..." She brought both of her hands up to Neon's cheeks, slowly and carefully studying her features through her fingertips. "... idiot. You're not a prize to be earned, not a trophy to be fought for. If you're doing this because you feel like you owe me even an ounce of gratitude for what I did, I want you to leave this exact moment." Her fingers pinched on both of Neon's cheeks, her own puffing up with indignation at the mere implication that Neon was something that Ophelia had earned. Ophelia had already said that she had joined the tournament for her own whimsy, and while that had changed after seeing what Idra put her through, it did not change that the princess fought for her own reasons. That Neon had become one of those reasons was something that held no relevance to what was happening right now. "Think of this as my thank you for being there for me, Lia. Then again, is it really a thank you if I want it bad too?" "Oh, maybe you can thank me some other way, then." Her stern expression softened into a smirk, pulling Neon closer. She tugged on her arm, pulling her down with surprising strength before shifting over until she was laying on her side, caressing her cheek. "Neon, about what I was saying before Idra interrupted us... I meant it. Every monarch chose a warrior amongst their people to be their knight. To swear allegiance. You don't have to swear loyalty to me, but I would still ask you... would you be my knight? To be there, beside me, when we fight? I would not ask for you to die for me, but I want to be next to you, shed blood together with you. Feel the pain that you feel. And maybe... just an ounce of the joy--" She lowered her face, meeting Neon's lips once more. There was a soft, quiet smack before she pulled away, smiling with rosy cheeks as she caressed Neon's cheek. "You and Gust... neither of you know what's good for you, do you?"

 

[Tenzai]

"I-I'm fine. This sort of thing happens sometimes." Recoil. The way her body just reacted mid conversation had drawn an air of concern in her eyes. Even as Ophelia attempted to wave off her concern, Neon couldn't help but feel that a part of the consequences Ophelia faced after pushing herself so hard was the vampire's fault. The one rapid heartbeat had dropped to an easy calm as her thoughts had drifted from the allure of sex and attention towards the care for a friend. If now was not the right time for their flesh to make sense of one another, then as long as she was alive and well, there would be time again for another. "Neon, you... idiot. You're not a prize to be earned, not a trophy to be fought for. If you're doing this because you feel like you owe me even an ounce of gratitude for what I did, I want you to leave this exact moment." Talk of herself being worth more than a simple prize to be earned had drawn her heart towards the surface. Even with talk of her not wanting what they had to be anything deeper given their lack of time spent together, she couldn't help it. What Ophelia had done in days, none other had done for her in years. Her family was small, made up of her team, Sen, and a few other familiar faces beyond them. She had not come to expect the kindness of strangers; Let alone one that she had such a rocky start with. The princess' hands on her cheeks drew her inward and a tug of her arm had brought her to her side. Letting Ophelia move her, she wasn't in the place to fight back or act dominant. This was an act she wished for; A quiet, private moment to be herself in front of the princess she cared about, shedding whatever ego she once had and leaving it at the door. "Then, think of this as my thank you for being there for me instead, Lia. Then again, is it really a thank you if I want it bad too?" She whispered, bringing her hands down towards Ophelia's waist. "Oh, maybe you can thank me some other way, then." "Oh? what do you have in mind~" To Neon, there were few greater joys than spending a night in peace sharing a bed with a companion post a day full of combat. To her, this was one of the simple things she could fight for an eternity. Pulling herself closer to kiss the spellsword on the lips, she stopped herself inches away as she felt the princess' words touch her lips. "Neon, about what I was saying before Idra interrupted us... I meant it. Every monarch chose a warrior amongst their people to be their knight. To swear allegiance. You don't have to swear loyalty to me, but I would still ask you... would you be my knight? To be there, beside me, when we fight? I would not ask for you to die for me, but I want to be next to you, shed blood together with you. Feel the pain that you feel. And maybe... just an ounce of the joy--" Meeting her halfway, Neon closed her eyes once she felt her partner's warmth, melting away in the brief moment their lips touched. "You and Gust... neither of you know what's good for you, do you?" "If we did, we wouldn't be half as interesting." A ginger smile cracked over her lips, now stained and spoiled by Ophelia's touch. With a string of saliva bridging the two, she felt pride in her reflection in Ophelia's eyes, watching her lips glisten as evidence of their kiss. "I would like nothing more than to fight by your side... As equals... As friends..." Bringing her head back, she pecked her on the lips, returning her invitation with some effort of her own. "If that means becoming your knight, so be it. As long as you don't mind becoming my lady." A tease in response to her kindness, though one that she seemed fully invested in. "I'll offer my body, my blood, my sweat in exchange for yours, Ophelia." Slowly stripping herself free of the robe that bound her, she left her cloth remains atop where August had left her clothes, giving her an unobstructed view of her metallic flesh. Lines of where synthetics had touched skin were carved over her body in a sleek format, tracing her form with glowing pulses that matched the pace of her breathing. The cyborg samurai was content with the presence of her eyes, truly granting Ophelia full freedom to explore her body as she wished as her promise suggested. Interestingly however, she didn't seem to act on her; As though she were treating Ophelia as fragile. "So don't be afraid of me. I won't bite unless you want me to~ Promise." The feeling of fingers on her silicon made her lips contort into a silent o. She was someone who was used to topping her prey in bed, not someone used to being made subject to the touch of another. With her eyes orbiting over Ophelia's form, she had brought her own hands back on the princess in return, not to act quite yet, but rather to embrace her; To let her feel as though this was something that Neon wanted too. "No need to be so gentle. I'm a lot more durable than you think." A smug grin had turned into a shocked blush as she felt the intensity grow. With each molding of her flesh, of both organic and synthetic, she had uttered a moan, unafraid of being caught by her friend outside. Neon did not feel any regret or hesitance in the offering of her own body. To her, this was new and exciting. "Be selfish with me. I want to know what privileges you'd offer someone who'd be willing to devote her best to your fight." Speaking like a warrior did to their master, each grope, each slap of her body, each hold of her curves were all euphoric trials to endure. While the thrill of returning every touch and feeling she felt to the princess in revenge was tempting, she couldn't help but feel nervous the same. Just what was she hiding? ​ Her eyes were distracted, as though her body was difficult to wield. Her soul might have still been recovering from the use of surplus mana to wield the eldritch spells high level enough to crack through Idra's divine protection. Regardless of how eager she was to devour the princess, she couldn't help but feel that she would break on her touch. Not only did she run away from her before as well, but she also casted lightning as a response to acting upon a misreading of her feelings too. As a result, she was hesitant to act further without some form of an expressed consent. The mark of her shocking spell still had yet to fade. Whenever her fingers ran over one of those cracked marks, instead of moaning, Neon gritted her teeth, still sensitive where she had yet to heal or repair herself. "Don't worry about it, okay?" Neon exhibited a strained smile when she felt her dark marks grabbed. "... Just... Take it slow around there. I'm not going to let a little sting take this away from me. What's a little pain before a lotta pleasure?"

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ "If we did, we wouldn't be half as interesting." ​ "Nothing wrong with being a little boring..." she teased softly with a half-smile. She'd had her own fair share of interesting tales throughout her life, enough to fill entire books with, but she wouldn't have complained for a less interesting life. Maybe, in a different world, she would have grown to become a run-of-the-mill princess, then a queen, living up to her destiny of conquering her entire planet, just like all her other predecessors. In some other timeline, she might have been like Idra, conceited and proud of her heritage. Her bloodline always had the potential for immortality; maybe she could've achieved what her ancestors couldn't. But she'd never know now. Instead, her life had been tainted by the blood on her hands. And though Neon and August both saw past it, she wasn't sure she deserved it. "If that means becoming your knight, so be it. As long as you don't mind becoming my lady." "I think we might be a little past the stage of friendship..." Ophelia giggled, lifting her own arms up and threading her fingers through her long, dark brown locks and lifting her legs up, taking a more relaxed position with Neon than she had with August. The first time was the most nerve-wracking, and now that she had released a lot of that tension, she was feeling a little more at ease, especially with her intimacy. "I'll offer my body, my blood, my sweat in exchange for yours, Ophelia." "Oh I'm sure you'd love a taste of my blood. I'm surprised you didn't have a little nibble while I was out. Did the others stop you? You pervert." She let out an airy laugh, letting her jumbled mind go back to a laidback state. It took a bit of effort from her, but she could will the broken pieces of her mind, the ones that she could never get back, deep within the crevasses of it, where she would have to go digging for them if she wanted to be tormented by them again. She sometimes forgot, but she would always go digging back, as if they could piece themselves together without her knowing. As if they were wounds she could forget about and look back on as scars. Except these were gaping wounds that would never heal, no matter how much she tried. Even the intimacy and trust she had with both Neon and Gust could never quite fill the gaps that the unknown stranger without a face - with her friend's face - had lefti n her. After all, one precious memory was like a piece of a puzzle in her life. She couldn't simply try to shove in a different piece in where she wanted. Neon, August and the others were precious and irreplaceable, just like the memories she had sacrificed to remain alive, to meet them and to remain next to them. "So don't be afraid of me. I won't bite unless you want me to~ Promise." "Then bite me already. I'm honestly offended it's taken you this long..." Letting her hands reach for Neon, she let her hands explore her body with both curiosity and awe, letting her soft fingertips brush against her skin without restraint. She smiled down at Neon, her hands lowering down to her thighs, caressing before she raised them back up to her chest and squeezed her breasts, a handful between her fingers. "Be selfish with me. I want to know what privileges you'd offer someone who'd be willing to devote her best to your fight." "If you left your best at the arena, we'll have to start talking about training together. I still didn't give it my best in the end. Though you did make me drop my weapon, unlike Idra. Don't let that get to your head." Again, she teased, leaning down to press a kiss to Neon's lips just moments before she pulled back and tilted her head to the side, baring her next for Neon to take with her fangs. Both in an expression of submission, and one of trust; letting Neon know that she trusted her with her life already, and that she could take as she pleased. "... Just... Take it slow around there. I'm not going to let a little sting take this away from me. What's a little pain before a lotta pleasure?" "Don't act tough on me. I'm the one who did this to you." As if to punish her for trying to act like it didn't hurt, Ophelia pushed her fingers on the dark, cracked, bruise-like marks that she'd inflicted upon her. It wasnn't out of sadism or cruelty, but a selfish frustration. "Every part of you, got it? I've already seen you at your lowest, and I fought... I fought till my body couldn't take it anymore. Did that mean nothing to you? Do you think that showing it hurts will make me less attracted to you? I want to see every part of you. The good, the bad, the ugly... because you're beautiful all the same." "Each part of you is as beautiful as the next." ​ She smiled down at her again, pressing her lips to the cybernetic samurai's for another kiss, this time pushing her tongue between her lips for a more passionate exchange, a dance between their tongues. Her own voice leaked out from between their lips, moaning with pleasure as she let herself get lost in the pleasure. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ​ "Phew..." Never in a thousand years would she have expected a night like that. While the witch and the vampire had insisted that she needed to rest after her battle with the angel, the princess didn't sleep a wink when stuck between the two. The morning after was a little awkward, if only because, after launching herself into the throes of passion, Ophelia couldn't find the right words to face the two together once it had all settled down. She practically threw them both out of her apartment after they'd dressed and had some breakfast, if only so that she could sort her own feelings. And conserve a bit of her dignity after seeing the messed they'd made of her sheets. Fortunately, replacing the sheets was easy enough with the help of the apartment's automated systems. Ophelia spent most of her day just getting acquainted to her room and resting. After all, the next day would be vital. Returning to her planet was not something she was looking forward to. Ruins upon ruins of her old civilization flashed through her mind as she cleaned up her living room and ordered herself some breakfast, different scenarios running through her mind as she ate. She was to be their guide once they were at the castle, but what good was a princess who had been exiled to a tower for thousands of years? There was no guarantee the castle would be like she remembered. She was surprised to know there was even a castle to begin with, having thought disaster had razed it to the ground like it had destroyed everything else. But given the official mission debrief (she'd thankfully learned to read and write Common at a basic level by now thanks to her patron's boon), it seemed that it wasn't just there, but that it was now a fortress to rebels from a war she still didn't understand. "I think... I'm as ready as I'll ever be. So now..." After donning the new dress that Umbra had tailored for her and putting on a new set of gloves, Ophelia fastened her belt and the sheath of her rapier to it. While a full day's rest wasn't enough to help her heal to the fullest after her battles in the arena, the princess was ready. She couldn't be the burden to the group's progress, and Sen had put much faith in their success. Whether she felt up to it or not, Ophelia was going out there. She threw a few bandages into a small bag she had grabbed and secured the tome that Neon had bought for her to the other side of her hip, ensuring it wouldn't fall off no matter how much she moved around. With a deep, sobering breath, she picked up her phone, bringing up the chat app, which she'd gotten more comfortable with using during her rest day. After all, she had to make sure the others wouldn't worry about her shutting herself in for a whole day, reassuring them that it was only to conserve her energy for the mission. 'I'm ready to head out when you girls are. Just let me know where the meeting spot is.' She typed out and sent before slipping her phone back into her pocket and heading out of her apartment.

 

[Tenzai]

"Each part of you is as beautiful as the next."​ Beautiful. A term she had never imagined being called herself, especially when around women like Medina, August, and Shiro. She had often been seen as the tomboy who was too flirtatious for her own good, not a lady to be treasured and especially not as a flower that could be seen as a work of art. "...Thank you." Neon muttered in between their kisses, finally losing herself for the night. If her words felt that good, what more would her body feel like when being pressed against one another in the dark. ──────・୨ ✦✦✦✦✦ ୧・──────​ Mission day. In front of the girls sat many ships, each preparing for takeoff. Sen wasn't the type to simply focus on the success of one mission but rather many missions at the same time. It was through shared hundreds of successes that wars were won, in the past and in the present, and in the future, it seemed no different. Nearby, there were lizards in armor, many preparing for a vanguard engagement against a rebel stronghold located on Ophelia's planet. With a wave from a familiar bipedal crocodile warrior, Leandro had offered the girls his best regards. "Ophelia isn't with you?" He noted the missing member of their team. "Do tell her I wish you all the best of luck. There's nothing wrong with a bit of it to ensure our safe journeys home." Neon nodded her head. "I'm sure she'd really appreciate that. I'll let her know when she meets us here." Elsewhere, Idra was donned in full armor, delivering orders to her staff and company about their engagement that was soon to come. Given the extent of her wounds that had yet to heal, she was assigned the responsibility of being a distraction for Ophelia's team with the goal of preventing potential rebel reinforcements from shifting the odds of success for their mission. Upon making eye contact with August who waved in response, the princess had sighed, pointing at her shoulder in the hopes that the witch would double check the status of her dress. Turning around to her own shoulder, she found Shiro already working on it, tying the scarf where it was tied poorly to ensure that it wouldn't fall the moment they met any wind or turbulence. "Thanks Idra!" Gust yelled in the hopes that she could hear before focusing on the newest notification on her phone: One new notification from: Lia. [I'm ready to head out when you girls are. Just let me know where the meeting spot is.] Typing a quick response in return, she took a selfie with the other girls in armor before sharing her location. [The Dockyard. We'll catch ya there <3]​ The dockyard. A massive structure that made up a good percentage of the station's real estate. While fighters and other small transport vehicles made up many of its parking spaces, there were also massive battleships that treated the citadel as its home. It was the first and last place that many soldiers and travelers go to see and it would see in between travels and missions and as a result, was the most frequented by others. With Medina firing up the engines and doing the last diagnostic checks to ensure their small ship's flight capabilities were greenlighted and ready to go, the other girls waited outside only to find Ophelia dressed up in her newest clothes. "Wow! I swear, Umbra really has a way with bringing out the best in you!" August was the first to comment, now fully comfortable with the princess after a night spent exploring each other's bodies. Upon being treasured despite her scars and being supported regardless of her anxieties, she didn't feel the need to hold her own thoughts back from her. "Yeah. It looks like she really likes you." Neon on the other hand had seen Lia as her equal. Now being her knight, the samurai wasn't against bearing herself in all her different colors as well. Finding the seams similar to the same work she put into her dress, it was clear how the spider seamstress felt. "She put a ton of effort into it." Turning back to August, she raised a question. "You think she saw the fighting too?" The witch nodded her head. "Absolutely! She was gushing over it on the group chat!" Now present beside where their ship was beginning to start, its ramp lowered itself, revealing its insides as their entrance. Waving the others in, Medina brought her mic close to her mouth. "Come on in everyone! We have some work to do. We'll handle the mission briefing along the way!" With nothing more holding them back, the other girls began to file in slowly, eventually leaving Neon and Ophelia as the last to come aboard. "After you." Her knight chided, offering a bow as she gave her preferential treatment before being the last to follow. With the air conditioning on and their holo-table in the center of their chairs glowing, Ophelia was given a view of her castle through a holo-map as the ship took off from station. Given the sonar and x-rays used to scout out the building, from its transparent exterior, she was met with a brief view of what her home looked from within. It was a terrible shift from her past. Where there was once beauty and order in its sculpting, there was nothing but devastation and ruin as a result of many centuries of war that took place in between her imprisonment and her rescue. All the talk of sacrificing herself for her kingdom were mute when much of their downfall had not come from forces outside, but rather within. A bell sound similar to a call had made itself known through the speakers as Medina had allowed Sen an entrance into their feed. Within seconds, a holographic version of him was made present within the ship. "Glad to see you all were able to get your rest and recuperation. You two especially." He turned towards Lia and Neon, giving them a knowing look after watching the tournament himself before gesturing back to the holographic castle. "Now here's the deal. There is a natural fortification we could use to launch a spearhead into enemy territory; The ruins of a castle that appears to be held by rebels. Intel suggests they are led by a spellcaster attempting to follow some sort of past, necromantic ritual." Showing the magical activity within the area, several bars had displayed various statistics related to measuring magical elements and power. "I'm going to need you all to claim this old stronghold back. I assumed that out of everyone here, Ophelia would most likely hold the most information about it. As such, I planned on deploying your team." Switching his attention from the mission table back towards Ophelia, he gestured to the other girls to redirect their attention towards her. "If you have any questions, I advise you to ask her now. And I appreciate your help, truly." "Don't think I'm sending you there to handle this on your own." ​ In the distance, other lights were present, moving in the same direction as them. Allied ships had accompanied them, carrying teams that were to be deployed beside them to help secure the massive structure together. "I trust that this will be enough for you all to handle the rebels." The look of relief had come over the other girls as they found others from the citadel flying beside them towards the same destination. With Medina tilting the ship downwards as it made its descent into the atmosphere, Ophelia's castle came into view. Other lights had flashed over its rooftops, signaling the vibrant lights of futuristic spells and weapon fire being flung in the distance nearby; They were simply one part of a major offensive, one of the first armies to make proper landfall on this continent. "And Ophelia." While the others were focused on the scene taking place beyond the ship, Sen's hologram waved her towards a single bag inside. "Do please take care of these girls. They're among my favorite teams around. They deserve a woman befitting of their company." As he vanished once she got close, inside the bag, she was able to find a pistol that served as a magical conduit for her separate from her rapier. Upon touch, it matched the color of her soul, affixing the strength of her spirit to its power cell. "Alright girlies; Here's the plan!" As they got close to the building, Medina's plane became invisible. "Sen's commanders have ordered us to take over the top floor of the castle first before working downward, so I'll be dropping you off at this point." A piece of the castle had highlighted red, showing Ophelia's bedroom once upon a time. "We're nearing it now so please hold tight; I don't want to lose any of you because of a fall." Taking Lia with one arm, Neon smiled as the cockpit began to open for their descent. The other girls, now used to this form of deployment, had held on tight to the handles near the entrance as they waited for the greenlight to appear to signal when it was safe for them to hop out. "Looks like this is our stop." The vampire smirked, excited for battle. "Hold on tight and have faith in me. I won't let you go." Green light. It was time to jump. With August's feather fall spell being cast on them, Shiro and Gust had hopped off first, landing slowly on the balcony of her room. "We can't let those other fuckers show us up, now can we?" ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴘʟᴀʏꜰᴜʟ ᴍᴀꜱꜱᴀᴄʀᴇ | ᴀᴢᴀʟɪ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​

​

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ ​ Following the directions to The Dockyard was easy enough. Between the reading and the resting, Ophelia had spent much of her free time getting acquainted with her phone as well, learning the ins and outs of it with a little bit of help from the occult. Understanding the language, both spoken and written, did a lot to help her become accustomed to the modern world she had been thrust into, something she hadn't had the chance to do between all the shopping and excitement. And the fighting, of course, but who was worried about that? The tournament had in fact prepped her for the mission better than anything else she could've tried. While her patron's magic kept her body in the same shape as it had been when she first died, her reactions had become lethargic and her ability to use magic had become stunted after years of monotony. In a way, participating in that tournament had been akin to going to the gym after years of not exercising and doing a full body workout. It had left her very, very sore and exhausted, but now she felt like she could bring out more of her strength. The movements that she visualized were a little easier to actually execute, though she was not back to a hundred percent just yet. "Wow! I swear, Umbra really has a way with bringing out the best in you!" "Yeah. It looks like she really likes you." "Alright, that's enough out of you two. Flattery will get you nowhere you haven't already been." Ophelia smiled, pushing her hair behind her ear as she approached the ship, casting an overviewing glance across the dockyard and noticing all the hustle. It was easy to tell something big was happening, although she hadn't been informed of anything besides the raw details of their mission. Maybe all of this movement was for other missions that were being executed simultaneously. For all she knew, Sen had a habit of planning big mission days to save up on the fuel or something like that. Admittedly, it was a smart thing to do, although she wouldn't say that to Sen's face. With the ship's ramp lowering, Ophelia let out one last, centering breath. She closed her eyes, visualizing the castle, each and every hallway. She knew every inch of it like that back of her hand; it had been, after all, the gilded cage she always wanted to escape from. And yet, the first thing she was going to do after breaking out of it and the tower was to go back. Go back to the home that had all but exiled her. The home where she no longer belonged. "Glad to see you all were able to get your rest and recuperation. You two especially." The hero's voice was not as unwelcome as she would've wanted to say it was. Ophelia sat on one of the empty chairs, looking at the hologram of her castle, ruined by time and strife, yet still standing strong. The Lamprosian Kingdom had been built to last tens of thousands of years, at least, and thought every other building had been destroyed by cataclysm after cataclysm, the castle remained even after all those years. The princess tried not to show her shakiness at seeing the building, the memories creeping up in the back of her mind and getting gobbled up and spat back out by the being behind her eyes. "Now here's the deal. There is a natural fortification we could use to launch a spearhead into enemy territory; The ruins of a castle that appears to be held by rebels. Intel suggests they are led by a spellcaster attempting to follow some sort of past, necromantic ritual." "A ritual...? It couldn't be..." Her eyes lit up with subdued recognition, narrowing with the slightest hint of doubt at Sen's words. It was not that she didn't believe him, but rather that she couldn't; if she was right in her suspicions, then the implications of it were simply impossible. But perhaps she was wrong in her assumption - there was no need to draw conclusions so quickly. "If you have any questions, I advise you to ask her now. And I appreciate your help, truly." "Please bear in mind that my information may be outdated by a few thousand years." Ophelia cracked a wry, bitter smile, gripping at her dress under the table. She bit the inside of her cheek, staring deep at the small-scale model of the castle, trying to see if there was anything different at a glance. Besides it being weathered and broken in certain places, it was just as she remembered it, down to the last stone brick. "I trust that this will be enough for you all to handle the rebels." Ophelia turned to see the dancing lights outside their ship, now realizing what all the hustle from before was about. 'So this mission is important enough to spare this many people...' That was not pressuring at all. Nope. It didn't form a lump in Ophelia's throat as she realized the scale of their mission. "And Ophelia." As if he had somehow read his mind, Sen turned his voice to her. Red hues fell on the projection of the man, her expression cold and ambivalent. "Do please take care of these girls. They're among my favorite teams around. They deserve a woman befitting of their company." "I'll perish before I let anything happen to them." ​ The woman muttered simply, looking towards where his hand motioned. She grabbed the bag and fished out what was in it, turning the gun in her wrist as she regarded it. It was different than the guns she'd seen Shiro wield. She could feel it connect to her, ready to siphon her magic if she so much as thought it. Curiosity had gotten the better of her after seeing Shiro take care so diligently of her guns, and she had learned a bit about them. The Great Equalizer, some people called them. Upon their invention, no longer was physical strength or magical talent a defining factor of one's prowess in combat. Now, anyone with enough diligence could fight. It was still best to sharpen one's mind in Ophelia's mind, though. While a gun was a powerful weapon, it was only deadly in the right hands. Ophelia holstered it, keeping it handy on her hip as they began to descend. "Hold on tight and have faith in me. I won't let you go." ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Yuvi's Longing | Hagali ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​ "Yeah..." Ophelia's mind was elsewhere as they slowly fell through the air, her eyes lighting up once again with recognition when she laid eyes upon that balcony. Neon's words found their way to her ears, but the princess was already pushing the glass doors open, a cloud of dust floating out as if it had been waiting to be freed. She coughed a little, waving her arm around to clear the brown cloud from her view. "This is..." It was just like how she'd left it. But how was that possible? How had no one, in all the centuries that they had scorned her as the Princess of Ruin, been curious about her room? She could justify them not wanting to sleep in it, as if sharing the same room as her would invite the same monster that had tempted her into their dreams. It was nothing like that; for some reason, her patron had set eyes on her and her alone. It had no interest in others, at least outside of watching them writhe and suffer. Ophelia walked over to one of her dressers, pressing her gloved thumb over the thick layer of dust that covered it. Although she had no evidence of it, Ophelia knew that her room had not been touched ever since the day she left it. It was just as she remembered it, save the dust and cobwebs. Each and every bookshelf was just as she had left it, filled with books that she was sure Medina would love to read, were they not in her native language and prone to turning into dust with a single touch. Her bed was a mess; blankets a bunched-up mess and pillows strewn about the floor. She'd had a breakdown the night before she left, and had broken many a things, never intending to go back. Across from her bed was a family portrait, depicting both an older man and a young woman, with a much younger Ophelia held in the woman's arms. While Ophelia shared the man's dark hair, her eyes were just like the younger woman's, a light, piercing hazel. "Ugh..." ​ Once again, that unpleasant buzzing in her ears returned, scrambling her mind the moment she laid eyes upon the woman's face. She could see it - she had it right in front of her! But despite that, Ophelia's eyes saw nothing but a garbled mess. Pieces that were meant to go together, but her mind was simply incapable of comprehending. "... Let's go." The longer she lingered on it, the more messed up her mind became. She couldn't stay here. She couldn't remember. All she could do was move forward-- Hiss! ​ ... And then she realized why her room hadn't been touched in her absence. As soon as she touched the door handle, her hand burned painfully. She tried again, this time putting her palm to the door. Boom! ​ This time, she was thrown back several meters, crashing through one of her bookshelves. An arcane lock, built to last millenia without being disturbed. She could already see them - the cautionary tales to keep the children away from the devil's room, and a powerful spell to keep them away despite their curiosity. "... Okay. Let's try a different approach then." She didn't think she'd get to use it this quickly, but-- Crackle-- Boom!!! ​ She pulled out the gun from its holster, harnessing her innate magic into a form she could envision. A small bullet flew out the moment she pulled the trigger, hitting the door and spreading into a purple lightning. The spell on the door resisted, but Ophelia pulled the trigger again, and again, alternating between fire and lightning until the wooden door exploded into pieces, splinters flying out in every direction. Smoke filled the room and Ophelia walked out undeterred, stepping over the debris. She took one glance around the hallway, finding no one guarding the door. They'd probably realized it was impossible to come inside, or decided it wasn't worth the trouble and had focused their efforts in other places. "Down the hall -- opposite of the staircase." She pointed to her right, where there was nothing but brick and stone. "There's a secret passage down to food storage. Assuming the potato fumes don't kill us, that should be our quickest and safest way down, assuming the rebels don't know about them. The castle is full of secret passages like that... but they may also be filled with traps. I would advise caution; I doubt I'm welcome here anymore, and I don't doubt they thought I would come back for vengeance one day." "They were half-right, at least..."​

​

 

[Tenzai]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴍᴀʀɪᴀɴ | ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ ɴɪɴᴇ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​

Click. Click. Click. Once the witch had descended from the sky, her boots had met the same ground that Ophelia had wandered around as a child. To her, the scene in front of her was akin to a picture in a storybook, speaking of a time alien to her of stone castles with no question of conquest towards the stars in the sky. "Wow... So this is what it must have felt like being a princess in a fairy tale!" Looking out from the balcony as other lights rained down like shooting stars from the distance, some even landing on different sections of the castle, her eyes glimmered like jewels, as though she were walking within a painting itself. "Yeah..." The princess' eyes were hollow; There was something between her and this place that the samurai herself couldn't quite put her finger on. However, right now was not the time for interviews or questioning; They had a job to do and the samurai wished to keep her safe all throughout. "Looks like this is our stop." Upon landing with a thump, Neon relinquished her grip on Ophelia, letting her find her step before turning around and waving to Medina. [Dina. We'll catch you soon.] With Shiro landing nearby with a rifle ready, the ship turned around to take off towards a nearby battlefield in order to offer air to ground combat support. [See you all soon! I'll be just a few minutes away whenever you need me!] With the lights of her engine growing brighter as she shot herself away with speed, within moments, she was no more than another glimmer on the battlefield; One that the samurai offered a quiet prayer for. "This is... Ugh..." August raised an eyebrow, turning her attention towards Ophelia while the other girls scoured every corner and closet to clear the room. "Lia? You okay?" Curious, she approached her from the side, only to look over her shoulder and find what seemed to be a family portrait. Save for the fact that it was covered in dust, it seemed as though it was a finishing piece to someone's bedroom. In the woman's arms however was a clue that made her eyes widen: The young girl in the painting looked a little like Ophelia. "Hey... If you need a little bit of time or something, just know I'm her-" Before she had a chance to place a hand on her friend's shoulder, Lia was ready to move on. "... Let's go." "Oh- Are you sure? We do have a couple minutes-" Neon shook her head. "Lia's right. We can't afford to stay here for too long. Even if it brings back some memories." Some names on a few books had hinted at whose room this was. The fact that the princess' eyes already knew where to go upon coming in was evidence that this was Ophelia's once upon a time. As she spoke, a tinge of sympathy had flavored her voice. She understood the value of one's past; The katana she received back from Ophelia was testament to that fact. "Once we're done clearing this place, I don't think Sen would be against us exploring it. Maybe by then, we'll have all the time you need." "Hmm." Shiro on the other hand seemed to be staring directly at the door handle. With her rifle slung around her neck, as she got close, her hand froze. There was something magical imprinted on it that she had yet to identify, though they didn't have the time to disarm it. They needed a way through. Turning towards Ophelia as she approached the door handle, the smell of burnt gloves was enough for the riflewoman to reach over to her medical bag. However, before she was able to pull out some bandages, a sudden force had pushed the girls down to the ground, only for the catgirl's eyes to spot something underneath the bed: A single book. Believing it to hold some form of information, she placed it into her bag before turning around to hear the sound of a gunshot followed by another, then another, and another after, adding more and more until the doorknob itself was reduced to ash. With the other girls looking at the new entrance, they listened to Ophelia as they made it through the next room. "Down the hall -- opposite of the staircase. There's a secret passage down to food storage. Assuming the potato fumes don't kill us, that should be our quickest and safest way down, assuming the rebels don't know about them. The castle is full of secret passages like that... but they may also be filled with traps. I would advise caution; I doubt I'm welcome here anymore, and I don't doubt they thought I would come back for vengeance one day. They were half-right, at least..." Neon and Shiro nodded their heads, moving quickly towards the hall opposite the staircase. Now that their presence was most likely known, for the two veterans, they recognized that it was only a matter of time before their enemies could prepare, most likely now alerted to the presence of intruders within the castle. With the sounds of gunshots, spells, weapon clashes, and lasfire echoing through the halls, there was no need to guess: The time to act was now. August looked nervous, finding Ophelia acting so differently around the castle. She seemed not herself; her mind being brought to another place, unaware of the familiarity she held when it came to each hallway, nook, and cranny this castle had to offer. This was her home, a place now being fought over by two strangers seeking asylum and strength within the work of her ancestors. "Shiro, take care of traps. I'll be sure to cover your back." With the words of the other girls down the hall beckoning her legs forward, the witch made a mental note of Lia's eyes, careful not to distract her while she did so to avoid making another mistake. "On it." With the door to the food storage in front of them and the sounds of footsteps and yelling behind, the two gave each other a look, nodding their heads before committing a hand sign to the witch: The signal for haste. With her lips mouthing the spell's appropriate incantations, the three girls beside her had begun to blur with their added speed. Mirror images had cloaked their form. "I'll take left. You take right. Lia, Handle whoever is in front of us. On three. One. Two." Whispering her words, the moment her lips mouthed three, the samurai immediately kicked down the door, charging a demon to the left while Shiro poured rounds into a naga on the right. In front of Lia stood a stunned werewolf armed with a two handed great phase blade. With his nose immediately detecting them upon them reaching the door, he was prepared, swinging down his blade only for a magical shield to deflect his attack towards one of her mirror images. "Lia! I got your back! Take him down!" While Ophelia acted, the Neon's blade met her opponent's twice before she was able to cut through their weapon, shattering it and splitting her enemy into two. Shiro on the other hand had brought her snake to the floor with a couple well placed shots, only for the third flash towards the head to be the last that the naga would ever live to see. In a near instant, their sudden ambush had ended. At least, this time, they were enough. Scanning the other girls for injuries, Shiro sighed in relief when she found nothing more than scratches on their weapons. While her foresight was a boon, it had only done so much when it required concentration, especially in combat. "... Good. Do be prepared and don't take a break for long. There will be more. Much more for us to deal with." August gulped, taking deep breaths to calm herself down after the sudden burst of violence. She was a support caster; Someone that brought the best in others who struggled with being dangerous herself. Even though she was a soldier, it was Neon and Shiro that held little qualm with taking lives, even up close. Their lives before joining Sen's service were rife with violence and fighting. August on the other hand was someone who was recruited straight from the tower, never needing to use her magic for any more than chores and similar busywork in the past, unlike her more capable and potent sisters. She was afraid that her dangerous magic would be uncontrollable due to its intensity being guided by emotion. "You okay, Gust? Lia?" Neon checked in, only to find August losing the color in her face seeing the bodies of their enemies up close. There was no amount of experience with the battlefield that could make her ever get used to the stench and sight of humanoid corpses. The sweet, sickening smell was something she hated. Fighting monsters was one thing, but fighting people she imagined she could've befriended in another life was another. "... Lia, I'm no good with words and I think we bought ourselves a couple minutes. Can you talk some sense back into Gust, please?" Unlike August and Medina, the other two were soldiers who preferred the strength in their weapons and tactics over their affinity with voice and written word. Leaving the two behind to scout out the immediate surroundings, the room had grown still with the sounds of faraway fighting disrupting the silence as the witch attempted to hold her insides together. In truth, she wanted to vomit. "I... I'll be alright." August held her hand over her mouth, trying to appear strong. "I c-can't hold you all back again. So I-I'll be fine, don't worry about me." Feigning strength, the witch's knees were speaking a different story. She was scared. She had just lost her commander in the last mission as well, and a part of her had felt like it was her fault. "Just give me a moment, okay? I just need to take a breath." One deep breath after another, the haunting sounds of weapon fire and spells intended to bring down their enemy refused to let up on its frequency, denying her peace. Out of her cohort, she was the most normal of them all, holding onto more humanity than the rest of the other girls who deployed directly into the field on her team. "We're... We're going to be alright... Right?"

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞ ​ What was it about this place that brought back a distinct feeling of ennui in her? Why was it that, as she walked down the same old tiles, the weathered tapestry looking just like how she remembered it, that she felt her mind turn into a deep mist? Despite eons passing her by, the landscape looked as gray as it had when she was still young and idealistic, yet not realizing she'd always been a caged bird. This castle had been her prison, her penitentiary for a sin she had yet to commit. "Shiro, take care of traps. I'll be sure to cover your back." Holstering her gun, Ophelia exchanged it for her rapier, readying herself for close-quarters combat; the halls were not big enough for the wide-range spells that she'd shown in her battle before; thus, she would have to rely on her nimble movements instead to fight off their enemies. As she did, she caught August's eyes, the same concerned gaze she'd grown used to when there was something on her mind drawing a half-smile upon Ophelia's face. She understood in a moment what the concern was about - and that they had little time to address it right then and there. In fact, there was no time. "I'll take left. You take right. Lia, Handle whoever is in front of us. On three. One. Two." While August was the one that the others clearly looked to for executive decisions, it seemed that Neon took on the role of CO when it came to field operations. It was easy to tell that she was the one most capable of barking orders and making split-second decisions. It was not meant to the witch's detriment, but Ophelia could already see the cracks in her judgment, most likely from a sense of inadequacy and low self-esteem that manifested in the worst possible moments. Put in the nicest way possible, August was simply not cut out for battle. At least, not yet. But she was capable of protecting others, and that was good enough. "Lia! I got your back! Take him down!" There was a split second between August putting up a barrier to protect the princess and her bringing her rapier up, thrusting it upward into the werewolf's throat and piercing through his tough skin, then pulling it back to stab him in the heart with surgical accuracy. He was dead before he knew it, the moments of his passage between life and death seeming eternal but being no more than a few seconds in Ophelia's eyes as he glared up at her with a mix of horror and hatred. The princess stared back with detachedness, letting out a soft sigh as she swung her rapier clean of his blood. Her heart thumped against her chest, the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Fighting in a battlefield was different from an arena, where one's objective was not to kill and one could easily surrender the moment they knew they were trumped. Here, on the other hand, there were no half-measures, no mercy to be had. The luxury of mercy was only for those strong enough to know they could lose nothing by giving it, for there were those who would respond to such grace with treachery, plunging their blades into the back of their benefactors the moment they turned away from them. The moment of respite after the fight was longer than the few instants of battle, but felt much shorter in a way that was paradoxical. "... Good. Do be prepared and don't take a break for long. There will be more. Much more for us to deal with." "I'm afraid so. More than we may have accounted for initially." Already, Ophelia could feel the air thrumming with arcane energy. They were traces of it, as if its purpose had already been fulfilled, but its sheer power remained. It was not the work of a single person, not even that of an entire platoon of magic users, but that of centuries, even eons of magic that had built up, all finally put to a purpose. Perhaps August didn't realize it because she was struggling with something else entirely. "You okay, Gust? Lia?" "Don't worry about me. This is not my first battle." Ophelia uttered dryly, her eyes narrowing as she recalled a harrowing memory. That one had remained untouched, as if It had no intention of ever taking it from her. The sounds of tearing flesh, the crunching of shattering bones and the shrill screams of horror all coalesced into a cacophony, yet she could make out every sound and sensation as if the very tendrils and spikes that destroyed her enemies were a part of her. As if she could touch them with the tips of her fingers, press her ears to the skin as it was torn asunder. She gripped her arm, instead casting her gaze upon the witch, who was clearly in worse shape than any of the other three. She sighed sympathetically. "... Lia, I'm no good with words and I think we bought ourselves a couple minutes. Can you talk some sense back into Gust, please?" "She's the only one with any sense left, Neon." Ophelia bit back bitterly before sighing again, shaking her head at herself. "No, sorry. I didn't mean that... I'll talk to her." It was neither the time nor place to bicker about the idea of what made sense and what didn't. They had a mission to accomplish and they couldn't afford any setbacks that they could avoid. Ophelia walked to August, not even having the chance to alert her of her presence before the witch spoke up. "I... I'll be alright." Ophelia frowned; she was clearly not alright, and it didn't look like she would be anytime soon, but they didn't need to say what was already clear to them all. "I c-can't hold you all back again. So I-I'll be fine, don't worry about me." Again, Ophelia closed her eyes, a feeling of frustration rumbling in her chest. She had to actively push it down, letting out only another sigh to hint at her discontent. But she let August speak without interruption, letting her process her own thoughts out loud. So Ophelia could understand. So she could speak clearly and without misunderstanding. "Just give me a moment, okay? I just need to take a breath." "... August. Do you remember what I told you the first day we met? That I don't... like girls who are dishonest. And you are being very dishonest right now." She knelt down, reaching for the witch's hand and gently gripping it under both of her own. Her expression was flat, her voice stern, as if she was scolding a child for lying or hiding something they shouldn't have. "It's okay to not be alright. It's okay to see all this death and be sickened by it. There are those of us who have become desensitized to it, but for every person you kill and feel nothing for, you lose a bit of your humanity. You might even come to enjoy it a little, the same way a hunter might enjoy the thrill of the hunt. Bit by bit, you become a monster, little by little. Before you know it, you shed your own blood and the blood of others without a second thought. But... not you. You shouldn't. You can't." "You can't lose your humanity, August." ​ She stood back up, her gaze on August alone. For the first time since they'd landed, her eyes were not somewhere far away, but lay solely on the witch herself. "You have to remind yourself that this is not right. Violence, killing strangers and loved ones... it's not right. It has never been right. It's the answer for all the fools who are not willing to compromise. If there is any hope that we can find a better alternative... it lies in people like you. So steel your heart, but don't let yourself lose this feeling. And remember..." "You are the one who gave me hope again." ​ A small, wistful smile colored her contours as she slowly helped August back up to her feet. "We're... We're going to be alright... Right?" "We'll all make it through in one piece. Together." 'No matter what I have to sacrifice.' Slowly, gently, she let go of August's hand, nodding towards Neon and Shiro. Making sure that August was not far behind, Ophelia made her way to them. "I think we're good to go." She cast a glance to the witch, offering the slightest smile of support before reaching for her rapier and unsheathing it. "Stick behind me, August. I'll protect you... and I know you'll protect us too. Have faith in yourself, and have faith in us." Her smile slowly faltered as they cleared the door from the storage, the stomping of footsteps outside mixing together with the thumping in Ophelia's chest. They pushed forward, bursting through the door to see yet more enemy soldiers on the other side. More demons, a lizardfolk just like Leandro and goblins, among other humanoids. The princess jumped forward, covering August with her body as a beastkin rushed at them with a longsword. She parried it, knocking the blade from his hand before he had a chance at another swing. Then she stabbed him through the heart and pulled back her blade, watching him crumble only for another assailant to come after him. If the rebels didn't have much in terms of skilled fighters, they made up for it in sheer numbers. Ophelia continued to fight the same way, using her technique to parry the attacks she could not dodge, and her footwork for the ones she could. With August's support, she was able to make it through with relative ease, except for a single, stray arrow that flew out in the witch's direction. The fencer caught it too late to simply deflect it, instead jumping in the way. It hit and pierced through her shoulder, and immediately she could tell it had been laced with something. Poison coursed through her veins. She fell to her knees, yanking the arrow out of her shoulder. Blood spurted from the open wound, but closed up unnaturally after a few seconds. The poison weakened her, and she even spit out blood, but thanks to her eldritch patron, she had a resistance to all things foul, including a natural resistance to poisons. It didn't make her inherently immune to them, however. It still took her out for several seconds, long enough for her to feel woozy as she stood back up to her feet, still holding her aching shoulder, even if it had healed already. After all, her accelerated healing did not make her pain go away, because otherwise it would be too easy for her, and her patron did not want that. Fortunately, it seemed the battle had ended by the time she had recovered. Or so it seemed, at least for a few seconds. The hallway, now strewn with dead bodies and smeared a deep red, was a little wider than the one on the top floor, where Ophelia's room laid untouched. Yet it seemed about the same size, if only because of the statues that decorated it. They each held a weapon in hand, their features chiseled with meticulous detail, and a plaque under their feet, unfamiliar, ancient words on each one. Ophelia recognized the language as her own native tongue, and she could make out names for each one, not a single one the same as the last. There was a thrum in the air, like the rumble in the skies warning of a deluge to come. "... Don't lower your guards!" The princess called out desperately just seconds before it happened. Statues made of marble and granite shifted from their spots, brandishing the weapons they held in their hands. Their expressions did not change, causing an eerie disconnect between their calm and collected expressions and the way their bodies, fueled by magic, moved in a way that could only be described as human-like, but not quite. The stone became flexible enough for them to move as if they had natural joints, but were still stiff enough that one could tell they were uncanny. "They are... heroes of this kingdom. Each king and queen chose one hero to immortalize. The strongest of their tenure, forever etched into their peak as warriors. It involved a ritual that took a piece of their soul and put it into a statue made in their image..." Ophelia explained, bringing her rapier up to block a strike from one of the spear-wielding statues. Her own blade struck at it, but bounced off. Yet, her strike still cracked the stone. Another thrust was enough to create a chink in its exterior, causing its arm to crumble onto the ground. At least fighting these statues would not be as gory as the living soldiers, but... "... They were denied the peace of death. All this time, a piece of them has been trapped within these statues, unable to move on. The only way for them to move on would be to..." She trailed off, fighting off another statue, this one wielding a greatsword. It swung with stunning speed, barely missing her as she sidestepped it and struck at its neck, infusing her rapier with the power of the thunderclap, the strike coming first, before the sonic boom came after, obliterating its head entirely. "... The royal crown. It must still be here. The rebels must've found it. Only by using its power could these statues be brought to life." Their objective was now clear to Ophelia. It would be one thing to rout all the rebels, or at least eliminate the leadership in order to make them surrender, but if they also had these statues in their control, there was no way they would survive. "... The throne room. The ritual to activate the statues can only be done through there. There's still time... they must not have completed it yet. We must go!" The princess' desperation came not only from the fact that, if completed, the ritual would cause an unstoppable onslaught of stone warriors and rebels, but also of the implication behind activating such a ritual. She could not voice it, for to do so would be enough to make it true. She could not manifest the thought that one of her people, a Lamprosian, was still alive. And worse still... They were her enemy now. ​ "It can't be... no... no, I have to be mistaken. I have to..." She muttered to herself, unholstering her pistol and charging up a powerful blast of sheer magical force that obliterated the remaining statues. "Y-Yes... that's right. They must've... they must've reverse engineered the ritual. That's right. Those impostors... I'll make them pay..." "They'll suffer for making a mockery of my people..."​

​

 

[Tenzai]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ʀᴏᴏꜰᴛᴏᴘ ᴅᴀꜱʜ | ᴀᴢᴀʟɪ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​

"We'll all make it through in one piece. Together." The witch had felt sick to her heart. She failed in her promise once again, lying about how she felt. However, instead of being met with a punishment for her poor deception, she was given support; Unlike how she was before, this was had a clear reason. August was not a monster. She was not someone who found a thrill in besting another in mortal combat. While she understood that there would be a cost in participating in war, she had always sought victory over the sake of peace: To return the stars back to a state of safety where happiness could be pursued without risk to one's wellbeing for existing, simply in the wrong place. Her magic was more than just a weapon. It was what preserved her happiness. "Thank you, Lia. I'm... I'm not okay, but I'll try my best to keep up with the rest of you. I just want to keep you all safe." Neon and Shiro smiled at the sound of her words. It was very much like her to put the wellbeing of her friends over anything else. "I think we're good to go. Stick behind me, August. I'll protect you... and I know you'll protect us too. Have faith in yourself, and have faith in us." August nodded her head, remaining close to Lia's back as they walked down the dark hallways. She felt heard and understood, and as a result, had the strength to keep pushing onward in spite of the death and destruction they were fated to encounter. "I've never stopped believing in you ever since I promised myself to you as your friend, Lia." Gust smiled, bringing her magic spell book close to her chest. "And I never will. You're all special to me." The next room they encountered beyond the storage room was a dining hall full of demons, lizardmen, and other rebels, each devouring the remnants of food they stole from a shipping container meant to be delivered to one of the forward bases on the planet. Feasting at first, once one of them had made eye contact with Ophelia, it was already too late. A gunshot from the angel's rifle was sent through the largest of them all, signaling the beginning of combat. "I'll cover you, Neon." Shiro spoke, taking shots at those who intended on attacking the samurai from her flanks. "Ophelia, keep August safe." While Neon's weapon had clashed against a horde of smaller goblinoids, some lizardmen had spotted the spell caster supporting her party with haste and shield based buffs, drawing the attention of others to attack her position. One by one, they charged once they were able to draw their weapons, only for her to parry and cut through the first while the next was met with a similar fate. However, throughout the fighting, August had noticed the glint of a hand bow pointed towards Ophelia. Raising a hand to try and deflect it, a dagger had stabbed right into her spell book, causing her to become distracted enough to be unable to cast her spell in time. Shlick. As quick as she saw it, the arrow had embedded itself in her princess' arm where her armor was weakest, draining her of stamina through poison. Though, unfortunately for those who believed this was the perfect opportunity to strike, the adrenaline coursing through her body had slowed its effects long enough for Neon and Shiro to turn their attention back to them, reinforcing their split ranks and doing away with the last stubborn reserves of the dining room's defenses. The only blood that deserved to be spilled today was their enemies', not their own. "Ophelia! Are you okay?!" August ran to her side first, examining her wounds. Surprisingly, they healed much quicker than she expected, not necessitating magic to seal it. Noticing her veins darker than usual, Neon was aware that there was most likely poison at the other end of the shaft, though one look at those dark spots shrinking had brought her mind to question: Just what was she? Her body looked human but was more resilient than any other human she had ever met. It was likely that she was something taking the form of a human, even if she didn't know it herself; But for now, that wasn't the main concern. They had a job to do. "Leave the rest to us, Lia. If you need to take a break to try and recover, we could-" "... Don't lower your guards!" Not even given a moment to rest, the girls were met with living statues that saw them as intruders into their castle; An organic cancer that was meant to be excised. A single round at the statue that mimicked the form of an archer had only chipped at her head, yet she still moved, emotionless. "...Damn." Their foe, while not impenetrable, were immune to the psychic vulnerability of pain and stamina. They moved on magic, marching in rock as they did in life. "They are... heroes of this kingdom. Each king and queen chose one hero to immortalize. The strongest of their tenure, forever etched into their peak as warriors. It involved a ritual that took a piece of their soul and put it into a statue made in their image..." "So this was how your heroes were awarded? A life forever encased in stone?" Neon deflected the first strikes that came her way, feeling her hands vibrate upon collision with their weapons. Her sword was meant to cut through flesh and bone, it wasn't the best when it came to dealing with hard material specifically, especially with a quarter of its battery meant to fuel its jets spent on their previous skirmishes against the rebels. "That sounds terrible." "... They were denied the peace of death. All this time, a piece of them has been trapped within these statues, unable to move on. The only way for them to move on would be to..." Watching Lia engage in combat, August lightened her steps with a haste spell, further enhancing her physical ability to resist any debilitations dealt to her as a result of the poison that infiltrated her body. With a single smash of her blade's infused spell shattering the air around her opponent's head, the hero's body was left headless as it splintered into many pieces, yet still, it proceeded onward. "... The royal crown. It must still be here. The rebels must've found it. Only by using its power could these statues be brought to life." They were outnumbered and with every passing second, that number differential grew. If these durable defenders were going to get in their way, it would be only a matter of time before all her new friends "... The throne room. The ritual to activate the statues can only be done through there. There's still time... they must not have completed it yet. We must go!" A wave of her hand followed by a muttering had done away with many of them, only for others to arrive in a matter of seconds. The castle was full of heroes collected over generations, many coming well after she was imprisoned in the first place. "They'll suffer for making a mockery of my people..." Desperation was made present in her voice as the other girls had begun to follow her from behind, sprinting through living walls of material shaped in the bodies of former heroes. "These things are catching up, Lia." Neon found them fast, giving no more than a few moments to run past them as they freed themselves from their pedestal resting places. "Shit! They're really not going to let us go, huh?" Stopping her feet, she turned around to face her princess' former allies. If she were to be her knight, she shouldn't run away from the enemies that sought to do her harm. "You three go without me! Let me handle them! Just make sure you hurry!" Drawing her blade with one hand and uncorking a potion in another, she drank a drug that was meant to be used in an emergency. "Come on now. Show me the might of the Lamprosian heroes. I want to test your strength for myself and prove myself the best knight her bloodline ever had! Let me be the one to lay you to rest for a final time!" Concerned over the vampire's wellbeing, as a marble arrow flew through the air to catch Ophelia's back while her attention was focused ahead, a magic wall had denied it access to her body. Nothing would touch her family while she was prepared to fight. "I'm not gonna leave you alone, Neon." Raising her hand, she reinforced the wall that separated the statues from their friends. "Leave them to us. I'll make sure that Neon can fight at her best while keeping the rest from chasing you!" Smiling and looking to the other two girls for confidence, she gave a wink. "I trust in you both. Handle the rest for us, okay? We'll see you soon." Nodding her head, before Ophelia had a chance to protest, Shiro took her arm and continued running further into the castle, getting a gist of where to go through the use of her foresight alone. With her choices in direction being reinforced by the princess' footsteps running beside, eventually she came to a stop as they stood in front of a couple massive doors that separated them from the throne room. Many bodies of both rebels and allies alike had littered the floor on the way here, with broken statues acting as evidence of what they faced on the way here. They were beyond the control of both of them, doing away with many unprepared and unknowledgeable of the weapons of the past. "It seems that whatever is leading these things are on the other side of this door." Drawing her weapon close, she set her weapon from single-fire to automatic, replacing the magazine with larger rounds in exchange for smaller calibers in order to maintain volume of fire despite their shrunken numbers. "This was your home once, wasn't it?" While the two had prepared for what was to come ahead, Shiro made her assumption known. It was growing abundantly clear ever since they came that she wasn't herself. She was too familiar with the castle and the pictures that were hanging in her room were evidence enough to the cat girl that this was more than just a mere castle she visited. "... In truth? Whatever is happening on the other side of this door is something that I can't determine even to the best of my abilities." For the first time, Shiro's face showed an air of genuine concern. There was no guarantee this time that they would come out unscathed. "I advise us to be careful, even more than usual. There's only so much that I could do from here... And I'll need your help, Ophelia." Upon touching the door, dark lightning had shot from the doorknob, conjuring dark runes over the angel cat markswoman's flesh. It was cursed. "AH!" She gritted her teeth tightly, dropping her weapon and falling to the ground to wince. Whatever dark magic was protecting the door seemed to be especially effective against her kind, leaving her vulnerable as she winced through the pain. "Tch... Did they expect us? Or... Is this magic so dark that not even I could touch it?" Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand on her chest to try to catch her breath, only to rise and feel the dark static take her attention. The curse she was afflicted with by surprise would not let her go without them defeating the one who had cast it in the first place. Everyone else was relying on Ophelia to survive. "This... This is nothing. Let's handle this enemy together." Reaching into her bag for some sort of explosive to break down the door, if Ophelia didn't act now, it was likely that the cat woman would instead blow a hole in the wall beside it rather than deal with trying to enter through the same way again. "And I don't think there's any better way of attacking them than through a surprise."

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞​ "You three go without me! Let me handle them! Just make sure you hurry!" "What?! No, you idiot, you can't do it alone! Even if you're strong, to take on this many by yourself is...!" Nothing short of suicidal. Ophelia had no doubt in her mind that Neon could beat any one of them one-on-one, even several at once, but the thousands of years of their traditions had created the perfect army; a platoon of unfeeling soldiers who did not fear. After all, they were driven only by their sense of duty to serve the crown, leaving everything else to go on in the afterlife. Some of her people believed in rebirth, the great cycle of life where once one died, they would be cleansed of their karma and put into a new vessel. Their warriors, however, were denied that same rebirth, as one could not be reborn unless their soul was complete, and because of the ritual, they would be left without a piece of themselves and thus denied The Great Cycle. This was something they all knew when taking on the mantle as a monarch's knight, and they accepted that they would not be allowed peace even after death. They were as resolute as Neon. "Leave them to us. I'll make sure that Neon can fight at her best while keeping the rest from chasing you!" "No...! Why are you both so eager to die?! We should...!" In truth, Ophelia didn't know what they should do. While she could undoubtedly destroy all of the statues with her own power, she was not too eager to do it. Not when they could be caught in the crossfire, and not so soon after what happened during the tournament. The concept of dying had long been something that she'd lost the fear to, suffering the pain of death day after day, minute after minute, sometimes slow and other times instantaneous. But she feared forgetting any more precious memories. She didn't know how much she'd have to sacrifice next time, nor what she was willing to lose. She was frozen over with fear at the thought of dying again, because she didn't know what her patron would ask for next. It was that same fear that made it possible for Shiro to pull her away in the chaos of it all, her legs moving before her brain had a moment to process what was happening. If she had the mind to do it in that moment, she would've cursed the angel out for forcing her away from her comrades. Instead, she simply ran, ran until they eventually came to a stop. "It seems that whatever is leading these things are on the other side of this door." "... Yes." After catching her breath, lungs burning with overexertion, Ophelia took a moment to compose herself, looking behind her as if she would find Neon and August hot on their tail. Part of her expected the hot-headed vampire to be right behind her, maybe screaming something about how it was her duty and privilege to be the vanguard. Instead, there was nothing but bodies and broken stone in their wake, paving their path. "This was your home once, wasn't it?" "..." Shiro's question was met with icy silence, the princess' hand reaching for her own chest as she felt a lump in her throat. "... It was my prison." She uttered in correction. To call this palace her home would be wrong. While she may have lived a lavish life, it was only in the same way that a person would feed their favorite pet parrot the most delicious and fresh fruits they could have. She was beautiful and dignified, just as her father wanted her to be. He hadn't always been that way, but after her mother's death, he had changed for the worse. Their kingdom was one mired with death and blood, choosing the sword over diplomacy when it came to expanding. Many a kingdom fell to make their empire stronger and bigger, until it spanned throughout the planet. It was just as her father had finished the last of their conquests that they came. The first messenger from the stars had demanded their subservience, and the Lamprosians answered by sending back the diplomats bloody head in a potato sack. "I advise us to be careful, even more than usual. There's only so much that I could do from here... And I'll need your help, Ophelia." "That's why I came, Shiro. I'll shed as much blood as I must, if it means that you'll return home in one piece." Every moment that they stood around, however, that guarantee was becoming slimmer, if it hadn't already been lost. If they had all stayed behind to fight together, then maybe they could've made their way here slowly. But then again, maybe they would've been swarmed before they could do anything. "Shiro!" Her thoughts were interrupted by the angel's scream of pain, being the first time she'd heard the woman raise her voice. She ran over to check her out of concern, her hand sizzling with the aftershocks of dark magic. It reminded her of own power, but different. Corrupted, perhaps. But the magic in the air... "A sorcerer. Just like me. Their talent with magic must be innate..." She could tell from the feeling in the air around her. It was familiar in a way that perturbed her. The Lamprosian royals were the only people capable of using magic in the entire planet. It was the reason why they could conquer the other kingdoms under a fist of iron. And with each generation, their connection to the divine conduit that gave them their power only became stronger. It fluctuated, of course, from generation to generation. Some had a better connection to it, some were simply deaf to it. Others, like Ophelia, saw the magic as music, each spell a note, in the same way a virtuoso could replay a song after hearing it once. Hers was a talent among talents, something not seen for thousands of years. Only the first king had been so attuned to it like she was, leading many to believe she was his reincarnation. That the king had taken so long to be reborn because his karma was simply that great that it took eons to cleanse completely. "... Wait. It might be best to save that for our exit. I doubt the remnants will let us leave so easily." She put a hand on Shiro's wrist, keeping her from setting the charge up when an idea came to her. It was a long shot, and if it worked, then her worst fears would be made manifest, but... "Just be ready..." She walked over to the door, feeling the overwhelming darkness pull at her. Call to her. She brought her hand up, channeling the magic on it. While it could not be dispelled so easily, there was a loop around it. It wouldn't save Shiro from her discomfort until the caster either dispelled it or died, but Lamprosian magic had a little known secret. Because it all came from the same source, and its power was only affected by the user's ability to draw it out, there was something of a feedback loop that happened when one royal channeled their power over another's spell. It was possible to overload it, and that was exactly what Ophelia did as she brought her hand to the door, feeling the curse on it latch onto her. And then she pushed it back onto the door by channeling it back. It grew stronger, as if to overtake her. And she kept pushing back, the strain of it causing her to sweat and grow pale for a moment before the spell simply could not hold and unraveled in an explosive manner. Wood splinters and dust exploded outwards, a large cloud of smoke rising as the abundance of magic found no outlet except for a firey explosion. Ophelia's arm burned, scorched to such a degree that even her fast regeneration could not keep up. "I told you they would find a way to get past it." A single, nonchalant voice rose from the smoke. Before Ophelia had a chance to process it, she felt it coming straight for Shiro. A flash of blood red went for her, Ophelia's body moving before she could think twice about it. It didn't register that the angel might have the foresight to get out of the way, if it was even possible for her given the man's speed, but Ophelia had sharpened her own reflexes to the point that she could parry without even thinking about it. And even she could only jump in front of the man, letting his blade since into her shoulder as she used the side of her rapier to stop the full swing. "Oh? So you imperial scum do have capable people after all~" His voice betrayed surprise, but it was overpowered by something close to... amusement. This was the kind of man that Ophelia had cautioned August against becoming; a man that fought for the thrill of battle, and the challenge of killing someone comparable to his own strength. Ophelia didn't know the politics of why they were fighting, but this man didn't either. He just needed an excuse to swing his blade. "Shiro...!" In this moment, it didn't matter. The princess pushed back, the clang of metal against metal resounding against the pillars all around the room and bouncing against the walls. The man stumbled back, giving Shiro a clear shot of him. Surprise flashed in his features for a moment before he smirked straight at the angel and brought a second blade out, parrying the shots that the angel got in before he put some distance between them, his surprise attack thwarted. "Oho! To trust someone to not shoot you in the back from this close up. How long have you been together for you to build such rapport? Ya two girlfriends? That's kinda hot." He smirked in an irritating manner, two katanas in both hands. "We've known each other for less than a week." "Damn." As the smoke settled, they would see the room filled not with rebel soldiers, as those had been apparently sent out to push back against the attack from the other fronts, but around two dozen statues. These ones thrummed with even more power than the ones they had met in the halls. Not only were they the strongest heroes that had ever graced their kingdom's history, but there were even... monarchs among them. Ophelia saw them. The static returned, worse than before, as she was met with the visage of the woman from the painting, her harsh expression having been set in stone, quite literally, by the sculptors that had forever memorialized her. Beside her, there was the man from the same painting. He looked older, gruffer, his eyes filled with bitterness that she had grown to know. "... King Aurelius. 32nd King of the Lamprosian Kingdom." She acknowledged him, her eyes softening as she recognized that his eyes were not only more bitter, but also much more tired. "... My father. Beware of that one, Shiro. He may be able to use magic. If he's anything like he was back when I was younger..." "His magic is second only to mine." ​ "Arashi, I thought I told you to let the statues do the work. We need some of them alive, and you're too eager to cut them all up. Hm..." Another voice called out, this time from the far end of the room, sitting over the throne. It was almost a mirror to Ophelia, except younger and with hazel eyes uncorrupted by the eldritch influences in the princess' body. Her eyes coldly regarded them both, first Shiro and then, with a longer, more inquisitive gaze, Ophelia. "... It's you. The Princess of Ruin. No wonder. Only someone as wretched as you would be able to undo the magic on the door." Her cold expression slowly contorted with both horror and rage, her voice coming through gritted teeth as she instead turned toward Shiro. "... You took her from that accursed tower, didn't you? Do you realize what you've done? What you've freed upon this universe?" The woman shook her head, settling back on the throne as she took in a deep, steadying breath. "No, of course you don't. You were the ones who took my family. What care do you have for the consequences as long as you gain power? No matter. I shall bury you, as was our ancestor's wish. I'll be the one to finally cleanse the world of your filth!" The crown atop her head, gilded and protected by magic, glowed with power as she swung her arm. The statues stirred from their place on their pedestals, brandishing their weapons. Whatever the woman had meant, it was clear there was no place for conversation here. The red-haired man jumped back, taking his place next to the throne begrudgingly, but refused to sheathe his weapons. "... We can talk about this later." Ophelia didn't meet Shiro's gaze, holding her bloody shoulder as the wound slowly closed up in time for the first of the onslaught of magic-wielding statues came for them. "Just stay alive for now...!"

 

[Tenzai]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ ᴍᴏᴅᴇ | ɪɴᴠᴇʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴠᴀʀɪᴀʙʟᴇ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​

"... Wait. It might be best to save that for our exit. I doubt the remnants will let us leave so easily. Just be ready..." An enemy sorcerer. If the two were bound to encounter a foe like August or Ophelia, the divine markswoman understood that there would be risk and that it would be a pain in the ass given their ability to shift reality. Slowly pulling off the explosive off the door once she felt her companion's hand on her own, she returned it to her bag. Most likely, Ophelia had a way of getting through the magically reinforced barrier herself. "I will. I have to be. As for the door, what do you have in mind?" Finding her other hand reaching towards the curse, instead of being met with the same fate as the angel, Ophelia had a way to resist it, if not repel it. The dark energy from the previous caster had struggled to overpower the dark princess, though while it was strong, it was far from enough to impose on her will. With a sudden surge of her own magic, the force of the curse was redirected inversely, being used instead as a potent battering ram. Pushing with her own hands, as soon as the door was reduced to splinters, shattering and sending the debris inwards, Shiro readied her rifle, pointing it into the room immediately. The smoke had denied her vision, but it didn't prevent her ears from picking up the sound of footsteps and voices within the room. "I told you they would find a way to get past it." Without giving them the opportunity to strike, their crimson haired enemy split the smoke nearby the entrance in two, charging the angel with sword in hand. As soon as he appeared through the smoke, a couple shots aimed towards his head were fired, only for each to end up being deflected as he halved the distance in between them within the blink of an eye. However, instead of slashing his sword through her flesh, his steel met Ophelia's rapier instead, shifting the weight of the attack to her body. "Oh? So you imperial scum do have capable people after all~" "Shiro...!" While his blade was engaged and intertwined with Ophelia's shoulder, Shiro made good on the opportunity her rapier wielding companion afforded her. Drawing her pistol quickly towards a section of his body unprotected from his blade, she fired another couple rounds. However, as if expecting it this time, a second katana drawn swiftly had shifted her round's trajectories to the side, bouncing against his enchanted material for them to finally embed themselves within the floor and ceiling of the room. "Tsk. How stubborn." She clicked her tongue. Her enemy was resilient. The fact that he was giving an amused smirk through it all had reflected his emotions: They were capable and entertaining, a half-decent respite from the boredom that came with dealing with warriors lesser than them. "Oho! To trust someone to not shoot you in the back from this close up. How long have you been together for you to build such rapport? Ya two girlfriends? That's kinda hot." Even if his words were enough to induce a response in August or Neon should they have encountered him instead, to the angel, it was well within his character to be expected. "We've known each other for less than a week." The look of surprise on her enemy's face had made Shiro raise an eyebrow. "Damn." Unfortunately for the two women, once the smoke had settled from within the room, instead of spotting a simple throne room with some sort of sorcerer inside, they were met with the view of a dozen statues, each of them befitting a different hero of her kingdom. One of them, someone she recalled from the painting hung in her room, was the man she called father. He was a capable spellcaster similar to herself; Another threat that needed to be dealt with. "Arashi, I thought I told you to let the statues do the work. We need some of them alive, and you're too eager to cut them all up. Hm..." The new voice had summoned the angel's attention for a brief moment. A woman sat on the throne, donning a crown similar to the one her father wore in the painting. "... It's you. The Princess of Ruin. No wonder. Only someone as wretched as you would be able to undo the magic on the door." "...You took her from that accursed tower, didn't you? Do you realize what you've done? What you've freed upon this universe?" Shiro sighed, upon being made the target of this noble's questions. August and Medina were much better at the art of words than she was. Unlike most of the angels that made up Heaven, she was someone who instead spent her time refining her talent with her weapon. "No, of course you don't. You were the ones who took my family. What care do you have for the consequences as long as you gain power? No matter. I shall bury you, as was our ancestor's wish. I'll be the one to finally cleanse the world of your filth!" "I've only done my mission. What becomes of it is the responsibility of those that lead me." Unloading her magazine that held her standard ammunition, she replaced it with something much shorter yet much heavier. 'If these enemies would be able to deflect smaller calibers, what are the odds they could do the same anti-vehicle rounds?' She thought to herself. "But I don't regret it. Ophelia has been good to me and my family. She's far from deserving of that title anymore." "... We can talk about this later. Just stay alive for now...!" With Ophelia wounded, the angel used her free hand to press an emergency button on her armor calling for reinforcements. However, with the call for reinforcements came the necessity of time. Drop pods and local units needed time to arrive to their position, and as such, Shiro needed to rely on Ophelia despite her injuries. "Got it. Handle whoever gets close. I'll deal with the statues." Moving quickly to reach for her bag, grabbed a pill bottle and popped the top off. Side effects be damned, whatever edge they could use in the moment, she was willing to take advantage of. "Forgive me, Medina. Forgive me for the work I'm going to give you." Dry swallowing a double overdose of performance enhancing drugs made by faerie scientists, the world around her began to slow as her mind pushed itself to respond in half the time. With future sight guiding her eyes and steps, she was granted the opportunity to react to the attacks of statues before they knew it, figuring out the consequences of each action several steps ahead like the world around her was a living chessboard. With her rifle lifted, she fired the trigger, blasting a statue into pieces before moving onto the next. She didn't have many anti-vehicle rounds, so with whatever she had, she needed to make the most of it. Prioritizing the statues by their order of action, she targeted those that sought to prioritize Ophelia first, shattering any that had chosen to get close while Ophelia focused on maintaining their defense. In the midst of their fight, to preserve her heavy ammo, she withdrew her pistol to fire at the enchanted weapons of charging statues to prevent them from landing any finishing blows, forcing them to miss their mark whenever they had the opportunity to take advantage of her wounds. "Two minutes." She yelled through the gunfire, seeing the light of falling stars irradiating from the tall, stained windows around them. Given how important this mission was, she was well aware that Sen wouldn't be against the deployment of mecha knights to their location should the need arise. Though, with every round she fired was one less resource she could use to keep Ophelia safe. With over a dozen statues left and four of her ten heavy ballistic rounds consumed, she was aware of their limits. They were growing more and more exhausted as well, already forced to sprint through the castle after fighting through multiple waves of artificial defenders just to get here. Believing themselves at a disadvantage, as another door opened into the throne room nearby unveiling another dozen, she gritted her teeth, finding the tide of battle shift evermore out of their favor. Without help, they would be doomed before reinforcements could arrive. However, as if the call for reinforcements had summoned someone immediately upon intercepting it, a bright spotlight shone through the windows of the throne room. Multiple boxes appeared over the statues from the other side of a monitor. [Miss me? I heard your call for help!] With two hands on joysticks, Medina smirked as her cannons began to rotate, warming up to fire at her wide selection of targets. [I recommend you pull Ophelia away from the windows. Preferably keep your heads down too!] As soon as she was given word, Shiro grabbed Ophelia, bringing them both to the floor. [This is what you get for hurting my friends!] Finally pressing the two red buttons at the top of her joysticks, both cannons reduced the brick wall that separated the throne room from the outside into pieces. Those statues who knew little of how much the galaxy changed were subjected to a hailstorm of superheated lead, reducing many, but not all, to powder. Those unfortunate enough to have been caught within the fire were not only broken, but were pounded and battered even after turning to rubble and dust. [CAUTION. SPELL INCOMING. CAUTION. SPELL INCOMING.]​ Red lights began to flash from within her ship, signaling the risk posed by staying there for any longer without taking evasive maneuvers. Standing in the midst of broken statues stood Ophelia's sculpted father and his closest heroic companions in the center of a bubble that protected themselves and the throne. In his hands was a spell he had taught her once upon a time, something rumored to have brought down dragons in ages past. [Shit.] As she pulled away, a sudden blast had rocked her ship, sending it smoking and spiraling as it lost control for a moment before emergency thrusters were engaged. Should those fall too, she wouldn't be able to pick them up. [Sorry, Shiro. This is the most help I could offer you. Good luck.] "One minute." Keeping track of the timer in her head, after the sudden intrusion of their unwelcome guest, Arashi was made aware of what the catgirl was doing. With the last of her rounds being fired at the bubble, all it managed to do was crack the shield, eventually requiring her final round to shatter it. [Thank you, Medi. We'll take the rest from here.] "Looks like it'll just be us for now." Getting in the way of Ophelia to give her a moment to recover her breath, Shiro withdrew her knife, ready to engage. Even if outnumbered, she wasn't scared. At least, if she were to fall here, it would be for a purpose. "Stay behind me. Once the opportunity arises, take your father out. Other than that bitch on the throne and her pet bodyguard, he's our biggest issue." She whispered her curses before uttering a quiet prayer to whichever gods or goddesses that could hear her plea. "Heh. Praying already? Is it that bad?" Using her sword as a crutch, Neon walked inside the room, only to be followed by August who appeared disheveled. "The broken floor should keep them back for now but... I don't know how many spells I have left to cast." Turning around to find Ophelia wounded and Shiro forced to draw her knife in melee, she was quick to be made aware of the gravity of their situation. The crown atop the monarch's head was oozing mana like a flood. "The crown! That's what's controlling them!" She yelled. Though as she discovered where the critical point of all their woes existed, Arashi had disappeared from their vision, only to reappear from a flank that none other than Neon was watching. With her blade meeting his, as he unleashed another, she caught it in her robotic hand, bending it as she refused to let go. "Careful, asshole. These blades don't look like they go for cheap. One wrong move and they'll shatter... Just like you."

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞​ While Ophelia wholeheartedly threw herself into battle with the statues, she had been oblivious to Shiro's countdown, and pretty much everything around her. It was all she could do to fight off the waves of enemies that came at them, her fighting style most suited for one-on-one battles rather than multiple enemies at once. She could clear the field of enemies if she only used her magic, but given its explosive nature, she could not guarantee that Shiro wouldn't be caught in the splash zone. Small-scale spells were all she could afford to do, using her uninjured hand to parry and block attack with her rapier while her other channeled her magic, chipping off parts of the statues. It didn't help that they were made out of stone that was known for resisting magic, either. "Wha--!" Of course, that was interrupted the moment Shiro grabbed her and forcefully pushed her to the ground. She was about to protest when she heard the whirling of something from outside the walls, a familiar silhouette right outside the painted windows overlooking the throne room. The gunfire was deafening, her hands immediately going to her ears to protect them from the myriad bullets that decimated the room and a good portion of the statues still standing. She instinctively closed her eyes too, the flash of bullets firing even more blinding than the sun itself. She wasn't sure if her ears still worked when she heard a thunderous roar come from within meters of her, a familiar sound that she'd only heard once or twice in her life. It came from exactly where she thought it would come from, her eyes darting up to the figure of the man who had exiled her as a villain to their kingdom, and her own father, standing regally as he shot the blast of pure magic energy at the ship. "MEDINA...!" She screeched in horror, standing up in half a second as the ship wobbled. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest for an instant as she wasn't sure whether or not the ship would crash, only to breathe a sigh of relief when the pilot made the strategic decision to retreat, a soft muttering of gratitude escaping from between her lips when she did. If she'd been hot-headed like Neon, she feared she'd be stubborn enough to try and destroy the barrier her father's statue had erected to protect them from the bullet hell. "Looks like it'll just be us for now." Ophelia looked back to Shiro, Medina's support fire giving them a moment's breather to catch up and fill their lungs with oxygen. The enemy was wary to proceed for at least a few moments, unsure if another ship would come to replace the one that had just wreaked havoc upon them. "Yeah... it's fine. We can do this." She muttered, gripping her rapier tightly. She had to believe they would get through this. That she could keep Shiro safe, at least. That she wouldn't fuck this up, at the very least. "Stay behind me. Once the opportunity arises, take your father out. Other than that bitch on the throne and her pet bodyguard, he's our biggest issue." "Shiro, please don't be reckless. It's fine, I'll..." "Heh. Praying already? Is it that bad?" As if sensing the peril they were in, Neon's voice cut through the air like a blade. Ophelia's eyes went wide, immediately whipping around to see her with her own two eyes. Beside her was the witch she'd become so fond of as well. "The broken floor should keep them back for now but... I don't know how many spells I have left to cast." "Neon! Gust! Oh heavens above, I'm so glad you two are safe...!" Or rather, alive. Safety was not exactly how she would describe their current situation. Still, she could not help the smile on her lips as she ran for them, only to sense a growing surge of magic that she'd almost completely forgotten. "The crown! That's what's controlling them!" "How very perceptive of you. Too bad it's going to be your last realization!" A powerful sonic blast hit the floor between Ophelia and the others, sending the princess in the opposite direction and effectively separating the squad from her. Ophelia's body flew several meters before crashing against a pillar, the force of the impact sending the already crumbling marble crashing down onto the floor. She got up, coughing up dust and blood, just in time to see yet another barrier rising from the ground. Except this time, it was rising around her. Her eyes landed on a pair of statues. One of them was his father, and the other was... "... Ughhhh..." ... her mother. They alone had survived the hellfire that Medina had put on them, before even more statues came crashing through the door. It seemed that their showdown was fated after all. Pushing back against the discomfort in the back of her mind, Ophelia straightened up and raised her rapier, her eyes resolute. "... So in the end, you would put me in the grave again, father? King Aurelius, of the Lamprosian Kingdom. And... Lucina Lampros, heroine of the Battle of Ulz." She smiled bitterly, barely parrying the female statue's jab as she moved with comparable speed as her own. No, even as a statue, Ophelia's mother was still faster than her. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ​ "Careful, asshole. These blades don't look like they go for cheap. One wrong move and they'll shatter... Just like you." "Heh, I wouldn't know." Arashi nonchalantly let go of the blade she bent, paying her back for destroying it with a boot to her gut in order to put some distance between them and reassess his approach. Three-on-one was hardly fair, after all. "I take my blades from my fallen foes. Spoils go to the victor, after all. Besides, if they were so precious, they wouldn't have lost to me, huh? I'll just take yours as payback for that one. I'll take pleasure prying it from cold, dead hands!" The hilt of his main blade opened up, revealing five chambers within it. The swordsman stuck his hand into his pocket, pulling out five shotgun shells and swiftly filling the empty chambers with one each. He pulled the trigger on his katana, letting an explosion from the bottom of the hilt propel him forward with speed beyond the sound barrier, his blade clashing against Neon's and pushing them both back. "Hey, tell me...!" With a laugh, the swordsman pulled the trigger again, this time staying on his feet as he instead allowed the explosive speed to propel his blade alone. "Do you trust each other with your lives? Cuz' I can't get enough of the faces people make when they lose their loved ones! It's the whole reason I do this kind of shit! I can't wait to see what kind of face your friends will make when I take your head...!" "Haa... this is the kind of help I get." While Arashi focused on his fellow warrior, the crowned woman finally got up from the throne. But just as her feet touched the floor, she was gone, only a shadow left behind. The next instant, she was in front of Shiro, brandishing her own knife to clash with the angel's. "By the way, I resent being called a bitch. You better take that back, or I'll take my time cutting off your fingers one by one." With her other hand, she released another sonic boom to push the gunslinger away. "My name is Serena Lampros, 354th Princess of the fallen Kingdom of Lampros. The kingdom your friend destroyed." She stood up straight, her form dignified despite the title holding no prestige. "... Or did she not tell you, of the thousands of lives she took? Of how she decimated our planet out of some petty revenge being exiled? After she was the one to consort with a being beyond comprehension? Or maybe she did, and you just didn't care. It would make sense for the ones that took my family from me." Serena scoffed, channeling a spell with the power that her crown granted her. The rubble that had gathered around them rose from the ground, merging together into stone drills, which she sent flying at Shiro and August with the flick of her wrist. "... No matter. I shall be the one to kill you all. Even if the Lamprosian Kingdom is no more, this is my providence! I will not let this castle fall to you outsiders!" ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Skin-Deep Comedy | (Mili) ver. eili ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​ "Would you accept me if I asked for forgiveness?" Pushing back her mother, Ophelia pulled out her gun and got off a shot on her father as he was channeling a spell, effectively cutting him off. If there was one thing Ophelia had always had over her father, it was the speed with which she could cast spells. "I know you wouldn't. And I'm sure you know... I wouldn't either. Because... I never once regretted taking that deal. I did what I had to." She spoke to an expressionless statue, her smile bitter and wistful as she was besieged by her mother's wordless barrage of jabs. It took all that was herself to parry them and push her back in time to avoid a lightning blast from her father. If it was just one of them, Ophelia could easily overpower them, but together... Together, they had always been unbeatable. At least, that was what the stories always said. Unfortunately, Ophelia had never been able to see them fight together until today. Lucina, the lightning fencer, fast enough to stab her foes a hundred times before King Aurelius was done charging up his spell. King Aurelius had been caught up in an ambush that fateful day. When the fort city of Ulz was besieged by three-thousand soldiers, he had taken the fastest horse to reach his wife, Queen Lucina, who was stationed there. It was supposed to be an easy defense job, so the queen had been left with only a small force of two-hundred soldiers. The battle raged on for seven days and nights, but by the end of it, it was said that the queen alone had slain half the enemy's forces on her own before dying on her feet. In his rage, the king had decimated the city that had been occupied by the remaining soldiers, leaving nothing but a crater in the wake of his grief. "I never was quite the daughter you wished for, was I? I never wanted the crown, after all. Even so, there were only two times I saw you shed tears." Even if they could not answer her, she knew that the part of them that was stuck in the statues could hear her. There was a half-second's hesitation in her father's statue at those words, enough for Ophelia to blast him back with a shot of frigid ice that covered him completely. It gave her enough time to parry her mother, and then follow up with an empowered jab to her shoulder. The stone crackled, but didn't break off. "Once... when Mother was buried. You shed a single tear for her. What more could you offer her, when you were The Invincible King Aurelius? That crown... it was heavier than its own weight, was it not?" Her mother was not so easily shaken, her soul hardened from the moment she was born. Or perhaps, she was resolute to give her own daughter the best fight she could. The lightning jabs only got quicker, leaving Ophelia in the dust as she was left defenseless to allow some of them through, puncturing through her armor and bleeding through various holes. The pain only steadied her, however, and she returned with power what she could not compare in speed. All it took was one powerful stab to break off her shoulder, her arm falling to the ground and shattering. "... And the second, when you pushed me down that chasm. I still remember tears that were not my own touching my skin. To this da, I still dream of falling endlessly. The dreadful pain of hitting the floor. But... I don't blame you for any of it." The ice that encased her father crackled as he forced himself to move, channeling magic to heat himself up. But it was too late. As Lucina crouched down to grab her rapier from the ground with her remaining arm, she looked up to find herself staring down the barrel of Ophelia's gun. It happened in an instant; a powerful blast of black lightning completely enveloped the fierce warrior's body, and when the darkness dissipated, she was gone. Though the statues could not speak, Ophelia swore she could hear a guttural scream of anguish, following by a giant ball of fire headed her way. The princess followed with her own, the ensuing explosion causing the barrier to shatter and an aftershock to shake the throne room. "... After all, we both did what we had to do. I only regret that we were fated to oppose one another. Rest now, Father." And when the smoke cleared, she stood still, while King Aurelius' statue laid shattered on the floor. A lump caught on her throat as she bit back a sob and the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes. There was no time for grief. In the time that it had taken her to defeat both of her parents, it seemed things had started to look dire on the other side of the barrier. Serena had been throwing spell after spell with the power of the royal crown, giving no quarter to the already exhausted party. It was a miracle they were still alive at this point. Meanwhile, Neon and Arashi seemed to be evenly matched. And while the constant stream of statues had slowed due to Serena focusing her magic on fighting, there were still at least a dozen more statues to take care of. Ophelia hadn't run out of steam just yet, though. She pointed her gun at her fellow princess and shot a beam of fire in her direction, throwing her off as she was getting ready to cast a powerful spell, apparently fed up with Shiro and August's persistence. "You..." Clearly not expecting their fight to be interrupted so soon, Serena stared at the rubble Ophelia had left behind. In her eyes, she had just callously destroyed the remnants of her own family. "... you truly do not care about your own blood, do you? Family holds no meaning to you." "I've... found a new family. But that doesn't mean I intend to disregard the past. Lay down the crown, Serena. We don't have to kill each other." She reached out her arm, stepping forward to offer it to Serena in a peace offering. "NO!" Instead, she was answered with a fire blast that sent her barreling through the rubble, her body flying and crashing limply against the floor that cracked under the force of her landing. "You don't GET to ask for peace after what you did! When my family had to leave this planet and drift through space for thousands of years! After we were enslaved, and broke free! It was YOU who caused it all! And after finally becoming free... my family was taken from me! You don't know any of my pain!" The crown responded to her emotions, blasting off rays of fire and lightning in every direction. She turned to the others, pointing her finger at them. "NONE of you do! You don't understand a fraction of what I've lost! You don't know how I, how MY people toiled away, all for freedom from people like you! People who would take my loved ones away from me!" "But I'll make you suffer all the same!"​

​

 

[Tenzai]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴡɪɴᴅᴡᴀʀᴅ | ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ ᴛᴏᴋᴇɴ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ I've got eyelids heavy enough to break diamonds You pray for sound and I pray for silence Damn right faithless, I can't deny You'll find me with half a mind to get violent Oh, it isn't over 'til I say it's over And oh, my little angel sitting on my shoulder So give me the edge of a blade and a time and a place And I'll leave them cold and pushing up boulders​ "How very perceptive of you. Too bad it's going to be your last realization!" A sudden blast of a powerful spell had split the team apart. With the magical wards August had placed on her outfit, she was the only one save for Neon who was able to sustain the force while the others were sent flying towards the walls and pillars. "Ophelia!" Her words were not reaching her friend, still disoriented from the explosion. With Shiro recovering and Neon dealing with Arashi himself, she was forced to act in defense of her family. Regardless of how traumatic combat could be, they needed her. Channeling her magic, she began to upcast her spells to the highest level she could, unafraid of the consequences that would inevitably come with doing so. If her friends were to die, what would be the point in holding back? "You're gonna pay for that!" Instead of responding with a massive elemental flurry that would rattle the entire castle itself, a runic circle had surrounded the other girls, filling them with renewed vigor, enhanced strength, and courage. August cast heroic intervention, a divine spell capable of buffing allies with the same ferocity that the heroes would often fight with when accomplishing feats across the galaxy. As a statue attempted to surprise the witch from the side by swinging its blade into her flank, the witch's reactions were made quick, affording her the chance to respond with a swing of a fist of her own, shattering the statue's head and sending it to the floor. Given the potency of her spell, she was aware of her strength, but likewise, she was aware of its limits. They had a certain amount of time where they could fight at their best before the spell would exact its toll on her body. Realizing just what August had cast, Neon crumpled the sword that Arashi had left behind, only to feel herself being sent to the floor with a mighty kick. "Heh, I wouldn't know." Even with the buff, it didn't stop the pain from his attacks from hurting, sending her reeling as he reloaded his blade to take advantage of her opening. "I take my blades from my fallen foes. Spoils go to the victor, after all. Besides, if they were so precious, they wouldn't have lost to me, huh? I'll just take yours as payback for that one. I'll take pleasure prying it from cold, dead hands!" "Hey, tell me...!" Once he dashed faster than sound however, Neon got up quickly to meet his steel, rising to the occasion due to the added buff enhancing her speed. Her life would not be taken away so easily. "Do you trust each other with your lives? Cuz' I can't get enough of the faces people make when they lose their loved ones! It's the whole reason I do this kind of shit! I can't wait to see what kind of face your friends will make when I take your head...!" "Is that your way of flirting with me, you smug fuck?" The vampire taunted, quite excited now that her blood was running hot. Unlike the opponents she fought before serving as a perfect warmup, this one was worthy of taking pride in defeating. He was someone that fought her like an equal, not as a mutt. "Of course, I do. These people are mine. Their lives are mine to protect. So fuck off and die already!" Throwing his weapon back, she kicked towards his block, creating some distance in between the two before withdrawing her pistol to fire several shots at the swordsman. Dumping its battery into her enemy, while he deflected, she aimed her blade towards his neck, wielding the jet on its hilt to deny him a chance to breathe. "I can't wait to do the galaxy a favor and shut you up. You're almost as bad as your little prideful bitch of a princess, dog." While their blades were clutched in melee, stuck against each other's, Neon noticed her sister in battle drawing her weapon towards him. With swift footwork, she adjusted their bodies for her to get an open shot, just for her round to graze her enemy's cheek right before drawing her knife to parry the incoming blow. The windows of opportunity were small and rare. These enemies were capable, straying from the ranks of most rebels they had faced so far. "By the way, I resent being called a bitch. You better take that back, or I'll take my time cutting off your fingers one by one." The catgirl refused. "Make me." The sudden blast at point blank had spilled all the oxygen she once had in her body, flinging her to the ground. If not for the fact that she had been buffed beforehand, Shiro was sure that she would've ended up another casualty, similar to their leader before. "My name is Serena Lampros, 354th Princess of the fallen Kingdom of Lampros. The kingdom your friend destroyed." Holding her bruised stomach as she got up again, the angel squinted at Serena's accusation. "... Or did she not tell you, of the thousands of lives she took? Of how she decimated our planet out of some petty revenge being exiled? After she was the one to consort with a being beyond comprehension? Or maybe she did, and you just didn't care. It would make sense for the ones that took my family from me." "... It takes more than one life to bring a kingdom worth its weight down, let alone a planet." The angel stood resilient in her faith, uncaring of the past drama or history her family may have had. All that mattered to her now was the future and the people they would become. "How about you blame yourself for some of its ruination. Its only right as a ruler of a broken kingdom to claim responsibility." Speaking both as a noble and as someone who had seen the rise and fall of other empires before, the eternal being wasn't afraid of sharing what she thought given her experience over her long lifetime. "... No matter. I shall be the one to kill you all. Even if the Lamprosian Kingdom is no more, this is my providence! I will not let this castle fall to you outsiders!" "Shiro! Get behind my shield!" Rushing to her side once she found the drills being prepared as ammo to be embedded in her friend, she cast a barrier that took the brunt of the attack. However, with the statues joining in the barrage, there was only so much she could do after casting a spell that strong. With enough pressure, it shattered, sending her and Shiro flying back, leaving the two on their final legs. Trembling, they persisted. Their friends were still in the thick of the action, still alive and fighting for their right to survive. Upon hearing the sounds of pods breaking through the castle roof nearby, they knew that they would be saved, as long as the survived long enough for reinforcements to arrive. They just needed time. Though before anyone else could respond to what was to happen, a mighty quake had shook the castle to its foundations. A massive fireball was thrown within the throne room, only to have met its match from their princess companion, dispersing smoke after the sound of a shot that put an end to her mother. With the smoke slowly dispersing and the eyes of the two duelists glancing over in the midst of their strikes in between, her friends were met with the sight of the sad victor that came after the end of it all: Of the magician that was forced to kill her parents last semblance of existence. Another shot rang through the room, this time, towards Serena herself, preventing her from finishing off Ophelia's comrades. "You... you truly do not care about your own blood, do you? Family holds no meaning to you." They needed her just like she needed them. "I've... found a new family. But that doesn't mean I intend to disregard the past. Lay down the crown, Serena. We don't have to kill each other." And they weren't given a moment to doubt. As Ophelia offered an olive branch to the current reigning princess of her dynasty, the sudden harshness in her response caused the other girls in the room to keep up their guard. She was just like the other princess they unfortunately had attracted the ire of for so long, though instead of changing when she had the chance, this one was too deep in her own legacy to see her opportunity to live a good life fade. She was going to die over her ego. "NONE of you do! You don't understand a fraction of what I've lost! You don't know how I, how MY people toiled away, all for freedom from people like you! People who would take my loved ones away from me!" "But I'll make you suffer all the same!" Am I walking with gods or merely stumbling forth? Until there's fire at the gates, until I fall to the floor You know I live by the feather and die by the sword And I will sunder the earth, only to burn the rewards Even in this garden of gardens, I am the god of the gaps I am the demon of Sodom, I am the blood of an angel The fate of the fallen, nobody knows where I came from Even I have forgotten​ While she gave her emotional spiel, the witch took this opportunity to save her wounded angel and pulled her out of the room to cast her healing magic, watching what had happened from the doorway. Despite what they could say about her and what she did to their family, down to her core, she understood the pain that welled within the princess' heart. "Shiro, stay still. You're not looking too hot, but I think I could save you." The blast to her gut had caused blood to trickle down her lips. Shiro's internal wounds were great, but they weren't fatal. With time, rest, and a bit of magic, she was bound to heal, though it seemed that Serana had yet to let them go. Just by being in eye sight, they were in range of her erratic spells, forced to take cover behind furniture to avoid getting struck by lightning and fire. Neon on the other hand had seen Arashi pull away from the conflict the moment his princess was a danger to him. Using the same opportunity to pull back, as the magic hit the statues that marched nearby, reducing all that existed close to her to dust, she returned back to Ophelia's side, content that her other sisters were hidden in safety from the caster that had nothing left to lose. "Miss me? Don't worry, it'll take more than some handsome asshole with a gun sword to do me in." Sweat dripped from her brow while wounds decorated her exterior. Though thanks to the plasteel mesh she had incorporated inside of her skin, none of the attacks were deep enough to be concerned about. She was physically near-impervious to slash damage, however it wouldn't mean the same should she get hit by lightning again. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. With every footstep came a shaking of the ground. Behind the two girls that hid outside the room, they heard the sound of boots from a mecha knight approaching their position. "You called?" As they turned to the source of the sound, in front of them stood a human donning a suit that made him stand up to ten feet tall. His massive blade in one hand and his heavy caliber gun in the other was a source of relief, especially given all they endured on the way here and doubly so with their desperate fight within the throne room. "I'm grateful I managed to come in time. Don't worry." Heavy footsteps had followed him, of other knights that acted in concert with their leader. "You'll be safe now. Promise." "Treat them well." Waving over their medic to the wounded's side, for the rest of them that were meant to act as a hammer to all that acted as a barrier to peace, he called them to attention. "As for the rest of you, lets show these rebels what our galaxy is capable of. Charge!" Raising his weapon, he commanded a charge against the enemies of the empire, causing a massive rush of machinery to take the throne room by storm. Immediately, a blur of jets and steel had entered the room through walls as well as the door, striking at the statues that remained. These large knights used their momentum to catch magic casters by surprise, swinging at those who got within range of their melee weapons while blasting with enchanted cannons at all else. Their reinforced carapaces adapt to the situation at hand, regardless of element. Similar to the knights of old, these ones were walking tanks. "Speak of the devil. Took you all long enough." Neon stood in between Ophelia and their enemy, acting as a shield. If she broke, she could be repaired with a visit to the engineer. If Ophelia got hit on the other hand, the process to recovery would most likely be a more complicated one. "You're not the only front we've been deployed to, but that doesn't make you any less important." Given the fact that they were deployed here, it meant that most likely, the other teams deployed here were also calling in for reinforcements as well. With their enemy now surrounded and their numbers cut down to few, the knights had turned their attention to the pinnacle of magic in the room: The crown itself. "Surrender the crown and drop your weapons. I promise you will be judged fairly!" The vampire samurai was quick to understand that their words wouldn't dismantle Serena's stubbornness. Instead, it would act like a catalyst for something more audacious and potentially calamitic. Noticing the sudden rise in power in the room, the knights had reinforced their shields, digging their heels into the ground to prevent themselves from being knocked back. Neon on the other hand had taken Ophelia and shielded her with her body. Casting whatever reserves of energy she had left to protect the two, she encased themselves in an energy bubble, strengthened to the best of her abilities. "Hey, Lia." With arms wrapped around her princess, the knight whispered through the ensuing chaos that would befall her. Choosing to protect her instead of keeping herself safe, she had faith that the princess would carry the others through the rest of combat in her place. "Make sure to win for me. Okay?" With a smile befitting that of a warrior that risked death, Serena's attack had irradiated through the room, causing a bright light to overtake all who could see, summoning a force of wind that broke apart the very throne Serena once sat upon. After a couple minutes of it did it finally come to an end, and only then, did her knight finally fall atop Ophelia's shoulder, succumbing to her wounds. Smoke came out of her back as her body had overheated. The clothes of her back were burned off, revealing a metallic undercoat underneath her flesh that was damaged. Lights flickered for a moment before coming to a stop as her internal components turned off. Though before Serena could attack Ophelia directly, a shield had blocked her next attack. "Save your tears for later. Your companion isn't dead yet." The knight's eyes were similar to Neon's herself. The man she spoke to was an android. "But we need to hurry and get that crown off that mage's head. Don't hold back." Will you halt this eclipse in me? Will you halt this eclipse in me? Will you halt this eclipse in me? Will you halt this eclipse in me? Will you halt this eclipse in me? Will you halt this eclipse in me?​

 

[Carpe Diem]

◤━*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓ ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✧༺♥༻∞━◢ ✬ Ophelia ✬ ❝ You paint a picture in my mind, you wanna leave it all behind In a world that's turning all the time, nothing could stop me longing for your eyes ❞​ "Miss me? Don't worry, it'll take more than some handsome asshole with a gun sword to do me in." "As much as I hate to say it, yeah, I did miss you. I'm going to make you pay dearly for making me worry once this is over. So you have to stay alive until then." Ophelia groaned, so far unharmed by the powerful yet unfocused volley of magic that razed the throne room to rubble and dust. Whether it was preordained, purposeful or simply luck, all the elemental magic bolts that Serena's rampage threw out were simply not hitting her. Maybe the crown recognized her as one of the rightful heirs and, without express intent from its wielder, would not strike her down. After all, the sorcerer princess was doing little more than throw a tantrum at this point. And yet, despite knowing that, Ophelia could not fault her. After all, she had thrown her own tantrums constantly growing up, screaming to the heavens that she did not want to inherit the crown and instead had always wanted to go beyond the stars that speckled the skies above them. Her magical talent had been known from a young age because of that, her own outbursts having destroyed entire rooms. She would've liked to say that she had eventually grown out of them, but her dream of voyaging through the vastness of the sky above had never quite been extinguished. Not even after eons of imprisonment. If there was one thing her patron had wanted, it was that. Her burning, all-consuming passion for something she could never have. Not until she met them. ​ It was ironic, really; while Ophelia longed for the stars, to be unrestrained by anything and everything, Serena was the opposite. She could hear the jadedness in her voice as she spoke of her, of her people's, struggles in space. How, as drifters, they had toiled. Enslaved for however long, only to break out of said enslavement. And now she had lost them, though it was unclear if she meant forever... or that she had simply been separated by them. It was why she wanted to try dialogue first - so that she could know if there was anything that could be done. Perhaps, if these heroes were truly worth all they were talked up to be... "Speak of the devil. Took you all long enough." Ophelia broke out of her thoughts at the sound of Neon's voice, and then at the heavy, metallic steps that rang through the air, the walls broken through like they were made out of glass. Yet another strange sight in this world she had been left behind by. Giant-like juggernauts, piloted by humans, approached them as reinforcements. This time, it seemed, it was their turn to get the upper hand in terms of numbers. After all, Serena's rampage had blindly destroyed dozens of her own statues, leaving her with only a limited number of statues to work with. Furthermore, the swordsman that had struck from the shadows was nowhere to be seen, having apparently retreated the moment it seemed like he was going to be caught in the crossfire. The sight of the metallic juggernauts did little to deter Serena, who gritted her teeth at them. "Surrender the crown and drop your weapons. I promise you will be judged fairly!" "SILENCE!!! I will not be cowed by your demands! I will surrender nothing to you!" ​ Ophelia sighed; did they really think that would work? Or were they simply trying to make her angrier? Who would ever believe the words of the enemy at this stage? Besides, even if Serena had been reasonable enough to listen to their words, the crown... ... It exploded in response to her rage. Glowing an ominous red, it seemed like the younger princess had quickly learned how to better channel its power within moments of using it. To learn how to use an artifact with power of that magnitude within moments... she had to have a better grasp on magic than Ophelia ever did. At the very least, she was more of a natural than her. She didn't know if any of her successors had similar talent, but only the first king, Olvara Lampros, had shown attunement to their divine origin like Ophelia had. And Serena was even more talented still. At least, that was the feeling she got as the spell she channeled drew power not only from the crown, but from the remnants of mana that the crumbled statues still held onto. Ophelia prepared to lift a protective barrier inspired by the one Idra had trapped her in during their battle, but Neon had her beat there. "Neon? What are you--?!" There was no time to react. The attack came at them faster than the princess expected. A blast of pure magic enveloped the room from a single point, spreading out to destroy everything in front of Serena. The ground, the very planet, shuddered at the power that was released. The kind of power only a god could possibly harness. Ophelia closed her eyes, knowing that they could not survive. If this was the last moment they would spend together, then she was at least happy it would be spent with Neon next to her. The blast seemed to last for an eternity, but had in reality only lasted for a few seconds. And when her eyes opened, she saw not the empty void she'd expected, but instead... "Hey, Lia." "Neon?! Neon, gods, we're alive, we're--" Her relief lived in her eyes only for a moment before she saw the smoke coming out of her. Already, she could recognize the telltale signs of the swordswoman overdoing it. Her smile faltered, leaving only an expression of horror as Neon continued speaking. "Make sure to win for me. Okay?" "Gods, stop talking, Neon! You're... you're hurt...! No! Please...!" Once again, she faltered in her arms, except this time it wasn't out of exhaustion but a grievous wound she'd suffered. Ophelia held her in her arms, shaking her as if she could wake her up. "No, please... if you... if you die, then all of this was for nothing...!" She fell to her knees, feeling them buckle under the reality that she might not be able to fulfill her promise to the four girls who had taken a chance on her. "Save your tears for later. Your companion isn't dead yet." ... "But we need to hurry and get that crown off that mage's head. Don't hold back." "Oh, don't worry. You won't be long without her. I'll make sure to send you all to Oblivion in due time." ​ "With this crown's power... yes, I can feel it! I can feel myself stepping into the realm of the divine! With it, I'll become a goddess... just like we have all wished for. Then, I can finally take revenge on all who made us suffer!" Serena's eyes were hollow ambers, brought to delirium by the crown. It wasn't just your average flavor of power-drunkness, however. There was something deeper, something more sinister yet. "Shut up! All of you... just shut up...!" ​ The ground rumbled, a dark fog rising from the floor, as if summoned by the princess' own scream. Her red eyes shone a deep red as she stared down at her unconscious knight's body. She put her ear to her chest, carrying not for the burns she suffered through in order to listen for her heartbeat. Then, she laid her down gently on the floor. "I am royalty! I will not be told when to or when not to shed my tears!" Her tears flowed freely for her friend, resolute not to repeat her own father's mistakes by hiding her own feelings behind a mask of stoicism. But she stood tall despite her tears, rapier in hand. She sucked in sharply, her body shuddering for a moment before she steadied herself. "Take her. I will be the one to finish this. On my own terms." The dark fog covering her eyes shot up, covering the princess completely. When Serena shot a blast of wind at it, Ophelia was gone. And before she could react, the sword-wielding princess' rapier was at her throat. A barrier enacted itself autonomously to protect her from the deadly attack, but she still stumbled back, taken aback by the sudden strike. "Hah, you think you can scare me with that--" "Shut up and fight." ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Victim | FUZI × Mili ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​ Serena's barrier could not protect her from the kick to the stomach, empowered by the eldritch influence of Ophelia's patron and her own magic. She was sent flying through the marble throne, the seat crumbling and kicking up a cloud of dust. "So finally, you use your wretched magic! But how dare you taint our divine heritage with it...!" The crown-bearer, clearly enraged, emerged from that same cloud, brandishing her own knife with the intent to kill. And while she did well to hide her killing intent until the very last moment, when the knife was at Ophelia's side, the latter still managed to parry. The path was predictable, so much so that she didn't even need to see before to know it was coming. "That's right. I'll use every tool at my disposal if it means protecting those I love. I'll sign my soul away to the devil if that's what it takes. But what about you?" Another thrust of the knife was met with another parry, then an elbow to the nose. Serena cried out, disoriented for a moment before she retaliated with a point-blank lightning blast. Ophelia tried to protect from it, but the attack caught her by surprise. Even in her maddened state, Serena could still hide her intentions, something no other opponent of hers had been capable of up until now. Every person, when attacking, had intent behind their attack. One could call it killing intent, or malice, or whatever else they wanted, but it was something that Ophelia had mentally trained herself to sense at all times. Serena's was practically non-existent up until the moment she attacked. And for most people, that would be too late. The princess was a natural assassin, hiding everything behind a calm, cold, collected facade. But even she could not hide the wild fluctuations of magic that her crown irradiated. While the electricity paralyzed and disoriented her enough to lose sight of the rebel princess, she was still able to track the divine magic as Serena's knife cut through the air and tried to stab her in the back. Ophelia only had the chance to twist her body enough that the knife nicked her on the side instead of stabbing right through her heart. "Tch! I'll put my life on the line if it means protecting my people! It's exactly what I'm doing right now. And with this crown, I'll--" "You don't even have control over yourself because of that wretched crown! Don't you understand?! When King Olvara forged that crown with his own blood... he instilled it with his own desire! The desire for godhood! And every ruler after him... they instilled their own desires too, along with their own power." This had been an open secret among the Lamprosian royal family; everyone knew, but none dared to speak it. Ophelia had seen it firsthand - the madness in her father's eyes as he took on the crown, a single-minded desire to become a god in order to bring back his wife. "It will corrupt you! Just like it corrupted every other ruler before you. It will strip away every other wish until you can only think of seeking more power. Let it go! There are other ways to protect your people--" "Shut up! You're the last person that should be speaking of corruption!" ​ "This crown, this kingdom, THIS PLANET are all my birthright! I'll take them all back! I won't let anyone take from me ever again!" "Serena...!" But there was no more space for talking; Serena kicked the floor beneath her, jumping into the shadows and disappearing once more. This time, the magic's fluctuations were harder to follow - she was learning to wield the crown better by the moment. But it was still the one in control, all the accumulated malice and resentment pouring out with a small, rapid fireball that came out instantly, hitting the floor and causing a gigantic explosion in the room. Black tendrils sprouted up from the ground to protect Ophelia from the flames before crumbling into ashes. She coughed out, smoke filling her lungs. For a moment, she felt dizzy and lost her balance. It was all Serena needed. A moment of vulnerability. A second's hesitation. From the smoke she emerged as Ophelia raised her arm to protect herself from inhaling more smoke. It created a blind spot that she didn't hesitate to exploit. "Die, Princess of Ruin!" And she drove her knife into Ophelia's chest, intent on killing the princess while she still hesitated. It was the difference between them; one had clearly been softened by the thousands of years she had lived, while the other had lived all of her life in strife. It was clear who would emerge victorious. "Hahaha...! Hahahaha! Finally... Finally!" Her voice broke down into crazed laughter as she twisted the blade and then withdrew it, blood spurting out from the wound. "Rejoice, for the Princess of Ruin is dead by my hand! I--" "I got you." ​ "...?!" Unfamiliar with the princess' uncanny resilience and regenerating abilities, Serena had began to gloat her victory, assured that without the power of the ruinous figure, the others would fall with time. Instead, a pair of hands grabbed at the crown sitting atop her head. Blood trickled from Ophelia's lips, her pale countenance similar to that of a ghost's as she smiled grimly. "This is going to hurt." "A lot." ​ With that simple warning, Serena felt the crown being pulled from her head. It had, however, began to merge with her skin. Needles dug into her skull, ensuring the crown could not be removed without removing the head itself. If Ophelia hadn't been there, then that would've been the case, at least. Instead, Ophelia utilized a trick she had already shown to work; she channeled her own magic onto the crown. A fierce feedback loop commenced as the crown siphoned Serena's own magical force from her body to fuel itself, then met with Ophelia's own corrupted magic. "Ahhhh...!!! Arghhh....!!!" This process was far from gentle on Serena, whose body had already been at a limit when it came to channeling magic through her own mortal body. She fell to her knees, grabbing Ophelia's hands in a desperate attempt to pry them off. But it was in vain; the latter's grip was like a vice, unmoving even as Serena dug her nails into the backs of her hands and drew blood. She scratched and scratched, but no matter how much blood stained her palms, the older princess would not let go. On the other hand, the coursing magic threatened to tear her body asunder. She felt herself reaching the first steps towards divinity only to be dragged down by an unknowable force. For an instant, she could feel the eldritch influence in Ophelia cross into her, and she gazed upon the endless abyss. And then the crown gave out. ​ Instead of a massive explosion that was sure to destroy both of them, the crown simply... crumbled into dust. Perhaps anticlimactically, the princesses' showdown ended not with a powerful clash of magic, but instead with a silent yet loud fizzle as the crown ceased to exist. And without the crown's influence pushing her into madness, Serena fell to her knees. She was both exhausted and lost. Blood dripped from where her thorny crown had rooted itself into. She had seen herself become a goddess and at the same time, lose herself because of all the foreign thoughts that intruded into her mind. She had become someone else. She had lost sight of... the reason she had began to fight for. "Serena." And as her sight began to falter, a voice cut through the darkness. "I-I... I can't fall here. I need... to find... them..." "Serena, let me help you. I was given a second chance. I could never repay it to the people that gave it to me. But maybe... maybe I can give someone else the same hope I was given. Serena--" Broken in body but not in spirit, the princess grabbed her knife from the floor and stabbed Ophelia in the stomach. "How can you say something like that... when you're the reason they... they're gone...?!" Ophelia coughed out blood, falling to her own knees. But despite the other princess' malice, Ophelia's eyes did not falter. She smiled at her again, wrapping both of her arms around Serena's head. "Serena, you saw it, didn't you? Our kingdom was doomed to fall regardless of my actions. That crown... it would've spelled the demise of our planet one way or the other. It's gone now. Let's start over... together." "But I..." She wavered. She had seen it. It was not the princess from the tower that had driven their people off the planet, but rather the ambition of one king who thought he could become a god. A profane ritual had been enacted, using the kingdom's subjects as sacrifice in order to expedite the crown's power growth. Many heroes attempted to stop him, but only barely managed to do so. The damage that he had caused on the planet rendered it uninhabitable and the next generation of the royal family, of which the king's son had been part of the ones to stop the ritual, were forced to leave the planet. The only thing keeping the planet from being destroyed was Ophelia's patron. With its power, it had managed to stop the planet's collapse, and eventually it returned to its natural state. Animals thrived again, as did plants. The knife in Ophelia's stomach fell to the ground. Finally, Serena had lost the fight in her. She stared down at the blood on her hands, lips quivering. What had she done? How many people had she killed? Out of revenge? Out of some misguided idea that it would lead back to her family? It hit her like a tidal wave. "I-I... I surrender..." Her voice was but a whisper, no more energy in her left to fight. Tears streamed down her cheeks, washing away the blood that had spilled onto her face. "I will accept all punishment given to me..." "That's good, because..." Hsssss. The sound of an inhale broke the two out of their conversation. Over them stood Arashi, who had seemingly disappeared up until this very moment. In one hand was a cigarette. In the other, his blade, poised to separate Serena's head from her body. "... we don't suffer traitors. Die knowing you accomplished nothing, Little Princess." And the sword slashed downward, cutting the very space in its path. But Ophelia had sensed him. Unlike Serena who could suppress her killing intent, Arashi's was telegraphed. She twisted her body in such a way that she protected Serena from the deadly attack, instead having the katana slice through her armor and cut a deep wound into her back. "No...! Why...?!" Ophelia's body could not handle three mortal wounds at once, even with her patron's power healing her body, and those were the last words she heard before she began to lose consciousness. "Tch. A meddler till the end. If she hadn't poisoned your head, you could've easily become one of our great generals. Oh well. I won't miss next time." The swordsman, although bloodthirsty, knew when to cut his losses. And when hunking pieces of metal came at him, intending to tear him apart... Well, that was as good a signal as any to leave. "Pull back! Serena has fallen! We're retreating! I repeat; all forces retreat!" He put his fingers to an earpiece before swiftly jumping through and over the mecha knights, whistling through them like an uncatchable gust. His expression betrayed his dissatisfaction at having to admit defeat, but he wasn't about to fight to the death. He was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving everyone in the dust as a passing spacecraft whizzed on by, taking him and leaving in blinding speed. "Ophelia... Ophelia...! Please... wake up...!" But Serena had already forgotten about her second-in-command, instead holding Ophelia's unconscious body in her arms, her regal robes stained in her blood as she tried to shake her awake. There was just too much blood loss, however. "Please... you need to help her...!" She turned to the mecha knights - to anyone who could help, tears staining her cheeks and blood turning her arms and hands completely red. "I'll take any punishment, but please... save her! I don't want another life on my hands!"​

​

 

[Tenzai]

"Shut up! All of you... just shut up...! I am royalty! I will not be told when to or when not to shed my tears!" Those that held their allegiance to the knights grew quiet, aware that their choice of words were not the most respectful of the women they were in the presence of. Given what they had to cut through to get here, what they had to fight against to preserve the lives of those who fought for peace, it had only felt to them in the moment what was said was right. In truth, they needed her just as much as her team needed reinforcements. These men weren't so indebted to their egos to not realize that fact. "Take her. I will be the one to finish this. On my own terms." "Got it. Bring the vampire to safety. The human and the angel too. Secure the other neighboring rooms so we won't be disturbed. I'll fight alongside the princess." With the dark fog overtaking the ground beneath their feat, their captain turned around, ordering them to handle all else. What they needed now was not numbers; What they needed instead was space. The captain was aware of Ophelia's magical potential due to his experience refining his perception of what he saw before him. The scattered statues they had seen before entering the room, the state of the princess, as well the ruination they had seen on the way here in the first place, all of it had hinted at capable spellcasters being a part of the squad that requested for reinforcements. Flashes of consciousness had overtaken Neon as she was forcefully separated from the fighting in order to get her some help. Unaware of the terrible wound that her princess was soon to face in her absence, as she closed her eyes for the final time, the last she felt were tears. Human tears. Out of the team that was deployed, August was the least wounded of the bunch, her injuries scaling to fractured bone and bruises over the deep gashes and internal bleeding that her companions faced. "Oh gods! Neon!" Clutching to the mecha knight that began to take her to a room deemed safe for extraction, August tried to get any information. "Ophelia! Where's Ophelia?!" "Finishing the mission. If our captain had promised himself to her, the least we could be sure of is that, he won't let her die. Not if he could help it. Have faith in your friends. They wouldn't have been placed here if they weren't enough." Gulping, August looked to the hallway behind him, thinking about whether it would be better for her to return to join Ophelia in the fighting. However, something held her back; A darkness that tugged at her from her shadow. In her head, the spellcaster was aware why there weren't often many that would be stationed with a powerful mage. If she were to get involved, it was likely that Ophelia would have to hold herself back, potentially even getting more hurt than she would've if she could go all out in the first place. Clutching her hands, she gave a quick prayer for a safe return. To whichever god would listen, both of light and dark, she would offer her plea. "Please grant my friends grace. I... I don't want to lose anyone anymore." Meanwhile, in the room, try as he might, the mecha knight captain was unable to scan for where the other swordsman's whereabouts were. His stealth went well beyond simple magic or skill alone. Something must've been blocking both his technology as well as his own perception and unfortunately, it was this stealth that served as a decisive edge right after Ophelia had offered the other princess a second chance. "No...! Why...?!" "Tch. A meddler till the end. If she hadn't poisoned your head, you could've easily become one of our great generals. Oh well. I won't miss next time." Her body dropped to the floor, her blood spilling onto the tiles of her family's throne room. Immediately engaging his thrusters to charge at the fiend once he made his presence known, as his agility had turned his body into a blur, his enemy used that momentum against him, dodging by jumping at a speed that his eyes could not track. "Pull back! Serena has fallen! We're retreating! I repeat; all forces retreat!" The mecha knight cursed as he escaped. It would be the last time he would ever let him escape again. "Ophelia... Ophelia...! Please... wake up...!" No amount of shaking would stir the princess from her syncope. Her slumber was unable to be disturbed. "Please... you need to help her...!" Approaching her side, the mecha knight hilted his massive weapon to his hip before gingerly picking up her body. What he saw wasn't good. She didn't have much life left, regardless of whatever unholy boon created the darkness that sealed her wounds. "I'll take any punishment, but please... save her! I don't want another life on my hands!" "Then don't get in the way. The last thing I want is to lose any more lives than what's needed." War had a cost. Each location, each stronghold to be taken from an enemy would exact its toll on the victor. The knight himself had joined to protect those he could, but at the same time, he wasn't ignorant of the life he would lead knowing that every face could be there one day and gone the next. "Follow me. If you're cooperative, she'll have the best chance at living." After designating their location as a secured extraction point, he called upon the closest ship to pick up both their wounded and their prisoner. Within seconds, a familiar band of colors over a hover ship had made itself known as it shined a spotlight within the room. Magic had dented its wing, but it was from enough to stop it from being an air and space-worthy vessel. As it turned around and opened its landing bay for the others to enter, Medina greeted them with a stern look over her face once she had a glimpse of Ophelia's condition. "Hurry up! If we get her back to the citadel now, we should be able to save her!" ──────・୨ ✦✦✦✦✦ ୧・──────​ "So you're the girl that the others have been raving about." In the middle between life and death, Ophelia had caught herself in the middle of a grassy field. In front of her was a table with a set of teacups atop, each filled with an amber solution that the girl in front of her was comfortable with partaking in. "Princess Lamprosia. The 33rd herself, or would you prefer me calling you by your first name, Ophelia?" Patting the chair in front of her, she pulled it back to offer the sorceress a place to sit. Interestingly, there was a third chair as though she was expecting additional company. "You must be curious as to why I know so much about you. There's nothing wrong with it of course. After all, I'm sure that this is your first time here." In her speech, there was no malice, no jealousy, nor manipulation. She simply spoke as she was, as though they were friends. "I should thank you for all you've done for my girls. They appreciate you much more than I could ever have imagined." The echoes of her magician's prayer had bounced through this realm from time to time, spurning on the idea that this was no dream, but rather something interconnected with the real world. "Oh, where are my manners? Here I am thanking you and you've yet to know my name. Its a pleasure to meet you, Ophelia. My name is..." "Elaine." Lifting herself up, she took the sides of the skirt on her dress and lifted them up to curtsy, properly bowing in respect to the princess that had done some much for the people she loved. "The previous leader of these girls before my unfortunate departure." Slowly sitting back down, she took another sip of her tea before filling it up back to the brim, letting the new liquid mix in with the old to make her drink lukewarm. "Hmm? Oh dear, don't worry, you're not dead. I'm simply meeting you say... In between worlds. Why wait until you pass away to finally get a chance to greet you and your partner in person?" She turned towards the empty seat before turning back towards her. The odd look had made her amused. "Ah. So that's the face that August and Neon are attracted to." She chuckled, hiding her lips as she smiled warmly. "Apologies. I couldn't help but watch after you all. I get nervous sometimes thinking about how everyone would cope with my loss, but it seems that... Not all hope is lost, and I have you and August to thank for it. If not for your efforts, I doubt that the others would still be so close together." Elaine thought about the issue that she had with Idra and the polarizing sides that were forged within her team as a result. The fact that it was able to settle itself had been a source of relief for the wandering spirit. "Now, I'm sure you have a few questions of course. Anything about the team or myself, I'll be glad to answer." Taking a look at the clock on her table, she was aware that their time would soon be up. "You might wish to make it quick though. The others are doing their best to wake you up, so I doubt we'd have more than enough time for three or so questions." Placing her elbows on the table, Elaine smiled, resting her hands on the bottom of her open palms as she leaned in close. "So make them count, yes?" ──────・୨ ✦✦✦✦✦ ୧・──────​ "Just know that I gotta hand that I can lend ya~ And it don't matter when, know I'll protect ya~" ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ɢʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴏɴᴇ | ᴇʀɪᴄᴅᴏᴀ, ᴠᴀʟᴏʀᴀɴᴛ, ᴅᴇɴɴɪꜱ ᴍᴀʀᴄᴜꜱ ↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺​ Heartbeats beeped through the monitor of the intensive care unit back in the citadel. While the others were under anesthesia, being treated in separate rooms, Ophelia was instead encased in a pod filled with a healing substance from head to toe; Its mana reconstructing her from the inside while another limb was being created to replace that which was too damaged for her to recover from. On the hallway leading to it, a white blur had sped through the hallways over a skateboard. Donning a white lab coat wrapped around her waist, the doctor assigned to her had used her affinity with her skateboard to make good on the time she had in between operations, going from one room on one side of the station to the other. With her digital tablet acting as a clipboard, she scrolled over to her final patient of the evening: A princess named Ophelia, someone who was present at the assault that got mortally wounded as a result of her team's deployment and success. Her jaw shifted left and right, her teeth chewing on gum. "You can call on me, I'm here whenever. You know two greater than one but five is better." Quietly singing to the tunes of the music that played in her implant in her ear, with a few pushes on her board while other doctors had made their way for her, the woman finally stopped at the front of the door, only to open and reveal three others inside: Namely, the captain, his escorted prisoner with a nullifying collar bound to her neck, and the witch. With Medina forced to deal with the injuries of others given how grave some people's conditions were after the resolution of their mission, it was up to August to be there for her when she would eventually wake up. "Morn." Kicking up her skateboard, she scratched her chin as she looked over the princess embedded within the glass case full of the healing solution. "She's recovering well enough. Death won't take her, I'm sure. But she'll be waking up tired. Very tired." Spitting her gum into the nearby trash can, the woman turned towards the other two girls in the room. "As for your other friends, each of them just needs a bit of work. A little surgery to take out the debris and all, but they'll be fine. Your Neon on the other hand might take the most time out of everyone else. The components that make up her body aren't exactly easy to come by." The witch gripped her thigh highs, her fingers curling in pain at the feeling taht she wasn't enough. "Though I don't think you should blame yourself for anything that these others went through." "I'm sure if you would've known, you would do things differently." Placing her gloves on, she pulled the tubes from one empty bag to replace it with another full bag, feeding the solution inside the case with fresh nutrients. Unbeknownst to the princess inside, the gel that she was encased in was alive, requiring constant upkeep in order to preserve the body of the woman inside of it. "Thank you for the meal, Cea!" A voice had come from another end of a speaker. "Anytime. Don't overwork yourself, yeah? The worst of it's already over." After a few minutes of inspecting her for any changes, Panacea had left the others behind. "... I know I should be mad, but Ophelia... Ophelia deserves to wake up to a smile." August voiced quietly, looking up at Serena. "Especially if she went so far and beyond to try and save you, Serena. I don't think she'd appreciate if any of us took her kindness for granted."