The Cottage

Lyra Karant

In The Tiny Cottage

Sometimes, you found yourself in extremely odd-- but not unwelcome-- situations. In Lyra's case, this definitely counted. In no simple consideration of time had she thought that she'd end up sharing tea with a lovely old lady, but here they were anyway.

Today Lyra was sitting down with a lovely lady named Olivia, who was previously a legal mage as well - much like Lyra, she had been prone to adventure and certainly saw her fair share of it in her younger years. As such, a simple request had come to the guild: go and spend some time with this old lady, learn her stories, and ensure that they were not lost to the ages. Lyra was entirely willing to do something that wasn't fighting for a change, given how much of it she'd beeen doing recently. Therefore, she was more than happy to go and spend some time in a cottage near the sea with someone who was wonderful company. Olivia was bright and cheery enough, with plenty to talk about. This gave Lyra the drive to sit there, converse with her, and the extra cookies were a bonus on top.

Olivia had ulterior motives for Lyra being here, however, which was nothing new at this point. Being an experienced adventurer and mage brought its fair share of enemies, and the older woman knew deep down that one or more of them were planning something. That, likely, would all come to a head here and now, and so she'd put out a call to Luminous Rose; they seemed like a good sort when the Rune Knights were far too politically-minded and driven by military action to send someone around for a more casual discussion. Besides, this kid seemed nice enough anyway. She was certainly polite enough to be pouring Olivia the tea and not the other way around, which was a welcome surprise. If she could hold her own in a fight, then great. The older mage was all for that.

What Lyra didn't know was that the enemy was willing to pay others - and that Lyra knew this enemy all too well. There was a rather sizeable hit order on Olivia's head, one that had been orchestrated by one of her enemies from the days of yore. That assassination request was going to be filled, of course, by someone who was rather good at what she did. The cottage was down a well-beaten path overlooking a cliff by the sea, with a small grove of trees the only barrier between the city itself and the cottage on the cliff. There was only a single path up the cliff that was easily traversable, but the patch of trees provided plenty of cover for anyone who wished to approach. This would give any would-be assassins somewhere to hide if absolutely necessary.

Pouring the both of them another cup of tea, Lyra took a seat across from Olivia at her table, unknowing of the danger that was about to come through - and there was going to be a lot of it. Chaos was about to bloom, and the pink mage was all the more unknowing of that which was about to unfold in front of her.

BIO | FLAME SLAYER | SKY SLAYER | BANK

Rela

WORDS 436

TAG @Lyra Karant

Lyra Karant

In The Tiny Cottage

In the pit of Lyra's stomach, there was an odd feeling that something was going on. It wasn't anything specific; it wasn't a feeling that could be put into words in any way. All it was, was the dark and foreboding feeling that something was about to go horrifically and terribly wrong, when as her current condition stated there was no real reason for that to happen. She could not detect any presences here other than herself and Olivia, even in full range of her senses that were currently sweeping the area at the thought of something being even slightly off about the situation here. There was, in theory, nothing to worry about.

"Lyra, dear. Is something the matter?" Olivia prompted, seeing that Lyra was visibly on edge. Her eyes were darting around quickly and it seemed that paranoia was starting to take a hold on her. By contrast, Olivia was the picture of patience; she could not have cared if things were off-kilter. Nothing here was bothering her in the least. She was calm, moving around her tiny house with little more than refined grace as if nothing were wrong. To her perception, nothing in fact was wrong at all.

"I think it's just my mind playing tricks on me, Olivia. Maybe I'm just... tired. I don't know."

The older woman offered the young mage a warm smile. "It certainly seems like it. You haven't touched your tea, and it almost looks like you're expecting trouble." Never mind that Olivia knew exactly what it felt like to be constantly searching for danger over your shoulder. There was a certain expectation that, at a certain point in your career, there was going to be something that did in fact keep hunting you down - this was not it. Lyra was getting to that point. She was not a strong mage, she was not an experienced mage in the real sense of the word. However, Olivia had been through hell and back, which was now rather evident when it showed through her totally relaxed demeanour. Nothing could faze her.

Lyra sighed, shoulders drooping as she did so. However, in that moment and at the quiet prompting of her companion, it was as if she could feel the tension running away from her as she breathed out. Had she been holding that in the entire time? It was absolutely possible that Lyra was losing it and was now searching for trouble over her shoulder. Truth was, since her last conversation with Rela, things seemed different. Like her perception of danger was spiking and she had to search out places that she did not know just in case the blade was waiting around the corner for her and she needed to fight it. Rela's blades were in fact that dangerous, that fast, that there was no "I am. Truthfully, the last time I ran into someone I really thought I could consider a friend for a long time, I... things went poorly, and I regret it a lot, because I exploded on her. I think about it all the time. Trouble is, she's so dangerous that..." Another sigh. "I've made a very deadly enemy. I wish I didn't."

Little did Lyra know that said enemy could hear every word, see every sigh. It would have been so, so incredibly different were Lyra to know that fact. Gosh, would it have been so unbearably different.

At that, Olivia rose to go and fetch them another pair of cups of tea from the still-warm kettle, decanting over her freshly-plucked tea leaves into the wonderfully polished and patterned cups forming the tea set. Once prepared, they were placed on the table at their seats, to which Lyra murmured her thanks and contemplated the swirling cup of amber liquid before her. It was beautiful, fragrant, delicious - things all good tea should be. It was a welcome distraction from the storm that was brewing inside her mind, one that threatened to rage and consume her senses as she searched for things that were simply not there.  

"Was she important to you?" Olivia asked, raising the cup to her mouth, ostensibly to take a sip - but to mask her face as Lyra answered. This was a very measured response to the young lady whose inner conflict was now beginning to show itself. She was intereted, curious; this was something that mirrored her own growth as a young mage, many moons ago. Everyone had their own fair share of enemies, and obviously she was no exception; this was just Lyra's way of learning the importance of being able to handle proper conflict. Olivia was more than glad to lend a willing ear and listen to her burdens. It sounded like she'd been carrying them for quite some time with no real outlet.

"She was important to me. Not the other way around. I considered her a friend for a long time, but I guess I learned that she didn't feel the same about me. Honestly, I..." A pause. "I know I'm foolishly naive sometimes, and this is certainly one of those times. She'd laugh at me for saying it, because as far as she's concerned I'm as foolish as they come."

Oh, Lyra. If only you knew.

Olivia's cup lowered, tapping gently against the china of the teacup beneath it. "It happens to everyone," she bagan, preparing to drop a gentle truth bomb on the pink-haired girl in the middle of her own internal struggle. "There is no shame in trusting the people you surround yourself with. The only shame is not adjusting your expectations after that trust is broken."

That was sufficient to give Lyra pause and reflect back upon how she'd handle that situation. On one hand, could she consider herself having adjusted those expectations of Rela? Surely, knowing the truth of her nature, she could at least say that she wouldn't just let her back into her life and her heart so easily. They come into conflict far too much morally for that to happen-- surely. Yet, there was still just enough of a shred of doubt in her heart that she'd want her friend back...

Lyra sat motionlessly, staring down into the cup before her. She had not taken a single sip of the liquid. All she could do was cast her emerald eyes down at it, knowing full well that her weakness here was going to be her undoing.

BIO | FLAME SLAYER | SKY SLAYER | BANK

Rela

WORDS 613

TAG @Lyra Karant

Lyra Karant

In The Tiny Cottage

There was a moment of thought that Lyra had, like a flash of inspiration. It pulsed across her mind and was gone again, bright and beautiful for an instant, before it vanished into the aether. With the distraction that her mind was bringing, and the fact that Lyra was feeling so terrifically introspective, there was a real chance that this could have belonged to someone else - but no. It felt familiar. Like she’d been there a hundred times before.

“Hold on, Olivia, I’m sorry, I…”

There was a long, pregnant pause as Lyra cast her glance around, that nagging feeling in the back of her head a reality that she simply couldn’t ignore. These senses had not sent her wrong in the past, but quite frankly if there was even a shred of a single moment that Lyra could have possibly been right then she could never take the risk of ignoring this. It wasn’t anything her real senses were saying. In all honesty, Lyra wasn’t sure. She felt as if she was imagining things, truly. However, if she was right...

Gods, Lyra did not want to be right about this.

Slowly, the pinkette stood from her chair, the wood creaking and scraping against the stone floor as she rose, her hands on the table for support as she considered her options and her possibilities. She knew that Rela was possessed of incredible stealth. However, with her power as strong as it was by comparison to the assassin’s now, there was a very real and distinct possibility that Lyra could brute force her way to finding the blade in their midst without having to resort to either violence or trickery. In fact, it was one advantage that Rela did not actually know Lyra truly possessed. Upon their last meeting, Lyra had by chance demonstrated her ability to fly; this was not indicative of the full extent of her dual slayer abilities, but was merely a side-effect of the mutating power that was now coursing through her veins. Rela had not seen any of the later abilities she had gained beyond that, which meant that all of this was incredibly surprising were it to be revealed. This was the best possible piece of ammunition that the fire and wind slayer could have ever leveraged against her opponent; a master of stealth, who favoured the advantage of surprise, taken by surprise herself? It would have been an incredible reversal of roles.

A long, slow, deliberate exhale followed as Lyra gathered her senses and considered her next move. The Rose mage channelled her energies, her senses swirling a miasma of colours before she expunged herself of needless, tiresome worry and thought to focus all of her energy into her senses - and sure enough, there she was. Unmoving. Perfectly still. Contemplating the truth of the matter before her, it was so unfortunate that it had come to this. Lyra intentionally did not look in the direction of the interloper, for it would destroy the joy of surprise up until the final moment of climactic impact. Unfortunate as such things were, this was now the reality of the moment, and Lyra Karant swore a duty to uphold all things. There was no way, in the back of her mind, that Rela had not been assigned as the blade to execute the hit against Olivia now. Everything was beginning to fall into place, to which Lyra felt only remorse at coming to understand her purpose for being here.

Today, however, this assassin would fail.

Exhale. Walk. Get right near her - just short of three metres away. Enough distance to act, if need be. Her eyes cast around blindly, considering the options, trying to keep up the charade - until they finally settled on exactly where her rival’s head would be.

“Hello, Rela,” came a voice that only betrayed her nervousness once. ”This is your one and only chance to leave peacefully. Take it, please.”

BIO | FLAME SLAYER | SKY SLAYER | BANK

Rela

WORDS 500

TAG @Lyra Karant

Lyra Karant

In The Tiny Cottage

Olivia’s reflexes were, unfortunately, not as good as they once were, and it seemed her senses were becoming dull in her old age. At this point, there was merely a moment between when Lyra announced the presence of the intruder and when that intruder decided to attack her. Her eyes widened in realisation of what exactly was about to transpire, the cold steel of the dagger glinting as sunlight poured in through the window, knowing that she had stupidly allowed her guard down to let an assassin into her home without realisation. That blade, on a perfect arc for her face, would be the reaper’s final gift, and that this may just end. Her arms were barely coming up while everything seemed to move in slow motion. Was this to be the end?

It seemed the pink girl had other plans. Her eyes locked firmly on Rela as she acted, Lyra was already primed to strike. Channelling the depths of the howling gale that raged inside her, it formed a tempestuous shell around Lyra, who simply moved into the way of the blade with little more than a step that brought her in front of Olivia and into the path of the knife that would have sounded abject death. The wind bubble that surrounded Lyra was strong enough to deflect the poisoned blade, sending it flying upwards into the roof where it stuck fast into the masonry, the poison oozing from its edge as Lyra stood fast against the enemy who had just disobeyed the singular order that she had been given. Gods, Lyra really didn’t ever want it to have come to this. She had given Rela the ultimatum, but it was no longer sufficient to simply give words. It was now time to act.

Forgive me for this. For what I must do.

In the next instance, now that her new wind powers had been divulged, Lyra could just show the truth of where Rela lay. However, it was not going to be as simple as that; Lyra did not wish to damage Olivia’s home in the melee that was unfurling around them. Instead, she had a very simple plan - casting a gust of wind, Lyra bade that the wooden door to the cottage opened for them, before the girl wind-stepped her way outside in the next instant - and turned, casting the aspersion of her brand-new wind chain launching forth to find purchase in Rela’s shoulder - and pull. Time to extricate the foe and bring her into the open where Lyra had absolute advantage. There would be no fighting inside to damage the home.

As soon as that chain reached the end of its reel to bring her in, Lyra cast her arm wide, throwing forth the might of her air slash, designed to wither and break an opponent’s ability to harm others. If it hit, Rela would know the truth of Lyra’s growing power, and would be forced to realise that this was no longer a viable fight, or so the theory went. Lyra was putting on an absolute show of power for a very good reason at this point. The rose mage could not help herself, or her feelings. Were Rela to flee, now, she would let her go willingly, having cowed her opponent so; a broken enemy was sufficiently cowed that there would be no point chasing her down. Besides, the danger would have passed. It would have been the end of this. If Rela was to fight on, then Lyra would have no choice.

She promised to put her down. Lyra did not break her promises, ever.

BIO | FLAME SLAYER | SKY SLAYER | BANK

Rela

WORDS 583 / 5086

TAG @Lyra Karant