A Nice Trip To The Library? (Digit)

Honestly, Medeia was rather fond of Oak Town, famed as it was for its knowledge and history. She had visited the place quite often, usually in order to do some research in its vast library and that was precisely her reason for appearing today. The locals were rather wary of her but that was to be expected, her face was well known now, ever since she had been on the front of that magazine and for today at least, she had no reason to hide her appearance. Besides, only an utter fool would start something with her and generally one hint of her magical power was enough to scare anyone who dared to do so. She always had her magical aura switched on, so to speak, not at its maximum strength but just enough to unsettle those around her. It always amused her that she was able to cause such fear in others with so little effort but that was simply natural she supposed. There were so few on her level, fewer still who shared the same alignment as her. Were there any at all? She honestly did not know.

As the angel made her way down the street, dressed in her rather revealing and Desertian fashioned outfit, a smile would cross her features as the large library loomed before her. She was certain that within the volumes, there would be at least one book that would have the information she sought. Yes, the librarians were rather reluctant to keep books regarding the darker arts and generally they kept them in a restricted section but Medeia had a way with people and she knew that they would not stop her from acquiring the information she needed. If she was fortunate then perhaps it would be Dela, a junior librarian that the witch had become quite fond of, who would be working today. The two had an arrangement and the purple eyed woman had more than once had a little fun with the beautiful brunette during her visits, occasions that both women remembered fondly.

Yet as she entered the vast building and headed towards the counter, her smile would quickly vanish, for standing behind it would be a far older woman than Dela and one that Medeia did not like at all. A boring old fossil who was a pain in the rectum to deal with and the holy being instantly knew that things were not going to be as simple as she had hoped. It would not be a problem, of course, just an annoyance and as the senior librarian looked up from her work to see the witch, a frown crossed her features too.

“I am busy, Medeia, what do you want?” The librarian rudely asked, a sneer crossing her features. “I am afraid that Dela is not working today so you will have to go somewhere else to get your kicks.”

“A pleasure as always, Clara.” The dark haired mage replied in a slightly annoyed tone. “I want access to your latest books on curses, specifically ones that affect the mind. Dela informed me the last time I was here that you were due to be updating your stock.”

“I will not grant you access to anything other than what is on display here.” Clara snapped in an irritable manner. “The fact that I must allow you in here at all sickens me and I will not help indulge you in your foul exploits. Go elsewhere if you want that kind of information.”

Her irritation building quickly, Medeia’s eyes would burn with a magical hue, before releasing a brief burst of energy that would bend the woman to her will. The old toad had no chance of fighting off the mage’s domination spell and her eyes soon glazed over, her voice becoming monotonous. “I do not have the time nor the patience to argue with you, Clara. You will give me the access I require now. Put your hand under the desk and give me the card to the restricted section. Am I clear?”

The old woman, devoid of will, proceeded to do just that, placing her hand under the table and retrieving what Medeia required. A bright blue card that hummed with magical power, a key of sorts and one that would most definitely aid the angel in her endeavors. With that done, she would turn simply gaze blankly at the witch, awaiting further orders.

With a wicked smirk, Medeia would go on to say. “Now, I want you to run through the halls of this library and woo the first pretty man or woman that you find. It is about time that you had some enjoyment in your life.”

Her command once more confirmed, the woman would leap over the desk and begin to flirt with the first young man that she saw, much to the embarrassment of both him and the woman with him, who appeared to be his girlfriend. Medeia would simply chuckle to herself, amused by the spectacle but before she could leave and head further into the library, a large hand would clamp on her shoulder.

Turning around, Medeia would find herself face to face with a guard of some kind. She did not recognise the uniform but he seemed to have some magical power from what the witch could sense. He stood about six foot tall with brown hair and eyes. She supposed that he might be seen as attractive by those interested in men but Medeia was sickened. No man would touch her in such a way. “Remove your arm.” Her voice was authoritative and commanding.

“You have just attacked an innocent person with your dark magic. Do you honestly believe that I am just going to…”

His words were cut off as Medeia channeled the power of her slayer magic and blasted him away with a powerful stream of sand, the force of which not only threw him backwards but straight through the library doors and into the street. An unpleasant spell and as he struggled to get up, he would look up to see the annoyed angel walking towards him, her expression murderous. “Here I was thinking that I could spend a blissful few hours in the library but no. There is always one idiot who just has to try and play the role of the hero.”

Drawing her whip, she would then strike him with it, its power leaving a horrible burn upon his back. Medeia did not even flinch and simply said. “See where your heroics get you, scum.”

(1093 Words)

It was an old city, one rife with ancient knowledge, and perhaps, many a legend waiting to be uncovered. Being blessed with a strong proclivity towards research, Terumi was starting to discover that this city held a lot more appeal than just some really tasty punch with various prank properties, and seers who seemed like the real deal. A smile unconsciously twitched at the corner of her lips as she remembered the event that had brought her to Oak Town for the very first time. It was a good memory; she had made a friend then, with whom she had had a few interesting adventures, one of which included defusing a bomb in Felidae City. That mission hadn't gone well eventually, because while they had suppressed the anarchists and protected civilians from the bomb and other forms of damage, another "bomb" had gone off, a detonation so powerful it had made the prospects of the explosive device Terumi had handled seem like a fire lighter in comparison with a forest fire. The smile died. That situation had been so horrible on many accounts, but the most far reaching result was that Ishgar was on the brink of war...

Terumi tried to push the tragic event out of her mind. To sacrifice today's cheer for tomorrow's sorrow did not mitigate the blow of the future. If anything, it only robbed one of enjoying the moment. She would try to enjoy the little blessings of life, and maybe hope that the world leaders would strive to make the right decisions. Still, she did not have much faith in the ability of power drunk individuals to make the best choices. She sighed and shook her head. The calm before the storm.

Come to think of it, trying to push her thoughts away from Earthland's impending doom did little to alleviate the burden on her mind. For, as she tried to distract herself from dark visions of an apocalyptic future, she had mentally trundled down the path of the purpose of her visit to Oak Town. At first, it had given her a bit of respite, respite which was soon replaced by another ominous feeling. She had come here to study, yes, but her study was not just one for leisure, or a pet project. It was about her ancestry she had sought out Oak's impressive library; people had informed her that this library, possibly the most expansive in Fiore and perhaps one of the richest in all of Earthland, had a section that catered to virtually every branch of knowledge known to mortals. Briefly, she wondered what Bosco's libraries would be like, and she made a mental note to visit the country one of these days. She didn't know if its inhabitants would be friendly, but Terumi liked Bosco simply because of its advanced technology.

The massive structure that housed Oak's library eventually stood before her, and as she entered through its portals, she could almost feel the knowledge infused with this place wash over her. The interior was cooler than without, something Terumi appreciated, thanks to her... condition. Even when people complained of freezing ambient temperatures, she hardly ever felt it, as her body naturally generated a lot more heat than was supposed to be normal for a human. And while that meant she was resistant to more inclement temperatures, it also meant that she found what people called normal to be a little warmer than she would have liked. The elderly woman behind the counter looked up at her approach, the already stern expression on her face made less welcoming with an air of disapproval, as she considered Terumi's clothes. The mint-haired young woman was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, which was knotted to expose her belly, short denim shorts and running shoes. Obviously, from the older woman's condescending look, Terumi knew what she was thinking: "improper". She had gotten that look before many times, but she had gotten tired of explaining herself to people. Their opinions of her didn't make the world a better place, anyway.

Unconcerned by the librarian's hostile glare, Terumi responded with a gentle smile. "Greetings, ma'am. Could you direct me to the section on Titan Mythology?" Thankfully, the librarian chose not to say what was on her mind, but instead answered her question. "Third section from the door, on your left. You should find what you're looking for." She handed Terumi a white card, which the latter received with thanks. As Terumi headed for the Mythologies section, she could sense the librarian staring at the white orb that floated after her. Terumi hid a smirk. People were always  confused about her Tama; at least, today, no one was assuming it was a portable explosive device or something.

The Mythologies section was pretty impressive, yet despite its volume, it didn't take long for her to find what she was looking for. Settling into a chair, Terumi dug into the book on Giant History and Culture, and was soon lost in a wide world of colossal beings and incredible legend...

She didn't know how long she had been reading, but a loud noise brought her back to reality with a start. Closing the book, she rose to her feet and activated her Tengan. There seemed to be some sort of altercation at the library doors, and without another second wasted, she hurried for the entrance... and stopped short. Her eyes went saucer wide as she stared at the hitherto composed woman acting all flirtatious with a man who was not only much younger than she was, but also had a partner he was with. "Something is very wrong here..." To add to the sheer abnormality of the situation, Terumi noticed a guard outside, squirming in pain on the ground. And without thinking, she acted.

"Voidfire Tech: Exorcist Flames!"

A ring of flames of a bright blue hue pulsed out from Terumi, washing over the librarian first, as she was closer to Terumi, and then the injured, fallen guard. The flames would burn away the curse that held the woman's mind, causing her to stop short and stare in horror at what she had just been doing, and then fleeing further into the library. The azure fire next swept over the guard, burning away the awful looking burn on his back and alleviating his pain.

In the next moment, she was out of the doors, dropping to her knees beside the guard, who was breathing heavily. "Are you alright, mister...?"

It was at that point she became aware of the strange, raven-haired woman, towering over the both of them and brandishing a whip. Terumi looked up at her, her brow creasing slightly with concern. Something seemed off about this woman, like her magical aura was on a totally different level. Without anyone telling her, she knew that it would be dangerous to offend this woman.

"I am sure this man must have offended you somehow, from your swift retaliation. However, I think he was just doing his job." She bowed to the woman, a powerful Midijin gesture of apology. "I beg your pardon, on his behalf."

Before she had bowed, Terumi had caught a look at the woman's face, dark with murderous intent. There was something about the woman's exquisite features that brought a fleeting memory, like Terumi had seen her somewhere before...

To say that the raven haired woman was irritated further by the guard’s wound suddenly vanishing was an understatement and as her gaze turned towards the woman who was now kneeling down beside him, her expression remained grim. Medeia did not attack either her or the guard though and simply watched, her body ominously still even when the unusual green haired girl bowed to her as a sign of apology. The well travelled witch understood the importance of the gesture and she did not doubt that the young woman before her was sincere but still, she had interfered in Medeia’s business and that was something that needed to be rectified swiftly. The woman seemed to be fairly strong magically, judging from her aura although as tended to be the case, not on the angel’s level. Enough to be an irritant possibly if things turned sour but combat, at least for the moment, was not on the angel’s mind. The woman was not the source of Medeia’s frustration, the guard was.

“I am not the slightest bit interested in his reason for sticking his nose where it does not belong. He received exactly what he deserved for putting his filthy hand upon me and his punishment for doing so will not be complete until I deem it so. If the librarian inside had not been such a stuck up snob then this would not have happened in the first place and this fool would not be moments away from being whipped to death.” Her tone was no nonsense and as she brushed her hand across the head of her whip, her gaze fell upon the guard again. “I do not know what you were thinking by doing such a thing but I hope it was worth losing your life for.”

The guard’s face turned completely white at that point and he seemed to have a mental breakdown of some sort, sobbing into the ground as he tried to utter apologies of his own. It was a pathetic scene and Medeia had no sympathy for him whatsoever. Her patience for the weak and whimpering was rather thin to begin with, at least when it came to men anyway. If anything, it only resulted in the holy being wishing to end his existence even more.

However, if her experiences with other mages had taught her anything, it was that the green haired woman beside him would no doubt try and intervene again and so her purple hued orbs turned to look at the girl properly. A lovely woman indeed and Medeia could already feel a sense of desire for the polite mage. It never took long and already the dark mage’s mind was beginning to visualise a scenario or two although she doubted the hero before her would be all that interested. Did that even matter to the angel? Not in the slightest. Perhaps if this woman was so keen on saving the fool then she might be open to alternatives to the angel killing him? The cogs were starting to turn in Medeia’s mind.

“It is rather bold of you to interfere, especially after what I just did to this fool. What? Are you yet another legal mage who wishes to protect the innocent? To defeat the wicked dark mage and make a name for yourself perhaps?” Her tone was a tad less angry and there was the slightest hint of amusement in her powerful gaze. “I certainly hope that you are smart enough not to actually try and keep me from doling out the punishment that he deserves. Perhaps you plan on maybe offering yourself instead? I will be far more gentle with you if that is the case, as I do despise hurting women unless I am forced to.”

For a moment or two, a hint of lust crossed the face of the dark being, her eyes briefly dropping from the green haired woman’s face to her lovely form. She had not come to Oak Town to find a playmate that day but who was she to turn down the opportunity when it fell so conveniently into her lap. “My name is Medeia and I am an Ace of the Errings Rising guild. I have been around for quite some time now so you might have heard of me. I must say that admiring your lovely form is much more enjoyable than having to look at this useless idiot's face.”

He seemed familiar with her at least, as he desperately tried to crawl away from the two women. Medeia, even though she swiftly took more of an interest in the woman than him, was not having it though. “Stay where you are or I will turn you into an insect and squash you under my boot. Rather fitting, yes?” The guard stopped moving immediately and started sobbing again.

(808 Words)
(1901 PWC)
(3125 TWC)

A couple of things made Terumi worried, when she  apologized to the exotic woman. First, there was no response. That was normally not a very accurate indication of whether her apology had been accepted, in any case; she knew of gruff folk who would glower when apologized to, but would eventually walk away after grumbling something under their breath. The woman's displeasure was palpable; if anything, Terumi was starting to think that she had taken extra offense at being interrupted in unleashing fatal malice on her victim. And being the target of the taller woman's attention at that moment, Terumi could easier sense her magic power.

They were not on the same level. Not even by a bit. And unfortunately, Terumi wasn't the stronger one.

As the dark-haired mage answered her, Terumi realized that, from her words, at least, the woman was taking this situation personally. For one, she described the man's hand as "filthy". Also, she had said that the librarian was the cause of it all, but the old grouch had neither been referred to in condescendingly biting terms, nor had she been lashed with that spiky whip, which, Terumi had to admit, looked like a very painful instrument. She suddenly remembered that the librarian had been  acting very out of character when she had come to investigate the noise. That had most likely been this woman's punishment for her, which in Terumi's opinion was not as harsh as the treatment of the guard. She would assume that this woman did not like being touched... though Terumi couldn't really understand why someone who abhorred physical contact would dress the way she did; then again, most people misjudged her own reason for her choice of clothing. Perhaps the cause for this harsh judgment was more complicated than just annoyance at being handled. Looked like an apology would not be enough for appeasement.

Terumi glanced at the sorry wreck the guard had become, and the pathetic form he had been reduced to would have caused her to drop all charges against him, had she been the one who had been offended. However, she was aware that not everyone was as forgiving as she was, and there were many people who liked their vengeance piping hot and at full dosage. For all intents and purposes, this woman was that kind of person. Terumi considered her options. Violence was not going to turn out in her favor, for two reasons: one, judging from perceivable power levels, her chances of winning in a fight against this assertive woman were slim at best, impossible at worst. Two, there were too many bystanders, who would prefer to watch an altercation between two attractive women, until it was too late for them to avoid mortal danger. There would surely be collateral damage, and she didn't want anyone caught up in their fight. Perhaps there were other alternatives by which this situation could be resolved peacefully...

She rose to her feet as the woman addressed her. "Another legal mage"? Did this mean that it was more than a once-in-a-lifetime thing for this woman to knock someone about, then have a Light Mage fly to the rescue? From her tone of voice, Terumi surmised that however the previous events had gone, this woman had probably come out on top. And then she openly testified to being a dark mage. As far as Terumi was concerned, there were only two kinds of arrogant people: the sure, and the stupid. This dark mage was most likely the former. Terumi help up her hands in a placatory gesture.

"Believe me, that was never my intention," she said, although the woman's words were more or less accurate, given different scenarios. Indeed, she wanted to make a name for herself as "Senka", but there were times that to do the right thing involved under-the-radar work that brought no glory to one's name. The woman's other words actually brought a fleeting feeling of hope to Terumi, but it quickly died when she considered the implications in the light of the way the woman was looking at her. "Wait a minute! Is she ogling me?!" The idea of "offering herself instead" didn't seem so appealing anymore, because she had no idea what was going on in the mind of the dark mage. And she hoped she wouldn't have to find out for herself.

"Um, let's say I accepted to... 'offer' myself, as you suggest. What do you intend to do to me?" She would have like it to be something as simple as keeping the woman company for the day, but Terumi knew that life was never that nice. Still, she had to know whether this was an acceptable choice that she could live with.

On introducing herself, Terumi realized why she had seemed familiar. This woman had graced the cover of the Sorcerer's Magazine, a tabloid that everyone wanted to feature in. She remembered how many people had rushed to buy themselves a copy, especially males, just to fawn over this woman with the body of a goddess. Perhaps she hadn't recognized her immediately because looking at a person's picture was different from standing in their presence and having their aura wash over one. She let out her breath slowly, and bowed formally. "I have heard of you, Medeia-dono. You are rather famous, after all. My name is Yamadera Terumi. It is a pleasure, despite these circumstances..."

The guard, at this point, thought it would be a smart idea to make good his escape, but Medeia was on to him before he could even move his limbs thrice. If she wanted this man to stay alive, she would have to turn the dark mage's attention away from him completely. Resorting to combat might work, briefly, but it would only serve to anger Medeia, who might turn her wrath on everyone present out of spite. Besides, Terumi felt that initiating combat without the other party being hostile was in poor taste. Something more... diplomatic might have to do.

"Um... so, Medeia-dono, I might be willing to take his place, if you'll let him go," she proposed again. She couldn't think of anything else to say or do. Medeia was looking at the man like she was going to carry out her threat without warning, and he was acting like he was already the insect.

A thought crossed Terumi's mind, but she would have to use it as a last resort. She was sure that trying it out now would switch Medeia from lustfully cordial to surface-of-the-sun-temperature incensed.

For the most part, Medeia’s gaze remained on the woman as she spoke, a look that was well known to those who had met her before, a piercing gaze that seemed to look into a person’s soul. It usually came off as intimidating but more often than not, such a gaze simply meant that the raven haired woman had taken an interest in the person before her. The beautiful green haired mage had most definitely aroused her curiosity and Medeia was most certainly focusing more on her than the guard at this point. Killing the male would bring her pleasure for sure but it would pale in comparison to the enjoyment that she would get from toying around with the woman, or Terumi as she introduced herself as. It was night and day in truth and as the mage indeed offered herself instead, the murderous frown upon the face of the witch changed to something else. A smile but one of mischief rather than joy.

“A pleasure to meet you too, Terumi.” She replied, her tone more conversational than before and less menacing for the moment. “I suppose it is only fair that you know of my plans before accepting my offer. You will spend some time as my guest, so to speak and will accompany me back to my place of residence. I will not hurt you unless you push me into doing so but you may end up feeling a little embarrassed.” She had never been one to hide her rather sordid nature and pastimes, so the angel felt no shame at all as she spoke of such things. “I would like to get to know you better, in my own special way and I am always keen to meet my fellow mages, well, the female ones anyway.”

The guard simply remained where he was at this point, his life hanging in the balance and seeming to realise that his best hope was by simply staying put. Medeia did not pay too much attention to him at this stage, her eyes remaining focused on Terumi. “Are you willing to put aside your pride and do that or are things going to have to take a more violent turn? Whether it be from you or him, I will have satisfaction and if you are not interested in spending some time with me then I will carve my name into his back with my whip and watch him burn. I am not one for idle threats, my dear. I mean every word.”

Her curiosity peeking, she would briefly walk around the mint haired woman, admiring the woman from as many angles as she could. Terumi was beautiful indeed and Medeia knew exactly what she wanted to do with and to her. Her gaze began to hint at it too, a slightly lustful look crossing her features. She chuckled to herself mentally, wondering if the heroic woman had any idea what she had gotten herself into. Another dark mage might have just fought the woman here and now in order to prove their superiority but for the moment at least, Medeia would at least toy with the idea of a peaceful solution. Perhaps Terumi was more interested in rolling around than slinging spells? Well, it was possible. Not all of the mages that the angel had flown off with had come with her unwillingly. Most but not all.

“You are beautiful.” She then said with a slight purr. “I am sure that we will have a lot of fun back at my place. Surely you would prefer that to risking the lives of everyone in this town?” Medeia knew all too well what she was capable of and given the strength of the green haired woman too, it did not take a genius to work out the potential damage that could be caused by the two fighting one another. Destroying the town would be a shame, as the raven haired woman was so fond of it but there were other libraries, other locations that she could search for the knowledge she sought. Yet, the thought of causing so many deaths was of no concern to her. She had done such things before and no doubt would again in time. Humans bred like rabbits and frankly, the rather scantily clad woman thought of the race as little more than animals. She was a being from the stars, on an entirely different level from the peons who walked the earth. Of course, she regarded those with magical powers with a little more respect…some of them anyway. Most were not at her level of power but there was more to it than pure power. Medeia was drawn to those who aroused her curiosity and there was nothing more satisfying than her satiating it. “If you decide to fight me instead then I would be incredibly displeased with that decision and I will make you scream before I am through.” Her tone then regained a little of her previous menace. “Know this too. If you fight me and lose then I will carry you off anyway and I will not be so gentle with you.”

(860 Words)
(2761 PWC)
(5077 TWC)

Terumi maintained eye contact with Medeia, but the way the dark mage looked intently at her was unsettling. Even without the lechery that was obvious in her eyes, which was disturbing enough, Medeia did have what people usually referred to as a "piercing" gaze. Some part of her mind noted that both of them had similar eye colors, but as Terumi was not sure this information would prove useful to her in the pinch she currently found herself, she pushed the thought away. What was most important to her was how she would get away from this situation with the guard's life preserved. And having her self esteem intact at the end of the day was a secondary objective, almost as important as the first. It was certain that she would have to trade something for this man's wellbeing, and Terumi was almost wishing it had come down to straight forward combat. It would have been so much simpler, then, but the end results would most likely be the exact opposite of what she wanted to achieve.

When Medeia began explaining her "offer", Terumi initially thought it was a very agreeable proposal. Fine, some people would not find the prospects of entourage duties for an entire day to be very appealing, especially if their client had boring or unsavory inclinations (Terumi was sure that Medeia would probably lean towards the latter disposition), but if this was resolved without any bloodshed, it was the next best possible scenario after defeating the enemy and flying off victorious (come to think of it, she needed to be able to master sustained flight; there was something majestic about it). Being a heroic public figure was harder than people made it out to be, and Terumi was beginning to learn the hard way that everything was not all about overwhelming the enemy with superior force. Today was a prime example: she had two options before her. She could either fight or follow Medeia peacefully. Naturally, most heroes would opt for the former, but what kind of a hero would she be, if people were killed as a result of her conflict with the dark-haired woman? Since lives were so important to her, wouldn't it be more heroic if she instead let her dignity take the hit? Many people might not realize the sacrifice she would make, but many times, the most important deeds were not fit for the hero tales.

Terumi gulped and stood rigid, her body posture doing little to hide her discomfort, as Medeia unashamedly studied her features. While she kept her eyes forward, thanks to her Tengan, she could discern Medeia's expression, which made her suddenly want to panic. She was aware that many people considered her figure and face to be attractive, but this attention was a little too intense for her liking; she wasn't sure she had ever been looked at like this before. To make matters worse, Medeia was saying some things that made her even more uncomfortable. She "might end up feeling a little embarrassed"? They would "have a lot of fun" at the dark mage's place? Being one who liked romantic comedy (she was even trying to build a personal library), Terumi had fantasized what the perfect romance that would sweep her off her feet would look like. This was not it. And the more she thought about going back with Medeia, the more alarmed she became... even though she was doing her best not to show it. The dark mage was even aware of the fact that she was not willing to jeopardize the lives of the people here, and she was using it to toy with her. Ugh! This was really frustrating...

And at that point, things took a different turn. Likely for the worse.

As Medeia had walked around Terumi, the floored guard felt like a slim opportunity had presented itself. The dark mage was on the other side of the mint-haired girl, so if he could just make a break for it... The man scrambled to his feet and fled with a terror-stricken shriek. Already, Terumi was feeling very tense, and she was definitely not expecting that the man would make such a highly destructive choice. Without thinking, she reacted to his movement. She waved her hand in his direction, and cyan colored flames erupted from her fingers, leaping across the distance between them and wrapping round the guard. They suddenly solidified with an audible, glass-like "clink", and the stunned guard found himself in a hemisphere of crystalline energy. Honestly, Terumi was very annoyed with the guard. If she did not care about people, she would have stood aside and watched to see what Medeia would do to him. Quite frankly, if she was assured that he would be alive at the end of it all, she might have even considered letting the dark mage have her way with him, then heal him up with her Exorcist Flames... no, that would be cruel, even if he was not killed. But seriously, how could someone be so stupid? Did he think his shaky legs would even get him far?

"Aargh! Idiot!!!"

Terumi turned to face Medeia, her hands raised once again. She gave a short, nervous giggle. She didn't know much about Medeia, but she was sure that the woman could be very fickle and imperious. The fact that the guard would disobey her command to stay put might give her all the reason to want his death, and Terumi did not want to let that happen. The problem now was, with the dark mage disobeyed, would she still be willing to let him go if Terumi came along with her?

"Okay, that was unexpected. You're right, Medeia-dono; I don't want to risk the lives of anyone here, so, um... let's just pretend he never existed, and I... uh, I hope your idea of having fun doesn't involve more than a three course meal?" She tried one of her disarming smiles, but inwardly, she was preparing for the worst.

"Please, don't take offense... Please, don't take offense... Please, don't take offense..."

Despite the front that she was trying to put on, it was rather easy for Medeia to tell that Terumi was nervous. It was only natural and the angel was well aware of her tendency of coming on strongly when she came across someone she liked. Yet, she did not feel the slightest bit guilty for causing the green women's nervousness and a chuckle escaped the witch’s lips. She was thoroughly amused by the behaviour of this heroic woman and the witch had no intention of making things easier. Not yet anyway. In a way, she was curious about just what the legal mage would do if pushed far enough and given the difficult situation that she had put herself in, Medeia did not think it would take too long for the woman to crack but just how would she? Would she end up sobbing like the moronic male? Would she become frustrated and angry? Would she try and run off? The holy being had a presence, one that could cause a wide variety of emotions to come to the surface and she was intrigued about just which would emerge from the gorgeous woman. Only time would tell.

Unfortunately for all concerned, her attention swiftly snapped away from Terumi and onto the guard as he stupidly tried to flee, his legs barely strong enough carry him. The idiocy of humans, even having spent as much time around them as she had, never failed to surprise her and his behaviour ranked pretty highly. He had been so close, so close to perhaps being able to leave in one piece but as the expression of the dark mage changed to one of immense annoyance, the chances of that dropped by a huge percentage. The green haired mage had stepped in to defend him and how had the fool responded to that? By practically spitting in the woman’s face. The temptation to wring his neck was almost impossible for her to deny at that point. He deserved nothing more than to pay for his actions, the ultimate price.

Yet, he was unable to escape, as Terumi cast a spell of her own in order to trap the moron and hold him in place. A majestic looking construction made of crystal and Medeia had to admit that it was quite a lovely structure indeed but there was a distinct scent to it that the angel recognised and when her gaze turned back to Terumi again, the witch could detect the slightest hint of it too. Fire. An element that the angel knew incredibly well and one that was quite easily able to use herself. One of six that she had complete control of although not the one that she used all that often. The revelation caused the witch to ponder if perhaps the advantage that she already had over the legal mage might have been even greater than she had thought. Regardless, it caused her already enormous amount of confidence to grow. It truly did seem that she held all of the cards, so to speak. Just the way she liked it.

As Terumi tried to cover up the guard’s moronic behaviour, Medeia would take a step towards her so that they were rather close. There was a fair amount of difference between them in terms of height and the angel was more than capable of making those five inches seem far greater through her aura alone. “After witnessing his absurd attempt at trying to escape from me, I do not feel quite so charitable now. I gave him an incredibly clear order to stay where he was. That was his only chance, Terumi and now no matter what you do, I am going to turn him into a husk of burning flesh. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for him and he threw it back in your face. Why even bother defending him after that? Stand aside and let me grant him the death that he deserves. Put your dreams of becoming a hero to one side and make the right decision.”

She leaned her down at that point and whispered into the woman’s ear, her tone as menacing and ominous as it had been at the start. “If you do not then I promise that any chance of us having a pleasant day in each other’s company goes straight out of the window. I am a creature of lust, Terumi and you must have realised by now that I want you. Whenever I engage someone as lovely as you in battle, I always say the same thing. If you fight me and lose then I will do whatever I wish with your lovely form and it will be an experience that you will not forget in a hurry. I will not keep you forever but long enough for you to understand what getting in my way means.”

She would step back at that point in order to give the woman some space, a wicked smile crossing her features, her purple eyes blazing into those of the green haired woman. “Now, what are you going to do?”

(854 Words)
(3615 PWC)
(6949 TWC)

There was a saying that went some thing like this: "hope for the best and prepare for the worst". That had been Terumi's mindset the moment the idiot of a guard had tried to run away, and inwardly, she had steeled her resolve to do battle against one who likely outclassed her. It was a good thing she had made that mental preparation, because, as she expected, Medeia was very, very displeased. Even without the dark mage's ambience becoming more hostilely intense, Terumi could see the wrath on her face. To think things deeply, the guard was a rather selfish individual. She had gone to lengths she would never approach on a good day, just to ensure his survival, and yet he did the very thing that was most likely to endanger them both. To leave him to his fate would be justifiable by many, and yet, Terumi knew that that was not an option for her. It was in crises such as this one that the worth of a person's soul shone through, and being a hero meant that she had to do her duty, whether the ones she was to protect appreciated it or not.

Terumi was no longer just nervous; she could feel her fingers tremble slightly as Medeia approached her. She looked up into the dark mage's face, hoping that she looked a lot braver than she felt. With the woman towering over her, eyes burning into hers, Terumi wished she could just disappear and escape this precarious situation. From the words Medeia spoke, she knew that the man's fate was sealed in the taller woman's mind. There was no point appealing to pity, because even if the elegant dark mage had harbored even a shred of it, the guard's flagrant disobedience had quashed it. Medeia asked her to stand aside and allow her to destroy him. Painfully, obviously. But there was something she said that seemed to kick something awake in Terumi. If she chose to "put her dreams of becoming a hero to one side" when the situation screamed for it, she didn't know whether she would be able to pick them up ever again. The "right decision"... was it to stand down or actually to stand up?

The girl instinctively gulped and leaned backwards a little when Medeia moved to speak into her ear, but not enough to visibly back away or hinder her from still doing so. Medeia was threatening her if she refused to stand aside, but she still intended to have her way with her. A sick feeling churned in the pit of her stomach. The consequences of defying this dark mage were steep, and in all honesty, Terumi at a point considered whether it wouldn't be better to just step aside and let the man reap the fruit of his actions. That way, she was assured that even if Medeia wanted to do some naughty things to her, she might tone them down for her sake. If however, she refused to back down... she didn't know what Medeia had planned for her, and perhaps she didn't want to know. All she was sure of at this point was that she would probably make it out alive, but sometimes, death was a preferred option to certain things.

Stepping back, the raven-haired dark mage issued a challenge, or at least, that was what it sounded like to her. Terumi exhaled through her mouth and ran a hand through her hair. She sounded tired. "You talked about making the right decision, Medeia-dono. You are right; this man probably doesn't deserve a chance, with what he did. And quite frankly, should I be guided by logic, which I highly favor, it behooves me to acquiesce to your demands. He is not related to me in any way, and I believe you'll let me off easy for letting you have your way. So, this is my decision."

She looked over her shoulder at the guard, her expression suddenly indifferent. He shook his head, horror in his eyes, and mouthed a silent "no". She only shrugged in reply, and clicked her fingers. The crystalline shield, the Quartzfire Solar Bastion, shattered into glittering dust and vanished, but in the next instant, as the hapless guards uttered a wail of terror, a bright ball of fire engulfed him, and he was no more, his cries cutting off in mid-scream.

"He's still alive," Terumi said patiently, in response to the horrified clamor of the bystanders, then she turned back to Medeia. Her voice was tinged with emotion as she spoke. "I just remembered a promise I made to a person very dear to me. She died trying to protect me, because there were no heroes there to save us on that day. With her blood on my hands, I vowed that I would carry on that legacy, and be a hero in my own way, even if my deeds are little."

Her eyes became hard with resolve. "I would be lying if I said your fury did not terrify me, but you yourself asked me to do what was right. And so I did. Yes, that man might have been an impolite idiot, but even a repentant cretin deserves another shot at life. And even if all the world should shatter my bones, and grind me to dust, as long as I can give someone else the promise of tomorrow, I will die fulfilled.

"I don't want the world to remember me as the one who let someone else die. I want to be known as 'Senka, the Flame of Hope'."

With a whoosh, the sound reminiscent of a large fire suddenly blazing into existence, Terumi's hair caught fire, although her body posture remained passive. She didn't really intend for it to be a declaration of battle, but her emotions were already a little all over the place. And while she was not keen on instigating violence, she was at this point ready to give as much as she could, if it boiled down to it. She might not be as powerful as this dark mage, but her fire was really strong, and it had not ever disappointed her before. "I apologize once again, Medeia-dono; I wanted this to be resolved very peacefully. I do not wish to risk any damage to this library, but I will defend myself, if I have to."

Stubborn. Always stubborn. No matter how reasonable the dark angel attempted to be, which was frankly difficult for her in the first place, it would always end up being thrown back in her face. The woman’s defiance certainly did nothing in cooling the flames of rage that were swiftly starting to flow through Medeia’s veins and at this point, she tossed aside the option of compromise altogether. Terumi was not going to let this guard face his end by either Medeia’s whip or magic and it truly did seem that the Ace was going to have to go through the green haired woman in order to do so. It was unfortunate, in a way but there seemed to be no other real option. The legal mage did indeed strike the guard with a spell itself but it was simply cast to knock him out rather than kill him. An interesting move for certain but that simply was not severe enough for Medeia. He had to be erased from the world, the only fitting price for a male who dared to ignore her orders, let alone put his hand on her, as he had at the start. No male would touch her. None.

She had remained silent for the entirety of Terumi’s speech, her body language not seeming to change at all, unmoved as to the woman’s inspiring words. When Medeia has spoken previously about the legal mage being a hero, it had partly been in jest and yet, it truly did appear as though Terumi wished to be one. The dark mage supposed that it would be considered noble by most, even if she personally thought that it was rather absurd. Risking one's life against a superior foe for the sake of pride and vanity was ridiculous and Medeia understood that it was a lesson that apparently she would have to teach Terumi herself. A teacher and mentor at heart, the angel could not help but wish for the woman to grow, despite the fact that the two were enemies as it stood. Her hatred for males was so deep and personal that it would never be soothed but when it came to women, that was simply not the case. Even now, she did not wish to kill the green haired woman before her. No, her desires were of a different nature regarding the woman’s fate and she had of course just made them perfectly clear. Terumi would come with her once this was all said and done and Medeia would discover all there was to know about the beautiful young mage.

As soon as Terumi’s hair caught fire, another smile crossed Medeia’s face, as if that simple action alone had guaranteed the legal mage’s fate. The smell of the flames were delightful and if Terumi was aware enough, she might just catch a brief look of hunger in the purple eyes of the witch. “Then you leave me with little recourse. The lesson that will be learned today is that the hero does not always win the day and sometimes it is the villain, as I suppose I am, that comes out on top. I will survive every spell that you cast, find a counter to every strategy that you can conjure up and once you are beaten, you will watch as I have my way with this town. My threat was genuine, Terumi and as much as I adore this place, I am afraid that it will have to burn. I can only imagine what people will think of ‘Senka’ after she fails in her heroic endeavors.”

Her gaze briefly flicking to the woman’s blazing hair, she would then go on to say. “I hope that there is more to you than just those luscious flames, my dear, otherwise you are in for a difficult time indeed. I have quite an affinity with the element myself and I cannot help but ponder whether yours can even reach me. Still, I suppose part of the fun will be finding out for myself.” There was a trace of mockery in her tone of voice now, as she attempted to get under the skin of the woman. Up until now, Terumi had appeared more nervous than anything but Medeia was curious to know just what lay under the surface. Fire was an element of passion, anger and rage, after all, one that could easily blaze out of control if not handled with care. “Come then, Terumi. Let me see these flames of yours and I will test just how heroic and in control, you truly are.”

Knowing that she would have to take the offensive in order to kick things off, Medeia would tap into her powers of sand and cause a storm of it to start raging in the area around her. Not her most powerful spell for certain but even her weakest spells were to be feared, her already formidable magical power increased immensely by the weapons and items that were on her person. The bystanders would instantly start to scream and try to flee the approaching sand and for those unable to escape? Well, it would be an incredibly painful experience. Medeia’s sand could shred a person to the bone given enough time and the angel could not have been more uncaring as to the fate of the locals. They could rot in Hell for all she cared and that killing intent only fuelled the power of her spell further. The fight was well and truly on.

(919 Words)
(4534 PWC)
(8934 TWC)

Terumi did not like the way Medeia smiled when her hair ignited into flame. It probably meant that she had a powerful counter against fire, or there was something about the element that gave her an advantage. Terumi realized that all her spells were directly or indirectly made up of flames, but she had never thought of it as a disadvantage. She wielded fire that could burn almost anything. She didn't know whether her power would work on a higher ranked mage as effectively as normal, though; it was a known rule of magic that higher ranks often overcame lower ranked spells by sheer power alone. Still, it would not deter her from putting in her best. If it meant that she had to burn until she was but ashes and cinders, she would pay that price. The price of being a hero.

Perhaps the dark mage knew it, but she just mentioned one thing that Terumi couldn't stand, one of the easiest ways to get the normally calm girl into a fitful rage: the uncaring harming of innocents. Whatever Medeia meant by having her way with the town was clear to Terumi, even if she did not bother to elaborate. There would be lots of death and carnage, and yes, like she had cared to mention, the city would burn. Terumi at this point in time was faced with her inability: if she was powerful enough, she could have struck a pose and promised the good people of Oak Town that no harm would come to them. However, at her current level, she could only try to ensure that nobody died, or at least, casualties would be reduced to the barest minimum. This meant that she had to get much stronger. There seemed to be too few heroes in the world.

Medeia had an affinity with fire? Terumi felt her luck couldn't get much worse than this. Most people who used fire were afraid of going up against water and ice magic users, but to Terumi, it was all the same. Her Sunfire could burn on anything, so dousing them by normal water or ice was just a waste of time. She now wondered what it would be like, going up against another fire user. Perhaps there was a thing or two she would be able to take away from this fight, some lesson she could learn, that would improve the way she used her flames. Medeia seemed to underestimate her. She hoped, as had usually been the case in many previous fights, that that would play in her favor.

And the time for battle was upon them.

It would almost be an understatement to say that Terumi was disappointed to see that the first thing that Medeia conjured up was not fire, but sand. "Wait! That's not fire...!" The sand storm lashed out at everything, showing the bystanders the folly of spectating in a fight between behemoths. She was struck by the sands just as she was about to make a move, and Terumi cried out in pain. She didn't expect it to be this painful. That indeed said a lot about the magic power of the mage she was up against, what with the easy way she could whip up (no pun intended) such a powerful spell. Gritting her teeth, Terumi clapped her hands, activating a spell of her own as a countermeasure.

"Sunfire Tech: Psyfire Burst!"

The flames leaped onto the raging sandstorm, burning into them like fire would burn paper. It was the ability of some of her flames to negate other spells like they were ready fuel that gave her an advantage that even most fire mages could not boast of. However, now was not the time to gloat about her powers. She didn't bother to wait and see whether the Psyfire Burst had caught Medeia in its flames, because it was an offensive spell in itself; the Yasakani no Tama would reveal to her what Medeia would do to avoid being burned. She had more important matters to attend to. There were people who needed saving.

Quickly, she channeled her power and set off two of her more powerful spells in quick succession, ignoring the fact that they would take a toll on her magic power reserves. First, she cast her Voidfire Tech: Exorcist Flames, on everyone caught by the sandstorm, following it up with Amaterasu's Firestep. While the healing flames would get those who were critically injured out of the jaws of death, the Firestep would transport every single person in the area further away from the fight. However, she was afraid that there would be some people she was too late to save. Still, the living ought to be smart enough to put as much distance between themselves and the library, and hopefully call for backup. Come to think of it, against a foe this strong, was backup even a good idea? They might just end up being more fodder for Medeia's wrath.

Whether or not Medeia had been injured by the Psyfire Burst, Terumi decided to press her attack. "Sunfire Tech: Firefly Bombs!" These projectiles could track down their target, which would make it much harder for the dark mage to avoid them. Hopefully, she would keep toying with Terumi, not taking her seriously, until she could discover the reason for Medeia's smugness, and just how attuned to fire she was.

The smile did not leave Medeia’s face as Terumi’s fire spell was able to negate the witch’s sand based one. Her attack had done a fair amount of damage to not only the legal mage but judging from the twitching bodies on the ground around her, a number of the locals too. The sight pleased her immensely and what was more, she knew that it would obviously have an effect on the hero. How many would she have to hurt in order to make the woman snap? 5? 10? The entire town? The thought amused her greatly and she raised an eyebrow as the flames bore down upon her, she came up with the most simple, yet effective counter that she could have come up with. The witch simply opened her mouth and inhaled, with the result being that Terumi’s spells would turn into a simple funnel of flame that would trickle down Medeia’s throat. This caused no pain to Medeia and she could feel her magical power being restored from devouring the attack. Not only had Terumi’s attack been ineffective but the legal mage had actually managed to aid the angel rather than hinder.

She looked back up to see that the legal mage had attempted to move those who had survived the holy being’s initial attack by way of teleportation and while a prudent decision, it would take far more than that to protect them. They were all much closer to each other now and Medeia knew that one attack in the right spot would spread their bodies all over the place. Yet, she did not do that just yet. No, she was going to play a slightly longer game with Terumi. The witch was going to draw it out for as long as she possibly could, in order to show her foe just how pointless her efforts were. If fire was truly all that Terumi had to offer then there it would be all the more humiliating. So much the better.

As she walked towards the green haired mage, another spell was cast against her. Again, one of fire and Medeia did not even try to dodge the attacks as they homed in on her. No, she deliberately chose against it, her walk almost more of a strut at this point and simply kept moving forwards slowly. Only when the bombs reached her did she react and only by licking her lips and opening her mouth a second time, resulting in the projectiles being devoured, nourishing the powerful being. “Attack me once, twice, a thousand times but the result will be the same, my dear. I control many elements and fire is one of them. I hope you have another to attack me with otherwise you are in deep trouble.” The mockery in her tone was becoming more pronounced now and the look in her eyes was one of immense confidence and smugness. “By all means keep trying, Terumi, embarrass yourself even more in front of those that you mean to save. I confess that your flames do taste rather lovely and I would not mind devouring a few more spells of yours.”

A chuckle escaped her lips at this point. “Not that you can actually save them. From the moment you refused to move, their fate was sealed and know that I will take great pleasure in slowly torturing every single one of them, while you will be able to do nothing but watch. Perhaps instead of destroying this town, I will simply hang their bodies from the walls. A warning to any other potential heroes regarding what happens when I am angered. Mmm. Perhaps I will do the same to you although I did promise that you would not be permanently harmed. Oh, I know, I will leave you bound to the centre square in your underwear, after I have had my fun of course. It would not be the first time that I have done that to a legal mage. I suppose it is a trademark of mine…Now. I am curious to see whether you are capable of devouring my magic, as I am yours. Think fast.”

Channelling the powers of flame into her fist, Medeia would send a powerful projectile of flame that would hurtle towards the legal mage. At first it would simply look like a ball, similar to Terumi’s attack but as it flew, it grew in size, taking the shape of an enormous human being. A potent spell of hers and more than capable of leaving a horrible burn if it made contact. There was a black aura that surrounded her flaming spell, a sign of the corrupted nature of it. It would be a fine test of the woman’s reflexes but Medeia was not quite finished.

While her first attack was in motion, Medeia would then launch what would appear to be a golden orb in the air which would continue to rise for a few moments, before exploding, unleashing a deluge of golden colour rain on the area below it. This spell, however, was not simply to strike at Terumi. No, it had considerable range and could quite easily reach some of the locals if they were unable to escape. The effect of this spell was far nastier than the first and anyone struck by the rain would be turned to solid gold. The worst part of it? They would be conscious during the immobilisation, unable to move, blink or even breathe. An unpleasant use of magic indeed but a fond one of the angel’s.

(927 Words)
(5461 PWC)
(10762 TWC)

"No! No! No! Not Slayer Magic!" Terumi protested, as the raven haired woman casually sucked up the flames, her actions obviously taunting the green-haired woman. Of all people to be up against, a Fire type Slayer was sure to be the most problematic. This instantly thrust the greatest weakness of the Allfire Magic into light: it was not versatile enough. Sure, one could argue against that line of thought, claiming that the potent magic had a plethora of effects. However, whatever her magic did, it was at its core fire, and once someone had a strong resistance to fire, there was very little she would be able to do against them. Her shoulders sagged as the despairing state of her plight hit her hard, but being the practical girl that she was, her mind was actively trying to find some other means by which she could battle Medeia without granting her  more sustenance through eating her flames. Despite how hard she racked her brain, the situation looked quite bleak. There was one more thing she could try, but if that did not work, the she would be at the end of her rope.

It appeared that Medeia was aware of the fact that, as far as elements went, Terumi was more or less a one-trick-pony. Saying that she was in deep trouble if she did not have another means with which to fight was unfortunately starting to look very accurate. The girl seethed as she watched Medeia taunt her with that condescending smile. Oh, what she wouldn't  give at this point to be able to wipe it off her face somehow... She made no reply to the ridicule; the dark mage may think that she was "embarrassing" herself in front of the people she was trying to protect, but if that would at least save some of them, it didn't matter to her. Already, some people had been killed by the shredding sandstorm, and that had sunk her spirits into her shoes. She would just have to try to keep the others alive; at this point, she was not sure that defeating Medeia was a foreseeable future for her.

As Medeia described what she intended to do to the people of Oak Town, Terumi's eyes narrowed, her anger churning at the dark mage's words. At some point, she wondered if allowing Medeia to kill the guard would have spared all the people of this city. Did this mean that she was responsible for their deaths? The logical part of her mind had considered the idea of sacrificing one for the sake of many, but Terumi was never comfortable with such an idea. She had tried  to save a life, but now she risked losing many more. She could feel the Flame of Ruin struggling somewhere in the depths of her soul to awaken, but her self-control was enough to keep it reined in. The worst possible scenario now would not be to lose to Medeia; it would be to lose control and actually destroy even more than Medeia had already done. At least, at this point, she could blame the sneering dark mage, but if she was to go berserk, she would have herself to blame, and she might never be able to forgive herself. After all, was it not the accursed Flame of Ruin that destroyed the Giant Village, those years ago? No! She couldn't afford to slip down that hole and let self-loathing and accusation already lend help to her miserable plight. Until she  found out the truth about that dark, fateful day, she would not believe it, she could not believe it...

Her eyes widened, and color rapidly crept up her face. "Tied to the  center square in my...?!!" Just what sort of a horribly depraved creature was this? Perhaps being hung from the walls was a better alternative to what Medeia had in mind for her. More and more, Terumi was seeing reasons why she could not afford to lose this fight, and yet, with each reason that came, it was accompanied by the realization that her defeat was almost certain. And Medeia attacked. Perhaps that ribald idea she had thrown at her was to distract her in order to  spring this offensive, but that was very unlikely. Medeia was too confident to bother with such tactics. It was obvious she just wanted to make Terumi feel very uncomfortable, and very helpless. The attack came in the form of fireball with a dark aura. It was fast, and expanded into a humanoid shape as it approached. But it was fire. This was the first (and Terumi prayed it would not be the only) good thing that had happened ever since she had bumped into this dark haired perv. Terumi took in a deep breath with her mouth, sucking up the flames and preventing any splash damage (if the spell had any) from endangering any nearby innocents. Normally, Terumi liked to counter with a breath attack, her Fire Titan's Scream, after eating flames like this, but she knew that it would just be a waste of time, as far as Medeia was concerned.

"Dark tint to the flames... slightly bitter tang... she's a Godslayer!" Terumi inferred from the taste of Medeia's fire.

The second spell was not coming her way, and Terumi could use that opportunity to attack, but perhaps it would be wise to see what exactly the spell was up to. It was a ball of solid gold, which rose into the air as if filled with helium or some such gas, but then it suddenly exploded into a molten downpour of golden terror. "Eeek!" The girl barely avoided it, using her Quartzfire Rampart to make a screen which she ducked under. The gold poured down the shield and pooled on the ground. "Oooh! That was close..." She turned her head, and her face went as white as a sheet.

"No!"

Heedless of Medeia, Terumi ran towards the locals and flung out her hands, casting her Exorcist Flames in an attempt to prevent the solidification of those unable to avoid the golden rain. A number of golden statues informed her, however, that she was a little too late. Her Exorcist Flames did not work on the dead, and the mere fact that, out of the nine people affected by the rain, seven statues did not revert back to human beings meant that their lives had been snuffed out.

"No..."  she murmured, tears beginning to stream down her face.

She turned to face the dark mage, her purple eyes brimming with sorrow and rage. "What is it with you people and just killing offhandedly? WHAT IS IT WITH YOU?!!"

As she screamed those last words, she ran towards Medeia, her hands balling into fists. If she couldn't burn Medeia, then she would throttle her with her bare hands. Of course, running heedless towards danger was most unwise, but her rage was starting to get the better of her. Despite that, she could still think. A series of magical circles suddenly started tracing out into existence around the area, like an invisible artist drew them with luminous marker. Terumi did not will them to explode, yet. Maybe she could lure Medeia into a trap, using them. Slayers might be able to eat elements, and boasted of strong resistances, but she knew they were not completely immune.

If Medeia let her come in close, Terumi would aim a right hook at that annoying smirk. "I won't forgive you for this!"

So it appeared that she was not the only one capable of eating fire. That was most definitely something that Medeia would keep in mind going forward. Not being able to use it was certainly not the be all and end all and the angel had a fair few other forms of attack in her arsenal. She was curious though as to just how Terumi was able to devour her flame though and she briefly considered the options. Neither dragon nor demon slayer could do such a thing and if the woman had been a god slayer then her magic would have the same corrupted tinge that Medeia’s had. No, it was due to something else and the witch was intrigued. Another question that she would have to pose to the green haired mage later, once she was lying helplessly in the dark being’s arms. Terumi did not seem to be an awfully big talker, so to speak and the angel would confess that she had not gathered much information on her yet. Still, there was plenty of time for that and Medeia was in no hurry. She had all the time in the world.

Despite her fire attack being ineffective, her rain of liquid gold had been, with more than a few of the locals now little more than immobile clumps of metal. In reality, there was no chance of any normal human being able to survive a spell of hers and Terumi had been their only hope. The woman had failed, having only saved two and the smile that was already etched across Medeia’s face grew. Killing them had only been a means to an end and as she watched Terumi come to terms with what had just occurred, her plan would become rather more clear. It was a simple mind game, one that the fire mage had fallen for, hook, line and sinker. The hero was falling apart on an emotional level and that precisely what the angel had wished for. Tears were pouring from the girl’s face but what was of the most interest to Medeia was the anger, boiling to the surface. She could taste it in the air and that was another weapon that the dark haired witch could use against her foe. Not a standard element but yet one that she commanded. The more rage that Terumi felt, the easier it would be for Medeia to manipulate and devour it. This woman was turning out to be the perfect enemy for the Errings Rising Ace.

Terumi darted towards her at that point, appearing to be blinded by her rage and giving up on fighting with her magic altogether. It was an awfully reckless move and Medeia pondered briefly about just what she was up to. Did the legal mage think that the holy being would be unable to evade such a simple strike? In fairness, her magical power was far superior to her physical and it was not all that often that Medeia engaged in melee combat but she had the weapons for it and enough strength and speed to be able to keep up with most. Despite how one sided the fight had been so far though, she would not underestimate her foe though, having made that error more than once in recent times. Yes, she was more powerful but she could still be harmed and pain was rather irritating. Dishing it out was acceptable and pleasurable, taking it on the other hand? Not so much.

As Terumi came in with a powerful, rage filled punch, Medeia would take a step or backwards, evading the blow but feeling the force behind it. The woman had significant physical strength, that was clearly to see and the dark being was under no illusion that it would probably increase due to the woman’s rage. Anger was an immensely motivating emotion and with Medeia’s intimate knowledge on the subject, she knew that better than most.

“Whether you forgive me or not is of little interest to me but will you be able to forgive yourself?" Medeia countered, her tone rather calm and cold. “Will you be able to look yourself in her mirror and see a hero or will you see a powerless little girl who was unable to save those that she swore to protect? When you stood in my way, you gambled on the fact that you were the former but I am not so sure after seeing what you can do. You should have let me kill the guard from the start and I believe that you are starting to understand this yourself. Is his life truly worth more than those who were just killed by my lovely gold? Are they Terumi?”

Whether the green haired would realise or not was another story but Medeia would slowly start and try to drain some of the anger from the legal mage, strengthening herself even further. It was not an attack as such and would not do any damage but it would restore a little of the angel’s magical power, like eating any other natural occurring element would.

It was only then that she tapped into her own magic and cast another spell of her own, an unusual form of magic that would start to release an odd red coloured mist around her. It had a fair range, one vastly amplified by Medeia’s natural boosting effects and if there were any locals left in the area, they could well be affected too. What did the spell do? It struck at the mind and emotions of those who inhaled the mist, specifically the anger and rage that no doubt lurked within. Medeia’s spell would force it to the surface and in doing so, would turn all those who were unable to shake off the effects to give in to wrath and fight each other. It was a spell that Medeia generally used for entertainment but against a foe like Terumi? It was used as a tool to try and enrage her further. The witch wanted to draw it all out, not only to nourish herself but drive her opponent mad with rage. The dark mage had many abilities that struck at the mind rather than the body. This was only one.

(1045 Words)
(6506 PWC)
(13059 TWC)

Despite the fact that Terumi was almost beside herself with anger, she still managed to keep the logical part of her mind active and unblinded by her fury. She had spent a lot of time training her mind to be calm and not give way to the base passions she was inclined to, but even with all that, she was finding it really difficult to stay composed. She could feel the effect of the Yasakani no Tama's Megami no Onkei, like a gentle soothing wind on her turbulent mind, and she could feel the wrath of ther titan heritage fighting against it. Fortunately for her, her will was on the side of the Tama, and so she did not give way to unbridled rage. Still, she often felt like screaming whatever she wanted to say.

It was annoying to see how Medeia avoided her punch without immediately engaging her with a counter-offensive strike. It was obvious she was toying with her, and she was enjoying herself while she was at it. On the normal, Terumi did not fancy exchanging words with her opponents when they were fighting, but it seemed that her emotions were making her a little less tight-lipped than she normally was. Besides, if all the enraging words that were uttered by the dark mage were allowed to flow as a monologue, it would seem like Medeia had the upper hand, even in conversation. But talk right now was not the most important thing on the shorter woman's mind. She was versed, to an extent, in physical combat, but the exotic pervert had dodged her blow with relative ease. That meant that she too knew how to fight at close quarter combat, or she was very nimble and quick on her feet. Besides, Medeia had a scythe. Unless it was just some trinket with some other purpose, the dark mage probably had it on her because she could use it. She would have to look out for its wicked blade, if she wanted to get up close and physical. That, and find a way to corner Medeia so that she wouldn't be able to dodge her physical attacks.

"There's a lot about myself that is in need of forgiveness," she seethed. A part of her was surprised at how she didn't seem to mind divulging a thing or two about her past to Medeia, who was likely still going to try to use it against her. "But I don't need my own forgiveness to do the right thing, or at least feel up for it. Every time I looked in the mirror, all I saw was a powerless little girl, just like you said. A powerless runt who could do nothing to save her father, or her dearest friend, or even herself. You don't know how long I hated myself just for being weak. When I protected that guard from you, I didn't feel like a hero. After all, heroes don't bow to the villains and try to broker peace. Feel free to think of me as you wish."

While, unknown to her, Medeia was gaining strength from absorbing her anger, she paused in her attack, deciding not to attempt to throw another blow. Maybe it was the Godslayer's leeching on her rage that made her a little less belligerent, she would never know. "But one of the things my dear friend said to me before her passing was this: 'if you don't try to protect someone, just because you're weak, how will you ever save anybody?' I didn't stand in your way because I thought I was strong, let alone harbor the thought of defeating you. I stood in your way because if I don't start to be a hero now, whenever will I start? I don't know; maybe I'm selfish. Maybe I'm unconsciously using the lives of these innocent locals to try to prove a point; I honestly don't know. What I do know is that, for as long as there are people like you, who kill without a thought, I will try to protect whom I can and save whom I can. And as to whether the guard's life was more important than those you killed, no, I don't think it was. However, you are the one that killed them, when you could easily have refrained from doing so. I may have been in the wrong for interfering in your business, but the blood of the dead and dying is on your head, not mine."

Terumi sort of felt a little sense of relief after her verbal outburst, though it could still have been as a result of Medeia's Godslayer power. That did not mean that she was no longer angry. She was still boiling, and had already made up her mind that until one of them went down, or Medeia fled (which was unlikely), she would keep fighting. The time for talk was over, anyway. She took a step forward, preparing to lunge at the dark mage, when Medeia released a strange red mist. At first, Terumi thought it was blood, but by the time the spell blew past her, she knew it was something else. Something worse. The anger brought on by this spell was external, but it melded with her rage so perfectly, she could have sworn it was her titan fury in all its wild glory.

It didn't matter. Sanity closed her doors in Terumi's mind and hid from the wrath to come.

Terumi ground to a halt, her expression dazed, as though someone had slapped her out of sleep, or she had received a rude shock. Medeia would sense a shift in the air pressure before Terumi's hair exploded into a bonfire of dark blood-red. Her distant expression suddenly focused with intensity on Medeia, and the hitherto soft-spoken girl uttered a feral snarl. And then she spoke, but her voice was not gentle any more. It was more guttural, and came with a harsh cry that put all of her power behind one single attack:

"Kakyojin no Himei!!!"

A powerful beam of dark crimson fire shot out of her mouth and straight at Medeia. The mere fact that she was utilizing fire as her primary offense was enough to inform any quick thinking person that perhaps Terumi was not thinking much any longer. And indeed, she wasn't. All she wanted now was to shred this annoying woman standing in front of her. How could someone be so powerful and smug and... (loathe as she was to say it) attractive? This would not stand. Terumi would show her who was mightier. This woman would burn by her hand...

... even if all of Oak Town was the pyre on which she roasted.

Terumi’s little speech was inspiring in its own way and Medeia was certain that the green haired woman believed in what she was saying but they did not penetrate through the mind of the witch. Guilt over those who she had killed? None. To end the lives of a few humans meant nothing to her and frankly, she viewed the race as a whole in such low esteem that she did not even view it as killing actual people. Medeia had evolved beyond being a human, her entire mindset having changed from the moment that her soul had fused with that of Priya, a holy being, who had fallen from the so-called grace of the heavens. Now they were one being, walking across the Earth, doing whatever they desired, in perfect sync with one another. Neither morality or the laws of the land meant anything to her now and Medeia lived by her own creed, one that more often than not resulted in the unhappiness of others. That was how it was and would always be, from now until the end of time itself. She would never age, never stop and live forever. The world around her was little more than her playground now, to do with as she wished, its people being nothing more than bodies for her to torment and amuse herself with.

Before Medeia could offer a response, she felt the effects of her own spell as they seemed to affect the green haired mage. The witch could feel the woman’s anger become even more potent, which drew another smile from the dark mage. Everything was going to plan at this point and there did not seem to be anything that Terumi could do in order to fight off her mind games. No matter what her opponent seemed to do, Medeia was just one step ahead and that brought a sense of satisfaction so strong that the raven haired woman actually let a chuckle escape her lips, one meant to antagonise Terumi further, a jab at the woman’s helplessness. They both knew the score and the purple eyes of the angel were filled with amusement. This was how she loved to fight, if you could even call it that. She toyed, teased and played with her opponents, never taking them out in one blast and honestly, not attacking a great deal at all until her amusement had come to an end. Terumi was an incredibly entertaining toy and Medeia had no desire to end things just yet. Not until the green haired girl was lying exhausted on the ground, helpless at her feet. Then Medeia would have her fun with the hero and show her a new meaning of the word entertainment. She had no idea as to how experienced the woman was in such matters but given how polite and soft spoken she had been at the start, Medeia assumed that perhaps she was a little naive about the subject. Ironic in truth, given the woman’s rather revealing appearance. Thinking about it now, Terumi reminded the witch of another mage she had met recently, who was rather similar in that regard.

There was a change in the woman’s body language then and it was then that Medeia knew that she had won. The legal mage seemed to explode with rage, her hair taking on an even stronger hue. Terumi had completely given in to her rage and Medeia’s enhanced senses picked up on the growls and snarls coming from her foe, the dark angel knew what was coming. Mindless rage would only lead in even greater recklessness and the holy being made no effort to create a defensive spell or try to move. She knew what was going to happen. A spell would be coming towards her, fire once again and this time, the Ace would show just how pointless Terumi’s actions were.

Soon enough it came, a mighty crimson coloured beam of flame that tore towards her at great speed. Medeia had no doubt that if it had been anyone else in this situation then it would no doubt have done a great deal of damage. An attack to be respected, no doubt. However, it was not another mage, it was the angel, the ‘Mistress Of Flame’. Instead of simply devouring it normally as she had before, Medeia would raise her hand, causing the spell to stop a few inches from her face. A sign of her dominance over the element and only after holding it there for a few moments would she take a breath and inhale, the spell tasting rather spicy as it travelled down her throat.

“That was by far your most delicious spell, my dear.” She taunted, the smug expression plastered across her face again. “Tell me. Does seeing your spells so easily dealt with frustrate you further? Do you wish for nothing more than to see my corpse lying in front of you? Does the heroic legal mage wish to give in to her impulses and beat her foe to death? Oh my, what message would that send to those you wish to protect and inspire?”

“The way you are now, fuelled by wrath and hatred. There are many mages like that in this world but they are more likely to be in my guild than yours. That temper of yours is lovely, Terumi and I do so much enjoy the taste of that too but that look you are giving me now is hardly one of a hero. You are giving me more weapons to use against you and the way you are not? You do not have the slightest chance of anything other than a defeat and a heavy one. Still, who am I to stop you from showing your true colours? One of my missions in life is to draw out the true selves of those I meet so why should I treat you differently?”

Attempting to add even more pressure to the woman’s mental state, Medeia would briefly turn her gaze to the ground and cast another spell. From her position, a large area of the ground would turn jet black in colour, before starting to rise up to form a large coffin shaped structure. More powerful than her previous spells, with a rather more unpleasant effect. There was time for Terumi to get out of the way or do something about it but for those who were unable to? They would experience a torrid time, for the darkness that the box was filled with was capable of dragging a person’s darkest memories to the surface. It was a spell used for one purpose, to torture the minds of those who were caught upon it. In Terumi’s mental state, Medeia was somewhat interested to know if it would even work, given how angry she was. Anger was a good cleanser of fear, after all. Still, the spell was cast now and the witch would simply have to wait.

(1162 Words)
(7668 PWC)
(15342 TWC)

There was a part of Terumi that knew that the Fire Titan's Scream would prove very ineffective, but Terumi's raging brain had ignored it. She had hoped to overwhelm her opponent with flames that burned just as fiercely as her fury, but once again, the dark mage was unaffected, even bringing the powerful spell to a halt before sucking up its very essence. The part of Terumi's mind that understood that fire spells against Medeia would prove counterproductive was on a roll, lamenting about how stupid it was to attack without thinking. Pfft! The voice was getting clearer, and she knew that at a point, her anger would be abated, and reason would prevail once again. She couldn't allow that, not yet. She had been locked away for so long, and now she was allowed to stretch a bit. If she could just break this conceited woman in  two...

Terumi knew she was mocking her, but frankly, a hurt ego meant nothing to her.  Nothing meant anything to her, except raging flames and  being allowed to rampage. Yes, admittedly, having her spells prove to be of no effect was exasperating, but the feeling was countered by the knowledge that, at this point, she could go all out without holding back. For a fleeting moment, she considered wreaking havoc on the buildings around, like the large, lofty building that seemed to insult her with its height. But if she did so, the annoying woman would only mock again. It would be nice to hear her scream for  a change. Come to think of it, Terumi couldn't be bothered if Medeia survived this encounter or not (given the virtually impossible turn of events that the half-titan girl was the victor in this fight). She just wanted take all her anger out on her. That was all that mattered. And against the dark mage's belief (as expressed in her words), she didn't hate Medeia; after all, did one hate the sand bag they spent hours striking to train their blows?

Even in her enraged state, she agreed that blind attacks would not work. However, using her brain to form a strategy that might work exposed her to the  risk of working her mind. And the more she worked her mind, the more the real Terumi would gain dominance. She was always striving after control; it would not be hard for her to force the monster within her back under her  control. Hmmm, perhaps she could try out the strategy, and then if her gentler persona prevailed, then so be it. She began to look for an advantage, when the black cuboidal structure formed.

It was quite vast, and rose up towards the sky to form what looked like a coffin. Terumi raised her head to observe it as it closed around her, shutting out the light and dropping her in pitch black darkness.

Darkness.

Instinctively, Terumi conjured a ball of fire in her hand to give herself some light to see by, but nothing could be seen. She felt the heat of her flames, but the darkness did not permit any light. Normally, Terumi would have panicked, because she had an acute case of nyctophobia, but  perhaps it was her berserk state that kept the anxiety down. However, if it was only the  darkness she was to be worried about, Terumi would have been in a less precarious position.

Almost all at once, memories that had been buried deep in trauma and mental seals began to flash by, but her case of amnesia was powerful to the point that she could barely make meaning out of them, or remember what had happened in those events. Then one memory came to her in clarity. She saw a lab... it was like she was a third party, observing the proceedings, and at the same time, she was the little girl fastened by her hands to a scaffolding-like device. She could feel the ropes biting into her wrists, could see how her feet came shy of touching the ground, and yet, it felt like the adult Terumi was a ghost in the room. This was arguably her worst memory, for it led to the events that opened her eyes to the dangers her rampaging could cause, and it was what had inflicted her with her fear of darkness.

As she watched, she saw the shadows creep in from the corners of the room, as two masked people (one male and the other female) revealed themselves. The man had pointy ears, like an elf.  The woman was scarecrow thin. They whispered how she was a demon, how her cursed flames had killed her mother at childbirth, like Kagutsuchi of Midijin legend had burned his mother, Izanami, to death when she bore him. And then the darkness was absolute, and she knew that something was there with her in the darkness, and the torture began. Terumi didn't know whether it was the little girl that screamed and cried and pleaded for the pain to stop, or if it was her adult self. All she knew was that as potent as her anger was, it gave way before that crippling memory, reducing her to a shivering wreck on the ground. But there was a blessing in that. For, as her anger fled, she had a moment of clarity just before the nervous breakdown  came. And in that split second, she cast a spell.

The colossal black coffin of terror suddenly caught fire, erupting into beautiful bright blue flames that burned the darkness away, releasing all those caught within its hold and healing them of their physical and mental injuries. Terumi, however, still had it rough, because her memories, while painful and traumatic, were not a curse that the Exorcist Flames could just burn away. No, they were a part of her, they defined her, they made her who she was. She could remember a bit of her past now: the painful torture every night, the various experiments during the day, all culminating in the event when her brain was white with pain and when next she came to, she was lying in the center of a scorched field. The Ash Maker, the lone surviving giant had called her. She had destroyed their village, burned everything and everyone to the ground.

Maybe Medeia was right. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a hero, after all.

By the time  the flames had burned away, Terumi was lying on her side, curled into a ball, tears streaming down her face. Why was everything so hard whenever she wanted to do the right thing? She never meant to do evil, or destroy anything, but it always happened: whenever she tried to be a hero, whenever she tried to be noble, she ended up destroying everything. First it was back at the Giant Village, now it was here in Oak Town. Did heroes ever go through this sort of thing? Most of them never had to; they weren't murderers from birth, to begin with.

She had tried so hard. Didn't she at least deserve a shot at redemption?

The dark mage had expected Terumi to eventually manage to burn through her structure of despair but it was of little consequence in truth. Such a spell did not actually have to be active for too long in order to deal its damage and considering how long it had taken her opponent to remove it, Medeia was certain that it had done its job well. There were many spells in her arsenal that attacked the emotions of an opponent, anger, love, despair, each as powerful as each other if used properly and there was a special kind of satisfaction that the witch felt when she struck at the mind. Physical damage just seemed so vulgar and animalistic compared to the subtle and sophistication of attacking the core of a person. It was a different form of control and one that Medeia craved more than any other. To see her target, mentally and spiritually broken, brought her no shortage of joy. The body would remain unscathed, just how she wished for it to be, allowing her to indulge in her more pleasant pastimes, pastimes that she still sorely wished to take part in with Terumi, once this was done.

Speaking of the green haired woman, she truly seemed to be on the brink, her body language giving off the impression that she was indeed finished. Lying in a ball, her face turned away from the angel and if Medeia’s keen slayer senses were accurate, the sounds of weeping. Now, what Terumi saw was not something that the angel could fathom from her spell. It did not work that way and could not relay information to the holy being but it did give Medeia another avenue. The woman had an immensely dark past, that was simple to deduce and the raven haired woman wondered what would happen if she began to prod at it. Terumi did appear to be beaten but the purple haired witch was not going to let her shields down, not yet, not until it was for certain. Medeia knew better than most that a mage’s power tended to increase when they were on the edge and she was not so arrogant as to believe that her coffin spell had definitely been the finisher. It needed to be confirmed.

Briefly, she would glance up at the street to see the damage that their fight had caused and despite the fact that many of the locals had managed to escape, thanks to Terumi’s actions, there were still more than a few bodies that were lying motionless on the ground. Her attacks had all been cast with killing intent and the victims were most definitely showing the effect. Some were cut to pieces from her sand, a few were still rock solid due to her gold spell and there were a dozen or so who were slowly walking away, having been struck by the terror of Medeia’s coffin spell. Terumi may have dismissed the spell but they had still been forced to relive their darkest moments and that was something that mere negation could not heal. They would need time to recover, if Medeia gave them the chance.

For the moment, she let them walk away but they were by no means out of range and Medeia could easily teleport to them and lash out in a more physical manner if it was required. As it was, she was content to simply focus on Terumi for the moment. Her gaze would return to the legal mage and as she walked towards her, the dark being would pull her sickle from her back and utter a few words, resulting in the gems that decorated the blade to glow brightly. It was a rather majestic looking weapon in truth and seemed to be rather out of character given Medeia’s nature but she had carried it for so long now that it felt like a part of her. What did the glowing of the gems signify? Trouble. It meant that every swing of the sickle would strike with the full magnitude of Medeia’s enormous magical power and one strike was enough to be fatal to most beings. It was a weapon of mass destruction, even if it did not look like one.

When she reached her fallen opponent, the Errings Rising Ace would roll the legal mage onto her back with her heel, allowing her to see the woman’s face. Oh, what an expression she wore. Terumi was crying, her tears falling from her face like a waterfall. Whatever she had seen must have shaken her to the core, precisely what Medeia had hoped for. Maybe now the beautiful girl had learned her lesson? Perhaps now she was ready to submit herself? The encounter had rather gotten out of hand and there was a part of the dark mage that was frustrated with the woman for being so stubborn. Yes, it was admirable and Medeia would give her credit for that but the simple truth was that Terumi had gotten into it with the wrong woman. Her powers of flame would have been enough to overwhelm the vast majority of mages. Just how unlucky had she been to have come across Medeia, instead of one of those?

Lowering her sickle and raising the woman’s chin gently with the blade so that they were looking each other in the eyes, Medeia would speak, her gaze twinkling. “Now do you understand? There is nothing you can do against me and continuing to fight is only going to make the situation worse for all those involved. The chances of you saving everyone was always nil and by battling me, only more have died. Your powers of negation and healing are potent but they were not enough to save them all. Those flames of yours will not harm me, only nourish and surely now you must give it up. Must I delve even further into your mind? Is it necessary for me to force you to relive those dark memories of yours repeatedly until you are driven insane? That is what will happen if I strike you again with my coffin of darkness.”

As she kept her gaze locked on the luscious lady, Medeia would add almost as an afterthought. “If only you had been as open minded as the last luscious lady that I had come across. Blonde hair, a beautiful figure and an incredibly similar fashion sense to yours. Her name was Nita and instead of fighting, she ended up simply accepting the inevitable. Such a sweet girl and her lips tasted lovely.”

(1097 Words)
(8765 PWC)
(17624 TWC)

The hair on Terumi's head, which had burned an ominous shade of red previously, had been extinguished, her mint-green silky tresses returning to crown her head, although they were rather disheveled, thanks to the losing battle. All traces of her anger were gone, and she felt drained, somewhat hollow. She was tired, and it was as though everything she had tried had just been a futile expending of her energy. From her fallen position, it was still not difficult to see the results of the battle: the city had been thrashed to no little extent, and despite all her efforts, the dead and dying lay strewn about, a testament to her failure. And Medeia was still standing, uninjured by all her attempts.

She heard the dark mage approach, but did not bother to try to stand, or attack, or face her, or even try to escape. There was no point to all of this. If Medeia decided to snuff out her life, would it make any difference? She had done all she could, but she had ended up no different from the poor people of Oak Town: a victim. If only she had been more powerful, she would have been able to prevent this, and even if she would not have been able to bring Medeia to justice, she would have managed to protect many people from the dark mage's malice. That was her crime: it was not that she had ulterior motives, or was even responsible for the deaths of the people here; she was simply too weak. If she was going to have another shot at being a hero, if she was supposed to be able to defend those who couldn't fight for themselves against evil, she needed power. An overwhelming strength that could take on everything the universe threw at her. But would there be a dark cost for it? She knew well enough that nothing came without a price. What would be the sacrifice she needed to give, just in order to be able to stand toe-to-toe against Medeia again, if the future granted her such an opportunity? Would she lose her soul in her search for it? Such a thing was not unheard of. But what would be the point of gaining that much power if she lost the very thing she was seeking power for?

She felt something against her body, and then she was rolled over. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her body heaving occasionally, as she sobbed like a baby. She felt so humiliated. She had set out, hoping to shine like a light that would give people hope, but in the end, she was being prodded and rolled about by someone's foot. Only when she felt something cold against her chin did she open her eyes, and she found herself staring into Medeia's cold purple eyes, a scythe bedecked with glowing gems beneath her chin. Or was it at her throat? She tried to stifle her sobs as the terrifying beauty reminded her of the futility of her actions. From her words, Medeia wanted her to stop fighting, but the only reason Terumi had been stubbornly flinging herself at the dark mage was because she was afraid of what Medeia might do if she was allowed to focus her evil intentions on the Oak Town inhabitants. The moment she had defended that guard, Medeia had made it clear that she would punish the locals as a result of Terumi's actions. She had thus tried to keep Medeia occupied, so that as many people would be able to escape the retribution of the raven-haired mage.

There was no point in her fighting any longer. It was just best for her to give up and let Medeia do whatever she wanted to her. But what of the citizens? Was Medeia going to pardon them, or would she make good her threat and hang their bodies from the walls of the city? If she was going to leave the city along, then Terumi would not contend with her any longer. Besides the lives of the people, there was nothing left for her to fight for. Her pride, which would have been the only thing she could hold on to in order to prolong the fight, had been thoroughly and savagely crushed. The girl sniffed and tried to control her shaky voice.

"Are you... what will you do to these people? Are you going to still pour out your wrath on them? Please, if you'll show them leniency, if you'll let them go, I promise to stop fighting. I'll do whatever you want. Just... no more killing. Enough people have died. Please."

She knew she was in no position to make a bargain with the taller woman, having been soundly defeated, but if she could just at least get Medeia to give her word that there would be no more carnage, Terumi would be able to breathe a little easier, knowing that there would be no more deaths. With the amount of the dead and injured, she found herself wondering what the truly just and right thing would have been. Should she have let Medeia torture and kill the guard, turning a blind eye to the murder, while everyone would be able to carry on in peace? She didn't know what to think right now; her mind was an utter mess. At least, the tears had stopped flowing; she had managed to control herself enough.

When Medeia spoke about Nita, Terumi started, but she remembered that there was a scythe to her neck and so, she did not attempt to sit up as she would have wanted. The dark mage's words bothered her to no end. What had she meant by "open minded"? She had stated that Nita had chosen a more peaceful approach to fighting... and they had shared a kiss? Terumi did not blush, however, at this piece of information; she was too emotionally drained to feel much more than sorrow right now. But she was a little bothered by the words she had just heard. At least, from the sounds of it, Nita had not been in any mortal danger or at risk of bodily harm, but she would not deny that she was a bit surprised that Nita had not come to blows with the dark mage. Anyway, people had differing moral expectations, and Terumi was no longer concerned for her friend's safety, but she was a little more than curious.

"You've met Nita? Did she find you at the point of killing someone else and let you go ahead with it? It was never my intention to fight you, whether I was going to end up winning or losing, but if you had given me a choice, Medeia... dono, I would surely have been more 'open minded'."

A part of her had wanted to not use any honorifics for the dark mage, but Terumi's courtesy still won out in the end. She hoped that Medeia would answer her question about whether her friend had allowed her to kill someone, unlike what she had tried to prevent. And she was not going to ask about the kiss. That was probably private business. Still, she could not help wondering what would have led to that in the first place... Medeia was probably the one that had conned her friend into it.

There appeared to be little, if any, fight left in the green haired woman and as Medeia listened to the woman speak, neither her gaze nor her expression changed in intensity. Terumi truly appeared to be completely and utterly broken from the fight and although there was always that slight doubt in the angel’s mind that it could be a deception, it seemed unlikely. Medeia could no longer detect much in the way of anger in her opponent and even her hair had stopped burning at this point. No, the dark mage was for the most part, satisfied that her last spell had done the job and killed off her foes' will to fight. Naturally, she was pleased but there was a part of her that was annoyed that it had come to all of this. It had all been so unnecessary in truth and Medeia had given Terumi multiple chances to step aside but in the end, the lesson had been learned anyway. When to fight and when not to was such an important skill if one wanted to survive in a world where so many could make the world tremble with just the slightest flexing of their power.

Once Terumi had said what she had needed to, Medeia would remain silent for a moment, before answering. “I admit that my anger is draining away, Terumi. I no longer feel that burning desire to make the people if this town suffer and there has been enough death for one day. If you no longer plan on standing in my way then I will allow those who have survived to walk away and leave the town as it is but mark my words, any attempt at deception on your part will result in the destruction of this place. Frankly, it is not something that I wish to do, as I actually quite enjoy coming here and exploring the library behind us. There is so much knowledge here and it would be an enormous waste for it all to be lost.”

Pausing for a second, she would then gently shrug her shoulders. “If it makes you feel any better then take comfort in the fact that you did save lives today. When push came to shove, you did stand up for what you believed in and although you never had a chance to defeat me, the fact that you tried to fight me anyway took courage. You are not a coward and honestly, I would hardly call you weak either. Your attacks pack quite a punch, Terumi and I have not come across many mages who could hit quite as hard as you. Believe me when I say this, if I had not been a slayer, you would have been a handful for me. Use what has happened here today and let it fuel you into becoming stronger and perhaps the next time you run into a mage like me, the positions will be reversed.”

When Terumi inquired into Medeia’s meeting with Nita, a smile actually crossed the witch’s face, seemingly a genuine one. What were the odds that Terumi knew her too? “Actually, I was in a rather more playful mood that day and looking for trouble. Solemn Park has become somewhat of a hunting ground for me and I was there hoping to attract the attention of a lovely legal mage. So, I cast my anger spell upon the people there, resulting in them starting to fight one another, in the hopes of managing to pull a heroic mage into the fray and break up the drama that I caused. I was successful, as a lovely blonde soon appeared and negated my spell, a beautiful woman for sure and one that soon caught my interest. Combat was not what I truly sought, so I gave her a choice. She could either spend some quality time with me or I would have to get a little nasty with the locals. Nita refused and so we fought for a little while, before making peace and talking for a while. I do not know how much she has told you about her past but as it turns out, her story is rather similar to mine and although we have taken different paths in life, I feel that I understand her quite well now. In the end, I offered her a choice between fighting again or a single kiss. She took the latter option and despite how reluctant she was, I am certain that she enjoyed it as much as I.”

At that point, Medeia withdrew her sickle from Terumi’s face although for the moment, she kept it in hand, just in case. “I offer you the same terms that I mentioned at the start, Terumi and it will be the last time that I give you the option. I confess that after going through all of this, you have more than captured my interest and sharing some quality time with you without having flames thrown at me will be a great pleasure. It is like I said at the start, I do not keep those who I claim and once our time together is over, I will take you wherever you want and we will part ways. It is frustrating that we could not simply take this option from the start but you were oh so stubborn. Perhaps next time, if there is a next time, we will be able to avoid the warmaking and move straight to…Well, something more gentle.”

She had cooled off too at this point and her body language had mellowed out. Oh, she was still not to be trifled with and there was still a twinkle in her eye, a sign that she was still willing to carry out her threat if she was crossed. For the most part, however, she was probably more at ease than she had been at any point in the confrontation. What happened rested on Terumi’s weary shoulders. In truth though, Medeia did not wish to cause her any more pain. She could attack and torture a male mage for days, fuelled by her intense hatred for them but female mages? That was not anywhere near as enjoyable for the raven haired woman and deep down inside, it reminded her of her own darker memories or more specifically, the memories of someone who was incredibly close to her.

(1066 Words)
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(19919 TWC)

Yes, Terumi was tired. She was drained, physically and emotionally. That did not mean that she was going to give up fighting if Medeia was interested in fulfilling the carnage she had mentioned earlier. Without a doubt, that would mean that she would incur the dark mage's wrath afresh, and possible expose herself to more suffering. But as long as it meant that she would, if only for a few more seconds, keep the powerful woman occupied, then more people would be likely to escape. Even so, that was not the best case scenario at this point. The best case scenario would be if somehow, her pleas moved Medeia to relent, but that would mean that she would have to do whatever Medeia wanted. And judging from the woman's earlier displays of lechery, Terumi was convinced that it would be awkward for her at best, and more than demeaning at worst. Regardless, if that was the price to pay for the lives of these people, she would give it.

Medeia did not answer immediately, and Terumi held her breath. She couldn't read the woman's expression, couldn't tell whether the answer would be a 'yes' or a 'no'. When she finally spoke, Terumi exhaled with a silent sigh of relief. She knew of some people that had  an insatiable bloodlust; they reveled in damage and destruction, like that was the only way they could leave their mark on the world. Such people did Terumi utterly detest, and she found no little pleasure in putting them where they belonged: behind bars. As she looked up at Medeia, she found herself wondering at the dark mage. Unlike most of her kin, Medeia seemed not to be so invested in widespread destruction, although she did have the knack for it. She didn't really know much about this woman who had made her feel weak and helpless, but it appeared that mayhem and pandemonium was not her driving force. That was indeed a relief.

Medeia warned her against deception, but underhanded tactics were very far from the girl's mind. Normally, she never resorted to such methods, unless it was absolutely necessary, and at this point, there were two reasons she would not even consider trying to sucker punch her opponent: firstly, the resolution she had wanted from the beginning had finally been taken  by Medeia. In as much as Terumi was not averse to having a good fight, needless confrontations were distasteful, and abhorred if they cause damage to life and property. If Medeia had agreed to let the guard go... perhaps even demand punishment, as long as he was given his life, Terumi would not have resorted to throwing fireballs all over the place. There were some who might, at this point, inform the scythe wielding beauty that she had left them with no options, which had been why they had  stood up to her, but at this point, when a delicate truce was being reached, Terumi knew the importance of being very careful with her words, especially since she was not the victor. A defeated opponent who could still act defiant either had a death wish or an unknown ace up their sleeve. And if it was neither of the above, then they were just very stupid.

Apart from her desire to see everyone safe, she shared Medeia's sentiments about the library. Repositories of knowledge were very sacred to Terumi, and leaving them as preserved as possible was what she would always prefer. Papers, as well as almost everything else she could think of, on which knowledge was inscribed, never fared well with heat. Some exterior parts of the library had been damaged by Medeia's first spell in the battle, the sand storm, but thankfully, the building was still standing.

Terumi was very surprised when Medeia commended some things about her. She had not expected any encouraging words from the woman who had spoken so condescendingly to her just moments ago. She even urged her to become stronger. Terumi had expected the woman to rub in her failure with a haughty laugh and derisive tones, but she had not done so. From the moment Medeia had put her on her back, she had had reason to wonder at this dark mage. It seemed, sometimes, that Medeia was not so much of an evil person... No, she could not be otherwise. To have such wanton disregard for human life was a textbook characteristic of the bad guys. Still, the green haired mage found herself considering whether there was not more to the whole "good and evil" dynamics than just saving lives and destroying them. That was a solid philosophy topic she could immerse herself into, and even spend hours contemplating the subject, if there wasn't a blade at her throat. Looked like she would have a lot to think about, after this day.

When she had asked about Nita, Medeia seemed quite delighted with the memory the question conjured. Come to think of it, there could be other people named "Nita", but when Medeia described her as "lovely", "blonde" and "beautiful", Terumi knew that the probability that it was indeed her friend Medeia had run into was very high. She was inwardly comforted to know that Nita had come to no harm at all in her dealings with the dark mage, and she was hardly surprised when Medeia mentioned that they had fought a little... though she was sure it had not been as intense as what had gone down in Oak Town today. She really didn't know much about Nita's past, as she hadn't tried to find out, but hearing that Medeia and Nita had spent most of their time talking cordially gave Terumi the impression that as long as Medeia was not angered, she  might just be a decent person...  was "decent" the right word with which to describe her, though? She seemed a little too lewd for the Sabertooth mage's liking.

"You know, if you had just asked for a kiss to spare that guard's life, we wouldn't have fought..." she thought cynically, though she wondered if she wouldn't have complained about it. After all, what did she know about such things?

Terumi sat up, obviously relieved when Medeia withdrew the razor-sharp scythe from her throat. There was a freedom of breath one enjoyed when they didn't have a blade threatening to carve its way into their jugular. In order to  prove to Medeia that she was going to honor their agreement, and would not play any crooked games, she made a waving gesture with her hand, slowly, so that Medeia would not think she was trying to fight again, and split her from crown to crotch with her weapon. At her gesture, the spell that she had cast some time back, during their brawl, but had not used yet, glowed for a last time before fading away. She had wanted to use her Landmines as some sort of surprise attack, to either injure Medeia or distract her long enough for her to activate her Restricted Voidfire spells and throttle her with giant strength. That was the strategy she had been saving for last, because against a powerful Godslayer like Medeia who could eat her flames, physical strength was the only thing she could try. There was a chance that that plan might have worked, but too much rested on keeping the peace right now. She would swallow her pride and not try to prove her might.

"I trust you to keep your word, Medeia-dono. I accept my defeat." She rose to her feet. "You don't need to fear any tricks from me; I am not that sort of person." She cast a chary glance at Medeia. "What do you have planned for me?"

"Please let it be tea and discussing Midijin history..."

History was not one of her favorite subjects, but it  would be a very welcome development, if Medeia's plans had something to do with the way she had been looking at her before they started fighting.

For a moment, Medeia actually thought that Terumi was going to launch an attack as she waved her hand but fortunately for everyone in the area, that turned out not to be the case. The dark mage was intrigued that the green haired woman had set one final trap, although she was somewhat thankful that it had not been used. Any more damage might have just finished off the library, after all and now that her anger had faded, the angel was rather more concerned about such things. The red mist that had clouded her had more than drifted away and the fact that Terumi’s had also vanished made it easier for the witch to calm herself. Anger and wrath was naturally drawn to her and there would obviously be an effect on her due to that attraction. The angrier those around her were, the more she fed and in return, her anger levels rose. It was an endless cycle in truth and as long as there were negative emotions around, it was difficult to wear her down for long. That is why she tended to go after groups of individuals during combat, in order to keep herself sustained due to the increase in targets.

That was not something that she would have to indulge in any longer for today though and once she realised that Terumi was deactivating her spell rather than casting it, Medeia would then deactivate her sickle’s spell, resulting in the gems on the weapon darkening once more. Of all her weapons, it was probably the one that she had used most in her time and the amount of people who had fallen to its blade was unknown to her at this point. With her magical power at the level it was, she generally did not have to hit opponents more than once with it and the surprisingly light weapon was most probably her favourite weapon, one that meant quite a lot to her. If she was honest with herself, it felt like a part of her.

As Terumi conceded the fight, a smile crossed the features of the holy being once again and as she watched the green haired woman for a moment or two, her head would tilt to the side. A question was posed to her and honestly, Medeia was not entirely sure if she needed to give an answer to it. She had hardly hidden the fact that she found Terumi to be incredibly attractive and even now, the rather lustful glance of the past was beginning to emerge. There were many beings of destruction, madness and wrath that called Earthland home but the dark guild Ace had never considered herself to be one of them. She was a being who was characterised by another emotion, one that she at least found to be rather more sweet than those of others. Driven by desire and lust rather than just pure insatiable rage. Some called lust a sin and her own kind had condemned her for becoming so intoxicated by it but the raven haired woman did not agree with that. To desire someone was only natural and now, as strong as she was, Medeia could allow such desire to guide her. Who was going to stop her?

Before speaking, a chuckle would escape the angel’s lips, her purple gaze once more starting to travel over Terumi’s form. “I think you know as well as I do, Terumi. You are a lovely woman and even though you have been so stubborn, my opinion has not changed. It is as I said at the start, I will fly off with you and we can spend a few blissful hours together. I promised you that I will not harm another person in this town and that naturally applies to you as well. Whether you choose to believe me or not, I do not enjoy hurting other women and the fact that I have had to cause you pain during our fight leaves me with mixed feelings. I would have taken far more joy out of this if you had just come with me at the start. So much could have been avoided but it is too late for that now…”

The angel took a step forward at that point, her eyes focused once more on Terumi’s own. “You do have the most beautiful eyes and a body that any woman would kill for. I hope you realise just how lucky you are. You have such a sweet soul too and I cannot contain myself any longer. Come with me now, Terumi and I will show you that there is more to me than just the all powerful monster that you have seen today. One who appreciates those who deserve to be appreciated.”

With that said, she would lightly wrap an arm around the woman’s waist and gently pull her in for a kiss. Medeia was not forceful, unknowing as to just how experienced the green haired woman was to such things and kept herself under complete control. All she hoped to do was to perhaps give Terumi a taste of what was to come during their time together. The dark being was certain that she herself most definitely would but she hoped that Terumi would as well. It simply made things more enjoyable when both sides embraced it.

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"Not that look again..." Terumi inwardly groaned, as, without any anger or other strong emotion to keep it concealed, Medeia's lust surfaced once again. A part of her wanted to suddenly break into a mad sprint for safety, or use her Amaterasu's Firestep to get as far away as possible from the raven haired woman who obviously housed some perverted thoughts towards her. However, she knew that not only would she be breaking her word, but Medeia would most likely feel double crossed, and might expend her rage on Oak Town. And this time, it would be her fault. She would have to survive this somehow...

She felt a bit strange hearing someone else compliment her features. Truth be told, in her many daydreams, she had envisioned that the first person that would tell her how beautiful her eyes were would be some tall, slim, easy-on-the-eyes man, who would stare into her soul with deep eyes and sweep her off her feet with those words. Reality, however, almost always had a sarcastic alternative. She had never expected, in all her twenty years of existence, that such words would come from someone with whom she had been engaged in almost mortal combat not up to ten minutes ago, and definitely, not from a woman. She wasn't really into other ladies...

With a chirp of surprise, Terumi looked down at the arm that had wrapped around her waist, then up into Medeia's face as she pulled her in for a kiss. It was starting to look like some cosmic entity in  charge of her fate was getting some serious kicks from destroying all her romantic expectations with life's curve balls. Her first kiss, from a lusty dark mage? No! The first kiss was supposed to be a really sacred moment, shared with the love of one's life, on a lovers' bridge, or under an arch of roses, or with fireworks giving a magically scintillating background. It was supposed to be romantic!!!

Terumi's hands shot up, quick as lightning, and clamped themselves over her face. Even though her face was hidden, it would be easy to tell she was blushing furiously; her ears, which poked out of her silky hair, were beet red. Terumi tried to control her breathing and her emotions, but too many thoughts were bouncing off each other like molecules in Brownian motion. Wasn't kissing in broad daylight a little too scandalous for a hero?

Still with her face protected by her hands, Terumi protested: "You really have some very naughty thoughts, Medeia-dono. Let's not be immodest, here; there might be people watching us. Um... we could always stroll about and have a good old chat, instead." She peeked out at Medeia from between her fingers. "It's very therapeutic."

Medeia had considered her to be stubborn. True, Terumi was no longer interested in fighting, but that did not even imply that her willfulness had been broken. She wasn't used to such amorous expressions, and it was only made worse by the fact that they were out in the open. Whether Terumi would enjoy this... "ordeal" (that was what she called it in her mind) or not could not be ascertained, because she was not even open to experiencing it in the first place.

Hopefully, Medeia would get bored and go her way. Hopefully.

Terumi’s reaction was so precious that Medeia could not help but chuckle although she did not mean it in a spiteful or mocking way. It told the dark mage all that she needed to know about the green haired woman’s experience in such matters and honestly, the witch was not all that surprised by Terumi’s reaction. She was such a sweet girl, when not prodded into a rage it seemed and Medeia found it rather charming. The keen eyes of the slayer moved up to the tips of the woman’s ears, the only part of her face that she could see and the redness of them only seemed to confirm things. Terumi was completely new to all of it and while that was not a put off for the being of lust, it did give her a pretty good idea about how to approach the situation. She would have to take things slow with the green haired mage but that did not bother her too much.

Releasing Terumi from her attempt at an embrace, she would then take a step back. “Come now, Terumi, there is no need to be so bashful. We have the entire street to ourselves and after our little fight, I doubt anyone is going to be wandering around for some time. Forgive me if I came on a little strongly just then but you are just so adorable that I could not help myself. As for modesty? Mmm. Surely you must have realised that is not something that I concern myself with by now. A kiss between two people is hardly scandalous, it is just a sign of affection between two people.”

Pondering her options for a minute, Medeia mused that perhaps it would be best if she went along with the green woman’s idea, for now anyway. A stroll would be nice and there was much about the legal mage that she would like to know about. Her history, her hobbies and most curiously of all, just what had made her curl up in a ball when she had cast her coffin spell. It must have been an incredibly painful memory to cause such a reaction and the witch began to muse about just how to bring up the subject without resulting in Terumi losing her bearings again.

“Alright. I suppose we can do things your way for a little while. Let it not be said that I am always unreasonable.”

Her tone sounded genuine enough but her desire for the legal mage was still there, bubbling just under the surface. She was willing to play along for the time being but soon enough, Medeia would make another move and perhaps one that was rather more forward than the last. Yet, it was not one that she planned on making in the middle of the town, empty or not.

For the time being though, she would gently wrap her right arm around Terumi’s left and simply utter. “Shall we?”

With that, she would slowly lead them off, away from the carnage and the death that had been caused. The day had not gone the way she had planned but she had no complaints. It had been entertaining to say the least and the night to come would be even more so.

(547 Words)
(11271 PWC)
(23250 TWC)