Introduction:
"When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes." -Victor Hugo
The echoing noise of heels clicking against the stone-worked floor had warned Diego soon enough. Quickly he shut the book he had been reading, shuffled some papers about the desk to make things look convincing enough, quickly shot to his feet - or rather hooves - and stood at his full length. The Unicorn didn't like that noise. He didn't like the cause of it much better.
Actually, he was fairly certain the cause was worse. Much worse
There was a rapping on the door, a rhythmic three-course pounding before the door was promptly opened, the handle quite literally leaving a dent in his office wall. And there, standing in the doorway, was none other than his lovely Battlematron associate, Scruvy Whiteshard. Or she would have been lovely had it not been for the angry glint in her heterochromia red-blue eyes and the frown upon her lips.
Ah, so it's one of those days.
"Diego," her raspy voice was a quiet hiss as she stomped over to the Duelmaster, who merely raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "You need to set more restrictions."
"To what?" A mixture of the hot breath blowing into her face and the irritation that came with his calm, sarcastic tone caused Scurvy to scrunch her nose up in mingled disgust and irritation. She glared daggers up at the anthro, her face turning a mild shade of red.
It was definitely one of those days.
"To the PvP guidelines, s'wit!" The silver-haired women snapped. Diego frowned, leaning back against his chair and examining the Theurgist in front of him. Some ten or so years ago, Scurvy would have started a petition to end restrictions to provide a more realistic battle simulation, a better system of training and preparing for the real world and it's many dangers. Now it seemed to be nothing but restrictions.
"There are enough restrictions set in place, Kerstin." He replied calmly. Scurvy huffed and turned around pointedly, crossing her arms.
"You would say that," she glanced over her shoulder, "even though there's a new way of cheating high rankers use."
"And you think battles in the real world are fair?"
"But-"
"Kerstin!" Strangely enough, raising his voice was enough to stop Scurvy's argument of "PvP is not the real world". She let out a quiet sigh, her shoulders sagging.
"No, they aren't."
Diego knew something had happened to her, something that took away her optimism, her carelessness, and replaced them with cruel professionalism and bitterness. He didn't know what had happened to her - and he didn't have the right to know, considering their current relationship. But whatever it was, t was enough to shatter their relationship to the point he could only refer to her by her real name. Despite himself, he felt pity welling up in him, and reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder.
Then he remembered who he was dealing with and forced his hand back to his side.
Beyond the office in the adjoining hall, a young girl with fluffy blue hair and garbed in standard red apprentice robes. She looked quite scared, amber eyes wide as she looked about her, hugging her wand to her chest. Obviously she had gotten lost in the massive building. When she saw the two heads of the Arena, she seemed to relax slightly, and hesitantly she approached the previously slammed-open door.
"E-excuse me, but I seem to have gotten lost. Can...you show me the way to the Mooshu Arena? Please?"
Scurvy glanced pointedly at Diego, and whatever sense of pity he felt for her vanished with the cold look in her multicolored eyes. Shaking his head in mild exasperation, he turned to the young girl and smiled warmly.
"Of course, my lady! My associate and I would love to help you!" If looks could kill, Diego would have been a rotting corpse with the ensuing glare he received at the word 'we'. She didn't argue though, seeing it as an obligation to act more mature around students. Content Diego rested a hand on the girl's shoulder, taking the lead to the Mooshu-themed arena, with Scurvy trailing a few paces behind.
"Is there a reason as to why you need the Mooshu arena? If you're fighting, you would have clocked out by now."
"I'm watching bis sis duel," the young girl explained, relaxing as the walking, talking unicorn spoke to her. "She's a Grandmaster Pyro! I want to be like her someday. She's the best fighter ever!"
"I bet she is!" Diego laughed with a slight glance at Scurvy. She looked completely indifferent about the situation, and shrugging he turned back as they approached the main doors to the Mooshu arena. He opened the doors, and scurrying to the front seats the girl called back a quick thank you. As Scurvy turned to leave, Diego grabbed her arm, looking at her pointedly.
"We are going to watch." Not waiting for a response, he pushed her towards the last row of spectator seats, and grumbling to herself she reluctantly obliged.
It was a two-on-two match of the same level range. Two girls were stationed on the left, including the young girl's presumed sister, and on the right two guys, both of which were Conjurors, so blading and shielding proved rather fruitless, which explained the lack of boosts. There were two types of battles at the Arena: hands-on and magic-only. This was a magic only duel.
"Do you know any of them?" Diego asked his associate out of blatant curiosity. Scurvy nodded absently.
"The boys are Liam and Finn Nightstrike, brothers who have the arrogance of Drake and with the strength to match. Excellent when teamed up, but lacking otherwise. The Diviner girl is Alura Leafsword, the only storm-using mage in a family of Theurgists. Strong offense, low defense. The Pyromancer is Tara Longshot. Well-rounded and a damn good battler, popular too."
"Like you?" A pause.
"Perhaps...back in the day." Scurvy agreed solemnly, running a hand through her silvery hair with an absent look in her eyes. Deciding not to press further, he turned his gaze back to the battle, a small smile gracing his features.
"I remember when you first joined the Arena. The smuggest apprentice I've yet to see, and a Theurgist no less." Diego murmured thoughtfully, reflecting back to that day. Surprisingly, she smiled. It was faint, and in the dim light of the arena it was hardly noticeable, but he saw it.
"I remember how I first introduced myself to you…" Scurvy allowed a slight chuckle to escape her mouth, and even Diego smirked at the memory.
"How did it go again? 'Duelmaster my butt. I bet once I level up some more,"
"I'll be tons better than you." The last part they chorused together softly in amused smile vanished for Scurvy's lips, her eyes half-closing in thought. Diego frowned.
"What happened, Scurv.?" Suddenly, the battlematron stood, smoothing out her velvet green skirt and closing her eyes.
"It's Kerstin," she murmured, half in mild anger, half in...sadness? He couldn't be sure. "And it's something you don't need to know." She turned to make her way back into the halls, but before she passed she glanced at him through her one red eye. "Oh, and Diego,"
"Yes?" Aqua eyes met multicolored ones for a split second, a mix of memories and emotions swirling in their depths.
"Introduce yourself to more combatants. Fight more. It'll give you something to do other than brooding in your office."
With that, Scurvy left, leaving Diego alone to watch as the Pyromancer struck down her opponents with a single spell."