Effie, the former retainer of Princess Elise, was here to take the life of the very princess she was chosen to protect.
The pink armored woman charged at them with her spear in hand. Sakura shot some arrows at her, but they were deflected by her spear. She swung her spear at her only for Hana to counter it.
"You really think you can win against me?" Effie asked
Effie started to push her back.
"Her physical strength is overwhelming!" Hana thought
Effie managed to push her back. Hana charged at her again, Effie knocked her down with hard tackle. Sakura ran to her.
"Hana, are you okay?" Sakura asked
"Don't worry, lady Sakura, it's gonna take more than that to defeat me" Hana said
Hana then looked over at Elise, who had still not moved. She had a look of horror on her face. She's been like that ever since Effie revealed herself to them.
"Lady Sakura, you need to take Lady Elise and run" Hana said
Sakura shook her head.
"No, I can't" Sakura said
"You have to" Hana said
Sakura was then hit and flew a great distance.
Effie was now approaching Elise.
"I finally get to do the one thing that I've always wanted to do" Effie said
Elise still didn't move. She was in shock that even her own retainer would come after her. She was tired of this happening. She finally looked at up at the armored woman.
"Do what you want" Elise said
"I intend to" Effie said
She raised her spear and was prepared to deliver the fatal blow. She was stopped by a light beam that hit her side. She was sent flying back a little. Effie looked up and saw that Sakura was the one that stopped her.
The young princess of Hoshido then grabbed Elise and tugged her along. The blonde didn't even try to move.
"Come on, Elise! We need to run!" Sakura said
Sakura finally managed to pull Elise to her feet and dragged her into a run. Hana was behind them and would deflect the spear that was constantly being thrown at them. They eventually found a cave and entered it. They went deep inside, hoping that the pink knight wouldn't follow them.
All three of them were panting heavily. They managed to lose the pink knight for now and that gave them time to breath.
"That was close" Sakura said
"I'll say. Her physical strength is enormous, and her defense is just as high. She has high stamina too" Hana said
Sakura looked over at Elise and saw that she was still in her depressed state.
"Elise" Sakura said
"Just let her have me" Elise said
Sakura's eyes went wide when she heard what her friend had asked her to do.
"What are you saying, Elise?! We can't let her kill you" Sakura said
"Please" Elise said
"Lady Elise, do you even realize what you're saying?" Hana asked
"I'm tired of running and I'm tired of other people being put in danger because of me. This is my punishment" Elise said
"Elise, stop talking like that!" Sakura said
"I'll give my life, so you two can get away" Elise said
"Lady Elise, please think this through. That knight would probably come after us next after she's done with you. I don't want to hand you over either" Hana said
"I'm just tired of everything that's been happening. It would've been better if I died. You should have let me died" Elise said
A loud smack echoed in the cave. Hana looked on in shock. Elise had a red mark on her cheek. Sakura had her hand raised. She was glaring at the young blonde. Elise looked at Sakura with wide eyes.
"Don't you ever say that, Elise" Sakura said
"Sakura?" Elise asked
"I want you to live, Elise. I don't regret saving you. No matter how many times you get hurt, I'll be there to heal you. No matter how many times you're in trouble, I'll be there to save you. I care about you, Elise. Everyone in Hoshido cares about you. Please don't say that you want to die. If you died, then all of us would be sad. Please don't say that you want to die" Sakura said
Elise looked at her with her teary eyes and started to shake. She broke down and started sobbing.
"I'm sorry! I was just so tired that all of you were getting hurt because of me. I was tired of being hunted down by my own people. I was tired of it all. I couldn't take it anymore and thought that if I weren't alive then all this trouble would be over" Elise cried
Sakura hugged her.
"It's okay, Elise, I understand" Sakura said
"I was so selfish because I wanted to die that I didn't even think other people's feelings" Elise said
"It's okay, Elise. It will take time, but I'm sure that you will heal" Sakura said
"Lady Elise, it may take time, but I'm sure that everyone in Hoshido will start to care about you too. In fact, I think there are some people there that already care about you" Hana said
Elise wiped her eyes and looked the two girls with her red eyes.
"Thank you" Elise said
"I want to hear you say it, Lady Elise" Hana said
The blonde princess tilted her head in confusion.
"Hear what?" Elise asked
"I want to hear you say I want to live" Hana said
Elise looked at her for a moment. Deep inside her heart she had a deep desire to live and it surfaced.
"I want to live!" Elise said
"That's the spirit, Lady Elise" Hana said
The three girls got up and continued to move through the cave. They eventually found an exit and made it out unscathed.
"There's no sign of that knight anywhere" Hana said
They continued to move, but they didn't get very far because Effie managed to find them.
"There you are!" Effie said
Effie charged at them. They got out of the way. They saw as she managed to charge right through the cave. She made two new entrances.
Hana was shocked beyond belief. Her physical strength was so great that she could go through solid rock with little effort. Hana swung at her and managed to hit her, but to her surprise she shrugged it off and elbowed her and was sent flying and her back met with a tree. The wind had been knocked out of her.
Effie was going to finish her off, But Elise managed to run, grab her and yanked her out of the way. Effie knocked the tree down.
Hana managed to recover.
"Thanks, Lady Elise" Hana said
Elise just smiled. She then healed Hana with her magic.
Sakura came to them after she avoided an attack from the pink knight.
"Who is that knight anyways? She's from Nohr since she knows you" Hana said
"Her name is Effie. She used to be my retainer and best friend" Elise said
Hana looked at her with a look of surprise.
"She was your retainer?" Hana asked
The blond princess nodded.
"Elise do you have any idea how to defeat her?" Sakura asked
"You can't beat Effie in brute strength. She's also very durable. She does daily exercises to boast her strength. She has decent speed too" Elise said
"You're making her sound like it's impossible to defeat her" Sakura said
"It's not impossible, but it's very difficult to beat her" Elise said
"Does she have any weaknesses?" Hana said
"She's doesn't do well against magic users" Elise said
"So, you and lady Sakura have an advantage" Hana said
"You have an advantage too. You're faster than she is" Elise said
"Hana is very fast and agile" Sakura said
"What I suggest we do is tire her out, which could take a while thanks to her stamina. But even she can get tired" Elise said
"Sounds good to me" Hana said
"Let's do our best" Sakura said
Effie was approaching them and then readied her lance. She threw it at them. Elise used an earth spell to make a rock grow out of the ground. The spear hit the rock.
"You really think you can stop me with something like that? Did you forget about the strength that I possess?" Effie asked
Effie charged at the rock and smashed it. She looked and saw that the girls were gone.
"Hiding again?! Come out!" Effie said
Hana stepped out.
"I'll be your opponent" Hana said
"You don't have the skills to defeat me" Effie said
"That's what you think" Hana said
"I knocked you down twice with little effort. What's going to make this any different?" Effie asked
"I studied the way you fight. I can beat you" Hana said
"I'll make you eat those words" Effie said
Effie readied her lance and Hana readied her sword. They ran at each other. The knight thrusted her lance at Hana. The samurai dodged and tried to slice her. Effie brought up her shield to block it.
"The first thing you need to do is get rid of her shield. If you can disarm her shield, then we will have a better chance at beating her" Elise said
Hana needed to separate her from the shield. She had Elise and Sakura to help her out with that.
Elise then shot a lightning spell at Effie from her hiding spot, which was behind a tree.
Hana jumped away. The pink knight then felt her entire body being shocked. The samurai knocked the giant shield out of her hand.
Sakura was hiding behind a rock and used some of the new spells that she learned. She casted a water spell to push the knight back. Effie managed to stay standing but the water pushed her back a great distance.
"The next thing we need to do is break her armor" Elise said
Elise and Sakura used a fire spell. Effie dodge them and threw her lance at the spell casters. They had no choice but to come out of their hiding spots.
"It's about time for me to finish you three off" Effie said
Effie charged at them with her lance ready. Sakura and Elise waited for her to get closer and when she was close enough they hurled another fire spell at her. The pink knight was too close to dodge it and was completely consumed by the flames.
Effie had some burn marks on her, but she was still standing. The two of them then used a water spell to drench her. Her pink armor had steam coming out of it.
Hana then charged at her with her sword ready. Elise used a lightning spell to coat Hana's sword with lightning. Effie was too slow to stop Hana. The samurai went right through her with her sword swing.
Effie felt the crack in her armor. Her armor was destroyed. She was only wearing a black shirt and black shorts.
"You broke my armor" Effie said
"That's right, your defense isn't as good now" Hana said
The knight threw her lance at them, but Hana deflect it.
"How many times are you going to try that? It doesn't work no matter how many times you do it" Hana said
Effie now had her shield back.
"That was just a distraction" Effie said
"She has her shield back" Sakura said
Effie managed to hit Elise, but the blonde princess was able to recover quickly.
Elise casted a nature spell that made some tree roots grow. They wrapped around her. She sliced some with her spear, but she couldn't stop them from wrapping around her.
Sakura then hit the shield with fire and then water. Elise hit it with lightning and Hana slice the shield in half with her sword.
Effie was now very concerned about her situation. Her armor and shield were broken and all she had was her lance.
"Give up, Effie" Elise said
"You know, I'm not going to do something like that" Effie said
Sakura hit her with a light spell and that sent her flying, but she got back up and tried to attack them. They dodged all her attacks. Effie was starting to get tired from all the swinging that she had been doing.
Hana sliced her back with her sword, she then backed away. The exhausted knight looked and saw that the two princesses were casting a spell against her. It was dark and light spell combination attack. She took the full force of it. The three girls were panting heavily.
The knight was down, and this gave them the chance they needed to move quickly. They finally made it to the port. They were all on the ground trying to catch their breath.
"I can see how she was able to your retainer" Hana said
"She was really strong" Sakura said
"But, we managed to beat her" Elise said
Now the vacation can begin and hopefully no more attacks would come their way.
