Celos struggled through the vines and foliage of the forest, searching around for any sign of her prey. As of yet she had seen no sign of Marzinquan, but that did not make Celos feel any better...the forest was quiet. No birds were chirping, no sheep were grazing. It wasn't a serene feeling, it was a haunting one.
Back in Bastok the three of them, Celos, Fupac, and Halystaru, had drawn straws on who got to use truth first. Celos had come up second, and now patiently awaited the arrival of Fupac, who was at the dunes. She had originally been warned that this fight was not for her, and Daleth and Kidria had stressed to her not to go, but Celos was far too stubborn to miss out on the fun. Trees were a nice change from staring at rocks.
Regardless, Celos had entered the forest with a sense of stealth, bent on waiting for Fupac's arrival, but after a few hour's time she had grown bored, and now actively sought out the location of Marzinquan. Since she had no echo to aid her, she didn't really know what she would do if she actually FOUND Marzinquan, but she never really did like thinking ahead.
Celos stopped and stared at some brush twenty feet ahead. Although she wasn't good at planning, she did have very keen senses, and she knew something was in that bush. She thought she had seen it move. Ducking behind a nearby tree, she picked up a small pebble, studied it, and heaved it into the bush twenty feet ahead. She missed the bush by six feet.
"Oh, god damnit." Celos muttered. She picked up a larger rock this time and threw it, and hit a nearby tree instead. She picked up about twenty pebbles this time and threw them all, and one of them managed to directly connect with the bush, which began to shake. A forest tiger emerged from the bush, but it did not seem angry at being disturbed. Rather, it was seemingly frightened, with its tail between its legs, whimpering. It had a small wound on its aft end which was bleeding lightly, and it was avoiding walking on its front left leg much, which appeared to be broken.
Celos stood up from her hiding place and studied this curious creature. She crept closer whereupon the Tiger caught sight of her, its eyes growing large. After staring for a moment, the Tiger turned directly around and ran out of sight away from Celos, who merely scratched her head. She wasn't that intimidating was she?
A sudden thought struck Celos, and sensing a possibility of a threat, she wheeled around to see if anyone or anything was standing behind her. Nothing was there; the clearing she had been in a moment ago was still devoid of life. But the air was getting slightly humid and stuffy, and she noticed the skies were beginning to darken. The last thing she needed was to spend a night out here in the dark while it rained; she had brought no provisions except her wits, her weapons and armor. Her stomach growled once in protest, and Celos searched her person hoping to find a candy bar in her pockets somewhere, but to her avail, there were none. She plopped down on the ground and clenched her empty belly. The only thing really edible in this forest was the wildlife, as all the berries and fruits were either poisonous or too hard to reach. Then she noticed the trail of blood the tiger had left...
An hour later Celos sat on her haunches munching on Tiger meat next to a bonfire. It wasn't any microwave dinner, but it was certainly enough to stave her appetite. However, she still hadn't found Marzinquan, Fupac still hadn't arrived, it was starting to get dark, and worst of all, the clouds in the sky looked more threatening then ever. After finishing off a chunk of meat, Celos set off in search of a cave, and found a small opening in a rock just as the rain began to fall. She laid her head on the closest thing she could find to a pillow, which was a semi-hard rock, and quickly fell asleep.
She was awakened in the night by a cry. When she opened her eyes, the night was still far too dark to see far in, and the rain was pouring harder in ever. But there was a small, shining object to her right. She crawled over to the object, which she saw was a mirror. How did truth get here?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a second cry from somewhere in the night, and from somewhere out of the darkness a torch, still burning in the rain with a flame, was thrown directly at her feet. Puzzled to say the least, she picked up the torch and walked off into the darkness searching for answers. For a half hour she searched the area, but no other clues were flung nor given to her, and there was no sign of Fupac. After entering a clearing, which she recognized as the area where she first saw the tiger, Celos' nose detected a scent in the air. It was a strong stench, a horrible smell like a garbage dump or a carcass, which Celos followed into the night. It got stronger as she continued running, and she increased her speed right up until she was met with a giant black mass.
At first, Celos did not really recognize what was before her. The night was dark, and the torch was almost failing in the rain, but it held enough light to see that Celos was looking at an unnatural thing. It wasn't moving, and it didn't seem alive, but it wasn't anything like a freakish plant. She walked up to the thing, and touched it, feeling something like hair or fur across her fingers. A small smear of some liquid, not rain, also came with the touch, and Celos sniffed the substance. She didn't recognize it until she tasted a small piece of it, which she promptly spit out. She had only tasted it earlier that night. Tiger blood.
As if on cue, the torch suddenly exploded in a large flame which allowed Celos to see the object before her. It wasn't a blob, it wasn't a mass, it was a pile dead bodies. Celos was staring at a pile of a hundred or so tiger carcasses piled on each other in the night, all bleeding with their bodies cut or beaten, or their necks broken, or their heads removed from their bodies. Celos stepped back in automatic human response, and than backed away behind a nearby tree, thinking the same person who did this might still be around. After regaining her breath, she took one more look at the pile of bodies behind the tree, and suddenly felt a lump fall onto her feet. She turned back around to see an Elvaan, clad in armor, unconscious and bleeding with his nose broken, lying upon her feet. It was Fupac.
Celos screamed and jumped back, then drew her weapon. Fupac was literally dropped into her lap by something in the night, something that had been in the trees, probably the same something who gave her the mirror and the torch, and the same something that killed all these tigers for sport. She knew exactly who it was. Marzinquan was watching her, right at that moment, and yet she could not see him. It was pitch black, and nothing can defend itself against an enemy it can't see, was this a kind of taunt?
Her head was knocked forward by a light whack to the back of her head, surprising the monk more so than frightening her. Celos rubbed her head as she turned around to look at who was there. She found nothing but Fupac's unconscious body, and all Celos could do was feel helpless as the rain continued to pour onto her and drip off her armor and face, soaking Celos like a dog. The downpour increased in intensity, and with no energy left, the torch was finally extinguished in the rain, leaving Celos immersed in a world of total darkness and confusion.
Fearing for her life and scared of what she couldn't see, Celos stumbled around in the endless forest devoid of life, searching for something she could grasp and hold on to. The rain became a beat that Celos' heart played along to; the raging clouds above only grew worse and soon grew into a typhoon, ripping the forest with blasts of electricity and sound. The lightning occasionally lit Celos' eyes with the forest's features, but eventually the night caught up with her and Celos ran herself into a tree, knocking her back down as she clenched her forehead in pain. Something dropped from the tree in front of Celos, and she reached out to feel metal, something sharp and hard; a blade cold and soft to the touch.
Lightning lit up the sky once more, and Celos looked up quickly enough to see who dropped the sword. Marzinquan stood high up in the tree's branches, staring at Celos with piercing eyes, equipped with the second weapon in his other hand, and black armor about his body. When the light from the lightning faded, the light from Marzinquan's eyes remained bright enough for Celos to still see them. When lightning struck once more a moment later, the sword, which was in front of her seconds ago, was gone.
Celos' eye's were blinded by darkness, her hearing blocked by the rainfall, her smell smothered by the stench of the dead tigers, and every cell in her mind was screaming for a way out; she was beginning to panic, trapped in a world where she was as helpless as a child and scared into the actions of one as well. But Celos managed to remain steady, and waited. Truth had saved her friends before; perhaps it could help once more. She leaned it against a nearby tree, and wiped the rain from her eyes as she watched the mirror in the moonlight.
The mirror did not flash nor ripple this time, but it did not reflect a storm in its reflection. It held the sight of a lovely summer night, glimmering with the image of a full moon untouched by clouds, stars shining in its aura. No storm raged in the mirror's view, no blasting winds caressed the trees, and no lightning split the sky, it was quiet. Yet rain still fell from Celos' body, and her armor was soaked so much Celos feared it would rust. She did recall what had been said before however, how she was told of the Pale Warrior's powers, and how the Hume controlled weather.
As soon as she came to this realization, the mirror got to work. It shone a piercing white light from its bowels into the night sky, which spread from a simple column of light into a spreading wave of radiating glows, which engulfed the night sky and blinded Celos. When she uncovered her eyes, the heavy clouds in the sky were gone, victims to Truth's vision. Celos still remained soaking wet, however, and readied herself for any sign of the reappearance of Marzinquan.
A branch swaying caught Celos' eyes in a small area ahead, and she saw a shape land on its feet and hands like a cat, face down, in front of her. Marzinquan raised his head, eyed Celos, stood up then held his swords at the ready, prepared for a fight. Clouds appeared from nowhere in the night sky, and before Celos could grab Truth once again, lightning struck around Celos and Marzinquan in a perfect circle and set the ground ablaze in a blast of heat and flames, trapping the two of them in an arena of fire. Truth lay across the large wall of flames, safely out of Celos' reach and unable to help her.
Growling and shifting her eyes, Celos steadied herself in a fighting position and waited for a move from Marzinquan. The Hume merely stared at her, waiting for the same response from said Elvaan, who eventually grew impatient and charged. As soon as Celos reached the Hume, she swung an uppercut, and smiled right as the hook connected with the Hume's jaw. His head was knocked upwards but his stance remained in place, and he merely brought his face back to level with Celos', apparently unharmed. He slapped her across the face and she was sent reeling, twisting across herself towards the ring of fire. She quickly hopped back up from the ground and felt relatively unhurt except for her pride...that blow had connected perfectly!
Regardless, Celos charged once again but instead feigned an uppercut and instead finished with a kick to the chest. It was more than Marinquan expected, who took a step back to keep from being knocked over by the blow, but enough to raise his temper and lower his temperament. He stepped forward and slashed Celos across the leg, who grimaced in horror and fell upon one knee, bleeding at the thigh. In anger Celos punched the Pale warrior in the waist then head butted him and threw him into the blazing fire at the edge of the arena. The flames swallowed Marzinquan in a kind of dancing glee, where the Hume disappeared in the heat. A second later the blaze parted to let Marzinquan flip through them and land in front of Celos, whereupon he started a furious assault on the unprepared Elvaan.
Two strikes to the face, which Celos blocked with her weapons, were followed with a strike to the left arm and a spinning thrust to the chest. Celos wasn't very quick in response to the attacks and sloppily countered with a lazy swing of her left hand to the strike and a quick dodge from the thrust. The Hume continued with a crossing slash which Celos blocked with both arms, leaving the two of them locked blade to blade. Celos was struggling far too hard and was left much too vulnerable to dodge the quick roundhouse to her chest from the Pale warrior, and she was sent rolling over herself backwards. She caught herself on the third roll with a push that leapt her back to her feet, and found that Marzinquan had disappeared. She quickly ripped a piece of her clothing from her leg and tore it around the wound in her thigh, which let her use her leg more ably, and tore the clearing apart with her eyes, seeking the Hume once more. There was a cracking sound like a whip behind her, and Celos wheeled around to see two blades clasped around her neck like a pair of scissors. Marzinquan stood with the two swords ready to cut her neck, but did not move immediately. He seemed to have trouble finishing the job and twitched uncomfortably. A screech from above turned Celos away from her current quandary and into a new one.
A whitish wyvern flew in from the night sky, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, and clawed threateningly at Marzinquan's hair. The Hume seemed extremely displeased, but reacted by sheathing his swords, snapping his fingers, and disappearing into nowhere along with the flames that had kept Celos from Truth a moment before. Reacting as fast as she could, she limped over to the mirror and shone it frantically around until she found the Pale warrior resting in a tree, and then waited for it to get to work. Soon enough it glowed, rippled, and warmed Celos' fingers, who soon viewed a Hume take shape in the light.
She nodded. "Quanzirman."
"Get out of here! NOW!" The echo seemed to be extremely mad at her; Celos had expected pleasant greetings.
"What? No, I'm going to stay here and help you fight!" Celos sneered and remained stubborn.
"You don't understand! It's a trap! He isn't here to kill you!" As soon as the Echo finished his sentence, Marzinquan leaped from his perch and strolled over towards the Echo and Celos.
"If he isn't going to kill me, then I have nothing to worry about. I want some action!" Celos smiled.
"This isn't a game! You are going-"The Echo was interrupted by a slash from Marzinquan, who didn't appreciate letting the Echo explaining things. The Echo quickly dodged to the side, nimbly drew its own swords, and counter-striked with a thrust. Marzinquan parried and did a spinning slash with both of his swords, which the Echo ducked under and tried to stop the attack with a swinging kick intended to trip the Pale warrior. Marzinquan hopped into the air over said kick, and front flipped with his swords down intent on piercing Quanzirman's skull, who rolled forward and kicked backwards as he did so, which connected with the Pale Warrior's back and sent him reeling. Celos took this opportunity to charge the stunned Hume who she uppercutted into the air and sent flying into a nearby tree with a kick. The Pale Warrior regained and turned himself around in midair, and landed on the tree feet first, whereupon he pushed off like a bullet and shot back towards Celos. The monk was quick enough to duck, but the Echo had barely gotten back up and was met full force in the chest and knocked backwards in a fist fight on the ground. Marinzquan landed on top after rolling over each other, and proceeded in a flurry of punches to the Echo's face. Celos ran up from behind and whacked Marzinquan in the back of the head, who stopped his assault and turned his head in a annoyed frown at Celos. He grabbed the monk by the neck of her armor and threw her forward, but Celos grabbed the Pale Hume's arm and held tight using him as a bracing lever, which brought her right back to earth in a swinging motion. With inertia still in her favor, she pushed against the ground and lifted the Pale Hume off of the Echo and sent him in a throw head down and back first into an oak tree a yard in front of her.
The ground shook with the blow, and Marzinquan slid slowly to the ground headfirst and remained stunned upon the earth for a moment. Breathless and filled with a thirst for a fight, Celos' fist's shook with energy and anticipation as Marzinquan slowly pushed himself up and wiped silver blood from his mouth. His body brimmed with a sort of eagerness, but the Pale Hume sheathed his swords into his belt and strolled forward to Celos unarmed. Not one to be taken lightly, Celos gave a left hook which was abruptly caught by Marinquan's fist and crushed in his cold palms. Celos fell to the ground in pain, whereupon Marzinquan reached forward and grabbed her throat, and the monk was lifted aloft with an incredible force, and then pressed onto a tree. She was smacked helplessly around by the Pale warrior's other fist across the face many times, unable to respond due to being pinned against the tree. Blood gurgled in her mouth but the monk refused to surrender, until her throat was released and she was let to fall to the ground coughing for air. Marzinquan had let her go and picked up Quanzirman instead, who now struggled in the air with his legs dangling for solid ground.
"Run..."
Marzinquan drew a blade into his free left hand and turned it in a semi circle still he held it pointed directly at the Echo's head.
"RUN..."
Marzinquan reeled back for a thrust, and Celos started running...TOWARDS the Echo.
"RUN!!!!!!!"
But it was too late; Marzinquan heaved the sword directly at the Quanzirman's head. There was no blood, no gory looks, the Echo simple dissipated into air. Celos merely stared at the smiling Marzinquan. Once more Celos had lost someone, and it did not sit well. The night rang with a scream that the monk had emptied into its maw, and Celos felt a rush of blood and adrenaline she had never known before. She charged at Marzinquan, who still remained smiling, and was met full force in the chest by a tackle. He flew backwards and compiled himself, but dropped his swords in the struggle, which Celos picked up and wielded as her own. The Elvaan ran forward, slashed at Marzinquan's face and chest, which his dodged which a quick jump back, which was met with two more strikes and thrusts. Marzinquan nimbly dodged each attack, but seemed to be slowing up, and was finally caught by a slash to the arm, which Celos followed with a sword hilt smash to his nose and a roundhouse kick to his stomach. The pale Hume, no longer confident, stumbled back. Celos took full advantage of the moment; front flipped forward, jumped up, and smashed the Pale Hume in the jaw with a crashing blow. Marzinquan was lifted into the air like a doll thrown by a child, and crashed to the ground, unconscious. Celos, still filled with an inhumane rage, took two steps forward, scowled at the helpless warrior, and stabbed him with both swords in the body. Cold, metallic silver liquid sprayed across Celos' face and body, drenching her anew.
It was as if she had awoken from a bad dream. Celos was horrified at the brutal massacre of Quanzirman, but she had only done worse to the Pale Hume, who now lay, apparently, dead. She stepped back and wiped a small streak of the silver from her face, finding it ironic. She did not notice the blast of white, healing light that came from Marzinquan, or the fact that he was not unharmed, nor did she notice the small, white wyvern watching her from the trees. All Celos could do was stare at the white blood on her fingers, a reminiscent of what a horrific act she had just committed.
It was too much for her; it all was. The past few days happenings caught up to her: The return of Daleth bleeding, the grip Evil held on her friends, the near death of her kid sister, the loss of Sandoria, and now this: The brutal massacre she didn't even mean to commit. With a final look at her silver fingers, Celos closed her eyes and collapsed upon the ground.
The last memory she had before losing consciousness was a voice. It wasn't human, and it wasn't transparent and friendly like the Echo's. It was hard, and solid, and frank, a voice you would expect from someone like the Duchy of Jueno. It was honest, and said very little, but meant so very much.
"Very good, little girl." It had said. "Very, very good."
Back in Bastok the three of them, Celos, Fupac, and Halystaru, had drawn straws on who got to use truth first. Celos had come up second, and now patiently awaited the arrival of Fupac, who was at the dunes. She had originally been warned that this fight was not for her, and Daleth and Kidria had stressed to her not to go, but Celos was far too stubborn to miss out on the fun. Trees were a nice change from staring at rocks.
Regardless, Celos had entered the forest with a sense of stealth, bent on waiting for Fupac's arrival, but after a few hour's time she had grown bored, and now actively sought out the location of Marzinquan. Since she had no echo to aid her, she didn't really know what she would do if she actually FOUND Marzinquan, but she never really did like thinking ahead.
Celos stopped and stared at some brush twenty feet ahead. Although she wasn't good at planning, she did have very keen senses, and she knew something was in that bush. She thought she had seen it move. Ducking behind a nearby tree, she picked up a small pebble, studied it, and heaved it into the bush twenty feet ahead. She missed the bush by six feet.
"Oh, god damnit." Celos muttered. She picked up a larger rock this time and threw it, and hit a nearby tree instead. She picked up about twenty pebbles this time and threw them all, and one of them managed to directly connect with the bush, which began to shake. A forest tiger emerged from the bush, but it did not seem angry at being disturbed. Rather, it was seemingly frightened, with its tail between its legs, whimpering. It had a small wound on its aft end which was bleeding lightly, and it was avoiding walking on its front left leg much, which appeared to be broken.
Celos stood up from her hiding place and studied this curious creature. She crept closer whereupon the Tiger caught sight of her, its eyes growing large. After staring for a moment, the Tiger turned directly around and ran out of sight away from Celos, who merely scratched her head. She wasn't that intimidating was she?
A sudden thought struck Celos, and sensing a possibility of a threat, she wheeled around to see if anyone or anything was standing behind her. Nothing was there; the clearing she had been in a moment ago was still devoid of life. But the air was getting slightly humid and stuffy, and she noticed the skies were beginning to darken. The last thing she needed was to spend a night out here in the dark while it rained; she had brought no provisions except her wits, her weapons and armor. Her stomach growled once in protest, and Celos searched her person hoping to find a candy bar in her pockets somewhere, but to her avail, there were none. She plopped down on the ground and clenched her empty belly. The only thing really edible in this forest was the wildlife, as all the berries and fruits were either poisonous or too hard to reach. Then she noticed the trail of blood the tiger had left...
An hour later Celos sat on her haunches munching on Tiger meat next to a bonfire. It wasn't any microwave dinner, but it was certainly enough to stave her appetite. However, she still hadn't found Marzinquan, Fupac still hadn't arrived, it was starting to get dark, and worst of all, the clouds in the sky looked more threatening then ever. After finishing off a chunk of meat, Celos set off in search of a cave, and found a small opening in a rock just as the rain began to fall. She laid her head on the closest thing she could find to a pillow, which was a semi-hard rock, and quickly fell asleep.
She was awakened in the night by a cry. When she opened her eyes, the night was still far too dark to see far in, and the rain was pouring harder in ever. But there was a small, shining object to her right. She crawled over to the object, which she saw was a mirror. How did truth get here?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a second cry from somewhere in the night, and from somewhere out of the darkness a torch, still burning in the rain with a flame, was thrown directly at her feet. Puzzled to say the least, she picked up the torch and walked off into the darkness searching for answers. For a half hour she searched the area, but no other clues were flung nor given to her, and there was no sign of Fupac. After entering a clearing, which she recognized as the area where she first saw the tiger, Celos' nose detected a scent in the air. It was a strong stench, a horrible smell like a garbage dump or a carcass, which Celos followed into the night. It got stronger as she continued running, and she increased her speed right up until she was met with a giant black mass.
At first, Celos did not really recognize what was before her. The night was dark, and the torch was almost failing in the rain, but it held enough light to see that Celos was looking at an unnatural thing. It wasn't moving, and it didn't seem alive, but it wasn't anything like a freakish plant. She walked up to the thing, and touched it, feeling something like hair or fur across her fingers. A small smear of some liquid, not rain, also came with the touch, and Celos sniffed the substance. She didn't recognize it until she tasted a small piece of it, which she promptly spit out. She had only tasted it earlier that night. Tiger blood.
As if on cue, the torch suddenly exploded in a large flame which allowed Celos to see the object before her. It wasn't a blob, it wasn't a mass, it was a pile dead bodies. Celos was staring at a pile of a hundred or so tiger carcasses piled on each other in the night, all bleeding with their bodies cut or beaten, or their necks broken, or their heads removed from their bodies. Celos stepped back in automatic human response, and than backed away behind a nearby tree, thinking the same person who did this might still be around. After regaining her breath, she took one more look at the pile of bodies behind the tree, and suddenly felt a lump fall onto her feet. She turned back around to see an Elvaan, clad in armor, unconscious and bleeding with his nose broken, lying upon her feet. It was Fupac.
Celos screamed and jumped back, then drew her weapon. Fupac was literally dropped into her lap by something in the night, something that had been in the trees, probably the same something who gave her the mirror and the torch, and the same something that killed all these tigers for sport. She knew exactly who it was. Marzinquan was watching her, right at that moment, and yet she could not see him. It was pitch black, and nothing can defend itself against an enemy it can't see, was this a kind of taunt?
Her head was knocked forward by a light whack to the back of her head, surprising the monk more so than frightening her. Celos rubbed her head as she turned around to look at who was there. She found nothing but Fupac's unconscious body, and all Celos could do was feel helpless as the rain continued to pour onto her and drip off her armor and face, soaking Celos like a dog. The downpour increased in intensity, and with no energy left, the torch was finally extinguished in the rain, leaving Celos immersed in a world of total darkness and confusion.
Fearing for her life and scared of what she couldn't see, Celos stumbled around in the endless forest devoid of life, searching for something she could grasp and hold on to. The rain became a beat that Celos' heart played along to; the raging clouds above only grew worse and soon grew into a typhoon, ripping the forest with blasts of electricity and sound. The lightning occasionally lit Celos' eyes with the forest's features, but eventually the night caught up with her and Celos ran herself into a tree, knocking her back down as she clenched her forehead in pain. Something dropped from the tree in front of Celos, and she reached out to feel metal, something sharp and hard; a blade cold and soft to the touch.
Lightning lit up the sky once more, and Celos looked up quickly enough to see who dropped the sword. Marzinquan stood high up in the tree's branches, staring at Celos with piercing eyes, equipped with the second weapon in his other hand, and black armor about his body. When the light from the lightning faded, the light from Marzinquan's eyes remained bright enough for Celos to still see them. When lightning struck once more a moment later, the sword, which was in front of her seconds ago, was gone.
Celos' eye's were blinded by darkness, her hearing blocked by the rainfall, her smell smothered by the stench of the dead tigers, and every cell in her mind was screaming for a way out; she was beginning to panic, trapped in a world where she was as helpless as a child and scared into the actions of one as well. But Celos managed to remain steady, and waited. Truth had saved her friends before; perhaps it could help once more. She leaned it against a nearby tree, and wiped the rain from her eyes as she watched the mirror in the moonlight.
The mirror did not flash nor ripple this time, but it did not reflect a storm in its reflection. It held the sight of a lovely summer night, glimmering with the image of a full moon untouched by clouds, stars shining in its aura. No storm raged in the mirror's view, no blasting winds caressed the trees, and no lightning split the sky, it was quiet. Yet rain still fell from Celos' body, and her armor was soaked so much Celos feared it would rust. She did recall what had been said before however, how she was told of the Pale Warrior's powers, and how the Hume controlled weather.
As soon as she came to this realization, the mirror got to work. It shone a piercing white light from its bowels into the night sky, which spread from a simple column of light into a spreading wave of radiating glows, which engulfed the night sky and blinded Celos. When she uncovered her eyes, the heavy clouds in the sky were gone, victims to Truth's vision. Celos still remained soaking wet, however, and readied herself for any sign of the reappearance of Marzinquan.
A branch swaying caught Celos' eyes in a small area ahead, and she saw a shape land on its feet and hands like a cat, face down, in front of her. Marzinquan raised his head, eyed Celos, stood up then held his swords at the ready, prepared for a fight. Clouds appeared from nowhere in the night sky, and before Celos could grab Truth once again, lightning struck around Celos and Marzinquan in a perfect circle and set the ground ablaze in a blast of heat and flames, trapping the two of them in an arena of fire. Truth lay across the large wall of flames, safely out of Celos' reach and unable to help her.
Growling and shifting her eyes, Celos steadied herself in a fighting position and waited for a move from Marzinquan. The Hume merely stared at her, waiting for the same response from said Elvaan, who eventually grew impatient and charged. As soon as Celos reached the Hume, she swung an uppercut, and smiled right as the hook connected with the Hume's jaw. His head was knocked upwards but his stance remained in place, and he merely brought his face back to level with Celos', apparently unharmed. He slapped her across the face and she was sent reeling, twisting across herself towards the ring of fire. She quickly hopped back up from the ground and felt relatively unhurt except for her pride...that blow had connected perfectly!
Regardless, Celos charged once again but instead feigned an uppercut and instead finished with a kick to the chest. It was more than Marinquan expected, who took a step back to keep from being knocked over by the blow, but enough to raise his temper and lower his temperament. He stepped forward and slashed Celos across the leg, who grimaced in horror and fell upon one knee, bleeding at the thigh. In anger Celos punched the Pale warrior in the waist then head butted him and threw him into the blazing fire at the edge of the arena. The flames swallowed Marzinquan in a kind of dancing glee, where the Hume disappeared in the heat. A second later the blaze parted to let Marzinquan flip through them and land in front of Celos, whereupon he started a furious assault on the unprepared Elvaan.
Two strikes to the face, which Celos blocked with her weapons, were followed with a strike to the left arm and a spinning thrust to the chest. Celos wasn't very quick in response to the attacks and sloppily countered with a lazy swing of her left hand to the strike and a quick dodge from the thrust. The Hume continued with a crossing slash which Celos blocked with both arms, leaving the two of them locked blade to blade. Celos was struggling far too hard and was left much too vulnerable to dodge the quick roundhouse to her chest from the Pale warrior, and she was sent rolling over herself backwards. She caught herself on the third roll with a push that leapt her back to her feet, and found that Marzinquan had disappeared. She quickly ripped a piece of her clothing from her leg and tore it around the wound in her thigh, which let her use her leg more ably, and tore the clearing apart with her eyes, seeking the Hume once more. There was a cracking sound like a whip behind her, and Celos wheeled around to see two blades clasped around her neck like a pair of scissors. Marzinquan stood with the two swords ready to cut her neck, but did not move immediately. He seemed to have trouble finishing the job and twitched uncomfortably. A screech from above turned Celos away from her current quandary and into a new one.
A whitish wyvern flew in from the night sky, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, and clawed threateningly at Marzinquan's hair. The Hume seemed extremely displeased, but reacted by sheathing his swords, snapping his fingers, and disappearing into nowhere along with the flames that had kept Celos from Truth a moment before. Reacting as fast as she could, she limped over to the mirror and shone it frantically around until she found the Pale warrior resting in a tree, and then waited for it to get to work. Soon enough it glowed, rippled, and warmed Celos' fingers, who soon viewed a Hume take shape in the light.
She nodded. "Quanzirman."
"Get out of here! NOW!" The echo seemed to be extremely mad at her; Celos had expected pleasant greetings.
"What? No, I'm going to stay here and help you fight!" Celos sneered and remained stubborn.
"You don't understand! It's a trap! He isn't here to kill you!" As soon as the Echo finished his sentence, Marzinquan leaped from his perch and strolled over towards the Echo and Celos.
"If he isn't going to kill me, then I have nothing to worry about. I want some action!" Celos smiled.
"This isn't a game! You are going-"The Echo was interrupted by a slash from Marzinquan, who didn't appreciate letting the Echo explaining things. The Echo quickly dodged to the side, nimbly drew its own swords, and counter-striked with a thrust. Marzinquan parried and did a spinning slash with both of his swords, which the Echo ducked under and tried to stop the attack with a swinging kick intended to trip the Pale warrior. Marzinquan hopped into the air over said kick, and front flipped with his swords down intent on piercing Quanzirman's skull, who rolled forward and kicked backwards as he did so, which connected with the Pale Warrior's back and sent him reeling. Celos took this opportunity to charge the stunned Hume who she uppercutted into the air and sent flying into a nearby tree with a kick. The Pale Warrior regained and turned himself around in midair, and landed on the tree feet first, whereupon he pushed off like a bullet and shot back towards Celos. The monk was quick enough to duck, but the Echo had barely gotten back up and was met full force in the chest and knocked backwards in a fist fight on the ground. Marinzquan landed on top after rolling over each other, and proceeded in a flurry of punches to the Echo's face. Celos ran up from behind and whacked Marzinquan in the back of the head, who stopped his assault and turned his head in a annoyed frown at Celos. He grabbed the monk by the neck of her armor and threw her forward, but Celos grabbed the Pale Hume's arm and held tight using him as a bracing lever, which brought her right back to earth in a swinging motion. With inertia still in her favor, she pushed against the ground and lifted the Pale Hume off of the Echo and sent him in a throw head down and back first into an oak tree a yard in front of her.
The ground shook with the blow, and Marzinquan slid slowly to the ground headfirst and remained stunned upon the earth for a moment. Breathless and filled with a thirst for a fight, Celos' fist's shook with energy and anticipation as Marzinquan slowly pushed himself up and wiped silver blood from his mouth. His body brimmed with a sort of eagerness, but the Pale Hume sheathed his swords into his belt and strolled forward to Celos unarmed. Not one to be taken lightly, Celos gave a left hook which was abruptly caught by Marinquan's fist and crushed in his cold palms. Celos fell to the ground in pain, whereupon Marzinquan reached forward and grabbed her throat, and the monk was lifted aloft with an incredible force, and then pressed onto a tree. She was smacked helplessly around by the Pale warrior's other fist across the face many times, unable to respond due to being pinned against the tree. Blood gurgled in her mouth but the monk refused to surrender, until her throat was released and she was let to fall to the ground coughing for air. Marzinquan had let her go and picked up Quanzirman instead, who now struggled in the air with his legs dangling for solid ground.
"Run..."
Marzinquan drew a blade into his free left hand and turned it in a semi circle still he held it pointed directly at the Echo's head.
"RUN..."
Marzinquan reeled back for a thrust, and Celos started running...TOWARDS the Echo.
"RUN!!!!!!!"
But it was too late; Marzinquan heaved the sword directly at the Quanzirman's head. There was no blood, no gory looks, the Echo simple dissipated into air. Celos merely stared at the smiling Marzinquan. Once more Celos had lost someone, and it did not sit well. The night rang with a scream that the monk had emptied into its maw, and Celos felt a rush of blood and adrenaline she had never known before. She charged at Marzinquan, who still remained smiling, and was met full force in the chest by a tackle. He flew backwards and compiled himself, but dropped his swords in the struggle, which Celos picked up and wielded as her own. The Elvaan ran forward, slashed at Marzinquan's face and chest, which his dodged which a quick jump back, which was met with two more strikes and thrusts. Marzinquan nimbly dodged each attack, but seemed to be slowing up, and was finally caught by a slash to the arm, which Celos followed with a sword hilt smash to his nose and a roundhouse kick to his stomach. The pale Hume, no longer confident, stumbled back. Celos took full advantage of the moment; front flipped forward, jumped up, and smashed the Pale Hume in the jaw with a crashing blow. Marzinquan was lifted into the air like a doll thrown by a child, and crashed to the ground, unconscious. Celos, still filled with an inhumane rage, took two steps forward, scowled at the helpless warrior, and stabbed him with both swords in the body. Cold, metallic silver liquid sprayed across Celos' face and body, drenching her anew.
It was as if she had awoken from a bad dream. Celos was horrified at the brutal massacre of Quanzirman, but she had only done worse to the Pale Hume, who now lay, apparently, dead. She stepped back and wiped a small streak of the silver from her face, finding it ironic. She did not notice the blast of white, healing light that came from Marzinquan, or the fact that he was not unharmed, nor did she notice the small, white wyvern watching her from the trees. All Celos could do was stare at the white blood on her fingers, a reminiscent of what a horrific act she had just committed.
It was too much for her; it all was. The past few days happenings caught up to her: The return of Daleth bleeding, the grip Evil held on her friends, the near death of her kid sister, the loss of Sandoria, and now this: The brutal massacre she didn't even mean to commit. With a final look at her silver fingers, Celos closed her eyes and collapsed upon the ground.
The last memory she had before losing consciousness was a voice. It wasn't human, and it wasn't transparent and friendly like the Echo's. It was hard, and solid, and frank, a voice you would expect from someone like the Duchy of Jueno. It was honest, and said very little, but meant so very much.
"Very good, little girl." It had said. "Very, very good."