Chapter Seven
The Mage of Despair drew her Blade of Insight. She flipped it around in her hand, moved her back leg farther back, put her non-dominant hand forward, palm outstreached, and held the sword in her other hand, abover her head, point facing Maria. The defiant Guardian on smiled and balled both her fists, bringing them to bear in front of her body. Serras laughed.
"You think you can beat me with no weapons?" She asked, holding her pose. Maria smiled.
"No. I don't." The X-Guardian stated, keeping her body still. Serras smiled, and dropped her sword, returning to a standing position. "I know I can!" She shouted, pushing off with her back foot, dashing forwards with blinding speed. Serras barely had a chance to bring her sword back up before Maria wedged her fist halfway up Serras' diaphram. Her target took to the air, arching up some fifty feet, then came crashing down sixty meters away. She slid right into Yulgar's Inn (Or what was left of it.) A bright flash of light blew the roof off the battered building. Serras was now airborne, supported by no wings or anything of the sort. Magic, no doubt.
"That's my little sister!" Natalya shouted, pleased to see Serras so pissed.
"Not! One! Word!" Maria shouted back. She was still very angry at Natalya for keeping herself secret from the Guardian for all these years.
"YOU INSOLENT ENGRATE!" Serras shouted, redirecting Maria's attention to where it should remain. "You could have escaped with your lives intact! BUT NO! You had to make the mistake of attacking me! Well. We'll just see how long our hero can last, shall we?" The word hero sounded like it was being forced from her mouth, like it was hard to say. Maria yawned bored. She had been insulted before, but the insultor had always gone to sleep the next night six feet under.
"Sticks and stones, Magey girl. I've heard them all. Nothing can affect me. Insult wise. Oh, and your move." Serras began fuming. If there was anything she hated more then being hurt, it was being mocked. And to her, that was exactly what Maria was doing. Serras thrust an open hand out, calling her blade to her. The long weapon slid out of the ground and came to rest in the palm of her hand.
"YOU SHALL DIE WHERE YOU STAND!" With a burst of rage-enhanced speed, Serras charged Maria with the point of her sword staring right at her, the Mage's intent was to run her opponent through and right into the nearest tree to let die. When she reached the Guardian, however, she simply knocked the blade away, sending it's wielder into Aria's petshop.
Again, the roof blew off, allowing the Mage of Despair an exit, but this time, she came back with a hostage.
"Who's that she's got?" Atrix asked, squinting to see the other person.
"Son of a Drakel! It's Aria!" Galanoth responded when he recognized her trademarked apron. She was screaming to be released, tears streaming down her face. She was scared almost-stiff. In fact, she was so scared, she couldn't stop moving, like frightened convulsions. Maria gritted her teeth. She could easily set off a local-area explosion right on top of Serras, but that would no doubt incinerate Aria in the process, something she was trying to avoid. Maria hesitated.
"I knew you had a weak spot!" Serras shouted, throwing Aria effortlessly into air. She was still screaming.
Even when Serras pierced her heart. The party watched on in horror as the life slowly leeched out of the young girl. She had her entire life ahead of her. And her candle was snuffed out in an instant. Everyone could feel the rage welling inside Maria. Aria was close to the Guardian, not as a friend, but as sisters. Aria was always nice, no matter who came into her shop. She was the sister Maria, until today, never had. She was dead before Serras could pull her sword out. Without need of the body, she tossed it into the ground below. Everyone head the dull thud.
"Oh my god…" Amani mused, almost choking.
"That's horrible!" Grodd muttered.
"I'll say! She still owns me fifty gold." Leeroy replied. This didn't go over well with Amani, who said nothing, but stole Grodd's Black Axe and whacked Leeroy upside the head with the blunt end very, very hard.
"YOU COWARD!" Galanoth shouted. He was a chivalrous man. He was what most women wanted in the modern man; hansome, gallant, tall, somewhat dark, and caring. And very scary if he was mad. Which at the moment he was very.
"You call me a coward! What of you? You strike at your foes with a weapon designed for them! You single out your opponent, kill the weak, maim the strong, then return with an army to finish them off!" She shouted. It was true. Everything that left her mouth was true.
"If you think you can keep this insult and kill game up, you've got another thing coming!" Atrix bellowed, his face beet red.
"And you think you're any better then your friend, Kreiger? You're as bad as any of them! You single your foes out as well, deal damage with weapons they fear; all the while, you yourself fear what you strike at!" She turned to Grodd. "And what of you? You strike down anything that you can, anything that will just roll over and die when it sees you! And what happens when you fight something stronger then you? You run away. Like a scared little girl!" Her gaze fell upon Cyrus. "And you. The last of a dead race. You cling to what little humanity you can behind that monster you call an ally. Are you human? Or just another wannabe like Safiria!" Her eyes came to the aforementioned Vampire. "Oh, do you have problems, honey. You; a bloodthirsty monstrosity with an unsatiable hunger that can only be repreived by slaughtering friend and foe alike, gorging yourself on their blood. You hunt by night, sheltered by it's comforting darkness, yet flee when day comes with the sun. You hide behind the strongest of the pack to ensure your own eternal existance. An existance which will account for nothing but death and destruction! You cannot love! You cannot feel! YOU ARE A MONSTER! You cling to the last strings of your ever-vanishing Humanity only to be tempted by a young morsal who happens across you home. Don't lie. I've seen your…craftmanship in the one I know fight. You are by far, the worst of them all." She ended by dropping her voice. Maria, even at such a distance, could see the tears creeping up the the surface of her eyes.
"Stop it!" The Guardian shouted, her fists clenched even tighter.
"What? Are you next? All right then. You, Miss Guardian are a terrible woman. You left your home to seek a life of action and adventure! To make friends! To vanquish evil! To make Lore a safer place for all! And what do you get out of it? You find out the one single greatest threat to Lore was your own sister. You make friends with murderers and monsters alike. You befriend the very evil you swore to defeat. You are, not only a hypocrite, but a coward. I'm sorry if that hurts, Maria dearest, but it's true. So. Are you going to cry too? Is baby going to cry?" Serras taunted, rubbing her eyes mockingly to symbolize a crying baby. Maria was shaking all over. If there was anything she hated more then being wrong, was Serras being right.
"Monster, murderer, hypocrite, coward. Take your pick of my label. I don't care what you tag me as. I just ask one small favor." Her head was bowed now, everyone could see a shimmer fall to the ground, a tear at anyone's best guest. "You do NOT label my friends with the same label you yourself wear!" She shouted, shooting her head up, throwing her arms out. She rose off the grounds suddenly, setting the ground below her on fire. Suddenly, the air became very cold. To Atrix's best guess, it was somewhere in the vicinity of negative fifty degrees, far colder then even Frostvale got in winter. The battle was officialy started.