Chapter 5: Who is Pathetic Here?

It takes Sunako seconds to reach the battle mage. She is not sure what happened, but she takes the hit. In her haste, she finds herself unable to properly block the enchanted blade. The weapon hits her, cuts her, and destroys her favorite helmet. It shatters the helm covering her face, the downward motion also nicking the top of her chest plate. The dagger cuts through like the armor was butter, the magic making the blade hot. Her favorite headcover cracks, splits, and falls from Sunako's crown.

She is livid.

Instantly, she retaliates by grabbing onto the arm holding the blade. She squeezes the other and receives a yelp in return. The blade falls, and Sunako roundhouse kicks the battle mage across the courtyard. Her opponent hits a tree, which causes the wood to crack from the force. The battle mage crumbles to the ground. Sunako then releases a long scream, her voice pitched high as if in the most immense pain. Her eyes are wide and unfocussed.

The dark energy gathers around her as she wails, as if the sound of her shriek summons darkness itself. The magic bubbles. She can feel it caress the skin on her face, her bare, open face. If possible, her voice raises to even a higher pitch. The magic echoes by dancing across her form in erratic movements. Sunako takes no breath, as if she no longer needs air to survive. It is not necessary.

The magic then leaps out from her form, racing across the open air and hitting the seeming-unconscious mage. Another portion jumps the other two fallen warriors. It surrounds Sunako's opponents, engulfing them in a void of black. The masses are nothing more than a pile of wiggling magic darkness now. Sunako can feel the life within them draining. She still screams as if tortured.

"Oi, enough."

Sunako's voice cracks. She finds the Creature of Light is in front of her, looking right at her. His hands are on her shoulders, and he is shaking her. She stops screaming and blinks, eyes not quite focusing on his handsome features. She blinks again, chokes, and shoves then him away with a gasp.

The black clouds of magic dissipate with her lack of focus. Sunako can tell that there is some life still in all three of the warriors. She has mixed feelings about it. Her eyes stray around the damaged courtyard and the broken bodies. She sees the broken bits of mithril, blacker than a starless sky, scattered around her feet. She feels tension in her shoulders and legs.

Sunako breathes in. She counts to three. Sunako breathes out. The tension follows.

Sunako notices the Creature of Light has only moved a foot away from her. Her eyes, barely blocked by black bangs, catch his feet pointed at her. She drags her eyes up his legs, past his waist and chest and shoulders. She catches the sharp chin, thin lips, pointed nose, and big brown eyes. They are watching her.

Sunako punches him. Her fist hits that perfect jaw as her voice screeches out of her throat. He grunts in return, body bending from the force of her attack. He staggers back a bit to regain his footing, and Sunako takes a few steps away also because he is too close and too bright.

"What the hell w—"

"Stop staring," Sunako screams over him. He sputters, and she knows he's looking at her again, but Sunako turns away with another pitched yell. "I mean it, stop looking at me. Stop," she half-begs, her hands coming up as her arms cover over her head. "You worthless creature, I will kill you if you do not leave now." Never has Sunako wished more for a spell of invisibility; hell, she would settle for a big blanket. She curls around herself, arms and hands blocking all she can of her head.

He doesn't go away like she wants. He doesn't stop staring either. Sunako isn't facing him at all, but she knows that he's looking at her. She can feel his radiance burning through her form. She feels so naked, even in her thickest armor set. She needs her helmet, but her best helmet is broken. The only line of defense she has is broken and lost and the Creature of Light is staring at her. Why won't he look away? Why is he staring at her? She's drowning in the light of his very being.

"You saved me."

Those are not the words she is expecting. Doesn't he care at all what he is doing to her? His stare is like torture, and he doesn't seem to even notice. Sunako can feel the rage rebuilding in her. Her frustration with this Creature of Light never ceases.

"Why?" He asks, but his voice sounds flat.

Sunako hisses. "Don't be stupid. I didn't save you." She is almost tempted turn and glare at him.

"Well you didn't let that magic ninja kill me."

"Battle mage," she corrects. "And I only prevented them from taking what is rightfully mine. If anyone will kill you, Creature of Light, it will be me. The pleasure of your blood spilling across the ground belongs to me alone. Besides," Sunako shrugs, "I would have ended them anyway. Your involvement only added to my annoyance and aggravation for the situation. I was having a great time until you showed up and got in the way."

The rogue snorts, then actually has the audacity to laugh. "Having fun beating people up? And I didn't add to it?"

"No." She hesitates. "But I expected better of you."

His laughter stops, and that confuses her a bit. However, Sunako still refuses to look at him. It's too dangerous now without the proper protective gear.

Instead, Sunako turns and wanders to the still burning front gate, her head down so she will not have to directly look at the Creature of Light. The wood is finally starting to splinter and break from the heat. She can see the metal plates hiding underneath. She summons the necessary magic and whispers the incantations until the fire dies down. The wood crackles like a campfire and the iron hinges groan as she removes the burden. Once the fire is gone, Sunako casts another spell, and the area around her drops in temperature. This causes the smoke to dissipate and the red of the metals to darken back to their natural hue.

With the front gates no longer on fire, she can tell that they have started to warp just a bit. There is now a bow to both doors, curving them inwards to dip like someone were cupping their hands to hold water. Sunako stands and contemplates how best to fix the problem. As she does, she glances around the scuffed area that was once her front courtyard. There are still some bushes on fire, a few trenches here and there too—not to mention the three bloodied, but breathing bodies.

Sunako can feel eyes on her. She refuses to give in, though she knows her skin is most likely sizzling.

Instead, she focuses on using a few bits of magic to put out the rest of her burning home. She decides to ask the others to fill the trenches later, and maybe replant some of the bushes and trees. Growing flora was always such a pain. She has never had the affinity for such things. For some reason, every time she would try to use herbal magic, the plants would wilt and die instead of grow and flourish.

Well, even someone as gifted as Sunako must have her faults.

She's so busy musing about greenery and lack thereof, that Sunako is caught off guard by the rogue suddenly in her face. She freezes, trying to figure out when he had approached her. He's staring at her face again. It takes Sunako's brain a moment to realize this, and then she screams. She also punches him square in his perfect, radiant face again. She hopes she broke his jaw this time; she would settle for his nose, though.

He stumbles and falls back on his bottom with none of the grace a rogue should have. He curses the whole way down. It's all muffled words, and she risks a peak to see his hands covering most of his face. Maybe her wish had been granted; a crooked nose would certainly make the Creature of Light more bearable to look at. He catches her stare and Sunako is quick to look away before any permeant damage from his direct gaze into her own.

"Why," the rogue grumbles, "do you keep punching me? What did I do?" His voice is muffled, but not congested. No broken nose then.

"I told you to stop staring at me. I told you to leave," Sunako states with certainty. "You won't do either. I have every right to punch you, Creature of Light."

"It's Kyohei," he insists back, but there is not bite. She knows this, but doesn't care. She's never cared. "And I can't leave."

Her frustration is mounting again. "Yes you can; the door is right there, wide open," she counters. Her body twists to wave a hand at her broken castle entry. "Leave or I will do more than punch your face."

"I can't," he insists more. She sees him stand up from the corner of her eye. "I'm still looking for my idiot friends. Remember them? A crybaby cleric, snooty sorcerer, and perverted bard? Ring any bells? Their probably hiding around here somewhere."

Sunako bristles. "The only creature who is ever hiding in my castle is you."

"They told me they would be here," the rogue continues on. "They told me they were going to help you fight those—"

"I don't need any help," Sunako hisses.

"That's what I told them," the Creature of Light whines. "But do they ever listen to me? No. No. How would Kyohei know that those losers would be no match? Never mind that he's fought the Dark Princess before. His experience wouldn't be any use. That kind of thing doesn't account for anything, apparently."

"Are you done?" Sunako asks, arms crossed and right foot tapping. She's staring down at his feet, which is about as much as she's willing to risk. Her bangs hang low on purpose.

"Almost," the rogue replies.

She huffs. "No. I'm done listening to your pathetic squabbles. I've already told you that those creatures aren't here. Leave. Go look for your weak companions somewhere else."

"But what if they show up here later? I don't want to waste my afternoon looking for them."

The rage within Sunako increases. "Well I'm done letting you waste my afternoon with your whiny, radiant self! I have a castle to fix, in case you haven't noticed. You are in the way. Just leave," she yells, eyes now on his knees.

"No. Don't wanna." She can see him cross his arms just on the edge of her vision.

Something inside Sunako snaps and the next thing she realizes is that she is looking at the Creature of Light sticking his tongue out at her. She jumps forward, both arms out with hands drawn like a beast with claws. She aims for his neck.

There is a surprised squawking noise from the rogue, but her hands miss his throat as the other blocks just enough to keep her hands away from the easily crushed pipe. Instead, she gets a handful of his forearms, which she then uses to shove him backwards. He must not have realized how much weight her armor added, as the man tumbles to the ground. Sunako tries to let go, but he grabs her arms instead, and she ends up falling forward onto his splayed form.

The rogue now beneath her groans in either pain or annoyance. Sunako can't tell which. Maybe it's both. Either way, his grip loosens on her arms and the rage pushes her through as she tries again for his throat. Her right hand gets a nice grip near his collar bone, but he catches her left hand with his own right. His other hand grips her right forearm.

She hisses and squirms on top of him, trying to use the weight and bulk of her armor to dislodge him. They both push and pull at each other's arms. Usually, he would be strong enough to push her off, but her added mass seems to be too much for him. She can feel him rocking from side to side underneath her.

"Oh my," a voice cries.

Her entire being flinches, and beneath her, Sunako feels her opponent do the same. Both turn their heads, slow, ever so slow, to see three young men standing near the front gates.

There is a long pause as Sunako takes a moment to come down from her anger and process what she is seeing. When she realizes it's the other Radiant Creatures, she rolls off her hated opponent and hisses. The roll throws her hair into her eyes, and she tries covering her face more with the bulk of her armor-clad arms. They are all staring at her. She can feel the light of such dazzling creatures sneaking through the cracks between her arms and trying to burn through her skin.

"Leave," Sunako tries once more. She forces herself to stand while keeping her face blocked. "Your worthless companions are here. You have no reason to stay." She summons all of the darkness she can, whispering enchanted words under her breath. The incantation builds, and magic forms between her and those horrid Radiant Creatures. "Leave, or I will kill you all." Her voice booms with magic dripping from her vocal cords.

A wall of dark magic falls into place, bidding her will to block the unwanted gazes. It rises up high and wide, solidifying into grey crystals too opaque to see through. She risks a final glance to ensure they are no longer in sight, then Sunako turns and dashes back into her castle.

It's not running away, she thinks to herself.