A/N: This story is proving to be far more rewarding than it actually is. Indeed, this story is by far one of THE best stories I have written thus far. Enjoy.
"Well? Do you intend to let him get the best of you?" Not knowing where the voice came from, Sabria ignored its words and watched on as the large ki blast was sent forth toward Sabria. Doing what she must, Sabria charged at the attack and used her hand to halt its movement.
"Really now? So you really want to die that badly huh? Fine, be my guest!" Xiphos yelled, adding more power to his ki attack through the use of his staff. Initially, the attack was pushing Sabria back by only a few feet, but Sabria was barely able to keep the attack at bay.
"Hahaha! Finally, your death is near!" With another spell casted, Xiphos magnified the size and power of the ki blast by two times, which at this point began overwhelming Sabria who was no longer able to hold it at bay. Without another arm, her death seemed certain.
However, at that exact moment the ki attack connected with Sabria, the girl felt a strange sensation tingle around her body. She found herself stuck in mid-air and immediately noticed the large ki attack in front of her was completely and utterly frozen, unmoving in front of her.
"What… is this power? The ki blast seems to have, halted somehow. But by what exactly?" Sabria noted to herself and as she turned around to Toumin, she saw his movements had become halted as well. In fact, it seemed everything around her had come to a screeching halt but she was still able to move freely.
"This is my power, Sabria." The same voice she heard from before echoed from behind. As she slowly turned around, she noticed a glowing floating object move towards her, surprised that another object is able to move freely in such an area.
"What exactly… is going on? How did everything around me cease to move? And who or what are you?" Sabria quickly asked the object who still moved closer to Sabria who backed away, not knowing what was to come next.
"Who am I she asks… why, I am a very powerful artifact. I was just sitting over there, neglected for countless years. Quite strange that he would pick me up, wanting more power but chose to leave me here in his artifact room. As to who I am… before I answer that, might I know your name?" The object calmly asked of Sabria who took a deep breath and answered his question.
"My name…? Its… Sabria." Upon answering, the object quickly drew itself closer to Sabria in an instant, floating and orbiting around Sabria. She felt very uncomfortable due to her first meeting such a… sane being.
"Oh, my dear, you don't need to act so awkward while I'm here. You'll be alright. After all, I did rescue you in the nick of time." After those words, Sabria quickly jumped backwards, grabbing a random knife from the countless weapons she could find.
But before she could throw the knife, it fell out of Sabria's hand and saw it hit the floor with a loud thump. It was as if the very ground was being met with a one hundred pound object. "What the? How did it get so heavy?"
"You wish to know what happened. Let's just say, I altered the atoms and structure of the knife in the instant you picked it up. To put it in simple terms, I just increased its weight." The floating orb explained, with Sabria struggling to move the weapon with all her might but to no avail.
"Let me cut straight to the end. You see the ki blast in front of you, frozen? Xiphos unmoving? And Toumin trapped by gravity? As well as the countless objects that refuse to move, save for that knife? I'll tell you… but, I require something." When the object said those words, Sabria saw its amazing power, preventing the movements of those around her dazzled her. In fact, she was downright amazed, until the orb said it required something.
"You want something? Don't be silly. There's nothing I have that would be valuable to you." When Sabria said those words, the orb simply laughed at her and floated very still in front of her. Sabria didn't know what she should do in this situation and remained silent.
"How humerus… to think you would say those words before I even said what it was I wanted. No no no… I have no need for materialistic objects. What I require is something of the utmost importance: To be perfectly blunt, I require a host." The peculiar orb announced, Sabria falling on her knees in disbelief, unable to stand up any longer.
"It's the end of the road for me, isn't it? You want to take my life just to increase your own power…?" Sabria groaned aloud, much to the annoyance of the orb who went forth and headbutted Sabria when she raised her head. She was knocked away towards the wall as the orb quickly moved towards Sabria once more.
"Your life? If you think that's the reward I'm looking for, then your sadly mistaken. When I said "host," I didn't mean life. I simply require a host to live in. To put it quite simply, I'll be inside you for a while. Besides, there are benefits to this such as this." The orb than showed Sabria a portal with an image inside which foretold of a bowl that would hit Sabria from the left side. Three seconds later, what she saw came into fruition and hit by the bowl she was.
"What… was that? That image in the portal… why did it happen just now when it was shown merely seconds ago? What is all this?" When Sabria asked these questions, the portal carrying the image disappeared and the orb went beside Sabria.
"That image you saw… was a glimpse into the future. Depending on what may happen in the future and the circumstances involving said future, I am able to foresee and react to it if I may, but even I have my flaws. As for you… well, you can't see into the future now can you? I didn't think so. And everything else that's been halted… care to take a guess?" The orb explained to Sabria who was very amazed by this level of power and stood up on the ground.
When she began thinking about what was going on, she failed to notice something very critical about the objects, Toumin and Xiphos being trapped where they stood. "Let me see… the fact that we're the only ones able to move freely save the knife and bowl that just hit me, I'd say you're able to control the movements and muscles of any living being and stop them mid-air. As for the objects, it has to do with telekinesis, correct?"
"Those are interesting theories… your very close to unravelling the answer. My power has nothing to do with movement restriction or telekinesis. Listen Sabria, you have to let me be a part of you. And quick." When the orb turned around with Sabria following its gaze, the yellow aura emanating around Xiphos began falling apart, his left arm was able to move freely but not the rest of his body.
"What's going on? His arm is able to move now and the aura is fading away."
"This is what I was afraid of happening. The spell formed around him is starting to wear off. As a result, he'll be able to move again this is not good. Well, not good for you I mean. We don't really have much time, so I'll tell you this. Sacrifice some part of you and I'll latch onto you. Quickly!" Before Sabria had time to think of something to give up, Xiphos broke free of the spell and charged at Sabria who instinctively dodged to the right but the wall behind her was completely destroyed.
"You fools! How dare you make a mockery of me?! I'll destroy you all!" An angered Xiphos yelled, firing a series of ki blasts at Sabria who barely had enough room to dodge the attacks but saw that was a distraction. Xiphos appeared before Sabria and fired a powerful ki blast at her stomach, greatly injuring her and threw her to the ground with one hand.
Sabria struggled to free herself from his grasp, but saw Xiphos was stepping on her arm, preventing her from escaping such an encounter. "Now then, who's the fool picking a fight with me? Was it you who surrounded me in such a powerful energy? No, such a thing is impossible. Perhaps it was Toumin? Or was it some form of backup from the outside world? Well? Speak up woman!"
The poor girl was completely pinned to the ground and had a difficult time coming up with a plan of attack. She thought about it long and hard but the only plan that was quite possibly the easiest one to execute was the one the orb suggested. But what part of her body will she sacrifice? And how will she free herself of this madman?
"That's it? Nothing? How pitiful… it seems you can't even put up a proper fight. Too bad." Xiphos them powering another powerful dark purple ki blast with his right hand, this time it was at point-blank range. Sabria struggled to escape but to no avail. It seemed as though she was truly at her wits end… that is, until she something glow at the corner of her right eye.
Lying several feet away from Sabria's location was a sharp knife, just sitting on the ground. Then, at that exact moment, she thought of what she was going to sacrifice. Needing to escape Xiphos, she kneed him in the stomach, sending him flying away from Sabria who quickly dashed towards the knife and picked it up.
"I don't know if this will even do me any good… but under these circumstances, I have little choice in the matter. If I want to survive, then I must do this!" Sabria said with great vigor and using her knife, slashed her right eye upwards, the blood spilling out in that instant. The orb than giggled a little and disappeared.
In the instant Sabria stabbe herself and when the oeb disappeared, Sabria dropped the knife to the ground, turning her attention to Xiphos. When her gaze met Xiphos', he immediately noticed the girl's right eye was replaced with the orb.
"An orb? And where did her right eye go? Wait, have I seen that object before? Hmm… where I have seen it before…? Ah, that's right. You were with the rest of the garbage I tossed aside!" Xiphos announced as he charged up a powerful blast and fired it at Sabria, intent on ending her life. However, to his surprise Sabria destroyed the attack with her left hand without much difficulty.
Moving in front of Xiphos, she punched him square in the face which sent him flying towards the temple until he was at the exterior and quickly regained his posture. Readying another attack, he noticed the girl appear from behind and slam him hard to the ground but continued to attack him as he fell through miles of rock, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks until he had enough.
Xiphos summoned his staff and casted a restraining spell on her but she easily broke free with a simple yell and headbutted the madman. When he tried using his fists to attack, Sabria stopped one with her left hand and the other with her foot and sent Xiphos falling to the ground with a single attack.
"Haha… hahahaha! How amazing this is! What brilliant power! I never knew the orb was capable of this!" The girl heavily laughed, much to Xiphos' surprise who saw her power had skyrocketed, possibly surpassing her at this time.
"Interesting… so the orb is giving her power! No matter! I can still increase my power!" Suddenly, Xiphos' size greatly increased and easily eclipsed that of Sabria. She smirked at this increase in power and made a gesture with her only working hand which spelled "Come on!".