Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.

CHAPTER 2-Hell Hath no Fury like Woman Scorned

Gritting his teeth, Arrathir braced himself. He closed his eyes as his hands exploded into black flames. As he pictured a kusari-gama in his mind, he kept telling himself it was no different from summoning a creature. In fact, it should be a lot easier since the weapon was an inanimate object. Feeling the mana flow around him, he kept his image of the weapon, seeing each link in the chain connecting the sickle to the weighted end. Placing his hands palm against palm in front of him like Eva had described the demon doing, he drew his hands apart, imagining the weapon appearing out of thin air. In a resounding bang, Arrathir's mana exploded in his face, singeing his hair and face. Blinking a few times, the stunned Keeper wondered where he'd gone wrong before the pain of the mana burn hit him.

"AUUUUGH! IT BURNS! OH, THE PAIN!" Arrathir screamed, clawing at his face.

"You know, experimenting with unknown mana techniques was bound to result in something like this," sighed Khell, as Arrathir ran past him, his face covered in burns.

"Umm, what's going on?" asked Eva as she and Charles came back to camp, each carrying an armful of firewood.

"Arrathir tried summoning his kusari-gama," said Khell "That would be the result."

Charles and Eva both groaned, rolling their eyes in perfect unison as Arrathir continued running around, screaming in pain. Blinded by the pain, he crashed into a tree and writhed on the ground in pain.

"Arrathir, you never cease to amaze me," said Eva, shaking her head while trying not to laugh too hard at the Keeper's ineptitude. Charles, however, didn't feel the need to hold back and turned away from the Keeper before bursting out into laughter.

Heaving a deep sigh, Khell cast Nourish on Arrathir, not because he was particularly concerned for the Keeper, his demon healing factor could take care of the burns; but more because the Keeper's screams were getting on his nerves.

"Ugh, thanks," said Arrathir as his skin healed over "Remind me not to try that again."

"Sometimes," said Eva "I wonder how you managed to survive this long."

"A combination of skill, courage, and pure dumb luck!" said Arrathir.

"I'd go more for the luck," said Eva, dumping her load of firewood "I'm exhausted. 'Night everyone."

After bidding Eva goodnight, the three remaining Keepers huddled around the fire, throwing on some more wood to keep the flames going. As they talked about what to do about Chihowaido, Arrathir could feel his eyelids growing heavy from the day's events. He began nodding off and awoke with a jerk as his head slumped forwards.

"Ugh," he said, shaking his head "That's it for me. I need sleep." Waving a tired hand at Khell and Cannon, he tried to find a comfortable spot nearby. Lying down under a low shrub, he soon dozed off.

Arrathir was walking through an endless field of high grass. He didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there, but these questions didn't bother him. He was content with simply walking along, a cool breeze at his back bending the blades of grass forwards. He felt at peace: no troublesome questions about the Keepers of Mana plaguing his mind, no danger waiting to strike, nothing but an endless ocean of grass.

As he walked, running the palms of his hands across the surface of the grass, he saw a figure in this distance. Strangely, he couldn't make out any features; the silhouette was blurred, as if he were looking at it through etched glass; however he could make out a red aura around the blurry outline.

It must be Eva. What's she doing here?

Picking up the pace, Arrathir headed for the figure, but strangely, he got no closer to it. Frowning, he broke into a run, cutting a furrow in the grass that closed behind him. He was aware that the wind had shifted; now blowing in his face and carrying Eva's faint cries and yelps of pain

"Eva!" roared Arrathir "Hang on, I'll be right there!"

He dashed madly towards her indistinct figure, his muscles screaming in pain as he pushed himself to the limit. His efforts were finally paying off. She was much closer now. He finally reached her, and with his last ounce of strength, jumped forwards to touch Eva's hand. Just as he felt her tenderness and warmth, he heard Eva's voice, like a whisper on the wind.

"Too late..."

The ground around them exploded in a thunderous bang. In shock and horror, Arrathir turned to face Eva, wide-eyed, as the shockwave overran their very beings.

"Eva!" shouted Arrathir, awakening with a jerk. He lay there for a few seconds, breathing heavily. The dream still replayed through his mind and he could almost feel the blast from the explosion. After a few moments, he relaxed as he realized he was in the forest. Letting out a sigh of relief, he decided to get up and check on Eva. The vision of her body being consumed by the explosion haunted him, and he wanted to see her. After all, he would only grow more protective of her now that they were an item.

As he tried to get up, he felt an arm pinning him to the ground. Confused, he turned his head and blushed furiously as he realized Eva was lying behind him and was snuggling up to him as she slept, her stomach pressed against his back. Arrathir could feel her breath on his neck and the warmth of her body against his back.

Oh shit! We're spooning! OK, OK, relax, deep breaths. Now, ordinarily, in a situation like this, you'd be in grave danger of getting the shit beaten out of you if she woke up, but in this case, she obviously came here on her own. Just stay cool and go back to sleep.

"Arrathir…" muttered Eva. The Keeper froze, pricking his ears. "I know you're awake," Eva continued.

"Uh, hi," said Arrathir.

"You smell good," said Eva, inhaling deeply.

"Thanks," said Arrathir, a bit confused by the randomness of Eva's comment "Ah, Eva? Why are you sleeping with me?"

"Well," said Eva, sitting up "Shouldn't we sleep together if we're going to be mates?"

"What?" said Arrathir, turning to face her "Whoa! Time out! When did we agree to be mates?"

"Well, why not?" asked Eva, putting an arm around Arrathir's neck and pulling him in until their noses touched "We love each other so what's wrong with wanting to spend the rest of our lives together?"

"A-Are you proposing?" stammered Arrathir, completely astonished.

"Yes," said Eva with a smile. She captured Arrathir's lips with her own, lightly nibbling his bottom lip. "What do you think?" she asked, breaking the kiss "Will you be my mate, Arrathir Quinn?"

Arrathir was flabbergasted by Eva's proposal. In his mind, he'd always seen this event the other way around. The both of them would have probably been in some special place and he'd get down on his knee, give a whole speech on how he loved her more than anything and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Then he'd pull out the ring and ask her to marry him. Eva would just be standing there, her mouth hanging open in shock and there might even be a tear of happiness running down her flushed face, making her look ever so beautiful. The moment would seem to last an eternity, during which they would just stare into each other's eyes. Then she would tearfully accept and they would passionately embrace.

However, the sudden reversal of situation left him grappling for an answer. He knew in his heart that the answer was 'yes.' He couldn't imagine himself spending the rest of his life with anyone but Eva. Still, he felt a little uncomfortable with the situation.

"Eva," he said, "I don't know. We've only just begun our relationship."

"So?" said Eva "We've had this connection for a long time. Think about it: out of all the Keepers, you met me first. Why? Also, when you died, your life essence came to me. Arrathir, all these things happened for a reason. I think we're meant to be together."

"I feel the same way," said Arrathir "But I can't help thinking that if the One ever found out about us, you'd be in danger and I could never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"Oh don't give that bullshit!" said Eva "Don't you pull a Parker on me."

"What?"

"The 'I don't want to see you hurt because of me' thing," said Eva "It might have worked before, but now that I'm a Keeper, I can protect myself. I don't need you hanging over my shoulder all the time!"

"Why is this so damn important to you?" snapped Arrathir "Can't you just live with us acknowledging our feeling? Why do you seek commitment?"

"Well," said Eva, irritated "If you really cared about me, you'd want to be assured we could be united forever."

"If you really cared about me," growled Arrathir "You wouldn't be trying to pressure me into this!"

"How dare you insinuate I don't love you!" shouted Eva "Do you know how hard it was to convince the others to keep your body after you died? I was the only one that believed you weren't dead!"

"Yeah? Well maybe I wouldn't have died if you hadn't played your fucking Sulfuric Vortex!" replied Arrathir.

"Maybe if you didn't suck so much, you wouldn't have gotten wounded so badly!" shouted Eva.

"Hey! I'll beat you in a duel any day!" yelled Arrathir "Think you're good enough to take me on?"

"Fuck dueling you!" said Eva, flexing her claws "I'll just beat the shit out of you!"

Arrathir jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding Eva's claws. He brought up an arm to parry a kick to the face and, grabbing Eva's lag, yanked her up by the ankle. Eva thrashed, wildly flailing her feet and caught Arrathir in the chin. The Keeper of Black Mana was grunted in pain as he was knocked backwards, dropping Eva in the process.

Eva landed painfully on her back. Wincing, she got up and pounced on Arrathir, straddling his chest, and began pounding his face. The other Keeper brought his hands up, trying to protect himself, but Eva continued to claw at his arms. She suddenly felt Arrathir's legs lock around her neck and force her back until she could hardly breathe. Grabbing Eva's knees, Arrathir flipped her backwards.

Before Eva could launch a new attack, Arrathir was back on his feet. The Keeper of Red Mana charged at him, lashing out with her fists, and an occasional kick, and Arrathir was kept busy blocking, dodging, and parrying her assaults.

Eva growled in frustration. She was unable to land a solid hit on Arrathir, who seemed to be solely defending himself. She was puzzled by her failure to strike Arrathir.

"You're fast," she sneered as a red aura appeared around her "But I'm faster."

She suddenly darted forwards at an incredible speed. Arrathir could barely see the red blur she had become and before he knew it, she'd sunk her fist in his stomach. He doubled over in pain, the wind knocked out of him. Eva took advantage of his stunned state to slam him into the ground and jumped on his back, grinding his face into the dirt.

"You know," said Khell "It occurs to me we should probably help Arrathir."

"Nah," said Charles "I'm enjoying this."

The two Keepers were watching Arrathir getting the beating of his life from the cover of the trees. They'd been awakened by the loud arguing and by the time they'd gone to investigate, the fight had already started.

"Anyways," said Charles, as Eva put Arrathir in a hold and began doing something which, judging by the look on the black Keeper's face, must have been very painful "It's just a lover's tiff."

"A lover's tiff?" repeated Khell in disbelief as Eva drop-kicked Arrathir into a tree "Charles, I think she's really trying to hurt him!"

"Meh," said Charles "You know he likes it."

"I don't get it," said Khell "What did he say to get her riled up like that?"

"You have to remember," said Charles "That Eva embodies the entire concept of red mana. As such, every emotion she experiences is increased tenfold, so she's prone to snapping at the slightest provocation."

"Wait," said Khell "Every emotion is enhanced? So if she and Arrathir ever mated…"

"Yeah," said Charles "And Arrathir, because of the close contact, would share in this enhanced emotion."

Khell gave a low whistle. "Lucky bastard," he said.

"Beats Viagra," said Charles

"Via-what?"

"Never mind," said Charles "Ohh! That's not right!" he added in disgust, seeing what Eva was doing with Arrathir's tail.

With a final punch, Eva sent Arrathir crashing to the ground in a mass of tangled limbs. Breathing heavily, the Keeper of Red Mana suddenly spun around, startling Charles and Khell. The two Keepers gulped nervously as Eva glared daggers at them. Charles tried to look casual, whistling innocently as he looked about for an escape route while Khell was ready to go wurm, should the need arise.

The awkward silence was broken by a pitiful groan from the disheveled heap that was Arrathir.

"Pain…" he groaned.

Giving Arrathir one last hateful look, Eva stormed off into the woods. Charles and Khell let out the breaths they had been holding in a simultaneous sigh of relief.

"Well," said Charles "Break out the Nourishes, Khell."

To be continued…

Author's Note: Poor, poor Arrathir.

Until next time…