There's no excuse for laziness. And even sorry is only a pretty word that begins to lose its meaning when you hear it so much.
Everyone's mind was racing almost as fast as their hearts at the site of Xanna, sickened at how she was standing alongside Elros as if she truly believed that she belonged there. Her beautiful dark yellow eyes that all the idiots in the worlds hated were so dull and lost, her smile twisted just like the man next to her. She appeared to be happy at where she was in her life now, though everyone knew better, able to see that all she was doing was crying out for help, as she had done for her whole life. The only thing different was there was someone; a whole group even; to be there for her, and she needed them now more than ever.
Cosmo's eyes began to well up with tears as he looked to the girl, so angry, blaming himself for not always being there to protect her. He did his best to fight back his emotions, trying to think of all of the better times back in the orphanage. Sadly, all it did was make him feel worse. 'I'm so sorry that I left you, Xanna…'
Louis and Seda felt all the pain he did and more, sickened with themselves at how badly the choice they made was. The wonderful bouncing baby girl they always kept on their minds and in their hearts was now a broken young woman. 'Xanna…we're sorry.'
Mokoki was feeling so many strong emotions at once, he didn't know which one to go with. He was so confused and angry at how he never knew that his best friend was working for someone so twisted, sad at how he wasn't able to be there for him so he didn't slip away and drown in the dark abyss he was in now. All that was ever on his mind was girls. 'Gizzy, man…I'm so sorry.'
Dethiam, even though undead, also felt her own kind of emotions of a sort that didn't lead to murdering; a tad bit bored. Memories of staying with Elros ran through her mind, he'd given her so much, everything she had always wanted; flesh and blood, rogue training, killing anyone she wanted when she wanted, it was all so great. She wasn't even bothered with what she had to do in return to keep them. Thinking back on it, she wondered why she ever left. 'Guess living the perfect life just got boring.'
Makaza looked to the girl with such pity in his eyes, amazed at how she was even able to stand when she was so broken. 'Can't blame her for snapping…'
Akazil was filled with rage at the sight, only wanting to run up and beat the absolute life out of the sick man in front of him and grabbing Xanna, holding her tightly and never letting her go. 'Xanna, I promise I'll protect you.'
Ixxy did her best to bottle up all of her emotions, as she had done her whole life, wanting to be the stronger one of her and Xanna. She looked to her old body hostess, her sister, her best friend, and swore to herself that she would get her and Gishezpak both out of this horrible place. 'Xanna, listen to me!' She screamed to her in her mind. 'I'm here for you now! I won't leave you alone!'
From across the room, everyone could see that Xanna's twisted smile only grew as she stared down the purple halfling girl. With a twinkle in her eye, she leaned in closer to Elros, whispering into his ear. A smirk grew onto his face and he nodded, leaving a gentle kiss on her neck.
Louis exclaimed his irritation with a growl, reached for a dagger and threw it directly for his old friend's neck. Sadly, the results of seeing his blood spill out didn't happen, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping in shock as he only stared at Xanna holding the dagger in her hand, just barely an inch away from his intended target.
"May I?" The girl asked, her eyes gleaming as she directed them toward the purple man, still keeping the twisted smile upon her face. "Yes." Elros answered, remaining completely calm, cool and collected. "You may."
Within half a second, Louis was suddenly screaming in pain, stumbling and falling backwards, groaning loudly as he reached for the dagger imbedded into his shoulder. Everyone turned to him, gasping at the sight. They never even had the chance to blink and suddenly the man had gone down with such ease.
"How the hell did she do that?" Makaza questioned, staring in horror as he watched the night elf man bleed.
Xanna laughed as she prepared to throw another dagger, carefully tracing the blade with her fingers, eyeing the group, taking her sweet time of who to down next.
"Xanna, don't! You have no idea what you're doing! You're confused!" Seda yelled out to her, knelt down next to her husband, trying to pull out the blade in his shoulder so she could properly heal his wound.
"Confused? Oh, no. No, no, no. I have never been thinking so clearly before in my entire life." The girl said with such bitterness spewing out from deep inside her, skillfully throwing her dagger into on of the paladin's hands, smiling as she jerked away from her husband and screamed out in pain as well. "You left me behind." She said to them, pulling out yet another dagger. "You were my parents. You were suppose to love me and care for me. And you left me to die."
"Xanna, we told you this!" Seda screamed, trying to pull the blade from her hand. "We didn't want you to grow up having to run for your life each day!" Louis added, gasping and groaning as he ever so slowly made progress in pulling the dagger from his shoulder.
"And I told you! I did anyway!" The girl screamed right back, her eyes becoming sharper than her own daggers as she glared at them. "Each and every single day I was in that God forsaken place, I ran. That was all I did. Everyday when I woke up, I ran. I could barely sleep, too scared because I thought I would wake up dead!" Xanna thought of each and every single memory from back at the orphanage, finally letting all of the hatred that had been building up inside of her take control. "Every night, I cried myself to sleep, so alone and scared, wishing and praying that someone would come take me away." She went on, reaching for the one earring she still had on. "I was told my mother had died giving birth to me, so I wore these to be close to her, dreaming of her being alive and holding me in her arms…" Her voice grew low, speaking calmly as she eyed the shiny thing in her hand, the sad expression on her face quickly turning back into raging hatred. "It means nothing to me now!" She screamed again, throwing the thing on the ground, stomping her foot harshly on it and breaking it into pieces. She then looked back to the elder purple rogue, her face looking dull and bored as she watched him finally pull the dagger out. "I was told my father was the one that put me in there… For awhile, I hated him… But that eventually went away, and I would dream that one day he would love me…come and save me… I wanted a father, I wanted to be daddy's little girl… But he never came." She said, her eyes drifting off to other places of the room as she remembered all of the dreams she had of her father.
Finally, after what felt like the longest moment, her eyes wandered to Cosmo, her face still dull and bored as she looked to the sparkling water pouring from his eyes. "And then he came along… The very first person to care about me." She said, a sad smile growing on her face. "The very first person to protect me from the kids at the orphanage. My first love even. The one whom I thought to be the light of my life. The one whom I thought to be an angel sent down from above just for me." She said, ending with a sigh as she eyed the dagger. "And then he left me to die too." Her eyes wandered back to the hunter, only blinking at him when he opened his mouth to say something, not surprised when nothing came out. With a sigh and a shrug, she then threw her dagger, lodging it deeply into his leg.
"Xanna, stop!" Seda screamed again, hissing as Louis helped her with the blade still in her hand. "We're sorry we left you! We were trying to protect you!"
"Wanna know what happened after he left?" Xanna went on, taking off her cloak as she slowly made her way for the group. "Things went back to normal…but worse than that." She said, a slight hysterical laugh slipping from her lips. "Ya see, there was a little boy there… Lythrien." She continued, her cloak slowly falling from her body and onto the floor. "He was a mage…a fire mage… He was the main reason why I had to run each day… Wanna know what he did after Cosmo left?" She let another hysterical laugh slip as she began to undo her chest piece, turning around to reveal the huge burn scar on her back. "He left his mark on me."
"My god…" Slipped from Seda as she and her husband looked at the scar in absolute horror, their eyes tearing up from the pain of wanting to vomit but having nothing to spew out.
"I screamed to the top of my lungs, making everyone aware of how much pain I was being put in, making my throat hoarse but still somehow having the will to keep screaming for help." Xanna went on, redressing her upper half. "Still, no one came." She said, sighing as she continued to drown in the black abyss that had been calling her name for so long. "What really pisses me off about it now…" She said, looking to her left hand. "I could have returned the favor."
'What?' Was all Ixxy could think at the statement, her eyes widening as she thought back on all the times things would spontaneously combust at Xanna's touch.
"This mark on the back of my neck… Elros told me about it. All blood elf mages have it there. A lightning bolt is for an arcane mage, raindrop for ice…and a flame for fire."
'Oh god.' Ixxy thought, her hand quickly going to the back of her neck.
"Yes." Xanna said with a smile. "We got mixed up when we fused in the womb." She said, her left hand suddenly carrying a ball of fire. "It irritates me to a point of going mad." She said, watching the flames dance in her hand. "All that time…I could have easily returned the favor…" She said, suddenly down next to her mother, burning her arms, closing her eyes and smiling as she listened to her scream. "No wonder Lythrien liked it so much. Having this kind of power to control…it's intoxicating."
"Xanna, stop it, you idiot!" Ixxy yelled, reaching for the girl's ponytail. Within the blink of an eye, she was suddenly on the floor a good distance away from the group, groaning in pain. "Agh…"
"Don't even get me started on you." Xanna said, slowly making her way for the girl. "You were there with me the whole time, there in my mind, able to see every last bit of all that I went through… And all you did was hide, leaving me alone." She said, narrowing her eyes down at her, summoning another fireball. "Even the voice in my own mind…left me alone to die." She said in a low growl, placing her foot on Ixxy's throat.
"Ixxy!" Makaza called out, mindlessly running over to help the girl, suddenly pinned to the ground, looking up to Xanna. "Ah!" He exclaimed, quickly throwing his arms in front of his face. "Ak!"
"Yes, and you…" Xanna said, looking dully down at the orc. "Can't do anything without big brother by your side, can you? Or that stupid back sassing imp you almost fell apart over." She hissed, throwing a fireball at the imp, making him fly a good distance away like she had done to Ixxy without even looking to him. All Makaza could do was bite his lip and close his eyes to hold back a whimper. "You're nothing without someone there to help you." She said, getting off of him, her eyes landing on the distressed tauren.
As soon as he was targeted, the shaman was destroyed. He knew he didn't have a chance against this girl. Desperate for some form as reassuring and comfort, he looked to his troll friend, wordlessly pleading to him for help. The blue teen looked back for only a moment, then looked away, leaving the tauren to fend for himself like he and Xanna had done for their whole lives. 'I'm sorry, Mokoki…'
Xanna chuckled as she harshly grabbed the tauren by his nose ring. "He can't help you." She said, that twisted smirk back on her face. "You're a horrible friend too." She pierced right through him immediately with her stinging words of hate. "Your "best friend" is in need, and you can't see it. Instead of helping him get through what's wrong, you just go off chasing girls." She chuckled again, folding her arms over her chest, eyeing him up and down. "You abandoned him before he even had a chance to drown."
"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Mokoki snapped, swinging a hand at the girl, only to be harshly tossed to the ground. "Stupid…" Xanna pondered on it. "I thought you were into stupid hot girls. Easier to get what you want, isn't it? And while you're off playing, the one you call a friend is dying." She said, looking to the troll, giving him a stern look. "I'm not the only one with scars."
At that, Gishezpak let out the smallest sigh he could, taking off his cloak and upper things like she had done a moment ago, slowly turning in a circle to reveal all the scars he had on his body. Mokoki's eyes widened in horror at them. "Gizzy…"
"Elros says that failure is not an option. If I fail, I must live with it permanently marked on me…"
"You sick bastard…" Mokoki growled, looking away from his broken friend and to the one that had done it to him. "Thank you." Was all he said, with the cockiest smile he'd ever seen.
"Xanna, cut it out!" Akazil finally found his voice and threw it into the ring. "Can't you see that we're all sorry! We wouldn't be here if we didn't care!"
"True enough." Xanna said solemnly, turning to the bald orc. "But why do you care at all? Why bother? Why go through all this hassle? As Ixxy said, all you did was fall for a pretty face. You don't know me at all, so why even be here?"
"Because I didn't just fall for a pretty face." The orc growled her, taking a step closer. "I fell for the most wonderful girl ever. She's cute and goofy and fun to hang out with and all around amazing." He went on, continuing to close the space between him and her. "If I had been there in the past, I would have stayed, I would have protected you. That's why I'm here, to protect you." He said, reaching for her hands, holding them lovingly. "Believe me, Xanna… I love you." He said, his red eyes making contact with her dark yellow ones.
Xanna blinked up to him, all of her anger washed away for just the smallest moment, feeling so comfortable and safe with Akazil holding her hands. Sadly, feeling Elros' glare from him touching her shooed all of that off again. With a sigh, her eyes dulled again. "Good for you." She said, lightly burning his hands.
"Ah!" Akazil screamed, quickly retreating his hands, shaking them and blowing on them.
"He has the absolute worst habit of touching me, doesn't he?" Xanna said to Elros as she made his way for him again. The elf nodded to her, keeping his eyes on the young orc. "I believe we need to fix it." He said.
"Oh, what?" Dethiam perked up. "No comments about me being here?" She said, feeling left out. "What about how I'm just a mindless killing machine?"
Xanna laughed at the undead girl. "You're not even worth it. Yeah, you're a mindless killing machine, but without your head attached to your shoulders, you're nothing but a mere walking corpse just waiting to fall apart."
"That's better." Dethiam smiled, feeling better now that she had been acknowledged.
With a roll of her eyes at the undead girl first, Xanna addressed her attention to Elros. "Can we rid of them all now? I'm getting bored." She said plainly, exposing her neck when Elros reached up a hand to finger it lightly. "Yes we can. I am growing tired as well and would like to continue on with my plans I had set out for the day."
"I hope I'm on that to do list of yours." The girl smirked, almost wanting to roll on the floor in a fit of laughter at how shocked the group on the other side of the room was.
"Xan Xan!" Cosmo exclaimed.
Quickly, Xanna's twisted "happiness" had disappeared and she was throwing fireballs wildly in the direction of the hunter and his pets. "I am not your little Xan Xan anymore!" She screamed, keeping her eyes targeted on him as he did his best to dodge all of the fire. "You changed that when you left me!" She yelled more, taking a battle stance, her hands up by the side of her face, summoning all the fire that she could. When done, it look as if she were tossing a miniature meteor at the poor lad.
"Holy shit!" Cosmo exclaimed, barely dodging the thing. "Xanna, stop it!" He said as he stood up as straight as he could again. "I don't wanna hurt you!" He said, tears forming in his eyes again as he reached a shaky hand for his bow.
The girl only laughed at him. "Too late for that."
"Xanna, please!" Cosmo begged, sniffling as he aimed his arrow at his old friend. "I really don't wanna hurt you…" He repeated with a whimper. Alongside him, his lioness hesitantly got in her battle stance as well, her ears folding back in sadness like her master's and Jerry's.
Everyone could only huddle up together away from the two, anxious and scared at what the girl was planning to do.
'Xanna, stop!' Ixxy screamed over and over to the girl in her mind, still receiving no sign of an answer.
"You walked away from me…when I needed you." Was all Xanna said, reaching for something on her person. When she had it, she quickly threw it on the ground, disappearing in the smoke, reappearing behind the hunter, a dagger clenched tightly in her hands as she prepared to strike him down.
'Xanna!' Ixxy screamed to her again in her mind, reaching for one of the girl's old memories from back at the orphanage and throwing it at her.
Xanna's eyes widened at the memory, freezing as she watched it. It was always one of her favorite memories with Cosmo. She'd been beaten to near death, her clothes torn to pieces, her earrings stolen by one of the other girls, tied to a tree and left to die out in the cold rain. She lowered her dagger slowly, completely spaced out to the others as she watched her younger self cry.
Then she suddenly fell onto the wet grass.
Looking up, the poor little girl saw her hero, suddenly pulled up onto her feet and pulled into such a sweet embrace.
"I'll never leave you alone again." Cosmo said, holding her tightly and crying along with her as they stood together in the rain.
When the memory was over, Xanna felt as if she was about to throw up, her heart was beating so fast, her body was shaking, all she could do was growl and grip her head in her hands tightly. "It's a lie!" She screamed to herself, slapping Cosmo down to the ground. She snarled, tears sliding down her face as she narrowed her eyes at the hunter on his back, looking back up to her in fear. "That night in the rain…" She said to him. "You said you would never leave me alone again… And you still left me! !" She screamed, pulling out another dagger.
"Xanna…" Cosmo said gently, getting back onto his feet carefully. "I'm sorry. I can't say it enough. I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you." He said, slowly wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "If…" He said softly, sighing, looking deeply into her eyes as Akazil had tried to do. "If killing me will make you happy…then do it." He said, grabbing one of her hands and placing the dagger to his chest. "I only want you to be happy." He ended, kissing her softly on her lips like he had always wished to do.
Back in the center of the room, Elros growled at the sight, his hands spontaneously combusting with how irritated he was. Gishezpak's eyes widened and he took a step or two away to be safe.
"Wha-… What?" Stammered the girl, looking back up to him. "Kill me." He repeated, putting a little more pressure on the dagger on his chest. She was taken aback, thinking that there would be a fight or something from all of them, all trying their best to get her back. She had never expected this, for one of them; Cosmo, no less; to walk up and willingly sacrifice their life.
"The same goes for us." Akazil perked up, tossing aside his weapon and shield. "If you wanna kill us all, then just do it."
"You still have that Spirit Healer coupon, right…" Louis muttered to his wife as she finished healing her burn wounds. "Yep." She replied with a nod.
"You think none of us care about you, but you're wrong. We wouldn't be here if we didn't, Xanna. And if killing us all is what it takes to get you to see that, then so be it."
"Except for me." Dethiam said. "I'm here just because I'm bored."
Slowly, everyone turned to stare blankly at the girl trying to ruin their serious moment.
"What?"
Elros rolled his eyes and grunted in irritation. "Enough of this nonsense." He said, addressing his attention back to his queen. "Get on with it. If they are all willing to die, then don't stop them."
"B-But-"
"Are you going against what I say?" The man growled, narrowing his eyes at the girl. She shook her head profusely, so much that she dropped her daggers to the ground. She let out a small sound of distress as she stumbled to pick them up.
Elros sighed in irritation. "This is ridiculous. Troll!" He snapped, turning his head to Gishezpak. "End this."
With a nod, Gishezpak pulled out his staff and made his way for the group. "No, no! Wait! I can do it!" Xanna protested, blocking Cosmo from the shaman. "I-I-I-I just got caught o-off guard! I can do it!" She snapped, gripping her daggers tightly again, turning around to face her old friend. She took in a deep breath and shoved him hard back to the ground. "Fight me!" She said, kicking at him.
"No."
"Fight me, dammit!"
"I won't fight you, Xanna. I want you to be happy."
"Agh, fight me! !" She growled, throwing a dagger next to his face. "You worthless piece of nothing!"
As she let out another sound of irritation and distress, Xanna was tackled to the ground. "If you want a fight, then fight me." Ixxy told her, gripping her wrists tightly. The girl was relieved, not wanting to fight someone that refused to fight back. The thought of that stayed in her mind for a moment; not wanting to do to others like what was done to her. She shook her head to get it out of her mind. 'Let's get this bullshit over with.' She growled to herself, throwing Ixxy off of her, quickly leaping back onto her feet and pulling out another dagger.
"Ixxy, no!" Cosmo shouted, now being held down by the troll's staff.
"We came to get these two back! I refuse to go down without even trying! So if they want a fight, then I'll give 'em what hell I can!"
"Why don't you just crawl back to your hole." Xanna laughed, throwing a dagger at her, nicking the girl's shoulder. She growled at the cut, gritting her teeth at the sting of the pain. 'I wasn't there when you needed me in the past… I was scared and I'm sorry. But I'm here now, when you need a hand to hold as you cry… Why can't you see it!' Ixxy screamed to girl again in her mind, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference.
Everyone only watched as Xanna chased Ixxy down with daggers and fireballs. Cosmo took advantage of the moment and tripped the troll, quickly getting back to his feet, grabbing his bow and arrows before Gishezpak could get back up. "I won't fight her, but I'll fight you if I have to, Gizzy." He said, aiming an arrow at him.
Like a robot, Gishezpak was quiet and did as his master told him to, going after Cosmo without a second thought. He summoned a totem to slow down his movement, another to shoot fire at him. When those were placed, he shot lightning bolt after lightning bolt at the elf, wanting to please his master; it was all he had left in his pitiful life.
Due to the dagger still wedged in his leg, Cosmo fell back to the ground, doing all he could to ignore the pain and keep himself together. Gishezpak slowly drew closer, preparing his next lightning bolt. The hunter was terrified, he crawled away as much as he could on his back, barely keeping hold of his weapons. His two faithful pets even leapt in front of him to protect him; Mittens hissing harshly at the troll as he aimed for her master.
Quickly, Cosmo shoved the lioness and mouse out of the way, not wanting for them to get hurt. "Stay back!" He ordered them when they were about to make their way back. He then looked to the troll, held his breath and closed his eyes. He heard the firing of the lightning bolt, but felt no immediate pain. Slowly opening his eyes, Cosmo saw that Gishezpak's shot was blocked by one of the tauren's own lightning bolts.
With the strength of both of their spells colliding, they were both forced to slide away from each other, only just a bit, slowly sliding back as each teen stood his ground, eyes making contact. Wordlessly, they yelled at each other, cried with each other, breaking down more and more on the inside and still refusing to let it show, still refusing to say the words aloud; "I'm sorry."
Gishezpak was the first to make another move, still feeling his master's eyes watching him close. Quickly, he shot another spell at his old friend, shocking him with a concussive force and slowing down his movement. Just as fast as he had fired that spell, he summoned more totems and began to cast a chain of lighting bolts, one of which hit the tauren's hoof; bouncing off of even; and then headed for the grounded hunter.
Even with Gishezpak's earth shock spell still in affect, Mokoki was quick to place a shield on the boy on the ground, then another over his pet lioness when the lightning bolt made a leap for her as well. Just as he was turning back around to face the troll again, he felt a searing pain take over his body, forcing him to fall to the ground. The tauren exclaimed out in pain, feeling the worst of it in his nose for the spell made his nose ring incredibly hot. 'This is what I get for having piercings…' He thought, somehow managing to find the strength to stand up again. Doing all he could to fight back tears from the pain, he summoned a healing totem at his feet and stood his ground, awaiting the troll's next chain of spells.
Still an empty shell of himself, Gishezpak continued to fight his best friend, casting a spell to even more so worsen the one already placed on the tauren.
Just as quickly, Mokoki counterattacked, casting a shear of wind, interrupting the troll's spell, holding his breath as the flame shock finished its course and his totem on the ground healed him.
Without even thinking, Akazil charged for the troll to help Mokoki, getting lucky enough to catch him off guard and knock him to the ground with his shield. Gishezpak took the slightest moment to be shocked and embarrassed, immediately feeling his master's disapproval. Holding back a growl, he kicked the orc off his feet and leapt back onto his own, about to jam his staff through his chest as hard as he could, suddenly being hit in the face by a small fireball.
"Nice shot, Eek." Makaza said to his imp, preparing to fire a shadow bolt.
Being forced to stumble backward a bit from shock, the troll let out a small growl and targeted the two parasites, quickly throwing a frost spell in their direction before going back to the orc on the ground and the tauren off to the side.
Stopping his spell, Makaza kicked his imp out of harm's way to take the damage himself.
"Makaza!" Akazil called out for his brother, forgetting all about the troll above him for just a moment as he watched the spell head for the young warlock, not even getting a chance to blink when a shield was placed upon him. Quickly his attention shot toward the tauren, watching as he cast a spell to knock Gishezpak away. Very thankful, but having no time to say so, Akazil got back to his feet and began to help the tauren once more. He attempted to rend the troll, growling when he was able to dodge it successfully.
"Go get him, Mittens!" Cosmo said to his pet lioness, grabbing his bow and an arrow, aiming it at the angry and confused shaman to help his friends. Mittens was quick at obeying her master, running up to Gishezpak, trying to claw and bite him.
Being more on his guard, Gishezpak was able to dodge every single one of their attacks, still able to throw in a few of his own; most of them hitting his target successfully.
"You're doing it wrong, you morons!" Dethiam shouted to the group, getting bored of standing idly by and watching the boys have fun. Pulling out her daggers, she ran up group, leaping over the tauren to tackle the troll. "Ye haw!" She exclaimed, taking a firm grip of his mohawk as he tried to toss her off.
"Lou, we have to help." Seda said, looking to her husband, only seeing air. "Lou?"
Elros was quite comfortable in his chair, a small smirk on his face as he watched the fights before him, proud of all the mayhem he caused, part of him in the back of his mind wondering if his father would feel the same. He quickly destroyed the thought before it had a chance to grow, keeping his focus on what was in front of him, and next to him. "You're still too loud to be a rogue, Louis." He said to the night elf next to him, his eyes staying forward for a moment longer before slowly addressing them onto his old friend as he came out of his stealth. "You really should've been a warrior. They're loud and clumsy." He smirked at hearing the orc growl and nearly stumble onto his backside from letting his irritation get the better of him.
"I'm too fast to be a warrior." He replied, keeping his dagger to the man's neck. "True, but you certainly have the patience of one." Elros instigated, addressing his eyes forward again. "But, then again, we all have very thin patience once in awhile."
"Especially when you're old best friend in all of both worlds goes insane, tries kidnapping your bride to be, and then going after your daughter. All the while, also trying to take over the whole damn universe like a mad lunatic!"
"If wanting a more neat and organized world to live in makes me a lunatic…" He said, addressing his eyes back to him, looking him right into his. "Then so be it." He finished, blinking himself out of harm's way. Louis growled, about to leap over the chair and for Elros, suddenly being held back. "Not so fast." The mad man said, smirking as he watched his copies keep the rogue busy. "Don't you at least want to see how well I've trained your daughter?" He addressed a hand toward the two girls still fighting around the room, Xanna being more of the winner so far.
"I have to say that I most certainly respect you." Ixxy panted, somehow finally managing to pin Xanna down to attempt catching her breath. "I don't like ya, but I respect ya. She's been here only how long and she's kicking my ass…"
Elros smirked at the compliment, watching as Xanna grunted and shoved Ixxy off of herself, looking as if she'd been wasting no energy at all. "I seem to have quite a way with your daughters." He said to the night elf man that had still been fighting off his copies.
"My dagger is about to have quite a way with your throat." Louis growled, somehow managing to dodge the simultaneous pyroblast spells. Elros only laughed at him, stopped when Seda had begun to cast her spells to help her husband.
"Still too slow, Seda." The cocky elf man said, grabbing her by the hand, dancing with her as he dodged all of her attacks, loving ever so much to toy with the woman. "Just think, if you had married me, I would have danced with you like this everyday." He held her close, gripping her arms tightly in one hand as he dipped her down. "I still will, if you finally wish to take my offer."
"Not even in your dreams." The paladin growled, narrowing her emerald green eyes as she remembered of the offer he'd made her. Her anger always became more intense as she thought of it, nearly sickening her.
"Have it your way then, you spoiled brat." Elros said nonchalantly, dropping the woman, looking down to her as he took off his cloak to fight, his face almost going completely expressionless.
Trying to be hasty to get back to her feet and stop him from casting protection spells on himself, Seda couldn't help but pity him. He had such a sad past, as sad as Xanna's, if not sadder. All he ever wanted was someone to care for him, but he went after it all wrong and neither she or Louis could help him to change it. 'I'm sorry, El.' She thought, preparing to strike at him.
"WAIT!"
"Huh?" "What?" Came the replies of everyone, looking to the warlock.
"Did you honestly just shout that in the middle of a fight?" Elros questioned, staring blankly at him. "What…what kind of person does that? That…that's ridiculous. And everyone stopped. Even more ridiculous! What kind of absurd-!"
"Look…" Makaza said, pointing to the girls.
Their fight had ended up with them stripping each other of their weapons, stumbling in the nice fountain placed in the room, and then stripping each other of pieces of their armor as they scratched and bit and pulled on each other's hair.
Louis and Elros both became red in the face, then glared death daggers toward the young orc, preparing to tackle him and give him a good what for. Seda, fortunately for Makaza, was able to hold them back.
"Dude…nice…" Mokoki said, watching along with the warlock and his imp.
"Wow, they're good at working each other." Dethiam threw in, pulling out a chair and some popcorn to watch as well.
"Mister Akazil…" Gishezpak said, giving the orc a tissue. "Your nose is bleeding."
"O-oh, thanks…" He replied, his face completely flushed as he stared at the two elves fighting each other in the water.
"This is so wrong…these are my daughters…" Louis whimpered, being forced to watch his babies have an arousing cat fight in front of hormonal teenage boys, and Elros.
"I have no problem with watching it. I just cannot comprehend that we actually stopped to do so. We were all having our own battles and-"
"Shh! You're ruining it!" Dethiam said, eating popcorn and watching the fight, ducking when Elros threw a fireball at her.
"Dude, this is gonna make us so much gold." Mokoki said cheekily, filming along with Makaza.
Elros only snarled like a territorial dog as he looked to all of the teenagers watching his queen fight her sister. Even Gishezpak just watched instead of taking advantage of the moment. 'I knew I should have given him that hormonal removal treatment.' He thought, growling as he began to throw fireballs rapidly in a fit of anger and jealousy. "Worthless dogs!" He shouted, elbowing Seda in the stomach to get away. "Especially you!" He addressed toward the troll, firing frostbolts at him to slow down his movement. "Stopping a fight when the enemy tells you! And to watch a girl; my queen; fight in the water! !"
Gishezpak stayed silent, trying to make his body go numb as quickly as he could before Elros inflicted any real pain onto him for his mistake.
"I should've known better than to take your family in. Good for nothing trolls! Time to have you join them!" He yelled down at the poor boy, preparing to cast a fire spell on him.
"El, no!" Seda shouted, trying to put a shield over the blue teen, getting knocked down for doing so. As was anyone else that attempted to save the troll.
Xanna had a tight grasp on Ixxy's throat, panting and growling as she held the girl down under the water, looking her in her green eyes, almost completely soulless by this point, gripping her purple neck tighter and tighter.
'Xanna…look!' Ixxy managed to choke out in their entwined minds, pointing to whatnots going on just a little ways away.
Against the better judgment that Elros had taught her, Xanna turned her head, her scowl quickly turning into an expression of shock and worry as she looked to the tall elf man quickly downing all of the group, then addressing his hatred toward a helpless little troll.
"Gizzy!" She shrieked, letting go of Ixxy; whom she left to gasp and choke for air; running for her daggers, then to be a shield for the shaman. "What the hell are you doing! He's not the enemy!"
"My Queen…" Elros purred, leaning down a bit, gently grabbing at the girl's chin. "He is weak minded. He always has been, and he always will be. There is nothing I can do that will seem to change it. He is nothing but a waste of our time. He is, as are the rest of the people here, a nuisance that needs to be rid of."
"The only nuisance here that needs to be rid of is you!" Louis barked, achy, covered in scratches, burn marks and bruises, but still managing to get back to his feet. He was quickly forced to fumble back down, a dagger making a home in his thigh. "Agh!" He groaned and gasped at the pain.
Addressing her attention away from the purple man and back to "her king", looking up to him in distress for her downed companion. "H-he may be weak minded, but he is still useful." She said, doing her best to not anger the man. "Just let me be in charge of him. I'll keep him in line."
Elros looked to the troll, almost staring a hole right through him, then back to the lovely girl before him. "You're too kind hearted. You need to get rid of that if you want to survive in life." He said plainly to her, kissing her on the forehead.
Xanna became flustered for the smallest moment, then turned away, faking a glare down at the troll to not appear soft. "Get up!" She yelled at him, even kicking at him. "We have work to be done and we can't do it with you lying down on the job!" She kicked at him again, hoping that Elros was buying it. 'C'mon, Gizzy, please get up. I'm so confused right now and I don't wanna be in it alone. Please, please, please get up.'
Panting as she climbed out of the fountain, Ixxy looked out to her injured friends and parents, a small scowl making its way on her face when she addressed her eyes to her twin. 'C'mon, Gizzy, please get up. I'm so confused right not and I don't wanna be in it alone. Please, please, please get up.' She heard the girl say in her mind, her scowl getting a bit smaller. 'Xanna, I know you're still in there somewhere. I know that you don't want to be doing this. You're just scared and hurt and refuse to believe there's someone there to help you.'
With a low growl, the girl spun around and began to throw flaming daggers at the purple teen, mentally putting up the brick wall.
"Keep me out all you like!" Ixxy yelled to her, dodging and even deflecting some of the flaming weapons. "I'm gonna make you see what's right and what's wrong!" Using her sprint ability, Ixxy ran for the girl, jumping and kicking at her. Sadly, Elros grabbed her by the ankle, spun her round and tossed her to the other side of the room. She groaned as she sat up straight, amazed that she hadn't broken her neck.
"I'm almost tempted to keep them. They're fun to play with." Elros laughed, smirking as he watched all of his opponents squirm and groan in pain, even with Seda managing to give them a few healing spells here and there.
"Xanna, please…" Akazil groaned as he got back to his feet, looking to his love with pleading eyes. "Why can't you see that we care about you?"
"Yes…" Seda whimpered, finishing with healing what she could of the group's wounds. "Xanna…" She said, getting enough courage to walk up to the girl. "I love you so much… You father does too. We missed you so much and thought of you everyday. Please, listen… Elros is the bad one here. He is the reason that we had to give you up." She cried, slowly snaking her arms around her daughter, embracing her. "My heart broke the day we had to leave you…"
Everyone only watched in silence, anxious to see of what Xanna would do, hoping maybe Seda had gotten through to her, and fearing so much for the paladin if she hadn't.
Xanna frowned at her mother's hug. "You said it broke." She whispered, her had on the woman's chest, feeling her heartbeat. "It did, I promise." Seda told her, more tears sliding down her face, almost worried that Xanna could feel her heart beating faster and faster. "It's fine…" She heard her say. "I'll break it for you!"
An in instant, Seda's eyes widened, feeling a horrible sharp and stinging pain right through her chest. Slowly, she began to pull herself away, wanting to scream but not having the voice to as she looked to the bloody dagger. Her breathing getting fast and short, she then looked to her daughter, seeing her smiling. Even though it was for something so wrong, Seda was happy to see her daughter smile, unable to help her own from it. Crying her last tears and taking a last breath, she managed to reach up a hand and cup her daughter's face. "I'm sorry." Came her last whisper, sliding the rest of the way off the dagger, falling to the ground, falling into the darkness.
"SEDA! ! ! !"
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I am sorry for the wait. I truly am. I believe one more chapter...and it's done.