The Strongest Enemy (Ciroton)

"Do what you want," Emile said as she rested her armor on the white cloth she kept wrapped around her waist to rest her grand armor upon. The shine was a little dulled, despite it having been forged no more than a day ago, from all of the traveling. Tarried and muddied from the trek through the jungle, and then the quicksand, and of course the other number of things that had happened between then. Still, the woman couldn't help but release a sigh as she rested her back against the stone building.

"I wonder what he wants with me way out here? I don't really understand why he'd lure me to a remote place like this." The purple haired woman's mind was filled with vivid images of fanciful and fantastic ideas of some form of battle that ended in a proposal, but quickly shook those images from her mind. "No... nothing like that. I'm sure he just wants to get to know me better," the woman stated.

Emile leaned forwards and looked at the stone building across from her. "But... what do I know about me?" The lancer glanced at her armor and looked back at her feet. "All I really know about myself is that I'm a secretary that has a lousy and boring life. That's why I was leaving. So what then?" she asked, looking at the armor again. "Or maybe he wants to meet her. After all, she is the superior of the two of us. Well, I'll find out when I see him," the woman stated as she crossed her arms and laid back.

Her head rested idly against the stone wall and closed her eyes, quickly drifting off. She hadn't realized it, but she was exhausted. Sleep would do her good right now.

An hour to wander, an hour to relax, both didn’t appeal to Arin very much. He never really had an interest of things in the past, unless they were magical in nature. Oh how he hoped and dreamed to discover a book of lost magical skills, then use them to wow others back home. So far, the only one he found was mostly useless to him because they required something more then he had… something that Nira had.

That man… his very presence gave him chills down the spine. He seemed to emanate raw, unbridled power, yet he never used it. The mage figured he could get that stupid orb himself, but why did he leave it to others who could possibly steal it for their own designs? Arin pushed the train of thought out of his mind as he wandered, since it would do him little good anyway.

However, something in the rubble of a near building caught his eye. Sifting through the dusted and weathered stone, he picked up a curious, bronze pendant. On the pendant there were designs of some winged monster with dragon-like wings, but a human-esque body with some writing underneath. This didn’t matter to Arin. Instead, the mild magical essence of the pendant caught his attention. Whoever crafted it knew long-forgotten skills, and possibly kept a book of them!

He would never know, since as he sifted through the rubble again, the woman came back.

“What the hell are you doing?” She asked. “The hour’s up, so let’s get going, you lazy jackass!” Sure enough, when he turned he saw her rested up, and wearing her armour.

“Oh, alright,” he spoke, defeated. Sighing, he made to follow the Silver Beauty, pocketing the strange pendant as he went.

An hour had come and gone in the blink of an eye while she had slept, but at least she felt rested now and the time to begin heading onwards with her journey had come. First, that meant, however, gathering up her belongings and getting moving. The woman slowly returned her pieces of armor to their rightful places and stood up. Now she only had one thing left to find.

Still, it didn't take her long to find her traveling companion. Arin was just standing around, looking at something. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, in a rather annoyed tone. Despite feeling better and rested, still, something about busting the mage's chops, for the short while the two would be together, seemed fitting. "The hour's up, so let's get going, you lazy jackass!"

It was almost too easy to push him around, she noted. Still, the time to rest had run out, so now it was time to get moving again. The two started on their way towards again, passing through the endless lines of stone buildings. It must have seemed longer than it actually was, but still, the almost an hour they spent sifting through the stone buildings on their search didn't help.

"They're right past these stairs," the robed man stated as he pointed upwards.

Emile glanced towards the top of the stairs and started walking. Finally, she had almost caught up to Zachary again. This time, she would show him what was what.

OoC: Sorry for the suckage. Still a little sick.

BiC:

Soon, very soon, his role of playing bloodhound would be over. In fact, if Zachary and his friend had no further need of him, he’d find the closest door to the dome and get out of there. However, the stairs were steep, making the ascent the trickiest part of the journey so far. One wrong step could mean injury at best or possibly death at worst. In the back of his mind, he had to compliment Emile for going so far out of her way just for a dash of revenge. Arin would never be able to hold a grudge like that for so long. Heck, he’d nearly forgiven Chronos for his hellish tutelage.

Now wasn’t the time for reflection though. He had no idea what the two were like; they could attack them at sight for all he knew. He just had to hope it would all work out in the end.

Slowly, but surely the duo climbed to the top of the stairs, finding a huge crater at their feet. Within it sat the ruins of what looked like an ancient temple, white walls and fallen pillar being all that remained of a once great building. However, standing in the exact center of it all stood two figures. Before he could caution her about proceeding, Emile hurtled forward, definitely eager to get the inevitable fight underway.

Emile launched herself down the stairs and landed into the makeshift arena, grasping her spear tightly as she smiled. Finally, the chance for her vengeance, and a chance to prove herself, had revealed itself to her. All that was left now was a fight with Zachary and then her persuading him. That was all it would take. She was certain of it.

Zachary, on the other hand, wasn't interested in any of that. He was here to test her full strength and overcome this woman with everything he had. All he had to do was smash her armor apart and overcome her quickly. This wouldn't take long. Fire danced from the palm of his left hand; snow danced from the palm of his right hand. In the few seconds that followed, Azul and Rosso formed in the palms of his right and left hands, respectively, and he smiled at the woman. It was time to begin.

o=)------------ -------------(=o

Monroe stood next to the man and smiled. "So you're Arin, its good to meet you. Zorlo spoke somewhat highly of your skills as a mage. I'd like to first apologize to Zachary for asking you to help him. Still, it was a good exercise, right?" the Quincy asked with a smile as he started to walk. "Follow me. I'll explain everything to you. For now, though, take your time to ask whatever questions you have."

o=)------------- -----------(=o

Azul flashed as it sliced a long cut down Emile's chest plate. The ice mage stepped back as the spear thrust past him and narrowly missed. He had been playing that since the fight had begun. The Replicator would wait until her attack was about to hit him to dodge and then counterattack. Thanks to this, the woman's armor now had massive numbers of cuts along it.

Along the purple haired woman's arms, the armor was slashed up and down. On her legs, long cuts had been made upon her thigh armor. Now, upon the front of her chest plate was a long cut. Aside from that, a few cuts had been dug into the back of her armor. Although Emile hated to admit it, her armor couldn't hold up to the magical blades he was wielding now.

"Why...?" the lancer asked, looking at her spear. "When did you become so strong? WHEN?!" the purple haired woman asked as she rushed forwards and thrust her lance again, attempting to strike the ice mage with the fastest attack yet. "Gae Bolg!" she yelled as her spear erupted into lightning and blitzed towards the amateur sorcerer.

This time, the Replicator didn't even attempt to hide his evading. He stepped to the side just quick enough to make his next strike. The screeching of his sword as it sliced through part of her visor and cut a long swath along the helmet she wore. The lance skidded to a stop and spun around, bursting back towards the ice mage one more time.

The amateur sorcerer smiled at her attempt of a second Gae Bolg. Still, it didn't matter. The Replicator spun Rosso in his hand and he stepped to the side of her and slammed the pommel of the handle into her visor and shattered the cut part clean off. The broken part struck the ground with a loud clang as the woman spun to a stop and fell to her knees.

"Why... why can't I win?!" she asked, sighing sadly.

"Because you're hiding who I'm fighting. Who am I fighting?" the ice mage asked as he smiled at the woman.

"You... you're fighting... you're fighting..." she hesitated, thinking about it as he ran her hand over the eye she could have lost if he had intended to take it. "I'm..." Emile paused as she sighed. Who was she?

OoC: No experiance with Monroe, so you know what to do if I got him wrong. =P

BiC:
Arin had to admit it was a little odd, talking to this man. Obviously, he knew him, somehow, yet failed to introduce himself properly. In the back of his mind, the mage found that a little rude, but proceeded to follow him nonetheless, uninterested in whatever little score Emile and Zachary had to settle.

“Follow me,” he added. “I'll explain everything to you. For now, though, take your time to ask whatever questions you have.”

Boy did he have some questions.

“Well,” Arin started, “First of all, how do you know my name?”

“As I said,” The man continued. “Zorlo spoke of your abilities as a mage, and even left notes. However, they are largely missing or incomplete.” Beginning to walk the circumference of the crater, another question popped to his mind, almost instant.”

“… And who might I be addressing?”

“Ah, yes, forgive me,” he started. “My name is Monroe Vossler.”

The two walked in silence for a good three minutes, the only sounds coming from the battle between the woman and the Replicator. Arin would cast a glance there, every now and then, watching as they continued the fight… until a new question popped into his mind.

“I would assume the Zorlo of which you speak is the same guy I met while in the dome under Master Jacentar?”

“Your assumption is correct,” Monroe replied.

“So how is he then?”

“He’s passed on,” he replied, taking a couple of seconds after the question to respond.

“Ah,” the mage replied. He only met him the one time, so news of his death didn’t particularly bother him. Sure, he helped a great deal during that Graduation Match, but since then he hadn’t heard a whisper. Naturally, he just shrugged it off and continued to follow the man. Arin had no more questions of any pressing importance, and Monroe seemed to notice that because as he was just about to open his mouth, the man started talking.

“If you have no more questions, then perhaps I should explain what, exactly, is going on?”

The mages shrugged. “Sure, go ahead.”

Monroe smiled. Clearly this man had no interest in what was going on. Still, this fight would be over in a matter of minutes. Of that, the Quincy was pretty much positive. All that had to happen now was that the woman had to remove her armor and fight at her true full strength with Zachary. Still, an explanation would serve nicely.

"To be honest, I have no true part in this escapade. Zachary's just following through on something he found out from Zorlo's notes. Emile fought in a tournament in a place called Tybalt a few months back, and in Zorlo's notes he says that she had some great power tucked away, concealed by her armor."

"Still, that didn't concern Zorlo in the least. As for Zachary, since Zorlo hadn't had a chance to investigate this power, he wants to see it for himself. After he's done that, he'll be content to fill out the last bit of Zorlo's notes on Emile. Now then, what did you see from her when you fought her?" the Quincy asked, quirking an eyebrow.

o=)-------------- ---------------(=o

"I asked you, who am I fighting?!" the Replicator commented. The woman's eyes were, well the eye the ice mage could see, seemed to falter. Did she really not know herself who she was? "And here I thought a brave warrior stood before me. You're nowhere near a lion, merely a kitten. Now then, I'll ask you one last time, who are you?!"

Emile looked up, her eyes flaring up with intense anger and frustration. "I'm... I'm... I'm..." she yet hesitated, he arms and legs shaking as if she were about to collapse. Rage and anger... and hatred. They all filled her so deeply she felt as if all these emotions would cause her to burst. "I'm..." she paused one last time.

The lancer placed her hand upon her helmet and removed it. The purple haired woman wasted no time throwing the helmet away and beginning to remove her armor. "I'm not this armor, that's for damn," the woman commented with a smile. "My name is Emile Velos. Formerly the Silver Beauty, but no more. I don't need anything but a spear," the woman stated as she removed the last few pieces of armor.

A powerful red-pink energy exploded from the woman as she removed her armor and attacked. Her speed was far beyond how quickly she had been moving before. Her attacks were far stronger than the ones she had been making before. Her agility gave her the ability to dodge even the Replicator's speedy attacks. This would be fun.

In a series of slashes and blocks, the two dashed past one another and crossed weapons again, only to leap opposite sides and skid to a stop. "Do you understand yet? Why I'm here, I mean?" the woman asked, breathing heavily as she held her spear tightly.

"I... I do," Zachary commented as he stood up straight. "I'm sorry, but I don't share your feelings. Under your metal shell, I couldn't feel the thing your heart kept hidden, but I don't return those feelings. There is already one other who yet owns my heart."

"Well then," Emile stated, spinning her spear and charging up her final attack by pressing the red button, "I guess I'll just have to kill you. If you won't be mine, then you'll be no ones," Emile Velos stated, her eyes tearing up. This attack, she knew, would end this fight.

What did Arin see? Sure, he saw and sensed a trace of powerful energy radiating off of her, but how did he describe it, and more importantly, what did it mean? Ah well, he decided to leave its meaning up to Monroe. He couldn’t care less anyway.

“I can’t really describe it,” spoke the mage. “It was an energy I’ve never encountered before. It was something that felt ancient despite my lack of experience with it. Whatever she has, not that I care, I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong end of it.”

Monroe paused, possibly contemplating his description. Suddenly, that energy came back to the mage, more powerful then the last time he felt it. Still, he didn’t turn towards it, uninterested in whatever score the two had to settle.

“Say, do you have any clue what this is?” Arin asked, producing the pendant he found in the ruins.

Monroe gave it a quick glance, “No, sorry,” he responded. Arin shrugged. It wasn’t important, nor did he really care, he just felt a pang of curiosity. He decided to pocket it and keep it. After all, there may come a day when it would show off its origin, or use. Although the odds of that were ridiculously slim.

“So, uh… do I have any other use here? If not, where’s the nearest door to the Dome? I’d like to continue what I was doing before this fiasco.”

Monroe laughed at the man's eagerness to get going, but laughed a little bit. "I think we should move. Standing here isn't the best idea," the dark clad man said as he began to walk.

"Huh? Why?" the mage asked as he looked behind himself and saw the almost otherworldly amount of energy that Emile was releasing. "Oh... good point," Arin said as he followed Monroe.

"Good, now then, in the next... two seconds, this fight will be over. Then you'll get your door," the Quincy said as he watched the fight continue.

o=)------------- -------------(=o

The red-pink energy swirled around the woman chaotically. Its violent nature and tendency increased every second. The glowing white weapon had now become stained the powerful energy that consumed the woman. She opened her eyes, now glowing red, and exploded forwards with a speed that caused the Replicator to cross his swords.

Emile's speed was now far beyond otherworldly. Even if it only lasted for this attack she was performing, the amount of power she was releasing held an extremely malicious to them. The lancer was lunging, and the ice mage had to figure out what his next move would be.

As what looked like a massive cloud of pink-red moved, a sudden, bright flash erupted and a wave of energy ripped through the ground violently. The amateur sorcerer rolled to the side and narrowly evaded the blast as it cut forwards and ripped into the crater's side, cutting a hole through it and beyond.

For a second, it felt like the world had quaked. Still, as soon as it started, the attack was over. Outside of Estrella's Point, for a few hundred yards, probably only five or so hundred, the land was slashed as deep as the crater was. The Replicator looked at where the attack had come from, but saw only the figure of the woman unconscious.

"Well, I guess that's over... Now that I've seen this power... I fear what will happen if it ever manifests again," Zachary thought to himself as he looked back and saw Monroe. The Quincy smiled at the ice mage and looked at Arin.

"Time to go, I guess," the dark clad man said as he held his hand out. Soon, small, green balls of energy gathered together and flashed as a door formed. Wasting no time, Arin entered into the door to the Dome, followed after by Zachary and then Monroe. As the door shut, the energy scattered, leaving only Emile in the crater.

Still, things were not all what they seemed. Suddenly, the pink-red cloud returned and consumed the woman's body. She vanished into seemingly nothing, but who knows where she truly went? After all, only one thing truly knew, and that was the power that had whisked her off.