[RP] Witches of Aether

“Three fresh coffees. Enjoy.” Jacob had placed them down on the table, but Alyss made no move to grab any of them. She didn’t recall asking for coffee; so why should she grab one? It was clear, or at least it should have been clear, that she didn’t wish to play friends with him… yet he was still trying. If she didn’t know any better, she would have assumed him to be just as stubborn as she was. In reply to her asking about the umbrella again, he came out with a less than brilliant remark. “Maybe the umbrella burst because it was fate that she’d run into my charming, dashing self.”

Alyss couldn’t help but scoff, smirk, and roll her eye all at the same time. Great, it is one of those men… She thought. Without giving him the pleasure of a witty reply, Alyss leaned back into her chair and folded her arms as she looked back at Crimson. Before too much time had passed, she actually graced her with a reply. “Well I guess if you believe in fate… Anyway, I was walking in the rain and came across a woman…” Alyss’ attention was suddenly grasped tightly. “I tried to do the friendly thing and offer her some shelter from the rain and suddenly she goes all berserk at me so I said something rather mean…”

That sounded as if it could be her, but Alyss wasn’t jumping to any conclusion just yet. She simply continued staring at Crimson as if she had just committed some sort of crime. “I can’t hold my tember sometimes, and then as I walked away she exploded my umbrella! Poof! Like magic!” As Crimson sat in her chair imitating an explosion, Alyss’ eye widened as she leaned forward in her chair. “Pretty silly right?”

Suddenly, lying about being a reporter didn’t matter much anymore. Alyss stood up from her chair at the speed of light and slammed her hands on the table. “Did she have long hair? Was she wearing a hat? What about a long coat?! Where did you see her? I need answers now, this is important.” Before the pile of smug sitting at the table could speak she pointed at him. “And I would like no funny comments from you, you are annoying enough as it is.” Looking back at Crimson, Alyss was practically livid with anger. “Hurry! I do not have time to continue waiting idle sipping coffee with you!”

Anger came naturally to Alyss… but she had never been this angry in her life. Then again, she also never wanted revenge in her life. Surely it wasn’t awful of her to want it. That Witch still posed a threat anyway! Two birds with one stone, so to speak. It was odd for her, but Alyss didn’t care. It was almost as if some of Lily’s irrationality had slipped into her when they shared names…
 
As Crimson told the story Alyss's eyes grew wide like she'd never heard anything so amazing in her life and by the end of the story the woman had stood up from her chair, slamming her palms to the table and began to spew out a hundred questions all at once, Crimson could hardly catch any of the questions before the woman turned her attention to Jacob. Telling him to shut his mouth before he even had the chance to say anything.

"Wait.... you actually believe that story??" Crimson laughed. "People can't just... burst an umbrella with their mi--..." Crimson paused and thought a moment, witches could explode an umbrella with their mind if they wanted to... but no one would believe that story, not a normal person anyway. Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, as though she was cold but really she was rather warm and toasty.

Suddenly Alyss didn't seem so irrational... suddenly she seemed quite normal...normal for a witch...Crimson's own eyes widened with fear as she stared at the lady in front of her. Jacob was now forgotten and the coffee too.

"I uhm... I have to go.. I can't stay here" She muttered standing up quickly, making the chair scrape loudly against the laminate floor so that the few people who were in the coffee shop stopped what they were doing and took notice.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you, I wasn't telling the truth, it was a joke." she snatched the jacket from her chair and nodded at Jacob. "Thank you for the coffee." And with that she rushed out the door stopping a few metres from the cafe. She didn't know if she was just being paranoid, if the exhaustion from the late shift was getting to her or if she was jumping to conclusions but Crimson knew she wasn't going to take her chance with a possible witch... though she mentally slapped herself for possibly giving away her own secret.
 
[OOC: Short poast is short :sad3:]

Emily came to a halt, eyeing the girl with a mixture of amusement and irritation as she stepped in front of her target. She had heard that tone before, and she didn’t care of it. “I don’t see how that is any of your business, bitch. Watch your tone, or I’ll be dealing with you next. I’m not going to take lip from some prissy little whore who thinks she knows better than everyone else, so fuck off.”

“She’s come to kill me!” The girl shrieked then from behind her, wide-eyed with terror. Acting as if she had done nothing wrong. That only served to annoy Emily further. Who the fuck did she think she was to play inno-cent like this? All of this was HER fault! Hers, that blind girl, and that other bitch who had decided to get in her way. Interfering little brats, the lot of them.

“Damn fucking right I have!” Emily screamed back at her, losing what little self-control she had, “I’ve been fired from my job, lost my home, damn near electrocuted to death when your crazy bitch friend tried to blow my head off, almost decapitated by some crazy bitch in armour, and now I’ve just had a fucking tidal wave thrown at me by some twelve-year-old girl! I AM NOT GOING TO PUT UP WITH ANY MORE OF THIS BULLSHIT!”

Her clothes began to steam as she intensified the Sun’s light, the water around her hissing angrily in response as it began to boil. Abruptly, the taxi behind her exploded as she brought the force of her power to bear, finally losing her patience with the alarm, which had been blaring loudly in the background. Rage and frustration had eliminated the pain in her leg as she focused on one thing and one thing only: killing the girl in front of her. If her little bitch friend wanted to die with her, that was fine as far as she was concerned. These witches had fucked with her one too many times, and Emily wasn’t about to let that slide. She had come to London to try and make an honest living for herself, and they had ruined everything. They were all going to pay for doing this to her, starting with this one.

Illusions weren’t going to do her much good here, but it didn’t really matter. This girl was clearly petrified and, if Emily was correct, her powers came from some kind of shadow. It was still daylight, and she could easily drive them away if she knew they were coming. She wouldn’t be caught off-guard again like she had been the first time. No, this time she was going to die, and that would be that.

“I want nothing to do with any of you, but you keep on appearing to fuck my life up. You know what? Fuck it. I’ll reduce every last one of you to ashes, and then maybe you’ll finally LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE.”
 
For just those few moments, Jacob felt like himself for once. Or his ... old self, at the very least. The young man who felt he could open up to people, loosen up, be trustworthy at the drop of a hat. There were a few seconds of silence until Alyss spoke up again and he found himself irritated once again. This "journalist" was more persistant than those from The Sun. He had to hide a snort from the two of them; whose phone had Alyss hacked to get the big news of an umbrella bursting this time? The mere thought of it was just hilarious in his mind.

He couldn't hide his warm smile when he heard Crimson. She believed in fate? It had meant to be a mere sarcastic remark, but it was interesting to hear. But it appeared the real comedy was coming from Crimson. Jacob laughed softly and took another sip of his coffee.

"I don't think it's silly," he smiled, then diverting his attention towards Alyss.

He was not surprised in the slightest when she lost her temper. He continued to sip his coffee throughout her speech and tapped his fingers on the table. She was beginning to bore him by now. Yep, Jacob had his suspicions of Alyss being a witch almost confirmed. Almost. He had to laugh at her remark of idle sipping coffee. That was pathetic. She could've at least pretended to like him ...

And then there was a moment when he felt like his heart dropped.

Crimson walked out of the almost-empty coffee shop so loudly that it got Jacob's attention straight away. For the first time, he sympathised with her. And then he looked at Alyss again. There was a new burning in his eyes that wanted only one thing. Justice. But then there was a newfound awareness. Jacob rose to his feet after finishing the rest of his coffee and clapped.

"Well done, Alyss," said Jacob bitterly, referring to her by name for the first time. "Nice cover story by the way, except it doesn't work with me. Anyone could claim to be a journalist in this forsaken city." His right hand slipped to the back of his jacket, where his metal rod was waiting in the wings. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to ask the questions. Who, or rather, what are you?"
 
[FONT=&quot]Freya[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lily’s panicked cries rang in her ear. She appeared to be chained to the ground, utterly paralysed, her ability to move or physically accomplish anything completely drained. Wide-eyed with horror, she could only scream, “She’s come to kill me!” while the approaching witch had halted on the spot, looking utterly bemused at the resistance that had suddenly appeared before her, completely unaware of the fact that this girl standing between her and Lily had the ability to summon an entire hurricane if she willed it. Freya could hear the witch begin her fiery tirade, and the moment the words “prissy little whore” rang in her ears, Freya’s hands tightly scrunched into fists on their own. The sensation of a compressed throat suddenly crept up, as if an invisible entity was gently seizing her by the neck. Except however, that this abstract entity was merely only her suppressed rage that for years had been kept locked up deep within her. To see a witch appear in front of her now and threaten to kill the very vulnerable girl that reminded her so much of her sisters were now dangerously unlocking this pent up rage.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The witch continued her tirade. Like Freya, she had her own anger that was fighting to be released. Unlike Freya, her own anger was magnified to a lethal level and was spewing out of her at an alarming rate. If the taxi’s explosion (the corpse of its smoking chassis now left steaming in the middle of the water) hadn’t deterred the passer-bys from staying, then her hoarse voice was certainly doing the trick. She spoke of losing her job and her home and all the other horrific events that had happened to her. What was that supposed to do? Justify her current actions? Get Freya into thinking that perhaps the witch had every right to just burn a hole straight through Lily now because society had screwed her over this badly? [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“I want nothing to do with any of you,” continued the deranged witch, “but you keep on appearing to fuck my life up. You know what? Fuck it. I’ll reduce every last one of you to ashes, and then maybe you’ll finally LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE.” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I’ve heard enough…I’ve heard more than enough…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Shut up…” she muttered, albeit quietly to begin with so that the witch’s continuing tirade effortlessly drowned Freya’s own voice. “Shut up, just shut up…” she now persisted, her voice building up in volume and her rage now dangerously close to passing through her like some deadly radiation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“SHUT UP!” she finished, with a shout that shrill in return that the very feat itself astonished even her. By now, the witch was reacting, perhaps with a generous mix of sheer fury and bemusement and it didn’t surprise her. A seemingly normal human girl was standing up to an entity like her with control over what appeared to be sunlight. She was advancing again, her clothes beginning to steam as the very power of the sun was being magnified above them, heating the ground around them and quickly beginning to evaporate the remaining water. While Lily was anchored to the ground out of fear, even if Freya wanted to take her by the arm and run, it would be a battle on its own.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And now with her suppressed anger now threatening to explode with very step forward the witch was taking, Freya suddenly lost sight of nearly everything. Her initially wary state of contemplating the very consequences of her actions if she were to use her powers in retaliation – Lily’s own response to it, and what could happen to her afterwards then – it was all beginning to vanish now. All Freya could think of was protecting Lily, and it was that primal-like instinct that was beginning to take over, manning the helm and dispelling Freya’s ordinary rationale.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“YOU’RE NOT LAYING A SINGLE FINGER ON HER!” then it happened. Two funnels of wind were fired at the witch, slamming into her chest with brute force and sending her hurtling back by surprise at the charred remains of the taxi. What happened a split second later became merely a blur to her. Consumed by that momentary burst of anger and primal instinct to act defensively to protect Lily, Freya could not clearly even tell how Lily herself was responding to what had just happened.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The wind witch had just publicly exposed herself…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Eva[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Her dress was sopping wet and her delicate ponytail was ruined. Swearing, Eva picked herself up from the ground. The water level had reached the ankle in depth and with that tide just before, it seemed a miracle that she had survived that with barely a scratch. No, the only injury she had sustained from that was getting wet. And how much did she hate getting wet…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Various pieces of junk had washed into the very alleyway that the tide had brought her to. Grabbing a small stepladder that had somehow found its way resting on her left foot just moments before, she hurled it aside, albeit with considerable physical effort. Realising that her mobile phone was on the ground, she hurriedly picked it up. This had been a gift from her aunt and uncle. Despite the fact that they were very working class in nature and would normally struggle with the monthly bills as well as debt, they still found the money to purchase Eva a rather high-end mobile phone. Why they did that continued to perplex Eva to this day. She had no real love for material objects like other teenagers. She had moved beyond that phase anyway and she connoted material objects like phones with children and juvenile little teenagers obsessed with popularity and getting the best stuff. Still, the camera function of this device came in handy, as did its note making application, for Eva was eager to update the information she had on the witches.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The sound of an explosion greeted her ears like music. Oh goodie, another exciting event was happening. Today was a blessing to her. If only it were her birthday today. Running out of the alleyway, she followed the trail – the rising smoke billowing out of whatever had just exploded so magnificently. If that witch had just showed herself again to cause some mayhem, Eva wanted to get an ever closer look of her this time round. Perhaps this time she could even take a photo of the witch herself. That would come in handy. Eva had no photographic memory, so a picture of one of her targets to study would certainly come in exceptionally useful. There was also the fact that the girl with the dancing shadows had to be nearby as well – wherever the wave had taken her. Eva’s phone could also do with a snap of her as a substantial update.[/FONT]
 
Poppy picked her way through the rubble, looking around. The fire had been more or less put out, and she knew her big sister and Katty had made it out safely, but she hadn’t seen Jenny leave, and she was worried about her. Why hadn’t she left as well? Why hadn’t her big sister taken her with her, wherever she had gone? She wouldn’t have directly disobeyed Poppy, which could mean only one thing…

She found her lying face-down a little way off from where she had sat, burned and covered in brick dust. She rolled her over, looking into her eyes, blank and staring. She hadn’t been hit…she must have suffocated from the smoke. Poppy sighed mournfully, closing her eyes with one hand. She had so wanted to play with Jenny later on, when she had some time. They could have had so much fun together! She had been nice, and pretty, and now she was dead because of that mean woman who had attacked them for no real reason at all…and even if she did have a reason, Poppy didn’t care. Katty was her toy now, and she couldn’t have her, even if she had before.

She stood up and started back down the street, following the current. An explosion sounded, followed by screams of panic. Evidently the nasty woman had found someone else to play with, and that wasn’t very polite, considering Poppy wasn’t finished with her. For taking her Jenny away from her, Poppy would make sure she suffered.

Playtime was over.

---

Emily’s amusement quickly vanished as the girl started screaming at her. She began gathering her power, intent on blowing the stupid bitch to pieces…and, to her very great surprise, found herself being blasted backwards, slamming into the charred taxi with almost as much force as she had hit the windscreen. Her entire body rocked with the impact, all breath punched from her lungs, the sound of metal buckling and snapping – or was that her own body? – filling her ears. She didn’t cry out; she didn’t even have the breath to. She dropped to the pavement, retching, clutching her stomach in pain. What the hell was that?! Had been the girl acting to defend herself? But no, she was clearly terrified…this was the other one. She had found ANOTHER witch. One with the ability to…what? Control wind? Cold rage flooded Emily then. How dare she? How dare she?!

“You…little…WHORE!” Emily gasped for breath, pulling herself up, shaking more with fury than the impact. She had never been so angry in her life. She had been humiliated, not once, or twice, but THREE times. Lightning bolts, tidal waves, now mini hurricanes. Well, enough was enough. They wanted to unleash everything they had on her? She had been through more pain than they could possibly hope to inflict. If they struck her, she would simply get back up and strike back a hundred fold. This little bitch was going to pay for this. Slowly. Fuck eliminating her in an explosion, Emily wanted to see this one SUFFER. See her write and scream beneath her grasp, like that other one hand…only far, far worse. “You want to play?” she asked aloud, surprised at how calm her voice was…and how very much like that little girl she had met earlier she sounded. Perhaps THAT had been what was up with her, after all. “Alright, we’ll fucking play.”

The heavens opened, as a portal of pure light seemed to tear open the air. From within the shining vortex, angels, as many as Emily could create without straining herself – almost thirty - poured out, armoured, indiscriminate figures. Encircling the area, each one drew an empty bow, pulling it back to manifest a shimmering light arrow. Emily’s head throbbed – controlling so many shards of condensed light was difficult, even in broad daylight. It would have been far easier to just reduce them both to ashes…but more than Emily’s body had been damaged by that attack, and she was determined to have her revenge. She would make the girl realise how big of a mistake she had made before she killed her. She needed to learn some manners; she needed to learn some respect. Respect for her elders, and her superiors.

The other girl turned away, clearly intending to bolt. One of her illusions released an arrow too fast for the eye to follow, aimed with perfect accuracy – helped in no small part by Emily – to strike the girl’s right knee, burning straight through it. Howling, she dropped to the ground, clutching at it, rolling over and over in the still-flooded street. Emily didn’t so much as bat an eyelid; she had become a secondary concern.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Emily said offhandedly, her fury tightly controlled. She thought about playing with the water, but decided against it. Probably best not to push it…much easier to create illusions in the air, without any interference. This girl appeared to be able to manipulate the air, but it wouldn’t matter – she couldn’t stop the arrows, and there were enough of them here to fill her with holes. Unless she could dodge faster than the speed of light, that is. Somehow, Emily doubted that.

“Have fun, bitch.” Emily offered a casual wave, opening another “portal” directly behind her, and taking a step backwards, using the gathered light to cloak herself. She stood motionless, careful not to disturb the water – that would give her away after all, and she wanted this to appear convincing – and then mentally commanded her angels to take flight, scattering. Another released an arrow, striking the other girl in the shoulder this time, causing a fresh scream from her. Her own pain came rushing back to Emily then, causing her to wince in pain. Probably cracked a rib. She’d snap that brat’s bones like twigs for this. But first, let her have a little fun with her little army…let her squirm, and use more of that power of hers. Emily would strike when the time was right, and not before…

---

“N-No…” she sobbed, shocked at this revelation. Freya was a witch as well? So, that was why she had saved Lily! So she could take her power for herself! She had never cared; everything she had said had been a lie. All she had cared about was taking Lily’s power. She KNEW another human being could never care for her. Freya, like Alyss, was a monster, masquerading as a human.

Lily backed away a step, glancing around. The angels were arrayed silently – so terribly silent – around her, yet…she could run for it. If she threw herself at the shadows, perhaps they’d take pity on her and save her. They MUST – they were hers to control, weren’t they? Surely they’d save her. Lily made her decision then: she bolted.

Or, rather, she tried to. Pain flooded through her knee then as one of the angels – was that what they really were? Was this woman a vengeful Goddess? – unleashed its arrow, burning a hole straight through her. Lily screamed, crashing to the ground, writhing on the ground as she clutched at her knee, choking as the brackish water entered her mouth and nose. Neither of them cared. Not Freya, and not the other one. All they cared about was killing each other; just like before, Lily was just the prize for the winner.

A second arrow struck her shoulder, and Lily saw it emerge from her, a tiny sliver of light, before it dissipated, leaving behind only a burning pain which was only made worse when the water rushed into the wound. This, she was sure, was the end. There was no way she was getting out of this alive, not again. Freya or the other woman would win, and they would kill her. The other woman had already said that was her intent, and it was obviously Freya’s, as well. All she could do, again, was just lie and wait to die. The pain was the last thing she was going to feel…
 
Alyss was just about to run off and follow her until Jacob decided to interrupt. She didn’t have time to speak to him, but she knew if she ran off and started hunting down Crimson she would probably scare the poor girl into an early grave. What she really needed to do was get a grip. It was almost as if she was losing her mind. Yelling, getting angry, losing her patience, disregarding the mere fact that she was lying simply because she wanted answers so badly… what was wrong with her? The only logical explanation was that she was letting her anger get the better of her… or more of Lily jumped over to her than she thought.

Was her desire to get back at the Light Witch that strong? N-no… She is a danger to herself and everyone around her. I must stop her… or no one will. That is why I am feeling this sense of urgency. That is why I am angry. It is logical, it has to be… or I am no better than the rest of them. She was trying her best to keep a handle on herself. Alyss had gone for years without letting irrationality take the reins… she wasn’t going to let it get to her now.

“Well done, Alyss”, came the snide remake behind her. Just the way he said her name annoyed her. It was funny how she was trying to get a grip one second just to be annoyed by that man the next. It was almost as if her were her logical kryptonite; formed and fashioned out of concentrated smug of pig headedness. “Nice cover story by the way, except it doesn’t work with me. Anyone could claim to be a journalist in this forsaken city.”

As he said that, Alyss noticed two things: There was a high chance that he could be a Knight. Who else would call this a “forsaken city”? And there was the matter that his hand just slipped into his pocket... possibly to grab a weapon. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to ask the questions. Who, or rather, what are you?” That, for the sound of it, settled that. He knew exactly what she was. Or at least, he had a good guess that was good enough for him to be on his guard.

And from that alone, Alyss assumed him to be a Knight. It was a logical conclusion without any other explanation. The tension that filled the room could have melted walls. “I do not recall ever having to answer to you,” Alyss replied coldly. “I met one of your ‘co-workers’ today… Perhaps you should work on your detection methods?” She could leave if she wanted to. All she had to do was look out the window and teleport. However, if she did that, he would call her in and the Knights would know exactly who they were looking for.

She would have to stop him here, or convince him that she wasn’t what he thought she was. In all reality, the latter did not look very possible at all. Alyss looked him dead in the eye and smiled. “It is your move.”
 
OOC: Shortpost is short, sorry Ringo :sad2:

Smiling softly, even if she probably couldn't see his face Richard gently helped the girl to her feet he could see she was somewhat flustered "I apologise for knocking you over, perhaps we should find somewhere to sit, you look like you could do with relaxing a little" spotting a small park a small way down a side street he motioned her body in it's direction so she would hopefully have an idea of where they could go "Would a park be suitable? It should be quiet enough at this time"

Noticing how red her cheeks were Richard commented again before going at a slow walk so she could follow his footsteps, easily distinguishable from anybody else's, with him wearing armour "I imagine the air will be somewhat cooler too"
 
Jacob could feel the adrenaline pumping. His charming smile had all, but faded by now, however. His game face was on. He heard Alyss go on about his "co-worker". A fellow Knight, he had to assume. It didn't matter if she had discovered his true identity; she was the one in more danger here. If she exposed herself here, then that was it for her. On the other hand, Jacob had another identity to hide behind. It was a perfect plan coming into formation, he thought. He removed his glasses with his free hand and pocketed them on the inside pocket of his jacket to the left. Maybe now she'd see him more than just the obnoxious charmer. Alyss may not have fell for the act, but it wasn't like he expected her to either. All of this pretense was much too dull for him, anyway.

"Do tell me about this ... co-worker," said Jacob bitterly. "I prefer to work alone if you don't mind. Don't try to insult me by pitting me with some pathetic excuse of a Knight that can't cover his own arse."

Oh yes, this was fighting talk. His other hand was still in the same position as before, ready to take action. It would've been wise to have gotten changed a while ago had he known this was going to happen. His civilian clothes weren't ideal for this situation, but he supposed they would do for the time being. He took a moment of silence to observe Alyss. She was panicking. Even if she wasn't showing it on the outside, Jacob knew she was doing it on the inside. For bumping into a girl whose umbrella had "burst" and found himself put off by Alyss only seconds later, Jacob's investigation had gone very well. Smoothly, or so to put it.

He saw the smile on her face and shook his head, disappointed. She was being cocky. Oh, how he wanted to challenge her. Maybe he could finally get back at her for being such a bitch before to both of them, for Crimson's sake at the very least. But he couldn't lose himself. He had to focus. Witches were dangerous; he'd knew this from many encounters since achieving his Knighthood.

"And here I was, thinking ladies first," he murmured quietly.

Jacob swiftly removed his jacket and slammed it down on the table. As few as they were, the customers were beginning to be aware of what was going on. He caught the eye of the coffee girl behind the counter, who was making many acts of protest that had only just caught his attention. He raised a hand, a gesture to silence her meaningless words.

"I think you need to close early. I can only apologise for what's about to happen to my ... friend over here and your establishment."

With that, Jake took out his a small white circular object in his hand. It was a few inches long and was thin. He then pressed the button in the middle and then the object expanded in mere seconds, revealing itself to be a re-sizable metal rod. He held the weapon in both hands before spinning it around in one hand.

Have to show off that skill at one point, he thought amusingly.

And without anymore hesitation, he leaped into action. Taking hold of the metal rod in two hands once more, he gathered all the strength he could and unleashed it. He flung a spare chair into the air and swung in Alyss' direction.
 
[FONT=&quot]What had she done? Light so intense that Freya had to momentarily cover her eyes in response had appeared, as if called forth. In fact, it had been called forth, perhaps another trick of the Light Witch. Then, as otherworldly and alien as it looked, about over a dozen angels poured down from the skies. In terms of what they looked like, they were the typical depiction of angels, generic and unremarkable, with the usual sacred white wings, the gleaming blonde hair and the radiant golden haloes. It didn’t matter what they looked like though – the fact that a small army of angels was encircling her and perhaps eager for her blood was what had Freya slightly staggering back with surprise. The damage was done. There was definitely no turning back now.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Fear not, Freya thought to herself, these were only illusions, rendered using the sunlight. Perhaps they were only for distraction purposes – to throw her off. Her goal now was to subdue the Light Witch long enough for her to take Lily to safety. But then…she began to consider what must have been going through Lily’s mind now. Poor girl had so much trouble accepting the trust of someone at first and now…and now…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lil, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lie to you and hide the fact that I am really a witch. I had no choice, I’m not proud of it. I’m not proud of my powers, who I really am, and the fact that I’ve deceived you. I hope somehow, you can forgive me…but for now, my only goal is to take you to safety, while I give you enough time to run. I’m sorry if by doing this I’ve just reversed everything I’ve done before and only worsen your ability to trust others but…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]A tear trickled down her cheek. Freya knew that in terms of her relationship with Lily now, it had reached its nadir point. It was all well and good getting her safe, but no longer would it seem that she would be able to trust her again, or indeed, trust anyone else in the future. What could possibly have been going through her terrified mind now? Her fists tightened even further. If her fingers weren’t drilling into the flesh of her hands by now, they ought to have been. Everything about the Light Witch now was completely pissing Freya off. Never before had she ever felt like this. She had felt only deep motherly compassion, compassion as a daughter, love and then the phases of paranoia and fright today, but never this much anger. The Light Witch was the embodiment of everything she wanted her rage to be directed at. It was this bitch that had destroyed half of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Covent Garden[/FONT][FONT=&quot], ending so many lives that abruptly and horrifically. It was this bitch that sought to slay Lily for no discernible reason. It was also thanks to this bitch that Lily was being psychologically destroyed from the inside. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“YOU’RE NOT HIDING BEHIND THESE DAMN ANGELS!” was all Freya could say, her eyes furiously fixed at the Light Witch herself. One angel had manifested a light arrow and fired it. It took a split second later for Freya to realise who had been hit. She turned round in horror. No, no, no…. “LILY!!!” though she tried to run up to Lily, who had been floored from one of the arrows, presumably after making an attempt to flee. Though Freya tried to tend to her, five angels swooped down in front of her, exuding radiation of the sort of that the intense heat burrowed into her skin, the painful sensation causing Freya only to stagger backwards in shock. These things…they weren’t just illusions. They still had the Light Witch’s powers of manifesting light into an offensive weapon. Lily…Lily…she had to get to her and to get her to safety. Yet at the same time, she wanted to tear the Light Witch limb from limb. The coward she was – what did she possibly hope to gain from harming an innocent? What the hell did she want? What were her goals? The terrified scream of Lily once again filled the air, and this time with excruciating pain. Another arrow had pierced her shoulder…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“NOOOOOOO!!” in rage, Freya could only hurtle a large blast of wind at the general direction of where the arrow had come from, while frantically attempting to scan the area for the Light Witch? Where the hell was she? Did she just vanish? No matter where she looked, Freya saw only the angels look down on her, and no sign of the very woman whose head she wanted now more than anything. Was she mocking her from the sidelines invisible while forcing her army of minions to strike down a vulnerable girl for no reason?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“IS THIS WHAT A WITCH REALLY IS? YOU HIDE AWAY LIKE A COWARD WHILE YOU BRING ALONG A BUNCH OF ILLUSIONS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU? IF YOU HAD ANY SENSE OF DIGNITY – WHICH I DOUBT CONSIDERING YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A SERIAL KILLER – THEN YOU’LL SHOW YOURSELF NOW AND FACE ME IN PERSON RATHER THAN HIDE AROUND. YOU CAN TELL ME AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE JUST HOW MUCH LIFE HAS SCREWED YOU OVER AND I WON’T HEAR IT. IT HAPPENS TO SO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS CITY – THE WHOLE WORLD – YET I DON’T SEE ANY OF THEM RESORTING TO KILLING AND MAIMING INNOCENTS!” she had no idea where those words were coming from and how they were being fired out from her mouth almost instinctively and with hardly any thinking, but as her heart raced furiously, Freya knew she had to make a move now. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And then, a beam of light struck her right in her upper right arm. The searing pain that was coursing through her was just excruciating. To describe it was doing it no justice – it was just unfathomably painful. Freya collapsed to her knees, her left hand pressing against her shoulder where the wound was. From what she could see of the scorch marks, thick blood had begun to slowly seep from it, and quickly drying as a result of the heat. [/FONT]
 
Emily almost snorted. So, she was going to try ordering her to not use her abilities, after she’d just ploughed her into the back of a car with her own? Who did she think she was kidding? It would have been comic…if she didn’t possess powers of her own, at least. Who was “hiding” anyway? Emily made no bones whatsoever about what she was – this girl was the one who had hidden her identity, until she had decided to reveal it by trying to kill her. Emily was hardly a coward for using her abilities; if this bitch was stupid enough to actually believe everything she saw, that was her problem. If she thought about it, she’d realise that Emily hadn’t moved at all from where she had stood, and that everything was an illusion. Any moron could figure out that bending light could make things like this, and with light came heat and radiation.

She retaliated with a burst of wind, and Emily released her hold on the shimmering figures caught up in the blast, allowing them to simply dissipate into nothingness. Far too much effort to keep them intact, and it would only attract suspicion…and mentally drain her in the process. It became quite difficult to hold an illusion together when it was being disrupted by an external force, and Emily had a full two dozen flitting about; she was at her limit as it was. No need to add to her burden…besides, the bitch would gain confidence if she “destroyed” one or two of them, and that would likely prove to be her undoing…as it had the other one. What was it with teenage girls and their egos, anyway?

She used her powers to gain an advantage over an opponent, and Emily did the same. That was all there was to it. Just because she didn’t like it hardly gave her the right to start calling her names for it. She called HER a coward? Well, she had hardly announced herself to be what she was, had she? It was doubtful that the other girl even knew – perhaps THAT was why she was so pissed off. She had probably been taking the girl some-where to kill her and steal her element, or however it went. Emily didn’t much care about the power; she just wanted the bitches dead before they came after her, and they had more than proved in the last few hours that her concern was entirely justified. The hypocrisy of the girl’s words brought an acrid taste to her mouth…no, wait, that was blood. Oh, that was fucking wonderful. Emily lost her patience at that point, both with the girl’s little tirade and her little game, and mentally directed one of her angels to attack (in truth, she could have simply directed the arrow without going through the motion of having it appear as though the illusion was attacking, but…well, why make them if she wasn’t going to use them? Besides, she’d probably cotton on if it was made obvious that they weren’t attacking her) striking the girl in the arm, cutting her off before she could start another little tirade. Give her something else to think about, besides from shouting out meaningless bullshit.

The girl had dropped to her knees already from the pain. Pitiful. She thought that was pain? She didn’t know what pain was. Another sheltered little brat trying to force her own narrow-minded views onto her betters. What, she thought power wasn’t supposed to be used, or something? She had no problem attacking Emily without provocation. One rule for one, and one for the other? Not fucking likely. She mentally directed her angels to surround the girls, swarming in so closely that neither would be able to see beyond them, and then simply released her hold on them, allowing them to return to what they had been before: light and heat. The resulting flash was enough to momentarily blind the girl to her surroundings, allowing Emily to make her move without getting another hurricane to the face. She crossed the distance between them in ten strides, dropped her illusion, and delivered a solid uppercut to the girl’s jaw before she could react, lifting her up with the mo-mentum and force behind it and sending her sprawling, the impact sending a jolt of pain through her own hand. Bitch had a strong jaw…or she’d overdone it. She stood looking down on her, foot coming down to stamp on her left hand as she raised it, obviously intending to strike back. A slight breeze rippled past her face, and she delivered a stamped on the girl’s hand again for emphasis. She was having none of it.

“Shut your fucking mouth.” She said coldly, pulling the girl up by the scruff of her neck before striking her across the face again, sending her back to the ground with a loud splash. A savage kick to her injured arm as she tried to lift herself upright her down this time, although in truth Emily wanted nothing more than to just hold her head under the water. It would be deep enough, surely. But no, that would be far too quick, and she had caused far too much damage to her pride and her body to allow her such a quick way out. Bitch wasn’t getting off THAT easy. She reached down, savagely yanking her out of the water again, one hand tight around her throat, glaring at her as she pulled her up, adrenaline-fuelled anger giving her the burst of strength she needed to lift her off the ground, feet dangling in the air. See if the witch who could control air could do so well when her own supply was suddenly cut off.

“I’m not taking any of that from a worthless piece of shit like you. You fucking hear me, bitch? Pompous, pretty little princess all sheltered and precious, thinks she’s God’s fucking gift to man with her special powers. You make me SICK. Self-righteous, arrogant, egotistical PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT.” She let her drop in disgust, and then gave her a solid kick to the side again, before she could recover her bearings. Bitch wasn’t going to get the chance to use her power again. Not a chance.

“You have no clue. You hear me? YOU-HAVE-NO-FUCKING-CLUE!” she shrieked the last, losing all semblance of control and letting her built up rage finally spill over, punctuating each word with a savage blow to the girl’s body, not really caring where her strikes ended up, or what they did to her. So what if she broke bones? She’d clearly not cared whether she seriously injured Emily or not, it was only right for her to return the favour. Her own leg ached as it connected with the girl, but she didn’t really care. She could worry about her own injuries AFTER the girl was dead, and her little friend as well. “YOU’RE THE THIRD STUPID BITCH TO TRY THIS WITH ME TODAY, AND I ALREADY TOLD YOU, I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANY OF YOU! YOU ATTACKED ME, AND I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU FUCKING SUFFER FOR IT. YOU, HER, AND THE REST OF YOU LITTLE BITCHES WHO THINKS THEY CAN COME AFTER ME FOR A LITTLE EXTRA POWER!”

She threw her down, gathering light to her fingertips, scoring thin burns across her body – slightly weaker in strength than what she had used on the other girl earlier. Then, she had been making a point, matching pain for pain, slight for slight. Now, she just wanted to see this stupid bitch suffer. Suffer and scream, for her audacity. But she wanted it to last. The girl was going to remain conscious for all of this, and she was going to sorely regret messing with Emily before she was through. “Too hot to handle? Too bright to see? Does it hurt? SERVES YOU FUCKING RIGHT.”

Emily regained her composure momentarily, bending down to pick the girl up again by her hair, pinning her from behind, whispering savagely in her ear. “This is how we’re going to do it. First, I’m going to burn out your eyes. Next, I’ll blister your skin, and then peel it off you, piece by piece. Don’t think you’ll bleed out, or that you’ll stop feeling it after a while. You’re going to suffer for attacking me, oh yes, you’ll suffer until you’re just a mindless fucking shell. You think you know pain now? I’m just getting started with you.” She smiled savagely. This was actually much more fun than picking off taxi drivers who had wronged her…those small-time losers could wait.

This, this was just a matter of survival of the fittest. She had attacked Emily, and now she would pay the price for it. No doubt she was just beginning to comprehend the situation she was in…too bad for her.

Emily spared a quick glance to the other girl, who was staring at her, wide-eyed, trying to clutch both her wounds at once. That look in her eye…what was that? There was fear there, surely, but there was something else as well. It bothered her, but in truth she didn’t much care; the girl was clearly broken. She wouldn’t be a problem. She could take her time breaking this one beneath her without worrying about her doing anything else…if her power DID come from shadows, she was powerless anyway.

---

Lily listened to Freya’s shouting, the words not really registering, lost in the world of her pain, which had become a sharp, incessant throb in her knee and shoulder. She had only ever felt this bad in her life once before, and at least back then she had been barely conscious and the pain had been but a distant stab. Here, she was acutely aware of every detail: the heat made her drowsy, yet the shock of cold water, constantly lapping at her wounds, made it impossible for her to pass out. She could do little more than lie there, hands pressed tightly to her wounds, eyes wide and staring, like a corpse.

Then Freya started screaming, and Lily recoiled in horror. It was Alyss all over again. Why? Why did they have to fight like this? She didn’t know what she had done to upset the woman, but she would gladly let her kill her if it would appease her…why were others constantly trying to kill her? It was no wonder she was so angry – she’d been attacked without any real provocation so many times. Had anyone ever tried talking to her? She might be a monster, but…not even a monster deserved treatment like that…or did they? Perhaps Lily was simply sympathising with her because she was going to kill her, grant her that release she craved, that none of the others would give her.

But asides that, there was something…familiar about her. She reminded Lily a little of her mother; the shape of her face, the colour of her hair, the way she moved. She had never seen her mother so angry, and she recoiled from the very image. It was likely just a passing coincidence. Sensing her attention – or perhaps just checking to make sure she was still there – the woman glanced in her direction.

Their eyes locked, and the sense of recognition intensified. Lily had not had the chance to see her assailant up close…whilst she was a fair distance away now, she could see the woman’s face as if viewing it through a scope; her features were remarkably detailed in that instant of contact. She glanced away quickly, dismissive, yet Lily’s gaze lingered on her. Realisation hit her like a thunderbolt:

Oh god, she’s my sister.
 
Going to the park? That would be a new experience for her. She knew that if she walked on the grass her vision would cut off again, for she had control over stone, rock, and things of that nature. For some reason, she couldn’t control things like dirt, grass, trees, and the like. When the Horned King gave her Earth… he meant it quite literally. Normally, she would have shied away from going to a place she knew her vision would cut back off at.

Yet today, for some reason, she was deliberately walking into one without any issues whatsoever. All in all, she was more excited about going to the park than she was anything else. Even though she wouldn’t be able to see it… she didn’t care. Katyusha knew something was wrong with her; she was never this excited, nor was she ever this careless or energetic. She took another sip of her coffee (which she found odd that she hadn’t dropped in all the confusion) as she was led along by the man in the armor.

“Are you wearing armor too? Do you know Rosaline? I met her earlier… she was nice.” She said. “That must be really heavy as well… and in this heat! It’s like you’re wearing your own oven…” Now that she thought about it… that had to be terribly hot. Katyusha was about to say something else when her vision suddenly cut off and she felt the cool grass on her feet. The grass was so much gentler than stone, that was for sure. If only she could see on it, it would be perfect.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was the first to attack… that’s all Alyss needed. Even when it came to a Knight, Alyss would never attack without probable cause. She attacked Emily when she came to the conclusion that Emily was a threat to everyone, and now she would have to fight back in self-defense because of the Knight. At least he had made a good decision by telling the girl behind the counter to close up the shop. He could have told her to call the police, or more Knights… but he chose to fight alone.

While that was all fine and interesting, it wasn’t what she should have had on her mind at the moment. What was more important was the long metal rod that he was swinging at Alyss. However, she had an advantage here. He didn’t know what element she was, and he had no way of knowing that she had another half of an element at her disposal, not to mention he had no idea that one of her new abilities was the ability to teleport.

As he swung at her, she simply teleported a maintainable distance to the side. She vanished in a puff of what looked to be black smoke and showed back up a few feet away with her arm pointing out and an open palm waiting for him. She let out a full charge of electricity at him. It wasn’t enough to kill; he hadn’t done anything to deserve that, but it was enough to incapacitate him. He really was out of his league here. They were in a shop with wires in the walls, surrounded by electrical objects, and Alyss having at least ten charges left.

Somehow, she felt a little guilty. This was truly a one sided fight. Alyss felt the tingle of the electricity escape her fingers as it coursed through her body and at the Knight.
 
[FONT=&quot]The burn from the wound throbbed without mercy. As Freya gasped for air while bearing the brunt of the pain, a hundred thoughts scattered around in her mind. The pain was excruciating yes, but she had to get back on her feet, or else she would have allowed an opening to be made for a direct attack. She had no idea how long she had been on her knees for, her left hand vainly massaging her wound and her strength obstinately refusing to return to her for a counterattack. She could see Lily, lying in the shallow water and wreathing in her own pain. Despite her efforts – despite what she had been trying to do even at the cost of revealing her own identity and inciting wrath from the Light Witch, she did nothing but accomplish failure. Not once…but twice; Lily had been hit twice and whether she was actually dying or not by lying there almost stationery, Freya felt nothing but hopelessness. Did there seem any point in carrying on now? Her left hand eased from the wound and clenched into a fist again. Her fingernails were indeed drilling into her flesh now, but she didn’t care. This pain was only trivial compared to her right arm, and her one last objective now was to repel the Light Witch to the best of her abilities to allow Lily time to flee on her own somehow…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Then, the very sight of Lily vanished in an instant, replaced by a flash of light so brilliant and intense, that the blinding pain projected through her eyes was enough to force the pained scream to be let out from her mouth. Before Freya could do anything in response, something slammed against her jaw, cleaning her off her feet and plummeting straight into the ground. There wasn’t even enough time to savour the pain from that, and Freya could only react instinctively, hurtling something – anything – back at her attacker with a flick of her left hand. No sooner did she accomplish that did the woman herself – presumably – landed her boot onto her left hand with vicious force. Another stamp ensued, and though Freya tried to scream, very little sound was now coming out for nothing but a spicy mix of intense pain, subtle pain and substantial pain was emanating from various parts of her body. She could hardly even see, still significantly blinded from whatever it was that the Light Witch had done just seconds before. All she could surmise was that her desperate counterattack had been ineffective.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]That sensation with the constricted throat returned, albeit this time a physical entity had seized her around the choker this time round. As Freya could no longer feel the ground and her eyes still weak from the flash, all she knew was that the Light Witch was holding her up entirely by the neck. Was this it? Was this how it was going to end? Blindness, some beating, now some strangulation? Fine then, Freya weakly muttered to herself, if that was how it was going to end, then she accepted this fate then. A purpose that had kept her busy for most of her life had been accomplished anyway. Her mother was peacefully liberated from the prison that was her physical shell at last and her sisters were hopefully being well looked after and more grown up by now. Her only regret was that she had failed to get Lily to safety unharmed and that she had to deceive her beforehand when already her ability to trust had been so grievously slim. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Get to safety Lily…and I’m sorry.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Yet the liberation from the intense physical pain wrought on her and the sensation of continued strangulation she was expecting was just not happening. For whatever reason, Freya was just not dying yet. She felt her head plunging into the water, and instead thought that drowning would be her way out, but nevertheless that never came either, for she was forcefully pulled out soon afterwards before her air supply dissipated. This witch was…torturing her. She wasn’t going to let her die that quickly. That was her game then? To inflict as much hell on her as possibly before finishing her off with a cruel and dazzling finishing attack? Freya could hear her furious tirade continue, the volume plunging into her ears – the sheer hoarseness of her voice piercing the air around them. Yet not a single word was registering to Freya. All she could think about was when death was going to finally come down on her, the excruciating pain and the regret she felt for Lily at the same time. This woman could angrily yell as much as she desired. Like the witches, she was a monster anyway…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]What happened next was just a blur. She knew that her body was being pounded more and more – yet she could hardly feel anything now. The pain had built up enough that any additional pain was just not possible now. The capacity had already been reached and it could not overflow. If she wasn’t at the point of dying yet now, then this was a miracle indeed. Indeed, a horrific miracle. At least this was what she thought, but the pain did indeed seem to build up again, this time involving scorching heat pressed against her body, burying through her skin and deep into her flesh. Her back was being sliced, her thighs were being sliced, and her nape was being sliced. Was the witch cutting her up? If so, how much time did she have now before she would bleed to death or burn to death?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“…I’m just getting started with you,” were the only words from the Light Witch that had registered in her mind. By now, the pain had accumulated to a deadly level, yet her already beaten body was still able to move, even if it were only a few twitches. Mustering up as much effort as she could, Freya slowly opened her eyes. She could see Lily. She could see Lily still lying there. Yet she could also see her face, looking up at them. Thank goodness…she was still alright. Yet the sooner Freya was to die, the sooner it would be for the Light Witch to kill her next. And that was not going to happen. “S-same…” she weakly replied to the Light Witch, “I-I’m getting ugh, st-started….ugh, too!” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The pain was now unbearable. It was cutting her open. It was making her unable to think rationally now. It was going to be the harbinger of the Light Witch’s own demise as well…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]She had no idea how it happened, but the wind began to pick up. Gently at first, but then it developed into a mild gale, then a significant gale and then into an enormous gale. She could feel the Light Witch’s own hair fling against her, and her own hair flapping wildly in this wind. The gale continued to grow stronger and the wind speed did nothing but accelerate, picking up with velocity second by second. As this happened, Freya could hardly even utter the strength to keep her eyes open. All the energy she had left was being seeped from her limbs, as if escaping to be one with the very wind itself. She could see it darken, and then darken even more…then it went totally dark.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Mum…are you…here to rescue me?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Freya felt herself fall into the shallow water. The sting from it was almost unnoticeable now, as if even the ability to detect pain was being drained from her. All that was left on her mind now was to take the witch down with her. If Freya was going to die, then so was this bitch. She was not about to allow a monster like her to continue roaming the city, doing as she pleased. Even as this happened, she felt an ominous sense of dread and horror. Though her eyes were unable to open and to see, she could imagine in her mind – roofs torn apart, cars lifted into the eye of a vortex, people struggling to escape…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Wh-what? What am I doing?[/FONT]
 
The first thing Poppy noticed was that the wind had picked up. She paused, the smallest of frowns creasing her forehead. That was odd. Nobody she had met had the power to do that. Was this maybe Katty’s power? But Katty had run in the opposite direction, so it couldn’t be her. Was it somebody new? Poppy quickened her pace…if it WAS somebody new, then she wanted her first. Having a witch for a pet was a very appealing idea indeed. But then, why would she cause a storm like this? If she was like the mean woman, and destroyed things just because she could, she might be a bit hard for Poppy to handle, especially considering she wasn’t ready to start her own little rampage yet. Besides, this was her city, and people needed to ask for her permission before they started destroying things in it.

The sky darkened as clouds gathered anew, yet it didn’t rain. A good thing, too – that was Poppy’s power, and if someone used that without asking her, she would be very annoyed indeed. It just wasn’t polite to use people’s things without asking first. A strong gust of wind lifted her up, and she shrieked in delight and surprise, quickly anchoring herself to the ground with the water that still covered it. Being carried off sounded like fun, but getting back down could prove to be a bit tricky, so it was best to stay on the ground for now. She continued onwards, thankful that the wind was to her back. If she was facing this kind of wind, she would probably have had to have raised the water level and propelled herself forward with the current, which would have resisted the wind. Unless the one doing this had two elements, she would have won out, but it would have been such a bother to do it.

She rounded a corner, arriving in a new street, where pandemonium had unfolded. A tornado was wreaking havoc in the street, ripping the roofs off of buildings, lifting up cars and sending them soaring skyward, and a couple of distant, flailing shapes showed that there were a couple of people caught up in it, as well. Poppy looked up at it longingly. Oh, how she would love to be able to cause such mayhem! She was more than capable of chaos on a larger scale this than this, but this was something totally new to her. She could feel the fury of the storm, and it jaded her that she couldn’t share in it, other than making it rain, which she did now, a bitingly cold barrage of heavy droplets that hit the ground like bullets, hard enough to sting. She watched and waited. There was little else she could do, until…

…the tornado touched the ground, sending water outwards in a spray. Poppy squealed in delight. Now, this she could work with. She directed her attention towards the water on the ground, swirling it in a pattern to match that of the tornado, and then forcing it upwards and into the tornado, and then willing the entire thing to come under her control. It wasn’t easy at all. She had never controlled something so chaotic before; it was like commanding a tidal wave to suddenly stop and change direction, or forcing an oak tree to reach maturity immediately, things that, whilst not beyond her, made her uncomfortable. Water existed within it already from the clouds it had come from, yet it wasn’t enough. It needed to more water than wind if she were to take control of it. It was so much effort! After a tense minute, she finally succeeded in wresting control of it away from the girl, who was not really paying it the proper attention anyway (a good thing, too) watching it slowly come to a halt as she held it in place, a giant column of water, wind howling around it. Oh, this was so much FUN! She could do all sorts of things with this! She had no idea that wind – because it must be wind that had made this – could be so useful! If she could acquire that power for herself, controlling something like this wouldn’t be so difficult, either. She had tried making smaller waterspouts once before with the clouds, but the result wasn’t particularly satisfying. This, this was real destructive force. She edged it into a building, watching in delight as the entire structure seemed to literally disintegrate; bricks were torn apart, the roof was simply ripped off, and the rest seemed to simply melt away as it was sucked into the vortex, the distant screams of those inside almost lost in the wind. It had been a while since Poppy destroyed anything, and she relished it. She had forgotten how much fun causing chaos was! Tentacles of water shot out from the main body of water at her command, drawing in cars and other people as well.

She tried bringing it close enough to the mean woman, who she then noticed in the ground, choking the life out of someone – presumably the one who had started this storm - to suck her in, and met a rather painful resistance: it didn’t want to go that way, and it seemed that nothing Poppy did would convince it otherwise. Sighing – evidently she still had her limits – she extended another tentacle of water out of the swirling body, wrapping it around the struggling woman and pulling her in. Less elegant, but it worked well enough. Then, she simply sent the vortex on its way, releasing her tenous grip on it, content to let it do what it would. It’d likely burn itself out, and controlling it was beginning to give her a headache anyway: it was a creation of water and wind, and Poppy could only con-trol the water side of it. The wind was completely beyond her, and it hurt her head to even try. Her head was spinning. Of course, that’d change once she acquired the power of Wind for herself…

Poppy smiled broadly as she watched it drift almost lazily down the street. “Looks like the mean woman is blasting off again!” she giggled for a few moments, then skipped down the street, mindful of how the wind still raged around her – she didn’t want to be carried off, so she changed the consistency of the water about her slightly, forcing it to grip her legs - and crouched beside the girl who had been tortured, soothing her shattered nerves with a soft hand on her cheek...or trying to. The girl was a mass of internal conflict, and she clearly wasn’t having any effect. Perhaps she didn’t even realise Poppy was there. Frowning slightly, Poppy increased the pressure. At last, she managed to get the girl to fix her sight on her. That was all she needed, and she relaxed the pressure she was placing on her. Nature would take its course now…eventually. It was difficult to override such strong feelings without attracting suspicion from the individual; if she was immediately calm, or overcome with an insatiable lust, she would detect immediately that something was amiss. Still, if she didn’t calm down soon, Poppy would probably be blown away, and she didn’t much like that idea…

“It’s very windy today, isn’t it?” Poppy shouted to make herself heard over the gale, offering the girl one of her more dazzling smiles. “Mean girl is gone, pretty girl can stop now. Poppy will keep you safe.”

She studied the girl expectantly, waiting for her to calm down. She was a ravaged mess, and her face…oh, that wasn’t a very pretty expression at all, was it? Poppy had seen nicer expressions on her past victims. But still, it was a bit difficult to tell what she looked like on a normal day; perhaps, if she tidied up nicely, she might make a good replacement for Jenny...she wasn’t really as pretty, and her clothing was boring, but she had the added benefit of controlling wind, and she would eventually do anything Poppy asked of her. She could start by killing this gale, although Poppy thought she’d keep the cloud cover up, even if she didn’t make it rain. At least until nightfall. She didn’t want any more nasty surprises; that the Horned King hadn’t visited her again yet told her that the woman was somehow still alive. Well, that was irritating. Nothing that couldn’t be sorted out later, though…one thing at a time.

---

The girl mumbled something, although Emily didn’t catch what. Nor did she particularly care: the girl would die here, and painfully. She could mutter all she wanted; she would scream far worse before the day was over. However, the air was…changing. It started as a light breeze, but it quickly began to pick up. A strong gust buf-feted Emily, threatening to knock her off the girl. She looked down at her contemptuously. A last ditch effort? How ridiculous.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she demanded angrily, feeling the wind tear at her again, yet choosing to ignore it; she wasn’t some lightweight, “You want to die quickly? Fine, suit yourself.” She raised her free hand, drawing light to it…and meeting resistance. Frowning, she glanced up.

The Sun had disappeared. Abruptly, the pain rushed back to her in a wave, sending annoying spasms through her body. She gritted her teeth. She could bear this. She had felt worse. Discarding the idea of using her powers to kill the girl – building up sufficient energy would take too long in this weather – she wrapped both hands around her throat and started choking the life from her. If she could kill her, the storm would be hers to command. It had become a battle of who died first, and Emily was determined to win it; she held all the cards. The main body of the storm, a tornado of immense proportion, had just hit the water, and was going in the opposite direction to her. It’d never reach her before she had killed the girl.

As if contradicting her thoughts, water shot out from the vortex then, ensnaring her. Emily’s eyes widened in surprise, and she released her hold on the girl immediately, gripping the water…or trying to her. Her hands simply passed straight through it. Frustration flooded through her. No! This girl couldn’t control water like this, or she would have done so when they fought! That could mean only one thing…she looked around, finally spotting a familiar figure in dungarees a fair distance away, watching the proceedings. Her again. Was this storm her doing as well, then? Why must she interfere? Why?

Left with those thoughts, Emily could only watch and steel herself for the worst as she was sucked into the water spout...
 
[FONT=&quot]Eva[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Oh, really? The curtains were already drawn and the show had been nearing its climax without her present? Well, she wasn’t going to stand for that, especially as there was some thorough reconnaissance and updating to do. She edged closer to the scene – remaining careful enough to have the corner of a worn down brick wall as cover or just to hastily conceal herself, she started her mobile’s video camera function. This was the second occasion today in which she had seen two witches duelling with each other to the death. The presence of another witch – assuming the new witch was indeed the weak one being clobbered by the angels and then subsequently by the angry bitch herself – as well as the Light Witch, the girl with the dancing shadows, the new Water Witch and the possible Darkness Witch meant one thing. This city, as much of a hellhole it was and despite how much it deserved to burn or sink, was indeed the ideal playground. With so many witches already congregated in this city, a case of picking each of them off at a later time with the hopes of forcefully taking their powers now seemed a dream come true. Perhaps if she looked hard enough, there could be even more witches in this city![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Her heart danced around excitedly at this thought. Patience, Eva told herself, your moment of glory will soon come. But for now, the second act was in full swing in this delightful comedy of errors and the actresses were putting on a splendid performance. Watching the angry Light Witch mercilessly attack her opponent with such a delightful display of force was the only form of entertainment she needed. And yet, there was also something dissatisfactory with this play so far. This fight was very one-sided. If the Wind Witch wasn’t down and out by now, Eva was surprised. At least one member of the cast was very resilient indeed, if even after all this beating she continued to breathe. If only this splendour could be prolonged with a more satisfactory comeback from the losing witch. If only Eva could see a decent show of her powers, assuming that the Wind Witch was able to survive that long without punctured lungs and half her limbs. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]How pathetic. You have control over the winds and you still manage to lose this badly. What a poor actress. I boo at your performance and if you’re hardly going to put up much resistance, then this stage isn’t for you? Or perhaps you’re suffering from stage fright? Well, perhaps I shouldn’t blame you. You see, being a witch looks an awful lot like being on stage. You either quickly adapt to the role or take up the mantle professionally or you chicken out and disappoint the audience. And you, dear Wind Witch, I’m afraid to say that this play is obviously too much for you. If only sadly, I could come over and kill you myself, but I don’t fancy my chances against this Light Witch as long as I am a member of the audience…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This fixation meant it took a short while for Eva to finally notice the changing wind. She looked up, noticing a sudden gathering of storm clouds obstructing the Sun. The mad bitch wasn’t going to enjoy this; perhaps the play was heading in a different direction now? The wind suddenly picked up, relentlessly growing blustery – exuding a sound so viciously loud that it almost drowned out the sound of everything else. The gale was becoming a…oh shit…an actual cyclone slap bang in the air above this street. Eva gazed at this forming twister, with awe and wonder. So, the Wind Witch did have another trick up her sleeve, and what power this was…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Aaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhh!” she hated her small stature at times. What was happening now only accentuated this. Blown clean off her feet, Eva was literally blown to one aside, her grip on her mobile phone subsiding. The device itself was flung towards the eye of the storm, imminently consumed by the berserk wind. Then however, the sound of flowing water began to puncture the air. Grabbing on frantically to whatever she could find to avoid being carried into the air like mere paper, Eva glanced up to see a…water twister? A swirling column of air mixed with water? Interesting…it appeared that someone with control of the water was also present as well on this stage, playing her part in this act and drawing everything together to a fascinating finale. Ooh, how much Eva wanted to meet her. Whoever this was, she had small shoes to fill anyway. The previous Water Witch was a particularly poor actress anyway. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Freya[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Her energy was completely spent. Her wounds burned, her limbs refused to work. She was just lying there on the very shallow water, from head to toes with wounds. She couldn’t even muster the strength to open her eyes and inspect what had happened visually, but she could no longer hear the Light Witch, and the sound of heavy wind was dying down slowly. Was-was it over? What had happened…?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Freya could feel a soft hand gently pressing against her face. This certainly wasn’t the Light Witch then; otherwise she would have been beheaded by now. Yet it was odd – why wasn’t she dead yet? With such injuries sustained already, surely her body would have decided that enough was enough and then subsequently shut down? Seldom would any human body be pushed this far and continue to operate…if only barely. Yet little by little, her energy was gradually building up, so Freya could finally open her eyes now and fix her sight on the first thing she could see. A…young girl? In blue dungarees? By the looks of it, she seemed anything older than twelve – a preteen at best – so having her crouch down with a hand resting against her face was indeed an odd first thing to happen to her in the aftermath of a witch on witch battle. Scarred by the pain and with no energy left to do anything else, all she could do was weakly stare at the girl, unable to even speak to her. Why was this girl examining a dying young woman on the ground? Littered with bruises, scars and burns by now, it was probably only a matter of time before her wrecked body decided to shut down completely, and yet nothing was bothering this girl. Odd one…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Freya could hear the girl speak, but still could hardly fathom what the words were. Her brain was addled by a confusing cocktail of various pains around her body and was still spinning uncontrollably. She could then feel the sensation of cold water dabbed against where she had been burnt however, and muttered only a sigh of surprise. She wasn’t expecting this young girl to suddenly decide to patch her up, but Freya feared that there seemed very little she could do on her own. Soothing some of the pain was one thing, but it wasn’t going to be enough. At the very least, Freya could be rushed to hospital, but the Order would probably get to her first before she could reach the wards. Ah yes, it was now coming back to her now. This was the aftermath of that bloody battle. No doubt after all this the Order would be coming in droves now, swords out, determined to finish her off and somewhere – somewhere, a witch eager to do the same.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Oh shit…that gale…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Finally it occurred to her now just how that battle could have ended. Something had happened to the Light Witch because she wasn’t here anymore. Could it have worked and that the wind carried her off at least? What felt like a last ditch attempt while she was being throttled and burned…had it actually paid off? Then…at what cost? Her eyes turned away from the young girl to examine her surroundings. From the position she was lying on, she couldn’t see Lily. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Oh God, Lil! Did you get away? What happened to you?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And then, her eyes found something that sent shockwaves straight through her. The entire street as far as she could see was almost entirely demolished. Rubble had spread unevenly across the damp ground, vehicles turned upside down and trashed, buildings totally flattened with roofs completely torn off, debris hanging out from what was left and…and…and….[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]What have I done? No…no…no…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“….n-no…no….”[/FONT]
 
“Hey!” Poppy said, a little louder, a hint of impatience creeping into her tone. She could talk, so why was she ignoring her? It was quite vexing. So, she was going to have to do this the hard way. She’d better be worth it then, or she’d wish that Poppy had left the mean woman to finish her off. All she could say was “no” at regular intervals, so…maybe she was broken? “Are you broken?” Poppy asked curiously, tapping her lightly on the nose as she considered the possibility, “Do you need fixing? Poppy will do what she can, but she isn’t very good at fixing things. Lie still, kay? Poppy will make it better.”

If it wasn’t enough, she’d just kill her and move on. Poppy didn’t really have the time or the patience to be nurturing people; it went completely against her nature. But then, she had just destroyed an entire street, and probably taken…oh, maybe fifty or sixty lives, at least? She could afford to save one, especially if she was going to be useful later. Jenny was gone, and Poppy needed another toy. This girl would have to do until she got her Katty back. The destruction they had caused between the two of them was quite incredible…nothing Poppy couldn’t do by herself, but it was nice to have someone to share it with. Poppy was better at it, but there was something quite charming in a water vortex; it ripped things apart so easily, and it was much more fun to watch than a tidal wave. She decided she liked it, and that she’d quite like to make another one somewhen soon.

She forced the water away from her, creating a small dry patch on the ground. The rain avoided her and her newfound playmate, repelled as if striking an invisible barrier, and she drew some of it to her now, catching and collecting it before it hit the ground. Easier to use rainwater than trying to purify what was around her, assuming she could even do that anyway. Creating a small globe of water in the palm of her hand, she stretched it to a tendril, and then directed it into the girl’s burns, adjusting the temperature to what she hoped was a re-spectable level, to provide her with some mild relief. Her daddy had held her under a cold tap once when she had burned herself on the stove, and it had worked for her, so it should work for this girl as well. She had never done anything remotely like this before, and it was both unfamiliar and exciting. If she learned how to heal people, she could hurt them even more! Of course, it’d probably be easier with her nature abilities, but…well, that was her little secret, for now.

“Better?” she asked expectantly after a few moments, shifting herself into a more comfortable position and placing the girl’s head in her lap, running her fingers absently through her hair, keeping the water she had poured into the wounds she could see in place, just on the surface of her charred skin. She remembered that her daddy had always held her like this when she was upset; maybe it would comfort this girl as well. She’d come around eventually…unless she was broken, anyway. She was in her own little world at the moment, and it’d just take her time to see that Poppy’s world was better. Although Poppy wasn’t a very patient girl, and she hoped it was soon. “No need to worry. Poppy will make it all go away.” One way or the other, that much was true…she looked over to where the other girl lay, wondering how she had gotten caught up in all this. She was very small and fragile, she’d probably break quickly if Poppy played with her. She was likely useless. Still, after she’d sorted this one out, maybe she’d see if she could do the same for her…

---

No…no…big sister…

Lily had seen the whole thing, and she was horrified. Not only had Freya attacked her big sister without any real provocation – it had been Lily she had been after, not her – but she had then probably killed her with that vortex…she could have killed Lily as well with that storm. Now another girl, impossibly young, was tending her wounds…by floating water into them. Another witch? Just how many of them were there? Why was this one helping her? Was she trying to accomplish the same thing Freya had been with Lily: gaining her trust so she could then kill her? Well, that was Freya’s problem; Lily was getting out of here, now. The girl looked over at her then, and Lily felt a strange rush of affection…it terrified her more than anything else she had experienced. She knew she could never feel anything even remotely like that for a little girl she had never even met before; she practically radiated evil. She was more dangerous than Freya, or even Alyss. She needed to get as far away from her as possible.

She needed to find her big sister, if she was even still alive, and help her. This…was all a misunderstanding. A huge misunderstanding. Lily had wanted to find her for so long now, and somehow they had ended up on opposite sides…but they were both monsters, weren’t they? She’d understand. She HAD to understand. It was darker, now that clouds had covered the sky. The rain had almost blinded her, and the pain had not diminished in the slightest, but she had to try something. Desperately, she reached out to the shadows; always present at the edge of her vision, yet never intrusive. Watching, it seemed. Waiting for something.

Please…take me away from here. Please…
 
The battle that Alyss had envisioned between herself and the Knight wasn’t much of a battle at all. The lightning that soared through her fingertips and streamed towards Jacob hit him head on. His body jerked violently as the violet blue streams of lightning made contact. Before she went too far, Alyss halted her attack. The second she did so his body hit the ground with a thud. Besides being the most anticlimactic affair of her life, she was glad it was over.

Yet, she had to be sure she didn’t kill him. The last thing she wanted was the blood of someone else on her hands. He may have been a smug man with no redeeming personality traits… but he was still doing what he believed to be right. She placed her arm back at her side as she walked over towards his body. As she crouched down, she placed her hand on his neck to check for a pulse. It was there… but it was somewhat weak. However, it was good enough; as long as he wasn’t dead she was fine with it. Perhaps after he woke up he could perceive his loss as a slice of humble pie.

From there, she quickly stood back up and ran a hand through her hair. There had been a few witnesses to what just happened… and without a doubt they would call the police and from the police would come more Knights. As she turned around, she saw the eyes of the few customers and the girl behind the counter staring at her… they looked upon her with a mixture of hate and fear. It was understandable, however. People often came to fear what they couldn’t understand; and not one person in that shop could ever hope to comprehend what just happened.

Without saying anything, she walked over to the counter as she dug in her pockets for her wallet. Once in hand she pulled it out and opened it and placed a few pounds on the counter. “For the damages, of course.” She said; placing her wallet back into her pocket. She turned around and let her long black hair whip behind her as she gazed outside through the window. Over there. She thought, and without hesitation she found herself outside on the opposite side of the street. It really was a convenience to be able to travel so quickly.

However, she didn’t want to be seen doing that again. She looked up at the tops of the buildings and teleported herself above them. Of course, she couldn’t see anything to stand on, so she had to teleport herself in midair and brace herself to land on the rooftops. Her main goal at that particular moment was to get to her apartment, take a shower, get changed, and go and look for Lily. Despite everything that just happened, Lily was still on her mind, and she wanted to make sure that she was okay. Even if Lily hated her, Alyss still felt as if it were her job – her obligation to protect Lily.
 
Listening to the girl's curious questioning Richard chuckled a little, wishing for a moment that if he wasn't a knight, he could have his own daughter. "I suppose you're right, I guess people like me and Rosaline just have to keep safe in a world like this"

As they reached the park Richard helped to guide her towards a park bench fairly seperated from other people there. Helping her find the seat he sat down with her "How do you feel now? Calmed down a little?" Richard could feel a pseudo father urge appearing within, with his devotion to work he'd never had the opportunity to become one, even at his age. If he had any regrets, that would be among them.
 
[OOC: Rubbish post is a bit rubbish...]

[FONT=&quot]Why am I still breathing? Why am I still here? How can my body possibly still function after all that? Why, even after what I have just done – why am I not being consigned to death at the very least? Surely I am beyond saving. Surely it’s about time I just slip away and leave this world after what I’ve done now…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Her field of vision was still considerably narrow. She could see from the corner of her eyes the preteen girl in the dungarees helping her for whatever reason (though what she was exactly doing Freya couldn’t quite visually ascertain), but most of all she could see the ruined remains of this area, nearly levelled completely by that storm that…she summoned. How? How on earth was she going to live through this? How on earth was she still alive now after what had just happened? How could she possibly be able to return to her feet now knowing full well that what she had convinced herself earlier was now a big lie to her? There was nothing different about her and the witches – they were one and the same now. For two years she had convinced herself that she was nothing like a witch. She wasn’t capable of anything destructive, or capable of allowing her powers to go berserk. She told herself that she was not capable of killing, maiming and laying harm to innocents. And in the last ten to fifteen minutes or so, she had subverted everything she stood for. She was nothing like a witch? Wrong. She had just caused more damage than the Light Witch could have ever dreamed of. Her powers went berserk and she was helpless. If this didn’t warrant an excuse to just die right here right now, what would? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Why do you continue to help me? I don’t want it. You’re only helping a monster with powers far more incomprehensible than what you can ever understand. Just please…let me die. Let me disappear from this place so I can’t ever allow my powers to do anything like this ever again. Please, just let this monster die already. I’m no human – my powers can probably go wild again and then…who knows…who knows what can happen.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The next thing Freya knew, her head was resting on the girl’s lap. Despite the soothing water dabbed gently against her charred burns, the pain was still keeping her prisoner and her limbs could still hardly move. Freya could hear the girl’s voice – that childish kind of voice – why did it feel like roles have been reversed? The older person incapacitated and the younger person trying to do all she could to make things better. Ah, this was reminding Freya of herself now. She paralleled her own position to that of her mother’s, slowly dying in bed while she, still as the child would watch over her, attempting to soothe the pain and to care for her as thoroughly as possible even though her mother requested otherwise. How odd did this feel, having roles reversed like this. Freya wanted to smile at this thought, but her mind was still fixated on all that destruction, her powers running amok and the terrible pain that was obstinately persisting. At least…at least the Light Witch was nowhere to be seen…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“…s-stop,” Freya could only weakly mutter, her eyes looking up to see the girl’s innocuous child-like face. The look of wild interest, speculation and wonder in the girl’s eyes was just like that of a little child who had come across a new toy so wonderful and so novel that they just could not fight the urge to part ways with it. “…p-please,” speaking was now just as difficult and as uttered each few words, her breathing was still moderately intense, “don’t bother…don’t…don’t bother. J-just leave me…leave me…leave me be, please…” her voice degraded into nothing but a gentle whisper, but Freya hoped that it was still audible enough for the girl. Why did it also suddenly feel like another role reversal now? She was now like Lily, determined for nature to just take its course and for everyone else to leave her be? The sheer amount of irony that was going on now seemed breathtaking. Fate was surely deciding to be cruel today, spinning weaves of mischief and sowing together a tapestry of exceptionally dark comedy. Cruel mistress…if she had any decency within her, she would allow all witches like her to just wither and die in order to protect the innocents of this city caught up in this battlefield. “Just….just leave...leave me…leave me to die. I’m not worth….worth it…”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]From the corner of her eye – Lily?! She was still there – though she looked fuzzy, it was definitely her and still wounded! If the girl had to help someone, it was her. Lily was the priority now, not her…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“Lil!” Freya attempted to cry out, albeit only weakly and awkwardly, slightly alarming the girl by the looks of it, as both of them turned their attention on Lily, who looked like she had been attempting to reach out for something. Lily in turn, turned her eyes on the pair of them, but the look on her face was one of such fright and horror that it was just indescribable. What…just what...could possibly be going through her mind now? Freya could surely guess, yet at the same time she didn’t want to. The thought was just excruciatingly painful.[/FONT]
 
[OOC: Short. Posts… I hate you so much right now. :hmph:]

The bench was just like every other bench she sat on: hard and unforgiving. She had sat on more comfortable floors. However, she wasn’t really the type to complain much. So it was rather odd for her that she was starting now. Ever since the coffee shop she hadn’t felt like herself. If were almost as if someone had come along and pushed her out of her own body and made her watch what it did without her in it. The mere thought of that made her shudder somewhat.

In response to the man’s question, she couldn’t really give an honest answer. “I still feel funny, to be honest. It feels as if I’m not… me.” That was as honest as her answer could get at that particular moment. She still felt like jumping around, she still felt as if she wasn’t herself, and she felt like doing something new. However, she didn’t know what she could possibly want to do. What could she do? She couldn’t even see at the moment. There wasn’t much a blind girl could do.

She was bored; that much was clear. All she wanted to do at that particular moment was to do something fun. Yet her mind was drawing blank upon blank upon blank. “What’s your name? I don’t think I got it. I’m Katyusha.” She said, laughing somewhat nervously. She was just about to say something else when she got sidetracked. For some odd reason, she felt slightly tired. It wasn’t enough to put a damper in the way she felt at the moment, but she did notice that she was just a slight less hyped.

That’s odd… I really don’t feel like myself at all. Am I sick? She couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Instead, she just sat on the bench and starting tracing her hand along the armrest as her eyes focused on nothing in particular, just as they had been doing since the day she was born.
 
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