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Amelia's grip on her Javelin was tight, knuckles lightening under her heavy gloves. The plates covering the flesh over the sides of her thighs shifted back and forth with each step, her shoulderguards and breastplate clicking together heavily if she moved too quickly. She felt her nerves getting to her, a heavy clawing feeling deep in the pit of her stomach.

The last time she had fought Rei, she had been fighting to knock him out, at least in the beginning. Time wore on and found her fighting to incapacitate, even if it meant drawing blood. Rei had been fighting to kill from the beginning. And he won. If Rhys hadn't been outside of Rei's Erebus barrier from the beginning, Amelia knew she would have died. The wounds on her chest had been bleeding heavily. The scar was there, pale lines with raised, rough edges surrounding it near the center, where it criss-crossed at her sternum.

There could be no hesitation this time. Rei was not going to let her leave alive this time, or anyone else. If they found him, he would be fighting to kill. They would be fighting to incapacitate.

And if that meant dealing heavy damage to him, then so be it. Amelia knew better than to hold back. Other lives other than her own were at stake here. She gripped her free hand into a fist, thinking of those who followed her, silently nominating her leader for the expedition. Kishuna, Sue, Ninian... Rhys...

Their expectations would have to be upheld. She couldn't lose, not this time. Most importantly, she couldn't let them get hurt. It was one thing to be responsible to have your own body harmed, but someone else? Inexcusable. Amelia closed her eyes for a fraction of a second, then picked up her pace. She was going to win this time. She was going to keep the others safe. And most importantly, she was going to save Rei.

Watch out for us, Rei. We're coming.

Sue followed her comrades, among both host club members and otherwise. She'd save Rei and Nils this time...she wouldn't fail. She hadn't got the chance to really know Kishuana: but he was someone that Father Renault trusted. She could trust him, at least she thought so. "Just you wait... both of you. I'll... save you. I promise on my Sacaen honor."

{Short post is short. *shot*}

The morph walked in front of the others, save Amelia; they probably didn't trust him, and he understood that. He didn't know any of them very well yet, after all; though Ninian he was familiar with, and Amelia he'd met previously. The man's eyes scanned over the group, taking in the expressions and poses of each member there. They all seemed nervous and on edge. Well, that wasn't going to help. He himself was calm and collected, even to the point of being relaxed. Of course, he wasn't really as hard to kill as them. And they were going up against a magic-user; which of course he was immune to. But in any case, if they were nervous, they would have to-

And there came the first volley. Looked like the enemy was a lot more prepared this time. Tendrils came rushing towards them, one for each. How nice. But although they looked physical, this was nothing but constructed magic. He of course couldn't stop the others, though; he could only reach so far, and he had to block the tentacle coming after him. One hand came up, and a gentle red light came forth. The tendril rushed forward. . . but once it reached his hand, the tip vanished, and it seemed as if the tendril was simply rushing into another world. This would continue until either Kishuna stopped concentrating or the tendril retreated.

Amelia did not expect to see a tendril of dark magic shoot out so suddenly, aiming right for them. However, a combination of nerves and knowledge from her previous battle had kept her on her guard, and as the magic flew for her, she slashed expertly with her Javelin, driving the sharp head straight through the tentacle of magic. As it fizzled away with little spurts of energy, Amelia stood up straight, whipping her weapon to the side, as if to flick off remnants of energy.

"He's got to be close," Amelia whispered breathlessly. She looked to the forest's edge, eyes stony. Was it better to shout and try to draw him out, or quietly search? He already knows where we are... but we don't know where he is.

"Stay close." Amelia took a few steps forward, trying to move just so, attempting to shift her weight so her armor would stay quiet.

Rhys blocked out Rei's mental attack after putting forth some effort in doing so, but he hadn't exactly expected a FLUTE to come flying out of the sky and bopping him on the head. "Ow!" he said, rubbing a hand over his sore head. He examined his hand, and found no blood--at least his hair had softened the blow enough to prevent any real damage.

He turned around, looking on the ground for what the heck hit him, and saw the flute.

"...Nils?"

Rhys turned back around, scanning the treetops. It was rather shady, so he couldn't tell whether he might be looking at Nils, some squirrels, or perhaps even a bird nest.

"Rei? Nils? Hello? We just want to talk to you," Rhys called out to nobody in particular, not sure where they'd strike from next if they did.

Rei retreated slightly into the forest, where the shade of the trees would conceal him. As he became comfortable in this new spot, Rei saw a shiny object slam into the Bishop: Nils's flute. Come on, knock them around, and take 'em down! Not waiting for a lapse in activity, Rei launched another volley of tendrils, these all aimed towards the dazed Rhys.

Rhys paused for a second, surprised and inwardly pleased that Amelia stepped forward to defend him. In truth, Rei's attack contained expert timing, and had Rhys been alone...

Okay, so maybe they CAN kill? But...

The big thing was that Amelia's Javelin chopped through the first one. Taking the first two gave him a second to act--not enough time to reach into his robes to grab Shine, but really, there were other methods to call forth magic. Tomes were the safest--the words within contained the magic, and merely reciting them properly could release the magic. Of course, that's IF you had the book open and in front of you.

One alternative would be fast enough, but dangerous--he'd be using his own life force to channel magical energy. It'd leave him exhausted, and unable to do much more. He'd recover in time, sure. It'd just take time.

Tapping into his own energy, Rhys concentrated, his left fist starting to shine with holy energy. Placing his right hand on Amelia's shoulder and using her to assist with momentum, he swung around her, punching two incoming tendrils with his holy fist, dissipating them both. That took care of the worst of the spell. Amelia could handle the rest.

Following that, he paused to gasp for breath, feeling fatigued as he reached into his robes to pull out the Shine tome to make sure he didn't do that again.