With a little squeak of contentment she dropped her arms and rolled her shoulder back as she glanced around the rooftop she had positioned herself on. The old, run down building was certainly in need of some strong TLC, but with the specific part of the city she was roaming tonight, TLC was not something the building was probably ever going to see. Most likely, it would be left to either rot down or be razed at some point in the future. For now though, it still did it’s job...mostly. A few holes here and there and worn out windows let the elements inside but people still seemed to find a use for the place. Of course, if she wasn’t powered up, this part of town was not where a 16 year old, middle class girl would be found.
In fact, it would be rather dangerous for her to prance down these streets, alone, and at night.
Harmonia was fine though, as she stood atop the building, scanning the run down surroundings. No one was likely to bother her if she stuck to the roofs, and she had found that Youma tended to frequent the less-than-desirable areas of DC. So, to keep herself awake, she had opted for a more...busier area. Something to keep her going and alert.
But oh, she could hear her bed calling to her.
“Alright. No use standing around doing nothing.” There was a faint signature not far away. A youma for sure. “Perfect.”
Using the roof as a launching pad she leapt into the air, landing on a nearby building. She continued on her way, following the signature.
Crocoite had been fascinated by starseeds from the word Go. After seeing Painite pull one, and having her explain her love of them, he saw them as these mystifying, alluring jewels that he simply wanted to collect. And he was very good at collecting things. In fact, it was one of his fortes.
The things he took off his victims now, though, were not for his shop. Though he ran an antique store in the day to day, he also had a personal collection that he kept for his own sake. Always fascinated by history and stories, he liked to remind himself of important times in his life. Or, nowadays, of the lives he chooses to end. Painite told him to be careful, not to pull too many, not to get addicted. She said something about eating them, but he could never imagine something so crude. No, his addiction was not for the energy, or even the thrill of it.
The life each seed encased, the stories it would always hold, the precious nature of its very existence: that was what he wanted.
He held one now, gently, cradling it in his palm as he watched it shimmer in the dim light. This person was a no one to the world, a homeless man with barely anything to contribute to the scheme of things, but Crocoite had found his tale interesting. He had once been an innkeeper, but was turned out and ruined by his own poor business management and petty things like laws and health codes. He suffered some sort of mental disease, but had long ago lost the means to medicate it. His mind had spiraled from him, and now he spent his days waving an old, broken flip up cell phone at people and shouting at them for interrupting his calls. Or at least, he had.
Crocoite carefully opened the cell phone, removing some of its inner pieces, the long dead battery casing and some useless wires, and replaced the innards with the starseed. Closing the case carefully, he smiled at the dingy, cracked and battered item. The number pad was glowing again, but not from power. And that light would soon fade, in its own beautiful way.
Sighing, Crocoite put the cellphone in his pocket, glancing down at the dead man at his feet and then up at the sky. Something strong was heading his way, but he did not run. Instead, he leaned on his cane, holding it in front of him with both hands folded over the crocodile shaped head. Maybe he would get another starseed tonight.
As she moved towards the signature of the youma, something else, a little further away but in the same general direction caught her attention. Pausing on a emergency stairwell that no one would deem safe to step foot on in daylight, let alone in the case of an emergency, the senshi pondered what to do. In one case, she could just deal with the youma and ignore the signature up ahead, but, and this was the option she ended up going with, she knew she couldn’t just ignore a possible lieutenant out and hurting people.
If anything, I may be able to just scare them away. At least that was her plan. I can double back and get the youma afterwards.
With that plan firmly in her mind, she hurried off again. The rickety steel stairwell groaned as she used it as her launch pad, but managed to continue clinging to the side of the building.
Harmonia had been certain that her plan to scare whomever it was, away, would be a perfect solution. What she hadn’t planned on was finding a lieutenant waiting for her with a man lying at his feet, unmoving. Panic rose inside of her and she tried to quell it as her mind raced over all the infinite possibilities of trying to save the man but, if her assumption was correct, he was in dire need of his starseed being returned to him. Quickly.
Putting on a face that was braver than she felt, Harmonia puffed herself up as best she could. “Just return his starseed. Why end his life? Just give it back and leave.”
“Why would I do that?” He chuckled, shaking his head and glancing down at the man on the pavement. He was better off this way, out of his own suffering. Having someone to talk to had been such a kindness to him, and he had delighted in sharing his story while Crocoite pretended to field his calls for him on his broken phone, so they would not be interrupted. Crocoite listened intently, asked questions, actually took the time to learn about him. It had been an act of kindness, and when he offered another one, the homeless man had little choice but to accept it.
It was a return in investment, at the end of the day. Crocoite had given the man time and concern, and in return he took the thing he wanted. The only thing, really, the man had left to give. In his mind, things were settled, and fair. It would upset the balance to have this senshi make him give the starseed back.
“He wanted me to take it. He was miserable, you know. Forgotten by the city, the world. No family to go to, because they threw him out. Fallen on such hard times, the only solace, he said, was found when he slept. So I gave him a gift. A peace that will last. I think you’re too late to take that from him. And anyway, it would be rather cruel.”
He turned his dangerously cool eyes toward her, looking her over and noting the strength radiating off of her. Like Painite ,but her aura made his skin crawl. All White Moon, of course, had the same effect. She was more potent, because of her apparent power. Still, she was hesitant, and did not attack him out right, like some of her compatriots would do. It would suggest a hesitance. A weakness? Maybe.
“I’d be happy to offer you the same service, of course,” he said, with a smirk and a nod in her direction, as if threatening to kill her was the polite thing to do, “if that’s what you want. There’s no need to be jealous of him. We will all join him in time.”
“I don’t think there is anything on this earth that would make someone wish to have their starseed taken from them. And if he did ask you to end his life, he was certainly not in any frame of mind to be taken seriously.” She shifted on her feet. Unsure what to do now besides continue to try and talk the agent into giving up the starseed.
Glancing down at the poor man who, probably was very much down on his luck if she went on his appearance alone. Let alone, being found in such a neighborhood as this, the Lieutenant probably wasn’t lying about the story he had fed her. Still, that was no any excuse to rip the starseed from the poor mans chest. He deserved better, that she had no doubt.
It wasn’t until the lieutenant turned his gaze on her that Harmonia realized that he was, very much, certain that what he was doing, well, had done was perfectly logical. That scared her. His next offer caused a hitch in her throat and a hand to involuntarily reach up to her chest where he own starseed lay dormant. Thought she couldn’t remember the last time a hand had sunk into her chest, the after effects of it still haunted her. Fear was blossoming, and Harmonia knew she needed to get herself under control if she was going to have any chance at saving the man’s life.
“I think I’ll pass on your offer.” She stated, a small tremble in her voice, but she forced herself to lower her hand which clutched at her fuku, bawling it into a fist at her side.
“Look, we both know I could take it from you by force. Just give it back to him and be done with it. This way neither of us are hurt and we can enjoy the rest of our night.”
Crocoite’s eyes glimmered when he saw her raise her hand. A small gesture, probably not something she put any thought behind, but it told him so much. She was afraid of losing her starseed, of dying. Or maybe of it being played with at all. He could have someone corrupt her, of course, and that seemed to terrify a lot of the White Moon Senshi out there. Their starseeds were so precious to them, put them in such a vulnerable position all the time, but there was very little they could really do to protect it. Crocoite was beginning to see just how powerful control over starseeds, and the chaos that allowed him access to them, really was.
And he liked it. A lot.
“If you wanted to take it by force, my dear,” he said evenly, leaning back and picking up his cane, holding it just under the head of the crocodile that adorned it. It was not as heavy as it looked, but it could still deliver a wallop if he wanted to. And he did, very much so. But he always had to be tactical, particularly knowing that he was not as strong as she was.
Still, he saw her hesitation as weakness, and maybe that gave him too much confidence. He was also feeling bolstered by the successful hunt he’d just had, and the thrill of a new starseed for his collection. Maybe he was more like Painite than he would ever admit, getting so much out of playing these games.
“You would have already tried. You want to talk, want to see if you can convince me to do what you believe is right. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world will think the way you do, or want to listen to your gentle, well meaning suggestions. And what will you do then? This man is dead. I’ve told you my stance on it. Your attempts to convince me otherwise have failed. Now you’re facing the thing you were trying to avoid. Are you going to fight me for it? Are you going to hurt me? Try to kill me? How far will you really go, for a starseed of a homeless man?”
The words were like a dagger and probably hurt more than even she herself was aware of. This...lieutenant managed to cut right to the chase of the matter and call her out. He knew what she was doing. He knew that she didn’t want to fight. Didn’t want to actually have to use force. As she stood there, staring at the man on the ground and the sneering lieutenant with his cane, Harmonia legitimately caught herself asking the same question. ‘How far would she go for a man she didn’t even know? Was he worth -her- starseed?’ “I...uh…”
Hitching a breath she took a step back from the agent as her mind raced. She thought she had found her resolve. She thought she had conquered these issues of hers. Harmonia had been determined that he will was there to help protect people no matter where they came from. But here she was, facing it now, against someone whom she should be able to handle, and she was questioning herself.
Green eyes slid from the Lieutenant down to the man. Shallow breaths indicated her distress as she let her mind wander. Was the man really homeless? Was this a ruse? Maybe he was better off? No, nothing is worth an end like this. Maybe he does have family? What if he has kids waiting for him?
That last thought made her think of her father and the idea of waiting for him to come home and him never returning again.
That single thought was enough to motivate the senshi. It was enough to push her forward in a somewhat desperate but restrained attack against the lieutenant. She opted not to use her magic, not yet, she was still determined to try and end this without hurting anyone more than needed, but she had found a purpose. Possibly an imaginary one, but something that goaded her and helped to push down the fear that had begun to take her over.
Closing the proximity, Harmonia swung a fist towards the man’s middle. Maybe a few careful punches to wind him would be enough? But where was the starseed hidden at?
Crocoite enjoyed asking the kind of questions that hurt, and with Senshi, it tended to be easy to pick them out. They all seemed plagued by the same demons. Of course, he had only run in to a handful of them, so his data pool was limited. Still, it made sense. Those that claimed to be good had to follow certain rules, and many of them had to draw lines in the sand that could easily be erased. How they each responded to someone kicking the line away, making them face the arbitrary rules they make for themselves and the way they live their lives, was fascinating. And a good test of character, though Crocoite did not have the power yet to judge them the way he wanted to.
At the moment, his questions tended to get him into more trouble than was necessary, and that he could really handle. He was not strong, not yet, and as determined as he was, he had to quickly learn who to push and who to walk away from. Unfortunately, it was one of those lessons he would just have to learn the hard way.
Her punching him in the gut, for example, was a very swift and effective method of teaching him his mistake today. It was all fun and games for him, enjoying her doubt and her fear, up until the moment her knuckles found a new home in his stomach. They quickly moved back out, but they took his breath with them, and he gasped out in surprise, his knees buckling.
Okay. So the difference of power between a Lieutenant of the Negaverse and an Eternal Senshi was quite stark indeed. Even though he was certain she was pulling her punches, it had still hurt.
There was no way he was going to go down in one hit, though, and he grit his teeth, growling as he pushed up against the pain and took a massive swing at her with his cane. He used it like it was a bat, swinging up toward her with both hands gripping the handle and the metallic head of the crocodile at the business end.
“I see you’ve found your answer! The easiest one, don’t you think?” He was not sure why he was compelled to taunt her, particularly after that lesson from earlier, but he was apparently just a bad student.
The difference in strength was certainly a gulf. What worked in the Lieutenant’s favor was the fact that this particular senshi had no interest in seriously hurting him. An eternal senshi she may be, but Harmonia was more prone to protecting and, better yet, talking things out with people. Fighting wasn’t necessarily her forte.
Harmonia had already been moving to back away from the lieutenant, to gauge how he would react after the initial punch. She hoped, maybe, that he would see the error in his calculations and just, give up. But, to prove her wrong, he retaliated with a swing of his cane. Now. Normally, Harmonia would have dodge back or under but the close proximity made that a rather difficult move to make. Instead, she raised her arms up, in an attempt to protect herself and succeeded in deftly grabbing hold of the end of the cane before it managed to make contact.
A little surprised herself, she managed not to let go of the cane and instead attempted to tug it from the Lieutenant’s hands. If he was unarmed, there was an even greater chance that he’d run. “Easier for me, perhaps.” She grunted out and gave another strong pull on the cane, her hands wrapped around the crocodile head, using it as a decent handle. “Maybe you should learn to not pick fights. It’s not nice!”
“I would think, by now, you’d get that I’m not trying to be nice,” he growled, though he looked startled when she was able to pull his weapon away from him. He felt vulnerable without it, even though he did not actually need it to walk. A crutch it still was, so to speak. He backed away from her, too new to consider banishing the weapon and calling it back to him, and a little too caught up in the panic that suddenly hit him.
Crocoite was not exactly brave. In fact, when it came down to it, if his talking and trickery failed him, he absolutely hated being caught in a fight. It was one thing, going in thinking he would win, but quite another knowing he was about to get his butt handed to him. And that was very clear now. Instinct told him to run away, but pride told him he could not do that.
He did get some distance between them, growling at her and keeping up his guard as he called his crystal to his hand. Painite had shown him how to use it for communication, and he gripped it in both hands, holding it up to speak into it. He called out to Painite, hoping she was powered up and able to hear him.
“General, I need your help! This Senshi is too strong for me, please! Please!”
Elsewhere, Painite did, indeed, get the call, and looked at irritation at the crystal as a pathetic plea spilled out of it. She rolled her eyes, but her irritation would not stop her from going to his aid. After all, her first priority was making sure he did not get himself killed. Then she could teach him what being a coward got him. She teleported toward him, taking a few stops to reach the duo but arriving in short enough order. Crocoite had been holding his ground, attempting to take back his cane, but stopped when the powerful Chaos aura arrived.
Painite sneered, looking at Harmonia and waggling a finger at her.
“Don’t you know? It’s not very polite to play with other people’s things. And that one? That one is mine.”
The cane was, surprisingly, easy enough to confiscate from Crocoite. Without his weapon, the Lieutenant seemed to deflate a bit as he backed away from her. Good. Maybe now he’ll stop goading, give back the starseed, and run. Harmonia knew from experience that he wouldn’t be able to just portal away from her either. So, she felt like she was in a fairly good position. Neither of them were really hurt, and the homeless man would hopefully be saved.
She was actually certain that he was going to run when she saw him pull a crystal from his pocket. She’d never seen anything like it before, and was completely dumbfounded when he began calling into it for a General! Ok, that she had not been counting on!
As it would turn out, the Lieutenant was determined to get back his weapon after he made his desperate call. It made things a bit harder for Harmonia, as she tried to keep with her initial plan, but felt like her time was running out.
And the influx of a chaotic signature quickly dominated her senses as Crocoite pulled away from his mad attempt at retrieving his cane. Green eyes focused on the General, her hand tightening on the weapon she still held in her hand. Oh. This is not good.
She had no idea who she was up against either. This specific General she had never seen before. Well...that she could remember anyway. Maybe she had run into her in the battle in negaspace, but Harmonia’s memories on that day were...few.
Licking her lips, the senshi didn’t lower her guard. She was in a bit of a predicament and knew it. The fear was beginning to return underneath the rush of andrenaline.
“Maybe you should keep him on a shorter leash then.” She remarked. “Besides, I wouldn’t have bothered him if he wasn’t causing trouble, and I gave him the chance to walk away.”
Maybe...reasoning would work?
Talking. Talking was always a good start.
Hopefully.
Painite watched Harmonia for a moment, clicked her tongue behind her teeth, then looked at Crocoite. He was looking sheepish, and she imagined he knew how much trouble he was in for calling her out there. Now that there were two of them, at least, Crocoite was feeling more confident in the fight. Less confident about what Painite was going to do to punish him, though.
“Call your weapon, you idiot,” she snapped, motioning to the cane, “just send it away and call it back. How have you let a Senshi take your weapon, anyway? Haven’t I told you how important it is?”
She had, many times. It was an extension of self, another limb, something that needed to be taken care of and used properly. He needed to train and practice with it, learn it inside and out. And definitely not let Senshi steal it away from him. He winced, feeling stupid and absolutely hating it, doing as ordered and sending his weapon to negaspace and away from the Senshi’s grip.
He would have thought of that, eventually…
Painite turned her attention away from her Lieutenant, lazily taking stock of Harmonia again. Yet another Eternal Senshi, looking to stop evil doers from doing their evil. The kind of thing Painite usually liked to play with, but this one had made the wrong first impression. She called her own weapon to her hand, a long, wicked looking spear that had a taste for blood, and tapped the bottom part of it, which was also sharpened, against the pavement thoughtfully.
“A leash might not be a bad idea,” she hummed, though she liked that he had been causing trouble. That, at least, was something she wanted him to do. It gave her a little hope for him, and the idea that he had stood up to an Eternal, despite being outranked and outgunned. That sounded like something she would do, back when she was new and head strong.
Now, she was still head strong. But she had learned a bit more.
“Alright, enough chit chat. It’s time to die, Senshi. I hope you didn’t have any other plans for the night,” she launched herself forward at the end of her sentence, a laugh painting the air as she did so. She did get a raw thrill out of hurting people, and lashed out at Harmonia without a trace of hesitance or concern. Painite was always in it to kill, and had no qualms, no conscience, to tell her otherwise.
Well, having the General chastise her lieutenant was not what she had expected, but then again, this entire night was apparently full of surprises. Hopefully she’d be in for a good surprise for a change?
Feeling the weapon disappear from her hand was a bit odd. She had been clutching onto the thing pretty fiercely and within a moment it was no longer there, leaving her hand to ball into a fist. She forced herself to relax it as she watched the General and her Lieutenant closely. Any sort of hope that she was still fostering that the two of them would just give up the starseed and leave was dashed when the spear appeared.
Of course it would have to be something that scary looking. Though Harmonia wasn’t sure she’d seen a General without a scary looking weapon. Maybe it the was the double pointed ends or the extra reach she knew that the General would get with something like that, but Harmonia felt her stomach drop.
Any hope of getting away without having to fight was impossible now.
“Wait...look we don’t have to…” But Painite cut her off completely with her own words before charging forward, right at Harmonia.
Eye’s wide the senshi did her best to dodge and keep a fair distance between herself and the General. The length of the spear was making it difficult. Not to mention, it was blatantly obvious that this woman was out to do more than just injure or maim while Harmonia still didn’t want to hurt anyone.
“I don’t want to fight!” She yelled out as she dodged another stab towards her shoulder. “Why can’t we just...be civil...about all of this.” She said as she took a chance at trying to close the distance between them and forcing herself up in Painite’s space to try and knock the woman down.
Crocoite watched as Painite charged. He thought he had been doing a good job of being scary, but Painite took a different approach to it. He was calm and quiet, while she was… a monster. A strangely compelling kind of monster, yes, but it was wickedly clear just how far she was willing to go when it came to her beliefs. In fact, he was pretty sure the only thing she really believed in was simply killing White Moon soldiers.
It was a bad idea to cross her, and he hoped she did not hold his calling her to help him in that regard. He winced and took a few steps backward, opting to seek shelter and watch rather than butt in and get himself in a deeper hole by messing up her fight. She had completely forgotten about him for now, anyway, wrapped up in the hunt.
That was probably for the best, for him.
“Then don’t fight, precious,” Painite cooed, not slowing as she stabbed at Harmonia’s shoulder, though the senshi dodged it, “makes it easier for me!” She laughed and halted her assault as the senshi moved in, used to people trying to take advantage of her longer range weapon by cutting the distance between them. She banished her weapon and switched gears for the close range brawl, swinging her fist as hard as she could at Harmonia’s jaw. Maybe it was made of glass? Painite hoped so.
That was always the most satisfying kind of punch. The one that crunched bones when it landed.
She called her spear back to her when he punch hit, using the moment that left Harmonia stumbled from the blow and slashing the spear at her. It was a bit clumsy, not as close as she wanted it to be, but she was moving fast and letting her instincts guide her, without much time for planning or aim. It was fun to keep pushing, to move fast, to become relentless in attacks. Fear usually started to work double time in her opponent, especially when they started to realize she would not stop.
She would never stop.
The ease in which the woman switched from her weapon to fists stated that this was certainly not her first rodeo. In fact, it made it painfully obvious to Harmonia that she may be way in over her head. This General was someone who had seen a lot of action, and with the fluid motion of the attacks and the ferocity of them, Harmonia could not come close to matching it.
To tell the truth, the fight was quite likely, already won. Harmonia would not be able to fight at such a vicious level and that alone could mean the senshi’s demise.
When the fist contacted with her jaw, Harmonia felt as much as heard the dislocation or possible break of her jaw. Her vision went dark for a moment at the sudden onslaught of pain which she worked hard at trying to stave off. This was not a time to loose sight of her opponent. Not if she wanted to get out of this all alive.
No sooner was her vision returning that she could see Painite relentlessly bearing down on her again and Harmonia could do nothing but dodge. Eventually, after he vision finally returned, and she was able to focus more, the senshi saw a small opening as the General over swung just a touch too much. Harmonia ducked down and rammed her shoulder just below the woman’s sternum, using her whole weight to try and put as much force into the attack, knowing that this one hit wouldn’t do too much damage. But it might give her an opening to escape.
Feeling the contact, Harmonia pushed a bit harder before reversing her motion to try and make a break for safety.
Painite let out an ‘oomph’ when Harmonia’s shoulder connected, stumbling backwards and growling as she quickly struggled to regain herself. She grinned, despite herself, liking a good fight, even when she had not been expecting one. Maybe that Lieutenant of hers was not such a big waste, giving her something interesting to do tonight instead of the usual grind.
He was still in trouble, though.
He watched from his hiding place, but made no effort to go and help his general, even when she was hit and pushed back. She was fine, he was sure of it, and would be able to hold her own without him. Why put himself in danger when there was no need? Of course, he would come up with any excuse he could to avoid danger and pain. He who fights and runs away, and all that.
Something told him Painite did not subscribe to that philosophy.
“Alright, Senshi,” Painite growled, holding her spear in both hands now, “I’m getting tired of this. It was fun for a second there, but now it’s time for you to be a good girl and die already, okay?” Not that she was expecting an answer. It would be very hard to talk with a jaw in that state, or so she liked to think. She grinned, wild for a moment, but the look fell into a dangerous scowl before she charged forward again. This time, though, she vanished as she got close, abruptly disappearing from sight and throwing off the attack that had been coming.
She reappeared behind the senshi, driving forward, slashing with the sharp and dangerous end of her staff and aiming to do some serious damage if she could get away with it. Too often, Senshi were able to run away from her fights, and that was one of her least favorite things. All she wanted to do was kill the White Moon, one by one if she had to.
Was that really so much to ask?
And a reply Painite was not going to get. What was someone suppose to say to that anyway, even if talking wasn’t a painful experience? Nope, instead, Harmonia braced herself for the oncoming attack. The smirk worried the sixteen year old. Whatever was coming wasn’t going to be in her best interest, especially considering the spear seemed to be back in action.
Well, if I get in close again she’ll have to get rid of it. Truthfully, dealing with fists was much safer than a pointed, sharpened object. So, with her intentions set, Harmonia moved to actually meet the General when she rushed forward but was instead met with nothingness as the woman disappeared.
Her brain stalled for a moment. A bit dumbfounded, it took the senshi a moment to realize what had probably happened. By the time she started moving forward again, expecting an attack from behind she felt the burn of something slicing across her back.
If she hadn’t been moving, it would have been much, much worse.
The bite of steel in her skin caused the fear, which had been slowly welling up, to burst forth. She barely staggered to a knee when Harmonia raised her arms towards the sky and shouted her attack through the pain of her jaw. “Harmony’s Reproof!” The golden dome shimmered into existence.
Eternal Sailor Attack: Harmony's Reproof
Raising her hands upwards, palms facing the sky Harmonia shouts her attack and a golden sparkle dome temporarily appears before fading out. Anyone within the AoE dome who has malicious intent towards anyone will feel a burning pain in their chest. The stronger the intent, the worse the pain is. If a character can let go of their malicious intent the pain will disappear.
Duration -- 10 ft for 45 secs
Avoided -- Out of AoE Range, no malicious intent
Cons -- Very draining/pours a lot of energy into it and will affect -anyone- on the dome.
Painite hated senshi magic. It was literally the worst thing in the world, and she found it vile that they were able to save themselves with cheap little tricks like that whenever they wanted. Of course, she had a weapon and the ability to instantly move herself from one place to another, but that all was apparently fair as far as she was concerned. Senshi magic crossed the line.
She looked up as the golden dome appeared, watching it with no small amount of annoyance on her face. What was this? Some sort of barrier? It would not hold her for long: she had broken her way out of barriers quite a few times before, and was so determined to get her kill that she had no doubt this magic would not be able to hold her.
Which was probably why it was such an effective trap, at the end of the day.
Painite was largely made of malice. Everything in her being was Chaos. Darkness. Cruel and wicked intention, coupled with sheer delight in the face of someone else suffering. Even in that moment, all she could think about was how badly she wanted to see Harmonia impaled on the end of her spear, hoisted up like a pig on a spit.
The pain hit her like a freight train. It burst inside her chest as if something vital had just exploded, flooding through her like fire. She gripped her chest with both hands, letting out a howl of a scream and crumbling to her knees. The sounds she made were almost inhuman, piercing the night and echoing off the dark, mostly abandoned buildings.
“You b***h,” she screeched, “I will KILL YOU!”
The pain blinded her, chased closely by her fury, which only made things worse for her. Crocoite watched in horror, looking at his General and then at the Senshi. No, that was not someone, as it turned out, that he wanted to fight. He could not just leave his General out there, though, standing up and stepping out of his hiding place, but not daring to get any closer than that. Was she dying? How powerful was this Senshi? It all seemed to be going so well, until she used that power. He was wrong about her, and how far she was willing to take things.
The drain from using her magic made the senshi want nothing more than to lay down and sleep, but she was far from being safe. No sooner had she felt the drain, did Harmonia push herself up from the ground and take off as fast as she could from the area. Shew knew the magic wouldn’t last terribly long and she literally had seconds before it gave up.
If the screams and curses thrown her way was enough, she knew that if that General caught up with her, she’d not see the light of morning. So, with her back bleeding and jaw throbbing, the senshi didn’t waste time. She rushed passed Crocoite, giving him a sidelong glance before she leapt up and took to the rooftops. They were her fastest mode of transportation, and she could easily dodge down into an alley and power down if she needed to hide herself in a pinch.
Still, she had enough in her to cast the attack one more time if it came down to it.
It was times like these that she cursed herself for straying from her usual patrolling route. The last thing she wanted was to head to the ER. She couldn’t go home like this, there was no way she’d able to treat herself, so that only left the safety of the Library and Camelot. Of course, she was exactly close.
Gritting her teeth she continued on over the rooftops. As more and more space was made between her and Painite, and the General’s signature slowly fizzled out of recognition, Harmonia began to feel remotely safe.
That was when the guilt slammed into her, and tears ran down her face as she continued on to her safe haven.
