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After spending a quite pleasant day with Kat at the Destiny City Star Festival, Lavendulan had decided to return once the shops were reopened. Tina had been quite disappointed to find out that she wasn’t the one to deliver the bag of star candies to her apartment and because of that, Laven had thought it would be nice to get her friend something else instead.

While she had been working in her lab, Laven had overheard a few officers passing by in the hallway raving about some new shop that had opened up and how delicious these Starlight Cookies and Moonlight Milk were. Curiosity had eventually got the best of her and so when she spotted those same agents at the cafeteria, she approached them to figure out where to find the shop and get their opinion on the best time to stop by.

The line was already ridiculously long before the shop was even open and so Marissa decided to return to the Dark Kingdom for a few hours instead of depleting her energy standing in line. If only she could finish the project she had been working on for Laurelite; then perhaps she would be able to stay out longer. As it was, treating every day like she was Cinderella at the ball and right at midnight, or when the timer stopped ticking, the magic would wear off and she’d be standing in some shop exposed.

It was a risk, to try coming back near closing since they likely would be out of cookies by then but as luck would have it they still had a few small bags left. Marissa purchased one to try now, and like the other officers said they were absolutely delicious.

“I think they’ll like these. I’d like to buy four more please?” One for herself later, one for Kat, another for Winter, and the last for her Samir. It had been a while since she last reached out to him so she thought it would be a good excuse to stop by and say hello.

Marissa paid the cashier who then followed her to the exit to lock the door and switch the sign over to ‘Closed’.

She walked for a few blocks and once Marissa was sure that nobody was around to see her, she dropped her glamour and stowed the cookies away in her subspace pocket for safekeeping.

That voice…

Lavendulan didn’t even need to turn around to know with whom it belonged. “Talk about de ja ******** vu.” Her lip curled into a snarl as she turned to face the familiar Squire. “Here I had been hoping the monster had got you.” If he actually recognized her, then he knew which monster she was referring to; the one from the foggy village last October.

“Couldn't fight last time without being taken hostage by that thing.” Rather than balling her fists at her side, Lavendulan’s fingers curled, ready to slash at him if he tried to hit her with his mallet again. "I guess it’s safe to assume that you’re here for round two?"

The air around her dipped in temperature and around her feet a layer of frost began to form. Normally she wasn’t the first to take a swing, or this absolutely eager to fight. But for him she’d make an exception.

She did not wait to hear a reply from him and instead dashed towards him. Despite her smaller stature, she was quick and as she got within arms reach the half-youma teleported directly behind him, twisted her body, and aimed a low kick at the back of his knees.

Lavendulan brought her arms up to protect her face from his weapon and was sent tumbling backward from the sheer force of his swing. For a brief moment, she was actually worried that he had fractured her arm because of how numb her hands felt.

No doubt there would be a nasty bruise there come morning.

A death glare was leveled in his direction, however, before she could react he asked something that kind of knocked her off guard. “My eyes?” What the hell’s he talking about? Her eyes had never changed, at least not since she became a half-youma. The color was as it had been before her conscription to the war, the only thing that differed was her slitted pupils.

Perhaps they were thinner than he last remembered them?

Lavendulan was truly bewildered by his statement, her eyes were no different than the last time they had met. Still the same icy blue with slitted pupils.

"Do...?" The half-youma responded in an offended tone. "I didn't do anything! I've barely been awake for three hours today and all I've had to eat was a cookie." Unfortunately the lettuce in the fridge had begun to turn pink and had to be thrown out. A shame because she had really been looking forward to eating that salad.

"I think you are seeing things that are not there, knight." Clearly he was trying to throw her off guard by spouting nonsense and making the oddest of accusations. "If what you say is true then prove it. Why don't you pull a mirror or something out of that subspace pocket of yours and show me what you're seeing."

Feeling like she had somehow struck a chord, Laven smirked.

The humor, however, did not last long and with the mention of puddles, she was swiftly reminded of the fiery-haired Squire, Imbrium, and for the briefest of moments considered doing to him as she had accidentally done to her; albeit more intentional this time around considering how acutely aware she was of how exhausted teleporting someone else had left her before. Unless Laven knew with absolute certainty that she could win, he would undoubtedly not hesitate to kill her if presented with the opportunity of eliminating her.

Her eyes narrowed and as she leveled a glare in his direction, Lavendulan's pupils pulled into such thin slits that it appeared the galaxy swirls had swallowed them into an unseen black hole. If there was one thing about Squires that she had recently learned, it was that they now possessed some kind of magic at this rank as opposed to their Pages who were just about as useless as their own Lieutenants. Even though this was not their first meeting, she still had no idea what he was fully capable of.

Perhaps it might be worth provoking him to learn exactly what he could do. However, with his current defensive stance, it would be difficult to approach him without getting hit again by that damn mallet unless she shifted into her watery form.

Cool air swirled around the half-youma and the thin layer of ice remained circled around where she still sat on the ground.

There was an unnatural visceral hate she felt towards this particular squire. Maybe it was because of the way he carried himself, or that tone in his voice that reminded her of a scolding parent who believed their word was law and demanded respect as if it were owed rather than earned. Acting all high and mighty trying to dismiss her as if he were one of their Generals and she was nothing but an unintelligent youma.

Perhaps she had been around Wolframite too much as of late because in this moment she wanted nothing more than to leave a mark on this Squire; to scratch that handsome face of his or dig her claws into his backside just so he'd look over his shoulder next time it rained. Despite her more feral reaction towards him, she did not want to kill him as opposed to give him a reason to sleep with one eye open for the next few days.

"I think not..."

Lavendulan's form shimmered and shifted while blue scales and her black uniform turned transparent and the air around her returned to normal. This wasn't the first time he'd seen this shift as this is what she had looked like the last time they'd met in the foggy forest.

Rather than rising to her feet, the half-youma teleported. Not behind him as she had done earlier, not in front of him either. Instead, Laven teleported a few feet directly above and let gravity do its work for her.

Lavendulan hit the ground beside him in an unceremonious mess of tangled limbs.

Had she not been in her water form it was likely that Laven would have sprained a wrist or broken a rib with the way he had shoved her to the side. With the intermittent sparing she had done with Wolframite she had yet to really learn how to properly fall without getting hurt in the process.

If she thought the Squire would go easy on her then she was in for a mighty big wake up call. He was not like Imbrium, he didn’t use his magic to keep distance between him. No, when his mallet hit the ground Laven knew that she had bit off more than she could chew.

There was no time to react, not even to teleport away, before his magic hit her and the world felt like it collapsed in on itself.

The knight beside her all but disappeared and in the wake of his absence, Lavendulan was left with nothing but absolute darkness and overwhelmingly hopelessness. It seemed to be a state of mind she could never truly escape; even when she had finally convinced herself that everything was alright, something always pulled her back down into that pit of loneliness where the walls were built so high that the sky was but a pin p***k of light above her.

No matter how many masks Laven wore around those she cared about, there would likely always be that human side of her that would cry when nobody was looking.

It was no different than when she was a young child, sitting on a bench in the hallway outside the ER staring emotionlessly at the light waiting for it to turn off and a doctor to come out and tell them her brother would be alright. Nurses came to check on her but she remained silent, teetering on the edge of exhaustion but too terrified to fall asleep in case something happened; the mere thought of food made her want to throw up.

Time stood still.

It felt like an eternity passed with each ticking second. Conversations were nothing but white noise, even those directed at her.

Then… the light turned off…

Her father was the first to rise to his feet, hopeful that the staff was able to save his son. However, when the doctor walked out with a solemn expression and Marissa knew, she just knew what he was about to say.

Words of condolences, reassurance that they tried.

Having to deliver such news was never easy, especially when her mother fell to her knees in hysterics, clutching desperately onto her husband's shirt. They were each other's lifeline while their daughter sat silently beside them with quiet tears rolling down her face, unable to process the fact that her family was no longer whole.

The pain of loss was something that could never be filled. It left a brutal scar that served as a reminder of how fragile life was and how easily the ones you love most can be taken away.

Overcome with the same hopelessness she felt back then, Lavendulan’s magic faded. She laid on the ground motionless; her icy gaze set somewhere off in the distance as tears fell from her eyes freely.

If this was to be the end, all she could do was hope that her brother would be there waiting.

"I learned something I wanted to know," Lavendulans voice sounded strained as she swiped away the tears with the back of her hand and moved to sit up.

Her chest still ached like something fierce but at least she now knew what his magic could do. Did she regret it? Wholeheartedly; those were old wounds she wasn't ready to have ripped open so abruptly or viciously.

"Also confirmed something I already suspected was true." The half-youma rose to her feet yet didn't bother to wipe off the dirt that clung to her uniform or hair. "You're a <********> a*****e." Looking back on this she might actually laugh, but at the moment all she could do was glare at him with pursed lips and a closed fist.

Yeah, she started it. Yet he most definitely finished it.

Her wounded pride was something she could handle but these damn feelings would not go away so easily.

"You knew what I could do last time we met." He had seen her water form which is why her using her magic now likely came to little or no surprise; the teleport, however, was likely another story. "I knew you wouldn't tell me what you could do even if I asked nicely. So I forced your hand." Her lips tugged into a smirk.

Although she found him to be an aggravating pompous p***k, she wouldn't have killed him. Perhaps dump him in the reservoir and let him swim to shore as she'd done to Imbrium, but she didn't want his blood on her hands. The more arrogance or holier than thou attitude he exuded, the more Laven just wanted to push his buttons to piss him off; this time, however, she had gone too far.

If ever she needed a reason to seriously pursue her final promotion, all Lavendulan needed to do was think back on this day.

Galaxies swirled in her icy blue eyes as she leveled a hateful glare in his direction, something she had only ever really felt towards Wolframite, and to a degree her General, when he finally admitted to knowing about purification. The difference being with them it was derived from missplaced trust and ultimate feeling of betrayal for not telling her sooner, however, with the knight it was just simply because he existed.

The corner of her lips pulled into a smirk. "I appreciate the kind offer," clearly she had some serious unresolved issues to work through before they went for round two. "But I'll pass."

"Until next time, " the half youma rose to her feet and offered him a mocking bow. "What happens next, you may only have yourself to blame." Not to say she had a death wish, but a part of her still wanted to fight, perhaps that was just her youma instincts or the add chaos swirling inside her that conflicted with her more human tendencies to just leave it and go home.

No, she had to leave him with a threat that someone else would become her target tonight, which was partially true; she did have a quota to fill but instead left him with and idea that she was capable and willing to to more than collect energy.

Lavendulan didn't give him a chance to finish swinging that hammer of his before teleporting somewhere else within Destiny City. Her original plan had been to go home after getting the cookies, but the Knight just gave her much needed motivation to stay out a bit later than intended.