ext_264184 (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
holymadonna.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tampered2008-10-11 04:03 pm
holymadonna.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2008-10-11 04:03 pm
Log; complete
When; Backdated to Friday, October 10th, late at the evening.
Rating; PG-13 (violence).
Characters; Aion (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jiyuna_togabito) & Lilith (holymadonna).
Summary; Aion schemes, Lilith is cursed and, thus she plots too: Sinner vs Saint!
Log;
The past few days have been odd. With a blanket of fog blocking the view of the City, as soon as it had cleared, Aion took notice and interest in the new addition. A stadium of some sort had appeared out of the blue. It was interesting to see how the deities could pull off such thing. Entering the stadium that evening, the demon had been randomly matched with an opponent upon his arrival; nonetheless his clothing had been swapped to match the atmosphere. The crowd roaring, he gave a smirk and adjusted his glasses with his index finger and decided to go along with it, stepping onto the battle field to wait for his opponent with a single sword in his hand.
Were Lilith in her right state of mind, her fellow participants would have to forcibly drag her to fight in that area. However, there was the curse affecting her usually peaceful mindset to replace her preferences with the ones of a gladiator. Her own outfit had changed from India finery or simple medic uniforms into a female-shaped vest and a short skirt, long boots and an oversized sword carved with butterfly patterns as she preferred to. Her thoughts were set in the victory as she walked forward the center of the stadium with her expression fixed in neutral features. Lilith tugged her lips up and nodded courteous at the audience’s boisterous cheer before turning to greet her rival.
It was Aion.
If she was surprised, she did not show an ounce of feeling. Her expression was the perpetually serene and saintly smile as she declared without missing a beat.
“At first drawn blood.”
Well this was a ‘pleasant’ surprise. Aion expressed it well by wearing his infamous wide grin. Running his fingers through his hair, he playfully responded to his new comrade. “Well well. You were one of the last I’d expected here, doctor. Though, this does raise a grand opportunity for me to ‘get to know you’ better…” The first day they met. There were still questions unanswered in Aion’s head. Even now, her behavior seemed fairly different from how she usually was. Hearing her declaration, the sinner rolled his wrist so the blade no longer rested against his tanned forearm but out to carry out its purpose. Drawing a wide circular line in front of himself and resting the tip onto the hard ground, he curled the index finger of his other hand to make his gesture. “Very well. Then come, Lilith…”
His mocking didn’t irk Lilith nor agitated her to rush and charge to play into his hands. She wasn’t one to take the initiative over so little and, while the curse had switched her to embrace her buried warrior and war leader streak, she was still armed not just with a sword but an eerie patience. She shook her head, stabbing the sword into the sand and reclining her weight over it.
“Ah, no… I insist, you’ll go first, dear,” she uttered, keeping her conversation short and in long lapses of time. Lilith was observing him. Her golden eyes scanned every motion of his confident posture so contrasting with her shrunk humility and bowed head. However, they were similar deep within. She just opted to not display her confidence so openly. “It was me who issued the challenge and you must begin.”
He let out an audible ‘hmph,’ and shrugged as he lifted his sword. Her body language said it all and it was a different side of her he’d never seen, along with a peek of flesh. As soon as his eyes met hers, Aion narrowed his and took more caution. Intriguing woman but dangerous, regardless, he thought. He could play but he knew taking the other too lightly may end his own life. It was best to take her on seriously. Keeping his poker face, he replied back in a much deeper and subtle tone. “If you insist…” Taking his right leg, he dragged it over the made line and drew it back behind him to get into a stance. Lightly holding the sword in his right hand, his erect posture soon hunched lower before dashing towards his opponent with great speed. The sinner was never one to hesitate striking his enemy. He directly aimed for her chest as he thrusts his blade towards her.
Her scrutiny ended when Aion attacked her, but her impassive smile never faded from her lips. For the most time, Lilith had stood there, waiting for his strike and when he thrust forward in the direction of her chest; then she sunk slightly with her back arched downwards to dodge his assault. Lilith had flexed her knees on the nick of time with a speed that matched his and used her grounded sword as support to avoid the cutting motion. Abruptly, her wrist twisted and gripped at the hilt, removing the weapon from the soil while she quickly erect herself to a side, away from his immediate range to go forward, and aim the tip of her blade spot of his left shoulder.
She had guessed which would be his first move; the one next would be more difficult to say. He would be ready for her brand of trickery.
Such a graceful dodge of his blade had Aion grinning more. It was something he had expected from his mysterious opponent. Despite being cautious, he was still looking for some kind of challenge. He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Her speed to keep up was quite impressive he had to admit. Quickly flicking his blade straight up and bringing his arm down, he clashed blades with Lilith’s, blocking the intended attack towards his left shoulder. Countering it with the same force as her, an eerie glare comes across his glasses as he spoke. “Hmph, I see. So you do have quite a bit of spine on that back of yours… But I could tell… It’s not all you got, is it, Lilith…?” What better way to conjure what he wanted than to provoke his opponent. It worked well on Chrno, though he’s known him for so long.
When the swords clashed violently, Lilith kept her hold as firm as ever on her blade. Perhaps a lesser opponent would have been thrown off by the strength of the impact, but she had maintained her ground while their weapons cringed together by their pressure. She didn’t say anything at his blatant provoking, but had made a nod of gratitude for his prior compliment. Her unassuming smile appeared frozen and quite out of place in the circumstances of their battle. It was her preference to appear completely harmless in the heat of the conflict. Instead of the desired outburst Aion might have been used to, Lilith remained unmoved and locked in their clash.
She was taunting him back in a manner, because silence was quite telling as was her stubborn insistence to keep up with this method. Perhaps to drag him out or maybe to see who would become exhausted and weaker to merit the winning blow from their opponent; maybe it was both reasons, each outcome would benefit her. While she stayed there, the artificial lighting caught the surface of her red hair and the silver of her armor plate; her head glimmered, projecting the illusion she possessed a halo.
Oh? The mere illusion made the demon raise an eyebrow in amusement. The thought of an angel sent down from the heavens to fend off the supposed ‘evil’ demon was quite the image, though fitting he supposed if you believed in that sort of bull shit. She had mentioned to him of being religious. The saintly doctor to make all in the world… right. The thought of it made his blood boil more but being careful not to show it. It was rare for him to lose his cool and he most certainly wasn’t going to lose it to some woman. He applied a little more force to see how she would manage before he was convinced that it wasn’t phasing her much. Holding his left hand open towards her abdomen, Aion was about to release an energy ball when he realized his power had been sealed. Using enough strength, he pushed her blade aside with his own and roughly broke the clash. Confused to why that was, his grin slightly faltered and deadly eyes stared at Lilith as he tried to figure out whether it was her or not.
When Aion’s left hand treacherously opened and aimed at her abdomen, Lilith immediately placed her own free hand to shield the would be blow. But nothing had happened. Neither her nails changed from their blunt size nor a membrane formed as shield around the fingers. How odd. His following facial expression told her he was crippled the same; fortunately she caught her own with her plastic saintly smile. There came the blow she had been expecting, he was growing frustrated.
All according to her plan.
As he roughly broke the clash, Lilith staggered to a side and pretended to drop her guard, hunching over to catch her breath. She anticipated him to take advantage of her apparent weakness and strike her while she was distracted to seize the chance.
That knowing and saintly smile… The more he stared at it, the more it made him sick to his stomach more so today than any other. The atmosphere heavy, he noticed his patience was shorter than any other day. Somehow, he didn’t feel like himself. The pent up hatred seemed as though it were seeping out of his body little by little. Perhaps it was through association. Just repeating her name in his mind was irritating him. Lilith… the same name as her. And the bastards who… Watching Lilith struggle, Aion slowly started to walk towards her as he gravely spoke out loud. “I don’t know what the hell you pulled just now but it seems it’s taken quite a toll...” Preparing his sword, he positioned himself to fully finish her off. “It’s a shame but I suppose it can’t be helped… Die!” Quickly, he dropped his blade down towards her.
That was the cue she had expected, the moment to make his pedestal crumble and win this match. She had whirled swiftly armed when he had gone for the angle she had wanted, and quick motion, her foot connected to the descending sword to try to block his advance with that kick while she readied her blade to strike him down with accuracy. While she pinned his weapon underneath her foot, instead of going through her original plan to get her upper hand while he exploded, Lilith didn’t attack him. Her free hand reached out for his shoulder to caress lightly. Cursed as she was, she couldn’t take this battle as serious as a real war; she couldn’t let a soul lose to hatred. Not when it reminded her of someone else, someone she couldn’t help but forgive.
“Hush, child,” she murmured, smiling no longer but wearing a compassionate serious expression. “Look at me. I am not your mortal enemy.” She knew she was risking herself as he could break off her hold and backstabbed her in any time, but she took risks as always. “Only first blood,” she reminded him kindly, “Let’s start over from the beginning? Don’t let your hatred consume you.”
Quickly taken by her counterattack, Aion tried his best to stop himself but it was too late. She had already pinned his sword down and reflexively, he shot out his left hand to block the next move. Feeling the soft touch onto his shoulder as he snatched her forearm, the sinner stared at her as he took in her words. The further she spoke, Aion’s rage quickly subsided as he felt calmer for once. What was it that had such an effect on him? Loosening his grip on her arm until he no longer held it, he was mesmerized for a bit longer until he forced himself to snap out of it. Gritting his teeth as he scolded himself for being taken by her, he forcefully swung his sword towards her legs as he answered her. “Heh, I’m impressed Lilith. To think you of all people would use a fake… And yeah, I remember…”
When she saw her words had gotten a good effect on him, her smile returned on her lips. It was not a mocking, saintly visage but a genuine smile. However, Lilith had no time to speak further when she felt the gush of wind tensing, a surprise attack against her legs. Her eyes widened at her realization, the gladiator persona wasn’t allowing him to take the upper hand so easily. Her mind reacted immediately, knowing there was no time to hit the ground and leap; she released her wings. There were only two of them, not multicolored like a paradise bird or bright blue but white this time and soared up to dodge his blow.
The crisp evening air was pleased to her while she remained flying not so far from the Stadium ground.
“That was very close,” she admitted as she gazed down at her opponent, features gradually relaxing again from the brief shock he had cooked for her. With the adrenaline and curse affecting her inhibitions, it didn’t occur her she had displayed one of her shameful secrets in public. It was their fight that had to continue. She stretched her arm and tensed her sword. “Ah, I’m sorry, dear, but this encounter has lasted too long.”
Aion’s grin returned to his lips as soon as he saw her secret revealed. As her feathers slowly fluttered around him, he took one in his hand and agreed to her statement as he changed forms himself. “Indeed…” Spreading out his own dark wings as his long white ponytail comes undone, the demon stood proudly as he stared up at his opponent. It had truly become a battle between light and dark. Her beautiful white wings contrasting to his dark black ones; it was an image out of a fairy tale. His pride more than anything took this battle very seriously; however, he couldn’t help but feel relaxed. It had been a while since he enjoyed a little one-on-one match, with none other than a new comrade and a well worthy opponent at that. He readied his sword at his side, and flew up to occupy the space in front of her. Getting into position as he cocks his right arm back and places his left hand over his wrist, he says his final words before dashing towards her. “Let’s end it then…”
And like all those stories, her excitement over this battle would last until the clock struck midnight and the enchantment would be lifted from her. She wasn’t one who cherished futile battles and when she had led armies in wars was for a goal of the world she wanted to rebuild from the ashes. In this areal battlefield, that was no longer an issue. It was sinner versus saint and their resolution and Lilith didn’t fight for a truce, she fought to win. Her wings fluttered and she batted forward as well, respecting the shared desire of a clean and direct clash after their former strategy danced. That hadn’t ended well, for any of them. She lunged forward as lighting with her sword extended and carefully aimed at his shoulder, her long red hair resembling a cloak against the wind. She saw nothing between her weapon and her target, closing in and swinging her sword at the exposed direction. The blood shed was inevitable, the question was: who would spill it first?
The pure determination in his eyes matched hers like her image beyond the mirror. Aion knew this last strike would end it all and that victory would be his. He carefully chose a target and held true to it, putting all his strength and effort into this one blow. Letting out a loud battle cry, he extended his own arm out as he saw Lilith’s move, piercing her left shoulder with the end of his blade. Watching the crimson bodily fluid travel down his blade, he was about to claim his win when he lightly winced. “Ha ha… I suppose you wer-“ Averting his eyes in haste, the demon followed the source of his pain and let out a sigh.
At the exact moment Aion pierced her side, Lilith’s sword connected with his left shoulder, but she had stabbed less fiercely, her intent was to win and not hurt him. She hadn’t let go any battle cry or dramatic gesticulation, but a quiet amused expression followed by her wincing, her free hand inspected the damage made to her. “Oh dear, it’s a draw,” the Krsnik realized their blows had been made simultaneously while she landed. Her wings fluttered and were gone in a golden flash. Lilith stood and looked up, holding her sword up, showing the streak of his blood staining the tip. “It was a draw!” her voice exclaimed without quivering.
The some of the audience in the Stadium stood up to roar in response for the outcome. Lilith waited for him, to do the civil handshake before darting out and be patient until other matches begin.
As soon as he heard those words, Aion withdrew his sword as he handed it off to his left hand. Carefully cupping his wound with his right and turning his head towards it, he eyed Lilith as he silently wondered just how capable she truly was. Her swift moments and those wings, there was definitely something more to her. The amusement curling his lips again, he licked off his own blood that tainted his thumb before descending down himself.
Holding the sword by the hand guard and resting the blade against his forearm again, the sinner also reverted back. With his ears shrunken down and his wings vanished, the sinner adjusted his glasses again as he waited for the crowd to settle down. Walking towards her, he stared at her through his lens before he broke the silence.
"I see… so that's your true form… It seems I've learned quite about you today, Lilith…"
When he approached and broke the silence, Lilith didn’t offer any negative reaction. Instead, she leaned on and pressed a piece of cloth onto his wound, trying to quickly dress it while he talked. He may have glimpsed at her primal release, but she had witnessed him bare in his hatred, in his anger and suffering, at least for a moment. Seen him and made him snap out of it. That was what the draw was about and not the blood streaking on their shoulders.
Each of them had gotten their personal victory. He wanted to know about her power, she had sought to expose something deeper. As she had suspected, something tormented him. He wasn’t just a monster who did terrible deeds to Joshua, Chrono and Rosette. There was some feeling within that made him salvageable.
“Good for you, dear,” she congratulated without missing a beat. Her smile was impassive as ever as she straightened herself, sheathed her sword and walked out the arena. It had been a very revealing battle, indeed.
Rating; PG-13 (violence).
Characters; Aion (
jiyuna_togabito) & Lilith (holymadonna).Summary; Aion schemes, Lilith is cursed and, thus she plots too: Sinner vs Saint!
Log;
The past few days have been odd. With a blanket of fog blocking the view of the City, as soon as it had cleared, Aion took notice and interest in the new addition. A stadium of some sort had appeared out of the blue. It was interesting to see how the deities could pull off such thing. Entering the stadium that evening, the demon had been randomly matched with an opponent upon his arrival; nonetheless his clothing had been swapped to match the atmosphere. The crowd roaring, he gave a smirk and adjusted his glasses with his index finger and decided to go along with it, stepping onto the battle field to wait for his opponent with a single sword in his hand.
Were Lilith in her right state of mind, her fellow participants would have to forcibly drag her to fight in that area. However, there was the curse affecting her usually peaceful mindset to replace her preferences with the ones of a gladiator. Her own outfit had changed from India finery or simple medic uniforms into a female-shaped vest and a short skirt, long boots and an oversized sword carved with butterfly patterns as she preferred to. Her thoughts were set in the victory as she walked forward the center of the stadium with her expression fixed in neutral features. Lilith tugged her lips up and nodded courteous at the audience’s boisterous cheer before turning to greet her rival.
It was Aion.
If she was surprised, she did not show an ounce of feeling. Her expression was the perpetually serene and saintly smile as she declared without missing a beat.
“At first drawn blood.”
Well this was a ‘pleasant’ surprise. Aion expressed it well by wearing his infamous wide grin. Running his fingers through his hair, he playfully responded to his new comrade. “Well well. You were one of the last I’d expected here, doctor. Though, this does raise a grand opportunity for me to ‘get to know you’ better…” The first day they met. There were still questions unanswered in Aion’s head. Even now, her behavior seemed fairly different from how she usually was. Hearing her declaration, the sinner rolled his wrist so the blade no longer rested against his tanned forearm but out to carry out its purpose. Drawing a wide circular line in front of himself and resting the tip onto the hard ground, he curled the index finger of his other hand to make his gesture. “Very well. Then come, Lilith…”
His mocking didn’t irk Lilith nor agitated her to rush and charge to play into his hands. She wasn’t one to take the initiative over so little and, while the curse had switched her to embrace her buried warrior and war leader streak, she was still armed not just with a sword but an eerie patience. She shook her head, stabbing the sword into the sand and reclining her weight over it.
“Ah, no… I insist, you’ll go first, dear,” she uttered, keeping her conversation short and in long lapses of time. Lilith was observing him. Her golden eyes scanned every motion of his confident posture so contrasting with her shrunk humility and bowed head. However, they were similar deep within. She just opted to not display her confidence so openly. “It was me who issued the challenge and you must begin.”
He let out an audible ‘hmph,’ and shrugged as he lifted his sword. Her body language said it all and it was a different side of her he’d never seen, along with a peek of flesh. As soon as his eyes met hers, Aion narrowed his and took more caution. Intriguing woman but dangerous, regardless, he thought. He could play but he knew taking the other too lightly may end his own life. It was best to take her on seriously. Keeping his poker face, he replied back in a much deeper and subtle tone. “If you insist…” Taking his right leg, he dragged it over the made line and drew it back behind him to get into a stance. Lightly holding the sword in his right hand, his erect posture soon hunched lower before dashing towards his opponent with great speed. The sinner was never one to hesitate striking his enemy. He directly aimed for her chest as he thrusts his blade towards her.
Her scrutiny ended when Aion attacked her, but her impassive smile never faded from her lips. For the most time, Lilith had stood there, waiting for his strike and when he thrust forward in the direction of her chest; then she sunk slightly with her back arched downwards to dodge his assault. Lilith had flexed her knees on the nick of time with a speed that matched his and used her grounded sword as support to avoid the cutting motion. Abruptly, her wrist twisted and gripped at the hilt, removing the weapon from the soil while she quickly erect herself to a side, away from his immediate range to go forward, and aim the tip of her blade spot of his left shoulder.
She had guessed which would be his first move; the one next would be more difficult to say. He would be ready for her brand of trickery.
Such a graceful dodge of his blade had Aion grinning more. It was something he had expected from his mysterious opponent. Despite being cautious, he was still looking for some kind of challenge. He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Her speed to keep up was quite impressive he had to admit. Quickly flicking his blade straight up and bringing his arm down, he clashed blades with Lilith’s, blocking the intended attack towards his left shoulder. Countering it with the same force as her, an eerie glare comes across his glasses as he spoke. “Hmph, I see. So you do have quite a bit of spine on that back of yours… But I could tell… It’s not all you got, is it, Lilith…?” What better way to conjure what he wanted than to provoke his opponent. It worked well on Chrno, though he’s known him for so long.
When the swords clashed violently, Lilith kept her hold as firm as ever on her blade. Perhaps a lesser opponent would have been thrown off by the strength of the impact, but she had maintained her ground while their weapons cringed together by their pressure. She didn’t say anything at his blatant provoking, but had made a nod of gratitude for his prior compliment. Her unassuming smile appeared frozen and quite out of place in the circumstances of their battle. It was her preference to appear completely harmless in the heat of the conflict. Instead of the desired outburst Aion might have been used to, Lilith remained unmoved and locked in their clash.
She was taunting him back in a manner, because silence was quite telling as was her stubborn insistence to keep up with this method. Perhaps to drag him out or maybe to see who would become exhausted and weaker to merit the winning blow from their opponent; maybe it was both reasons, each outcome would benefit her. While she stayed there, the artificial lighting caught the surface of her red hair and the silver of her armor plate; her head glimmered, projecting the illusion she possessed a halo.
Oh? The mere illusion made the demon raise an eyebrow in amusement. The thought of an angel sent down from the heavens to fend off the supposed ‘evil’ demon was quite the image, though fitting he supposed if you believed in that sort of bull shit. She had mentioned to him of being religious. The saintly doctor to make all in the world… right. The thought of it made his blood boil more but being careful not to show it. It was rare for him to lose his cool and he most certainly wasn’t going to lose it to some woman. He applied a little more force to see how she would manage before he was convinced that it wasn’t phasing her much. Holding his left hand open towards her abdomen, Aion was about to release an energy ball when he realized his power had been sealed. Using enough strength, he pushed her blade aside with his own and roughly broke the clash. Confused to why that was, his grin slightly faltered and deadly eyes stared at Lilith as he tried to figure out whether it was her or not.
When Aion’s left hand treacherously opened and aimed at her abdomen, Lilith immediately placed her own free hand to shield the would be blow. But nothing had happened. Neither her nails changed from their blunt size nor a membrane formed as shield around the fingers. How odd. His following facial expression told her he was crippled the same; fortunately she caught her own with her plastic saintly smile. There came the blow she had been expecting, he was growing frustrated.
All according to her plan.
As he roughly broke the clash, Lilith staggered to a side and pretended to drop her guard, hunching over to catch her breath. She anticipated him to take advantage of her apparent weakness and strike her while she was distracted to seize the chance.
That knowing and saintly smile… The more he stared at it, the more it made him sick to his stomach more so today than any other. The atmosphere heavy, he noticed his patience was shorter than any other day. Somehow, he didn’t feel like himself. The pent up hatred seemed as though it were seeping out of his body little by little. Perhaps it was through association. Just repeating her name in his mind was irritating him. Lilith… the same name as her. And the bastards who… Watching Lilith struggle, Aion slowly started to walk towards her as he gravely spoke out loud. “I don’t know what the hell you pulled just now but it seems it’s taken quite a toll...” Preparing his sword, he positioned himself to fully finish her off. “It’s a shame but I suppose it can’t be helped… Die!” Quickly, he dropped his blade down towards her.
That was the cue she had expected, the moment to make his pedestal crumble and win this match. She had whirled swiftly armed when he had gone for the angle she had wanted, and quick motion, her foot connected to the descending sword to try to block his advance with that kick while she readied her blade to strike him down with accuracy. While she pinned his weapon underneath her foot, instead of going through her original plan to get her upper hand while he exploded, Lilith didn’t attack him. Her free hand reached out for his shoulder to caress lightly. Cursed as she was, she couldn’t take this battle as serious as a real war; she couldn’t let a soul lose to hatred. Not when it reminded her of someone else, someone she couldn’t help but forgive.
“Hush, child,” she murmured, smiling no longer but wearing a compassionate serious expression. “Look at me. I am not your mortal enemy.” She knew she was risking herself as he could break off her hold and backstabbed her in any time, but she took risks as always. “Only first blood,” she reminded him kindly, “Let’s start over from the beginning? Don’t let your hatred consume you.”
Quickly taken by her counterattack, Aion tried his best to stop himself but it was too late. She had already pinned his sword down and reflexively, he shot out his left hand to block the next move. Feeling the soft touch onto his shoulder as he snatched her forearm, the sinner stared at her as he took in her words. The further she spoke, Aion’s rage quickly subsided as he felt calmer for once. What was it that had such an effect on him? Loosening his grip on her arm until he no longer held it, he was mesmerized for a bit longer until he forced himself to snap out of it. Gritting his teeth as he scolded himself for being taken by her, he forcefully swung his sword towards her legs as he answered her. “Heh, I’m impressed Lilith. To think you of all people would use a fake… And yeah, I remember…”
When she saw her words had gotten a good effect on him, her smile returned on her lips. It was not a mocking, saintly visage but a genuine smile. However, Lilith had no time to speak further when she felt the gush of wind tensing, a surprise attack against her legs. Her eyes widened at her realization, the gladiator persona wasn’t allowing him to take the upper hand so easily. Her mind reacted immediately, knowing there was no time to hit the ground and leap; she released her wings. There were only two of them, not multicolored like a paradise bird or bright blue but white this time and soared up to dodge his blow.
The crisp evening air was pleased to her while she remained flying not so far from the Stadium ground.
“That was very close,” she admitted as she gazed down at her opponent, features gradually relaxing again from the brief shock he had cooked for her. With the adrenaline and curse affecting her inhibitions, it didn’t occur her she had displayed one of her shameful secrets in public. It was their fight that had to continue. She stretched her arm and tensed her sword. “Ah, I’m sorry, dear, but this encounter has lasted too long.”
Aion’s grin returned to his lips as soon as he saw her secret revealed. As her feathers slowly fluttered around him, he took one in his hand and agreed to her statement as he changed forms himself. “Indeed…” Spreading out his own dark wings as his long white ponytail comes undone, the demon stood proudly as he stared up at his opponent. It had truly become a battle between light and dark. Her beautiful white wings contrasting to his dark black ones; it was an image out of a fairy tale. His pride more than anything took this battle very seriously; however, he couldn’t help but feel relaxed. It had been a while since he enjoyed a little one-on-one match, with none other than a new comrade and a well worthy opponent at that. He readied his sword at his side, and flew up to occupy the space in front of her. Getting into position as he cocks his right arm back and places his left hand over his wrist, he says his final words before dashing towards her. “Let’s end it then…”
And like all those stories, her excitement over this battle would last until the clock struck midnight and the enchantment would be lifted from her. She wasn’t one who cherished futile battles and when she had led armies in wars was for a goal of the world she wanted to rebuild from the ashes. In this areal battlefield, that was no longer an issue. It was sinner versus saint and their resolution and Lilith didn’t fight for a truce, she fought to win. Her wings fluttered and she batted forward as well, respecting the shared desire of a clean and direct clash after their former strategy danced. That hadn’t ended well, for any of them. She lunged forward as lighting with her sword extended and carefully aimed at his shoulder, her long red hair resembling a cloak against the wind. She saw nothing between her weapon and her target, closing in and swinging her sword at the exposed direction. The blood shed was inevitable, the question was: who would spill it first?
The pure determination in his eyes matched hers like her image beyond the mirror. Aion knew this last strike would end it all and that victory would be his. He carefully chose a target and held true to it, putting all his strength and effort into this one blow. Letting out a loud battle cry, he extended his own arm out as he saw Lilith’s move, piercing her left shoulder with the end of his blade. Watching the crimson bodily fluid travel down his blade, he was about to claim his win when he lightly winced. “Ha ha… I suppose you wer-“ Averting his eyes in haste, the demon followed the source of his pain and let out a sigh.
At the exact moment Aion pierced her side, Lilith’s sword connected with his left shoulder, but she had stabbed less fiercely, her intent was to win and not hurt him. She hadn’t let go any battle cry or dramatic gesticulation, but a quiet amused expression followed by her wincing, her free hand inspected the damage made to her. “Oh dear, it’s a draw,” the Krsnik realized their blows had been made simultaneously while she landed. Her wings fluttered and were gone in a golden flash. Lilith stood and looked up, holding her sword up, showing the streak of his blood staining the tip. “It was a draw!” her voice exclaimed without quivering.
The some of the audience in the Stadium stood up to roar in response for the outcome. Lilith waited for him, to do the civil handshake before darting out and be patient until other matches begin.
As soon as he heard those words, Aion withdrew his sword as he handed it off to his left hand. Carefully cupping his wound with his right and turning his head towards it, he eyed Lilith as he silently wondered just how capable she truly was. Her swift moments and those wings, there was definitely something more to her. The amusement curling his lips again, he licked off his own blood that tainted his thumb before descending down himself.
Holding the sword by the hand guard and resting the blade against his forearm again, the sinner also reverted back. With his ears shrunken down and his wings vanished, the sinner adjusted his glasses again as he waited for the crowd to settle down. Walking towards her, he stared at her through his lens before he broke the silence.
"I see… so that's your true form… It seems I've learned quite about you today, Lilith…"
When he approached and broke the silence, Lilith didn’t offer any negative reaction. Instead, she leaned on and pressed a piece of cloth onto his wound, trying to quickly dress it while he talked. He may have glimpsed at her primal release, but she had witnessed him bare in his hatred, in his anger and suffering, at least for a moment. Seen him and made him snap out of it. That was what the draw was about and not the blood streaking on their shoulders.
Each of them had gotten their personal victory. He wanted to know about her power, she had sought to expose something deeper. As she had suspected, something tormented him. He wasn’t just a monster who did terrible deeds to Joshua, Chrono and Rosette. There was some feeling within that made him salvageable.
“Good for you, dear,” she congratulated without missing a beat. Her smile was impassive as ever as she straightened herself, sheathed her sword and walked out the arena. It had been a very revealing battle, indeed.