Admiration

[Saiketsu]

Dust had accumulated in thick layers over the years of idleness in this store room, spiders making their homes hanging from corners and ceiling. It made the room seem virtually unused. The light filtering through dirty windows and through the kicked-in door did nothing more than illuminate the millions of dust particles in the air which she had disturbed upon entering the storage room.

But the delicate blades locked behind the thick sheet of cold glass in front of her held her attention, not the dust, not the light. Those blades, polished wood hilts and handles of daggers and stilettos, or the sheathed throwing knives, were her fancy here today. Saiyura had her hand pressed against the glass as she gazed into the cabinet.

Such magnificently crafted tools of the trade. Sharpened and unused. And it didn\'t stop at blades either. No, there were swords and kodachis, scythes and reapers, bombs and bows, arrows and pikes. Throwing stars, articles of armor and mail, certain types of guns, staffs and so much more. Tools lined the cabinets of the walls, all behind the protective glass with key ports to unlock the glass doors. The glass was, no doubt, protected by some kind of magic which prevented break-ins.

But that would never stop Saiyura. It never had.

How she wished he could reach one, use it on someone. The girl stood almost entranced by them as she fell back into memory of that day. The effort of dragging the blade across muscle and skin. The screams and spatter of blood. The blood. The raspy, labored breathing. The profound profanities screamed at her as Hatsumomo gained her revenge.

Saiyura pulled away from the glass reluctantly, throwing a look over her shoulder to check for peering eyes. She paused before removing a small hairpin from her long dark tresses. This tool was her friend, always helping her out in a jam and perhaps it could help her out now in her desire to cleave a few new weapons. The young woman threw another quick glance over her shoulder before proceeding to slide the hair pin into the lock to pick it open.

Maybe if she were lucky, the lock would slip open. And while she wasn\'t actually expecting it too, she was always up for a surprise.

[w0rmy]

Much to Mortanius displeasure, he asked by a Master to get some blades just in case an important task came up. Why do I, Mortanius, need to get the blades? I am an High Apprentice! This is an job for a Apprentice! Growling to himself about these tedious task but he knew complaining wouldn\'t help. When he was asked to do this, he felt like exploding in rage and felt like ripping out all the Master\'s organs but if he really wanted to rise up in rank, he had to do whatever was asked.

The man had not been in the South Wing in a long time and nearly forgotten where it was which just added to his frustration. Hoping that the important task... That is if the important task ever comes up, it would be interesting and if it wasn\'t... He couldn\'t do anything about except rant about it in his journal. After 15 minutes of pointless searching, Mortanius finally found it, he couldn\'t believe he had forgotten where it was.

The door, the door which lead to where the blades were held, it was filthy! Mortanius had just cleansed himself earlier and didn\'t want to dirtied just yet. Lucky for him, he excelled in telekinesis, opening the door with just a flick of mind minipulation, it creaked open. Walking inside, he was disgusted with how dirty it was. Sure, he was a wizard and all and wizards are known for being messy but this... This was just terrible! Walking inside, he began to look what he came for which was nearly impossible already because of the mess... Mortanius then saw them, gleaming in the display cabinet.

However, he wasn\'t the only person that wanted them in their possession. He saw a young girl attempting to pick at the lock! A level 1 student?! A level 1 student attempting to pick at a lock? What a cretin...  No surprise though, she is after all... Just a level 1 student. Someone is going to be punished severely tonight...
"Stop! What do you think you are doing, little student? Do you want a death wish? If you reconsider... I might let you live..."

[Saiketsu]

A delicate procedure, one she was most familiar with. She could feel the lock slipping between the edges of the hairpin and it made her heart race. Perhaps she wouldn\'t go away empty-handed after all. And as the pin in her hands clicked through the body of the lock, Saiyura lost herself in her task.

She didn\'t notice the door as it opened, nor the blocked light from the hallway. She did notice the new shine the blades behind the glass had and how easily it turned.

But the voice, one she hadn\'t recognized interrupted her, making her flinch and break the hairpin off inside the lock.

"Son of a bitch!" Saiyura\'s face flushed with anger as she through a murderous glance over her shoulder.

She hadn\'t heard what had been said, lost so deeply in her task of breaking and entering. But this stranger had interrupted her.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want? I\'m a little busy," said Saiyura, turning away and fussing with the hairpin to remove the half that remained inside the lock.

She had been so close, too. Too close. It fustrated her to an incredible degree how close. Her eyes remained glued to the blades. Saiyura had half the mind to kick in the glass. Or to tell this stranger to help her kick in the glass.

Another glance over her shoulder. She was getting irratated with his presense, hovering like some kind of master. "Why are you still here?"

[w0rmy]

Mortanius was taken back by the students rash reply. How dare a feeble level 1 student talk to me like that? He was more bothered being treated like filth than her attempting at picking the lock. However, there was a job to be done and if the girl took the blades... That means the job cannot be completed. Not once, has he failed a task and todays not the day he is going to fail.

Walking closer to her, he began to talk, obviously irriated but he tried not to show it, failing however,
"Why am I here? Shouldn\'t I be asking why YOU are here? Picking... Ah... Haha a lock I see? Or is it just my imagination... Somehow I doubt that."
He had a feeling that the girl would refuse to leave and make a fight out of it. Grabbing the girl\'s hair tightly and pulling it back to his face, he growled between gritted teeth. Despite being only half Scaeri Di, his fangs were slightly elongated, nearly vampiric.
"Leave, you stupid little girl. I have a task to do and I don\'t plan to fail it. Get the fuck out or I\'ll have your organs to make my own prometheus. Hm? How about that? Wouldn\'t that be an honour?"

[Saiketsu]

The red heat of anger filled her face. Having her hair pulled was one of the most disrespectful things she\'d ever had done. They had done that. And look where they are now. It made her feel like a slave, some sort of animal being dragged about. The tension at her roots brought up such memories. Those memories caused her hand to react, reaching, aching for the blades hidden against her skin at her hip; small daggers, unknown and surely illegal here. How wonderful it would be to slash off that hand gripping at her roots...

Yet as Saiketsu looked into the eyes of the man who temporarily held onto her hair she laughed a bitter and empty laugh."Of course it\'d be an honor. Yet clearly you don\'t know what exactly you\'re doing..." The voice which arose from her throat was low and cold, almost seducing yet still uninviting in the same language. Her hand slipped around the handle of the sharpest throwing knife, the only real weapons she had at the moment. Her voice then dropped down to barely a whisper, forcing him to concentrate in order to hear it. "Because everyone knows that I never liked Greek mythology."

As quickly and as viciously as she could, she whipped out the dagger and slashed into the flesh of his leg with a sweep of her arm. Not where she was hoping for, but maybe it would do. Saiketsu hoped that for his sake, his grip on her would release. She\'d never killed somebody in school yet. And at level 1, she was hoping not to...

[w0rmy]

(You didn\'t have to change it. I\'ll continue as if you hit him in the belly. )

Mortanius let go of the girl\'s hair, he yelled in pain. It was unexpected and shocked him. Backing away, gripping his belly, blood began to flow. Mortanius\'s breathing increased as he saw his own blood streaming his stomach. Rage flew into his body and feeling the urge to break that pretty body.

The man wasn\'t a fighter, he was terrible with sword play but he was skilled with magick however, his main areas were conjuration and telekineses. The blood was flowing faster and he knew if he didn\'t heal it, he would probably faint or die from blood loss. He had never really took much time in the arts of healing but had learnt a few helpful spells here and there. Placing a hand where she striked, a pale blue light illuminated his hand... But it only stopped the bleeding, the wound was still there. The spell was a useful but the user had to be very skilled to use it and Mortanius wasn\'t exactly skilled in that area. If the user was so, the wound heal very quickly but in Mortanius\'s case it would at least an hour or two to completely heal and disappear.

He glared at the girl, growling. Mortanius muttered a few arcane words and a black, shadowy, little figure appeared adorned with horns and white eyes. It eyed Mortanius waiting for command. He was quite fond of this little creature, it was helpful in situations like this unfortunately, it wasn\'t immune to normal weapons i.e. steel.  Mortanius pointed at the girl and the summoned creature attacked, it had long elongated teeth... Before it seemed quite cute but when it attacking, it was creepy and frightening. The creature took a grasp of the girl\'s arm, teeth sinking in the soft flesh.

[Saiketsu]

A conjurer, she scoffed. Of course he\'s a conjurer. No one else would ever have the gall to challenge her thusly. At least he no longer had her by the hair. Yet the relieved pressure was still making her angry, the echo of his grip.

The beast charged and he dagger slashed at it several times, catching nothing but air. Damn it! Saiketsu saw its jaws open and clamp down onto her arm. She bit her tongue, an attempt to keep the pain inside. A twinge of blood could be tasted and it made her furious.

Over and over again she kept slashing at the beast, getting nothing. "What the hell is this?!" Saiyura yelled in pain, displaying more of the sensation than she would hope. She tried in vain to push the creature off of her arm, yet the fangs and teeth kept their ragged grip on the flesh.

"You arrogant bastard, get this thing off of me or this is going between your eyes!" The pain was appearant in her voice but so was her honesty in her threat. The blade of the dagger was hold between her fingers, aimed and poised, despite the beast. "I have the best aim in this entire acedemy. And I\'ve got you in my sights." She let out a groan of pain through clenched teeth. "What\'s it going to be?"

[w0rmy]

Mortanius took pleasure as the girl vainly attempted at killing the creature. A grin spread on his face, it was very amusing watching the blade go right through  the creature. The girl was in a great deal of pain which just increased the smile on his face.

When she had asked what the creature it was, he answered,
"One of my favourites. He is just a little shadow creature, he isn\'t important enough to have a name though despite being a favourite of mine."

The smile didn\'t last long though, when the girl had brought out a throwing dagger. She had a perfect aim and Mortanius lacked swordplay... in fact... he was terrible at it! He never really bothered with the art. The man suddenly felt a horrible twinge of fear. Fear of his own life. If she had threw the knife into his head, he wouldn\'t be able to heal himself. Mortanius wasn\'t willing to die just yet...

Pausing slightly, he clicked his tongue and the creature let go, blood slipping from its teeth. It looked at Mortanius and slid over to his feet, like a dog, waiting... waiting for any command.
"Okay then. I\'ll give you another chance to get out of here, girl."
Shifting slightly, then grasping his belly, the wound still ached. It was healing faster than the human rate but it still hurt.

[Saiketsu]

A gasp of relief as the beast released her. Part of the limb was growing numb while the other part was on fire, bleeding and raw. The pain was intense and the arm was rendered basically useless.

"Bastard!" She breathed angrily, tossed hair in her face, cradling her arm from the ground. Saiyura glared up at the man and took the dagger in her other hand. It wasn\'t the hand she typically practiced with or attacked with, but aim was aim.

Saiketsu pulled her arm back and pinched the blade of the dagger between her first two fingers. She flung her arm forward, sending the blade spinning through the space between them. Blade-first, the dagger stuck into the wooden frame behind this stranger.

"I\'ve never missed my target. Next time, I won\'t miss. I\'m feeling slightly generous today in letting you live. But don\'t command me and don\'t begin to think that you have the upper hand here. It might be the very last thing you ever think." Saiyura climbed to her feet, staggering, dizzier now than she was on the floor. Her back was leaning against the glass case of the cabinet keeping her up.

"Now I\'m not leaving until I get one of those blades. Now you can turn right around and leave as if this never happened and pray that we never cross paths again or sit the and bleed to death. However, that wound won\'t be the only one you have, should you chose to stay." Her brown eyes glared across the room, through the stirred dust while her hand snuck beneath her robes and grasped another throwing knife.

Truth be told, she could feel herself leaking strength as the arm continued to bleed. Bitterly, she thought, my what sharp teeth you have...

[w0rmy]

Flinched as the blade hit the wall. THUD. Looking at the blade then back at the girl with raised eyebrows. Is she really that stupid?
"What is wrong with you? I\'m giving you a chance to leave without a scratch... or more."
He added with a slight smirk, eying her arm which was adorned with puncture wounds.
"Don\'t think so highly of yourself, ignoramus. You are still young and have much to learn obviously if you can so easily attack an High Apprentice. Do you think I\'m utterly helpless?"

The girl thought that he was only but a mere conjurer but he had another trick up his sleeve. Mortanius whispered something to the summoned creature then it vanished without a trace except for a few wisps of black smoke.
"I\'m not going anywhere. You have no right to take these blades unlike myself. I have an actual right."
Absolute concentration is the key...  His face falling, closed his eyes then opened them. A force, much like a shield, exploded around Mortanius. The \'force\' hit the girl as if it was a breaking wave. Fall to the fucking ground...He thought bitterly without a trace of empathy.

It had been a long time since has used that spell on anyone for it was only used for training and such. It was much more satisfying hitting an actual person than a sack doll. The beauty of telekinesis... Mortanius was considering talking to her, letting her go but decided against it. The girl was foolish enough to taunt him and at such an age too.

[Saiketsu]

Saiyura saw the air move around her, or rather felt it. The attack did catch her by surprise, however, having no ability or time to prevent it from hitting her. She felt her feet leave the ground as if in slow motion, her body forced back into the glass cabnet. She felt the blow as the hard glass cracked behind her head and began to splinter, break and finally shatter. The impact shook her incredibly, the waking world fading to black for a moment or two that felt like minutes. Hatsumomo found herself swimming in memory again as the colors return, found herself laying on her side, partially inside of the cabinet she was trying to break into only minutes before. A swelling pain lined an odd sensation of numbness in the back of her head as she sat up, his figure dancing and multiplying before steadying very slowly.

She laughed, putting her hands back behind her, discreetly grabbing the handle of two daggers which had fallen in her wake. Perhaps getting out of her alive would finally be a task if this is what he had hidden. Perhaps she had underestimated him. "I\'m no innocent child inexperienced in the ways of death, unlike half of the people in this school. And I suppose that\'s it\'s just fair that I tell you that you\'re playing with fire now. Most kids end up burning themselves."

The girl stood, stabling herself among the fallen daggers and swords and shattered glass. She smiled and looked at the daggers she had out of the corners of her eyes. Sharp, foot-long blades with jagged edges, designed specifically for cutting through flesh and bone. Her feet stood ready to move beneath glass and weapons, ready to switch positions in less time than it took to blink. "How many people have you actually killed? Watched them breathe their final breath and feel no remorse?" Saiketsu laughed and tensed, staring through the dust of the room, leaving herself open purposely.

[w0rmy]

Mortanius smile malevolently at the young women, all his teeth were exposed including his elongated fangs. Most people thought he was a vampire because of  this but in fact he was half Scaeri Di... and he did not see this as a curse. He could spit out a poisonous substance however it wasn\'t fatal much to the mans disappointment.

A slightly bemused expression decorated the half-demon\'s face, so the girl says she has had experiance with death? Big deal. Mortanius tutted, he was wasting valuable research time. Not only that, the cabinet glass had shattered leaving the daggers exposed... Sighing, guessing the girl probably has already snatched on the blades and was ready to throw it any minute. Mortanius looked over at the girl and then at her bleeding arm, tongue drying slightly... he wasn\'t really the type to drink blood regularly however he wouldn\'t say no whenever the chance came around. The female\'s anger reminded him of someone... someone whom Mortanius loved very much but knew she would never feel the same. Tuo would never love him back.

"Despite what you think, I\'m not really the type to permanently end someone\'s life. I have killed people but none of them belonged to the academy... only on assignments have I done that... I will hurt someone, I will deform their bodies but to kill? No... and I won\'t kill you..."
These words were not comfort just a simple answer. Mortanius knew the girl would be skilled in shurikenjitsu or why else would she be so desperate to contain the blades? Just for toys?

I think not...

Mortanius didn\'t want to die and he didn\'t want to kill her so sheathing on his dagger and slicing his palm, blood began to flow heavily to the floor. The man cringed however not giving into pain, he muttered a few words... nothing happened at first but then some black fluid like creatures began to push themselves out of the ground. They had long arms and fingers and made soft  noises similar to that of a crow. They lapped the blood on the floor then attempted to lick Mortanius hand,
"No! Protect me."
The creatures hesitated but eventually obeyed by circling the conjurer. The blood was a gift and it was the only way to control such creatures.

[Saiketsu]

That\'s such a shame, because I am... Poised and ready for supposedly everything, Saiyura watched as the creatures rounded the other. Never had she seen such bizzare creatures in her life; they made her slightly nervous. But it was not them she was fighting, it was this man whom stood in her way of that broken glass cabinet and the doorway to freedom. And he would not be standing there long.

The blood dripping from his hand caused her to figet anxiously. "By all means, if you believe that you can deform me with nothing but your little shadow puppets, I dare you to try. Just know that faster than they can get to me, I can get to you," she boasted. Whether or not it was true, well, that was soon to be found out.

Saiyura gripped the blade hilt tighter, throwing it up and catching the blade in that same hand, getting an idea about just how sharp the blade was as it gnawed at the first few layers of skin on her hand. It made her smile. But could she actually throw it? Probably. It was a bit heavier than what she was used to, though. But she supposed that she could manage if she needed to.

[w0rmy]

She wasn\'t going to surrender... not yet anyway. He wasn\'t going to give up, he wasn\'t going to abdicate to such arrogant child. The dark creatures that slithered around Mortanius, watched him... sometimes glancing over to the girl but mostly on their conjurer... these creatures were so erratic but Mortanius loved them but he wasn\'t sure why. Maybe because they were so mysterious... and beautiful at the same time.
"My shadow puppets? Is that what... what you think they are?"
He laughed, he couldn\'t believe that the girl thought they were creatures that manifested in the shadows. Shaking his head, still laughing at the thought.

Ridiculous!

He stopped laughing but there was still a wide grin on his face but something looked wrong about it. Something that wasn\'t right. Mortanius stretched out his arm, it looked almost as if he was attempting to reach her but in fact, Mortanius sheathed out his dagger again and once again sliced his palm... he began to giggle as the blood flowed strongly once more... more creatures began to pull themselves from the ground, some were huge while others were tiny. The creatures themselves were four legged, hunched back and had jaws much like a crocodile... then... some other creatures came out, some that Mortanius had never seen before! They had human bodies but no face, not toes, not fingers... nothing. The man began to laugh madly and fell to the floor, placing himself into the fetal position. So the rumors were true, such dark magic warps the mind...

[Saiketsu]

Saiyura felt herself take a noticable step away from him and these creatures. And she really only became worried when she saw him drop to the floor in madness, the creatures, whatever they might be, growing more in number and size from seemingly nowhere. They were hovering around him, but some were looking at her.

She grit her teeth together behind closed lips. Fuck. What a fool. Who gets lost within their own tricks? But not even that was her biggest problem at present. No, instead it was the fact that these creatures may not have been physically there. She could see them, of course, but what if she couldn\'t strike them down? What if when she struck, it went right through them, yet when they attacked, the traget was right on and permenant?

The girl wondered if she were actually going to make it out of this one alive. Perhaps she could somehow steal passed them. Perhaps they would\'t attack unless provoked. Then again, maybe they are connected to this man in some manner or another. Ugh. Stalemate... Could she wait and see?