[17:51:34] She hadn't done much leading up to this. Neither did she know precisely why it was that she still followed the marching feet of the myriad soldiers that evicted themselves from the gate to advance upon their enemies. She had no reason to do this that she could justify... No reason under the veil of 'defending her home' as she had the first time that she had accompanied the military. It was truly nothing more than a whim that saw her aiding the assault. nothing more than a whim that saw the wielder of Demicles amidst the aimless magi rabble of what had become a dangerous New Alterosi force as nothing more than a staple to their already imposing number.

Despite the fact that she was nestled within the depths of the throng however... Her presence was not one that could be overlooked. One of many beacons that shone their wicked light in the form of vast fount's of power, she made up one of the many flanks of the force. Her eyes were focused forth, the stark white that had once gripped them tightly faded into what could be described as a faint bronze... A midground between the Clockworkmade color, and that which she had been given at birth.

No less however was the intensity with which she scoured the pitiful defense mounted against them. Though the sturdiness of the fortifications and the preparedness of the troops did not indicate it, the bastion that was Danarium's defense was ripe for the toppling.

And now that she beheld it, she knew why she was here. How many crowns she would bet that she would be here as well... Her lips curled upwards into a wicked smile as she began to push through the ranks, advancing to the front. As she did? Her presence only became that much more noticeable.

She was looking over the forces of the defenders... Picking her target like a bird of prey.
(Camelia Falco)

[18:01:48] T'was the night of battle, and yet - no anxiety sat within the gut of the virtue of mercy. Too far had the forces of Nostvale pushed, too long had she been robbed her friends - too often had her ilk been beaten, humiliated - it was unbecoming of a woman who prided herself on mercy, who worked to be a shining example of virtue - who wielded the very shield of Sir Lancelot upon her arm and a blade of astral justice upon her hip - but in these desperate moments...

It was a tranquil fury Olivia felt build within her, all her determination boiling over like water held to a fire. They had been pushed to far - and she knew full well that this may be her last battle, that this might be the last push Danarium could ever make but she would not hide and let it happen, she couldn't accept her own cowardice - something she prayed to have left in the dirt so long ago overwhelm her ability to fight.

And so, as she marched forth with the Custodians and Order of Kraus alike, there was no hiding - a brilliant beacon of Cosmic energy shrouded her body like cloth, wrapping about her build as her left hand gently grasped the cobalt hilt of Ilmare.

She knew what she had to do - even if she couldn't singlehandedly defeat every single warrior of the damned that stepped foot in her city...

She could still save someone.

And so, stepping to a lesser explored corner of the battle field, Olivia closed her eyes for a moment, raising her blade towards the sky, she channeled the energy of the astral plane, a beam of light shining up from her form for just a moment. T'was not of her intention to intimidate, nor rally.

It was simply an announcement.

A challenge.

She who it was meant for would know full well what it was, who it was. She simply had to wait.

Blade pointed towards the ground, and shielded still high upon her right arm, she awaitted the arrival of the only one she could deem fitting to stand against her in this final stand.
(Olivia Reed)

[18:11:12] She had been called, and she would answer.

That abhorrent beacon of purity and astral acclimation that shone itself skyward as an unwelcome pyre... She saw it. How couldn't she? Her eyes burned with a repressed fury that culminated in the deepening of the vile aura that surrounded her. Immature. Underdeveloped. yet unfocused, though irrefutably tainted. Her body was alive... Alive with hatred and desire for the beacon. Both it and the one that she knew to be perpetuating it... It was no rgiht of theirs to make the battlefield such a show for themselves. This was a battlefield claimed by kings, yet they would force acknowledgement upon their clash.

One that was wholly insignificant by comparison.

Demicles was held aloft... A faint emerald fulmination appearing in both of its empty sockets as her mana channeled through it. Interlacing with the wicked design of the device as it loosed its baleful call in tandem with her own alluring vitriol. It was not visible as Olivia's was... But whi9le it was invisible, it was certainly possible to be felt. Felt in the chill that crept up the spines of those subjected to it. Felt in the manner in which their minds were seemingly tempted to turn away from their intended path...

Camelia strode towards the challenge that the object of her oldest obsession had put forth. Confidence in every step, grace in every motion. She was not striding to a battle...

She was striding towards a conquest.

It wasn't long before the two were within sight of one another. A wry smirk... Unrepentant posture and sinful air. It had been quite a long time indeed since she had laid eyes upon the bow wearing virtue, and certainly a long time since the other had seen her as well. What was she to do?

Her lips curled inward. Her body buckled...

And she laughed.

"You refuse reason. You refuse justice. And now you march knowingly to your defeat once again..? How badly you must have desired to see me again... How badly you must have desired to earn me back so that I might be twisted like putty in your hands." Her laughter carried through her speech. Breaking it. Muddling it. With a powerful thrust of the butt of Demicles into the dirt beneath, a viridescence pulsed outwards... Rippling back, and ending back upon her.

Cursing her eyes with a wicked, emerald visage.

"I told you not to get in my way again. But yet you put yourself here... You really 'do' want to be mine, don't you?"
(Camelia Falco)

[18:20:35] And thus, like a moth to the flame the call was answered. Olivia let out a breath through her nose, seeing exactly what Camelia had become - so alike her darling friend, that girl she wished to fix so many years ago - and yet, depraved. Twisted beyond belief. It made Olivia mad - not at the girl who stood opposed to her, but at herself for ever allowing such a thing to happen.

"Camelia, it hurts me to see you in this way, truly it does. Not because I'm sickened by the sight of a monster, but because I could have done so much more. I could have saved you - you could have shown everyone just how good you could be... And yet, you betrayed that trust. Perhaps I'm a fool - Galahad surely thinks me so, for thinking there is still redemption for you. That you can still move past this and go on to a better life - free of this sin and blasphemy, a life guided by Kraus. Never is it too late to accept the love of the all-father, Camelia."

Olivia pleaded, a hopeless effort, she was certain - but one that she would not allow herself to skip over. Would it be that she had to fight in order to assert her opinion, so be it. She offered a gentle smile, her soft features showing concern as she tilted her head once more.

"Those shadows, those vile, wretched things - I never left you alone to them, but here we are. I should look less to the past, and more to the future. I'm not here to be your's Camelia, nor am I here to make you mine."

"I offer you an invitation - a path to true justice. We can find a cure for this darkness that is consuming you. We can be happy, together."

Her hand left her blade as she took a single step forward, her hand extended out towards Camelia.

"Once, many years ago - I fought a man who claimed himself a shepherd, and related me to a sheep - but I've come to understand that it is not him who is meant to be the shepherd, but I - Camelia, please. Allow me to guide you. Allow me to show you the light."
(Olivia Reed)

[18:29:07] The love of the all-father..?

It was rich. It was utterly, irrevocably rich. This was rhetoric that she had been subject to before, wasn't it? Rhetoric that was followed by naught but slander. Venomous whispers perpetuated behind her back of the wicked designs thats he had held for the order... The presumptious nature that they all had taken of her as something that had ever needed to change. Her lips twitched... her laughter ceasing as the memory returned to her. The moment that all of it had been made clear... The moment that all of it had fallen into place, and showed her precisely where she belonged. She was confident in where she stood now. She was confident that she had made the right choice...

And utterly convinced that Olivia was a liar.

"I need not the love of the all father. I need not the love of the Morning Lord. I need not the love of the Sealed God. I need not the love of any deity, girl!" Her arms spread wide. Power surging from depths unexplored... Surrounding her in a powerful aura of blood ripped straight from the bodies of those who had yet to even fight. Ally and enemy alike, their lives... Their lifeblood, was taken from them without a shred of remorse.

The combined 'strength' of these men and women formed around Camelia in a crimson veil. The very same that she had utilized before... And the very same that she would utilize again.

"You did this. You had your chance to 'change' me, but I saw the truth for what it was. You believe that I can be 'saved'..? You believe that I need to be saved? You believe that I ever wanted to be saved at all? Raw energy began to fill the locale... Wisps of a pleasant, neutral blue... Tainted by the presence of her infantile sin.

"You had your chance to show me Kraus. Now I will show you the truth. I do not need the love of your god... Nor do you."

She took a step forward. Though it seemed harmless, she was prepared for any form of reaction.

"'You' need 'me'. It's time to make you- and all others acknowledge that fact."
(Camelia Falco)

[18:37:39] Olivia's gentle smile curled into a frown, a sigh leaving her lips as she let her hand fall, eyes closed and head shaking. "Is this truly, how far you've fallen? So far that you can't even see how their lies are twisting you? I didn't believe my words would work, but to go so far that you would believe that what you are is good? It's..."

She shook her head again, sighing once more.

"It's sad. Camelia, my dear friend - you're like a wounded bird. So far you try to fly, only to fall - you try to escape captivity, but it is only that captivity that can lead you to real freedom. Your wings are clipped, and yet you try to fly away - you are destined to fall each time. It is unfortunate, but there is only one way to deal with such a sad situation."

Her hand slowly grasped her blade - there was reluctance, but no stopping.

"Poor birds like you need to be put into a cage. They need to be shown what they need, and they need to be healed. I really, really wish it could be different Camelia - but this is the path you've decided to walk. It is my duty to show you that path which you truly belong to."

"Only I can save you from yourself, Kraus forgive me for this violence - and may he grant me the strength to purge darkness from this world."

And then - in a flash of blue and gold, her blade was presented, the cerulean sheen glinting off the stardust that powdered the air that surrounded her. And then, in a burst of cosmic energy - a brief, blinding light, Olivia was in the air, wings portruding from her back - extensions of her cosmic potency, an expression of her raw, unfiltered power.

An expression of her will.

"Come, Camelia - we will show you the light."
(Olivia Reed)


[18:49:36] It made her livid.

She was being told things agin... Being forced to listen to things that she knew were false. She had already seen the absolute truth, so why was she being fed lies? If she truly 'cared' so much, then why was she spouting this drivel as though she knew nothing better? Her grip upon Demicles tightened. Tightened so powerfully that her knucklebones tempted to rip through her porcelain flesh. Red lips curled back... Her aura flared. And with an enunciation akin to the roaring of a dragon, a terrible burst of mana ripped through the air between them to begin what had been a long awaited rematch.

It was fated ever sicne she had agreed to leave her home. She knew that much, didn't she.

The wings which held her opponent aloft were no obstacle. To her, it availed her only an easier target to strike... A broader mark to hit. OAgain and against did the blood of the men and women she killed bring itself to bare against Olivia, striking her with her failures. Buffeting her with the weight of those that she was failing to protect each moment that she spent locked in combat with the beautiful demoness.

She was so wholly fixated... She wouldn't let her out of her sights. Graceful steaps saw her dip and dive this way and that, where little more than dainty flicks of her wrist blew the winged swordswoman away with enough force to tear a boulder to bits in seconds. Though by the end, she was not without wounds of her own!

The armor that she had been given by Kylar had proven its worth. Few scratches upon the metal itself, save for the fraying of the cloth that decorated it... It was through the grooves upon it that blood did flow. her joints, and crucial areas left exposed behind her clearly bitten by the offensive touch of Olivia's blade.

She would have none of it.

Densely compacted projectiles were what she then used. Striking her in the face and knocking her from the sky before catching her within another relentless stream of powerful wated. Slamming her against the trunk of a tree- she ended the channeling and began to stride towards her... Confident. Unrepressed.

"Where is the strength you begged of Kraus..?" She questioned meekly, turning her gaze mockingly towards the sky. "Where is the power of the god you believe protects you..? Shouldn't he be making you capable of striking me down?" her aura fluctuated. Her teeth clamped... And her body quaked.

"Think of the consequences, Olivia. Of failing. Think of what that will mean for you. Isn't it... Exciting?"
(Camelia Falco)

[19:01:32] Olivia wouldn't allow herself to be too weak. As she fought, she grew weaker and weaker against her foe, landing many good blows but coming up without a victory. She was already exhausted, but she wouldn't relent. As she panted, she pushed herself back up, the wings reigniting as she pointed Ilmare at Camelia once more.

"I pity you, Camelia - not just because as you are now, you're turning into a monster, but because right now you are so alone. Who do you fight with? I hold Galahad upon my arm, Serien upon my finger, Xanthe upon my back, Amir upon my body. I hold Abram and Red in my heart, and I carry Lionel in my thoughts. Justice is in my hand, and Kraus rests upon my neck. - I never have to fear fighting alone, but you? Who is with you?" Olivia asked - it was a tone of concern, rather than condescending, despite what the words may imply. As she spoke, she looked down to the many gifts she had from her friends - the shield of Lancelot, the Warmth of the Sun, Amir's cloak, Drachelowen and finally - back to her wings, thinking of Chiron - a hero to her that remained yet unsung.

"You don't have to be alone. You can return. You can hold the light of Kraus in your heart forevermore." Olivia promised, but as she narrowed her eyes, focusing in upon the sinful maiden that stood before her, she uttered a prayer.

"...All-father above, grant me all that it will take to show this sinner the light - grant me the mind to hold wisdom, the heart to show mercy and the strength with which to do justice... Kraus allmighty, show me the way to show her the path - to show this entire darkening world the path once more to your love. Show me the way to make this land worthy of you, father Kraus and grant me the ability to stand where many would fall and speak your name forever more."

"For Red, for Abram, for Galahad, for Lionel, for Serien, for Xanthe, for Aadi, for Anri... For Camelia, and all sinners like her - and all those I've failed to protect. For everyone in this world, grant me this strength how I grant thee my devotion, allow me to protect this land."

"For this, I implore you - grant the power that your name may never fall, regardless the darkness that looms above the light. Grant this land your wisdom, your mercy, and your justice forever, and ever thereon."

"Amen."
(Olivia Reed)


[19:15:12] "Amen."

Her voice rang with certainty. An immutable certaintby in the position in which she stood. She was the one who was in the right... She was the one who would win out over this childish ideology that her opponent possessed. Her opponent. Her fixation. Her first ambition, standing before her beaten and bloodied on the field of battle. There was no remorse for this girl that had once shown her 'mercy'... Within her eyes, there was nothing but satisfaction. A twisted amusement as the girl's prayer was given forth to a god who would refuse to hear her.

"Nobodycan hear you..."

Her voice danced through the battlefield like a ghost. A mist, seeping forth from her lips and gently embracing the figure of the starbound maiden towards which she suddenly launched. Demicles brought back, a powerful manifestation of crystallized blood forming at its tip. As she swung it forward, it lanced outwards with the hsis of separating air in a mad bid to lacerate Olivia's chest. Sure enough... It struck. From the wound created, a series of further assaults were made in lesser measure.

Her own life blood turned against her. Causing her limbs to grow stiff, her body to ache... And the stray flecks that dripped from her open wounds forced to eat at the flesh in the most painful way that she could create. She fought just as hard as she did before- abusing the preparatory strikes that she had made in the bouts prior to only further her assault. Pain. Absolute pain, and no blessing to protect her. She spun in place as Olivia charged forth one last time, thrusting Demicles forward with all her pitiful might. Straight into her chest... Stopping her momentum. Forcing her body to obey via the blood magic at her command.

"Nobody but me... So why don't you recite that prayer to the proper recipient? I'll listen... And you know what? I'll even give you time to think it over. Plenty of time... All the time in the world to think, as everything you stand for is ripped to pieces. Those are lovely names... Very lovely names. Galahad. Serien. Xanthe. Amir. Abram. Red. Justice. Kraus... I can't help but notice that I won't need to be making many visits, will I? " She laughed, pressing the stave further into her chest.

"Those that still live will know my name soon enough. Guard them well, little pet... They might vanish from right beneath your nose."

Demicles roared.

Pure blue energy carried Olivia away from her. Through the trees, and likely somewhere where she would be unable to return to the fight.

It was more fun this way. Wasn't it?
(Camelia Falco)