Thalia vs. Rindou

[13:05] An idle shrug is given as she glances toward the back of Rindou's head. One foot grinds against the walkway as she moves on along, aiming to come to a halt in front of the Huangzhou woman.

Looking her up and down, there's an attempt to see if there had been any injury or damage done to her very recently.

"You're wanted for questioning." The statement is simple. "So please come with us until Calael gets back."
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[13:08] Rindou's gaze towards the horizon was disturbed by the presence of Thalia stepping up before her. When her words came out it didn't take too long for dots to connect. It was no surprise that a report about her being left alone with Sors would come out. Not to mention the fact she had no injuries - much like last time.

"What do you want to know?" She asked.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[13:09] Shuffling closer himself, the Dryad leaned himself up against the nearby lamppost. It's no big secret that he's not really good at the whole talking things out way of doing things; preferring a much more physical approach to apprehending people.

And so, he'd let his wife do the talking!

"I can restrain her when needed. Hm, hm?"
(Ilui Elisheva)
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[13:15] Fingers twitch by her side at the arm harboring Atesh, and she tilts her head off to the side. Fiery eyes watched on, and the temptation of a more heated reply crosses her mind. To ask, to know, to find out what one's very insides looked like. Yet, there's a conscious amount of control she has as her shoulders roll.

"What do I want to know?" She says, looking between all those present. "Why's that matter?" It didn't matter.

Nothing mattered. Except the Lighthouse and what Calael wanted to carve out a legacy.

"It's not a game of twenty questions you're playing with me. So come, you will await your judgment in the cells for the time being."
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[13:21] ".. In the cells? What for?" She asked. After all there were very few people who wanted to sit in a damp, cold, dark place for an extended period of time. Thalia's eagerness to leap forth was noted, yet the young woman seemed not to hold her guard up - it'd only indicate she was prepared for conflict.

"I've already spoken to Lea if this is about what happened with Sors."
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[13:22] Thalia's growing tired. Patience, running very much thin. When she said to do something, she expected it to be done. Not for it to be questioned time and time again.

"Not for nothing, but Lea is easy to win over." A glance toward her cousin is spared now.

"You're going to be questioned by Calael, who had first hand knowledge of what's transpired with you. So please, quit wasting my time."
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[13:23] Lea Elisheva asks, "...I mean... she's not wrong...?"
[13:23] Lea Elisheva says, "I don't think questioning would be a bad idea."
[13:23] Thalia Elisheva says, "My cousin is simply too cute for her own good, that's all."
[13:24] Rindou Sakamoto asks, "Do I need to be in a cell to be questioned?"
[13:24] Thalia Elisheva says, "Yes."
[13:24] Rindou Sakamoto says, "Then I'd rather not be."
[13:25] Thalia Elisheva says, "It's not a choice."
[13:25] Ilui Elisheva says, "I don't think you have a choice."
[13:26] Rindou Sakamoto says, "I tend to enjoy having choices more than not."
[13:27] Thalia Elisheva says, "You did have a choice to stay behind with Sors Ultovex. You made that choice. Choices impact future choices you have."
[13:27] Thalia Elisheva asks, "Now, is force necessary? Or will you be going?"
[13:27] Rindou Sakamoto says, "If all you want is for Calael to ask me some questions there are no reasons for you to take away more from me."
[13:28] Rindou Sakamoto says, "Especially when chasing pointless leads; Sors left right after."
[13:29] Ilui Elisheva says, "..."
[13:30] Ilui Elisheva asks, "You were asked a question, hm?"
[13:30] Ilui Elisheva asks, "Is force going to be necessary?"
[13:30] Rindou Sakamoto asks, "Would you turn your back to a monster who's killed hundreds before your eyes when you were left to fight him off all alone? A man who threatened to take more if you didn't follow him? A man who's angry you escaped from his grasp?"
[13:30] Thalia Elisheva says, "Yes."
[13:30] Thalia Elisheva says, "I would."
[13:31] Thalia Elisheva says, "Especially if I knew I was too weak mentally, physically, and emotionally-- like you."
[13:31] Rindou Sakamoto says, "..."
[13:33] Rindou Sakamoto says, "I was left alone out there in that endless darkness, much like I was alone back then at that shrine. I managed to survive. I brought back what people desperately cared for and ensured its safety."
[13:33] Rindou Sakamoto says, "To them a sword was worth more than a life."
[13:34] Rindou Sakamoto asks, "Can you say the same of you? Would you survive Sors Ultovex?"
[13:36] Karma Aghinstine asks, "back over there?"
[13:42] Ah, so she wanted to try to trade trauma with someone who burned hot with resentment? Is that how it really had to be?

"No, because I would fight him. To the death. Unlike you." If a sword had more purpose than Thalia's life had, then it meant that Thalia hadn't lived her life to any good nor decent expectation.

"You want to know what alone feels like? What unwanted is?" There's laughter that comes from her lips, eyes widening a bit as fire begins to spill along the cobblestone walkway. "You can't even begin to scratch the surface,"

none of you know-- what it's like, what it feels like to be like this. to be told by people who are supposed to love you that you are unwanted, unloved, only a necessity.

Perhaps that's why she dreamed of fire. Maybe that's why a good majority of the time, all she saw was a particular shade of red that she couldn't rip away. Rose tinted glasses weren't a thing.

The heat began to roll off of her in sheer, sweltering waves. Like a flip had been switched within her, a sudden burst of flame would swing outwards in the direction of Rindou, aiming to slam in the center of her chest, to burn at what resided within her.

Physical, spiritual.

It seemed that she'd managed to use up all the chances that she had.
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[13:57] The feelings spilling from Thalia weren't left without answer. It was quite the opposite; the more she felt that deep, deep emptiness of heart, the break, the desire, the need for love that never came beyond its true purpose, the more Rindou's own emotions melded in. They were left unspoken, though the young woman knew that gaze, that feeling all too much. To want to be better, to want to be someone else, to want a different life - a different chance. That... need was present. Everlasting.

"I know what it feels like. I've done my time— four years at that shrine! Waiting... alone. Wanting to see someone show up.

He came. He brought nothing but destruction and pain. I fought. It wasn't enough. He took everything from me. But it wasn't enough for him!"

With the flames swinging so did Rindou's fist, unarmed knuckles reaching out to crash against Thalia's jaw and deliver that same pain she felt - to share the story of being unloved, unwanted, hated by all means.

It hurt. Physically and spiritually. Rindou already seemed on the verge of tears - as emotionally weak as she had been pointed out to be.

"I lived... I escaped because I thought there would be someone who'd be worried for me! But they weren't— they just cared for that sword!

None of them cared for me.
None of them cared I couldn't see.
None of them could see."

She was already out of breath and the scuffle had barely even met its begining. Whether it'd escalate from there or they would be stopped was left up to the bystanders. One thing was for sure, though:

Rindou was going to lose this confrontation. She already had.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[14:04] Lea quickly shifted her gaze over towards Rindou, reflexively reaching her left hand towards the girl as she was about to be attacked. And yet, she stayed her hand, lowering it. Perhaps her common sense had gotten the better of her? No, there was more to it than that...

The friend in her told her to help, but it was starting to set in that now was not the time to be a friend. This was a fight between two people with rather severe abandonment issues, not someone who has been loved by almost every person who ever met her. For that, and everything else Thalia said, Lea stood back and silently watched, surrendering control of this situation to the person who was actually willing to do something.

That's really all she could do, at least until she became that kind of person herself.
(Lea Elisheva)
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[14:17] It is simply another situation that they'd deem her wrong. They'd deem her the bad guy, just as they had with Thera Elisheva, they'd condemn anyone that fought back against the things that had set them alight. The only thing with Thalia was that she wore that resentment she felt right on her sleeve. The sides of the homes there would be licked by the flames that she produced, and there's a roaring sound that comes from the area around her as Atesh practically crawls as free from his confines, mounting upon her shoulders as she stares the other woman down.

The clash of the fist into her jaw? Noted. It hurts. It brings about a sheer phantom pain within her body that she can't shrug off above all else. A thread of blood cascades down along from the corner of her mouth, the appearance of red along the skin showing up for all to see. Thalia Elisheva is not infallible, and she never claimed to be. Every battle she endured, she had to revitalize herself and revel in her flames so that she didn't walk around riddled in scars just as her spiritual self did.

Caught up and hung into place, there's a momentary glance down as a gripping of holy-imbued earth would grasp at her person, and she can feel the thunder of her heart in her chest, the memories of Ashalle coming right back into her mind as she recalled that it was not all too far from this very spot that she had fought one of the three sins of Pride she had met in her life.

And to that, there's an audible snarling that comes from her lips, and her attempt to attune with Atesh further coming along, allowing the creature that resided within her weapon to spread his wings now behind her.

Born of pride,
Carved of it,
Cast away by it.

All of it built up within her, but the finality of the moment hadn't been met just as of yet. All of the heat around them begins to draw inwards, and even as Rindou is bowled over for the first time, there's promise to the Firebird's gaze that suggests that what they were doing here?

It was far from over.
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[14:27] The cutting winds and the unbearable winds were nothing before the young woman's own heartache. This was just like it had always been; each blow bringing back memories of the past battle that were this one-sided. Empty hands pushed her up from the ground as burnt pieces of cloth fell from her frame. Her amber eyes laid upon the woman that stood tall above her. She who had been cast away from the life that she was meant to have.

... Much like Rindou.

Condemned for having her own thoughts, for being herself, for wanting to live a life that lived up to those expectations. Unloved, unwanted, merely a necessity to some.

And yet... Thalia remained above her.

"Why..."

That idle question was muttered by the young woman as her heartbeat ramped up. Her eyes went shut, head shaking. She couldn't stand to watch this - to know of the sad reality her life had turned out to be. Even right by a friend, she was alone.

Thalia's power was great, but she was one of the few people she wouldn't trade her life with; she knew of her pain all too well, even if she had yet to grasp the depth of it.

"... why are you watching?"
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[14:29] ** Thalia Elisheva has inflicted an injury upon Rindou Sakamoto. ("Temporary Injury", "Temporary Injury", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[14:54] Colder and colder, that sense of loneliness presides within one's being. To ask why they were alone within this world, to seek solace in someone that actually cared rather than brushing you off. It took so long for Thalia to find this, and yet... The damage had been done, and one can feel that in the way that she moves among the street. From desperately wanting to save Magdalen from Ashalle in these streets to striking out at Rindou who she believed went nothing more than willingly with the Ultovexian terror, she had seen so much in Levengard that it was a mess.

Yet, if she perceived someone as a support to those that would've otherwise cheered on Sera's death, then she was going to snap. She couldn't help it.

She couldn't help herself.

The rattle of Ixchel's chains echo through the area, constricting around Thalia's person as a punishment for 'freeing' Sienna, and she found her wings carrying her upwards into the air, embers falling off of her person as golden swords crashed-- following Rindou in a line as her gaze trails along. The begging, pleading-- it was long since passed. All chances had been used up in her mind, and if someone wanted to dismiss their chances to speak with the leadership here?

It was apparent that she wasn't going to give them that chance to make a mistake in such a way. Despite the movements made and the rattling chains, the area was cold as if all of the warmth had been sapped away.

Collecting it further and deeper within herself, she would tremble the smallest of bits as she struggled to hold onto everything collected with the sensation of bruises and welts beginning to rise on her skin. Dirt and rocks would clash into her as she shifts, but her eyes catch upon the other, the burning intensity never once fading away.

Breaking free, her wings would force her down in the direction of Rindou, and her arm harboring Atesh crashed into the ground, a sudden explosion of fire and golden swords extending outwards. The fire forces through the Illuminated, saturating against what composed her ethereal self. The swords shatter upon impact, but one stray sword flies forward, catching the woman in the shoulder and recklessly carrying her back and away, giving her a short window of time to escape from further advance from the Elisheva.

There's an eerie silence that comes among the area, and destroyed objects that had been cast up into the air would begin their descent back down to the ground in the form of ash. With her fist planted against the ground, there's a deafness within her ears that silences everything around her as a burning circle remains around her. Whatever spirits that had been lingering around the streets seemed to be gone for the time being, and it is a very eerie, stomach churning thing to experience.
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[15:10] Was the lack of warmth coming from the despair she felt in that moment or was it from Thalia's own churning emotions? Rindou wasn't sure, though she could tell that the Elisheva was taking matters in her own hands in a manner similar to when she, herself, did. What little bit of power, of feeling of... control one could have over a situation was needed. Life was horrible, unfair, and dealt monsters the best hand at times.

Blades of divine energy skewered through the Illuminated as she was forced back. The imprint of the spirit that cursed Thalia's hands was left upon the Sakamoto's skin, unbeknowst to her. Her heart raced as she was forced further, and further back. Amber eyes filled with panic, pain, and quite some anger fixated upon not her opponent, but the one who hadn't grasped that power - that control.

"Why?!" She screamed, doubling up quickly as that heart-gnawing pain was all directed towards the blue-haired girl.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU PROVE ME WRONG?!"

Every hope. Every bit of trust, of thought, of belief that there may still be some good people around the world was extinguished, crushed, destroyed by the very ones hoping to instill those beliefs. Where Sors Ultovex had lead Rindou to lose her light, Lea Elisheva had lead her to lose her heart.

From within the burning circle Thalia would be able to watch Rindou be forced to escape - to run, though that much was only expected. The divine-blooded may just be able to feel something... vile reaching out to her, pulling at her, yet without any strength of its own. A bone-chilling sensation that matched the cold of her inferno - a gut feeling that this wasn't over, that there was more to it.

Only the surface had been scratched, despite the depth of their wounds.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[15:18] Lea watched the whole fight as it went on, a feeling of regret bubbling underneath the surface. Rindou, as hard as she fought, was entirely outclassed by Thalia without a weapon. But her sympathy had its limits, and so she found it being stretched as this fight carried on. She found herself lost in thought, wondering why it had to be this way, why Rindou didn't listen, and even as far as wondering why Sors kept getting betrayed. There had to be a reason, right...?

And then it struck her.

While Rindou's response would've caused Lea to break down before, this time, it caused something different. She was not angry, she was not indignant, she was not sad.

"Because, Rindou..."

She was just Lea, and had been trying to be Lea all along.

She sternly gazed over at Rindou, her response uncharacteristically colder than anything Lea has said thus far, perhaps in her whole life:

"Unlike me, you haven't proven anyone wrong in your whole life."
(Lea Elisheva)
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[15:23] The little Dryad was quiet, having only woken up towards the very end of everything. She didn't know why there was fighting within Levengard's streets, but she rubbed at an eye sleepily before speaking up,

"Mommy what's going on?"
(Juniper Elisheva)
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[15:26] Something wicked. Something vile.

The touch and tug upon her being is enough to cause her to feel unease in the moment of silence that she always came after an explosive battle such as this. Coming upwards to a stand, the fire would disperse around her as she gave a short, smoky breath outwards.

The burn to her eyes seems to have dulled for a moment, revealing not but an orange-red color to her gaze.

Looking over toward Juniper, she soon rocked on her feet, heels clicking against the ground as she aimed to place a hand atop of Juniper's head. "Enforcing the law," she murmurs outwards.

"Because there's something wrong with that woman."

Deeply disturbed, truly.
(Thalia Elisheva)
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[16:28] "No matter how hard I try it doesn't matter..."

Just how many times would this be the case? Just how many times would she utter those words? The young woman knew not how much more pain she could handle. Lea had told her that she had never proven anyone wrong. This... hurt.

It hurt more than it should have. It hurt her deeper than ever before, even. Where she saw a glimpse of light and possibility ahead of her it had been shut down by a harsh, harsh mistress. The divine-blooded's disappointment lead to Rindou fleeing. Running.

Escaping.

The mountains? No... Even as she treked through the snowy peaks she didn't feel at home. It was cold. Horrible. Unmistakenly harsh. This wasn't the kind of life she wished to live, to lead. This was nothing more than another mistake she was about to make.

She couldn't join that monster. She couldn't join Sors. She was meant to kill him, one day. Serving him... no. It wouldn't happen.

Ever.

That's... when it came forth. A green energy surrounded her, her amber eyes grew wide as the very cloak that man had seen her with in his wildest dreams was adorned.

Black turned blonde. Amber turned brown. Her robes, her clothes, her incredible care for her garbs was tossed away - instead prefering to use a more assertive outfit. The kind someone strong had. The kind someone who could go above and beyond would wear.

The holy energies in her heart were being twisted, abused, and turned into a weapon of their own. Valor's light was long gone but the woman was far from unable to wield her holy powers as a weapon of its own. Jianghese features became those that she had rarely seen - pulling from the likes of Magdalen, though deeper than that. The heroes of old, the kind Siegfried read books about.

Brittania. What a wonderful-sounding name.

... The desire of a better life within her had bloomed.

This was her second chance.
(Roxanne Lonval)