Foolishness

It seemed like another peaceful day on Esshar.

There was undoubtedly a handful of people getting their butts handed to them somewhere, but right now, Thea and Hayakuei hadn't seen anything like that. In fact, during their short little trip, they hadn't come across anything too interesting!

And so they were on their way home when they spotted.. a whole group of occultic creatures hanging out near the bridge!

"Dang! These things still like to hang out over here?" She mumbles to herself, a huff leaving afterwards. The teen squints a bit towards the group of Demons for a moment or two.

Eventually though, her sights land on the massive snake-like creature, blinking a few times. It didn't seem all too friendly. She squints for a few moments.

"Ahh! That one looks just like the first Demon I fought, Hayakuei!" Thea points at Fidi. "- except.. bigger! And a little more dangerous! Surely it ain't too deadly, though!"
(Thea Adelman)

"...?"

The Serpent slowly turns towards Thea. Evidently, it is rather clear that he's very, very.. not amused in the slightest to be branded and called something like that- a mere 'snake' that isn't too deadly, something that could just be discarded along the way.

Has she forgotten that she speaks to a Demon?

"Incredible.."

"Humanity knows that we are the creatures out of their nightmares- that we are superior, and meant to forever haunt them, no matter what corner of Eternia they flee to."

The gaze of snake-eyes, and the fine slits come closer to Thea as it slithers up; they dilate and narrow, the Serpent's mesmerizing gaze soon becoming almost all that she could see.

Are those shadows dancing..
What moved just now?

"And yet.."

"You lose yourself in the grandeur of self-importance, delusion of your fate, thinking yourselves to be masters of your design.." The shadows already deepen. It becomes an ever appearing threat..

"You sit there, confident in your abilities.."

"Believing that you can secure yourself from danger.."

"It amazes me as to why, you cannot see.."

"Why we abhor your species."

A brooding sound comes bellowing from reptile's throat. Much like a warning for what's to come- a warning of what Thea has just committed..

"Do you think.."

"I am not too deadly, little girl?"
(Fidi)

It seemed as though the creature had caught wind of Thea speaking about it!- not that she was trying to keep it on the down-low or anything like that.

Even though the Demon looked similar to the one she fought way back when, it certainly didn't sound like it. Maybe this one was different- which could've been bad for her!

The creature started to make it's way towards Thea, one of her hands slowly reaching up to rest on the hilt of her blade. Even though she hadn't planned on fighting right now, if the Demon was going to act all hostile, maybe she needed to knock some sense into it!- or at least try. Honestly though, the serpent-like creature was kind of threatening. She teps back just a tad.

"I, uh.. ain't fleein' or nothin', dude. I've been here all my life, 'n ain't plan on goin' anywhere else for a bit." She says, nodding slowly.

"- and I'm gonna be honest.. I REALLY don't think I'm important at all- ya' can check with Hayakuei 'bout that one, dude." Huff. "Buut.. I am pretty confident in myself. I'm told I'm gettin' pretty strong, so why wouldn't I be confident."

The brooding sound kind of caught her off guard, Thea swinging her massive blade around and pointing the tip of it at the creature. She didn't plan on striking out just yet.

"Mmm.. no. Actually, yer' probably pretty deadly." Thea says, scowling at the creature. "And 'cause of that.. I'm gonna have t' kindly ask ya' t' go home. Ain't need ya' attakin' any innocent passerbys or nothin'."

"Sooo.. Shoo!"
(Thea Adelman)

So simple.

So easy going... was that the nature of some humans? Were they mostly looking to be care-free, to turn blind to the issues of the world and the nature of their own species? Perhaps, she ignored it wilfully- or perhaps, she ignored it out of merely not being aware of how the entirety of the world works like.

For Demonkind, however?
There is no such thing.

There is no such thing as being care-free. When entirety of the continent wants you dead, do you even have much of a choice to begin with? When you were born into darkness, and from this darkness you were spewed with hatred, despair and anguish of humanity's nightmares, could you truly remain 'normal' as humans see it?

"Little girl is entirely ignorant, isn't she?"

The Serpent circles around Thea. The shadows further deepen- cutting her off from the outside world in illusory darkness that permeates their surroundings. Here, she could clearly see the serpentine, mesmerizing eyes..

And nothing else.

"A child, believing herself to be strong.."

"And powerful enough to tell me what I should be doing?"

"What a joke."

Whatever the case it seems to be, one thing is clear.. to assume that Fidi is entirely defenceless and inept was a very, very large mistake. And soon..

She was going to find out why.

"Let me show you how wrong your perception is."

"Let me enlighten you."

But suddenly, a lunge. The body that immediately coils around her intends to trap the young woman within. She would have no choice.

Fight or flight.
(Fidi)

Thea remained as careful as she could while dealing with the occultic creature.

These things were capable of some pretty insane things, so if she had let her guard down for even a minute? She could've been swept up and killed. And that certainly wouldn't have been good at all!

So! Her hands remained on the blade, keeping it ready. "Ignorant? I ain't ignorant- and I ain't little, either!" Maybe she was little compared to the beast and most adults, but she didn't think about that right now.

The creature began to circle around her, Thea watching as the shadows began to deepen and her connection to the outside world was masked by the darkness. It wasn't exactly a nice thing to experience, but that's what she gets for letting Fidi get too close. The only thing that remained visible through the darkness was the creature's eyes- though, Thea did her best not to look right at them.

What could she do to help brighten the place up? Oh!- Plasma flared up around the youth's frame, giving everything a nice bluish-purple color! It was better than nothing but darkness!

"I am strong!" She shouted out,her hands shifting some. "Yer' free to show me whatever ya' want. I'm kinda' a fast learner, sooo-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, she found the creature trying to coil up around her!

It seemed that her options were pretty limited. She was indeed going to have to try knocking some sense into the creature!
(Thea Adelman)

She underestimated this serpent.

Her eyes were opened to the full truth now- that Fidi remains, perhaps, one of the most potent bearers of venom; so potent that it could very well end just about anyone if they're not careful with him. Even in this youth, there is potential unlike any other, there is darkness that swells within each shadow..

"Foolish child."

"I'll show you the errors of your ways."

An exchange of initial blows comes fast- it is amidst this gruelling blow of phantasms, an exchange of sword against Demon's magics, and the powerful tail that slams into the body of young woman. How could she not see already, that it's going to be the challenge unlike any other?

A pinch?
Was she bitten somewhere?

"Now.."

"Observe."

There is one Fidi. There are two, three, four.. just when did she start hallucinating? Just when did her vision begin to grow dim? It hurts. It hurts so much. The muscle ache that follows, the encroaching fever that surrounds her body, and yet.. with the sweat already covering her body, with the quickening of heartbeat, she could feel her body attempt to fight it off.

But it's only getting worse.

"Oh, but we've just began."

"Come. I want to see how I can change you.."

Even if temporarily. It is, after all, a test of its own.. but before she has the chance to regain her senses?

The Serpent attacks.
(Fidi)

It seemed as though things really weren't going to end as well as she had originally hoped.

Though she figured she had to at least be a somewhat decent foe for the beast, Fidi had been much stronger than she anticipated. Not even one of the Demons that she had fought in the past seemed to come close to how strong this one was!

The time for speaking was over for now, Thea scowling at the creature. Even though her flame magic proved to be at least somewhat effective against the beast, actually getting her blows to land was the hard part! How was she supposed to hit an enemy she wasn't able to keep track of?

Thea was smacked around by the creature, the youth really not even sure what was going on. Though things were dark and looking pretty grim, the youth had to hang on- even if it was beginning to become a tad bit harder to stay focused at the moment.

Soon enough, she found herself hallucinating a bit, her vision growing dimmer and- well, shewasn't feeling great at all! Sweating was pretty common, especially when flames as hot as her's were involved, but it seemed like things were getting tougher to push through. She wasn't sure how much she'd be able to remain standing, truthfully.

"Ugh.." Thea groaned, shaking her head some. Even if the slim, there was a chance that she'd be able to pull through and win this little match!

Thea just had to believe in herself and her strength!
(Thea Adelman)

"How quick they are to fall.."

It almost surprised Fidi. Has he grown that much in strength, or perhaps, he underestimated his own ability prior to oppose the magi like this? The magi that have possessed more raw power than he had? Perhaps, the answer could lie in many more things than one, but what remains now..

.. is a challenging endeavour for Thea.

"You can already feel it, can't you?"

"This pull from within. This hunger, this..."

"New nature."

A mistake committed in combat. She just wasn't strong enough, quick enough.. and most certainly not enough overall to take on the Serpent; instead, what follows is the endeavour in which she's a subject to yet another bite, one that poisons her greatly, the entirety of Serpent's body coiling around her - the fangs stuck at the base of her neck, nextto the shoulder.

"Hushhhhh..."

It's akin to a blackout. Where the world fades before her very eyes, and what remains is the perception of shadows before her- where the darkness that permeates through entirety of the world is almost the only thing she can see. She begins to leech off from surroundings, drawing in the shadows that could be served as a means to protection.

A dangerous game, one that Fidi deemed fit to experiment upon through her.

There's too much of venom. Too much to shake it off quickly; and where the Serpent has taken her essence in return, feeding plenty... the bloodied fangs finally exit her flesh.

"I'm done with you. Now..."

"Shoo, chew toy."

The coiling around her body unwraps, only leaving the grasp at the end of a tail; and suddenly, she's thrashed away from the Serpent. This would leave her more or less safe, for now...

Yet, hurt all the same.
(Fidi)

No matter what she tried, it didn't seem like the youth was going to be able to make a comeback this time.

Her flames were no match for the creature, it managing to avoid that and the swings from her blade pretty easily. Well, if there was one thing she managed to learn through this little match, it was that she really didn't like whatever kind of magic that was!

The teen was already struggling to stand by this point, the repeated bites from the creature certainly taking their toll on the youth. She was sweating a great deal, her arms were sagging a bit and she overall just looked pretty out of it.

Just as she felt like she might've been able to come up with another strategy, Thea found herself getting bit by the serpent once again!

Everything went dark from there, the plasma that enveloped her body fading into nothing. Something rather odd began to take place- but Thea wasn't able to think much on it. They weren't sure why shewas seeing everything so dark, but that could've been handled later. Right now she was fighting- oh wait.

The fangs soon exited her shoulder, the venom flowing through her veins quite a bit before that was done.

"Dang.. it.." Thea mumbled as Fidi soon uncoiled itself from around the youth, only to smack her away with it's tail after! Thea is sent flying a fair bit away, descending to the ground and rolling around for a bit.

Even though she wanted to just pass our right then and there- just to give up, Thea began trying to crawl. A hand slowly stretched out trying to grab onto whatever she could.

But alas, she just didn't really have the strength to do anything after that beating. Instead, she calls out for help as loudly as she could.

".. H-Hayakuei!"
(Thea Adelman)

As she continued to watch the battle, Hayakuei could see just how this was going to turn out. While Thea was indeed strong, against someone who could hinder her movements and retreat so easily? The Adelman wasn't going to do so hot.

And soon enough..

The serpent sunk it's teeth into Thea's flesh. Squinting as it did so, Hayakuei immediately figured it was venomous. Otherwise, such a bite wouldn't have put Thea into such a terrible state. Upon the teen being flung away, the Shengese woman would approach before Thea could even really call her name.

"I'm here, Thea."

Prior to kneeling down onto the ground, a steely gaze was given onto the serpent as it departed, "Next time, I will be your opponent. I pray you find yourself more power, cause what you displayed will not be enough to stop me."

And with that said, the Xie would place her arms around Thea and helping her up- and if needed, carrying her "Let's get you somewhere safe.. Shira will help you."
(Hayakuei Xie)

Was she challenging him?

There seems to be an ever-growing, amusing smile that stretches across the maw of the Serpent. Could snakes even smile? If only looks alone could be described what Serpent feels to this. But it's far, far from fear..

It's excitement.
At the prospect of new enemy.

How many has he gathered by now? Thryne, Cless, Jack, Tanya, and now.. she will join that list. There could be countless things said about this, but what the Shenghese woman is offered would be a promise.

"I can't wait for that to happen.."

"Do not disappoint me, hm?"

There is but a brief pause, and the Serpent slithers off away. They would meet again in the future.

He's sure of it.
(Fidi)