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 Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:49 pm
Excerpts from the fanfiction also listed in this subforum, SAC.
ToC
1) When All Else Fails
2) The Sun is Gone
3) Light in the Darkness
4)
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:00 pm
When All Else Fails Excerpt: Some time after the incident outside on the practice field. Collet Farandole, struggling still to control her now released demon's magic, let her emotions get the best of her power and attempted to strike Emily, succeeding. However, this led to a confrontation between her, against Beatrix and Emily. Axel, fellow cadet and engineer hobbyist, tried to stop Collet. When Collet downed Beatrix and blindly charged to throw a lethal strike, Axel took the hit instead, for Beatrix, and was murdered in the process. Aside from the momentary outburst from Beatrix out of despair of Axel's passing at that moment, afterwards she said no words to Collet, nor voiced her feelings on the matter to even Emily. But there was one day, after a discussion with Yue, Collet found herself called to meet Beatrix and talk privately.The sun shone down warmly mid-day, clear, cloudless sky. It was a beautiful day. It would be more appreciated as well, if the blonde beastgirl hadn't been so distracted by her thoughts on where she was going, or who she was meeting. It had been some time since they last spoke, which was before that horrible scene on the practice field. It twisted Collet's stomach, being so vividly aware of what she'd done. But she could never get control of herself when things went red, she just couldn't. When she was pushed, she lost all control, all morality. Like all those other times. When Selene had her captive, or when...or Marie, even. Emily and the others, they even went as far as to restrain from outing that Collet had done that. But this time, it was unavoidable. They knew it was her, all the authorities. The only that saved Collet from immediate arrest was that there were three witnesses who could vouch that Collet had no control over her impulse. The demon was a complicated third party too. But Collet still had to wait out verdict on her fate. She didn't know if they'd let her stay on campus now, much less remain a cadet. She killed. Twice. They didn't even know about the first time. Seras was forgiving of her cadets most of the time...but this, this was complicated.
Collet watched her footing as she wandered closer and closer to the bordering magical forests on the side of town. The only reason why she could leave campus was because of the outing day, but usually straying this far into city borders was something they were prohibited from doing unless accompanied by a captain or given permission. But if Beatrix went as far as to sneak out here this far, then she really did want this talk.
"Bea?" Collet called out softly, looking around as she brushed the leaves of a low branch out of her face and ducked underneath it. Her right ear jumped at the sound of a twig snapping nearby. Standing up straight, she spun, the next thing in her vision being the navy haired human, usual white flower in her hair and grey eyes staring at Collet. Something hid in those grey eyes. Not just the usual calm on the exterior that matched her stoic expression, but something else. She hadn't said more than two words to Collet since the day it happened. For some reason it made this meeting all the more worrying for the beastgirl as her tail twitched, showing her anxiety in betrayal to her attempts to not look so nervous.
"...thank you, for agreeing to this." Beatrix finally said, looking at the ground as she stepped a bit closer. "I know it's a dangerous inconvenience, but I wanted to have this talk as privately as we both could manage."
"B-Beatrix...listen, I'm...sorry." Her attempts at apology were as pathetic as they sounded after the first day. Beatrix shut her eyes and shook her head.
"Stop apologizing. We're obviously past that."
"W-well...you never said anything about it...I can't help it." Collet said, her tail falling still.
"I know. We're past it because I won't accept apology." She said bluntly. Collet blinked as Beatrix's eyes showed a sharpness in them that could cut holes into Collet as she stared at Collet's face. "You killed someone. Not just once, either. But you killed someone that was actually close to me. Someone that...I did care about, very much. Collet, 'I'm sorry' doesn't even begin to make up for that." Her voice was as sharp as her gaze when she spoke. She stepped off the tree root she had been standing on top of, taking smooth steps closer to Collet as she talked.
"I hadn't felt so...hurt, since Ojou-sama had been ripped from me by those demons the night of the Governor's Ball. If anything, I feel so much worse, not because of who it was, but because this was so absolute. Ojou-sama, she came back. Axel...she won't ever come back. She's dead, and she's gone, and its permanent, and I can barely force myself to accept that fact."
Collet stepped back as Beatrix strayed still closer, her intent obviously bad for Collet. She wasn't much of a talker, but she was upset enough with Collet, it didn't even matter anymore. She was saying everything that had needed to be said since this trouble had started. Collet stumbled some trying to back away from Beatrix, but in a wooded area, it was hard to avoid backing into the trunk of the nearest tree. Beatrix ended up able to place the palm of her hand against Collet's collarbone, holding her against the tree. Collet wasn't going to go anywhere without Beatrix stopping her.
"I-I'm sorry...I don't..."
"I said stop saying that!" Beatrix said, her bitter anger seething through finally. It had only been building, and now here she was unable to keep holding it in. Her fingers curled, her hand now gripping a small handful of Collet's Ariadne uniform tightly. Collet nervously tried to reach up and get her to let go, but the girl's fingers were grabbed on so tightly her knuckles were white. "B-Bea..."
"You're going to fight."
"W-what!?"
"I said, you're going to fight. It's not a question, it's not a request, it's a command. Call it an order as your second-in-command. Fight me, right here." Beatrix yanked Collet away from the tree and shoved her the opposite direction. Stumbling, Collet fell onto the ground as she heard Beatrix turn to her, pulling out her wand. "Wait a second! I don't want to fight you!"
"Mintir Mintis Freesia." Ice magic burst around Beatrix momentarily, scattering the leaves away from her, coated in frost now. Collet already had first glimpse at Beatrix when she fought angry. She was surprisingly ruthless, and driven only to her goal. "I told you. I'm not giving you a choice, Farandole."
Collet's eyes widened a little bit as she was already readying spells. Quickly, she scrambled onto her feet and barely got traction into her shoes before barely throwing herself out of the path of a few ice arrows that burst at teh ground where she was mere moments ago. Collet breathed out nervously, breath slightly visible from the colder temperature of the air in the immediate area. This was serious. A magical circle materialized in front of Beatrix as she lifted her wand and pointed at the circle. "Fight back."
"I-I can't..." Bea's only response came when the circle glowed blue with her magic, and suddenly several larger blasts of ice magic were revolving around each other, darting for Collet. Collet took off, running away from the homing magic as fast as she could as she attempted to lose the four fired at her. Surfaces that hit them froze over some, like a hint as to what would befall her should she fail to outrun them. She looked behind her and jumped in panic to avoid the last one, the blast made on the ground just behind her sending her tumbling into the ground. Grimace on her face, Collet pushed herself back up, only to see a glimpse of Beatrix appearing right in front of her. A hand grabbed her shirt and forced her back onto her feet.
Collet's attempt at speaking utterly failed as a fist connected with her stomach, briefly knocking the wind out of her as she doubled over and staggered back. She struggled to force a breath, mouth open and tears forming in the corners of her eyes with her arms wrapped around her own middle. It didn't even seem to matter anymore that Collet wasn't finding the will to fight back, Beatrix really was a relentless girl when she was angry. No wonder she was so difficult to truly anger.
Collet looked up and stepped back as Beatrix threw another fist. She ducked from the next. Well, she made an effort to evade, at least. Beatrix waved her wand, a spray of ice causing Collet to shut her eyes and turn her head away. What? Opening them, she looked back at Beatrix and froze. The tip of Bea's wand was right at her forehead. "Nivis Casus." Beatrix unleashed a smaller scale and lower power version of the actual spell. She jumped back as Collet found herself at the mercy of the snow that pounded at the trees around her, and swept her away. Her movement was disrupted by the tree she connected with, hard.
Beatrix lifted her hand to the air, a similar readying stance Emily took before a certain spell, as a large magic circle appeared, tilting slowly until it was aimed where Collet was, and then condensed on itself, growing smaller until Bea was satisfied. "Iaculation Grandinis!" The area of the magic circle filled with ice stones and spears, that shot at where they were aimed. Collet gasped and turned her body away, raising an arm in front of her head as her other hand touched her wand in her uniform. With the amount of time given to raise a barrier, the barely conjured circle between her and the oncoming ice easily shattered upon the impact, ice dust particles covering the area as they made contact with the area. Collet's cry of pain could be heard in the commotion, but no change of expression had come over Beatrix's stern face. No look of mercy, no compassion. Not yet. She marched straight into the cloud of icy air, spotting Collet barely standing against the trunk of the tree, coughing and clearly cold, which wasn't helping the fresh injuries sustained from the hailstone spell. She had one eye shut, her left eye shut to shield from the blood that ran down in a jagged line from her head down her face.
She grabbed the collar of Collet's ruined, dirty uniform, and her fist went sailing into the side of her head. Collet could swear she heard ringing in her head as her legs refused to support trying to keep her on her feet and gave. She collapsed onto her side, unwillingly letting out a pathetic groan of pain. Movement from Beatrix made her flinch and shut her eyes like she was expecting more punishment. But when none came, she slowly opened them, feeling some surprise when a hand remained open next to her face, and Beatrix kneeled next to her. She was offering her help to get up. Collet, confused, raised her hand and took Bea's, struggling to push herself up as Beatrix pulled. Even standing she nearly fell again, but Bea grabbed her shoulders, helping her steady herself. Pulling out a handkerchief, Beatrix patted away the blood that kept Collet from wanting to open her eye, and then placed the cloth in her hand.
"Now. You can apologize." She said, calm again. Collet stared at her for a second, before opening her mouth, the words once again tumbling out. "I'm...sorry. I really am. I never meant to do it."
Beatrix looked down, then nodded, letting out a slow, long sigh. She sounded tired. Looked tired too. But the anger was mostly gone. "I forgive you." Collet almost didn't believe that. But Beatrix met her eyes, and nodded again, like she was confirming it. "Axel, would have wanted that, anyway. But I do."
She motioned for Collet to start walking, and helped her wander out of the forest as they both headed back to campus. Preferably the infirmary. "Now I know how those demons you and Yue beat up a year ago felt." Collet said weakly. Beatrix smirked a little bit, shaking her head.
"You're only lucky you only received my anger, and not Ojou-sama's or Yue's."
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:08 pm
The Sun is Gone Excerpt: The beast seal is simple. The first level breaks when it becomes visible to the eye. The second level breaks when magic is forcefully poured into the seal to shatter the level. The third level fades, and releases the entirety of the seal when the individual takes the blood of an innocent against their will. Murdered in cold blood, a student is left in the hallway of Ariadne Academy, and no hint as to who had done it. Or at least, no one has a clue who killed the student, except Yue.It was all too vivid. The memory still rang through her head like she was watching it happen, all over again. She was running to the border of the city without even a care that she wasn't supposed to go this far. She'd already crossed a bold line. Nothing else she did now mattered. Her breathing was hard and ragged, she was out of breath, but she kept running as she attempted halfheartedly to raise her arms when branches were in her way. Huffed struggles to hold back tears that rolled down her face anyway were only heard by the creatures that ran from the girl in the wooded area.
Her shoes caught one of the uprooted tree roots, her momentum sending her off the ground and hitting the ground. It hurt, but that barely registered as the dog beastgirl choked out a sob, burying half her face in the dirt and shutting her eyes.
Marie du Chat. What did she ever do? If anything, since their trip to New Ostia last year, Du Chat and Von Catz actually got along quite well with Collet and the rest of the squad. There was nothing wrong with either girl, and they seemed to harbor a slight respect at least for the improvement Collet showed since her first reputation as the school failure.
She'd already been distracted. If Selene wasn't a problem before, she was now. She was the reason why Collet could barely think straight now. She'd not only revealed the long-hidden secret not even Collet knew about that was located right there on her torso, but she'd unsealed it almost completely. First reveal it, then fuel magic through it. What was the last step? She couldn't even remember now.
"Hey, Farandole? You all right?" Collet stopped and looked to her left. Marie looked at her with some concern on her face. Apparently, the stress was showing on Collet's face like a beacon. Collet shook her head. "I'm fine..."
Marie crossed her arms. "Hey, I know a lie when I hear one, especially from you. You're not very good at it, either." Collet let out a weakly amused chuckle at Marie's retort. A lightheaded wave of nausea hit her, forcing the girl to move and lean her head against the wall.
"And the seal shall unleash, and reveal its true form once the blood from an innocent is taken unjustly. Love, I'll come find you when the time comes." Selene's voice rang through her ears as she shut her eyes. Ugh, what was this...a strange and foreign magic gathered around her stomach, where her seal was. Her hand rested over her stomach as she realized the magic wasn't foreign at all. There was a strange familiarity with it. A frightening amount of it too, more magical power than she was used to having at one time. She had an affinity to dark magic, but this dark magic was on a higher level. She felt a stirring in her head and body. There was this tunnel vision that overcame someone before they passed out, and that's exactly what she was feeling. But the passing out never happened.
"Collet!? Hey, what's wrong?" Marie placed her hand on Collet's shoulder. Collet grimaced and opened her eyes. The green in her irises began to slowly fade to a yellow shade as underneath her uniform, the seal was actually moving. The black markings of the seal began to squirm, and move ever so slightly. Collet made a struggled sound as something else inside her began taking over. Something about Marie being right there. So easy to reach...just grab her...
"Hey?" Marie asked again, trying to get a look at Collet's face. Collet turned on Marie, grabbing the girl by the throat and pushing her into the wall. The eyes that returned Marie's confused stare weren't...they weren't normal, for Collet. Vivid yellow irises, eyes that held a violent and wild primal side. Marie gasped as she grabbed Collet's wrist, trying to pull her hand from her throat. A black aura began to sprout from her hand that gripped Marie by the throat, and creep up her arm. Collet's eyes flickered to Marie's hand when it moved down to grab the wand the girl stored in her uniform.
In a flash, Collet let go of Marie's throat and snatched her wrist, a growl escaping as she backhanded the other beastgirl. "Collet! What--" Marie was cut off by the relentless blonde. Collet grabbed the front of her uniform and slammed her into the wall hard before pulling her away from it. The dark aura was still slowly creeping gradually over her body as she punched Marie in the face.
There was a thud as the victim hit the ground with a small groan, hands over her face. Collet's nails grew sharper as she swiped them over Marie's hands, causing her to yelp and tear her hands from her face. That left her face open to another swipe that left cuts across the face. Another swing. Marie's cry rang out with the cuts across her throat, the blood's scent unknowingly driving Collet more over the edge as the dark aura began spreading faster, the markings of her seal moving more and more apart. Collet continued, relentless as she grabbed Marie's throat in one hand and swung her other fist repeatedly, until even her own knuckles began leaving blood behind. It'd been a horrific sight, if anyone were around to see, but by now Marie was already too far gone to be saved anyway. She was already dying when Collet's nails had cut across her throat.
Collet caught her breath as she stopped, hand gripping Marie's shirt. The marks were now creeping over her skin from where they'd originally been, covering her torso in one larger released form of her seal, but the yellow was fading from her eyes, letting her come around. She looked at the bloodied girl on the floor below her, and gasped. She stood up quickly, the smell of Marie's blood on her hands and clothes so undeniable. "Oh...god, what..."
What has she done?
That was when she'd run. She panicked, and she ran out of there, off of campus. And now here she was, sobbing into the dirt. You could just barely see the black seal pieces scattered over parts of her torso, still permanent parts of her skin. The magical energy just poured off of her, keeping the curious creatures of the forest away from her out of caution. Blood still stained her hands and her clothes, dried but still staining her with the reminder that she'd taken a life. She barely even knew what had happened, but that didn't matter. She killed someone, someone who didn't even deserve to die. She killed Marie. Collet's eyes squeezed shut as she let out another wail, tail curled. She openly cried out her despair over the revelation that hit her. What could she do now? Go back and let them find out it was her? Stay here and weep on the ground? She was different, she'd changed. Not only biologically, but mentally now too. How could you kill another living person out of cold blood, and just let it go? Her body trembled as she pushed herself off the ground, trying to sit up.
She looked at her reddened hands and fingers. A sickening feeling settled in her stomach as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned against the nearest tree. It took more energy than she had now just to keep from throwing up.
"Hey love." A familiar female voice spoke. Collet opened her eyes, exhaling as she looked up. Long pink hair and the light skin of a vampire. Selene. Collet grimaced at the sight of the catalyst of all of this mess that was here before Collet now. "I told you I would find you when the time came." She said, staring at Collet. Collet averted her eyes, frowning. But a hand moved into her peripheral vision. With a single blink of confusion, Collet looked at the hand that Selene offered, then at Selene's face.
"Come on. You're unsealed now. I know you're not going back there either."
"W-what...are you going to do?" Collet asked eventually, her voice cracked.
Selene smirked. "Face it, you've got nothing now, do you? I know what you really are, Collet Farandole. I also know you don't know how to control it. You think they'll help you? They'll more than likely kill you or condemn you when they find out. They accepted you barely the way you were before, just imagine their judgements now." Collet remained silent as Selene spoke the truth. God, how did it come to this, sitting here in her pathetic state, and suddenly thinking the girl that made her life a living hell suddenly sounded like some twisted saint? Selene leaned down some, her hand lowering more so that her fingers brushed the side of Collet's face and lifted her chin a little bit to make Collet look at her again.
"You need me now. Either die here, go back and let them punish you, or you can come with me." She said, her voice so soft, and so alluring with the option she gave her. Collet's hand raised a little bit. Selene let go of her chin and took Collet's hand, making her stand up. "You'll look back on this and it won't even matter, when I'm done with you, my little demon." She said with a menacing smile before pulling Collet to follow her away.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 10:50 pm
Light in the Darkness Excerpt: When Collet was younger, her family had been murdered off mercilessly by a rogue band of dragonfolk, led by Brawn, a dominantly dragon, dragonfolk. Even with years past, Brawn still fights to survive, though his days of roaming and pillaging are over. But when Collet insists a fight from him, he accepts on the grounds that if she loses, she's going to die. Emily, Beatrix, Yue, and Nodoka all stand aside, anxiously watching as Collet prepares to attempt the revenge for her family here at the old rubble of where the Governor's Ball had been held last.Brawn was powerful. Muscle, scales, large weapons, and power. He was fast too, he hadn't traded any of that power for speed, his dragon limbs not allowing for the loss of it. None of this fight played to Collet's advantage, even being the supposed trained and disciplined cadet she was now, and no longer that scared little girl who watched this beast murder her brother, the same beast who killed everyone else whom she loved. Fortunately for her, that was what fueled her actions now, and her determination. Brawn swung his large broadsword. Collet jumped backwards, the ground literally breaking underneath the force that Brawn put behind his swings. Brawn kept her moving swing after swing, and it was hard telling what the hell kept him able to swing that huge sword like that. Brawn dropped his sword and reached behind him, grabbing the bag that hung on his back. Collet caught her breath just as the dragonbeast whipped over his shoulder something unpleasantly large. The bag loosened and fell off of it, and Collet exhaled, staring at a huge multi-barreled, silver gun, trigger firmly held in Brawn's right hand.
"G-guns!? Oh, that's...that's just not fair!" Collet said, grimacing. Brawn smirked, a growled laugh escaping his throat.
"Did you hear me say anything about fair?" Brawn stated. All the warning Collet got was a small sound of his finger starting to put pressure on the trigger. Her reflexes immediately acted, as she took off running. Her spectators all jumped as the bullets began pelting violently at the ground right behind Collet as she ran, desperate to avoid getting a nice, big hole put in her by one of those rounds. She shut her eyes for a second, growing tired of this. She couldn't keep running or she'd get exhausted, but Brawn was leaving no openings for her to attack during his full assault. She felt a pulse of a slight headache for a second, and she grimaced. No...n-not right now... She couldn't deny that she needed that other side of her. Her life was really in danger here. Selene had been right on one fact. Her demon needed to survive. Which meant, if Collet was in danger, it kicked in. Like an instinct. The trouble was controlling it. She was scared to let it go, and that was because she knew she'd lose it afterwards.
"Either fight me or let me kill you little girl!" Brawn shouted clear over his gunfire. Collet spun on her heels, quickly jumping into the air as the line of bullet passed under her. She aimed her hand at Brawn, five black arrows appearing. They sped at, not Brawn, but the gun. Entering straight into the barrels, Brawn didn't even have the chance to drop the gun before there was a flash within the barrels, and the weapon ignited an explosion that blew the dragon-man backwards. Collet hit the ground, running at Brawn already. "Me Armet!" She shouted, her registered weapon appearing in her hands, the comfortable hilt of Bane replacing the standard cadet sword she let go of after her uncle had given her his best sword. The serrated blade glinted in the beating sunlight as she shouted, swinging it at Brawn. He lifted in arm, his scales taking the blow, though the rake of the serrated edge did tear a few scales away. He growled, his other arm coming around and swinging right into Collet's side. Collet yelled out briefly as she hit the ground some distance away. Brawn walked over to her, placing a foot on the smaller beastgirl's body, chuckling. "You're still weak. It's like nothing changed since we last saw each other. So. You ready to join your family?" He asked, increasing the pressure of his foot. Collet winced, beginning to feel the pain of his increasing weight. Was she? No, she wasn't. She wasn't supposed to die this young. The last living Farandole wasn't supposed to die like this, by the same man who was responsible for making her the last one. You win. Fine, you win. I don't want to die like this here....you win! She shut her eyes and yelled as Brawn heaved more weight onto her. But the yell wasn't for the pain, but the feeling that hit Collet as a dark aura blast out from her skin, like a pressure release to see. Her arms moved, hands grasping at his foot. Brawn frowned, uncertain of what was going on. Or at least, he was, until Collet gave a surprisingly strong shove, and Brawn waved his arms as he fell over, releasing Collet from his pin.
She pushed herself up. Yue frowned, a bad feeling already in her gut. Nodoka stopped and looked over at her concerned friend, an expression of matching concern. Because if Yue was worried, then there was something to really worry about. Collet stood up straight, brushing herself off as Brawn stood as well. Her eyes were a brilliant yellow color, black markings on her skin mostly hidden by her clothing though you could see a few of them sneaking onto her neck. Her fingers curled into fists then released again, ready for a real fight now.
"Oh so we're getting serious now? Good." Brawn said, before getting on all fours and dashing right for Collet. Collet easily jumped up, landing on Brawn's back. He stood, and Collet hung on by grabbing his ears. Brawn shouted as he tried to reach behind him and grab her. Magic gathered around her right hand as she held it out, avoiding the swipes Brawn was making. The minute she got her opening, she threw a fist at him, driving a dark magic infused punch at the side of his head. The magic blasted out of her fist as she jumped off his back, letting him stagger from the hit itself. She crouched and spin, the toe of her shoe dragging over the ground, creating a wave of dark magic that hit Brawn next. He roared in anger as he turned to her and used his tail to pull her closer, swinging a closed fist at her. Collet grabbed the fist, grimacing as she locked the punch into her grip. Brawn growled, but the surprise was clear in his expression. Collet pushed back, stepping forward once. Her free hand slammed onto Brawn's scaled chest.
"Centum Lanceae Umbrae!" Spears of dark magic rose from the shadows on the ground as they exploded at Brawn. Collet felt his fist back off, and immediately threw another magic-reinforced punch at him. Brawn grunted and was sent flying backwards, crashing into the ground and scattering the rubble in his way.
Emily seemed surprised, as surprised as the others were. Yue was the only one who seemed to have a permanent mask of concern. Nodoka frowned, looking at her again. "Yue, what is it?"
Yue shook her head. "Something's not right. Collet's not in control. See how her magic's just pouring out? She's producing more magic than she can handle." Emily's ears flickered, catching Yue's explanation, and she looked at Collet again. She grimaced, a small scowl on her face as she watched her squad-mate fight. "Dammit, Collet..."
Brawn coughed as he stood up, catching his breath. "God damn! The little girl can fight!" he brushed himself off, shaking his head. "Forget it. You win. I ain't the same as before you know, I don't really care about killin' you. I'm kind of impressed actually." He remarked. Collet took a breath. Brawn was serious, Collet won her right to live. That was good right? So...why didn't she feel happy? Elated? Shouldn't she feel some satisfaction that she proved herself to someone so strong? Yue saw it first. A pulse of dark magic waved off of Collet. The demon's power was getting to her head. What did Selene say about Collet being a real beast demon? Pure beastfolk are actually demons, whom when unrestricted, ran on instinct and gut impulse. They knew what they wanted all the time, and when they knew, they acted.
Collet knew what she wanted. Her family was dead. Was she supposed to just let this killer turn around and walk away? Knights will tell you, there's something more than disgraceful about killing your opponent when their back is turned. There's a dishonor in it, a coward's move. But did Brawn deserve to live or die? These questions and thoughts were the thoughts that didn't occur to Collet's darkened mind at all as she disappeared, a mist of black gathering behind Brawn, who was already walking away. Collet appeared in the mist, her yellowed eyes ablaze as she lifted a hand, a hand gripping Bane.
"Collet! NO!" Yue suddenly shouted. Brawn didn't get to turn around. Magic poured into the blade, and Collet grit her teeth as she drove it at Brawn. The point pierced right through his scales, between his shoulderblades. She impaled him completely, and it was scary, how little effort it took for her to do something that should have been difficult. The life left Brawn's dragon-like eyes, as he slowly fell onto his knees. Collet jerked the blade out, blood jutting out a little bit from the force of the serrated blade leaving Brawn's body. Brawn's body hit the ground, vitals signs gone.
Emily cursed under her breath as she hopped onto her broom and rushed over to Collet, intending on disarming her and getting a hold of her. Of course that plan wasn't going to go well. "Farandole! Enough, drop the sword!" She shouted her command, but it fell on deaf ears. Collet turned, swinging her sword towards the ground. A wave of dark magic rose up, knocking Emily from her broom. "Ojou-sama!" Beatrix took off after Emily. Naturally, Yue and Nodoka followed. Three magic circles appeared around Collet, from the squad girls. Magic sparked between them, trying to trap Collet within. Black crept around the barrier, shattering the barrier before it could completely form. By then though, all of them were grabbing Collet, trying to hold her still.
"Let...me, go!" Collet shouted, magic bursting out of her forcefully, the impact sending all four girls off of her. Yue felt the back of her head hit a large piece of rubble, and she saw bright spots in her vision as she struggled to stay conscious from that. Collet dropped her sword, and dropped to her knees, hands raising up to her head as her magic began circulating around her, picking up like a current of wind around her. The markings on her skin began to creep more into view, thickening like they were completely casting her skin with black. Dark aura built around her form, solid color building within the aura. it was literally shifting her body into another form. Her ears lifted, shaped into pointed ears that were pointed back and lowered, her tail lengthened some, black collected around her arms and legs, forming a beast's claws. Her hands fell to the ground, eyes shut as she groaned. Her head was the last thing that the aura engulfed, forming into a dog demon's muzzle. Her eyes opened, revealing solid and glowing yellow eyes, completing the new look of a shadow-formed dog demon. Emily stared, almost in disbelief. Collet turned her head, spotting Emily, and her eyes narrowed. Emily grimaced, standing up quickly. s**t.
Demon Collet pounced at Emily, snatching her by the arm. Emily found herself thrown through the air, and collided right into Beatrix. Collet let out a howl, a wave of dark energy coming right off her own person crashing through the ground and blasting into them both. Her eyes caught Nodoka heading over to Yue. The black beast appeared suddenly, an obstacle between the still dazed Yue, and Nodoka. A paw came across Nodoka's face, Collet essentially back-handing her and knocking her onto the ground. She pinned Nodoka to the ground, a feral growl abruptly bursting from her muzzle. Nodoka struggled underneath the demon's claws, a sudden push momentarily pushing the air right out of her lungs when Collet's front claws raised into the air.
"Iaculatio Fulgoris!" A single lightning spear suddenly struck the back of the demon, releasing a current of electricity that surrounded Collet. Painfully immobilized by the sudden lightning for a second, Yue took the chance to get up and grab Collet, wrapping her arms around the beast dog's middle to pull her away from Nodoka. "Collet! Stop it! Stop!"
Collet howled, flailing and squirming in Yue's hold. The shadows began to withdraw, revealing Collet's normal appearance again, save the still yellow eyes and obviously still dominant demon. She let out a frustrated shout as she tried to pry Yue's arms off of her. Nothing was deterring Yue, not the nails scraping at her arms and hands and leaving behind cuts, not even the elbows that tried to jab her into letting go. "Collet...come on, control yourself! You and me, we didn't do all that training to get you better for nothing!"
Collet sent a much harder elbow jab driving into Yue's chest, finally forcing the blue haired cadet to let go. Turning, Collet grabbed her shirt and sent her fist towards Yue's face. Yue grabbed her arm, kicking Collet away from her, but Collet grabbed her ankle and pushed her, throwing Yue onto the ground. There were sounds of brief struggles as Collet pinned Yue to the ground, grabbing her neck.
"C-Collet...Collet, look what you're doing...you don't want this, I know you don't." She said, keeping her fingers pried into Collet's grip in an attempt to lessen the pressure around her neck. "Please listen to me, you're stronger than this demon, Collet!"
"Why....do you keep helping me?" Collet said through her teeth, grip not faltering. "Why don't you just let it go? Let me fall. It would be so much easier..." It was really beginning to feel that way. It would be easier to just let her go demon, let things take their course. Collet would go berserk, they'd capture her, they'd have to kill her...and it would be over.
Yue coughed, trying to get a proper breath through the little space she had to. "I couldn't do it even if I wanted to. I care too much about you...d-don't you get it?" Nodoka got up, and looked like she was about to help Yue. But Yue shouted in protest. "No! I...l-let me handle it."
Collet shook her head, eyes pained as she stared at Yue. "No, I don't. I'm going to kill you here, Yue. I don't get it at all."
"No you're not. C-Collet, you won't kill me. You know why? Because you don't want to, and I know your will is stronger than this. S-somewhere inside, you know why I keep helping you. You know why I can't give up on you." Yue let her right hand go, at the price of Collet being able to put just that much pressure on her windpipe. She reached up to Collet's shoulder, hand clinging her shirt. "If you do k-kill me...then so be it. As long as...it makes an impact on you." She pulled, forcing Collet to lean a little bit closer. Yue's voice lowered, like the rest of the words from here were meant only for her ears. "If anyone ends my life here in this world...it might as well be...at the hands of somebody...I love." Collet blinked. Yue let a weak smirk creep over her face. "G-get it? But our feelings...they've never really been...that secret, have they? If you say...that you had no idea, I'll know you're lying." Her hand let go, slipping down farther until they resumed their grip on Collet's sleeve. It was getting harder to speak, much less control her grip. She squirmed a little bit, feeling the lack of air cutting off her ability to properly think. "Collet..." Her eyes narrowed some. She was trying so hard not to just drift into unconsciousness right now.
Her body seemed to feel an immense wave of relief when some oxygen found its way back into her lungs. Collet's grip around her neck was gradually loosening. She met Collet's frightened gaze, noticing her normal green pigments spotting back into her yellow eyes, until they were completely green again. Moisture glittered at the bottom of her eyes, realization of what she was really only mere seconds away from doing just now hitting her. Her hands slipped away from Yue's neck, drawing up to her own chest like she was scared of what they would try to do next. "I'm...sorry." She managed to say in a whisper.
"See? I knew you wouldn't do it." Yue responded quietly, grabbing Collet's wrists and pulling Collet. Collet found herself in Yue's arms, a warm embrace to re-assure that Yue wasn't upset at all. "Because I'm right. Everything I said, was right, and it was true. I love you, and I won't lose you. I refuse to just lose you physically, or mentally. I just want to know that I can help you." Collet closed her eyes, tears forming now not because of fright, but the overwhelming sense of...what was it? Relief...comfort. The genuine warmth Yue gave her. Faults or not, no one else accepted all of Collet more than Yue did. "I could say that I'm surprised to hear it...b-but, you already said you'd know that it was a lie." Collet replied with a small smile, before letting out a small relieved chuckle. Yue let go of Collet's wrists, pulling her by the shirt a little bit closer before pressing her lips to Collet's softly.
Collet's tail twitched in surprise, gradually leading to a content wag. It almost felt like the kiss cleared air that needed to be cleared between them. Justified something. The sound of someone clearing their throat stopped them though, Collet glancing up to realize they were still surrounded by others. Emily had her arms crossed, tapping her foot a few times. "Are you two just about done disgracing yourselves in public? Cause we've got a few more important things to do then wait all day for your little make-out session to end." She said curtly. Collet grinned, letting Yue up before sitting up herself. Yue brushed herself off, glancing at Emily with a bit of humor in her expression. "Perhaps Iincho is just jealous I chose Collet over her then?" Emily blushed, comically outraged by the very suggestion. "I--What!? Th-that is entirely uncalled for!" She shouted. Beatrix and Nodoka exchanged glances, smirking at each other. It seemed for the moment things had cleared up. But no doubt, there'd be no avoiding the events of today, later on. However, just for a little while, maybe the girls deserved these precious moments of optimism.
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