Welcome to Gaia! ::

Saken followed behind the two as he started putting things together, especially now that he knew the identity of the woman.
The woman who he met in the alley was in fact Birth, which meant that two day thing was a warning.
He sighed as he remembered hating his lack of judgement and the consequences that followed.
Now he was stuck with some kid who could wield a sword and a girl he was forced to accompany.
Cursing his luck he turned his body and allowing light to surround his foot slammed it into the side of a pursuing crawler sending it into a nearby building.
Landing he turned back around and continued following the two as he heard Hikari talk.

"Would you stop asking questions? There's enough headaches with these things around," Saken said throwing a sphere of darkness into a carrier below causing it to explode.
"Chosen saviors or envoy's none of it even matters."
Saken closed his hand into a fist allowing darkness to surround his hand as he glanced back to make sure the demons were still far behind them.
"Anything in the way will be cut down regardless of status."
Since he was stuck with Hikari until Kalan deemed it fine to leave he would have to help find this Virtue.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kalan glanced over at Inae at her words but remained silent as she went to catch up with the two.
Glancing over he noticed Nala was at his side before turning and running after her.
When he caught up the two he let out a small sigh of relief that Mirela had caught up to her before she got too far away.
He opened his mouth to speak when he noticed Birth in front of them.
Hearing what she called him he rubbed the back of his head remembering they were enemies long ago.

This was actually convenient since he could ask Birth himself about what was going on.
He started to greet her when he saw the tear in her eye, he wanted to ask why when red filled his vision.
His eyes widened as the demons attacked Birth, his hand closing into a fist as he watched the demons devour Birth.
Nala took out a small handkerchief and wiped the blood off her face with a sigh.
Kalan created a straw sword before an image of Miu flashed through is mind for a moment.
He didn't want the demons to get away but with Miu right there he found himself hesitating.
Gritting his teeth he summoned more straw before surrounding the demons in it.
He quickly hardened the straw creating a ball of straw trapping the demons in it.
He kicked the ball causing it to roll down the street the screams of the demons fading in the distance.
He let out a small sigh and reaching up tied his hair into a low ponytail.
"Guess those days of keeping Nala contained came in handy," he mumbled.
"Next chance I get I'm cutting both your heels,"

Kalan glanced back at Mirela before speaking.
"Mirela head towards the west part of town with Inae, and take Nala with you."
Kalan stepped forward and with some strain summoned another sword, continuously using his straw was starting to take a toll on him.
Creating the ball of straw pushed him even further causing him to sweat a little.
"It won't do any good if we all run towards the west since they'll just follow. I'll act as a distraction and meet you later on okay."
Kalan turned and leaning down placed his hand on Miu head before offering her a small smile.
"Stay with mommy and be safe. I'm trusting you to keep her company till I get back."
Kalan stood up and backed away looking at Mirela before turning back towards the demons again.
Seeing them drawing closer he ran forward into them before cutting the palm of his hand.
He quickly threw his blood towards the demons some of it landing on them before turning and running into an alleyway.
The incoming demons quickly turned and ran after Kalan.

The demons in the distance however were still drawing closer.
Nala turned and watch the demons drawing closer in the distance.
"Well he did sacrifice himself may as well not waste it,"
Nala said as she made her way down the street.
Feel free to stay behind and slow down the demons I'm going ahead,"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The tavern owner looked at the city alongside Reaper as something seemed to linger in the air around the two.
He looked over at Reaper who stood with his arms crossed, his attention focused on the city.
The tavern owner's brow arched as Reaper's smile seemed to twitch for a second.
"What was that Reaper?" the tavern owner said turning his attention back towards the town. "For a moment there that smile of yours seemed to shift."
"I just had a little itch on my nose mind getting it for me?"
The tavern owner shook his head before squeezing the bridge of his nose.
"Putting that aside I think it's time to send in some more,"
Reaper made a motion with his hand causing more of the demons from below to run towards the city as ten handlers flew past him.
"This certainly brings back fond memories,"

Screams rang through the night as Hikari and team made their way deeper into the hoards of demons. Flashes of light filled the redish night sky as explosions rang out, their source tiny throwing knives made of light. Hikari lead the pack, her blade slicing through the sea of demons as she unleashed an arsenal of new weapons, toying with her new found control over her light.

"This is getting rediculous, we don't even know where we're going!"

Sora flew over head, catching a leaping crawler, slamming into the roof of a building before her blade flashed, the demon crying out before vanishing into dust. Sora stood, brandishing her blade as she turned to Hikari, a small smirk on her face.

"We're headed towards the north end of town. We should be reaching the gate soon."

Hikari looked over the rooftop, the sea of demons only growing thicker down below. A screech rang as a small group of crawlers appeared on the adjacent roof, mad dashing at the two on the roof. Hikari's eyes flashed brightly in a short instant as three daggers of light appeared between her fingers on her left hand. The demons lunged only to be thrown back, their bodies beginning to disintegrate before a snap swallowed all sound, three explosions firing.

"Annoying things..."

Sora and Hikari stood, waiting for their third to catch up, the world being swallowed by shadows around them, only their bodies of light visible in the darkness.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep in the pits of hell, the roars of numerous demons rang out as they stampeded to escape through the hundreds of portals that had appeared. Maniacal laughter filled the chasms of the underworld as millions of demons sentenced to purgatory were now being set free into the overworld.

However, under a large tree, two beings sat quietly, their tired, tattered bodies illuminated by the lone tree, so far out of place in such a dark and lonely world. The man that sat there peered up if for only a moment as a flame shot up, a portal ripping open before him. A bright sheen adorned the man's eyes as he peered from behind his silver hair. For a moment the world around them went silent as the man slowly stood, his lips parting as he began to speak.

"What are you up to Death..."

The small patch of grass began to wave as the man stepped forward, the capital visible through the ring of flame. A gloved hand slowly raised before protruding through the portal, the cool night air brushing against the man's exposed fingers, a small grin coming over his face.

Chapter 1....End

Inae seemed to be relieved as they reached the west side of town, however that relief was quickly snatched away at the sight of the child before her, and replaced with a severe look of irritation. "Listen, kid... I'm tired of these demons causing trouble in this city, and child or not, if you're just going to be adding to the problem, I don't care for you." Turning her head slightly, Inae walked over to Miu before placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Miu, did you hear him?"

Miu blinked a little bit and glanced up at Inae with a slightly confused look on her face, indicating that she hadn't. "Hear what, Auntie Inae?"

"He wants to play, and with Nala no less. Why don't you join them? Don't worry.." The tiny woman brought her gaze up to Vin for a moment as a sly smirk fell upon her lips. "He isn't going to eat you. Since Mirela isn't here, I'll make sure of that." Inae had actually wanted to see just what Miu could do. Just letting her stand on the sidelines and observe wasn't going to do anyone any good. Even if she was just a child, she needed to be able to pull her own weight. Of course, if things started to go downhill, she would step in.

"Remember when you wanted to play catch with Mirela and I when you were younger?"

Miu thought for a moment before giving an energetic nod. "Yup yup! I remember!" She folded her arms across her chest. "You wouldn't play, and you even yelled at me!"

"Well back then, it wasn't a good time to play. It is now though, so why don't you go ahead and play with them?" She chuckled a little bit. "Mirela would be happy."

"Well... If Momma would be happy..." Miu broke out into a happy little smile, giggling. "Of course I'll play!" After unfolding her arms, Miu opened the bag she had been carrying before shoving her hand into it. After just a few seconds of digging, the small child pulled out a tiny black and white feather from the bag.

Placing the tiny feather into her mouth by its stem, Miu closed the bag and lifted up her puffy hat before placing the bag on top of her head, only to lower the hat back down a few moments later. After retrieving the feather from her lips, Miu crushed it between her hands by clasping them together. She then closed her eyes, only to re-open them a few moments later as an orange-like glow began coming from between her fingers.

The child's smile seemed to brighten as she loosened her grasp and began to pull her hands apart. The glow became more intense as the feather became encased in a tiny ball of crackling, orange energy that grew in size the further her hands moved away from each other, forming a translucent shield in the shape of a ball. Once the 'ball' reached a diameter of 1 1/2 feet, Miu tightened her grip once more. It began to crackle a little more violently, showing that it wasn't too stable.

"Heehee, Sissy! Let's play with our new friend!" Turning her attention to Vin, Miu stepped forward, taking her place beside Nala, apparently oblivious to the dagger that had been drawn from her sleeve.

"You look fun to play with!" Miu raised the 'ball' up closer toward her face, which quickly became illuminated by the light of the object in her hands. After letting out a happy giggle, Miu raised the ball high above her head. "You'd better play nice, though!"

In one swift movement, Miu brought the ball down from above her head, only to swing it down between her legs as she bent over. She then released the ball and returned to an upright position, only to watch the 'ball' quickly roll across the ground, tearing a path into it as it went. Miu tilted her head slightly at this, unaware of the fact that anything the ball came into contact with would be met with a great amount of force.

"Be careful with my ball, okay?"

--------------------

Mirela narrowed her eyes at Vilos's words. Even if Kalan hadn't spoken his thoughts about whether Vilos was kidding or not, she had already felt that he wasn't... Which only made her think even less of him. She had remained quiet through his entrance, however at the mention of a 'test,' she shook her head.

"I can't say that I'm too fond of that idea."

Mirela glanced over at Kalan as he charged forward at Vilos, however remained just as still as their opponent. "Trust me, you won't have to worry about any hesitation from either of us! You really must wish for death to threaten our family."

Taking a few steps back, Mirela locked her attention onto Vilos, her determination burning within her violet eyes. She then brought the bow across her viola's strings, causing a sweet-sounding sound to resonate throughout the area. The bow took on a pale green glow as Mirela continued to play, causing streams of green energy to emerge from the viola. The streams then moved to the ground, hovering just a few inches above it.

Mirela began to pick up the tempo on the melody, which caused the streams to advance toward Vilos. They moved around Kalan and proceeded to move toward Vilos, only to come to a halt and start pooling beneath his feet upon reaching him. As the melody's dynamics began to increase, the energy began to increase in luminosity.

'Almost...'

"Careful, Kalan!"

Mirela brought the melody to an abrupt finish, causing the energy to take on one final, bright glow followed by a slight hiss before finally detonating into a small explosion.

'I don't expect that to finish things, but hopefully it does something... Even if it draws his attention away from Kalan to let him land a hit, I'll be happy. Fear the power of Love, Vilos.'

It had been a long while since Mirela had even raised a bow to Love in an offensive manner, so she felt a little rusty. She also felt that maybe with a little practice on the battlefield, she'd be able to easily get back into the swing of things and go back to how she had been seven years ago.

'Well, maybe that isn't such a good idea...'

Saken sliced through a crawler and rolled as he landed making sure to keep up with Hikari and Sora.
He could hear screams down below followed by loud angry bellows, his stomach churned at the thought of these things much less what they were doing.
For every demon he cut through four more seemed to appear in their place.
He hated to admit it but the endless barrage was started to have an effect on him.
His light had gone dormant forcing him to use darkness to get through the horde of demons.
Seeing Hikari create an exit he turned to jump into the hole but stopped as something pounded in his chest.
Saken came to a stop as darkness started consuming his body.
He grit his teeth as his body was covered in his darkness creating a silhouette like appearance.
A dark aura hovered around his body as the darkness around him started to flow into his body.
He closed one eye and forced the darkness away from him causing the darkness on his body to break apart and fade away.
Saken shook his head and jumped into the hole after the others only to see a cloaked figure sitting in a chair a few feet away.

The cloaked figure sat with their legs crossed looking at the group through the darkness of it's hood.
A large silver staff with a vine wrapped around it, and a strange dial like object at the top of it leaned against the cloaked figure.
"Must be nice to be part of a lower class intelligence,"
The figure stood up after speaking grabbing their staff in the process.
Reaching up the figure removed their hood revealing the face of a young man.
He had short blond hair that stopped at the back of his neck and wore a monocle on his left eye.
A smirk was on the man's pale face as he stared at the three.
Saken closed his hand into a fist building darkness into it before the man held a finger up to him.
"I'm not here to fight you. I have no desire to fight low specimens of humanity. I feel bad for you so I thought I'd help seeing as you need guidance. Thus I Ivan shall assist you."
Ivan turned his body and raising his staff pointed near the northwest.
"That deity you're looking for is that way. Keep going in that direction and it'll be easy to find her."
Ivan lowered his staff and turned to face the others before pulling his hood back up.
"How do you know about that?" Saken asked glaring at him. "I also don't see why I should believe you."
"That is none of your concern and if you have another way to find her by all means ignore my generosity. In fact please go ahead and let me know your plan to find the deity."
Saken cracked his knuckles causing Ivan to sigh and shake his head.
"Superiors always have to assist those of a lower stature so no need to thank me. Maybe one day the three of you together will make a person that can rival a quarter of my intelligence."
Ivan chuckled to himself as yellow energy circled around his body.
"Good luck," Ivan said before vanishing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kalan attacked Vilos making sure to keep him busy until Mirela could finish her attack.
Vilos leaned away from Kalan's continuous attacks making no attempt to retaliate as Kalan continued to attack him with his sword.
Hearing Mirela's warning he quickly jumped away from Vilos as the energy gathered beneath his feet.
Vilos looked down before the energy exploded causing Kalan to raise his arm to shield against the rubble.
Kalan looked into the dust of the explosion his grip tightening around his sword as he looked for any signs of Vilos.
"Almost,"
Kalan's eyes widened as Vilos appeared in front of him in a flash of green.
He raised his sword as Vilos kicked him sending him sliding back a few feet.
Vilos lowered his foot and turned his attention to Mirela.
"A worthy attempt though you missed,"
Kalan flexed his hand causing more straw to come out into his hand.
He sent a medium sized piece of straw at Vilos before firing dozens of smaller ones at him.
Vilos leaned his body dodging the medium sized one but ran his hand along the side of it before grabbing the other end of it.
Making diagonal motions he deflected the smaller straw away before tossing the medium sized one away.
"Hard to fight when you're tired isn't it Kalan?" Vilos said shaking his hand.
Kalan pulled the straw back into his sleeve grabbing the medium sized one with his free hand as he kept his attention on Vilos.
"I'm sure by now you understand,"
Kalan nodded and allowed the medium sized one to enter back into his sleeve.
"You've been following us for awhile...you let the demons weaken me before revealing your presence,"
"Precisely though I don't like using such methods and prefer fair fights,"
Vilos raised his right hand and held it out in front of him causing green flames to circle around it.
"I was an assassin before coming here so I know how to stand up against swordsman. I was unsure of your skill so I made sure you were weakened before facing you. Still in your weakened state can you really protect everyone? Seems hard enough just to watch Mirela."
"I won't let you attack them," Kalan said gripping his sword with both hands. "Mirela get ready to-"
Vilos held up a finger to Kalan as he turned his head to the side for a moment.
"We're done," Vilos said lowering his hand. "It seems I've been summoned. However before I go allow me to ask you a question. If you're here fighting me who is protecting those dear to you? While you engage in a meaningless fight how do the others fair?"
Kalan relaxed a little seeing Vilos exit his fighting stance but kept his swords out. "I can't protect Miu and Nala while I'm here...but there's someone's protecting them. It's easier to protect those close to you when you have multiple people caring for each other."
"Then who is protecting them? Realize your actions endanger those around you."
Vilos turned his back to the two before adjusting his hood.
Mistress Vivian should be nearing Inae by now. Know that you weren't able to protect them yourself and learn from it Kalan and Mirela,"
Vilos vanished in a cyclone of green flames before they all dispersed.
Kalan remained silent making sure Vilos was gone before pulling his straw back into his sleeve.
"Mirela let's hurry back to everyone," Kalan said turning to her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vin smiled as Miu started using her power causing his talisman to glow in his hand.
When she tossed the ball of energy he hurled the talisman forward causing it to stab into the ground.
A small explosion followed creating a medium sized crater in the ball's path as Vin put his hand over his mouth an innocent laugh following.
He used the crater to avert the ball's path and force it to fly over his head as he summoned another talisman.
He stepped a few feet to the right before smiling to avoid the ball's descent before speaking.
"My turn!"
Red energy flowed from Vin's body as the earth around him started to shake as he let a little of his power flow out.
Nala felt an immense pressure suddenly fill the area and dug through her mind for any kind of escape plan.
Miu was the only one out of the two of them that could use a power so she could serve as a temporary distraction for Vin.
She figured while he was tearing here apart that gave her roughly a three second window to move or take out one of his eyes.
However that was only if he wasn't going to kill them both at once.
Red energy exploded off the boy as the buildings around him started disintegrating from the release of energy.
He grinned as his cloak fluttered under him as the ground cracked under the pressure of his energy.
"Miu how do you feel about being a human shield?" Nala asked.

"Vin....that's enough,"
Vin's energy stopped as Vivian walked up to the group keeping one hand on her sword.
The shine in his eyes almost distracted from the bloodthirsty aura around the child.
"Whatever kept the demons from this area is fading. They've consumed most of the city so our time is up."
"I didn't get to play with my new friends though," Vin said pointing at Miu and Nala.
"Vin there's a banner of heads a few feet away from us. You've played enough,"
Vin wanted to argue but after staring at Vivian he gave a sad nod and turned to Miu and Nala.
"We'll play mutilation some other day....I have to go."
With that Vin turned and jumped into the darkness his laughter echoing as he vanished.
A handler flew over head causing Vivian to look up as it casts a large shadow overhead.
Vivian sighed and made a quick vertical motion with her sword before sheathing it.
"Children are not spared so learn to survive," Vivian said looking at the two.
The handler split into two different halves with a loud roar as crimson fell from the sky, Vivian vanished as the waterfall of red crash down upon them.
Nala held up her now blood soaked robe and let out a small sigh.
"Being eaten alive is starting to sound good now that I've been around my present company," Nala said shaking her sleeve a little.

The sound of metal rang out as a cloaked figure dragged a red blade against the cobblestone of the main street, sparks flying, illuminating the shadows ever so slightly.
Accompanying the tall cloaked figure a shorter figure walked along side them, a massive hammer perched on their shoulder.
Their footsteps clicked as they made their way towards the pair of lovers, Mirela and Kalan.

"Saya, you know what to do"

The smaller cloaked figure known as Saya slowly removed her hood, snow white skin seemingly glowing in the darkness.
Her empty emerald eyes stared on at the two making their way towards them.
Her soft lips slowly opened as her frail voice broke the silence.

"Yes sir...."

Gripping the hilt of her hammer, she dug her foot into the ground, swinging the mighty weapon.
It's head hit the ground with such force, it shook the street, spikes of stone shooting out from the cobblestone high into the air, tearing the street apart.
The spikes shot through between Kalan and Mirela, forming a great stone wall.

"Now Saya, handle the girl. I'll take the gentleman."

"I understand..."

The Taller cloaked figure gripped his blade, his pace quickening as he walked down the length of the wall, sparks shooting from his blade as it drug along the ground.

Along the other side, Saya was now in full sprint, her hammer returned to it's original place atop her shoulder. Her hollow eyes looked straight on as she made her way towards Mirela, the ground tearing under her feet as she ran.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What the hell was with that guy?"

Hikari turned to her two 'companions', her voice strained as she tried to catch her breath.

"Apparently the demons aren't the only one's in the city are they?"

"I suppose not...Still who just tells the enemy where they're hiding their prisoners?"

Sora walked past Hikari and sora, taking a seat in the chair Ivan was previously in.
She removed her hat as she attempted to relax, if only for a moment.
She looked up at the two, her eyes gazing upon them through her silver hair.

"A confident one...."

Her eyes darted between both Hikari and Saken before landing upon the boy.

"So...What's our next move? The 'envoy' is running out of power, soon it'll be up to you and I."

As much as Hikari hated to admit it, she was right.
Her strength was leaving her and she didn't know how long it would take to regain it.
Long fights such as these weren't the best situation for the envoy in training.
Hikari turned to Saken, her annoyance apparent.

(profile update*)

Hikari stood dumbfounded, she couldn't believe what was spewing from Saken's mouth.
Ride on the demons that they spent the past evening slaughtering?

"How exactly do you think that would work? I'm sure they'd alert the others as soon as we boarded them."

Sora made herself more comfortable as Hikari bashed down Saken's plan.
She gave a small smirk as Hikari was right for once.
No matter how mindless they were, a hive mind knows when they're in danger.

"She's correct, we'd be better off resting here and fending off whatever shows up before they can alert the others."

Waiting wasn't exactly the greatest idea, but it was the safest, even Hikari knew rushing in at this point would end in death.
So the three sat in the dark abandoned building, praying luck was on their side as they regained their composure.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Feuern"

A flash of light left the cloaked figures sword as it's color switched to a vibrant blue, it's shape changing only slightly.
The blade thinned as the blade took on a victorian decorate style, lines crossing and twisting along the blades surface.
The figure quickly brought his sword up in a diagonal arc in front of him, a wave of blue energy firing from the blade.
The wave shot forward with enough force to slice through the straw aimed at him.

The man stopped, his foot appearing from under his long cloak as he assumed his stance, slashing the air before him, more waves firing off towards the pursuing Kalan.

"It seems the victor has already been chosen."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saya's emerald eyes locked onto the feat before her as she continued her dash.

"I'm sorry....but it's useless."

Saya slammed her foot into the ground as she grinded to a stop.
The ground shook as her foot sunk into the cobblestone below her.
A chunk of earth shot up in front of the girl, her other foot burying into the ground as she stabilized herself, her mighty hammer swinging from her shoulder.

A loud crash rang out as the head of the hammer smashed into the piece of rock before her, sending it flying at the dancing woman in front of her.
Small chunks of rock flew from the chunk of street as it flew forward, each slamming into the ground shooting back up into spikes of rock.
Saya lifted her hammer above her head before slamming it back into the ground, firing the spikes behind the massive boulder.

"Forgive me....but you have to die."

Inae kept her eyes on Miu as she continued following after her. She had been hoping that the tiny child would eventually get tired of running and stop, but Inae knew that such hopes were useless. Regardless of that mindset however, the fortune-teller continued at the same pace she had been going before. When Inae saw Miu come to a sudden stop, she let out a small sigh of relief and stopped in her tracks, seeing that Nala was in the area as well. It was then that her eyes landed onto the strange man that emerged from the shadows. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she flipped open her pouch and dug her hand into it, obviously not trusting the man. When Inae's eyes finally came to rest on the axe, she drew a card from her pouch and hurried forward just as Argon's axe was being lifted into the air.

"Tarot VIII - Strength!"

As soon as Inae spoke, the familiar purple mist burst out from the ground, forming the shape of a woman from the bottom up, starting with the feet and legs. Inae ran alongside the wispy form of Strength, taking the card in her hand and sliding it into the hand of her summoned companion, allowing her to take her full form. This caused Inae to slow down a bit, as if she had started to feel a little fatigue from her previous actions. The small woman slowed to a stop, but the words she immediately barked caused Strength to keep on moving forward.

"Protect Miu and Nala!"

Strength gave a nod hearing Inae's order and continued to charge forward, not bothering to slow down due to the cause for her summoning. Clutching the card in her left hand and the rapier in her right, Strength narrowed her eyes, her pale yellow hair whipping behind her as she ran. It didn't take long before she had closed the distance between herself and her chosen opponent. Upon her arrival, Strength stood close behind Miu, only to raise her rapier and bring it forward, colliding with the axe and blocking it before it could slice Miu into two.

"I cannot allow you to inflict harm on these two children. If you fail to comply, I will have no choice but to cut you down where you stand.."

Strength applied a good amount of force to her rapier, trying her absolute best to keep the axe away from the children. Despite her effort however, the woman showed absolutely no evidence of struggling. Instead, she kept her calm, but a deep gaze of hatred seemed to radiate within her crystal blue eyes.

"Accept me as your opponent."

Miu had been prepared to let out a scream, however she stopped herself from doing such a thing as she came to realize that she had now been standing beneath a shadow. As she looked up, she saw that the sky above her had seemed to be blacked out by two very large obstacles, but she wasn't too worried, seeing as they had stopped Argon from dividing her in half. Miu was happy that she was still alive, but seemed to be even happier upon realizing that Nala was with her.

"Oh, Sissy! Did you come back to help Momma and Daddy, too??"

Dashing out from under Strength, Miu scurried over to Nala and stood beside her before turning to watch Strength face off against Argon.

"C'mon, let's go and help 'em while the mean man is distracted!"

"Miu!"

Inae had resumed her approach to the small group and soon found herself standing in front of both Miu and Nala. The shock from before had worn off, and had long been replaced with a stern look that had hints of fatigue lying within it.

"We're not going anywhere. You two are going to stay behind me, hopefully Strength should be able to take care of him... She knows not to keep me waiting. Miu, you can help out if she needs it, but you can only do it from a safe distance. Don't ever be that stupid and run off like that again! You're lucky that I didn't just leave you both. Now stay quiet and keep behind me. This should hopefully be over soon."

"Y-Yes, Auntie Inae..."

--------------------

'Well, this shouldn't be too hard...'

Upon seeing Saya's retaliation, Mirela came to realize that she needed to finish her attack as quickly as possible. She had been glad that she took a little bit of time to prepare. Mirela brought the melody into a sudden and very quick crescendo, causing the streams of energy that she had prepared to reach their peak of luminosity. Within just a few brief moments, a trail of spears shot up from the ground, extending to a great length. They towered high above both female combatants, piercing their way through anything in their path-- Including Saya's retaliation strike. The ethereal spears pierced through the boulder, breaking it into multiple pieces before remaining still in their respective places.

"You know, I'm afraid you'll have to try a little harder than that if you have your mind set to killing me. I just wish that you knew who exactly it is you're dealing with."

Giving a small yet serious smile, Mirela continued her melody, seeing that she still had the wave of spikes coming at her to deal with. As the melody shifted into something a little more repetitive, what was left of the energy from before began to gather around Mirela. It seemed to dance around her, just as she continued to dance while preparing her next line of defense. By increasing the tempo, the energy spiraled around and away from Mirela, only to form a medium sized cyclone. The cyclone spun violently and rapidly, tearing a small path in the ground beneath it as it tore through the oncoming spikes, directing them away from Mirela before it dispersed. The energy however, remained dormant within the air.

'I need to finish this...'

With this thought in mind, Mirela shifted the melody once more, bringing it into something a bit more chaotic. The once dormant energy began to advance toward Saya. It circled around her, just as it had done to Mirela previously. After wrapping itself in the air around Saya, positioning itself as a spiral, the energy came to a rest. Mirela slowed the melody a bit, allowing more spears to emerge from the energy. The new spears adjust their aim accordingly, each one of them locking onto Saya from different angles. From there, Mirela quickened the tempo of the melody once more. This caused the spears to release from their hold and launch at Saya, each one aimed to pierce her body. Mirela's intention was not to kill, but if it came down to it, she knew that it was something that couldn't be avoided. Removing the bow from Love's strings, Mirela twirled it in her hand and slowed her dancing to a stop, allowing her to keep a better eye on Saya.

Bringing the twirling to a stop, Mirela shifted her stance, bringing the bow back up to Love's strings once more as she awaited her opponent's next move.