Fleo rubbed her eyes.  The sheer speed and ferocity with which the two combatants fought astounded her.  If she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes, she would have confidently insisted that nobody could come near, much less fight against, the maelstrom of blades that Damian provided.  Yet, Minerva had indeed done so.  Right off the bat it was blindingly obvious just how blindingly fast the woman was, but halfway through the battle (after she had been disarmed) she had apparently received her second wind, and moved too quickly for Fleo's eyes to follow.  The dusty one could guess why the duel had been so intense: both wizards were fighting not only in the physical world, but also the one of ideals.  Such a conflict turned a sportsmanlike struggle into a passionate vendetta, and when Minerva finally won, Fleo was just glad that neither had been reduced to mincemeat.  If they had been any less appreciative of the consequences, they would have certainly killed one another--such was their tenacity.

Sure, it gave Fleo some pleasure to see arrogant, prying Damian knocked down a peg, but at the same time it also made Fleo feel guilty.  She had wanted him to suffer a small prick to his pride, but losing after such a boast, not to mention to a lower-class wizard, had to hurt.  Regardless of the mental consequences of the too-serious sparring match, the physical outcome was clear.  Neither Damian nor Minerva could fight again anytime soon, and Fleo was glad.

[i]How would she even have fought one of them?[/i] she ruminated.  To start off, she would have called a Dust Craft: Earth, to create some territory that she could manipulate.  After that...?  That's what improvisation was for.  [color=C2B280]"Maybe in a few minutes, Felix!"[/color]  She called to the boy before he approached and engaged an enervated Minerva in conversation.

Then onto the scene, within only moments of one another, came Candy, Mithera, and most of all, Karn.  Candy's odd appearance and total addiction to sugar gave Fleo a mixed vibe of insanity and friendliness, which she greeted with what she hoped was a friendly smile.  Mithera's stateliness earned her a congenial wave, though Fleo didn't catch on to her injury.  However, Fleo quickly found her entire attention thoroughly routed to Karn as the guy bounded around, talking a mile a minute and generally exuding a degree of hyperactivity that made even Fleo's head spin.  She managed to be surprised when he seized her hand, endowed upon her a nickname, and belted out a good deal more before leaping to his next victims.  Fleo could hardly compose herself to reply (mostly to caution him about the new dust on his hands, which he was now sharing with everyone else he was touching), and by the time she did he had already moved away.  

Now, everyone who was here -right outside the guild hall and next to the place where the duel had gone down- consisted of only her, Candy, Jamie, and Amaya.  Mithera, Zero, and Karn were a little farther away, Damian was sprawled on the ground, and Felix had gone inside for Minerva.  Fleo looked left to right with a growing grin on her face.  [color=C2B280]"You people are crazy.  I guess I've come to the right place!  Anyone want to help me get Mr. S-class inside?"[/color]