Cernia's eye twitched; the more this woman spoke, the more irritated she became. It was getting to the point that her tail was lashing back and forth behind her and she glared at any of the dumb Raijuu boys who dared to so much as glance at her. Huffing, she flicked her hand as an order for her gang to be still before following after Lucille, hands in her pockets.
For the most part the older woman remained quiet as they walked. She was unfamiliar with the layout of the Setsuna Temple but it wasn't difficult to navigate her way further into the property. Lucille remained silent until they reached the main temple at the center. At that point she sat down on the stairs that led to the entrance and faced Cernia, making a motion for the girl to take a seat next to her.
"So... tell me, what's he like? Is he a fox too? You have to give me some details here," she finally said, her tone changing to something more positive and inviting. Almost as if she was trying to get gossip or a juicy story from a friend, despite having just met Cernia.
The Kyuuby still muttered to herself, eyes suspicious when the vampire beckoned her by her side. Cernia did just that though she kept her arms crossed in annoyance. Honestly, for a Chaser, it seemed this woman really had nothing better to do than to give kids dating advice or something. Flicking her ears, Cernia glared up at Lucille.
"First off, it's a she. Second, no; it's much worst. She's some dumbass priestess with her head too high up in the clouds. A total weirdo and a ditz at that too," Cernia listed off, as if the insults were ingrained into her memory. Well then. This was certainly odd.
Lucille's smile vanished for a brief moment, but the serious expression didn't last long before she laughed to herself.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. It's just a funny thing to me. My children were boys so I had to help them with girls. It's almost like doing the same thing again, in a way," Lucille apologized, making it clear to the prodigy Kyuubi that she wasn't mocking her. After calming herself down she looked back to Cernia.
"Gee, that somehow makes me feel so much better," Cernia replied with sarcasm, already regretting letting this vampire smooth talk her into revealing such personal things. But they were already at this point so they might as well continue on with it.
"So she's a priestess, huh. At this temple? Is that why you hang around here or were you here first? Though I suppose that doesn't matter very much now that I say it out loud..." She paused for a brief moment to consider what she knew so far. She'd have to be careful with her words, for while she meant well she didn't want to get punched by a girl that was contending for the strongest creature alive.
"So anyways, what do you think the issue is? Can you not get her attention? Or perhaps... is she not interested in girls?""She was here first but she had the nerve to come to me. Or something...look, I don't really remember. Besides, she's way too full of herself anyway. And it's not like she's not interested girls. It's just....ugh, she's so annoying! And a ditz too," Cernia complained for the both of them.
"Always going around trying to catch aliens or something stupid like that...not like any of that kind of crap is fun or anything..."Lucille cocked her head sideways and rested it on her palm.
"Aliens?" she muttered. She had never really thought about it before, as she had dismissed the idea decades ago. But with the whole Crimson Sky situation, suddenly the idea didn't seem as crazy as it used to.
"So the girl is a bit vain, I guess. Everyone has their flaws. You're a bit aggressive, for example. And I'm a bit... pushy, I suppose. Anyways, have you actually tried talking to her about the two of you? Or has it been a passive thing where neither of you have talked about your true feelings?" It was hard to resist just looking into her mind to get the right answer, since Cernia had a habit of hiding what she feels, but Lucille still gave the girl the respect she deserved.
"Eh? Well....no. Not really. Why would we talk about our feelings when the chances of them not being returned is so high? Besides, we're usually argueing over stupid stuff for that to really happen," Cernia said, voice slightly unsure. Was it actually so simple as to just sit down and talk about it? Impossible.
"Well, I don't think you should directly talk about your feelings like it was the weather or something," Lucille added.
"It would come across as awkward. Probably even random. I'll tell you what I told my sons all those years ago: just ask her out." She didn't need to pause now, but she waited very specifically for dramatic effect.
"The very act alone conveys more than you think. Once the option for a relationship is on the table it will be much easier to sort out both your feelings and hers."
"But I do have to say though, being rejected can happen." Lucille now looked away, but her smile still remained.
"You can't always get what you want in life. Sometimes it can be unfair. You might find a boy... er, girl... who you feel strongly for but they don't return those feelings. The important thing is that you try. You miss every shot you don't take, as the saying goes." Now she looked back to Cernia, the smile fading away.
"When did you plan on trying? Did you ever plan on it?""Um...well..."Cernia's answer and the fact that she looked away spoke enough words. Obviously she wasn't planning on settling this issue any time soon; that would explain the rather immature behaviour on her part what with starting a gang and what not. Really...why was she even doing this again? As she thought more and more about it, a creeping feeling of the unsettling nature rose up her spine. Why
was she doing all this?
A disappointed frown appeared on Lucille's face.
"You can't just take your time with matters like this," she said, taking a stern and lecturing tone.
"The longer you wait the worse your chances are. Someone else might even sweep that girl off her feet while you're trying to figure everything out. How would you feel if you didn't even get the chance? What's worse to you: taking a chance and losing... or losing on taking a chance?"The Kyuuby narrowed her eyes and flexed her fists, severly annoyed and outraged by Lucille's tone and words. Mostly because the vampire was right and that only made Cernia more uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to say something, only to close it again before sighing to collect her thoughts.
"You just had to be the motherly type, didn't you? Why the hell does a bat like you have to be right," she muttered.
Lucille smirked to herself briefly, feeling some pride in her life experience. Granted it wasn't a
direct compliment or anything, but finally someone acknowledged her wisdom.
"I've done this song and dance before, sweetie. Not just giving advice, but I was in your shoes a long time ago. I was a bit younger than you, and it was about a boy rather than a girl, but it works all the same. Back in primary school I had a crush on the football team's goalie. But he didn't seem to be interested in me. I waited so long to try and get him myself that... that bitch Katie went and stole him."The old memories of her school days flared up briefly, creating visible anger from the vampire. But as quickly as it came it went, with Lucille taking a deep breath to calm down.
"I hated that witch. Anyways, in the end it was a lesson I learned the hard way. Thankfully I didn't have that problem when I met my husband later, as he approached me. But the moral of the story is that you can't wait forever. I didn't take my shot as a schoolgirl and missed out. If my husband didn't take a shot with me he would've surely missed out as well. You get what I'm trying to say?""Um, sure," Cernia said, already picking up the hints of a boring lecture.
"Yeah, sure, I get it. Look, I appreciate the advice and all but why are you still here again-ghhn!"Something sharp and searing spiked through her neck and Cernia immediately clapped a hand on the side of her throat. Gritting her teeth, she felt the world being changed slightly, but she didn't know how. The Kyuuby's mind was stuck in a haze of inner-confusion but her body was acting on its own.
At once a deadly snarl escaped the Kyuuby, her eyes fading before being overcome by a dark purple light. Growling, she turned on the vampire suddenly and lashed out with a solid punch. Was...Was this what had compelled her to start a gang?
Lucille instinctively reached for the girl, to put a comforting hand on her shoulder when she felt a pain in her neck. But her reflexes kicked in as the girl began to radiate a purple light, retracting her hand in a flash and jumping to her feet. Just in the nick of time, avoiding the girl's attack. Lucille seemed to have a possible speed advantage, but she knew that a direct blow from Cernia would probably be the end of it.
"Cernia?" she questioned, taking another step back just in preparation of another attack.
"What's going on? Wait..."
"Who are you?"
Cernia's answer was a lunge at the vampire, aiming to pin her to the ground. It would seem all acts of trying to reason with the Kyuuby would be all for naught as her motions and demeanor were that of a wild beast. Her tail began to glow with a pulsing light, Cernia snarling savagely with the desire to tear the vampire apart.
The older woman leapt backwards in a hand spring, bouncing off the ground in a few flips to put more distance between herself and the Kyuubi. When she finally landed on the ground again on all fours, her expression lost the confused look and became completely serious.
"Don't make do this, Cernia..." Lucille performed one last back spring, this time kicking off her high heels in the same motion. She had no idea where they landed, probably far away from the speed of the motion, but now she was going to be able to move faster.
Okay, Lucille, what to do... If I can bite her then I can calm her down by force. But that could go wrong very fast. Maybe I can try communicating with her telepathically. Something is wrong with her and she isn't in control, but maybe she still has her conscious thought...With her decision made, Lucille focused on the Kyuubi girl's mind. Her voice would ring out within Cernia's head.
"Cernia, you need to calm down," the voice said, using a calm and nurturing tone. Something gentle, to test the waters. Lucille half expected to get no response, but she hoped that there would be some kind of easy way out of this. Cernia was a rare case where she couldn't simply overpower her opponent. Being a vampire afforded no advantages tonight.
All Lucille would get back in return was a massive mental scream, the roar threatening to tear the vampire's mind in two. What was worse was that the feral declaration was being emitted both in the mind and outside, the call startling a few of the Raijuu boys. It didn't take very long for both immortals to be surrounded by the massive group of Raijuu, their eyes wide at the sight of what was going on.
And then something happened that made them all instinctively step back in fear. For as Cernia continued to roar and rampage, a burst of energy was growing behind her, taking the shape of a second tail. If Cernia wasn't stopped soon, Lucille would have to deal with a full blown nine-tails.
That was interesting. Lucille looked quizzically at the girl as she grew another tail. She was largely unfamiliar with the history of Kitsune and Kyuubi, not realizing any difference between them until now. She could feel a difference from Cernia, despite the ringing in her ears from the piercing shriek a moment before.
So she's not at full strength right now. But she's growing stronger. I guess this is my only opportunity to try and defend myself. Otherwise I will have to run...The vampire held her ground, placing one of her bare feet forward in Cernia's direction. Lucille wasn't particularly trained in martial arts, but she had been practicing on her own over the past year since she became a vampire. After all, having incredible physical capability is only so useful if you don't know how to handle yourself. It was a weak stance, clearly one used by an amateur, but Lucille
seemed confident that she could stand up to Cernia.
"You kids may want to get back. This could get out of hand..."The Raijuu wasted no time in following Lucille's advice, getting the hell out of the surrounding radius. They didn't know what the vampire thought she was doing but each of them figured she had a grasp on the situation. Right? If anything, at least they were convinced not to go joining any other gangs, especially if the leader was going to turn into some woobie destroyer of worlds. With a snarl, Cernia dashed forward with incredible speeds.
When the girl finally dashed forward, Lucille stepped to the side and reached out. She latched onto Cernia's right arm, intending to flip the girl over and pin her onto the ground. But this proved to be folly very quickly, as when Lucille applied her own strength she found Cernia's arm wouldn't even bend.
I underestimated this girl. That much strength in just one arm... Rather than doom herself she let go of Cernia's arm before the girl could fling her around and then jumped backwards. Wrestling her to the ground wasn't going to work, and even if it did it seemed that Lucille wouldn't be strong enough to keep her pinned.
So, I guess it comes down to this... Without any further dialogue, the vampire turned around and started to run away from Cernia again. She first jumped, clearing the compound and landing on the roof of the main temple, waiting there to see if the girl would follow her and to see how efficiently she could move around. If Cernia ended up being faster than Lucille then running wasn't going to help, after all.
As the fight began in earnest, a new element introduced itself into the situation. There was no sound at first, but it would be felt in an overbearing presence, an aura of power and strength that radiated from the direction of the temple exit. An aura that only seemed to intensify with each second that passed even if it wasn't noticed at first by those present. It could only belong to one person, yet only Cernia would be able to recognize it, and she was far from being in a state to do so.
Then the presence made itself known vocally, grunting as she stepped into view of those present.
"Tch," the
woman grumbled to herself.
"I leave the kid alone for, like, a day, and she goes off and does something stupid." It was obvious that she was quite the different personality, seemingly oblivious to the dangers present as she became involved in the currently ongoing fight.
The woman was tall, and radiated a power that extended beyond her appearance of t shirt and jeans, with long blond hair and red eyes, a bronze necklace with it. Her hands rested on her hips as she walked forward, ignoring the Raijuu present at the same time as she neared Cernia, hopping onto the roof in a single jump. A glance was given to Lucille, accompanied by a cocky and confident grin, as she drew near.
"Sorry about this. She's not the easiest person to handle." That said she looked to Cernia, frowning with her arms crossing her chest.
"I hope you had your fun Cernia. Time for you to get back to work."Cernia snarled, mind wracked with the intent to kill as Lucille leapt away and out of her grip. Her twin tails flashing, she prepared to leap up in pursuit of the vampire before a very familiar presence made her give pause. Body frozen in motion, the possessed Kyuuby turned to the voice of her master, staring blankly at the woman's form for a few moments.
It seemed that whoever, whatever, had taken control was hesitating in facing this new threat; but that hesitation was only for a moment as Cernia screeched out into the night air, one fist glowing in blue flames while the other was coated in a freezing layer of ice. She then took off, suddenly appearing at the woman's side with a punch aimed right for her head. It seemed the Kyuuby, possessed as she was, hadn't learned from last time.
A new woman had appeared, Lucille only detecting her presence just before she jumped up onto the roof. It surprised her from the power she was feeling from the newcomer, who seemed to be important. Someone confident at least.
"I noticed," was all Lucille had to respond to the mystery woman. It seemed like an inappropriate time to ask who they were and what they were doing. But as Cernia overcame her hesitation and jumped up to the roof, now using magic in her attacks, Lucille was quick to leap out of her way. She seemed to be gunning for the newcomer and Lucille knew she wasn't equipped to stop her.
The woman waited patiently for Cernia to answer her, noting the tails that lashed in the air and indicated the power that was currently being drawn upon. Well, that was annoying, and a tad worrying. Not as much as if she had had more currently manifested, but it was a sign that something was definitely up. She wouldn't have gone to such lengths without a major opponent, and this didn't seem to apply, no offense to Lucille.
Suddenly Cernia was at her side and she lashed out. Yet the woman reacted quickly as well, spinning and deflecting her punch before unleashing a blow of her own, a snap kick aimed at her side, which would send her flying off the roof if it did impact, allowing the woman to follow her and keep up the pressure on Cernia now that she had the advantage. It would almost have been an impressive battle to watch, if Lucille weren't so close to the middle of it.
Cernia's snarl was cut off as the woman launched a kick into the side, making the Kyuuby hurl over before being sent flying about a mile away. All of the irritation of the World's Strongest Creature was put into that kick, Cernia tumbling along roof tops before scrambling onto all fours with her claws. She quickly got up as the woman advanced, putting up a defensive as she blocked and countered the many blows aimed her way, the two fighters deadlocked.
Growling, Cernia's eyes flickered over to Lucille before her one of her tails began to glow. With a swift swipe she flicked a bolt of blue energy before it materialized into a giant blade of ice straight at the vampire.
The fight had taken a very distinct turn. The new woman blasted Cernia away with just a kick. Clearly she was quite strong. Was this possibly Cernia's master? The Strongest Monster?
"Oh my," Lucille muttered to herself, briefly wondering how well Cernia was able to take a blow like that. But it seemed that, in the distance, she had recovered quite fine and was able to continue fighting. The vampire wasted no time in catching up with the two, unsure if she should attempt to assist or not. She couldn't well run away, or else she wouldn't be accomplishing the mission.
But before she could approach it seemed that Cernia hadn't forgotten about her. A magical attack was sent her way in the form of a blade of ice. A large one. The timing on it was unlucky for Lucille, catching her while she was mid-jump and unable to avoid it. But she didn't need to dodge it. Her hands came together, catching the blade of ice before it could impale her and stopping it dead in the air. The freezing temperature of the blade would surely hurt a normal human, and that isn't accounting for the size and weight of the thing, but Lucille was able to defend herself just fine. After landing safely on another rooftop she simply let it fall to the ground, shaking her hands a few times afterwards due to the frosty feeling left in them.
"Well then, is there anything I should be doing now better than watching? Hmm..."The blond haired woman followed on Cernia's heels almost nonchalantly, springing between rooftops and otherwise walking as she closed the distance between herself and the rampaging Kyuuby. Given what she had displayed already it was obvious that she wasn't concerned about the threat posed to her, even as Cernia recovered from the brutal hit that had been administered to her. Soon enough they met once more, the woman sighing aloud before she lashed out, meeting each punch and returning her own with all the annoyance and irritation that she could muster.
The distraction as Lucille arrived was noted and otherwise ignored as she focused on getting the upper hand, meeting the incoming blows as she went to grab at her arms or hands, which would serve long enough to hold Cernia in place for the few moments needed to deliver a painful head-butt. Not the most elegant, but definitely effective, which she would follow up with an attempted pin, depending on how it turned out.
The resounding head-butt stunned the Kyuuby momentarily, just enough for the woman to pin her down. A few dazing moments later had Cernia shaking her head, the blow leaving a resounding cracking noise running through her ears. But whoever or whatever was controlling her was obviously not eager to relinquish that control, a final trump card of sorts playing out.
A burst of energy would explode from Cernia's body, gathering straight up towards the heavens that would serve to blow the woman back. Howling into the skies, a third tail manifested itself behind her, coating in blue streaks of electricity. Fire, ice, and now lightning; all three powers were but a third of the Kyuuby's full power and she charged right at the woman. If the vampire and the World's Strongest had any open opportunities to finish this battle, it would be now.
It seemed that Cernia's master had the situation under control, quickly pinning Cernia to the ground after brutalizing her in hand-to-hand combat. It was somewhat mesmerizing to watch, but Lucille wasn't too distracted to notice the build-up of power within Cernia. When she grew a third tail and blew her master backwards it was clear that the escalating situation needed to be handled
somehow. Before Cernia could charge at her master she would feel an impact from her side.
Lucille had dashed in and brought with her a full-body tackle. Taking advantage of her own strength and momentum coming perpendicular to Cernia's, Lucille slammed into the girl and sent both of them off-course from her master.
"I said I didn't want to do this," Lucille spoke up, gripping Cernia tightly as she continued forward to the edge of the building. She intended to dive off the side with the Kyuubi girl trapped in her arms. Surely gravity and physics could do some kind of damage, perhaps rack her brain a little bit to snap her out of whatever insane trance she was in. Of course, Lucille knew that she was now completely within Cernia's reach and largely unable to defend herself from any retaliations. Hell, she didn't even know if she could hold the girl for more than a second or two anyways. But at least she made the effort.
The woman let out a smirk as she pinned Cernia down, her tactics having been as successful as she had anticipated that it would be. That sort of thing came in handy, though she wasn't about to go into detail as to why it was. Right now she was just planning to stick like this, maybe rough her up a bit until the tails went away, something like that. Cernia wouldn't appreciate the headache later, but honestly the woman didn't particularly care. She had dealt with that sort of thing before, and could do it again.
In spite of her position, she was nonetheless caught off guard by the sudden burst of energy which surged from Cernia as the third tail manifested. It blew her back, though she tumbled and rolled rather than falling off the roof, and quickly recovered to face the oncoming charge. The charge that never reached her as Lucille intervened to tackle Cernia off the roof.
"Well then, that was unexpected," the woman noted to herself as she hopped down after them, walking over to deliver a full force punch to Cernia if she had broken free during the fall. Honestly she could have taken the Kyuuby at even higher levels of strength, but cutting her off now before she could go all out and wreck the place would probably be for the best. Cernia had better be grateful for this later.
Cernia had indeed broken free from Lucille's grip but it wasn't enough of a time span to dodge the punch delivered to her by her master. The solid blow only sent her plummeting down towards the ground faster, her body impacting and causing a massive crater to form, the entire Setsuna Temple shaking at its roots nearby.
The Kyuuby was unconscious, her tails slowly dispelling one by one. A dark hiss was heard, something seeming to emerge from a black mark on Cernia's neck. How long had that been there? The mark seemed to take three-dimensional shape, morphing into a black serpent as it desperately slithered away to safety. Assuming one of the women would crush it, Cernia groaned as she blinked open her now normal eyes, sitting up and rubbing the back of her head.
"Gahh! Motherfuck that hurt! Hey...Granny? Granny you...y-you...oi! You ruined my good clothes!" Cernia protested, already standing up and pointing at the blonde woman in accusation, indicating to her now torn and battered hoodie.
"Seriously, you can't be mindful of good fashion for once?!?"Lucille landed surprisingly gracefully after Cernia had broken free and her master accelerated the girl's descent, landing just at the edge of the crater she had created from the impact. Maybe the World's Strongest was able to solve the problem, as Cernia didn't immediately get up and her tails started to go away. But before they could breathe a sigh of relief it seemed that some strange, dark mass appeared on Cernia's neck, turning into a snake that wasted no time trying to flee from the unconscious Kyuubi. It didn't make it far, as Lucille's bare foot slammed onto its head before it could even leave the crater. Before the vampire woman could even question what happened Cernia decided to wake up and start berating her master.
Over the damaged clothes.
Is this so normal between them that she only worried about the clothes? For now she decided to stand to the side, to see how the conversation between them would play out. Perhaps her questions would be answered without even having to ask. As well it seemed like a good idea to not give Cernia the notion that she had just been attacked by Lucille, as the girl seemed oblivious to Lucille's involvement in the rampage.
The woman landed relatively gracefully as well after delivering the finishing blow to Cernia, though she landed inside the newly formed crater rather than just on the edge. Walking over, she noted the disappearing tails, which was good as far as she was concerned. Cernia seemed otherwise unharmed at the moment, which would make getting back on their way easier.
She folded her arms across her chest, tapping a foot as she waited for the Kyuuby to wake up from her forced nap. The appearance of the snake earned a sharp gaze and a frown as her mind wandered, connecting Cernia's strange actions to whatever that thing had ben. Perhaps something to look into later? But there was no time to wonder about it, as Cernia woke up and began to berate her about what she had done to her wardrobe.
"You attacked me," the woman pointed out.
"What happened to your clothes is only your fault."Having brilliantly explained her innocence in the affairs of clothes, she shot a glance at Lucille before turning back to Cernia.
"So who's the vampire," she asked, nodding her head towards their current companion. Given that the two had been fighting when she showed up, it was probably someone important, or close to Cernia. Not that she cared, but curiosity compelled her as she waited for an answer.
"You know you can ask her yourself," Cernia pointed out, still miffed at the loss of her clothes.
"Anyway, she's a Chaser though I doubt you'd know what that is Granny. Apparently she was sent here to deal with some gang of teenagers. Totally don't know how that could have happened, Her name's Lucille by the way.""In fact, Cernia here helped me out with that," Lucille continued, completely going along with the Kyuuby’s story. She reached a hand out, to shake hands in greeting with the girl's master.
"You can just call me Lucy if you want. A gang of Raijuu was abusing the Setsuna Temple and I was tasked with making them stop. Cernia helped convince them to stop terrorizing the place, but she seemed to become possessed by something right after the fact." The vampire woman flashed a smile in Cernia's direction. She clearly didn't hold the girl to her attempt at Lucille's life.
"In fact, I was thinking of donating to the temple. It's been hit with hard times and a bored old woman like me has nothing better to do. But you seem to know the prodigy fox-girl yourself. By chance would you be... her master?"The woman looked between the two with some skepticism, but the coordinated story, as impromptu as it might be, was successful in convincing her that the events they had claimed really had happened. Well, for the most part anyway. She wouldn't be bothered to pursue her lingering suspicions, if only because of the effort that it would have required to do so. She had better things to do.
"I see," she said once the explanation had been finished, letting out another sigh of resignation.
"Why is it you that always gets involved in this weird occult stuff. First getting kidnapped to be used as a sacrifice, now possession, is there something about being a Kyuuby that makes you a magnet for this stuff?" That was directed at Cernia, as should be obvious. This wasn't the first time that this sort of thing had happened to them, apparently.
That said, her focus shifted to the vampire, and that particular area of conversation.
"Nice. I guess it was a good thing you were here to keep Cernia preoccupied until I showed up. I turn my back while shopping and the next thing I know she's gone. Ridiculous." There was some grumbling on her part, the woman not exactly thrilled with how events had gone. But the question prompted a grin and a pose, albeit a subtle one, as she showed off.
"Yeah, that's me. World's Strongest Creature and her master. You can determine for yourself how unfortunate it is." "Hey, it's not my fault I'm a totally powerful Kyuuby who's gonna become the World's Strongest one day. People just like me that's all. Unlike you," Cernia protested with a huff, soon rolling her eyes as her master then did her routine greeting, pose and everything.
"Please don't encourage her. I'll never hear the end of it."Well then, it would seem this mission had been resolved nicely. The Raijuu had no plans of ever joining something so much as resembling a gang ever again and the temple would now get some steady funding for a while. The issue surrounding Cernia's love life as well as the snake had yet to be resolved, but perhaps they would be in the near future. Cernia just hoped Lucille wouldn't become a part of her master's fan club.
