The early sun beams shining across the window, down to her face. The breeze outside blows against her skin as she moans herself to wake. Her vibrant pink hair is like blankets wrapped around her body, so long that it spills outside of the bed frame. Using her elbows to get up - she rubs her eyes as the crusties fall off from her skin - ruffling her hair to loosen up the tangles, and stretching her arms so much that one can hear her muscles creaking like sitting on an old leather couch; following it up with a long soft sigh.
She checks her smart watch to see how long she just slept.
"19 hours?!"
"Zaaaaaaamn" she cracks her neck left and right "Slept like a baby though, and I feel like a gazillion bucks! Wonder what breakfast I should bu-"
Poppy suddenly feels a tingle on her feet. She expeditiously raises her blanket to peek at her legs. She gasped as soon as she saw it; her toes were moving!
Her eyes expanded while she expeditiously snatched the blanket off of her body. She pulls her ear to confirm to herself "Huh~ not a dream!"
Slowly she swept her hair out of her way, carefully did she perch on her own bed. She felt every fiber of the carpet as the skin of her foot touched the surface - she gasped again.
Carefully she pushed herself up onto her bed. The muscles on her calves tense up, then her quads, then her glutes. Expressing curiosity, her eyebrows squeezed together.
She's standing!
Her knees aren't wobbly, ankles not showing a twitch, she was standing with her chest out
Gasping, she lightly takes a step, then she puts her weight on it. Now she's gasping, and her eyes wide even further!
She takes another confident step, another, then another, and another! She started doing little jumps with both legs - she starts giggling like a dork, then she hops with one leg - she starts cackling maniacally. Suddenly she jumped so high she almost hit the ceiling, to prevent this she did a front flip and screamed.
*THUD* *THUD* *THUD* were heard under the floorboards followed by a muffled "SHUT THE FUCK UP! We're tryna' sleep!"
"Sorry man!" She yelled directly at the floor
"*gasp* I- I- I- I gotta call Kremmy!"
*15 minutes after the call*
Kremidal rhythmically knocks on the door
Loud thumping steps, followed by a squeak from the door as it opened.
"Kremmy!~<3"
"Poppy, you're walking?!"
"YES!" She yelled while she bolted then jumped to embrace him by the waist
She laughs while sobbing, Kremidal lightly gets knocked back as could feel the warm tears soaking through his black uniform. He gently hugged her by the shoulders as he caressed her head, pressing against his chest. He could even feel the back of his clothes being clutched under her grip.
"Thank you so much! *sob* O- oh my god thank you s- so mmmmuch" She stammers while she tightens her arms around him.
"It's okay luv, you're very welcome - however I'm not the only one you should chime those thanks" she unstuck her face against his chest - some strings of her snot and saliva were still drooping down, and her tear stains pseudo-formed the shape of her face. Whilst she looked behind Kremidal, is a masculine figure with the same height as him.
Wearing an all white outfit, as every edge of the fabric is adorned with baroque stitchwork. A white suit over a white shirt, tucked inside was a white handkerchief; his fingers adorned with intricate rings - all wrapped with rocks and metals over a fabric glove. An iced out watch on the left - a blinding silver bracelet on the right. He wears a white cashmere straight fitted pants, along with patches of crosses with the same color all over the fabric. A pair of white snake skin boots, with chains wrapped around the arch and the ankle. Finishing the entire outfit with a full head fabric mask, a pair of red circular shades, and a white baseball cap with a 360 degree brim.
Mah boy was dripped out
Lookin naaaaasty if you will
Fresh to death, if you're so inclined.
He takes his hat off, bowing to greet as she hears a deep voice with the thickest French accent you'll ever hear "Bonjour, mon jeun cher dame~ May we come in?"
Poppy raised her eyebrow and sternly changed her demeanor "Heeey wait a minute. Where is he from?"
The white figure answered "I am from the E.C.O.M., the European Capital of Mars, specifically the French union"
Poppy's face lit up as she shouted "OH! Arrividercci!" she waived her hand.
Kremidal irked "That's uhg- that's Italian luv, also that means 'goodbye'"
"Oh… uhhh- what're you guys doing outside?! Come in! Come in!"
*A few minutes later*
Both men were perched on her bed. Coming from the kitchen she prepared cups of coffee and some cookies "Get em' while it's hot boys!" She kicks up a folding table as it stands on itself. She lays the tray of treats down gently while saying "You can eat as much cookies as you want, I can whip up a mean cinna-bun if yer grumblin' fer a rumblin'"
Kremidal darts his eyes towards Charlotte "Thank you Pops, I don't think he can-" He stops talking the moment Charlotte picks up a chocolate chip cookie, then he covers his face with his hat while eating the cookie.
Poppy stares at him biting her lip, clutching the tray on her hands, waiting with bated breaths.
"That was… Delicious!" Poppy lit up a wide smile with squinted eyes as Charlotte asked "Do you have more for later?"
"Yes, but you're gonna have to wait, señor!"
Kremidal corrects her "Monsseur"
"Mon- surr…" Poppy repeated, her smile fading slightly as she noticed the look on Kremidal's face: grimacing - gesturing her to stop by waving his hand under his neck.
Kremidal scrambles his hands around "A- A- Anyway, sit down for me please - we need to discuss something important.
She sits on the couch, with her hands tucked around her stomach.
"Luv, this man is the one responsible for completely healing your legs. This miracle work is valuable to us especially when most of the inhabitants in OLAP (Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish) are gravely injured"
She leans forward with her hands resting on her knees "But what about the hospital bills?"
"Bad news is: because of our government's incompetence they're still up, even after our workers are healed. Good news is: our debt is down 1 billion chips, after two relics were returned"
Poppy implied "But even if we're able to deliver all of the relics" she sighs, resting her elbows on her thighs "It still won't be enough - we also can't rely on duping our products for short term gain…
But how long do you think they'll hunt us down after all that debt?"
Kremidal crosses his arms "Pfft, as long as we're paying, we're untouchable - they only hunt people down who stop paying monthly - I've even settled that we can finish it by five years. To do that, we're gonna have to do things the old fashion way; since election season is near" he leans forward resting his elbows on his knees
"We're going back to contract killing"
She clicks her tongue as she shakes her head "Darn… So Ms. Baker's paperwork and logistics ain't cutting it huh?"
Kremidal cringes while he nods "You and Zephyr are the hands of the church after all"
Poppy replied "Didn't Zeph quit?"
He stammered "W- Well yes, but don't forget I'm part of the picture too… SSIA (Secret Security and Intelligence Association) are capable, but as impressive as our bullet-dodging acrobatics"
"What about the relics?"
"Only two have been found, the rest are still missing; not a single trace"
"Um, if I may-" Charlotte raises his hand interrupting their conversations "I can help you with the relics"
"You can search for them?" Kremidal leaned back
"Non, I can replicate it 1 to 1" the conjures a silver chalice right out of his hand, Poppy's jaw dropped
Kremidal shook his head "Absolutely not, once the other churches discover that duplicates exist, they will come after us for sure-" scrambles his hands "A- anyway, the reason I'm here is because he needs to give you something"
"Please mon ami, give me your hand~" said Charlotte as he reached out with his own. Poppy's eyes kept switching up and down as he reached out, she gently gave in to touch his hand. His touch didn't feel warm, nor cold, it did not feel any weight either.
He starts to use both hands grasping hers, all of the sudden: he gently lets go and says "Welcome to the Eyes of Charlotte, from now on: every body you catch will be transmitted to me, think of it as a biological messaging tattoo"
She looks at her hand as a symbol of a three-pronged crooked fork, with an eye at the top
She says with a deadpan expression "Ain't gonna lie bru, this tatt highkey look ugly"
"POPPY!" Kremidal shot up from the bed
Charlotte holds Kremidal back by the sleeve"No mon ami, I do agree. I think the design needs an upgrade, please let me know what symbol you'd like instead"
She juts her lower lip while tapping her chin with her finger "Hmmmm… how about a black cat?"
Charlotte snaps his fingers "Done"
Meow
Poppy looks at her hand, instead she's a tattoo of a black cat sleeping. She gasped "That is so fricking cool! What did you get Kremmy?!"
He raises his hand while his lips are twitching "the ugly one you got earlier"
"CKAH-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"HOHOHOHO! *snort* HOHOHO!"
Charlotte lightly taps Kremidal by the shoulder "Hoho! Don't worry mon ami, we can change it anytime-
clears his throat as he stand up "Anyway we're off to the hospital where the church-folk are staying, you can-"
"Join you?! Yezzzzir! Imma change real quick! BRB!" the zooms her way to her dressing room
Charlotte leans in close to Kremidal "Is she always this energetic?"
"Forgive her, she had a traumatizing upbringing."
*Fast forward to the Hospital where the rest of church-folk were staying*
They first arrived at Claire's room, with a few other patients in the same quarter. It was the ICU, the hum of the air conditioner fills the room, the sound of air tubes wheezing, machines periodically beeping. Some of the patients even started to cough. But Claire was just watching short format videos on her phone.
Suddenly the door was opened, then it was frantically closed again. It was loud enough for everybody in the room to notice.
Then somebody gently knocked, then they opened the door, it was Kremidal.
"Hello luv! Someone's here to see you!"
Poppy peeks from behind. She was wearing a leather jacket, a white tank top with roses printed all over it, a white miniskirt, and some knee-high boots "Hiiiiiiiii~<3!" she says while waving her hand.
Claire looks at Poppy from top to bottom "No frickin' way!"
"Yes, frickin way! C'mere!"
Claire dropped off her bed and rushed towards Poppy. Alas both of them embraced as tight as they can, Poppy even lifted Claire up due to her shorter stature. Both of them let out an infectious laugh, while Poppy's eyes started welling up. They even started spinning so hard that Claire's legs began flying.
After the both of them stopped spinning around, Poppy finally puts her down as Claire asks "HOW? How did you manage to get them back?"
Poppy answered while Claire was wiping her tears away "I- *sniff* I had a little help.
Kremidal and Charlotte enter the room, everyone in bed started to sit up as all of them started murmuring 'it's the pontiff' and 'Father Swanson'
Kremidal gestured to them "Settle down now, I will address you all one by one - please continue your rest" as he said that, all of them laid back down."
"Why are they here for Pops?" said Claire as both men approached them. Poppy points at Charlotte "That 'man' is the one responsible for healing my leg"
"Seriously?" Claire's eyes widened, looking from Poppy's legs to the mysterious man. "How was it? Did you feel any pain? Are you feeling any side-effects?" She then leaned in and whispered, "And how much does he charge you?"
Charlotte leans down to her "It is free of charge mon petit cher flur"
Her eyebrows rose as it fell back squeezing each other while saying "Oh bonjour! Je m'appelle Claire Phoenix, j'habite à Cavḗz Avinolia~" Claire said with fluent French. Poppy's eyes expanded while her lips were pursed. While Kremidal's jaw was visibly dropped and eyebrows high - Charlotte just kept switching his face back to back, from Claire to Kremidal.
"What the- when did you learn that?" Poppy recoiled
"We were taught multiple languages actually; English, French, Filipino, and I think we're about to learn Chinese next year?"
Poppy smirked while jerking her thumb at Kremidal "Maybe you can learn some Australian so Kremidal can get ya"
Both girls giggled as Kremidal's right nostril was twitching, whilst sarcastically smirking, his eyebrows shaded his eyes "Aaaaanywaaaaaaay, Claire I've already handled your discharge papers, after Charlotte heals you, you'll be free to return to Cavḗz Avinolia, where your welfare school resides."
She clears her throat "What do you mean by heal?"
Kremidal glances at Charlotte "Monsieur!~"
"Qui" Charlotte closes in on Claire as he says "petit fille, kindly sit on the bed while I inspect your pain"
She climbs back up her bed sitting up straight, her eyes lock onto him. He touches her head as he even rotates it to get a better chance to find- "Aha! Found you! Shame… it even has a beautiful z-shape"
"Can I please keep the cool scar? I wanna brag about something when I come back" said Claire as she pulls her hair from the back.
He lets go of her head as he carefully walked away backwards "It is done"
"Really?! Pops, take a picture for me please~"
Poppy's phone made a shutter sound "Waaaay ahead of you C!" then shows the photo to Claire.
She nods slowly "Siiiiiick"
Kremidal cracks his knuckles "Welp, we're off to handling other patients - Poppy, kindly hand her the discharge papers"
"Sure thing Krem" she said while she took it off of his hands, she slowly faced Claire, but one she did; her demeanor shifted.
Claire's eyes were glued to the floor and her lips pouting.
Poppy bends down to her level, holding her by the shoulders "Hey, it's okay. I'll try to visit you every other day, now don't think I'm just gonna forget our friendship once you leave, I still owe you for softening up that pig (The G.O.A.T.)."
However her face is still the same, but this time her eyes were drifting towards Poppy's
"Can I… at least get a hug before I leave?"
Poppy softly smiled "Of course! Come here you big baby!"
She quickly snatched her up to hug her as tight as she can, then Poppy suddenly started tickling her back. Claire started giggling the words "Nooooo! Stoooop! Hahaha! Okay I'll leave" then finally Poppy finally puts her down then hands her the discharge papers.
"So you a bad bitch?" said Poppy as she rests her hands on her hips"
Claire made a smiling stank face "The baddest bitch in the world!"
"Oh don't forget to say thanks to Kremidal, it was his whole idea to take care of you"
She nodded yes then quickly snuck behind him to give him a hug. It lightly jerked Kremidal forward as he twisted to look at her as her words were muffled against his cape "Thank you Kremidal~"
In response he softly smiles and pats her on the head "Safe travels ya nugget"
*Meanwhile at Cavèz Avinolia, in a hospital outside Lady Augusta's School of Welfare*
In the clinic where Nicodemus resides, the room is engulfed with the suffocating buzz of the air conditioner. The monitors of his vitals scream an ear piercing beep every few seconds, the hisses and whirrs of the machines he is attached to, as he is placed inside a glass tube filled with transparent liquid as the image of his split face looms over the room. Tubes right between the holes of his wound transfer blood like jumpwires from a broken circuit board, as his limbs are covered in hollow plastic casts, alongside with ecg cups stuck to his torso.
Right beside his was Clarice, one can overhear her reading a book out loud. As she finishes the story, she loudly closes the book. She was wearing jeans, brown boots covered in sand, rust sweater underneath her evergreen coat, and a sand hijab wrapped around her neck with a pair of shades dangling on the collar
"Haaaa, such a unique story, historical fiction is such a niche genre but it produces the most creative premises"
She caresses the glass coffin that's encasing Nicodemus.
"Oh Nick, if only I was aware of everything you've done. I never knew that… it was all for me"
She sharply sighs "But I was still weak, and we got desperate" she looks at his face "but we- I still won… right?"
Suddenly, the door hisses open. It was June, the light from outside casts her shadow, looming, stretching towards the two. "Why is it so dark in here?" says she as the lights flicker on.
Clarice hisses in response, briefly stretching her fangs open.
Unfazed, June rolled her eyes as she walked towards them. "Yeah, yeah, anyway- sun's down C! It's time for us to switch. Also-" she hands out a letter; usually, the letters are brown with a green wax seal. This time hover, it's a black letter with a red wax seal. Clarice briefly covered her face with her fist, slowly gasping at the sight of the letter
"Sis Gert told me not to read it, I did so anyway- but everything is vague except for the rendezvous."
While Clarice was opening the letter. June shuffled her feet, reluctantly meeting Clarice's eyes. "Hey er… sorry for lashing out earlier" She finally glanced up. "Gert cleared everything up but… I think I know who I should get mad at now." She nodded toward the tube. "How's he doing?"
"Honestly I don't know whether he's dead or not… *sigh* oh god" she caresses her hand against the glass.
*Fast forward to the twin's dorm*
Clarice slowly walks towards their room, feeling colder than usual. However she began to overhear voices the sooner she got closer
Arriving at the door, once she clicks the knob open, the voices stop. She hastily opens the door, only to reveal that Gertrude was standing in the middle of it all in the dimly lit room "Oh hello Clarice!"
"What are you doing in my dorm?"
Gertrude says while putting her own phone away "You received the final letter, yes?"
"You haven't answered my question sister" Clarice said while one of her nostrils flares out.
"Oh, hohoho! Where are my manners? Just paying a visit, also - to give you a little more motivation. Because the next trial won't only test your fortitude, it will also test your character"
Suddenly Clarice's stomach let out a low, audible growl that seemed too loud in the quiet room. Gertrude's eyes snapped to Clarice's midsection, then back to her face. She let the silence hang in the air for a painfully long time.
Both of them looked at each other in the eye, Gertrude breaks the silence with
"Hungry?" She smiled
Clarice tucks her hands on her stomach as her eyes are glued to it.
"Good, that's enough to keep you motivated in the trial; now if you'll excuse me" She walks up to the doorway as Clarice was standing right in front of it, as she got close to her she held Clarice's shoulder saying "Never forget why you do this, whatever fears you, only makes you stronger. So, overcome that fear, and you get everything you need to win, because why not? God gave us the ability to choose anyway.
So, win for me, for the headmistress, for the institute, for the sake of the welfare trials"
She finally leaves
Clarice plops her body on her bed back side up with a long and sharp sigh. She pulls out the letter, reading out "Meet your escort at the student councilor's office, huh~ they're really making this one special huh?
*Fast forward late at night at the office*
Someone is standing outside of the office, wearing a complete military combat uniform, all of it adorned with ballistic nylon and EVA pads all over his uniform. Wearing a full-face bulletproof helmet - he looks at Clarice walking.
He salutes "Good evening young lady, may I know your name?"
She looks at him from head to toe "Are you supposed to be our escort? Clarice Phoenix by the way."
"Y- yes! Are you ready ma'am?"
She says as her eyes are locked in
"Ready to win"
As they stepped inside, no one was there. The soldier walks towards the bookshelf, sliding his hand against the spines. He stops onto one book named 'The Art of War' and pulls it. The shelves hissed as it split open like a door, revealing an elevator. Stepping inside; the place only had one mirror and it was perpendicular against the door. As the door closes, the hum of the motors grumble in the steel box. The soldier takes off his glove and scans his thumb on one of the elevator buttons.
The elevator chimes "Lowering"
The humming continued as they went all the way down.
Then finally the elevator chimes "Arriving at Combat Gymnasium"
Once the door finally opens. They were greeted by a long hallway. Walking towards it, a metal gate draws closer. The ventilation on the sides of the wall hums around. Looking around reveals doors that lead to different training rooms, one can even see what's inside said rooms. Most of them had foam mats, some training gear, you can even see some of them having an octagon cage, and even a conventional boxing ring. However at the end of the hallway, the soldier finally opens the door, only to reveal a brightly lit room. Around them watching were a group of nuns and some faculty members watching over them from another room. But then she sees soldiers with the same uniforms as the one escorting her armed with rifles standing on each corner of the room
From one of the seats was Reyna, she stood up from one of the chairs. A sudden, sharp cramp twisted in Clarice's gut. She hunched over slightly, a hand flying to her stomach. Her escort noticed immediately.
"Are you okay missy?"
She looks up "It's okay, it's become a common occurrence for me"
Her escort continues to walk her towards the center of the ring, which is just the floor painted with a circle and two lines in the center.
The headmistress walks out from the other room, still youthful as last time. Walks over closer to the girls, once she got close enough, she each held their shoulders.
"Congratulations girls, you both won your last trial spectacularly. However there is only one headmistress, and that headmistress will win tonight's trial!: Armed Combat!"
Suddenly a curtain that was once covering the corner of the room revealed a wall of weapons. All of it was melee; a mace, an axe, a sword, some daggers, and lots more. It was basically an entire armory for a wall.
"Carefully select your weapons girls, I will explain the rules once you're all done!"
Upon closer inspection of these weapons, none of them seem to be rubberized, nor does it have any form of padding - they were all lethal.
Yet Clarice's eyes seem to gravitate towards one weapon. A spear - she takes it away from its hooks, then she asks "Ms. Song, are we allowed to carry more than one weapon?"
She spreads her arms in response "You can carry as many weapons as you can - not to worry, all of this equipment is top of the line, military-grade."
Clarice takes a buckler along with her spear. "I'm ready!"
All the while Reyna picked out a greatsword that's taller than her, and a knife on her off-hand. "I'm all set Ms. Song!"
Ms. Song steps in "Alright girls, position yourselves to the center of the ring!"
Clarice walked, while Reyna was dragging her sword. Everyone got into positions, then the Ms. Song steps in between them before they close in, holding both of their shoulders.
"Your mission is simple girls, all you need to do to win is…
Kill"
Both girls' eyes sprung wider, while Ms. Song left to the viewer's room.
As she leaves the area, all that remains are armed soldiers. They look at each other, eyebrows raised and jaws dropped, a look of utter disbelief. Suddenly Clarice's face locked in saying "Hmph! Why not?"
Immediately thrusting her spear against Reyna. Fortunately due to the sheer width of her sword she was able to block it. She counters it by using her off-hand knife to slash Clarice under her bicep.
Using the greatsword as leverage, she kicks her by the stomach, knocking her back against the wall.
Her back was still against the wall, as soon as she got a grip, Reyna was already charging towards her, slashing her greatsword to the side. Luckily she blocked it with her buckle. This time she just got dragged a few meters and stood her ground. Reyna was still pressing against her, so she attempts to slam the spearhead against her, Reyna side-stepped left - planted her knife on the ground using it to pivot, then she stretched her greatsword, then-
*SLASH*
A large gash was seen on Clarice's sides, so deep that one could see her ribs peeking out. Clarice hunches down as groaned in pain. Reyna, still crouching from the weight of the sword, notices the wound, it was gaping huge, but not a drop of blood on sight.
Clarice attempts to stab down Reyna, but she parries the spear with a knife - redirecting it outside of the clinch. Pulling the greatsword to hit Clarice's face with the pommel. BASH it hits her clean on the chin, wobbling her back a few steps.
Both of them ended up at neutral range, panting. Reina plants her greatsword on the ground, she briefly pulls her own head left and right to crack her neck. Pulling the sword out again, she taunts "I don't care what you're made of, I'm still gonna strip that royal nepo-baby face off your head!"
Clarice only inhaled sharply and pointed her spear towards Reyna.
Reyna scoffed "Not into the snarky banter huh? Say, what did they bribe you to do this huh?"
"Bribe?" Clarice said as she lowers her weapons
"So you do talk!- Lemme guess Jardin de Liberḗ? Passive income? Or child soldiers? C'mon Reece, I'm itching to know!"
"How does this benefit you in any way?" Said Clarice as she starts walking, circling against Reyna.
"Like in the clinic~ I'm just making conversation!"
"I hope you choke in your own blood" Suddenly she hurls the spear so hard it goes flying towards Reyna in breakneck speeds, she steps back fast enough to dodge it, but it snagged her collar - sending her flying, causing her to drop her sword and pinning her against the wall
"Hey! I just wanna know each other before one of us dies!" Clarice bolted on Reyna, using her forearm to choke her against the wall.
"And I hope you choke on your own blood!"
Reyna kicks Clarice's chest, breaking the choke. She sprints towards her. Clarice tries to bash her with her buckle, but she slides underneath Clarice's legs - after passing, she hurriedly grabs the greatsword planted on the ground - blocking Clarice's wide slash just in time, with her greatsword on her back.
Clarice just kept slashing her spear against Reyna; vertical, horizontal diagonal, however Reyna just kept deflecting it with her massive blade. Clarice attempts to stab her again but Reyna just parries it again, this time she slashes Clarice by the abdomen, leaving an open wound in sideways, one can see her intestines peeking out as she moves.
Despite the wound she still pressed on, launching multiple thrusts, at Reyna. But each thrust was either dodged or parried. However her last thrust forces her to reach farther, so Reyna took this opportunity to grab the spear, wrapping it with her own arm. She pulled Clarice close and headbutted her, thus she was rattled.
As her world spun around, she started to step back. She was seeing double and the lights looked much brighter, despite that she stood her ground while avoiding Reyna, but Reyna amped up the aggression by meticulously slashing her greatsword at Clarice, she kept delivering cuts and gashes all over her limbs. When Reyna aimed a slash below the belt, she would use her knife hand to leverage and guide the greatsword, launching sweeping attacks that spanned far beyond her normal reach.
The majority of the wounds on her legs cause Clarice to fall to her knees. Then Reyna lunged forward from her low stance, kicking the sword tip up, putting her entire body to heave the blade up into a devastating upward slash.
SHING
Splitting Calrice's face in half, the cavity of her nose, her skull peering through her forehead, her jaw and upper lip looked like mandibles of an ant.
The rest of the faculty recoiled in shock. Some gasped, others turned away, and a few frantically rose from their seats to react, but Ms. Song, the headmistress, did not even flinch. One of the nuns mentioned "Ms. Song we should head down to thee-"
"No"
Every one stopped scrambling around as she continues "Look"
In the arena, Clarice lay on her back. Despite the horrific injuries, not a single drop of blood stained the floor. Her chest rose and fell — she was still gasping for air..
A dead silence fell over the arena, broken only by the wet, clicking sound of bone beginning to knit itself back together inside her skull.
Her upper body began to rise without leverage from her arms, while the wounds inflicted on her slowly healed. First it was the brain sticking itself together, the bones creating blood vessels as it calcifies, then the nerves twitching back together, the blood vessels pulsing with each wave as it regenerates, next the muscles sinewy tying itself together, then the thin fat layer filling over the muscles, and then finally: the skin.
The entire arena stared in horror as most of their eyes were sunken at the sight of the scene. While Ms. Song was smirking at the sight of her regenerating.
She yelled as her voice cracked at the last word "What, the FUCK?!" She dropped the greatsword, letting out a deep loud clang "This shit is rigged from the start!" she pointed her knife at Clarice.
As soon as she completely regenerated, her face looked a lot more wrinklier, like she aged 10 years if one's so included. She looked at the spots of the wound she previously had - it was all gone.
Suddenly, Reyna used her greatsword as a pole, vaulting high into the air to bring it down on Clarice in a devastating overhead slash.
Unfortunately Clarice could not react in time.
CRUNCH
The heavy sword slammed through her shoulder, carving down through her torso to her diaphragm. Reyna roared.
"I don't care what you're made of! Because I didn't made all this way to lose!"