Fight Against Chaos And You'll Be Spurned

Swallowing, she affords to take a deep breath.

"No, of course not."

Her back straightened, she switches her dagger with a pickaxe, daintily mining the crystals. Not daring to touch them, she lets them fall to the ground. For something that looks incredibly fragile, they don't break.

"Oh, I knew I could believe in you, Mi~zu~ki!" she brushes past Mizuki, cupping the crystals in her palms. "Touch them."

Mizuki is hesitant, and it shows in her eyes. She reaches a hand out but it hovers, never moving, unwilling to touch the crystals, especially not with the weird luminescent aura emitted by them. She gulps, reaching her finger towards one of them, feeling an instantaneous zap through her hand. She jolts, retreating. A wave of purple flashes over her eyes, flickering uncontrollably before eventually fading.

The woman guffaws at the fear in Mizuki's demeanor, then crushing the crystals under the grip of her palm. She drops the shattered bits into one of the vials hung on her belt. "You have a Lanternsphere fruit in your possession, correct?"

Mizuki nods slowly, picking up the fruit safely now that she's wearing leather gloves. Not wanting to feel the previous electricity, she throws it to the ground.

It rolls pitifully to the other woman's feet. She kicks it up, holding it in her hand effortlessly. She crushes it, with nothing more than silken gloves protecting her hand. The juice trickles down the length of her hands. She lifts the vial, collecting a decent amount of it.

Closing the vial with a cork, she hovers her palm over it. Not moving it, she begins moving her fingers, conjuring a purple mist from her palms. It envelopes the vial and then vanishes, dissipating into the air.

The liquid in the vial is now a fluorescent pink. 'I don't believe in magic.' Mizuki's mind races. 'I don't believe in magic.' But she knows she should. It's the worst time to be in disbelief over the smallest detail of the situation, especially after the countless hours she has gotten to stomach her new-formed fate. Regardless, weapons are one thing and magic is another. Another completely different world where she never wished to wander.

"You know, this pink crystal you helped me acquire," the woman explains, slowly shaking the vial and then popping it open. "It's called the Snake's Eye."

"It has a lot of purposes, especially in elixir making and such," she strides forward, back against Mizuki's. "But when added the right amount of magic..."

"One becomes the perfect amount of evil," she then swallows the contents of the vial. She throws her head back against Mizuki's shoulder. Mizuki doesn't dare move, watching from the corner of her eye. The purple liquid spills out from her closed eyes, engraving patterns on her face wherever they fall. She lets out a scream. Mizuki elbows her, throwing her off before scampering forward.

The woman - creature? - falls on her knees, massive ram horns appearing on the sides of her head and black wings splitting from her open back, tearing through her adventurer's outfit. She is then engulfed in magical rings resembling the exterior of an atom, newly clothed in a bodysuit.

'I need to go', Mizuki digs her heel into the ground and turns, running at full speed both everywhere and nowhere. Wherever she goes, it's like she sees a new, unrecognisable part of the forest yet as long as she sees nothing but flora ahead, it starts to feel to her as if she's been running in circles. The racing of her heart leaves her lightheaded, quickly throwing her pickaxe mid-air, the object morphing into her daggers before they fall into her hands again.

Perfectly timed, the woman from before now swoops in from above, landing gracefully in front of Mizuki. The impact of her wings flapping send trees snapping into halves.

Mizuki tries to keep herself firm-footed and in the right sphere of mind regardless of the unearthly tremors under her feet. "You tricked me," Mizuki tightens her grip around the hilt of her daggers, not daring to provoke the monster.

"That, I did do," she admits unremorsefully. She struts forward, one leg at a time in a certain rhythm when she walks. Lifting Mizuki's chin, she forces the trembling adventurer's gaze onto her own piercing one. Her eyes are a flaming pink, pupils dilated into slits. 'Snake's eye', Mizuki makes the connection.

"Do you believe I'm evil, darling?"

"Yes," Mizuki is tempted to spit, pursing her lips into a thin line with a great effort to hold herself back. Her hands twitch violently, eager to make a move. The winged beast's eyes widen for a brief moment, as if in disbelief. She bites her lip, trying to hold back a laugh. She releases Mizuki, letting out an unnecessarily loud howl of laughter. She turns her back to Mizuki, angling her jaw just enough to meet Mizuki's eye.

"That, I am as well. Corrupted to the absolute core of my existence, I am Valkyrie. The Fifth Sister of Chaos," when she snaps her fingers, Mizuki and her are trapped in a ring of fire.

Mizuki watches as the fire spreads, embers leaping high into the air, setting more and more of the forest ablaze. Mizuki unsheaths her blades, spinning her daggers in between her fingers. Dashing forward, she then leaps mid-air, aiming perfectly for Valkyrie's shoulder blade. Promptly, Valkyrie turns, shifting out of any area of danger.

Mizuki lands on her knees, creating a split in the ground where she falls. Valkyrie sends several balls of magic crashing towards her. Just in time, Mizuki tucks behind a tree, barely enough to cushion the hit. "You're not a bad fighter for a peasant, darling!" Valkyrie praises, wielding another ball of energy the size of a cannonball. Mercilessly, she rains them down Mizuki's path as she lunges forward, aiming right for Valkyrie's chest.

With a hard slap, she slams Mizuki away from her, knockback making her fall close to the fire. Valkyrie lets out a laugh at her pathetic excuse of an attack.

Not ready to go down with just that, Mizuki flings her dagger mid-air to build momentum. Counting, counting and then it's in her grip again. Without a single moment of hesitation, she throws it, catching Valkyrie off guard. It hits one of her wings. A growl of agony emanates from Valkyrie, reverberating through the trees. Mizuki bends, wiping sweat off her forehead. 'All that talk about not getting into fights until I'm better, now I'm here.'

Slightly enraged now, Valkyrie begins flapping her fingers, sending large gusts of wind towards Mizuki, threatening to blow her away. Around here, there's only fire. She couldn't afford to miss a step. Digging the blades of her anelace into the ground for support, she picks herself up, only on bent knees. Tightening her grip around the only dagger left in her hands. Mizuki ducks, hoping to graze Valkyrie in the calf.

Unfortunately, any attack that doesn't do critical damage is no attack that's good enough against the beast. Valkyrie stares at Mizuki with a mocking smirk, slamming down a great ball of corrupted magic. The impact of this hits hard on Mizuki, throwing her back roughly. She crashes into pebbles and stones, resulting in scratches and cuts.

With Mizuki's level of undivided attention, though, even the patch of burns creeping up her leg has become a minor issue. "Why do you do this?" Mizuki chokes up hoarsely, blood-mixed perspiration falling into her eyes.

"For fun," Valkyrie comments flippantly, raising Mizuki mid-air with her magic. Even the feel of it around her makes her skin prickle and burn. Anticipation builds up as she's lifted mid-air. A familiar firmness returns to her limbs, fear engulfing her as her mind is fixated on the idea of falling. Valkyrie flies, bringing Mizuki up to her face. Mizuki can't look. "You are a truthful girl. I've never encountered an adventurer quite like you."

Mizuki can hear the thumping of her heart in her ears, mouth dry from fear. "If you're going to kill me, kill me already," Mizuki challenges and Valkyrie obeys, slamming her against the ground with great force.

The magic shield surrounding Mizuki breaks, forming a sphere of energy in Valkyrie's palm. There is too little time for recovery when Mizuki is placed at another threat, Valkyrie swooping down on her. In a feeble attempt to defend herself, she lifts her arm shakily and holds her dagger to her face.

"Fight against fire, my love, and you get burned. Have you heard that saying?" Valkyrie admits, standing over Mizuki. Mizuki watches piercingly, a venomous arrogance glinting in her eyes. With as much disrespect one can carry, she steps on the curve of Mizuki's ribs with her heel, almost crushing her chest. Mizuki wheezes pitifully under Valkyrie's brutality.

"Fight against chaos, and you get spurned."

[Hirashi Mizuki has been knocked out]

All that's left in evidence of the fight is a crater where Mizuki was hit and nothing else, Valkyrie herself now vanished into thin air.