Gaia. (14)

"Is something wrong, Enforcer?" The Princess asked as her head darted about, as if she could see.

"Not particularly, I'm just checking to see if there is any danger ahead. How are you feeling, though Princess?"

"There is no need for concern, Enforcer." Nkanyezi assured Relovan as she let go of his hand for a second.

She then started undoing all of the knots and binds that held the headdress in her hair. She was neither sweating, nor out of breath, and Relovan just looked at the Princess, thinking back to how she had reacted to certain scenarios and situations.

"You don't seem all that flustered Princess, in spite of your current circumstances."

"Hmm? I don't? Am I supposed to be panicked and weepy, Enforcer? Should I be more vulnerable because of my blindness, or my stature?"

"You should be whatever comes naturally to you, Princess." Relovan answered as he looked around a corner, keeping up the act. "What comes naturally to people is shaped by their experiences… at least in my experience."

"Chief Nura mentioned how you are a defender of the law, Enforcer. Has that mindset also been cultivated by your experiences?"

Relovan looked back at the Princess in silence for a bit, before approaching her.

"There is no set of laws that is perfect, Princess. There will be flaws, there will be inconsistencies, and there will be loopholes. I am by no means blind to that, and in fact, I have firsthand experience witnessing the laws of certain territories that are beyond the Coalition's borders at play. Laws that have allowed murderers and rapists murder and rape legally. I've seen laws that have allowed the weakest in society get brutalised and be treated worse than anything you could think of, yet because the law has stated that it possible, it has been done. But having also seen firsthand just how dangerous lawlessness and absolute, unfiltered and uncontrolled freedom can be… I will choose serving and upholding the law over the alternative any time. Laws can be amended and changed, the lawless on the other hand… I've yet to see them change."

"…so, that was a yes then, Enforcer?"

"My experiences have served to strengthen me, Princess. If that means they are at the heart of my resonance with rules and discipline, then so be it."

"I understand." Nkanyezi said as she tossed her headdress on the floor and rolled her neck like Relovan tended to do before physical activity. "This is not the first time that I have been attacked, Enforcer. Despite not being a threat to anybody in the Royal Family, my eyes are immensely valuable. My Honoured Father never really showed any interest in me; thus, I was left to my own devices. Despite Carolina being ever present, I always thought I should at least be able to escape on my own should we become separated. Also, I've done all that other stuff more than enough times at this point… the wailing, the tears and feeling sorry for myself…"

The Princess felt Relovan hold her hand, and that halted her rather sad monologue.

"Let's keep moving, Princess. I think we might be close enough to just push until we reach the exit."

"…alright."

Relovan looked at the Princess, who had an embarrassed look on her face. Her purple hue had become a touch darker, which didn't tell Relovan a thing, because he still had no idea what purple represented. The pair darted off again and this time, Relovan ran even faster than before. The continued absence of goons made Relovan feel as though they were headed in the right direction, mostly because he felt those who had planned the entire thing would be waiting at the exit that would take them down, as there wouldn't be any police or Council Security waiting for them the deeper they went into the bowels of Gaia. The more they ran, the stronger the sensation on Relovan's skin became, and soon enough, the Enforcer ended up having to come to a rapid halt. The Princess totally lost her footing and crashed into his back, however there wasn't any time for her to ask Relovan why he stopped so suddenly, because they were not alone. In front of them not only stood Yaksha, who was still cloaked, but a few more cloaked people standing behind them.

"So, it turns out that you were actually right, Yaksha – the Princess and this no-name police bum really did find the exit that leads back up to the top. How did you know?"

"…"

Yaksha remained silent and just looked at the Enforcer, who glared right back. The one who had just spoken scoffed at Yaksha's silence, and then looked at Relovan and the Princess.

"Nkanyezi… getting to this point has taken planning, a lot of money, and even more time… yet here we finally are. You will be coming with me, my young Princess."

"No, I don't think so, Mkhaba." The Princess declared while standing behind Relovan.

"H-Huh?! Who is this Mkhaba of whom you speak?!"

"I already know that it's you… I recognise your voice. Besides, your stomach is sticking out through your cloak."

"Shit!" Mkhaba shouted. "Maybe I should have gone on that diet like my wife suggested. It matters not that you know who I am, it doesn't change a thing! Yaksha, get rid of that pesky officer and bring the Princess back here."

"Princess, please step back."

"Of course, Enforcer. Will you be okay, though? This person is strong."

Relovan simply let go of Nkanyezi's hand rolled his neck slowly, before assuming his fighting stance, holding his right fist by his jaw, and lowering his left arm. He decided to go with his more offensive battle stance. Yaksha stood motionless for a bit, but ended up pulling the jagged blade out from somewhere within the cloak.

"You know Princess, the initial objective was to escape from here with you, then return with some reinforcements and storm the other exit. Yet as things stand right now, I am right in front of the ones responsible for what happened up there in that Shopping District and as an officer of the law, I really cannot leave this sewer without apprehending them. I hope you understand."

"…I do."

"Thank you, Princess." Relovan said as he looked back and smiled, before quickly facing Yaksha and the rest again. "You are all under arrest… and you will all be coming with me to the local station."

The Enforcer's eyes suddenly changed, as did the air around both him and Yaksha. The pair resumed the stare down from before the arrest declaration, and as if some kind of random cue went off, they both charged one another. The moment they both got into range, they launched their respective attacks, with Yaksha teeing off first, testing the waters with a few tentative thrusts. Relovan evaded them all while still moving forward, before suddenly dashing in. He threw a two punch combination directed at Yaksha's head, but the hood fluttered as both punches were also evaded. Yaksha's left hand then swung in from Relovan's right, aimed squarely at his neck. The Enforcer ducked beneath the hand and slapped it away with his left, before clenching his right fist and driving it towards the side of Yaksha's head. Yaksha took a quick step to the right to free up some space. The cloaked figure then opened up its body to the left, freeing the sword bearing arm slash down diagonally from right to left. The Enforcer once again ducked beneath the attack and moved to his left this time, raising his lowered left guard. Yaksha, who had raised the blade to waist height upon completion of the slash, turned the weapon around and had the jagged, cutting edge face Relovan again, before completing a horizontal slash at speed. The Enforcer did a dodge roll to his right, rolling under the weapon. Once back on his feet though, Relovan did not try and stand up – instead, he swept his foot across as he tried to take out one of Yaksha's legs. The sweep was avoided, however Relovan continued spinning and when he was half way through the Revolution, the Enforcer pushed off of his right foot and leapt up. He extended his right leg while behind his left at the knee and tucking his foot under his body, executing an improvised spin kick. Yaksha's left hand shot up and blocked the kick, before the right thrust the blade towards Relovan's torso. The Enforcer brought his right fist across and punched the blade away from above, before pulling the same arm back forcefully to open up his body. As he pulled his right arm and leg back, the Enforcer twisted his torso to generate extra momentum and threw a left uppercut that was barely evaded and produced the loud bang from before. As he landed on the ground, Relovan dashed back and created space between himself and Yaksha.

"You're strong, Yaksha." The Enforcer said as he stood up straight.