(Untitled)

[shred_the_sky]

Format: Log.
Characters: Serenade, Sho Minamimoto, Nina Windia [closed]
Location: Duelist Arena
Time: After School
Summary: Serenade stands in the arena, sword in hand.
Warnings: None.

Comments

[m1n4m1m0t0]

The swing hit, but lightly, also scratching him diagonally in a way similar to how he had hit Serenade. Quickly, he hopped backwards, out of range of another attack, and watched carefully.

Once they had both stopped moving, what had caused that sudden burst of speed was quite evident. Where Sho's regular, human legs had been just moments before, there were a pair of beast-like legs, made from the same substance as his wings. From behind him also hung a thick tail, tufted at the tip. The design was also similar, in that tattoo way, and anatomically incorrect.

But they shivered, and faded in and out spastically to his regular appearance. He didn't know the reason why they had appeared, and also didn't know what to do to keep them there. They could disappear at any time. Now was the time to act, and take advantage of them before he lost their benefit.

He lunged forward without thought, apparating and disapparating to different spots on the arena randomly. He hoped to confuse Serenade, before coming up for another swing of his sword at the boys back.

[ Tsu, feel free to dodge the attack or whatever, and give him the smackdown, okay? ]

[shred_the_sky]

He should have known already... That strategy wouldn't work. It wasn't that Serenade was stronger, and he was definitely not faster the way he was. He was a better swordsman, but that was it. But there was something else, something that aided him during the previous strike and would certainly aid in this one...

He wasn't human, was he? The way his senses slowed down and vision turned into monochrome, no human was capable of that. But if he wasn't human, what was he? What was Sho, with his distorted legs of a feral beast? What was that onlooker girl with her wings of black? What was Melusine, who was probably sitting under his door right now, disappointed that he wouldn't come taste her newest cake?

But what were they all, if not human? Why couldn't he remember? And why did that idea frighten him even more than that of him not remembering who was he?

He didn't get to think for long. The strange feeling of urgency came back and, suddenly, his senses were blaring red about something behind him. As if on instinct, he suddenly turned around in a graceful sidestep that took him from the majority of his opponent's attack. And once the blade cut through his jacket and passed him, he suddenly raised his arm in a powerful swing. The air flared silver as the trail of the sword exploded into sparks, forming a shape of a perfect crescent.

And then, it was over.

[m1n4m1m0t0]

The attack was completely unexpected. How was Serenade able to sense him coming from behind, let alone counter?

In the end, what had saved Sho from some seroius pain was an instinctive warning of danger, and the urge to step back at the last moment. His coat had been torn, but there was only a long, thin gash beginning to show across his chest. Nothing too bad.

But more importantly, a small ringing sound came from below him, like a coin being dropped onto the pavement.

He looked down, and his leo pin looked back up at him. That had been his weak spot.

Sho froze. He had lost, obviously.

What happens now?

[shred_the_sky]

It is a strange feeling... Victory. Not because he is unfamiliar with the feeling, but because of the place and circumstances. Was this alright? If they continued winning in these battles, would they really remember themselves? Or would they merely gain that silly power to revolutionize the world?

As he slowly lowered his weapon, the armor over his uniform flared white and broke down into shimmering particles that flew off into the sky. It was the end, wasn't it? The duel was over. In that case, why didn't the sensation from before disappear? As his vision continued to shift between normal and monochrome, his right eye throbbed violently. As if guided by an instinctive fear of letting anyone see it, he raised his hand and covered the right side of his face with it.

"Dammit," he finally spoke in a quiet voice as a wave of pain pulsed through his eye once again.

[m1n4m1m0t0]

Sho took a few careful steps backwards, glancing about himself furtively, as if he were waiting for something bad to happen to him. He had lost, right? It was only sensible to think that there would be some sort of penalty afterwards, and he wasn't about to let it sneak up from behind.

And what was up with Serenade? As far as he knew, he had never struck him in the eye...

[erasedroyalty]

Nina had been watching the fight between the two of them the entire time - from the very beginning to the very end. Her amazement at what she was seeing grew as she continued to watch. They're not human, she thought with some horror. They can't be human at all.

Just like me.

As she begins to approach the two hesitantly, taking few steps forward, her feet leave the floor, and without thinking, begins to glide through the air, hovering above the ground. As she stops and flutters for a few moments in front of Sho and Serenade, before descending gracefully back down, her feet gently tapping onto the ground.

She'll wonder about that later; for now, her main concern is Sho, the more badly injured of the pair. Sure, he'd just transformed into a strange half-creature and had been the one to instigate the duel in the first place. But there'd been a pang in her chest when she'd seen him sprout black wings, and the strange thought that she wasn't alone anymore.

For now, she felt herself brimming with a strange power, as if she was about to unlock something deep and mysterious within her. "Hold still for a moment," she instructs Sho, touching him gently. Her hand begins to glow brightly for a brief second, but then dims and fades away. That feeling of power fades, as if she was desperately trying to cup water as it slipped through her fingers, and she stares helplessly at her hands. She was on to something, she knew it - and she'd lost it. Glancing back up to Sho, she's surprised to see that he actually does look a little bit better - still worse for the wear, but looking better than he was a few moments ago.

She wondered briefly if she'd caused it - she'd felt for a moment that she could've done something about his injuries, strangely - when Serenade causes her to turn around in alarm.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?" she asks, concerned - after all, he'd been the victor, and he hadn't been injured too badly or so she'd thought.

[m1n4m1m0t0]

Sho had to restrain himself quite a bit to keep from slitting her throat when she touched him. His muscles and nerves were on edge from battle, and that strange feeling of wanting to obliterate everything in front of him still hadn't gone away. But the smaller, more sensible side of himself told him to hold still, don't be stupid, she' hasn't done anything to you.

The beast legs that had been supporting him before were gone, and even those black wings were flickering, as if strained. But when she touch him, he felt a very odd and sudden sense of relief, some of his pain had gone away. Not much, but it was notable.

His urge to get the hell out of here before something happened, and his pride continued to battle against each other, and he took another step back. He wasn't about to get any closer to Serenade after that, no sir.

[shred_the_sky]

"Nothing," he countered instantly. It was surprising how little thought went into that reaction, as if he programmed himself beforehand to not let anyone question this particular part of him. Was there something peculiar about his eye? He couldn't understand.

However, as the pain turned silent and his vision returned to normal, he decided to give his eye another chance.

As his hand lowered, his response suddenly became doubtful. His right eye, normally a gentle crimson, now swirled with golden circuitry. It etched sharp lines into his eye, making them swirl into circular patterns until it felt like a neverending spiral formed in his eye. After pulling for a bit, it finally calmed down and instead, his iris turned from black to shining gold. Thin ripples rolled out of it, as if reaching out to the world around him.

As for Serenade, he let his arm drop to his side as he looked at the scenery in front of him, as well as Nina and what little of Sho he could see at this point.

"Beautiful," he finally muttered in blank surprise.

[erasedroyalty]

Nina takes a step back in surprise when Serenade drops his arm. "Your eye..." she begins, trailing off. She's not sure just how to describe it or what to say. "It's... changed," she finally states weakly.

[shred_the_sky]

For a few moments, Serenade remained silent. In front of his eyes, monochrome colors slowly flooded with pale blues and sunset crimson, and then flared into an orchestra of colors that felt like looking at a moving watercolor painting in the twilight. The flat pastel sky, Sho's strangely lifeless black shape, the subtle changes in Nina's expression, all of it was etched into the canvas of his vision like something special and endlessly precious. Something he failed to understand right now, but would surely understand one day.

Was that also a part of him?

"It didn't change," he spoke with a faint, but convinced, voice as the golden hue in his eye grew dimmer. "It merely returned to the way it should be."