The Roaring Bayside Theme Park is packed full on this hot summer's day, a cool breeze off the harbor providing some relief from the heat of the sun. All over collections of students out on summer break, families and couples move and shift as people move from one attraction to the next. Though there are as ever some exceptions the mood throughout the park is cheerful as people enjoy the day and make precious memories with one another.
A child's laugh as they pose next to a large statue of a friendly panda with their parents. A pair of teenagers blushing and making excuses after they caught themselves staring at one another for too long. The quiet smile of someone realizing they were brought along as a friend and from mere obligation. These moments of precious bonding and so many others are happening now with yet more still to come as the sun marches across the sky.
But all is not peaceful in Tokyo, a lone figure standing atop the highest car of the ferris wheel as it comes to a stop, casting her gaze downward on the theme park below. Eyes of royal blue survey the inhabitants before her, shifting to the side and leaning into her tall magical staff even as it appears in her hand. She's here to disrupt this peaceful scene but it doesn't seem to bother her, her face showing only resolve.
A breath is taken slowly and released calmly, nerves steadying and bringing her focus. Everything up until now was for this moment. Her eyes change direction, now cast to the harbor the park is named for. Atop her staff a crystal of violet and blue begins to shimmer iridescent from within, the dark magical girl tilting it slightly towards the water below.
"Lift yourself into the sky, heed this power you can't deny," a calm, even voice commands as her magic reaches out, imperceptibly increasing the water's evaporation beyond normal limits. "Rise fast now and amplify, soon to sing my lullaby." A steady stream of vapor invisibly reaches skyward, the glow in her staff's crystal growing in intensity as she removes her weight from it and draws it near. "Feel this magic I supply, form into clouds and multiply!"
What had been the beginnings of a haze all at once becomes at first a swirling mass of gray and soon after a large set of voluminous clouds, heavily laden with moisture. A summer squall would be the inevitable result, were the woven web of Requiem's magic not firmly in control. The young woman takes a step closer to the edge of her perch, moving the top of her staff in a slow circle.
"To the ground now gently fall, my silver snow, cover it all. Offer wonder and delight, remove the fear, dilute the fright. Flakes on skin, in hair, on clothes, lull them to their nights repose." Her chant quickens, wind rustling her dress and blowing her hair to the side as she shapes the spell with words, motions and feeling. Silver flakes of snow fall from the sky, first in tiny flecks but soon in larger clumps.
The eyes of the masses below turn skyward at the unseasonable, impossible weather, surprised and excited declarations of snow made all over. It accumulates quickly, shockingly so, on both people and the ground. Unlike natural snow not a single flake melts, magically resistant to the mundane heat, even of summer. Soon the excitement dies down and people begin to yawn and close their eyes, a general quiet beginning to settle in upon the park. The ferris wheel begins to move again, the sounds of the rides and attractions continuing even as the usual thrum and murmur of the crowd turns silent. Eyelids grow heavy and as if as one the masses of humanity present decide it is time for a midday nap, finding places to lay down as Requiem's magic takes hold over them.
"Deep in slumber that's begun, commit the deed must now be done. Slowly first then quick'ning pace, draw forth the force of life's embrace." Requiem spins in place, swinging her staff about herself as she chants, lifting it aloft and extending it out over the edge of her perch as her dress flares from her motions before settling neatly once more about her ankles. All around people sleep easily in the snow which slowly begins to glisten and glitter as if struck by sunlight, glowing from within as the energy that exists in all life is drawn from them and into the snow itself. Quickly the ground becomes a placid field of snow several inches thick with the large bulges of bodies scattered densely about, glowing and shimmering with the energy of the sleepers beneath. It might be beautiful, if it wasn't so ominous.
The dark magical girl's voice lifts further, now loud and commanding as it echoes through the theme park, "Leave just enough to let them live and draw it out as through a sieve! Return to me life laden snow, into my hand make crystal grow!" The dim glow of snow covering the bodies suddenly becomes a bright one as the strength of the energy drain spikes. Requiem swings her staff back towards herself and at once a vast swath of snow lifts from the bodies and trails quickly through the air towards her, her staff held behind her in her right hand with her left extended forward. The flakes of snow fly to her upheld palm, bunching together and forming a compact crystal of ice that glows beautifully from within.
Despite the glowing blizzard, as the flakes of snow whip towards her, the crystal grows only very slowly and the process is far from a fast one. As people begin to become uncovered by the snow those that might checks on them would find they're still fast asleep and clearly low on energy, but very much alive and likely to recover fully after a day or two's rest.
Normally, it is other people who urge Rune to check out fun sights around the city. Today, she took some initiative and approached Mistral. She noted to the newest Knight with a low tone: "Back home, there would have been a celebration to mark your successful Oath. I have sent word about it, and it is likely that even now some kind of parade or other festivities are in the works. With the portal nearly closed, I fear we cannot attend it and the citizens of this world simply do not understand."
Then a smile had taken hold. "Therefore, I would like to at least do the best I can. Would you accept a visit to one of this city's festival parks? They are as colorful and energetic as any celebration we would prepare." The idea had taken hold, and the elder princess brought Mistral to enjoy rides and exhibits and food. It had, for a time, been a fine introduction to the wonders of modern recreation.
Now, the pair find themselves in one of the cars of a roller coaster as the weather begins to change. "That's... odd," Rune points out the obvious. "This is not typical Earth weather for this area, not at this time. It's not even remotely possible." She begins looking around for the cause, even as the ride begins rise toward one of the highest arcs on its track. She sees people dropping. Dropping gradually, with apparently enough time to lie down in most cases, but this is far too many people falling asleep all at once.
To the ride operator's credit, he notices this too. Snow plus people dropping, plus his own sudden fatigue give him just enough warning that something is not right. He manages to activate the ride's brakes before he also slumps down. This leaves the ride stopped at the top of the arc, giving Rune an excellent view of where the snow is rising toward. Eyes settle on a distant figure. "Is that... her?!"
"Mistral, forgive me. This is not what I intended for your 'parade.' I will make it up to you! For now, however..."
Rune carefully climbs out of the car, standing on the track. "Summoning Princess' Tiara!" Jeweled headwear appears in one hand, a pulsing energy-hum noise coming from it. "The Line of Succession..." The tiara is passed to her other hand, which brings it to her head in the same motion. "Transform!" A flash of red light engulfs Rune...
...And when it fades, she's in magical dress with her main wand in hand.
Mistral Durand had tried to deny the idea of a parade outright. Sure she's a knight, but she's no hero. Or something. Her arguments are kind of weak to be blunt about it all. Still, there might be some pride at having accomplished something to be celebrated, not that she'd admit it. Aside from the giddiness buried in her tone thereafter.
The offer to go to a park in this world was a no brainer though. The crowds wouldn't be looking at her, it's a new thing to experience and she had learned of roller coasters in her exploration. Those sounded awesome, which precisely why they're at the top of the crest when the ride stops.
She had noticed the abnormal weather, but this place was abnormal enough it hadn't clicked right away. That anticipation at the drop is replaced with a scowl and she begins to work herself free from the cart, standing easily with one foot on the cart and the other on her seat.
Reaching into her pocket, she grips a small brooch tight in her fingers, twisting it around between them before clenching her fingers against it. "It's not your fault." she offers in response to the apology. "To save lives by blade or salve, I am Guardian Mist." Her tone harder as she says this, looking over the crowd as the flash of icy blue light obscures her from sight to leave the young woman in her tunic and coat, had in one hand, held against her chest, saber in the other.
The energy suffused snow continues to float upward into Requiem's outstretched hand, the steady stream of flakes from myriad locations lighting up the air and casting strange shadows across the cloudy park. They continue to collect into her hand, the tiny crystal slowly growing in size as the drained energy is collected.
Up on the highest perch her she sees and senses lights and magic not of her own, the red flash of Runealy's royal transformation briefly overwhelming the snowy display and lighting up the area around her in red, followed soon after by the icy blue of Guardian Mist's. This causes a slight frown to crease Requiem's face from beneath her black veil. She holds the crystal off to her side and sets her staff firmly on the top of the ferris wheel cab she stands upon, regarding the Runealy and Mist with a cold counterance.
"Have you decided to come talk, Princess? You were in such a hurry to end our discourse when last we met. Whatever could have changed your mind?" She inclines her head slightly to one side, increasing the jaunt of the small tophat set upon her head. The ferris wheel continues to turn, nearing halfway towards the ground and annoying the dark magical girl slightly as it gives the Princess and Guardian Knight a slight height advantage. She doesn't seem to enjoy needing to look up.
Even still the swarm of flakes continue into her outstretched hand, the drained energy making it's way to the crystal slowly growing in her palm. Her eyes glance away from Runealy and over to Guardian Mist, a soft sigh escapes her as she recognizes the face. "So it is as I thought. The third family you've found is with her. I thought to warn you away, but I knew it would be in vain." She dips briefly, offering a semblance of a curtsy, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Requiem. Know that I do not dispute your stated cause, were you telling the truth of your mission, but I believe that power you now display could be put to much better use back where you came from. You should already know that better than anyone."
All this is, quite naturally, an attempt to delay action as much as it is to converse. Every moment she goes unopposed more snow rises to her and collects, bringing to her the energy of the people attending the theme park.
"Perhaps not, but I still wish to make it up to you later." Rune comments in a low tone to Mist. "For now... I have only the faintest idea how you fight, and this will likely become one. I will assist you as best I can!"
Her voice raises to a shout, having to cover the great distance between herself and Requiem. "I was willing to respect your decision to become a citizen of Earth and leave you to it. This changed my mind! Stop this at once and explain yourself!"
Aware that the roller-coaster passengers are right behind her, the princess at least has the sense to rush down the track some so that if any attacks head her way, a miss won't immediately hurt them.
Despite how far away Requiem is, Rune aims her wand straight at her critic-antagonist. "If you do not, we'll stop you here and now!"
Mistral Durand watches the dark magical girl, commenting to the side, "It isn't necessary, this promises to be an interesting day one way or the other." Setting the hat to her head, she calls down to the other girl, "Your price wasn't what I expected. It wasn't worth it." She glances back at the cart behind her, then with a tap of her heel against the tracks, she jumps straight down, one boot on the rail, leaving a trail of ice as she slides down at high speed. Hat clutched against her head, she hops lightly off at the bottom.
She extends her sabre towards Requiem, "I told you then, my motivations and I meant it. I can save more lives learning and sharing that knowledge, than I can rushing headlong into every fight." She takes a step forward, sabre snapped behind her, pointed low and her free hand hidden. "Besides, you're here, helping them there."
With one last flourish, raising the sabre in something of a salute, she says, "So, while I wish it could have been different, and I hope for a better tomorrow" She begins to step forward, one hand hidden behind her coat, "I will do what I have to do to stop you."
"I owe you no such explanations, and you've no right to impose your rule over me. That time has passed," Requiem calls back in reply. Her chin lifts as Runealy runs along the track and takes aim, "You would attempt to impose yourself upon me by force? That is the Queen you wish to become? So be it!"
As Mistral slides down the rail at high speed Requiem is quite glad she is here and not over there. Attempting to fight her on a slope with a height disadvantage would surely be disastrous without immediate repositioning. At the mention of her 'price' her expression turns bitter, "Perhaps so, but you know nothing of which you speak. You do intend to oppose me as well, then. Very well. However honorable your intentions you have made yourself my enemy."
The hand holding the crystal snaps closed around it and the movement of the snow stops all at once, filling the air and starting to float down harmlessly. The staff is raised and the crystal atop it flares to life more brilliantly than before, the violet gem glowing from within with blue as she focuses her magical power through it. "Rise and give me room to run now that the battle has begun. By you I will not be outdone, with this power I bash and stun!"
The effect of the quick spell is very obvious as an enormous craggy pillar suddenly raises up out of the ground to meet her feet as she steps off the cart, elongating as she dashes along it, thinning and extending as a thin platform into the air. Ahead of her several large chunks of ice break off the structure and are flung at Mistral and Runealy, though the Princess has the singular pleasure of a large cube of ice twice as large as she is forming a dozen feet above her head and crashing down afterwards.
"Interesting, but hardly relaxing. I had hoped you would enjoy your time here, not be thrown into battle!" Rune calls back to Mist, though she keeps Requiem in the corner of her vision the whole time.
Then Requiem accuses her of authoritarianism. The elder princess barely flinches at it, snapping back: "Those attacking innocent people have little room to criticize my policies! I... hn?!" She's interrupted mid-sentence by a few interesting things.
First, she gets her first real glimpse of what Mist can do as the newest Knight glides by on an ice-trail. The princess had very tiny impressions of what Mist might be capable of when a tiny spark of her magic connected with Mistral during the Oath ritual... but now it is real, and a tiny awed gasp follows as her new friend skates by!
Then Requiem is on the move. Rune considers chasing her, but a shadow suddenly looming overhead changes this. "What...?!" A startled cry, as her boot-wings light up. She could move to another perch... but if Requiem can drop ice-blocks this large, any building or ride she stands on would be at risk of collapse!
Thus, Rune hurls herself sideways off the roller coaster. Her wings continue to pulse silvery sparkles as she falls, slowing her descent. She continues her lateral path, aiming up at Requiem from an angle the princess is confident won't hit the nearby ferris wheel if she misses.
With a sharp, aggressive shout, Rune launches her staff's emerald tip at Requiem! Another grows to replace it, and this too is fired at her foe; a third replaces it, but two shots is all the effort she wants to make at this distance.
Mistral Durand has no intentions of trying to fight a mage-y sort from anything resembling high ground. That gets into flipping territory after all. "I never pretended to know everything." She responds directly to Requiem, "But, I also know I chose to fight-" she punctuates the word by flinging her arm out, a frozen blade flung fast and low, "-rather than join them!" The last word is almost yelled, her knife clattering off of the pillar of created ice. Lashing her sword at chunk of ice flung at her, blade ice-rimed and leaving it flash frozen in a crystaline crescent that glitters in the light, marred only by the other's ice.
Without a word, she kicks the mixed ice, shattering both pieces to send the shards back towards her dark counterpart. Following quickly behind the shards to try and follow up on the attack, even as each step crunches like she's stepping on ice, leaving behind faint hints of the ice in question behind in her footprints.
She hadn't been running straight at the singer though, instead her footsteps originally had taken a route towards the princess, however as she manages to avoid the attack, she slides and tries to adjust once more, her stride carrying her forward. A break in her usual style, not that she'd ever admit it to her old friends. Her next few words come out as cold as her magic, "I don't know why you chose this path, but I will freeze you in your place. You WILL not hurt anyone else if I have any say in it."
The large block of ice is visually impressive, but Rune is quickly able to escape it with relative ease. With the princess out of the way it impacts the roller coaster track with a loud crash, dissipating into sparkling blue and violet magic when it fails to find it's mark rather than staying and littering the battlefield.
Then Rune's attacks come in and smash into the bridge of ice she's making, the black dressed magical girl weaving and sprinting in short bursts to dodge. Even so the blast is enough to blow through the 'floor' of the ice bridge, leaving large holes in it's structure and sending a spray of shattered ice and some green sparkles over Requiem, the pain causing her to suck in her breath. A first small taste of what Runealy is capable of dishing out, and of the danger she's putting herself into.
As she continues along her path the bridge begins to thicken again, only to reach down with a second large pillar to find the ground, the structure now visibly an arch, though missing several chunks where the wand tips impacted. There might be some panic as the newest pillar is decidedly where some people were laying- but it seems at least for now Requiem is not a cold blooded murderer- smaller arches in the larger craggy pillar ensure the bodies are not crushed or otherwise injured, at least not by her hand.
More shards of ice are sent her way, including her own, encased by the power of Guardian Mist. A quick swing of her staff and the pillar of ice extends upwards along it's edge, something very similar to what Runealy had seen before, a wall of ice forming and causing the pieces of shattered ice to clatter off of it and temporarily taking Requiem from their view.
Things are not going as well as she'd hoped. She'd hoped to get this thing done without any interference, or at least much delayed interference. As it is she's only got a third of what she's came for, and she's being hard pressed to not drop her guard. If she's to continue acquiring the energy, something has to change.
She walks out from behind the newly formed ice wall, and back onto the bridge between the two tall pillars of the arch. "How noble," she replies to Mistral, her words empty and half mocking. "But you should be beware, or you will be the one that is frozen."
It's the Guardian Knight she focuses on this time, and rather than weaving a new spell she instead focuses on one she's already cast. On the ground Mistral is effectively in her territory, covered inches deep in snow as it is. With only motions of her staff and no words the snow about Mistral's feet freeze to solid ice, intending to trap her in place, or even merely slow her down and trip her up, a second broad sweep of her staff causing a sudden shift in the snow in a wide area around her, rising and building like a wave before crashing over and putting her in danger of being completely buried in the drift. Given how some of the snow just froze to ice, the danger it poses is likely obvious.
Expecting the Guardian Knight to be occupied she focuses her attention on Runealy, but doesn't attack. Instead she stands out in the relative open on the bridge and opens her palm again while tracking the Princess' movements, extending her arm out as the crystal is revealed and drawing in more of the glowing snow, and with it the energy of the sleeping civilians.
Rune spares a momentary glance to Mistral, curious what the Knight is talking about; a lot of it simply doesn't make sense to the elder princess, lacking context about her friend's history and certain events back home. The mix of blade and ice fighting is intriguing as well, and Rune takes mental note of it so she can figure out better ways to work with Mist.
However, teamwork isn't always about coordinated attacks. In this case, Rune is more concerned about the 'winter wave' sent at Mist. A sharp "Ahh...! Mist!" of alarm follows as she realizes what could happen if it's not stopped, and the princess tries to do precisely that. Her wand fires an orb at the storm, then another, and a third in an attempt to punch a hole in the icy parts!
Even as the orbs fly, Rune's descent ends. She lands on the ground, staring up at the ice bridge...
Guardian Mist doesn't let the failure of her attack slow her down, even as she keeps sure footing in the snow with light steps. As the ground begins to freeze, she definitely recognizes what kind of a bad situation that is! The lack of fancier ranged magic is something that will be worked on later. At this moment, she seemingly pulls two more of those slender, frozen knives from nowhere and throws them both at the pillar of ice. Each impacting and sticking rather than clattering away. Mistral's own pale blue ice begins to spread from each, a thin sheet of slick ice with spiked 'blossoms' acting as caltrops to try and level the playing field.
Of course, Rune gives her a chance to get out of the way of the oncoming wave, which she promptly tries to do, smashing her sword against the ice encasing her feet, she rolls out of the way at the last moment and scrambles to her feet, grabbing her hat from the ground as she continues the attack forward!
The orbs explode into the wave of snow, breaking up it's mass and also overpowering Requiem's widespread magic in localized areas with raw magical power, the heat of the day instantly melting the snow to water which splashes harmlessly to the ground. It's enough of a difference to give Guardian Mist the edge she needs to roll out of the way once she frees herself from the ground.
As the Guardian Knight's ice spreads over her own Requiem eyes spikey blossoms wearily. Her staff suddenly and quickly shrinks into a wand, it's base retracting upward, the crystal becoming smaller and enclosed as the butterfly wings fold up and around it. She gives the more nimble weapon a spin in her hand, her other closing once more and again ending the flow of magic to herself."Show these two my frozen spite, perforate and end this fight!" Even shrunken the crystal glows as she weaves her magic, holding the wand forward and aiming it at Runealy.
A trio of small but quickly moving icicles form in front of it and fire forward, just as she steps off the edge of the icy bridge she'd built right when those caltrops would have reached her. She falls, sending forth more bursts of icicles at both opponents, the angle of her attacks becoming shallower and shallower as she falls, only for her to land and swing her wand twice, a pair of larger meter long but equally sharp spikes of ice forming and shooting in towards Runealy.
She hits the ground with a large puff of the fallen snow, dropping into a momentary crouch to absorb the impact before revealing the energy holding ice crystal once more and resuming absorption of the brightly glowing snow.
Rune sags momentarily in relief as Mist manages to get out of the way of the worst of Requiem's storm. Any celebration is cut short as Requiem falls, and Rune tries to track their foe's descent with her staff's aim shifting to follow along. "Mist, be ready to take her down after this!"
"Got you...!" Rune thinks she has it, and unleashes another wand-orb! However, it does not hit; it impacts with one of the spikes Requiem launched, detonating both in mid-air in a spray of sparkles and ice-shards! This foils any sort of direct opportunity the princess was hoping to provide her friend.
The second spike is on a collision course for the princess, and her boot-wings light up to hurl her sideways... just a moment too late. What would have struck Rune dead-center still connects, plowing into her staff and knocking it aside before continuing on to strike the side of her forearm!
Rune cries out as her arm goes near-numb from the cold, realizing she can barely move it; it flops at the elbow but does little more than that.
Deciding she'll have to retrieve her main wand later, Rune reaches behind her back with her good arm; a smaller wand with a ruby-colored gem tip forms there, and she grips it before swinging it in front of herself. "That might have killed me on the spot if it hit any closer...!" A gasp-punctuated realization, one rattling her nerves. Nonetheless, she presses on.
Legs pumping one after another, she begins running toward Requiem! There's still a significant distance between them, and Rune won't be closing this gap immediately, but she's trying to. As she approaches, her smaller wand is aimed at Requiem and a one-two shot of thin red energy beams zooms toward her opponent!
Guardian Mist swings that saber wide as she starts to run forward, trying to get under those icicles rather than keeping her distance, knocking the first two out of the way outright, flashes of her own ice forming, shattering and scattering motes of light through the air. She even reveals her free hand on the third, a parrying dagger in hand, twisted and thrust forward to deflect one away from her. It leaves a hole in her coat and a gash in her side, but she grits her teeth through it.
As the attack changes in angle, she begins to try and move laterally instead, moving towards the injured princess while giving her more space to get out of the way of those shards of ice.
More tears in her coat's tails, she keeps low, sliding low under the closest icicles before carrying forward in that momentum to make up the lost ground.
She's still a short distance away and she's shown that she doesn't have a lot of options for attacking at range. Case in point, she flings at least two more ice-shard daggers at Requiem, aiming low, trying to trip her up, to buy time, whatever it is she needs to do to both stop her, distract her or prevent followups, though it almost feels futile at the distance she's trying.
As Requiem drops straight down her eyes track the motion of the launched orb, feeling a brief moment of panic when the relatively stationary location it holds in her vision tells her it's right on target. Whatever else she might have to say about the Princess, her fire is accurate. It's a small mercy that her own attack catches it halfway,
So far the battle up till now has met with only incidental success on either side without any telling blows landing. That changes when once of her ice spikes strikes Runealy and appears to severely injure her arm. The extent of the injury and moreso even the Princess own words have her eyes suddenly widening, only to narrow immediately after.
Something of a grimace sets upon her young face. Somehow until now it hadn't occurred to her just how vulnerable the Princess might be. If spikes of ice were that effective against her, she might have exactly the toolkit required to secure her secondary, and ultimately more important objective: killing Runealy. Her teeth and gut both clench at the same time, and the intent in her eyes changes. She wants to sweep them around, to look for any signs of Thravimax. This being her first major attempt at drawing energy from Tokyo's populace, it's very likely he'll be observing her some way, some how.
Cecelia couldn't face him if she saw a chance to kill the Princess and passed it up. She knows how poorly that would end. She might not be given a second 'chance' at all, immediately deemed useless or a traitor.
So her gaze changes, her focus shifting suddenly to Runealy herself to the exclusion of almost everything else. Her hand closes and she ceases drawing in the glowing snow. She had started retreating away from Runealy to keep the distance open, but now she suddenly changes directions, stepping to the side and whirling to avoid one of the Princess' thin red beams but getting caught by the second. It catches her in the back off to one side as she spins, getting a short cry of pain from her and continuing the motion longer than intended.
She catches her footing back quickly again, however, and rather than running away makes to meet Runealy's charge dashing towards her. Once more she focuses her magical power and the gem at the top of her wand once more glows, though this time so intently that the air around it wand starts flaring up as well, the dark magical girl pouring far more energy into her weapon than she had previously, enough that the blue and violet energy can be seen visibly snaking it's way up along the wand's length.
"Rushing me's a grave mistake, when such wounds cause you to ache! Only ruin now falls in-- aahhh!" Her incantaion is briefly interrupted as her own aggressive movements leave not enough room for defense and evasion as Guardian Mist's daggers ice daggers are thrown at her, one of them catching her dress and burying itself into the front of her thigh. It's easily enough to slow her down, but not to stop her.
Gritting her teeth and now in more of a slow jog than a run she completes her chanting, "--falls in your wake, this Princess' life I shall now take!" It leaves very little room for interpretation and she swings her wand forward as she comes to a sliding stop. Another icicle, or rather more of an ice lance. It shoots forward with the speed of a projectile, but rather than ending it simply continues forming. A single incredibly long spike of ice, sharp at the tip and slowly getting progressively wider along it's length. Left unchecked it'll extend out to Rune, but also well past her.
Guardian Mist twists her heel and transitions into a slide, throwing a pair of daggers ahead to freeze the ground to give her that extra distance she needs without losing her footing or anything else. Her foot slams into the dagger ahead and with the momentum she rolls into a standing position, placing herself right in the way of the spear of ice.
A split second decision, reaching out with the main gauche, she twists her wrist, hooking the point through the hook and tries to lift it away while at the same time swinging her saber around to attack main body of the icicle with her own frost attack, the blade whistling through the air with the sheer cold present. When it impacts, a large crystal of ice forms and continues to rapidly expand, freezing, then freezing again until a spike of ice speared into the ground, trying to prevent the attack from proceeding any further.
Yanking her sword away from the mashed together crystal, she strikes it with the pommel of her knife, shattering it where the ice meets.
Stepping around the created pillar, she calls out, "I think rushing you works just fine" Letting out something of a breath of relief that it worked before assuming a defensive stance in front of the princess, hand behind her back, hiding the main gauche once more.
Rune snaps at Requiem, in the middle of the rhyming: "So long as I don't get hit again, I'll be fine! I... ah?!" She heel-skids to a stop as an ice-spike extends her way, starting to pivot aside but twisting her ankle in the process and stumbling to a knee!
Her boot-wings light up and launch the princess upward, but it's going to be too late; the 'lance' is nearly upon Rune. At best, she could hope for a partial evasion where it doesn't hit directly but would definitely take her out of the fight. At worst, this could be fatal.
Yet an ice crystal intercepts it just before impact, and Rune immediately knows who's behind it: "Mist...!" A gasping-toned acknowledgement, as the princess' 'flight' is now free to proceed. She decides her friend has the right idea: Moving in close!
Rune reaches behind herself again; her current wand disappears in a flash of light, replaced by an even smaller one vaguely shaped like a flashlight. A thin yellow beam, a few feet long, emits from it as the princess lets out an aggressive scream!
She falls toward Requiem, the gems on the princess' tiara lighting up to spray a stream of green sparkles down at her! Wincing as her injured ankle hits the ground, Rune nonetheless manages to keep her footing and begins a series of swings and thrusts at her critic-turned-assassin.
Her form is not as good as Mist's, but the princess isn't incompetent at close-up fighting and she's hoping that following her friend's strategy will suffice.
Requiem is focused as she continues her attack, extending the lance of ice even as Guardian Mist intercepts it and begins altering it's course. She cries out again, this time from pure exertion, trying to overpower the Guardian Knight and force the attack onward to Princess Runealy despite the interruption. It's for naught, however, as Mist's tactic gets the better of her simple direct assault, ceasing it entirely once the ice is shattered.
She breathes heavily after such an inelegant outpouring of power, the injuries she sustained starting to tell. That was supposed to end the fight decisively, but now she must continue.
Before she can recover Rune comes sailing towards her in a directed fall, her only defense against the green sparkles that splash all over her form to hold her left arm up defensively in front of her face as numerous small injuries quickly begin to add up across her body. Then the Princess lands in front of her with yellow beamed wand in hand and swings at her, Requiem desperately stumbling away and taking a pair of hard strikes across her body for it.
Eventually she manages to put her wand in the way of it's blows, her left hand opening to reveal the crystal again and- it disappears, fading into magical storage space. With it no longer present the glowing snow begins to lose it's luster, and the snow itself begins to feel the summer heat and melt. In it's place a secondary weapon appears, however, a wooden handled war pick looking decidedly more medieval than her wand.
This she begins to counter swing at the Princess, and while she isn't hopeless with the weapon she's now just as injured as Runealy, clearly favoring her injured leg and slowed from mounting injuries. It might be something close to a fair fight except for one thing- it isn't one on one. Guardian Mist is there, and as things are her chances are clearly terrible if they both close in on her. After trying to by some room by swinging the pick towards Runealy's injured arm she jumps back a short distance.
"I call you forth with frozen wail, accost my foes with icy gale," she chants quickly, taking in a deep breath afterwards before turning her head towards Mist and blowing a gust of frigid wind at her, hoping to drive her off or at least slow her inevitable advance. It picks up some of the snow that hasn't melted yet along for the ride, but it isn't the wind itself that's a danger, it's the bone chilling cold that comes with it.
Rune winces, somewhat surprised that Requiem is still standing. She has no more clever remarks though, just a shout of effort as she swings her wand to block Requiem's pick. This deflects the spike, but Rune cries out as the impact nonetheless knocks the wand out of her hand!
While she could retrieve one of her remaining wands, this would take time that the princess isn't willing to spare while Mist is being attacked. Rune's boot-wings flare again, drifting her back a few feet before lurching her toward Requiem!
Since Rune is currently unarmed, she twists her upper body to point a shoulder at her foe. With a shout, Rune tries to ram Requiem from the side in the hopes this might disrupt the frost-wind!
Guardian Mist moves forward as the princess does, splitting Requiem's focus by trying to keep both of them out of her line of sight, at least at the same time. There's a chance for her to try and do more too even. She hooks the hilt of her dagger with her foot, flinging it at the dark magical girl crudely, trying to catch her attention as she goes.
Charging forward, through the biting cold, ignoring the numbness, the freezing cold and the frost forming on her coat, hair and tunic. Completely willing to use this as an opportunity to catch the girl off guard, arm raised against her face to protect it, head down just enough to help, she swings with the guard of her parrying dagger to stagger her while bringing the sabre around low to high from the opposite direction, motes of ice traiing behind as she tries to finish the fight.
Successful or not, she's clearly trying to keep Requiem's attention focused forward, where she's not nearly as hurt as the princess.
The wand knocked free of Runealy's hand Requiem tries to press her perceived advantage, closing in on the Princess as she retreats only to get caught by surprise by the sudden reversal and shoulder rush. She's caught full in the chest before she can swing her weapon, the biting wind sent Guardian Mist's way ending abruptly as the villainous magical girl suddenly coughs and gasps for air, staggering backwards and struggling to keep her footing.
Not that the Guardian Knight wouldn't have made it through the wind through pure grit and toughness. The flung dagger forces her even further off balance and thinly slices her cheek even as she attempts to dodge, leaving her struggling and flailing to interpose wand and pick in front of Mists's assault when she finds her way in. Her pick is batted away by the dagger, and she's too off balance to protect herself from multiple attacks in succession, failing to block the saber and taking a painful vertical slash along her midsection, the wound freezing over with the Guardian Knight's ice and injuring her further.
She's in fully retreat now, visibly in pain from all her injuries and even beginning to look a little scared at how things might turn out. She stumbles backwards even faster, tripping and falling, sucking in her breath as she lands on her haunches and hands. She looks completely powerless on the ground, spent and beaten.
The look of fear falls away from her expression, and she sighs. "You might have won today, but I'll be ready for you next time."
Beneath her there's suddenly a pool of inky, sickening black wrongness as a entryway to the Dusk Zone opens up, the injured and beaten magical girl steeling herself for the discomfort she's about to face while falling into it, the gateway closing and disappearing the moment she's through.
With Requiem gone all the spells she cast dispel at once; the pillars of ice break apart into magical sparkles, any physical remains of her attacks vanish, and all the remaining snow instantly melts.
Rune drifts away from Requiem after impact, more than glad to let Mist take over for the close-range fighting. When Requiem falls, the princess is quick to cheer her friend on: "Wonderful! I believe we have the advantage now!"
Then Requiem threatens to turn things around in the future, and the princess takes a few slow steps toward her. "There will not be a 'next time.' You are hereby under arrest for assaulting Earth civilians, and I fully intend to find out why you are hurting them when your quarrel is with me, not innocent peop... huh?"
Requiem starts to fade away. "No! I can't let you just...!" She cuts off with a tiny gasp as the transportation is complete; Requiem is gone.
Rune sags with relief and fatigue, looking to her knight. "Mist... are you alright?"
They may have driven Requiem away, but Rune's posture is hurt and tired; even with a two-against-one advantage, this was not an easy achievement. Even her question was asked with a few sharp breaths.
Guardian Mist levels her sabre at Requiem, stepping forward to make sure she didn't go anywhere, her eyes going to her various injuries briefly, already running through what she would need to do when she was detained properly. "Stay down, don't move." She says flatly, her eyes narrowing. The darkness beneath the dark magical girl catches her off guard and she's too late in lunging forward, the blade stopping just barely above the ground.
"Next time? You don't need to do this." She gestures around as the figure disappears, but adds after, "You're not as ready as you think you are." Even as she flicks the ice away from her sabre, then sets it on her belt, turning her back on the disappearing form.
Ignoring the frost, built up, already starting to melt and the discomfort, she slowly tugs her gloves off and leans forward to get a look at Rune's injury, blunt, kind of intrusive and clearly single minded about the issue. "I don't know how this feels yet, so don't move too much." As Mist focuses on healing the injury, starting with Rune's arm, one hand above the elbow, one at the wrist. Hands glowing blue, the knight tries to at least get everything back in working order. Running the real procedure, as she sees it through her mind. Set, splint, secure. Then... you know, magic. Cold, very cold. Mistral might be leaving trail of red behind her, the coat is in tatters, her arms have cuts and raw patchs from the cold, but she's fine. She's sure.
Standing when she's finished, she looks at the others, gesturing around. "Do we set up a triage for them?"
Rune's posture further sags as Mist approaches. The princess is tired, but smiling faintly all the same. "Mist, you were wonderful out there! I'm sorry you found yourself 'tested' so soon here on Earth, but you handled that incredibly well. And I... ah?" Somehow, Rune is surprised the person she invited to be the team's 'healer' is indeed working on healing; she didn't realize Mist could manifest her magic to help others like that!
She feels a cold sensation in the arm as Mist tends to it, but that is more sensation than the arm had beforehand. Rune tries to hold the arm steady, aside from minor reflexive movements as feeling returns. "For your first time, that, also, is impressive! As for triage... not unless they're in danger of dying. Earth's healers can tend to them well enough; I believe you might need said 'triage' more than they do?"
Guardian Mist tilts her head head from one side, then to the other, examining the arm as she murmurs, "I thought that would work better." before standing up. "It's uh, better now right? We'll keep trying at home." It's only then, and after the comment that she might need triage herself that she looks down. Lifting an arm to look at her side, she pokes it carefully with a finger, then says, "I didn't feel that." Sounding surprised. Though now that she's noticed it, it definitely stings and she quickly turns on her heel to hide that her eyes watered from that poke. Holding her hand over it, she tries again to at least close the wound up.
Over her shoulder, she says, "I think I did alright. I... need to practice-" She turns her head just a little, looking over her shoulder while still hiding the wince, "I need... uh, better options for dealing with someone out of arm's reach I mean." She's definitely trying to act tougher than she feels at the moment.
"If you need to, we can wait a minute... once I've caught my breath, I can try to tend to you." Rune's own healing magic pales next to Mist's, but it's not-negligible. "As for 'options to practice'... I agree. Options on your own, and just as importantly... options together."
She makes a single, slow nod as she removes her tiara. Rune re-appears a moment later in her normal attire, her usual royal dress. "I couldn't suggest what your options are for doing it yourself; you know your style better than I. However... it is perfectly fine to ask a friend to assist you. Whether it is Guardian Hino, or Mami Tomoe, or Sailor Moon, or my sister, or anyone else here on Earth who stands against monsters and their allies... I am sure most of them would be glad to drive foes toward you, or slow them down, or whatever else might help. For now, however?"
She produces her phone. "You did quite well, and that is good enough for today. I will call our driver... it is time for us to head home, I believe." Then, Rune begins placing that call.