It's been a little more than a week since the fight at the amusement park and Cecelia is still taking things slow and careful. She hasn't gone out and drained anyone since, not even single isolated targets. The truth of the matter was she'd gotten injured enough to really slow her down, and despite healing much faster than she might have before she'd made her contract with Thravimax and become his mage, she still required some time to recover. At first it had seemed as if things were going her way, but then all of a sudden victory had slipped from her grasp and she'd been forced to retreat.
So she'd been biding her time, licking her wounds so to speak, and merely recovering. The urban density of Tokyo had started to grate on her a little. It wasn't that she was sick of it or anything, but being wounded made her miss some of the comforts of the home she'd lost and left behind. Not wanting to give into such anger inducing nostalgia she'd gone to the closest thing she could find to an agrarian setting in the city; the large King Penguin Park, and moreover the garden kept within it.
It was greener than she was used to, but the abundance of plants and calm, quiet atmosphere was a far cry from the busy city streets. She'd spent some time walking around, eventually finding herself sitting on a bench by the pond, idly tossing little pellets of food to the koi and watching them rush for the morsels and snap at the surface before diving back down for safety. It was calming and idle, but just interesting enough to keep her mind off of things for a while. Exactly what she needed.
Mistral Durand had arrived some time earlier, her notebook in hand, already packed with cramped and rough writing detailing notes, crude drawings of plants and what she thinks might work in conjunction with each individual thing. She's also wearing a pair of simple earbuds to go with a loose shirt and cargo pants, looking very much comfortable in the native clothes. Of course, what doesn't beat roughspun clothes.
A few hours have passed and while she's prone to skipping out on sleep and on food, it's been long enough that her stomach won't let her forget that she's gone more than a while without a meal.
It's at that point that she makes her way through, heading back to the entrance and over towards the koi pond, largely by coincidence. And she spots a familiar face. A look around at the crowd, then at the forlorn look about the girl, she actually tries to duck away from the crowd. Which is about when she bumps into someone, quickly trying to apologize. Quietly. Trying being the operative word.
Not focusing on anything in particular other than the soothing sight of ripples forming on the surface of the water means Cecelia is fairly well aware of her surroundings. There are other people around and she hears footsteps pass her by every now and again. She doesn't give them much attention unless there's something out of the ordinary.
The sound of a shuffling and muffled apologizes is far enough out of the ordinary that it gets her to turn her head, reaching up to push her loose blonde hair back over her ear to clear her peripheral vision as she looks out the corner of her eye. A familiar face is seen, and the young woman lets out a soft sigh. "For someone who cares so much about healing the injuries of others you don't put much thought into preventing them." Her tone is calm rather than mocking, voice only loud enough to reach it's intended recipient so as not to bother the other's in the garden.
She turns a little in her seat on the bench, lifting an arm onto it's back, inadvertently resting it on some of her hair, "You needn't worry if it's me you're trying to avoid. I'm not about to cause a scene." Blue eyes rest upon Mistral for several moments, wondering what the Guardian Knight will do.
Mistral Durand shrugs as the game is up. Turning, she offers what amounts to a cheerful enough wave. Might as well own up to it. She gestures around to the gathered people and stops nearby. "You clearly don't have a problem harming bystanders and I've no problem ducking away rather than risking injury to them."
Looking over to the other icy magical girl, she crosses her arms and says, "As for that, you were attempting to harm innocents and kill someone I've sworn to protect." There's a pause, then she adds flatly, "Besides, sometimes to save lives, you have to fight. Even if it's just to buy time for them to get away."
She gestures to the girl's stomach and says, "If you didn't get it treated, it can cause you problems. Did you get... whatever sap might be helping out to clean it out and close it all up? If not-" She looks at the girl cooly, "And you really aren't after a fight, I can try to help."
"On the contrary. The only bystanders were you and Runealy and you seemed resilient enough to avoid injury, at least until you decided to intervene. The rest were targets." Cecelia's gaze cools a little as she speaks, only to tilt her head almost imperceptibly as Mistral crosses her arms. After a moment the corner of her mouth turns up and she laughs.
"You must think me very conceited. No, I wasn't talking about myself." Her propped extends and she waves her wrist lightly in the direction of the person Mistral was apologizing to. "You seem to have a habit of bumping into people, that's all."
At mention of the slash wound her cheer fades a little, and her head shakes, "I am healing well enough, thank you. Your intentions aside I'm not about to accept such assistance from the ones who caused it. I will spare your conscience the dilemma of whether or not your healing arts created more harm than good aiding my recovery."
It's not just that, of course. She doesn't say it but there's mistrust in her eyes; medicine and poison are not so dissimilar.
Mistral Durand shakes her head and replies, "Mark, target or bystander, it all adds up to the same thing." Keeping Cecelia in her view at all times, she does move to lean against anything convenient, hoping for something akin to comfort while she discusses things with, what amounts to an enemy at this point.
"I don't think you're conceited though, no." Tapping the toe of her boot a few times against the ground, she then rests on her heels. "I'm not used to this many people being around, it's surprisingly easy to forget that. I would think you'd have had the same issue really."
As that cheer fades and her offer is rejected, she shrugs easily enough. "My conscience is clear with regards to that day. If you think I am... some pampered member of nobility, you've missed your mark by an almost comical distance."
There's quiet contemplation, quiet, looking straight into the girl's eyes. "I believe in second chances. If you must know."
Cecelia considers Mistrals words and eventually simply shrugs, "That's one way of looking at it, I suppose." There's no point in arguing semantics with someone clearly uninterested in it.
As Mistral finds a place to lean and relax Cecelia looks back towards the pond, throwing a half dozen feed pellets into the water and watching the rising and snapping fish, all competing for the easy food. "It is," she readily admits about having trouble with the crowds, "but I have some advantages."
Looking back towards Mistral she reaches back and runs her hand slowly beneath her long hair, the bright blonde locks eventually weighing enough to fall past her wrist and pool beside her on the bench, "I'm lucky enough to look like the foreigner I am, and I've found those that don't gawk or stare tend to give me extra space. It's very thoughtful of them."
A quiet nod is given as Mistral speaks of her conscience, "I played my part and you played yours. You are at ease trying to stop me, and I at ease resisting those attempts. I see no reason to muddy the clarity of the situation."
She meets the gaze sent her way, the royal blue of her eyes locking with grey, they crinkle slightly at the edges, as if in a smile, but there is a bitterness reflecting in them to temper the gentle curl on her lips. "Do you? I would expect so. This is my second chance too, you know. Here in this world, in Tokyo. My second chance at life."
Mistral Durand shrugs, "I'm well familiar with the concept in general. It's why I'm so against the idea. Even then though, it's not a good path."
She gives the other girl an annoyed look and finally says, "I'm sure it's so strange, having light hair here." even as she lifts her cap and shows off similar pale hair. "I'm just not used to this big a crowd, my old gang were, not so numerous and neither were our haunts."
When it's mentioned that it's the girl's second chance at life herself, she cracks a grim smile and says, "Some bend, some break I guess. I all, but threw my life away sticking a knife in a demon. It's pure luck that I bought enough time to... buy time. Bluntly." she holds her hand out, looking her hand over, then turning it over to look at her fingers as they curl in, then straight again. "I've got a present for her if I run into her again too."
"Strange enough, it seems," she replies, looking at Mistral's hair as the cap is raised. As to the crowds she shakes her head, "I'm only getting by because there's no other choice for me. I grew up on a farm and less than a hundred people lived in the nearest town. Sometimes it amazes me to think that there are more people walking beside a single road here than I'd ever met in my entire life before I came here."
Cecelia leans against the backrest of her bench and relaxes, "I will need to get accustomed to it if I'm to stay, it's very different and exciting in a lot of ways. But it's still nice to find places like this where it isn't near so busy."
As Mistral speaks of her encounter with a demon Cecelia tilts her head. "Is that how it was? That does sound lucky, that there was someone to buy time for. I suppose that would explain your presence here; there are few who can do more than cower before such a creature and survive."
She studies her for several moments then before speaking, "I hope you were holding back against me if you hope to defeat a demon. That or you have more friends with you. The fiery fellow, perhaps? And the newer Princess; the stories say she assisted with the barrier renewal."
Mistral Durand shakes her head and looks out over the water after setting her cap back in place, hair tucked away again. "I grew up on a farm, near the borders of the kingdom. I left out of necessity." She had kind of mentioned the cause prior.
Elbows against the railing, she offers her own take, "I'm going to get used to it, there's no point in not doing so. Even the castle had more people than I was used to after all. Besides, there's so much to learn here."
"I didn't stop her, I didn't do anything, but annoy her long enough for the Princess to arrive and actually chase the coward away. I was laying in a pile of broken... everything by that point though. I did last a few minutes, which I hear is quite good."
Brushing herself off after though, she adds matter-of-factly, "That was my first fight using swords I hadn't stolen and magic, if you must know."
"Then the number of things we have in common still grows. How peculiar." As Mistral looks towards the water Cecelia takes a small handful of food pellets and toss them into the pond, causing the waiting koi to rush over and begin snapping at the surface. "You should try feeding them," she comments idly, "It's relaxing."
She looks to the water herself and muses, "The Queens wouldn't be so revered if all it took to stop a demon was a knife. No normal person could ever hope to stand against them for long. Several minutes does sound impressive." Then at the comment of that having been Mistral's first fight Cecelia glances towards her. "Was it? You did very well. I was able to learn much by facing off against you, even if the end result was a shame."
She thinks back on it and an involuntary shudder passes through her as she remembers the trip through the Dusk Zone back to her apartment. Getting slashed with a sword was bad, but that was worse.
Mistral Durand works her fingers a few more times, then one at a time before shaking it. "I might try it later. I was taking notes on the various plants of this world." She gestures around, "I think I'm going to find out what can grow back home and what I'm allowed to bring, if any if they'll help." The hand she had been working fishes her haggard notebook and offers it up for proof.
"I knew I wasn't going to stop her. She knows all of my tricks. She knew all of my tricks at the time. She just didn't expect me to come back early, or to try and stop her." She shifts her balance before continuing. "Even after my rapier broke, I tried to use it against her until I couldn't move any more. All I could do was hope I'd let more people escape, after what I'd done."
"I learned a lesson, in that I can't rely on a thrown knife to pin someone to work here. I have to come up with new ideas. Something to support others without having to run all over."
Cecelia looks to the notebook as it's raised and nods, "I wish you luck. The people of this world seem to have amassed knowledge of nearly aspect of it." A thought occurs to her and she looks with bemusement towards some of the passersby, "Except for magic, that is. They seem rather oblivious to it. I wonder if it's better that way. They can't offer their protectors the praise our own are accustomed to, but they need never live in fear of things they don't know exist."
To the talk of how far Mistral went to try and stop the demon Cecelia simply states, "How tenacious." That's something she'll need to keep in mind; not to underestimate how she might go, even if seemingly defeated. "You have the tools you need to improve. Don't expect me to give you any suggestions though. I'd rather try to outpace you than try to improve further by facing a more challenging opponent."
She sighs a little, shaking her head. "Opponent. If only it were that simple. It might even be fun to have a contest of tactics and wits against you, were the stakes not so high."
Mistral Durand taps her foot against the ground a few times, adjusting her boots, "That's the reason I'm talking to you. And why I lead so early with my personal view on it. There's always better options out there. If I didn't think there wasn't a chance, if I didn't see something familiar-" She offers a thin smile, "Things might have played out differently. My... fight training wasn't traditional, lead by a demon as it was."
Holding a finger up, she says, "I plan on joining the fencing club. Maybe the kendo club too, since it's similar. Maybe you and I should take it up." She's trying! Earnestly so to give the other girl a chance!
"Tactics aren't really my thing though, being honest." She states simply enough. "I act in the moment and prefer a dead angle to a fair fight when it comes down to mattering."
"You're right. Had things been different there would no need for us to be enemies. But had they been different there would have never been reason for us to meet. That kind of thinking doesn't suit me, though." Cecelia closes her eyes for a few moments, trying to suppress the feelings even briefly mentioning it draws out of her. There is no single change or chance encounter that could have altered her life to have been a happy one. Had things been 'different' not only would she have never met Mistral, she'd never have been born in the first place.
When Mistral speaks again and Cecelia opens her eyes the friendliness has gone out of them, and when she responds it's with a cool tone, "I plan on liberating people from their excess energy. Perhaps you should join me, instead?" She doesn't wait long enough to allow a response before adding, "I didn't think so."
She stands from her bench, swinging her arm in a wide arc and sending the remaining bits of food splashing down into the pond, resulting soon after in larger splashes as the koi go into a frenzy to collect it all. "Then we're similar in that way as well. I can't afford a fair fight if it's two on one; I make my own 'dead angles'." Then the barest of waves as she begins walking towards the entrance, "I'll leave you to your research. Good day."