Scylla stepped back, releasing her hold on Silas, who caught his breath. He hadn't realized he'd been holding it. Scylla backed away from Silas, her figure shortening as she hold her hands close to her chest, shrinking it. Silas drew himself to full height, his own hands balled up tensely by his sides. He was shaking – and he knew that Scylla could see it. But Scylla made no move towards him. She instead stomped over to the caged wall behind her and leaned against it violently. It rattled jarringly as she pushed her weight on it.
"This is a waste of time," she said, her voice cracking. In the darkness, her face was invisible except for her gleaming yellow irises. Her wings folded against her body, covering it as she scrunched her face up in pain, terribly, traumatizing memories coming back to haunt her – memories of fire and shouting, blood and death. And above it all, the smell of human.
"I don't want to do this," Scylla said, sounding younger than she'd been actin earlier. But in another moment, she drew herself together, catching her own breath. She walked over to Silas, her fists balled.
"But I guess I fucking have to. So, here we go. You and I are going to fight. But you're not gonna attack me. You're gonna run until you drop. But be warned. You tick me off enough, and you might be spending the night in the medical wing. Just saying." Scylla flipped her hair, putting on her black hood and shaking out her wings. "You wanna make a bet?" she smirked, a sinister smile appearing on her snakelike face. "I'd say you last fifteen seconds. If you last longer than that, then I won't hurt you too badly. How's that sound?"
Silas didn't reply, too intimidated by her Medusa stare that his mouth turned to stone. He felt panic rise up again. In his mind, the dreaded phrase leapt to his mind despite his best attempts to ignore it.
I'm having a panic attack.
He felt his body begin to weaken, his knees begin to shake as he saw Scylla's claws gleam, catching the ominous green light and highlighted by her black garments, which faded into a barely-visible shadow that flitted around like a bat in the enclosed, claustrophobic space. It was darker than the walls, melting her body into nothingness. The heat bore down on his chest, putting him in a chokehold as sweat poured down the back of his head, behind his ears.
He felt death stare him in the face. He knew that Scylla wasn't allowed to kill him, but the unbridled, unrestrainable hate that set her golden eyes on fire tore into his soul and ripped out his heart. He felt it emanate from her body, alongside her mana that made her seem like a monster of nightmares. The promise of revenge lingered in the air. Revenge for something Silas had no control over.
Just because his predecessors had committed terrible acts – because some awful humans had killed her mother, presumably in the act of war – it was enough for her to deem him guilty. The smell reminded her of that awful day. But those humans that had harmed her so had perished without his presence. They were rotting in the ground, executed by some other monsters. The thirst for human blood still remained inside her soul. And as long as Scylla could pretend that the innocent, clueless, human boy standing in front of her was as much of a violent, murderous, warlike beast as his brethren, as long as she could imagine he was an awful being because that's what humans were…
She'd be satisfied. After all, all humans were pigs.
She lurched forwards suddenly, her body following in hot pursuit of her head. She shot forward like a bullet but wriggled through the air like an eldritch horror, precise and imprecise in a horrifying combination. She flew through the air as Silas felt a sudden gust of wind – the air magic Scylla was using carried her through the air as a fireball formed in her palm. She thrust it at Silas, who quickly dodged, bending over backwards and losing his balance. He stumbled against the wall, the cage rattling, which only added to his panic.
The weakening effect on his legs left his stuck against the cage wall, sliding down, as Scylla prepared another fireball and a large boulder in the other hand. She hurled it simultaneously at Silas, and the second they left her claws she snapped them behind her, inside her satchel. She pulled out a refined knife, perfectly sharp, smooth, and clean. It glinted in the darkness, catching the light as it faced it and completely disappearing from sight as it turned away, its sharp edge pointed sideways.
She lunged forwards again. Silas found his footing just in time to clumsily shove himself away from the wall. The fireball and the boulder landed on his exact position half a second after he left it. He felt the stinging heat of the flame and was blinded by its light as it grazed past him like a miniature sun. It dissolved into nothingness as it came in contact with the cage – and Silas deducted in that moment that Scylla could control magic like Rekka could, and only have her fire burn what she wanted.
Judging by the lack of burn marks on the portions of the walls that Silas could see with the dim green light, Scylla had the potential to fire off any fire spell she wanted without damaging anything but Silas.
But it also made it clear that even if Silas got hit by fireballs, as long as Scylla was merciful enough to respect Charybdis' wishes, it wouldn't sting him.
"Is that all you can do?" Scylla shouted, her words switching back and forth from a deafening siren-like shriek to a guttural growl. "Run and hide, less than dirt. With technology you think you're all-powerful, but without it, you're more fragile than a feather. All you can do is run and hide."
"You're the one who asked me to do this," Silas coughed, anger flaring up. Righteous indignation sputtered out of him like little embers. He immediately regretted it, seeing at how much more it enraged Scylla at the prospect of her being in the wrong. Replying took away what little breath he had, and he stumbled forwards helplessly, his neck hanging, head out in the open and vulnerable. He willed himself to get to his feet, but his muscles were too tense, cowering in fear. They didn't respond to any of his commands.
Suddenly, he felt an invisible force jolt him to his feet. He raised himself in the air like a mannequin, his hand falling limply to the side and legs dragging in midair, scraping on the ground. His third hand pushed him to his feet as the air around him bended to his will. He felt a strong gust of wind underneath his legs and knees, pushing against him like a spring.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you," Scylla sneered, stepping closer to him. "You finally figured out how to use air magic. After having the wind knocked out of you. How quaint."
"Now now, what's next? Will you learn water magic when I make you wet your pants?"
Regret and shame filled Silas' mind, coursing through all of his veins. He felt an immense weight pressing down on his shoulders as he lost the strength to keep himself upwards. His mana gave way, what meager reserves he possessed completely spent in the effort to stand up. He collapsed in on himself, his back bending over his knees as he curled up in a helpless human ball on the floor next to the flickering green walls. He was completely and utterly spent. He couldn't move a single muscle.
"Well, I suppose I should let you off the hook this time. After all, I'm not going to play the human and go back on my word. You lasted a full 20 seconds. But don't let that get to your head. If I was allowed to kill you, you'd be dead in less than one."