Ancestra collapsed on the floor, unconscious. The confusion amongst the people were visible, looking at each other and back to the little girl who made a bloody mess. Elspeth cleared her throat, walking with audible metallic steps to the collapsed Ancestra. She made a scooping motion with her mechanical hands, a blunt, oval-shaped floating blade spooning Ancestra's unconscious body like a stretcher.
"Ancestra wins, by landing one fucking hit on Deb." Elspeth declares coldly for the crowd, who was still in palpable confusion. They didn't go away and exit the training gym, as if looking for another answer.
"Get your FUCKING ASSES OUT OF HERE! DO YOUR FUCKING JOBS!" Elspeth's words weren't her usual caring spite, but rather venomous and repulsive with anger. The crowd doesn't say anything else, and abides by her bidding. After a few minutes, only the remaining four were left in the room. Haruka walks over to Deb, waving her hands. A gust of wind and a glob of water douses and dries Deb, removing the bloodstains on his outfit.
"Whew. She was tough." Deb breathed a large sigh, collapsing on his backside and sitting down on the wooden floor. He laid down and regained his breath.
"Her powers are… unique." Haruka assessed, finding it hard to think of an adjective to label Ancestra's show of capability earlier.
"You mean bloody fuckin' morbid?" Elspeth sighed, looking back at the foxgirl. She didn't mince words. She only spoke the truth, no matter how harsh, insensitive, or obvious.
"Quite, yes." Haruka closed her eyes and sighed. She made Ancestra's severed blood red hand float back to its rightful appendage, coating it with light at the wave of her hand. A burning sound emitted from the light making contact with the bloody arm and hand, but it was restored nonetheless.
"It burns when in contact with light… So it's demon's blood." Haruka assessed again.
"Which made sense why her fuckin' eyes glowed an even deeper red. Same with her hair glowin' pink." Elspeth added.
"As the battle went on, she visibly got weaker."
"Doesn't explain why she was gaspin' for air like she's fuckin' claustrophobic inside a cramped room." Elspeth crossed her arms.
""strongest while calm"…" Haruka thought for a moment.
"Don't tell me that's literal to her fuckin' power. Don't you fuckin' dare, furry." Elspeth glared for a moment.
"I'd love to not, but it kind of made sense. She got weaker the more she was in distress. Something is restricting her to thrive in suspenseful situations."
"Uhuh."
"And if we take her name's meaning into account…"
"She gets fuckin' stronger if she's calm. Dare I fuckin' say strongest." Elspeth clicks her tongue, annoyed.
"What're you angry about?" Haruka chuckled.
"If someone thought this shit was clever, I'll fucking punch them in the gut." Elspeth clenched her metal bicep, enough to dent it.
"Surely she knew this already… So there's still the true nature of her ability… We need to do more tests. For both hers and ours."
"Guysssss… Let's get something to eat… My stomach's gonna become a more terrifying demon than Ancestra's arm if it doesn't eat…" Deb whined, waving his arms lazily. Haruka walked over to the male and helped her up, then purified her hand which she used to grab Deb's.
"Wow, rude." Deb chuckled, eliciting one from Haruka as well. The three exited the room after Haruka removed a single…
"Wait." Haruka paused.
"Yeah." Elspeth nodded.
"The blood traces and droplets are gone."
"…"
"I saw them magnet back to her arm." Deb casually informed them.
"…Blood Manipulation?" Haruka and Elspeth looked at each other, then to the sleeping Ancestra.
After exiting the training room, Deb and Haruka separated from Elspeth, the gray-clad female. She delivered the recovering Ancestra to her room, and put her to bed. She looked at the female's innocent, sleeping expression. Something she hasn't been able to see for Ophelia knows how long now. It reminded her of her sister. She cupped the raven-haired girl's cheek, which the girl nuzzles against so comfortably, even mewing like a cat. Elspeth smiled, closing her eyes. The memory of her snow-haired siblings came to her mind, filling her heart with longing and pain.
"I'll cook something nice for ya. And something else a little nice since you did your best today." Elspeth patted Ancestra's messy raven hair, a soft and uncharacteristic smile on her youthful visage. Time passed by, the sun coming down and the moon rising up. It was now evening, and all the three adults converged in Ancestra's room, eating dinner together with her.
"…I won?" Ancestra asked, confused. She had a breakfast in bed, since her body was severely weakened due to the exertion of her power. Haruka and Elspeth were eating on a table just a few steps away from the bed, while Deb took it upon himself (and much to the two women's dislike) to feed the weakened girl.
"Say Ahhh~" Deb held a slice of delectably roasted meat to Ancestra, whom ate it reluctantly whilst feeling extremely embarrassed. She savored the cooking, whom Deb revealed the chef to be Elspeth.
"I told you she'll give you a nice reward if you win~" Deb sneered at Elspeth, covering his mouth in a haughty chuckle. Elspeth clicked her tongue and waved a sword pointed directly at his slim neck.
"More than that and yer' fuckin' dyin'." Elspeth snapped at Deb, eating her salad in peace. Her dark grey eyes were boring a hole into his soul, however.
"I know, I know! I was planning to stop there anyway… Here, Ancy~ Aaaaaahhh~" Deb retreated from Elspeth's threat, and went back to feeding the still embarrassed Ancestra.
"You taunted her until she went out of control then suck up to her in the snap of a finger." Haruka sighed, rolling her eyes as she scooped a mouthful of sherbet into her mouth.
"Look, it WAS because of that I'm doing this, okay?!" Deb whined at the foxgirl. He fed Ancestra again.
"Y-You really don't have to…" Ancestra chuckled, scratching her cheek.
"Ancy. Have any recollection of what the fuck happened earlier?" Elspeth asked while pointing a fork at the girl. Ancestra tried to think back on the events that happened before. The Rose constricts her heart and lungs, Ancestra hunching forward and clutching her arm in searing pain. A thick coat of blood blocked Ancestra's recollection.
"I…" Ancestra held her head, with Deb patting down her back to at least try and alleviate the pain, but to no avail. The three waited in silence for the girl to continue.
"It was for a split second, but… I saw my arm getting bigger… and… and…" As she tried to keep digging further into her wanton rage, a splitting pain seized her brain, feeling like she'll break in half along with the thorns that was prickling and wounding her lungs and heart. Pained grunts come leaking out of her, stopped by a cold, metallic hand over her head.
"That's enough. I don't fuckin' want you dyin' on us." Elspeth sighed, rustling the girl's head. Ancestra calmed down exponentially because of it, feeling vitality return to her body when it got easier to breathe.
"Ah… okay… Thanks Elspeth." Ancestra sighed in relief, leaning back on her bed.
"On the topic of your powers, Ancy…" The foxgirl spoke up, with Elspeth returning back to their table and resuming on her food.
"Do you have any concrete idea what you can do?" Haruka added. Ancestra took a few moments to organize her thoughts.
"What I've noticed is that when I drain blood from a living thing, I become stronger in all aspects. For magic or mana, I don't know. The only people I've ever absorbed was my mother, my father, my friends, and demons."
"I'm scared at how casual you sounded saying all of that." Deb sighed with an awkward smile.
"It scares me too, Deb." Ancestra looked down on her hands, one human the other a demon's.
"And recently, I saw… or more accurately, remembered that I can manifest a giant bloody claw."
"…On that, I believe we've found out your main ability." Haruka spoke confidently, getting another spoonful of sherbet popped into her mouth.
"It's Blood Manipulation." Deb spoke up.