'Who is this man? Why I never sensed his presence—even under that tattered robe, smeared with muck and dirt had clothes beneath it, wrapped generously around his body, and face shouldn't escape from my eyesight!'
Anasthasia's feet suddenly weighed several tons, watching Lucy pin down and scream in agony—from the man's sheer brute force and her erratic powers. She sucked in a cold breath, scowling, "You dare touch her!"
Her eyes gleamed and saw how his body turned void of any presence of mana. Its darkness was comparable to the poorly dimmed alleyway. With the Leader's booming voice cackled the stifling air, she turned and glared daggers at him.
"Take it easy, Rattle." He slowly fixed his stance, dusting off the crystalline flakes over him. He hissed in pain from the deep cuts and frozen gash.
In response, the man, named Rattle, turned lenient. Lucy's hands, lit aglow with chaotic frost, powerfully restrained by his lean, dark gloved hand. Her legs anchored the damp ground by Rattle's knees.
Anasthasia could hear her breathing get better as she could breathe much air from her disadvantaged position, but she couldn't help wince in pain from the man's restraint.
"I never thought you'd stop right here and then, Miss."
"Please, save your smirks with those dumb remarks of yours."
"I can't believe you almost killed more than half of my men. Quite an outstanding and unique magician."
Anasthasia, behind her blue silked cloak, had creased her brows from his word. She gritted her teeth as she tried to find a way to remedy the problem at hand.
"You called me unique? It's nothing, don't praise me that much," Anasthasia scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"There's no mistake in it. We have never encountered such a way of a magician's prowess—"
"Perhaps your men are that weak." She shrugged her shoulders lightly, jeering at him, "I have never encountered such way of mercenary's prowess—"
"You better not regret this!" His blazing eyes shifted towards Rattle, which caused Anasthasia's ears perked up from Lucy's cries.
"You dare…" Anasthasia gritted her teeth.
"Now that you're in no position to move—"
Anasthasia chortled that mused the silent night, interrupting his assertions, which left his forehead, revealing the ocean storm's recurring waves. She took her time, clasping her stomach from the peals of laughter.
"You think just because you restrained her; I won't be able to do anything?" Anasthasia tapped her foot in a monotonous tone, whispering, "Let me educate you."
Her cloak started to flutter when her cover took off of her head. All of them had caught sight of her bewitching beauty, from her glowing blue eyes that pierced cold to their hearts to her golden weave that danced within the darkness.
"The water in the body consists of approximately seventy percent of water. Do you know what that means?"
Before they could speak, Anasthasia turned her head, twisting her heels towards Rattle. Extending her arms, Rattle had his hands strangle his lithe neck. While at it, his position then ascended to several inches above ground with his arms twitched while his legs squirmed and flailed in all directions.
She lifted her palms, and Rattle's thrashes turned rampant and violent. They could hear his burlesque grunts coming out of horror. From what they witnessed, this created an illusion Rattle was hung midair.
"I don't want to do this, but you're testing my patience." Her deadly cold gaze turned ablaze.
All of them could hear Rattle's bones snapped and cracked, limbs twisted in an unusual position. His cries turned heavier and stronger. He was on the verge of death— no matter the pleas, his lips sealed, which then made words unable to escape.
Anasthasia huffed, retracting her hands to her chest, which pulled Rattle in such a force. She spun around, throwing Rattle back to them and toppling their position. The momentum was so strong that it shook their balance from one person to another.
'This is my chance!'
'Winter's Grasp!'
Anasthasia's hand grew cold, the frigid winds coalesced around her, reaching towards Lucy's arms. The crystalline spikes of ice and dripping coagulated blue gel gruesomely covered the hands.
With Anasthasia's powers melded to Lucy's, the glaciers of ice dissolved, clutching her position and dragging her reach.
"I'm sorry." It was the only words Anasthasia uttered in a soft, consoling tone. She drew her close to a warm embrace, patting her head.
Seeing how their Leader infuriated with the scene, he roared with gibberish words. He charged forth, roaring the night with his men following right behind him.
"Lucy, I shall cover your ears." Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, and before Lucy could respond. A subtle thump reverberated in the air.
'Scream of Terror!'
From opening her delicate and dainty mouth, with such impetuous, the sultry screams ravaged forward. The accumulated sound energy-packed the stifling air, bouncing off one another that created gigantic waves.
With them caught in her impetus, they all fell to miserable state—shredded clothes, armors, and weapons shattered to bits, sonic slashes that cut through their skin and bones, ears that popped and gushed out an ounce of blood—while sent flying several yards away from her.
Contrary to popular belief, the intensity of the power akin to a thunderclap—slowly expanding and shattering the barrier.
In addition to that, broken crates turned to splinters and debris, more cracks formed along the damp road and unto walls in the alleyway. Her power reached the barrier, causing it to shatter without further ado.
'Those bunch of runts, they had to make me do this! I'm glad it's finally over!'
Anasthasia noticed the shatters, and she stopped her scream. Eyes twitched, and consciousness began to wane from the chronic cluster of pain that bloomed in her head. She panted hard, holding unto Lucy ever so tightly.
'I need to erase Lucy's magic traces, or else they will condemn her from the crime scene.'
She snapped her fingers and placed heated up rapidly, which melted the glaciers of ice, frost statures, snowflakes, and vaporizing the waters. Which, in turn, created a magnanimous fog, so thick and wide enough to overarch different directions.
'I'm tired. I need to recuperate.'
Eventually, Anasthasia's legs gave in. She dropped like a feather and slumped with her legs and the other arm anchored the ground. But then she noticed how Lucy turned heavy.
Lucy leaning on her, her body warmed at an alarming rate. With every huffed had always colored her face beet red.
'This can't be! She's sick at this point!' Anasthasia panicked in her thoughts, and she checked her forehead, underside of the chin, neck, and down to her limbs. With the wounds and deep bruises latched on her body, her eyes bulged in horror, grumbling, 'Dang it! What must I do? I'm currently short of power!'
She frantically looked around; even what welcomed her vision was so dim that things deemed hardly seen, mumbling, "Think, Anasthasia! You must think of some way!"
It didn't take long for the siren's sound to reverberate within the corners in the area, coupled with the choral thuds that assaulted their ears. This brought Anasthasia to shudder, which she deduced, from the incoming group of men in patrol.
'This is not good news at all! I—I must get moving or else we'll get caught!' She tried to move her legs, wobbled like a flower that could be easily blown away in the storm's presence.
Her headache continued to ring her head and she clutched her chest.
"Lucy! Lucy! Hang in there!" Anasthasia cupped her cheeks, shook with care as she tried to rev up her consciousness. But in response, Lucy only groaned in pain.
"With the little mana I have, this is the only thing I can do." Sighing, she opened her palms, which glowed a white light.
'Regeneration—!'
She coughed a mouthful of blood, and her vision turned into a subtle distortion. With the steady and timely recovery observed in her body, she hugged her tight and stood with all her might. She huffed aloud from the slow yet successful stance.
'Now, I must walk back towards—' Pondering, she staggered from her position. She became trippy from her actions. She hastened her steps close to the wall, carefully leaning her body for support.
'I can do this.' She closed her eyes, and she could feel a cold, craggy exterior causing abrasions with the cloak donned on her.
The alarms drew louder and more assertive. Anasthasia wasted not one precious second of it as she struggled her way further from the scene.
But all of a sudden, her senses tingled most, especially from her waist and to her neck. A sudden strike of a sword pierced deep to the wall in a spur moment, blocking her waist from the further twist, and another one near her neck.
It was a skip in a beat from Anasthasia's heart.
'Who are these guys—?'
But she had mixed feelings when she heard about their voices.
"Freeze, where you are!"