"Vargas, stop, don't do it!" - A cry full of despair traveled the distance until it reached the ears of the priestess; who barely reacted, stopped the tip of the energy spear just an inch from Yukino's forehead.
Taking a few steps back, the temple maiden waved her right hand, making the spear disappear while she took out a pipe and a small cloth bag from her garments. From which she took a small piece of grass that she set on fire to give it a couple of puffs.
The scandalous aroma of that smoke was unmistakably that of dried marijuana flowers, a rare drug in those parts but which was not difficult to obtain if you had the necessary contacts.
"I thought you said you would bring an apprentice for me, but I never thought you would bring this useless thing" - The expression on the priestess's face denoted great anger as she kept her eyelids closed and the frown of her eyebrows looked severe , yelling at Hanabi for giving her the order to stop. The relationship that the two of them had was somewhat complicated, even more so due to the fact that although Vargas never found himself on good terms with Freyja, helping them was an act of sedition.
"It's been 20 years since we last saw each other, I thought your temperament had changed even a little" - Hanabi was next to Vargas maintaining a firm posture, but at the same time trying to keep her guard against the unpredictable change in the mood of his old colleague.
"You know very well that I do not like unexpected visits and even more curious ones. A lot has happened these days and honestly I'm on my nerves red. But you know that I can't last long angry with you" - Hanabi's face turned completely red while Vargas smiled cynically as he took one of his buttocks tightly. The redhead's eyes seemed like two daggers that were pierced into the face of the priestess, who she did not seem to be fazed by the anger or shame of her visitors.
"Is she supposed to be the one to train me Hanabi?" - Yukino was still lying on the ground trying to get up, when suddenly he received a blow with the handle of the broom right on the head.
The priestess shouted that she had respect with her superiors, since she was only alive for the simple fact of being a friend of Hanabi. Bringing her hand to her head to ease her pain, Hanabi gave a small laugh when she saw Yukino's decomposed face that did not believe in such a situation.
When the spirits calmed down a bit, Vargas invited them to enter his home in the temple to have their talk more calmly. The room had that typical ceremonial incense scent, and the fragrance was permeated on each of the boards on the hut walls.
On the tatami mats in the room, cushions were arranged around a tea table and some rice cakes were served in the center while the conversation continued. The expression on Vargas's face ranged from serenity, anger, and laughter as he listened to the situation from Hanabi's lips; him while he continued to puff on her pipe, which he from time to time left resting on an ashtray.
"Everything you tell me, Rojilla, seems interesting. But what could I gain by helping your lover?" - Yukino slapped her hand on the table while getting up from the cushion, with a disgruntled expression as she approached Vargas in an intimidating attitude, to finish holding her by the fringe of her priestly robe. He lifted her from her seat and rammed her body against the wall.
"Since I arrived at this temple you have done nothing but belittle me, treating me like garbage while I have to endure each of your aggressions just out of respect for Hanabi. But you have already crossed the line with the latter" - From his right hand, a lumenfang emerged flashing in light with the sound of static sizzling through the stale air of the room.
Brandishing the blade until it reached Vargas's neck, Yukino murmured a threat at the astonished gaze of Hanabi, who begged him to control her momentum in the presence of the priestess.
"You can tell that you have the guts to threaten someone in their own home. You know, I may be blind but my sense of touch is very fine. I can feel every imperfection on the surfaces I touch and that includes the human body." - Vargas's right hand rested on Yukino's chest, gently squeezing her right breast while making a defiant smile.
"Can you stand on one lung?" - A blast of energy flashed from Vargas's palm, barely giving Yukino time to summon his Loa armor from him. The sound of metal cracking echoed like the impact of a car hitting a concrete wall. While the body of the young guardian flew through the sliding doors of the room until it hit a rock wall that completely stopped its flight.
Part of the breastplate that had been hit by the blast of energy was heating up red hot while the rest was fragmenting and falling to the ground like the shell of an egg. Yukino could barely hold her breath as even with the armor protection her ribs had been fractured.
What kind of power is this? She thought to herself as she desperately sucked in gasps of air, giving her powers time to restore her bruised body. Technically the priestess was a Loa guardian, but at no point did her armor activate when she manifested her attacks on the incredulous Yukino.
"The strong make the rules, the weak just have to kneel down and follow orders. And right now you're the second class of people I just mentioned. Get down on your knees, asshole!" She - No, she had finished getting up from the floor in front of Vargas, when a huge pressure in the air brought him down completely on her knees, barely looking up.
It was at that moment that she before her eyes saw the guardian Vargas completely covered by her combat armor. A sapphire blue color that contrasted with his black hair and white skin, his helmet simulated the fins of a sailfish in the shape of a tiara and on the surface of the folds that were not covered by the rigid armor, a series of chain mail resembled the appearance of scales.
"When I awakened my powers I was in the middle of a lake in the spiritual plane, it was then that an ancient Loa very similar to a sailfish appeared before me. Hanabi told me that you had a similar awakening when you fought with her for the first time. But you haven't even woken up a tenth of your full potential. " - Making a gesture with her left hand, Vargas told Yukino to get up from her to try to fight with her in her spiritual form.
Without thinking twice, Yukino again manifested her armor and the lumenfang of her right hand; trying to channel her angry emotions onto her, thereby causing the lumenfang's brightness and dimensions to turn a blood red color.
"Oh, it seems that you have released your thirst for blood. Since you want to fight seriously, I promise that I will not hold back" - Two energy daggers manifested in the hands of the priestess, who took a hunched posture throwing her arms forward.
Yukino from her side, began to run against Vargas lowering her lumenfang to the ground, in order to cause enough noise to confuse her rival. To her surprise, Vargas maintained a serene and immovable demeanor that seemed lost in her thoughts.
Just when the lumenfang was about to hit Vargas's neck, this she vanished into thin air as if she had become invisible. Due to her speed, she could barely follow her with her eyes; desperately trying not to turn her back on him. For in that moment, she knew that she would end up at the mercy of her experienced guardian.
"Those who only use their eyes to fight their adversary, are destined to be easy prey at the slightest opportunity" - Like a ghost that manifests in the dark, Vargas placed himself right behind Yukino. Who could do little when the priestess began to stab her across her back, breaking her armor and piercing her body tissue.
The burning that she felt in each puncture wound, felt like burning embers of fire that burned everything on contact. The series of blows that Vargas connected did not stop, while the blood splattered his face in the frenzy of violence that did not leave time to react.
"You are not as talkative as you were a few moments ago, little wild cat. Could a mouse have eaten your tongue?" - With a single stroke, Vargas grabbed Yukino's jaw, ripping it off in a beastly way. The piercing screams of the young guardian echoed through the treetops in this inhospitable place, sending the birds of prey that perched on its branches fly away in a sinister spectacle.
Still throbbing in her hands, Yukino's jaw seemed like a victory trophy to the priestess who couldn't stop laughing maniacally as she emulated a Hamlet pose with her.
"I think that has been enough of all this shit!" - A deafening slap shook Vargas's left cheek, Hanabi was burning with anger as her face looked completely upset with rage. Vargas' laughter stopped completely when he realized a detail that he had not noticed yet in Hanabi.
"Did you?" - With her expression completely changed from hers to one more somber as of despondency, Hanabi lowered her head with her eyes closed shaking her head as she placed her index finger on Vargas's lips, asking him to be silent for the moment.
"You are lucky that the rojilla is someone very appreciated by me, otherwise I would not even bother to take you as a disciple after your disrespect" - Throwing the severed jaw to one side of Yukino, Vargas shed his astral armor as he escorted Hanabi back to the tea room.
Yukino felt ashamed and confused as she wriggled on the ground in pain, waiting for her powers to restore the damaged parts of her. The expression on Hanabi's face pierced her mind in the midst of her doubts, not knowing what Vargas meant by that unfinished question.
Upon returning to the room, Vargas found herself alone drinking a cup of green tea in the silence. Before he could ask about Hanabi, the priestess told him that she had already left in her car about fifteen minutes ago.
Yukino was overwhelmed by that, for she hadn't had such a strong conflict with Hanabi for a long time. But that afternoon due to her stubbornness, she saw an expression on the face of her friend and confidant that she hadn't seen in a long time.
When Yukino took her backpack from the tatami and went to the temple door to leave the place, Vargas approached her once more saying: "You have a lot of power, but if you don't have the ability to control it, it will be useless. I had a brief talk about your immaturity and lack of control. You are not the only person who has lost something on the trip, so stop playing the victim and become better for those who are no longer by your side. "
Those words penetrated deep into the heart of Yukino, who she put her hands to her chest when remembering the memories of her lived with Lucero in her brief time in this world. Yes, she knew that she was being selfish with her way of acting and thereby hurting Hanabi as well. But it was difficult for her to forget all that pain that she had experienced and it was that same pain that caused her to be unable to reach her full potential by handling her power.
"I can access my latent power without having to change to my full astral form, I think you realized it when you arrived at the temple. You barely knew the flow of life, but I already master it in its entirety and I have he at will. That's called the balance point and I promise I'll show you everything because Hanabi wants it "- Vargas scratched his head while kicking some small stones with his foot, while the expression on his face reflected a hint of concern that was evident.
"Is there something I should know?" - Yukino approached Vargas with that question regarding Hanabi, but the priestess was specified to be silent for a moment. Only to later tell her that it was something that Hanabi herself should tell her at the time of her.
With that doubt in her mind and the remaining pain in her body from the combat, Yukino walked up the stairs of the temple until she reached street level. He was completely lost in the twilight horizon while Vargas was still standing in the same place, meditating on the conversation he had with Hanabi.
"Soon you will have to make difficult decisions once again, wild cat. I only hope that your mind is able to withstand the storm that will come against us" - Those words mixed with the whisper of the wind between the leaves of the trees, sowing uncertainty of what that the immediate future held.