'I can't believe this,' gwen thought as she observed from a distance, watching her little ranika give some random young woman an item worth thousands of credits on the regular market. It's almost unseen in the lower echelons of society and he was just giving it away! Not that it's needed by normal humans, even us ascended can barely use them to enhance our strength any further after augmenting past a certain point.
Especially in my own case I can hardly use two vials effectively, yet here he is giving two away. 'And to top it off she used them to their full potential without expressing even a hint of effort, I can tell just by the aura now surrounding her that not a drop went to waste...' getting tired of these bitter thoughts gwen marched toward her "little brother" full of anger and a feeling of betrayal after being lied to.
"So you weren't feeling "weak" you just wanted to impress some young girl by giving her life essence huh? Bold of you to lie to my face dear little brother...." gwen spat the words lacing them with a venom that hit me with a sense of guilt..while also a feeling of fear.
'Either I explain or I get my ass kicked..well I'm not a fan of either oneof those options but I'd rather not receive anymore scars.' I thought while pondering the decision of what to say to get myself out of this situation, however it would appear I wouldn't have to.
Suddenly as though the earth gained a spark of life again after being dormant for so long a large and vibrant green vine shot through the hard concrete tile floor and lashed out at gwen. Dodging the now extinct and rare plant gwen swiftly went on the defensive, her sword raised and her mind focused to it's utmost degree.
Looking directly at olivia with hateful eyes she asked with a thunderous yell, "what do you think you're fucking doing little girl? Do you not know who you just attacked!"
"Yes I do, you are the one who insulted the kind sir without provaction and I won't stand for it uhm....bitch?" Olivia muttered out.
The intent behind her words was admirable but it was very clear she's never had a fight with words and most likely shes never fought physically either. That much was apparent just from her posture and the way her aura clumsy lashed out, the vine packed a punch but it reached around aimlessly like it's owner had no idea how to control it.
'If she can't even threaten someone correctly how the fuck is she going to fight a warrior that scares even me? How am i going to diffuse this mess..' Shaking my head I made a move to intervene between the two powers before the conflict got too far out of hand.
"This is not gonna feel good." I said aloud while extending my back leg preparing to sprint in-between the women who most certainly don't care to hear my voice of reason right now.
Right as gwen drew her sword back I jumped into action, focusing every bit of strength my body could muster in my lower body feeling even my muscle fibers get saturated with whatever essence i had swirling around in my body i flew forward moving faster than the eye could perceive. It was a jarring experience, I've done this before in dire situations but everytime I've had to do it felt like my body would rip itself apart.
As I arrived in front of gwen coming to a sudden halt I lifted my arm above my head in the hopes that my bones would be strong enough to handle what was coming, I braced against the ground putting all my weight to my left foot the side that was facing the fearsome commander holding my breath I waited the tortuous few seconds.
In an instant I heard before I felt the sword make contact with my left forearm, the force of gwens swing driving the blade deep past the skin and into my bone but that didn't stop it fully, it continued on its path and just before it was about to sever my arm whole and take my head with it the blade came to sudden stop. Then the sound resounded following the quick strike.
Crack!
For a moment it seemed I wasn't even going to feel the pain that is until i heard gwen...making my heart sink in utter dread at what was about to happen. Funny thing, you know what hurts worse than having a blade lodged in your arm? The act of removing said blade..
"Oh my goddess! Hold on ranika I'll pull it out right away!" Gwen yelled out.
"Wait no don-" My words died in my throat as the sickening feeling of a blade being removed from my bone and cartlige started to drown all my other senses. Then came the feeling of wet heat pouring over my head, as the blade was removed a small stream of deep crimson blood that almost a appeared black began to flow like a river drenching my hair as well as my face and finally the ground below me.
'This right here is why I dont get involved in others conflicts..' I thought as I collapsed to the floor my mind already going blank from the pain, sure the blood loss played a part but my body wouldn't bleed out from just losing an arm.
Gwenavere stared down, utter panic strewn across her features, 'Oh goddess what am I supposed to do...what have i even done..?' She thought as she tried to think of a solution, knowing her time was short she racked her brain trying to find a way to help the man she loved like family, a deep sense of regret threatening to drown out all reasonable thoughts.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?" Olivia snapped, immediately rushing to her new master's side trying to stop the flow of blood rushing out of the nearly severed arm. Her hands were swiftly drenched in his blood the warmth radiating from it felt deeply unsettling to the girl but she persisted doing whatever she could to help the man that went out of his way for someone on deaths door...
"Holy shit! Quick reach in the chest pocket of his shirt, he never used the other two vials!" Gwen yelled, after a sudden realization a wave of relief washing over her mind after forming the thought.
'He had four vials!! I know the demon-kin can heal using life essence but I have no idea if it'll fix a wound of this extent...at the very least it should stop the blood loss..'
Moving with a purpose after hearing the strange woman's orders, olivia grasped both vials that where sitting nestled in his shirt pocket, staining the shirt and the glass from her blood soaked hands. The once subtle blue hue of the vials now tinged with a blackish red.
Sitting next to the girl she just tried to fight gwen reached under his head lifting it slightly as olivia gently poured the contents of the vials of life essence into his slightly open mouth one after the other with a worried frown on her face.
'Please, I know we just met but I don't want another to die just because of me...' olivia thought her mind riddled with guilt.
Holding their breath they waited patiently, seconds seemed to feel like an eternity to the girls. Waiting for the essence to take effect as they knew it should. Then they got to watch in silent horror as the mangled arm slowly knit itself back together bit by bit.
With a loud and sharp snap, the bone broke itself back into place,the skin once sliced completely open began to slowly weave back in and over itself, a hauntingly beautiful scar appeared like a grim reminder that this wound would forever be etched on his body. Gwen watched this process with baited breath and profound guilt tinged with regret, knowing that much like the scar now on ranikas arm the image of him bleeding because of her wouldn't fade anytime soon either.
Sitting up with a jolt, he looked like someone had shocked his insides with a million of volts of electricity, ranika slowly gathering his thoughts over what had just happened over the course of the last few minutes turned to face the two girls. After studying them he saw that their hands and faces were smeared with blood that was already beginning to dry and crack like an old scab. Pausing for a brief moment he looked at them and then smiled with a childish grin, he then said the only thing that seemed appropriate for the situation.
"Is that a new makeup trend?"