Early afternoon, at Elena’s apartment in the Ancient Cathedral…

The furnishings had been moved aside, creating a makeshift arena in the middle of the living room and the kitchen. Circling within its inner perimeter with careful steps, the elven Lich, Elena de L’Enfer, stood poised to strike with her wooden greatsword in hand, dressed in nothing more than a white shirt and grey trousers. Her mortal servant, Claire de la Lune, mirrored her movements, assuming a defensive stance with her own wooden greatsword held firmly in the grip of both her hands, leather bracers protecting her limbs as she stood dressed in a red silk bathrobe.

“You sure about this?” Elena teased, grinning as her crimson eyes remained focused upon Claire’s. “I know you’ve been learning good while I was away, but I ain’t gonna hold back if we’re really gonna have a go.”

“Too late for regrets, Elena!” Claire said, nodding curtly as the gaze of her brown eyes returned her mistress’s stare. “We moved all that furniture to do this, didn’t we?”

“Alright, loser moves everything back on their own?”

“You’re on!”

“On your guard, then!”

As soon as those words were said, Elena lunged forward and swung her blade at Claire, who deftly parried the incoming attack with her own greatsword. And without skipping a beat, she had counter-attacked with her greatsword’s crossguard, pushing her mistress back towards her side of the makeshift arena while she assumed an offensive stance with her two-handed weapon.

“Woah, not bad!”

As Elena said this, she smiled. Ever since she had returned home from her latest mission, she had noticed the newfound vitality in her servant’s brown eyes, a zest for life that she carried with her every step. It was as though a great weight had been taken off her shoulders in both mind and body, and in a way, it reminded her so vividly of the passion held by the Elician Jewel. She, the courtesan and idol her servant once was, whose immaculate beauty and passion remained within the image of a poster pinned up in her bedroom.

“Really?” Claire exclaimed, her face slightly flushed as she tried her best not to smile at her mistress. “You think so?”

“Yup!” Elena said, nodding at her servant. “I mean… I don’t really know how to use this damned thing, but let’s see you handle… this!”

“Ah!”

As Elena came forth once more with her wooden blade slashing in a wide arc, Claire took a step back, using the edge of hers to parry it. This happened a few more times, and with each ensuing clash of wooden blades, she found herself losing ground as her mistress advanced forward.

“Can’t keep doing that, y’know?” Elena teased, taking a moment to wag a finger at Claire. “You gotta go on the offensive, like…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Claire had taken her mistress’s advice in that moment of inaction, bringing her blade forth in a focused swing that slashed nothing but air as Elena leapt out of the way. And without skipping a beat, without so much as a second thought, she had tossed her own wooden greatsword aside, drawing upon a hidden dagger as she lunged at Claire without so much as a second thought, tackling her servant upon the floor to pin her down as she brought her blade’s short and sharpened edge towards her neck.

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“Elena! What are you…”

At the sound of Claire’s voice, Elena froze up. She looked at her servant’s neck, at the tiny stream of blood trickling down from where her dagger’s edge had scraped upon skin and flesh.

“I… I’m so sorry, Claire! It was a reflex, I swear! Because… y’know, I always keep a dagger handy at all times, and…”

She stopped herself mid-sentence, as she felt the phylactery holding her undead soul quake from within its jewelled confines just a bedroom away. This feeling, whatever it was, had left her breathless, left her body quaking as she remained on top of Claire, as they looked into each other’s eyes.

“I… don’t want to hurt you! Never, I…”

Claire smiled weakly at Elena.

“Why?”

“Because, I…”

The dagger fell from Elena’s hand, dropping uselessly onto the floor beside them. With her crimson-eyed gaze upon Claire's, she leaned in, feeling the warmth of her servant’s cheeks and the softness of her hair as she kissed her upon her lips, their tongues embracing and caressing each other as though in a lover’s embrace of their own as they held each other close.

“Because, I…” Elena said again, blushing a necromantic green as she did. “I love you, Claire.”

From where she lay, Claire reached up towards Elena. She placed her hands upon Elena’s cheeks, feeling its coldness as her mistress shied away from her mortal touch.

“Not Elician Jewel?”

Elena shook her head and smiled.

“Claire de la Lune.”

“I…” Claire said, a bittersweet smile upon her lips as tears flashed wetly upon her eyes. “I love you too, Elena.”

“That’s great. Wonderful! I’m…”

Elena looked at the dagger that lay uselessly beside them, at its bloodied and sharpened gleam. She then looked at Claire, who smiled at her mistress while she looked down towards the tiny stream of blood trickling little by little from her servant's neck.

“Anyway, uh, we should get that bandaged up. The bathroom should have…”

“Yeah!” Claire exclaimed in reply. “I keep the medicine cabinet stocked, so that’s not a problem at all!”

“Sorry about that, by the way,” Elena said with a sheepish smile. “I’ll try not to do that again.”

Claire raised a brow at her mistress.

“You’re sorry about…?”

“Nearly killing ya, for one. That other thing, though? Far less so, I’d say. Heck, I’d gladly do it again! Even if it means doing the bit with the dagger as well, if that's your... thing.”

“I don’t think the dagger’s necessary, Elena! I know it’s intense, passionate and all, but…”

“Of course! I’m just… saying, is all.”

At this, Claire laughed. And Elena chuckled a little in turn.

“Heh! I’m just making this up as I go, so don’t mind me,” Elena said, shrugging her shoulders as she scratched at the back of her head absent-mindedly. “But anyway, since we’re… here, I wanted to ask if you’d like to come with me on my next mission. Just got it fresh from Lady Mezalune, and she made arrangements for me to set off tomorrow morning to get it done for her.”

“I’d love to!” Claire exclaimed. “Where are we going?”

“Purity Forest, near the middle of Black Legion territory. I’m gonna meet a colleague of mine there, pick up something real quick for the mission. After that, down south to Wintervale. It's a farming town on the northern border between the dominions of the Ecclesiarch and the Lord General."

“Purity Forest sounds like a beautiful place.”

“Eh… not really. I’d tell you why, but maybe it’s better if you see it for yourself, no?”

“Whatever you say, my love.”

As Elena blushed a necromantic green upon her face once more, Claire smiled and laughed gently at her mistress, whose grin had turned to a frown upon realising what was happening upon her face.

“Right, then!” Elena exclaimed, nodding affirmatively at Claire as she regained her composure. “We should go the bathroom and get some bandages. It’s just a little scrape, but mortal wounds tend to be…”

She attempted to get up, only to have her servant grab at her arm.

“Like you said, it’s only a little scrape,” Claire teased as she smiled at Elena, who smiled in turn. “Lean in close again like you did just now, won’t you?”