image [https://i.imgur.com/MahP4ZX.png]
As Carmen and Varric made their way through the crowds of people, Varric glanced over at Carmen. He noticed that her outfit was incredibly tattered and torn, slightly exposing areas of her body for all to see. He quickly removed his brown cloak and held it out to her.
“Here, cover yourself up before one of these idiots gets the wrong idea.” He said with a serious tone.
Carmen gave a nod and put it on. They continued to navigate through Dead Haven until they eventually found their way back to the elevator.
Once they stepped inside, the black bracelet around Carmen’s wrist loosened and fell to the ground. It started disintegrating and within seconds there was nothing left. The door quickly closed shut, prompting the rickety elevator to begin it's climb upwards. The sound of old, squeaky mechanisms permeated the air for awhile until Varric spoke up.
“You did good, kid. Didn’t worry about you at all…” He said softly, giving her an impressed nod.
“Why did you bring me here anyways!? I could’ve died in there you know!” Carmen exclaimed, her irritation rushing back after being reminded of the many fights she endured.
“But you didn't…”
Carmen was surprised by Varric's short reply.
“This was my final test to see if you would push through adversity and apply what you’ve learned in different ways. I wanted to confirm if you would persist and win or fold under pressure and fall back into old habits out of fear. Luckily, you did the former and passed the test.” Varric sharply added, staring Carmen in the eyes.
Carmen stopped feeling angry and began to realize how far she had come in the last two months. Her progress was immense and the fact she was able to survive such a grueling night, proved to her that she was no longer the same weak Vesta from before.
The elevator came to a stop and they stepped out, making their way towards the shack's exit. Upon walking out of the rusted, steel door, Varric and Carmen found themselves back at their original snow covered training ground.
‘Wait, what just happened?’
Carmen looked around with great confusion. Once she saw the familiar landscape, It felt like she had just woken up from a terrible nightmare. Suddenly, the sun peaked across the horizon, signaling that they had been gone for the entire night.
“Go home and get some rest. We’ll talk about what comes next after you get your strength back up.” Varric said with a rare, fatherly tone.
Carmen nodded and began her trip through the woods, exhausted from her experience at Dead Haven.
image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]
Elise awoke to the foul smell of cigarette smoke and body odor permeating their dorm room air. She sat up, wondering where this fragrance was coming from. As she looked to her left, Elise saw Carmen laying face down in her bed, sleeping deeply. She noticed her terribly ripped and tight leather outfit, seeing traces of dried blood stains.
“Just what the heck did you do last night?” Elise muttered softly, pinching her nose to stop the stench coming from Carmen’s filthy body.
Elise quickly opened the windows to let their room air out and headed into the washroom to get ready for class.
After her morning routine, Elise gathered her things and rushed out of the door. As she rounded the corner to take the stairs down, Elise saw a female Harpy student sitting on the bottom step. Curiously, they were slightly slumped over as they leaned against the wall. Elise slowly walked down and glanced at them before passing by.
“Are you okay?” She asked, stopping once she noticed the dark bags underneath their tired eyes.
The student nodded before slowly standing up. They turned around and tightly gripped the railing for support, trying their best to steady themselves. Eventually, she slowly walked up the steps without saying a word.
“What was that all about?” Elise wondered, finding that encounter to be both strange and confusing.
However, she couldn’t dwell on it for too long as the large clock in the lobby began chiming loudly, signaling that classes were close to starting. Startled by the sound, Elise rushed out of the dorm and towards the main building.
When she got inside, Elise quickened her pace just enough to not be late. She easily navigated the almost empty halls until she turned the corner too quickly. Without warning, Elise bumped into a group of students walking in the opposite direction.
One of the girls was carrying a drink that spilled and splashed all over their uniform. The student fell to the ground in dramatic fashion, stained by her dark red beverage. Her group looked on in shock as the cup rolled across the floor.
“Oh! I’m so sorry!!” Elise said with an incredibly apologetic tone, extending her hand to help the girl up.
The girl immediately swatted her hand away and scowled, justifiably upset that her pristine uniform was now ruined. Her group of three other students quickly got down and made sure that she wasn’t hurt.
“Are you okay, Scarlet?” One of the students asked as they assisted her, helping the girl to her feet.
Elise continued to apologize and bowed her head, hoping to quell the girl’s anger.
Feeling eager to leave, Elise glanced over at the clock and realized she would be late for her class. She said one last apology before starting to rush away, but the moment she stepped past the group, Scarlet spoke up.
“Where do you think you’re going? If you think bowing your head to me will fix this problem, you’ve got another thing coming.” Scarlet coldly said, brushing her dark pink hair to the side as she glared at Elise.
Elise stood there with a confused expression, wondering why the other students began to surround her. She became more on edge once Scarlet stepped forward, closing off her last possible route of escape.
“Look, I’m sorry for bumping into you. I don’t want any trouble.”
“Pfft, you should’ve thought about that before you ran into me like a moron. My uniform is ruined because of you. How am I supposed to go to class looking like this?” Scarlet replied with an angered frown, her light pink eyes piercing through Elise's soul.
Elise looked down at Scarlet’s uniform and noticed the red color of her tie, signaling that this girl was a third year student. She also had the Dahlia crest pinned to her stained, yet uniquely designed jacket. Upon noticing these details, Elise immediately felt uneasy.
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“I already apologized, so what more do you want from me?” Elise asked with a glare of her own.
“You can get down on your knees and lick this juice off of my shoes. That’ll be a good start, little first year.”
Scarlet slightly held up her leg and pointed her foot towards Elise. Her group began to chuckle and snicker at her suggestion.
“Tch, I’m not doing that. Go bully someone else.”
Elise began to walk forward, attempting to force her way through the students blocking her path. However, as soon as she entered Scarlet’s space, Elise was blasted through the adjacent window by a bright white light.
She shattered the glass and landed in the outside courtyard, sliding across the ground as many students looked on with surprised expressions. Once Elise came to a stop, she looked up and saw Scarlet walking towards her with three crystal-like prisms floating around her. The teardrop shaped crystals glistened in the sun as they playfully danced in the air.
“Looks like I’m going to have to show you how things work around here, first year. You should know better than to disrespect someone of my caliber…” Scarlet said with a devious grin, her Manifest now assuming a new position in front of her.
Elise quickly got to her feet and summoned forth her Manifest, holding the handles of her daggers with an electrified grip. Just as she prepared herself for combat, Scarlet’s prisms glowed brightly before firing off multiple thin beams of light in Elise’s direction.
The concentrated light lasered towards her with near perfect precision, scarring the ground and surrounding areas. Elise swiftly dodged out of the way with her excellent speed, covering many meters with each static filled step.
She eventually found herself on the offensive, taking aim with a few slashes of her daggers. However, Scarlet effortlessly danced around her attacks, not phased at all by Elise’s top class speed.
Scarlet’s Manifest rose higher into the sky and sent light beams downward in all directions, tracing along the ground and providing protection for her. Elise quickly backed off, but she wasn’t fast enough as one of the beams cleanly sliced a piece of her jacket. As she created distance between them, crowds of students began to gather around to watch their duel.
“Woah! Isn’t that Scarlet Stottfeld?? Why is she fighting a first year?” , “Haha, that first year’s got no chance!” , “Ewwww, it’s the Burton girl. I swear she causes problems everywhere she goes. No idea how she even got into this school.”
Many of the students murmured, amused by this random fight unfolding before them.
As more students surrounded them, Elise glared at Scarlet, trying to figure out her next course of action. Scarlet simply responded with a smirk while her Manifest continued to float around, awaiting her orders. After sizing each other up for a brief moment, Scarlet simply pointed at Elise. Suddenly, a white beam of light shot out from her fingertip, piercing Elise’s shoulder completely.
However, to Scarlet’s surprise, Elise's body began to fade away and dissipate, leaving behind an electrified after image. Within that same moment, She was behind Scarlet. Elise swiped her daggers down, hoping to land a lethal blow onto Scarlet’s back. When her attack was about to connect, Scarlet was no longer in front of Elise.
“Pfft, did you seriously think that would catch me off guard? Your speed is honestly kind of a joke.” Scarlett quipped with a chuckle, now standing a few feet behind her.
Elise glanced over her shoulder with absolute shock, unable to fathom how this girl was that much faster than her. Before she could even process what happened, Scarlet’s Manifest immediately unloaded a volley of laser beams at Elise. The speed of the attack was impossible to dodge, causing Elise to take on the full brunt of it all.
The lasers relentlessly fired at her clothes and body, slicing up her uniform and leaving behind burn marks with each connection. She screamed out in pain as beam after beam blasted her from all directions.
“Let this be a lesson to you, first year. Never disrespect your elders and do as you're told, otherwise you’ll be re-educated like this again.”
Scarlet raised her hand slightly, ordering her Manifest to halt its assault. The prisms lowered down from the sky and resumed their position around her, floating playfully as they glistened in the light.
Elise dropped to one knee and panted heavily, fully distracted by the pain radiating throughout her body. However, little did Elise know that Scarlet's attack was a bit more strategic. Everyone watching the fight began to laugh and loudly jeer at Elise, finding something about her to be very amusing.
“Oh my, is she ten years old or something? Who wears underwear like that!?” , “I told you she was weird hahaha!” , “Eww, look at those scars on her legs. Burton must be into some weird shit, haha!”
Could be heard from all over as students looked at her exposed body. The cold breeze skated across her legs, prompting Elise to look down.
Elise glanced at herself and noticed that her skirt was considerably sliced up, exposing her butt and thighs for all to see. Her adorably cute, teddy bear underwear was on full display as well as the deep scars and welts that decorated the back of her thighs. She was immediately embarrassed by this situation, her face now fully flush as everyone continued to laugh at her.
She quickly got to her feet and scowled at Scarlet, forcing her Core Energy outwards and preparing to launch her next attack. Green electricity danced along her body as her rage built to new heights. Scarlet simply smirked, not flinching an inch while her pink hair flowed in the winter wind. However, once Elise was about to go back on the offensive, a playing card donning the Jack of Hearts was tossed into the ground between them.
The card suddenly burst into a thick white smoke, quickly covering the entire area. Everyone began to cough and scatter, feeling scared that this was from a professor or combat instructor coming to break up the fight. As Elise coughed and looked around, she felt someone grab her hand and pull her along. She and the mysterious person sprinted away, their escape hidden by the billowing smoke.
They eventually found themselves on the opposite side of the building, clear from any students or spectators. Elise coughed once more and rubbed her eyes with her free hand, trying to see who had caused the commotion. As her vision cleared, she saw someone looking around the corner to make sure the coast was clear.
“Whew, that was close. You alright?” The person said, letting go of Elise’s hand.
He turned around and Elise immediately recognized him. It was the same guy that had kept her from falling into the pond last year. He brushed back his brown hair as he gave her a kind smile, staring at her with his light brown eyes.
“Who are you and why’re you here?” Elise cautiously asked, still on edge from her fight earlier.
“The name’s Sebastian and I’m here to help of course. I wasn’t about to let you go through anymore of that torture. No one deserves that.” Sebastian replied with a determined nod.
“Tch, I didn’t need your help. I could’ve handled that girl on my own.”
“Uhh, sorry, but no. You wouldn’t have handled her at all. Do you not know who that was?” He asked, his face showing quite a bit of concern.
“No, am I supposed to?”
Elise looked confused by his question, not understanding why she should care. Sebastian forcefully palmed his forehead before shaking it in disbelief.
“That was Scarlet Stottfeld, the third ranked student in the entire school. Outside of Bridgette, I don’t think there’s a single first year that could even come close to her skill level. No offense, but she’s way out of our league.” Sebastian said with a sigh, hoping she understood the gravity of the situation.
“Oh… I see. Well, either way, I wasn’t about to let her bully me like that. I won’t take that from anyone, not ever.” Elise replied, her expression growing more irritated by the second.
“Pfft, you’re a lot more tenacious than I thought.”
Sebastian let out a soft chuckle before removing his uniform jacket. He stepped closer to Elise and began wrapping it around her waist, tightening the sleeves and making sure it covered her exposed butt. As he stepped back, Elise noticed how irritated his expression suddenly was.
“Why do you look so mad?” She curiously asked with a confused raise of her brow.
“Argh, can’t stand people like them. Like, what’s wrong with teddy bears? I think they’re cute if you ask me. No reason to make fun of them…” He replied, clenching his fist tightly.
Elise cocked her head to the side, taken aback by his weird statement. Seconds later, she realized what he meant.
“...You saw them?”
“Ahem.. Uh.. yeah. Thought it was uhh.. Cute.”
Sebastian couldn’t help but nervously laugh once he saw how red Elise’s face became. However, to his surprise, she quickly began to hit and swing at him with a flurry of embarrassed punches and slaps. She hit his chest and arms as he stepped back, pleading for her to stop. Elise continued her relentless assault until she realized something strange about this situation.
‘Wait.. I’m freely touching this boy and I don’t feel weird about it. It’s the same as the last time I met him.’
For some reason, Elise felt completely at ease around Sebastian. She stopped her barrage and gently rested her hands on his chest, feeling how firm and masculine it was.
“Umm, what are you doing?” He asked, perplexed by her sudden, touchy actions.
Before he could get a reply, the final bell rang, snapping Elise out of her stupor and causing her to quickly remove her hands.
“Ahem, well, I’ve got class to go to.” She said with a flustered tone.
“You want me to walk you there?”
“No, I can walk by myself. I’m not a child…”
Elise crossed her arms and turned her nose up, offended that he would even ask. Sebastian chuckled at the response and started to take his leave.
“Alrighty then. Til’ next time I guess.” Sebastian smiled and waved before turning around, rounding the corner with a quick pace.
“Hey wait, your jacket!” Elise yelled out after realizing that it was still hugging her waist tightly. She walked around the corner and saw that he was nowhere to be seen.
“What a strange guy…”
Elise gently caressed the jacket’s warm sleeve while she played back the previous encounter in her head. She eventually composed herself and began to head to class, not having expected such an exciting morning.