“Well, it can’t be helped!” I shrugged, “I can spare some time!”

“Arno, the entire point is that we don’t have the time for stuff like that,” Ori mentioned.

“How dare you try to trick me with hugs?! What kind of sick freak does that?!”

“Sorry, sorry!” She chuckled as she handwaived her mocking verbal pokes at me.

Ori moved a step closer and told me, “Just do your usual thing. Watch out though. Just because she uses her stemata for healing, doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any offensive capabilities.”

So she’s like a reverse of Anna. I’m not gonna be able to properly go up against her unless I know what she has in her arsenal, so I’ll try my best to figure things out now.

“Blazing Soul!” I charged straight towards her, but right before I got within her area of attack, I swerved around a nearby tree in a counterclockwise motion, momentarily disappearing from her view. As I rounded the tree and Ms. Olivia came back within sight, I saw her make a specific gesture with her hands. Moments after, a splotch of a purple liquid shot towards me. To dodge it, I used the front vents of my stemata to swing clockwise around the tree and did a reverse roundhouse kick right into a wall of the metal balls. That purple liquid…it’s different from the see-through white that put out the fires in zone four. And her method of controlling them… Instructor Matthews told me about it. The Acuposians use those handsigns to give their automatons commands. They could also be used with certain stematas to yield different effects.

Enough about that though. These healing orbs of hers are made of some strong material, so what am I gonna do to break it? Can I even break it?

“Come on, Arno! We’re just getting started—” Before she could even finish, her hand was pierced by a wind shot. Which surprised me because none of my attacks have gotten through. When I got the full picture I understood how she was able to penetrate her defenses. Health Maiden’s wall did go up to defend her, but when they’re a wall of spheres so naturally, there are small gaps diagonally from where they’re connected. Ori accounted for that to temporarily break her defenses.

Health Maiden grasped her hand as two of her bots came to heal her. Ori tapped her finger against her sniper as she watched. As she did, the Health Maiden used her good hand to weave another sign. I briefly looked around to see where the next attack would come from and couldn’t figure out for the life of me until Ori screamed in a panicked voice, “Arno, below!”

I responded by launching my fist with the help of my steam onto the floor and burying it deeper into the ground as a result. So that pretty much proves it. She uses her hand signs on most occasions. But what about those occasions she doesn’t? Like when she heals herself?

“Arno, I’ll be right back. Just keep her busy!” Ori said as she turned to leave.

“That’s not very nice, Ori! Leaving after hurting me like that!” Once her hand was completely healed, Health Maiden weaved both of them and a swarm of bots followed to attack the fleeing Ori.

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“Not on my watch!” I blasted right between the orb and Ori and before it could blast off its ink, I punched it right out of sight and deeper into the forest.

“Look at that! A home run! But it’s not going to end there.” Health Maiden began to weave more signs and as she did, more of her orbs began to come out and shoot ink at me in an attempt to attack and immobilize me. As they did, I used my stemata to propel me back and forth, upwards and downwards to narrowly dodge every last one of them. Ori’s gotta hurry. I’m already running out of stem energy!

“I bet you think because I’ve been designated to a support role that I’m some kind of doormat, but I’m not! I was given a title for a reason! So I’ll be damned if I hand it over without putting up a good fight!

“Doormat?!”

===

A couple of months after the burning of zone four, Ori and I heard the sound of a doorbell while I was preparing dinner and rushed over to see who it was. When we opened the door, we realized it was none other than the Health Maiden with a bag she was handing to us.

“Here you go. Terrance said I should apologize for being so standoffish and rude, so here’s some potatoes. They're pretty versatile so you can make a wide variety of things with them. Go wild.”

“Oh, thanks!” I took the bag from her and as I did, I noticed her eyes trailing over to the kitchen. She must’ve noticed what we were cooking.

“I’ve never had Haustorian cuisine before…” she admitted as her nose perked up to the source of the delicious smell down the hallway.

“Cool…” Ori dismissively said as she began to close the door, but I stopped her.

“Ori! She’s being nice, so we should return the favor!”

Other than our trainee friends, she was one of the first Holians to try our food and compliment it. I’ll never forget the look of bliss she had on her face as she took that first bite.

That’s why I was borderline offended when she told me we thought of her as a doormat…

===

“The Trianian style of stemata, the Acuposian style of applying it, your want to know more about Haustorian cuisine! To Ori and I, you’re more experienced than anybody! We’re not here to fight you because we think you’re easy pickings!” I launched into the air for a blazing soul: warhammer and immediately brought it down. I went at such speeds, Health Maiden didn’t even have time to react and weave a sign for a shield. Regardless, her orbs protected her.

“We’re here because we respect you more than anyone else! And we want to pay those respects! So don’t make us look stupid for looking up to you, Olivia!”

I saw for a brief moment, she parted her lips in disbelief at what she was hearing. That look then washed away and became a warm smile as she prepared to weave another sign.

“I told you, you’re supposed to call me Health Maiden!”

I braced myself immediately. Because whatever she was about to unleash was going to be something intense. I could already feel it. Was it an overclock? I couldn’t tell but I instinctively knew: her next attack is going to end this fight.

Pheeew

“Gah!”

But before she could complete the hand sign, a beam of bright red light encompassed everything in view and pierced straight through Olivia’s chest. My eyes widened as I realized I was looking right through her body and seeing the bark of the tree directly behind her.