HOME | DD

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Amber blinked once. Then twice. She still couldn't process what she had just heard. Daniel had just said that he only wanted to protect her. And from Blake's expression, it appeared as though the Knight was just as confused. Silence hung over everyone beneath the moonlight of the eerie night as no one really knew how to react to the situation. Daniel continued to fume at Blake for holding her power out on him when he had fully intended to beat her and prove himself to be the stronger fighter.
"I-I'm sorry what?" Blake finally spoke, her aura dissipating from the sudden shock, "You want to tell me that you are fighting me just to show off to Amber? My Guardian? You do realize what that means, right?"
"A Knight is charged with protecting a Guardian, right? If I beat you, I can become her new Knight," Daniel replied in a slightly calmer tone, "And then she wouldn't have to fight anymore. I would be doing your job properly." Blake mentally slapped herself. From Daniel's knowledge of Ires as well as knowing fully well what she, Amber and Layla were capable of, Blake had made the foolish mistake of assuming that Daniel was well-informed. And now there was one problem: with Daniel so gung-ho about becoming a Knight in the means that he was trying for, he would never listen to Blake even if she would only tell him the truth about herself and Amber. Said Guardian, who had been standing idly by through the entire thing, was now extremely furious. I don't have to fight, he says, Amber's mind recalled, does he think that I am just this weak and helpless damsel in distress?! She took a few breaths to calm herself, but found that it was simply impossible to ignore such a condescending comment. Amber had fought alongside Blake and knew fully well that the Knight had always protected her in her own way. With Blake, Amber could feel like she was on equal ground with the veteran Knight despite being suddenly thrown into the situation, and Blake had always protected her and Layla well. Hearing these comments from Daniel only angered her since she knew fully well just how much of a novice Daniel was in comparison to her Knight. Especially from his claim to wanting to protect her instead of Blake just by proving that he was stronger.

"Did I ever say that Blake was too weak to protect me?" Amber muttered lowly, just barely audible enough for Daniel to catch. He turned to face her in an attempt to explain himself but only managed to find himself at a loss for words. Amber's pink aura had gone bloody red, a clear sign that she was furious. Blake remained vigilant of Daniel and now of Amber despite still being very confused about Daniel's statement. For the longest time, from what Daniel had told her, he had wanted to protect the one who couldn't fend for herself. Based on that information, Blake had assumed that he was referring to Layla. Since Layla couldn't fight alongside them without her equipment and Weiss was someone Blake was sure Daniel wasn't aware of, Blake had merely assumed that was the case. For him to say that Amber couldn't fight and defend herself was something that she herself felt was almost humiliating for Amber, confirmed by the appearance of Amber's blood red aura.
"If Blake acted as a real knight for you then you wouldn't have to fight," Daniel spoke freely still, ignoring the nerves pulsing throughout his body from Amber's display of anger, "I can do that for you. With me, you don't have to worry about a few Ires everyday. They're nothing." Now it was Blake's turn to feel angry. How could he pass of Ires as nothing?! Blake had been fighting them for years since they were the main cause of many of the disasters that destroyed their city. Not to mention that the entire world has this kind of threat, hopefully with other Guardians and Knights defending at the same time. The number of Guardians and Knights that were still alive to even do so were already slim to none; Daniel saying that Ires were nothing was just the same as saying that all those Guardians and Knights who fell before Ires were less than worthless. That thought alone was enough to send her aura flaring sky high. Within seconds, Blake had gone from her normally level-headed self to a titan of power. Amber quickly noticed that Blake's eyes had returned to crimson red, but this time made no moves to stop her. Layla, on the other hand, quickly pulled Weiss to her feet and quickly began to run away, tugging a very reluctant Weiss with her to another building.

They headed out of the main building to B Building, which stood adjacent to the school's main A Building. It was much more stable and didn't have a gaping hole in it like A Building and D building across from it, but Layla didn't want to risk any other building damages affecting her and Weiss' safety. She took Weiss over to the second floor of the center of B Building and peered out the window. It gave a perfect view of the tension below, with Blake standing firm across from Daniel with only the courtyard's fountain the only thing between them. Amber was further towards C Building, but her flaring red aura kept causing Daniel to shift his attention between the fuming Guardian and her pensive Knight.
"Layla," Weiss nearly whispered, clenching Layla's arm. The girl looked frightened by the whole experience so far, and Layla couldn't blame her. She herself had gone through the whole scare herself all those months ago when she had first met Blake. Even now, for times such as now, Layla could recall just how scary aura-users could become. For someone like Weiss who had to take in all of this at once, Layla figured that the poor white-haired girl must have felt extremely overwhelmed.
"We'll be fine. Blake, Amber and I have done this kind of thing before," Layla reassured her as best she could despite her growing concern for Amber. Seeing the red aura dancing around Amber like demonic flames gave her the same eerie feeling as Blake going berserk for the first time back at the meadow. Meanwhile, Weiss continued to try and make sense of what she was witnessing right now. Everything she had seen so far only reminded her of what she could only find in movies. It looked so surreal; Blake and Amber glowing like supernatural beings and Daniel being able to freeze his surroundings in an instant. Even Layla's gear reminded her of props made from a special effects team. The only problem here was that she had also realized that everything that happened so far was all real, and that she really could actually die at any moment if she interfered in any way. She sunk to her knees, slowly letting go of Layla as she felt her legs give out under her.
"So it's real," Weiss breathed out. Layla looked over to Weiss, unsure of what to say.
"Yeah," Layla decided to answer, "What you see is real. Not a hallucination, but the truth."
"Even the flowing lights around Blake and Amber?" Weiss looked to Layla with confused eyes. Layla's eyes went wide for a split second, then nodded. So now Weiss can see, Layla realized, that must mean that she really knows what's going on. Layla began to think of how to explain everything that was happening at the moment, but from Weiss' overwhelmed look, she figured that now wasn't the best time to talk.
"Yes," Layla eventually sighed, "Even the lights, called aura, around Amber, Blake, and that guy Daniel. They're real." Layla turned her head away from Weiss as she said it, focusing instead to pay attention to the scene below them. She didn't know what else she could say; Weiss could clearly see and understand exactly what was going on. In fact, Layla began to think: since when could Weiss see aura? This was the first time that the white-haired girl had mentioned anything about aura, and the fact that she could describe it just as Layla could see it was interesting to say the least. Layla opened her mouth to ask about that when a sudden explosion boomed from the courtyard. Layla's eyes returned to the scene below as it became enveloped with dirt clouds billowing upwards. Weiss had to shield her nose and eyes from the dust clouds, but Layla's equipment came with a helmet with goggle scopes to augment her shooting accuracy whenever she fought. She used her goggles to find any sign of aura through the clouds and struggled for only a few seconds until she noticed Daniel's aura in a silhouette standing over what appeared to be a black and red silhouette beneath him. Just off to the side was a flaring red aura which terrified Layla, which meant only one thing. Layla watched as the dust receded to find Blake struggling to pull herself up in the middle of a huge, icy crater. Most likely the work of Daniel since his aura receded only slightly in color afterwards, but what shocked Layla the most was Blake's appearance. It seemed to have caught Daniel off-guard as well as he took a shaky step back from Blake, who slowly stood. Her aura was now pitch black, tinted with the faintest hints of red intertwined. Her stance was more primal predator than seasoned Knight, which sent shivers down Layla's spine.

She then focused her attention to Amber's reactions to Blake and noticed something very eerie. Amber was not becoming defensive over Blake now; in fact, she looked extremely similar. So much so that when Daniel turned to see Amber that way as well, he began to take more steps back. On the ground, Daniel stared down a very terrifying sight: Blake with a black and red aura with red, crimson eyes and Amber's deep red aura complementing her own red eyes. Daniel forced himself to remain calm in front of them. He wanted to prove that he was better than Blake, and this kind of power was perfect for Daniel to prove his point. Earlier, he had become so angry at Blake for not fighting him at all that he had blasted her with an orb of his aura. Blake didn't move to dodge the attack, but Daniel had a feeling that she intended not to. Staring down at her now was a completely different feeling to what he had felt before when facing Blake. It was closer to staring down a large predator hunting the prey in front of it. Blake's current stance didn't help either; she was crouched on all fours, teeth bare and eyes piercing his own. Amber walked calmly over towards Blake as though she had done this all before, stopping right behind Blake and armed with her red aura whip. To Layla, this was something terrifying as well as a revelation. Since Blake could go berserk, it came to reason that Amber could as well. Layla revved her aura into full gear, which startled Weiss.
"Layla?" Weiss stared in horror as she watched Layla raise her aura rifle. What horrified her even more was where Weiss realized she was aiming - not at Daniel, but towards Blake and Amber.
"Layla what are you doing?" Weiss asked again, raising her voice. Layla took in a deep breath to calm her mind. She needed to focus her aim. At the same time, she wanted to reassure Weiss that everything was going to be fine, even though things looked rather dire at the moment.
"Layla," Weiss called again. Weiss was about to call her again when Layla spotted movement from below. A quick shift in her scope revealed that Amber had disappeared from her previous place. A few moments later, a clash of aura sparked the air as Amber and Daniel began to engage one another. Daniel did his best to defend under the relentless attacks of Amber. Layla surveyed the scene and noticed Blake's stance had changed as well. Still on all four limbs, Blake looked as though she waited for some sort of command to attack. Ready to slash into Daniel at any time, Blake's aura looked almost restrained, as if itching to join the fight but forcing herself to stay out of it.
"What is...," Layla could hear Weiss trying to make sense of everything. Layla sympathized; after all, who could make sense of two friends going mad without a clear explanation for it all. I hope they're going to be alright, Layla could only hope.

Blake's mind was in a battle of its own. On one hand, she could sense that she was in a berserk and primal state, aching to destroy whatever lay in front of her. Her reasoning and normal self struggled to regain control of her body as both watched Amber and Daniel's clash not too far from her. Blake tried to make sense of everything she took in; from Amber's new crimson state similar to her own berserk nature and Daniel's aura-wielding prowess. Seeing Daniel's mastery over his aura was impressive to say the least, but Blake could see through his aura mastery to his novice combat experience, recklessly flailing his power in hopes of striking his target. It was an impressive display of newfound power, but Blake knew that Amber's combat experience in aura battles far outmatched Daniel by a large margin. Despite in a very different state of mind from how she was usually, Blake could see Amber actively controlling how much aura she used per attack. Each blow conserved aura and energy, a tactic that could only be taught through experience. It made her feel a small sense of pride from watching yet at the same time Blake still felt an urge to intercept and prevent the fight from escalating.

Amber, on the other hand, felt as if she had let go of all inhibitions to hold back. She felt powerful, as if she was given a boost of energy from her animosity towards Daniel, and she didn't feel the need to hold back any punches. She continued her merciless assault, no longer feeling the need to remain rational. She felt satisfaction with every successful hit, sending Daniel back onto the ground with more force than the last. She felt free; the thoughts that prevented her from lashing out had disappeared without a trace. Every now and then she would wonder about Blake, Layla and Weiss, but she couldn't bring herself to mind them at the moment. Her main focus was beating Daniel down to a pulp, and she was far from finished.
"What's wrong Daniel?! Am I still too weak to you?!" Amber shouted, "What happened to all of that strength that you boasted about to me before?! Where did it all run off to, huh?!" She found herself enjoying it all. The power and strength she felt was thrilling and exciting for her, like an addictive high. She felt herself wanting more and more of it, smiling almost madly as she continued to enjoy herself.
"Amber!" she could hear Layla calling her. She didn't respond, too indulged in her assault to pay any attention. Over and over she heard her friend's voice trying to tell her something. A part of her wanted to shout for Layla in response, but that was quickly pushed aside.

She was far too gone, and she was enjoying every moment of it.