The princess of the wind frowned upon hearing the bumptiously declared name, failing to recognize it. Even during the great war between Noboru and his demons against Amaterasu and her princesses and soldiers that name gad not appeared or been mentioned. The princess of darkness waved friendly at Ayumi, whom she had just knocked out few moments ago, greeting happily:
"Hi Ayumi, I suppose I am your opposite!"
"That doesn't make sense, how come you were not at the great battle?"
Reiha inquired, doubting the woman's words, but her aura and weapon were evidence enough to their truth.
"Because it did not interest me."
Reiha raised her eyes in disbelief, but despite what one would expect from the woman's title, she did not seem to be lying.
"Are you telling me that the destruction and defeat of the bearer of the most pure light was not in your interest?"
"I am not that trivial. If anyone had destroyed your queen, it was none other than herself!"
Laila, as she had introduced herself, spoke cheekily but with the certainity of one stating an undisputed fact. Reiha's face turned angrier, although the insult was not meant for her, she could not stand an insult aimed at her previous queen, especially knowing deep down it was, if not entirely, at least partially true.
"So you were not under Noboru's command?"
This sentence, though failing to wipe the cheerful smile the woman was not keen on letting fade, triggered her pride, showing in the dangerous shimmers that sparkled amidst her dark eyes, like an ominous star suddenly glowing a dark orb.
"I work under no one's command! However, I love to play along ambitious people. Sadly, neither of you seems like one!"
"Then you are a queen?"
"I told you, I am not trivial or vain!"
The woman stated with a pure pirde untinted by a shred of falsehood, sending daggers with her haughty stare into Reiha's clear blue eyes, enough to scare an ordinary person, even sending a dangerous vibe through Ayumi's veins and rekindling the pain she'd received by her attack earlier.
After making sure Ayumi could stand again on her feet, Reiha left her side and approached few steps while the woman was still ranting about the meaningless of status and titles, mostly to herself, regaining quickly her silly attitude.
"Although, I suppose a crown would suit me, better than this hat at least!"
"I will be sure to make you one matching your burial clothes."
Hearing these words, the woman's blood boiled with excitement, her wide eyes sparkling even more like a fuse lit in the dark. She waved her giant ax as Reiha summoned her wind and storms.
"Reiha, she is too powerful! And we can hurt the students around!"
Reiha huffed in irritation, as her blood was boiling even hotter than her opponent's, a remnant of her unresolved fight few days ago, but to both girls surprise, at Laila's snap of finger, everyone else fell frozen down to the ground.
"Better?"
"Can't object to that!"
"Want me to freeze that one over there too?"
Laila asked seriously pointing at Ayumi, but Reiha was no fool.
"Sorry, but this cheap display is not enough to make me trust you!"
"Wise choice!"
The woman complimented the wind princess before dashing forward, lithe as leopard, her ax easily held and waved around. Reiha sent a storm of wind which the woman easily emerged through but Reiha was no less fast on her feet, jumping few feet back and avoiding a potentially lethal strike.
The two princess exchanged blows, at nearly similar speed and power but that ax was nothing to trifle with, she cut through storms and hurricanes easily, leaving Reiha with few yet deep scratches. Still, the latter did not stop, this was not near enough to stop her rage and frustration from her last fight and Ayumi realized this. She could not stand still despite the pain flaring through her flank and entire torso, she could not leave Reiha roaming wild and fighting unusually driven by mere impulse. So, she gathered what left of her strength, shooting a pure beam through her hands, immediately falling down in pain again. That attack was unexpected and though the princess of the darkness perceived it with her peripheral vision, she did not have time to dodge it, especially with Reiha grasping the opportunity of her foe's surprise to hurl a strong breeze in her direction pushing her toward the beam of light. The dark princess collapsed, the smile not leaving her red lips though twisted in clear agony now.
"Shame on you... both of you.…"
She muttered through the pain, while trying to stand again.
"And you call yourself the bearer of the purest light? Fighting dirty while I respected your wish of leaving the students and teachers out of this, though they are technically not innocent. But if this is how you wish you to play, then it is really not a concern of mine!"
Reiha sent another blow in Laila's direction before she got up to doing anything, but the princess was not weak enough to fall permanently even under two simultaneous attacks of different natures. She quickly evaded the attack jumping in the air, at one point Ayumi expecting her tight short jeans to rip, but this humiliation did not happen.
"If this is how you want it, then let it be!"
Laila, standing on the recess fence comfortably like an alley cat declared before snapping her fingers and with the same speed of the act, the background returned to life. The students resumed their arguing and fights, accusations of betrayals, hypocrisy, pure mean comments for no purpose, petty fights, all broke out enlivening the scene again with much loudness and fuss, a throbbing sore in Ayumi's heart, and a mere annoyance to Reiha's ear. Laila watched like a queen from her high tower with a satisfactory grin on her youthful face, commenting:
"Petty or not, reasonable or not, hatred and jealousy is never unjustified. And these are mere students at the beginning their real life, just a small school, a fraction of this world…"
"Indeed, the world in its entirety is burdened with hatred and jealousy, and even more grim feelings…"
Reiha continued what the princess of darkness wanted to get across, much to the latter's surprise. That princess understood her existence more than her supposed opposite. But that was not what all Reiha had to say.
"But that doesn't mean I will let you roam free and do as you please!"
The princess of the wind announced angrily, sending a small hurricane to tumble the smirking girl in dark jeans and leather from her "high bridge" but Laila was still the fastest, evading the storm that destroyed the fence instead with the limpness expected of an elemental princess, regardless of the sinister power she represented.
"By the way, They were not previously puppeteered by me, they were just freed by my aura... until you played dirty at least!"
Reiha held her upcoming attack as the meaning of Laila's words sank in her mind; the students and teachers who were moments ago fighting among themselves, followed the dark princess unidirectional wish and command and started attacking Reiha and Ayumi with viciousness and power pertained by no ordinary human. It was Laila's visions and powers fueling them. The princess of the wind held her attacks back but could not for too long, so she toned down her power, as the students started ambushing her at random, without proper aim let alone weapons, using whatever they came across, swarming the place like a beehive that was stomped on. Reiha knew that Laila was aware just as well, that she can destroy them in a single blow, but was only waiting leisurely for how long can the princess's patience run which turned out in that specific "degrading situation" to be not for so long.
"Ayumi, a little help here!"
"Right!"
Ayumi gripped a baseball bat thrown on the ground and started waving around just to make her way to Reiha's side who was almost speechless at the action, while Laila, almost snapped her back as it arched beneath her laughter.
"What are you doing?!"
"What should we do?!"
The two princesses of wind and light asked each other quickly. Reiha turned around, watching the purposeless chaos they were engulfed within, she could blow them all away in a single breeze, but no matter how much she softened it, it was bound to cause injuries, something she was not keen on, and knew Ayumi would object to as well.
"We cannot harm them… despite everything… "
Ayumi muttered, hurt lingering in her voice, and she looked around as well, but failed to spot Yuki or Chisato. She turned her gaze angrily at the woman who claimed to be the princess of the darkness, wishing for a minute, it was really all a dream but since she actually did not want it to be, and refused to believe it to be one, she said to Reiha:
"We have to find a way to get to her and defeat her!"
"I cannot believe we are stuck fighting teenagers!"
"Sometimes the weakest items present the strongest barrier!"
Laila who was enjoying herself by listening to their frustrated conversation, interrupted with a wide grin, satisfied with the boring play for now.
"I recall I asked you to keep Amaterasu's symbols with you… where are they?"
The princess of the wind whispered as she thwarted another pitiful attack aimed at her, Ayumi answered fearing Reiha's reaction:
"I only have the crown with me… "
"Amaterasu's power would not harm ordinary kids, get it out!"
Reiha urged a little angry at Ayumi's delay in action but the latter continued guiltily :
"The problem... mmm... it is in my bag, up in the class!"
"You left it unguarded!!"
"No one would go through my stuffs!"
"Not before but with this evil presence anyone might!"
Reiha replied fed up with the meaningless fight, Ayumi felt bad for her irresponsibility, she grasped Reiha's shoulder assuring her:
"Just keep the act a little, I will go get it!"
"But how will you protect yourself, you cannot harm them, they are under her influence!"
Reiha questioned, emphasizing the last part as if Ayumi did not know that already.
"Don't worry about me, I will be fine!"
Ayumi left Reiha's side and dashed through the students leaving the baseball bat behind fearing of giving up to violent impulses, which earned her a smirk from Laila. Ayumi did not miss the gesture but that princess was so wrong if she actually believed she could get the better of her. Ayumi ran through the students pushing and being pushed, Reiha turned back watching her many times worriedly, sending a swift breeze in her direction that knocked up few students to the ground, praying upon it to cause nothing serious until Ayumi made it inside the school building.
"Well there is nothing you can do to help her out now… and you can't risk any more serious attacks!"
Reiha was silent for a moment, her hands shaking as round whirls of wind agitated within her palms before disappearing. She countered the dark princess's claim:
"Not until I get to you!"
"Yeah, I am waiting!"
Laila laughed sitting on the fence and massaging her leg after the long stand in a mocking gesture, succeeding in further infuriating the usually clam princess who stood helpless for the first times in decades amidst a bunch of idiot students. But then suddenly, a winning smile was drawn on her face, Laila knitted her brows unable to understand what had caused the change in the sour princess's mood before she herself sensed the new elemental presence and jumped as high as she could. Roots, sharper than swords, erupted through the fence she was sitting on, while others more soft and lively erupted from the ground all over the recess restraining the students in their place, little buds blossoming with a narcotic smell drifting the maddened herd of teachers and students into harmless unconsciousness.
***
Inside the school building, Ayumi was running and sliding, even crawling at times in the direction of her classroom. She knew throwing a punch or a fist occasionally here or there would make her path easier and would not corrupt her soul, she was defending herself to save the students who were attacking and chasing her. But she felt reluctant to do so, not because this would grant that woman satisfaction, but because she herself abhorred violence. If Laila as truly the princess of darkness as she had announced, and still had no interest in the great battle between the good and evil in this world, then making Ayumi fight her fellow students was not her purpose. She was after something else; Ayumi giving in to her own self, and hidden desires. She did not know what would that accomplish precisely, would it rub her of her powers? Would it destroy all goodness on earth? That latter was a far too great goal to obtain with this stupid mean so the previous had to be what she was after. But why emerging now, and not when a far much powerful and purer woman existed and held the power of the light? It did not make sense, but fear started to trickle into Ayumi's heart at last. Not because she was far away from Reiha, a princess powerful enough to protect her, or because she was being attacked and hit few times. She did not mind this as she made it to the second floor where her classroom came finally to view. It was the stares and loathsomeness she was surrounded with, seemingly all directed toward her for a reason she knew but could not comprehend... why did the students ill feelings go this far? She was faced with stares of jealousy, hatred, mockery, and most frighteningly, indifference and pettiness.
To think she was the subject of too many conflicting emotions to people whom few she knew, only two befriended, and mostly did not interact with! She presented herself as an exalting symbol at her school and earned herself a reputation of being the best student. A silly goal to aim for as you realize when you grow up, but a huge matter for students her age, establishing and planning for their future lives. Anger and jealousy were fine with her, nothing to be surprised about. And indifference, though hurtful, seemed like a relief. But petty… what for? Wishing to ask these eyes staring at her in this way, she had no time as she arrived at her classroom, pushing the door open violently, and running toward her bag but then she was forced to stop, as two familiar figures whom she wished not to confront right now, were standing blocking her way amidst the black aura that revealed everything in its sheerest whitest form.