Before Jiaoying could take a bite out of Yari's face, the witch acted.
A barrier of prismatic light was erected between the two.
Jiaoying, frenzied and frantic, tried to bite through the barrier with enlarged teeth and black claws. Her body was also growing larger, and straining the fabric of her clothes.
Yari's eyes drifted to her neck.
A glowing tattoo could barely be seen underneath her collar. It pulsed intensely, fueling Jiaoying with a surge of destructive might and giving Yari the headache of her life.
"You emotionally unstable little dimwit..."
Jiaoying punched through Yari's barrier as easily as if it were glass.
She wrapped her hand tightly around Yari's neck and lifted her off the floor.
"Auntie!"
Nila unslung her sword from her back and lunged at her aunt's attacker.
But Jiaoying threw her head back and yelled to the sky.
The deep, blood red aura that poured out of her body was so haunting, so oppressive that Nila was rendered helpless.
She hit the floor, unconscious and twitching before she could even make it within ten paces of Jiaoying.
A sinister laughter rose from the belly of Jiaoying. Drool spilled past her lips and onto the wooden floor.
Her smile was brimming with zeal and bloodthirst. The voice that escaped her lips was utterly unlike herself and nothing shy of petrifying.
"Did you honestly believe that flimsy little thing would be able to keep you from me…?"
"Kind of. You haven't done much to impress me so far."
Jiaoying snarled in Yari's face and attempted to bite her again.
In response, Yari swiftly threw her palm against the bridge of Jiaoying's nose.
The sound of her nasal bone shattering under the force was as loud as a crack of thunder in the night.
Jiaoying's head snapped back, and she dropped Yari.
However, the sinister smile on her face said she was far from incapacitated.
But Yari wasn't one for prolonging anything she could finish in an instant. This was no different.
"Nereid."
A familiar blue stone soared out of Jiaoying's sleeve. A blinding shower of light filled the room and caused Jiaoying to look away reflexively.
When she uncovered her eyes again, she found a woman transformed, standing below a figment of her imagination.
The first was a woman akin to a goddess in human skin. Thick, boundless curls of her black hair dangled around her waist, and ornaments of gold decorated her scalp like the crown of a queen.
Her face was so beautiful that it even paused Jiaoying's rage. Defined cheekbones. Full, dark lips. Illustrious cinnamon brown eyes.
She grew to an exemplary height of 7'3. Similarly, her ears lengthened until they could no longer be hidden by her noble hair.
They were as sharp as blades. As dignified as an ancient tree.
The figure floating above her was ethereal and godly.
Her skin was a raging ocean. Her hair was a soft mist.
The innocent, gentle smile she wore masked a ferocious power brimming underneath.
Yari dusted off her fine clothes with a mild frustration.
"You should have let little Xu stay in charge. She would have known better than to try to eat me in my place of power."
Suddenly, magical sigils appeared on the walls of the lecture hall.
They danced across the surface, shimmering with an odd blue light that mirrored Yari's precious stone.
For the first time, Jiaoying showed signs of frustration and resentment. Even panic.
She lunged for Yari again.
This time, it was the elf who could be seen smiling without a care.
"I'll try not to enjoy this much… I do frown upon animal cruelty."
-
Jiaoying felt like she was walking through a fog. The voices she heard while lost were what aided her in finding her way back to the light.
"What are you working on, Auntie?"
"Medicine for our impetuous little friend here. I don't want her to start begging me for it the minute she wakes up."
"I've never seen her like that before… does it have something to do with-"
"Now, now, my dear. Let's not talk about the secrets of others much, hm? Not even here."
"Ah. My mistake."
"Do you know what set her off this time?"
"No. I was going back to the training hall to exercise and I found her holding her head behind the building."
*Sigh* "Humans… always more trouble than they're worth."
"Indeed."
Jiaoying's eyes slowly fluttered open.
The first thing she noticed was that her whole body was aching terribly. The second was that her migraine was even worse.
She sat up, holding her head to quell the pain. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but… did you have to be so heavy-handed?"
Yari looked up from her alchemy table with a sneer.
"Considering that you drooled on my nice floor, I would say that I was quite lenient in my aid."
Jiaoying grimaced as she wiped her face reflexively. "…Sorry."
"I should hope so."
Yari finished grinding some plants into a pestle.
She walked over to her desk where Jiaoying lay and grabbed her by the jaw; wrenching it open.
"Eat and get yourself under control."
Jiaoying almost gagged. The combination of ingredients was several times more vile than she was used to.
"I upped the dosage, seeing as how you are having episodes again after twenty years. Care to tell me why that might be the case?"
With some difficulty, Jiaoying swallowed the concoction and immediately felt her headache clear up. Though her body remained in relative shambles.
She let her gaze drop to the floor as she swung her feet off her desk.
"The princess… she intends to blackmail me, and I… I just got so angry that I couldn't.." Jiaoying didn't finish.
Yari began packaging the concoction for Jiaoying to take with her. She didn't look up as she worked. "Did you eat her?"
"N-No! I would never harm a member of the royal family!"
"Just your old friends it seems."
Jiaoying had no retort. "…I'm sorry."
"Pay it no mind, child of man." Yari yawned. "You still haven't told me why a bit of blackmail would make you lose your composure."
Jiaoying's brow furrowed. "…I don't think it's the blackmail. Since the other day, I've been having small episodes. They've been limited to when I slept, mostly. But I can't figure out why it's happening…"
Yari looked down at the powder in her jar, suddenly wondering if it might be insufficient.
As she contemplated this, Nila stepped towards Jiaoying with a cheerful smile.
She cupped her fist and bowed respectfully.
"It is very nice to see you again, master. Though I wish the circumstances were better."
Jiaoying flicked the girl on the nose. "I'm not your master, kid, I just taught you a few things. Save that title for someone deserving like Master Abel, yeah?"
Yari rolled her eyes and chimed in. "As if that drunkard was worthy of anything more than a bath and a shave."
"…Take it easy on him, he's going through a lot. His home was destroyed for crying out loud."
Yari snorted. "The home he's spent the last half century cursing and complaining about? I can hardly believe he's broken up about it at all."
She finished packaging the medicine and moved toward Jiaoying, rolling down her collar to examine the tattoo on her neck.
"Worry about yourself for right now. We need to figure out why you're having incidents before they get even more out of hand."
Jiaoying couldn't disagree with her on that front. So, she sat atop Yari's desk silently and allowed her to give her a magical check-up.
However, it wasn't long until she began to feel awkward. It had been over ten years since she had last seen this woman.
There was so much to talk about. She didn't even know where to begin.
So, she decided to start from the beginning.
"…I am pleased to see you again, old friend."
Yari glanced at Jiaoying for a nanosecond before returning her focus to her neck.
"…Shut up."
"Yes ma'am."