Hikari vs Elesia: Blood tainted wings

A cold, determined smirk was plastered on Elesia's face as she came down, streaking through the air like a dark blue dart, ready to pierce the heavens itself with her blade. And then, with minimal resistance, her blade sunk deep into what felt like flesh, but it certainly didn't hit what she had expected. "...What... What is this??" She stammered out as she slowly stepped back, almost losing her footing for the moment as she stumbled backwards slightly, deeply in shock about what she saw. Normally, such a blow would have drawn a beautiful curtain of crimson, but instead, not only did she strike the wrong target, but not a single tear of blood had fallen or stained her body.

Then, as she heard those words, and witnessed just what had stood before her, a startling realization had hit Elesia.
"...An.. angel?" Her knees actually quivered and she swallowed hard as she regretted what she had done, fearing the wrath of God himself for striking an angel. It was the last thing Elesia would have ever wanted to do, and when she saw those beautiful sets of wings sprout from Hikari's body, Elesia's resolve was shaken, her grip loosened around her blades. "What... What kind of trickery is this?!? How.. How dare you disguise yourself as a heirarch! Those wings don't belong to an intruder like yourself..! This... This won't be tolerated!" Elesia's shouting sounded almost like a desperate plee for this to be false, not wanting to beleive she had just struck an angel. And now, as she slowly backed away, she could feel doubt clouding her, wanting to know just what was the meaning of all this.

Hikari felt power brimming through her body, energy channeling through her, the bright light of Heaven blazing out of her body. Her wings unfurled, her 10 foot wingspan filling all of Elesia's vision. She wanted to impress Elesia with an awesome display of her power and perhaps shock her into fleeing.

"These wings are the symbol of my power," Hikari said, "Do you still not recognize me? I am one of the guardians of Heaven, the ones given power to strike down all of God's enemies. I am a Cherubim!" The sword blazed again, becoming blinding blaze. "I am Ariel, guardian of the Holy Throne. I don't know why you are here, or why you think you can touch the Ark, but you cannot and you must not. This power has been sealed away for a reason. Now leave."

[size=85:3pai7st7]"...The Lion of God." Elesia's words were more to herself than anyone else, clearly amazed with what she was witnessing as she took another slow step back, hesitance building up in her. The marks upon her body were reacting too, and she could practically feel the presance of Hermes within her, and it was burning. She wasn't sure what it all meant, but this entire situation didn't seem right to her. Why would one of the four archangels be here...?

"I'm afraid that.. I can not head towards such a request your holyness." Elesia said with a regained courage, her grip suddenly firming once more on her blades as she stood before Hikari, drawing a long, sharp breath as she stood ready once more on steady feet for anything that would come her way. "I was given a message from the Lord that the Ark is to be in my belonging, and none other. Besides... what would Archangel Raphael think if he knew you were here..?" A subtle smirk grew on Elesia's lips as she said that, hoping and feeling certain she would strike a nerve saying that. She did not plan to back down, even if she must fight against this mergance of angel and mortal. The nun felt more than confident in her own abilities, but further more, she would not let her resolve be shaken, especially when she was ordered to do this by the Lord himself, even if an Archangel stood before her path.

"Raphael?" Hikari thought.

"My superior," Ariel said, "One of the Seraphim." Ariel fell silent, not saying anything more. She was thinking about what Elesia said. She did point out something that had been bothering her. Raphael hadn't given her any new orders since she became one with Hikari, and it almost seemed that they had lost contact. But her previous orders still stood, which included protecting the Ark.

"Raphael gave me the order to protect the Ark," Hikari said, "And so I shall. I see that you can perhaps break the seal. However, even if God said you can take the Ark, you will still have to go through me to get it." Her sword went up, pointing at Elesia. "Defeat me, and you can have the Ark."

"So be it."

Elesia wouldn't back down. Whether this was the true Ariel, or just a demon in disguise, it mattered not. She had her orders, and never before had she defied them: this situation was no different. With blades in hand, she stood her ground, sensing the resolve of her opponent, and never letting it get to her nerves. No, she was a paladin guided by God; his shadow that walked his path under every footstep. And even if an Archangel stood in her way, it didn't make a difference. This may have been a final test to her, or perhaps Ariel had truly gone rogue from the rest of the angels. Either way, Elesia stood forth, readying her blades.

"Then the Ark will be mine... My genesis...This fight will be the beginning of my journey to defeat every last one of you! And Archangel Ariel, you are first!" With a wild determination, and a hardened resolve, Elesia readied herself, her glasses suddenly vanishing as she crouched down, her legs braces like she was ready to charge, and she ran for the angel as fast as her mortal legs could carry her. At the last moment though, once again using her enviroment to her advantage, she leapt to Hikari's right flank where a bench stood, and kicked off it, hoping to catch her right side off guard with a vicious, sideways strike with the three blades.

"Very well then," Hikari said. She gathered up the celestial energy in her body and prepared a spell to fight against Elesia. Hikari kept her eyes on Elesia, expecting a non-straightforward attack. Elesia charged forward, and Hikari raised her sword to parry the blow. But then Elesia leapt off a bench and adjusted her strike to the side. Hikari shifted her weight to parry the blow with her sword, her single blade catching all three of Elesia's.

"Release the spell," Ariel said. Hikari understood, calling her power up and releasing the spell she had on her lips.

"May the light of creation become a tool to burn my enemies," Hikari said, "Holy Light, Genesis!"

Her sword blazed with light as Hikari poured the celestial energy into it. The holy magic shot outwards at Elesia. Should it connect, Elesia's entire body would be burned with blinding light.

With an angelic presance in her, Hikari seemed much more attuned for fighting, clearly breaking a level of power she wasn't anticipating right away. She knew well that as an Archangel, she had to fight with everything she had, but even now, Elesia wasn't tapping into all the power she had. In fact, this was more of a preparation... a 'calm before the storm' as she liked to call it. She never fight with all she had right away, she wanted to see what potential her opponent had before she got serious.

Such a way of fighting though left room for Elesia to get herself harmed, and it came as no surprise that she was in the path of getting hit after he attack was blocked. Barely possessing any time to get back, Elesia had started to raise both blades in an x-like formation, trying to absorb some of the attack at the last moment, but not only did she have almost no time at all, but as a form of light, it was impossible for her enchanted blades to take much of the blow, and she could do no more than try to minimalize the damage.

"Aaaagh!!" With a howl in pain, Elesia was sent back as the magical light hit her in the right side, managing to turn her body just enough so it wasn't a direct hit. However, it still hit her right in the side of her hip, burning that portion of her cloths away, and sizzling her skin. It blistered and burned, but she didn't back down. She simply cringed as her legs buckled for just a moment, and she would then stand form again, ready to continue. Elesia may not have had many spells to unleash, but she was still a more capable fighter than anyone else in her organization. Thus, she was sure she could get her own attacks in if she really tried.

"Tell me something..." She muttered coldly, her cerulian eyes narrowing just a bit as she stood up. "Why do you desire such power!?" At that last word, Elesia swung her arm despite the distance that was now put between them, and she actually threw one of her blades at Hikari. it cut through the air like a bullet, accuracy perfect and the speed deadly. And afterwords, she started to run, heading for the benches again as she kept her distance, taking this fight towards a ranged conflict at the moment before throwing another one of her six blades with the full intent to kill.

Seeing the blade flying towards her, Hikari called up some more energy to bring up a shield. "St. George's Sanctuary!" Hikari cried. The sword bounced off an invisible wall Hikari conjured. Hikari looked at her opponent. The holy magic strike had injured Elesia slightly, burning holes in her clothes and blistering her skin. Hikari couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for Elesia, for those blisters weren't pretty and certainly looked painful. It wasn't going to stop Hikari though.

When the second blade came, Hikari knocked it to the side with her sword. St. George's Sanctuary was a strong defensive shield, but it couldn't be used in rapid succession. Besides, Hikari had other plans for the holy magic she just brought out.

"This power is not for either of us to obtain," Hikari said, "Do you realize what you seek? The Ark of the Covenant contains the name of God himself! With that you can command the very power of Heaven! Nobody, no mortal or angel, can have this power!" Hikari raised her left arm, the one without her sword in it.

"I call upon the power of St. George, and summon his servant that brought about judgement," Hikari said, "Burn! Saint George's Sanctuary!"

Upon her hand a cross-shaped light shined. From the center of the cross a jet of golden flame shot out. It was the flame of the dragon St. George trapped with his holy magic centuries ago. Hikari directed the dragonfire towards Elesia, sending the gout of flame directly at her.

As the blades were blocked and knocked aside, Hikari may have noticed something just as the spell was finished. Those enchanted blades were vanishing, and then, moments later, returned between Elesia's fingertips like they were bound to her.

Bound to her very soul.

She continued her dash along the lines of benches to the left side now, all six blades in hand. But when she saw the flames come at her, she never let out a third strike, instead, she took cover. Using the benches as cover, Elesia leaned into her run, her whole upper body facing forward as she dashed. Not only did this make her a faster and smaller target, but she kept herself out of the line of site, using her terrain to her advantage. It was a skill she had always used highly, learning how to manipulate the enviroment to her need, and in this case, she used it for cover to avoid the blast. But despite leaving Hikari's site, her voice could be heard, lost somewhere within the countless rows of benches. It sounded like it wasn't close or far, simply scattered. She was somewhere beneath them all...

"Of course I know! But such true wisdom cannot be hoarded like gold, you simply hide what should be used to forge a greater world. All the suffering and strife... I can, no I will be able to stop it with the Ark of the Covenant!"

Then, her final words making her location pinpointed, Elesia was coming from the farther end, which she leapt out from her cover, ready to strike.

"Crimson Tears!!!" With a battlecry in her next attack, Elesia pulled her arms back, and then sent all six blades in a single throw at Hikari, hoping to overwhelm them with her mysterious blades as they flew towards her with perfect precision.

The gout of dragonfire shot over the benches, incinerating them and turning them all to ashes. But after the flames stopped, the benches reconstructed themselves from the ashes. Hikari thought she caught Elesia, but Elesia's voice came out and dispelled that thought. She couldn't find where Elesia was hiding, the voice echoing through the halls of the temple.

"Where are you?" Hikari thought. When she heard Elesia's words, she had to respond.

"You think you can use this power wisely?" Hikari said, "Not even King Solomon was wise enough to use the power God give him for good! Power corrupts Elesia, and you will be corrupted by this power!"

She saw the shining swords flying towards her. She turned and called up the Sanctuary again. The invisible wall stopped the blades, knocking them off to the side. Hikari couldn't call up the dragonfire again, so she leapt into the air and flew at top speed to Elesia's location. Her sword blazed aflame again, ready to skewer Elesia.