It was a peaceful day. The grassy field swayed elegantly as a peaceful breeze passed by. The air was fresh, but slightly humid. Summer had just begun and that meant the seasonal rains would come soon. The mountains

The clouds darkened over head as the two women made eye contact. Zoe re-adjusted her jacket as she prepared for the fight to come. She hated fighting, especially another woman. She brushed the hair out of her face and readied her stance. She had no idea what she was up agianst. The woman had straight black hair, like hers, but it was significantly longer and reached down to her waist. Her black leather armor looked old, very old. Not so much that it had been through battle, but more as if it had been sitting in a chest waiting to be worn for years. Her eyes were peircing and she had a slim figure. The woman reminded Zoe of herself in many ways. Mostly the fact that she didn't seem talkative.

"We can talk this out." Said Zoe, trying to negotiate. "I know our clans are at war, but we don't have to do this." The woman closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. There was no avoiding this. Zeo would do what needed to be done. Aiba saved her life many times, and she would fight for his cause no matter the cost.

Zoe had read up on her opponent before hand. She was a siren by the name of Serena. She used sound to attack and would be weak in an up close fight. The trick would be getting close before her sound waves tore her to peices. She had to assume that Serena knew of Zoe's abilities as well. Zoe surveyed the landscape. She stood in an open field, so that meant no cover. The grey clouds overhead predicted rain as they circled over the two women. The wind picked up and blew both ladies hair aside as they mentally prepared themselves for battle.



Zoe was going to avoid using any of her abilities. She didn't want to kill her opponent by mistake, or worse, lose control and erase her existence entirely. She had learned to control her angelic eye quite expertly, but her demonic eye was still a probable path to her transforming. She had to avoid that at all costs.

Serena sighed lightly and brushed her elegant hair out of her eyes. She took a step back and struck a defensive fighting pose. Ugh, Zoe hated going on the offensive. She rushed forward towards her target, hoping she was able to dodge Serenas attack without activating either of her eyes abilities.

Serena closed her eyes and began singing a Nordic song of war. Zoe picked up her speed and jumped at Serena, spinning in the air as to land an overhead kick. An old, dirt covered warrior emerged from the earth in front of Serena and held a bronze shield up, blocking Zoe's kick. The creature wore an anciant helmet and armor caked in the dirt it had emerged from. It appeared to be made of bronze and didn't seem to be alive for that matter. It's eyes glowed green as it thrusted back Zoe's foot from the kick, lauching her away from Serena. Zoe landed and slid back a few feet, kicking up the grass she stood on.

Zoe switched her stance and rushed in again. If she was going to get to Serena, she would have to take out the Warrior she summoned. Zoe spun and kicked at the creatures leg, but it expertly moved its foot and thrust its shield forward, knocking Zoe back once again. Zoe, frustrated at failing to connect a hit twice now, jumped up as if to kick from over head again. The creature raised its shield to block the blow, but instead of kicking, Zoe landed on the bronze plated metal and flipped behind the creature, right in front of Serena. She spun her hand back attempting to land a back handed punch at Serena, But before she could connect, the warrior spun and grabbed Zoe's arm with an iron grip, halting her fist inches from Serena's delicate face. The warrior threw Zoe back once again, this time off balance so she fell to the ground.

Serena smiled, for she knew Zoe was immensly holding back, so she would match her pace. Serena, once again, pushed the hair out of her eyes and waited for the events to unfold.

"I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." Zoe said. She closed her eyes as her skin glowed white. Her right eye opened and turned completely white, glowing from the power now surging through Zoe. Serena prepared herself for Zoe's attack, but before she realized it, Zoe had dissapeared from the place she once stood. Where did she go? She couldn't possibly have-.

Before Serena could finish her thought, she felt the force of a high speed kick land on her back. The blow knocked her to the ground, startling her more than inflicting pain due to her armor. The warrior spun around, confused how Zoe had gotten past his defense. Zoe circled Serena and the warrior with such speed that it kicked up dirt and destroyed the grass that was once there so peacefully. Serena hadn't expected Zoe to be this fast, not at all. She would have to use more of her power than she thought.

The warriors head spun, trying to keep up with Zoe's movements. Zoe slid under hid shield and kicked upward, connecting with the underside of his helmet. It launched him a few feet in the air, and Zoe appeared over him, slamming her elbow into the creatures throat towards the ground. They smashed into the earth and the summoned creatures eyes fadded away. Its body and bronze equipment turned to dust as it crumbled to the ground at its defeat. Serena was surprised Zoe had defeated it so easily. She could summon another, but the tole on her energy would be to great to justify Zoe simply defeating it again.

Serena decided to end the fight before she had a chance at losing. She changed her song to the Melody of Narcissus, hoping Zoe would injure herself to the point of defeat.

Zoe stopped moving and screamed at the top of her lungs. She fought the irresistable urge to bite her hand from the songs convincing tone. Wait, if she harmed herself, that would mean....Oh shit.

"Stop!" Zoe cried desperately. "You don't understand!" Serena continued her song. She would stop when Zoe admitted defeat. Zoe raised her hand to her mouth, desperately fighting the urge to sink her teeth into her own flesh. "For your sake! Stop singing! Please!"

For her sake? Serena was slightly confused by her words. What did she mean by...?

Zoe bit into her hand with full force, spilling blood down her arm. Her right eye stopped glowing and turned back to normal and the speed she had earlier died away. Her left eye began to bleed profusely, running down her face and onto her clothes.

"I...said....STOP!" Zoe said in a dark tone. Zoe rushed at Serena, ignoring the song that caused her to harm herself. That was impossible! No human could resist the Melody of Narcissus! Before Serena could change her tune, Zoe closed the distance and punched Serena square in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and silencing her melody. It cracked the armor she wore and launched her a solid twenty feet before she tumbled in the grass.

"I warned you..." Zoe said as her voice got more and more evil. "Please....stop me....I don't want to hurt anybody..." Serena coughed once and gasped as air rushed into her lungs again. She had accidently triggered Zoe's demon eye with her song. She felt stupid for not having learned more on Zoe's abilities before hand. She needed to end this before Zoe lost any more control of herself. She would have to go on the offensive.

She stood to her feet and pieces of her armor fell to the ground from Zoe's blow. Zoe cried out evilly and recklessly rushed forward toward Serena in an attempt to kill her opponent. Serena calmly closed her eyes once again to concentrate on the symphony she had in mind. As her voice left her lips, a shock wave was sent through the air and launched Zoe off her feet. She flew through the air and hit the ground with such force that the grass was torn apart. Plumes of dust began rising from the small crater that Zoe laid in. She stood up, enraged. She was losing control by the second. She rose to her feet, only to have her thin body shoved back into the earth by another shockwave. Dirt circled into the air from the series of multiple shockwaves that tore into the ground, thrusting Zoe farther and farther into the crater with each blast. The ground shook from the immense power that Serena's symphony displayed.

Serena stopped singing and let the dust in the air settle. She didn't want to kill her. The dirt lightly fell back to the ground and revealed Zoe's body face down in the large crater she had created. It was finished. Serena felt bad for her worthy adversarie. She actually managed to land a hit on her, which hadn't happended to Serena in a very long time. She slowly walked over to where Zoe lay. The symphony had tired her out more than she expected. She knelt by where Zoe lay and touched the side of her neck to see if she was alive. She would feel terrible if she had accidently killed-

Suddenly, Zoe's arm reached up rapidly and grabbed Serena’s hand. Her hand was clawed and it dug into Serenas wrist, causing her to bleed down her arm. Serena gasped in fear as Zoe's head slowly lifted, revealing her bleeding, black eyes.

"Stop me...." Zoe's original voice said weakly. It suddenly changed to a demonic tone. "...before i tear you to peices!" Bloody, black wings sprouted from Zoe's back, spraying Serena's face before they extended, dripping onto the ground that greedily absorbed the red liquid. Zoe slowly rose to her feet, still holding Serena's bleeding wrist in her iron, clawed grip. Zoe let out a high pitched demonic scream inches from Serenas ears as she tried to cover them with her free hand. Zoe tightened her grip on her wrist with such force that she broke it with a sickening snap.

Serena screamed so loudly that it obliterated the earth around them. Chunks of earth flew from where they stood. Zoe appeared unwavered from the force that emitted from Serena's mouth. Zoe slowly lifted her second arm and covered Serena's mouth, silencing her.

"I will enjoy watching you suffer." Zoe said demonically as her claws scraped Serena's cheek, scratching it and causing a trickle of blood to run down her face. Her eyes were wide with terror. She felt helpless with her mouth covered by something so powerful. She wanted to run and hide, and yet, she knew it would be futile even if she could. The creature before her wasn't human. That's why she could resist her melodies earlier, her ears were only human until she transformed into this monster. A small grin tugged at Zoes lips as she still held Serenas limp, shattered wrist in her grasp. She was going to end Serena here.

Suddenly, Zoe screamed again, but not in her demonic screech. This was human. Zoe's eyes bled once again and it ran down her face like small red rivers. She cried out in agony as she let go of Serena and grabbed her head. She was fighting it. She was trying to control her demonic form and it was physically taking a toll on her.

"Run...please!" Zoe said in her normal voice.

"NO! You dare resist my power!? Kill her!" She said in a demonic tone. She was in a battle with herself. She screamed into the clouded sky in pain as she used every ounce of strength fighting the power possessing her. She dug her claws into her head with enough force to make it bleed slightly. She fell to one knee and shook her head as she resisted the nagging urge to kill Serena.

Serena, with her mouth now free, set out a symphony of force. Zoe was launched through the air before flapping her wings and suspending herself in the air. This created enough distance between them for Serena to make a critical decision. She had to use the Melody of the Dying Banshee if she had any chance to survive this fight.

Serena held her limp wrist and tried to ignore the sharp pain it caused her. She looked up at the demonic figure eyeing her in the sky. What had caused this? What sort of hell did she go through to endure this form? Serena felt bad for Zoe’s inability to control herself. She couldn’t imagine what that would be like. Knowing that no matter how hard you tried there was something you couldn’t control seemed like the worst hell there could be.

Zoe's eyes stopped bleeding as she hovered in the air. Her black, soul less gaze stared directly at Serena like she was prey. Zoe failed to control her transformation, and she wanted to kill everything in her wake. She flapped her wings and began rapidly closing the distance between her and her target.

Serena closed her eyes and prepared her final melody. This was the last thing she wanted to do, but this creature needed to be stopped. She opened her lips and sang the destructive tune as Zoe halted in mid charge at its incredible power. What was left of the field they stood upon ruptured and split apart as the intense melody unleashed its destruction. Zoe resisted it and slowly advanced forward, trudging through the wave of energy as it smashed into her body. She let out a screech as her powerful legs dug into the earth and slid away from Serena. It was too strong for her to handle, Zoe closed her eyes and screamed as her wings tore from her back and turned to dust behind her. As her power fade, she lost her footing and was thrown backwards from Serena’s melodic force. She tumbled across the scorched earth hundreds of feet from Serena and lay unconscious as she reverted to her human form.

Serena slowly stopped singing and the destruction steadily ceased. A calming wind blew over head as Serena fell to her knees. It was over. She fell face first to the ground as her body gave out. She let out a final sigh before slowly slipping out of consciousness.


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Ugh, my head. The hell happened this time? Zoe groggily opened her eyes and looked up at the sky as water lightly tapped her face. The light rain brushed across the destroyed earth as Zoe attempted to sit up, but was greeted by a sharp pain in her chest. She coughed up blood into her lap and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. She vaguely remembered what had happened this time, which was odd. She usually was left clueless as to what happened. She remembered transforming and attempting to fight it, but most importantly, she remembered failing before slipping into the darkness.

Oh shit not again...please be alive. She thought to herself as she looked over to Serena’s body. Serena’s leather armor was cracked in multiple places and lay still as her black hair covered her face in her face down position.

Zoe weakly rose to her feet, holding her abdomen as she slowly walked over to Serena. She dropped to one knee clumsily and coughed, once again dripping blood onto the damp soil beneath her. She Lightly touched Serena’s wrist to look for a pulse and found that the bone was broken. Had she done this? Probably. Her eyes teared up with gratitude as she confirmed that Serena was alive. She collapsed next to her as the rain picked up and wet the destroyed ground. Only time could heal the earth they had fought on, and only time could help Zoe maintain control.