Alitia: Hellfire and Blizzard

XV: Clash at Sierra

For a moment, all Carys knew was rage, overpowering and overwhelming.

Brynn Ardent, to her credit, barely seemed to care about what she had walked in on. She had found a group of rebels invading on one of her bases of operation, but she didn't mind it at all. Instead, her lips were set in a permanent smile, and she seemed so entirely unbothered by their presence that her smile never dipped for even a second. Instead, she simply stared at them from behind her mask.

Brynn looked both a lot like and nothing like her siblings. Her hair was the same auburn color as Leviathan's, but where he kept his short and always tied back, Brynn opted to leave hers long and flowing. Carys knew that could have very easily interfered with her abilities in combat, but Brynn would always find a way to go around that and make sure it didn't hold her back too much. That was simply the type of woman she was. The most striking feature of Brynn's attire was the mask that covered the bulk of her face and glittered ominously in the low lighting. No one had seen Brynn's true face in years, and those who had dared to get close enough to catch a glimpse of her had never lived to tell the tale. Even though Brynn's hair flowed around her freely, the rest of her clothing was made for combat. Brynn wore a thick layer of armor across her entire body, and Carys felt her chest go tight. Brynn hadn't even transformed to come and see them fight. Instead, she was standing there with a smile on her face and her regular armor spread across her body. The implication was that she didn't need to transform in order to defeat her opponents, and Carys wished she could have shoved her anxiety back where it came from at the revelation.

"I had a feeling you would be putting in an appearance sooner or later," Brynn went on, her voice a bit too casual for the circumstances. Then again, Carys supposed, she shouldn't have expected anything less. Brynn was always one to do whatever she could to remain in control, and if that meant facing down an entire army of rebels there for her head, that was what she would do. She didn't care what it meant as long as she was able to maintain the upper hand. "I didn't imagine you would be brazen enough to come in here directly and try to take over one of the schools I brought under my command. I must admit that I am impressed by your confidence... Though you have to know that it won't take you very far in the end."

"We'll ask you one time," Altina said slowly, her grip on her blades going tight. Carys didn't think she had ever seen Altina looking this quietly enraged. She hadn't seen many emotions from Altina in general, especially since she didn't go to Acadia as a student, but Carys knew very well that Altina was a stoic woman who never let the truth of her emotions free for longer than a handful of seconds. If there was anyone who knew how to hide her thoughts on the world, it was her. "Leave this school at once... Or else we will make you leave."

Brynn almost laughed, the sound ugly and catching on the back of her throat like she was unhappy she had even let that small scoff slip for a breath of a moment. "You're going to force me to leave?" she asked softly. "I'm impressed that you have the confidence to come in here and talk like you own the place. If I recall correctly, this isn't even your school... Not that it belongs to anyone you know and love now. It's going to be under my control for as long as it still stands. The only way for you to take it from me is to destroy it, and something tells me you do not want to do that."

Altina didn't seem bothered by Brynn's taunts though. Instead, she drew in a slow breath, almost as if she was having to remind herself to stay calm and not rise to the bait Brynn was setting out for her. "I'm not going to ask you again," Altina said sternly. "You can leave the school now, or we will fight you with everything we have to force you out. This is your only chance to lay your arms down peacefully."

Brynn didn't seem to mind the threat at all, instead simply humming and shaking her head. "I thought you weren't going to ask again after the first time, and yet, you ahve very clearly asked me a second time... I wonder how much you really meant that you're going to force me out of the school. If you can't even stick to your own promises about how many times you will let me leave, how can I trust you in any other way?" Brynn took a few steps away from the group, starting to pace casually. She seemed to examine them for a handful of moments, waiting to see if they would make the first move or still give her the room to attack initially if she so chose. "You're confident for coming here. I can give you that much... Though confidence is not enough to take a place back once it has fallen under the command of another. Surely you are aware of that."