The world of Second Earth has different kinds of magical stones that helps a player become stronger or amplify his or her powers.
---Second Earth Online, Stones
The three waited behind big rocks in order to have their identities completely hidden.
From their perspective, the whole town was occupied by women and not a single trace of a male player can be seen. There are women training, some are playing, the others are buying things. The events inside the town are relatively identical to the events happening in other towns.
"Wait, I know the symbol of that flag!" Fawn said and then pointed to one of the flags that was raised on one of the towers. Because of being an archer, her vision was better than the three so she was the one who figured out the symbol on the flag. It has a figure of a peak of a mountain in it surrounded by pointy frills.
"Wow. I can really see it. Note the sarcasm weird eyes." Jake teased. Fawn shot him a glare and was about to say something when Nex talked.
"We can't see that far Fawn. You should know that by now." Nex retorted. Fawn's eyes widened when she realized they had stepped into a dangerous territory.
"No doubt. This is the den of female bandits, the Raising Queens Bandits. They are the reason why Black Lava City has strengthened its outer defences in these past weeks. They are also responsible for ambushing big time players and no human could stand in their way for long if all of them goes all out." She explained in horror. "The one they call Mother is the infamous Cursing Saint, Gloriosa, she's very strong and powerful for a woman."
"Are they the all-female bandit groups who uses nasty tricks to other players? Then Myckael is in trouble!" As soon as Nex finished talking, a small explosion caught their attention. One of the stores caught fire!
"Let's check Myckael, he's probably in trouble!" Nex shouted. Seconds later, Myckael came out of the town running followed by angry women with their weapons sheathed out. Arrows also came flying towards him and he successfully evaded them.
"Nex! Help Me!!" He shouted as soon as he saw Nex and the other also heading towards him. The women became more aggressive when they saw three more intruders, they had to speed up in order to catch these people!
"STOP THE COMMOTION!" A loud voice startled everyone. It came from the tallest building in the middle of the town. Her voice echoed through the whole cave and its strength and authority stopped the movements of the female warriors with the chased demon as well as the group of Nex.
They all fell silent as the ground started to shake. A woman jumped from the roof of the tallest building! "Is she crazy?! The height could kill her!" Jake said worriedly but his expression changed when the woman landed with her knees in front of them at the centre of the crowd.
"That's the superhero landing!" They heard one of the women behind her exclaimed at her sudden entrance. The woman that is being idolized by her tribe with her beauty strength and power, the Cursing Saint Gloriosa is in front of Myckael, Fawn, Annie, Jake and Nex.
She wore a revealing leather armour like a female amazon, but her features can't be clearly seen in the darkness though the fact that she held a staff-looking weapon with a shining blade in it, made the outsiders totally wary.
"What the fucking hell is going on here?! Someone explain to me the events or I am going to slowly pour boiling water into your eyes!" She said, more like a threat since her voice commanded authority and power and it felt like she should be obeyed at all times.
"These people barged in on our territory Mother. They destroyed the disguising wall and incapacitated some of our women. Then this demon here invaded some of the stables inside the town looking for a horse of some sort but he acted impolite and barged in on the store. Everyone saw that and were alerted and things happened then here we all are." One of her officers who have a more decent clothing reported and everyone was quietly listening.
"I'm very sorry milady, I was just looking for my lost horse, she's a Female Palerian Giant Pony named Myka, and she is a rare Domestic Horse that came from the continent of Chaus. I found trails of her on the entrance of your cave that is why we are here. My deepest apologies for taking one of your own people down but they first acted hostile towards us." Myckael inserted. Gloriosa faced him and scanned him from head to toe. It was like she has a night vision by how she clearly looked at the demon with questioning eyes.
"I know what you're looking for. Take the giant horse you have found and bring it here!" She ordered to some of the women behind. Minutes later, a giant silhouette by what came to be a huge horse named Myka appeared with two female escorts, one on the left carrying her and another closely following behind them.
Myckael was speechless. "M-Myka?!" he exclaimed through hoarse voice. Then they realized he was crying madly. It must be hard for a rider to lose his companion and now that they were both reunited, words can't describe how happy this demon is.
The giant horse is now beside Gloriosa. Even from the darkness, they saw her evil grin when she pointed her weapon outward and drew a line between the demon and his horse.
"W-what's going on?" Myckael barely said in shock. He looked at the lady holding out her weapon out and his horse.
"We are bandits. We are always at the peak of everything and everyone. We are the Rising Queens Bandits and we all get everything we want. Now tell me, HOW SHOULD I GIVE THIS FUCKING HORSE BACK?!" Gloriosa yelled on top of her lungs. "We took it, now it belongs to ours." She added with a seductive tone that they didn't comprehend the meaning.
"Damn you, give me my horse back!" Myckael shouted back and he lunged at the female leader with his sword ready to slash anything. But he stopped in mid-air literally. They did not saw what coiled around the waist of the demon to stop it's tracks.
"Myckael what happened?!" Nex asked behind them.
"Oh, more shitty guests, I did not see you back there. Why don't I provide you stinking boys some light?" Then huge lamps started to surround the huge cave. It definitely lit up every dark place there is. Now they were able to distinguish Gloriosa's godly features. She is a tall woman with the skin as white as snow, shining red wild hair that stretches far to the ground. Her sharp black eyes were throwing daggers to every man in the area. Her rosy red lips that effortlessly pouts every time she finishes every statement she says and a perfectly moulded face that matches her overall beauty.
"Thanks to one of my sister's magic, we were able to stay hidden from the authorities. But for some goddamn reason it was destroyed by invaders which happens to be you guys! Especially you." Gloriosa pointed to the demon she held in mid-air.
They were more surprised to see a part of her scarlet hair moving and was responsible for keeping Myckael up in the air. The strands of hair holding him up tightened and he cried in agony as a small cracking sound was heard each time she tightens her hair's grip.
"I really love the sound of men crying in pain. It is like music to my ears." She released a gleeful expression and giggled smoothly.
"Stop it!" Fawn shouted, she could not bear to see violence anymore! "Please stop!"
"A woman? I did not see you there. Why are you with them?" Gloriosa asked. "And another cute one behind you?"
"Because they are my friends!" Fawn shouted.
"Friends? These lowlife of a man is your friend? THAT IS BULLSHIT!" Gloriosa was raged and she threw Myckael upwards. "You can only befriend your fellow woman!" She added before jumping at an incredible height, meeting the demon above.
Everyone that saw her shining red hair that turned into a pair of magnificent wings was stunned. She followed the fast tracks of Myckael that is still going upwards.
Nex knew what was going to happen and since Myckael is up in the air, he will not have time for defending large attacks. "Annie! Could you help out Myckael?" he turned to Annie which is steadily hiding behind Fawn. She pouted and stayed idle. "Please! Just this once." He pleaded.
They all turned to Myckael who was parrying constant blows from the bladed staff of Gloriosa. She is steadily owning him with her strength! And with their altitude, it is very hard blocking attacks from the Cursing Saint.
"Dark Warp!" Annie used a basic dark magic skill that lets her teleport her target anywhere she liked. Myckael was instantly surrounded by dark swirling smoke before it swallowed him and spat him beside Nex, panting and almost worn out. Gloriosa's attack only hit a couple of dark smoke before realizing her prey was nowhere near her.
"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!" Gloriosa hovered in the air before landing in their direction with a loud thud with her knees.
"That was the superhero landing once again!" the same voice earlier exclaimed again the second time.
"Why are you two ladies helping men like them? They are the foulest fucking creatures here!" She said in disbelief after putting her weapon in front of her realizing it will be a waste of her energy if she tries to launch another batch of attacks again.
"Men only hurt you, and stab you, and stomp you! They are all greedy, arrogant, they are so full of themselves, prideful, merciless, unloving, uncaring, and ungrateful bastards! All men are all the same!"
"That is where you're wrong!" Fawn interjected. "All men are not like that! Yes sometimes, they are greedy, they hunger for power, they betray you, and they hurt you, but these people that I have known are far from being like that! They are caring, understanding, friendly, helpful, humorous and reliable people!"
"Hey, I think that description is too much for us." Jake said frankly with his right hand waving.
The others did not mind what he said, and continued.
"You're wrong! There are more men than women in the world and all men that I have encountered are all like that! If what you're saying is true, then how come I haven't met up with somebody like them?!" She yelled angrily. Her red aura is constantly oozing like a steam out of her.
"Don't make such a depraved conclusion that all men are like that if you haven't met all men in this world! There are people who will try to use and manipulate you but it is of your own volition if you will stick to those people and let them do harsh things to you! If you know you are being mistreated by a man, then leave and choose your freedom! It is not our fault that you just ran to bad guys all the time." Fawn took time scolding the woman with the long hair.
Gloriosa stopped in her tracks, frozen and can't take in the words that came out of Fawn's mouth.
"If you revolved all your beliefs in those statements that you spat out, then you are no better than what you said. You should understand the feelings of other people and take into account the consequences if you do a decision! Deciding that all men are like that is like putting on an invisible mask that will eternally last." Fawn said. Her words were like sharp spears, piercing all through the emotions of Gloriosa. She must had an extremely tough time over bad guys that made her believe in such ridicule beliefs.
"I made this group in order to free all women from the grasps of men. All women here are free to do everything they wanted with nothing to hinder them anymore. I never wanted to let them experience what I had gone through." Gloriosa stated. Her statements were still hard but her shoulders started going up and down.
Some of the women behind her broke into tears, some shouted their frustrations and some cried like there is no tomorrow.
But on the other hand, their leader still stood there motionless except for her moving shoulders and droplets of water that leaves her eyes. She was crying silently as her head is fixed on the ground. She can't bear to have an emotional breakdown in front of her people because they knew her as a strong and tough wall that can never be brought down. Her right hand is gripping her weapon tightly while her other hand is clenched to a fist. Frustration, sadness, anger, loneliness, all of it have been on her mind this whole time.
The intruders felt the hatred and sadness of the women in front of them that they chose not to interrupt and stayed idle for as long as it takes.
"What's your name?" Gloriosa asked Fawn after all of her tears have dried up and she was calmer than earlier.
"My name is Fawn." The elf girl replied.
"Tell me, have you ever been hurt when you were with these people?" The other lady asked which Fawn replied with...
"Ever since I knew these guys, we were always getting into trouble, misfortune and such. Yes I was always getting hurt. But that was a part of what I am now. It made me a stronger person. Getting hurt, feeling pain, it was a part of the process of being a better person. Though sometimes I fight back especially when it comes to Jake." Fawn glared Jake who is steadily standing behind Nex.
"Hey, why was my name got caught in your convo?" Jake asked in disbelief but the others did not paid him much attention. "Ignored totally." He added with a smug look on his face.
"I hate to admit it but I can see no lies in your eyes. And in you too even if you don't speak." She pointed to Annie. "I cannot believe this day would come. Just because of a gigantic horse my people captured earlier, it led everything to this matter." She exhaled loudly.
"Everything sure has a reason why they happened." Nex finally had the chance to speak. "The night is getting deeper. If we may, could we take the horse and leave now? We promise not to tell anyone about the existence of your den."
Gloriosa motioned her sharp eyes over Nex and examined him from head to toe. She put up a face but sighed in defeat.
"I can guarantee your safe return if you head my request." She stood confidently, her weak aura was gone and was replaced by the same aura they felt before when she appeared.
"You will all fight me in a duel. When you people win, I can let you go off the hook. I can't risk the location of my people with just a promise. If you lose, I will have no power over these women that will try to imprison you or kill you." Gloriosa explained.
Somehow, this seems a little bit unfair for the side of the intruders but they chose to cooperate. It's five versus one but the outcome will be hard to distinguish...