[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/tQYxTnX.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/OMrO8a9.png[/img][/center] [hr] The beginning always seemed so still. [i][color=#DC143C]Calm[/color][/i]. Yes. Calm. It was always this way, a brief moment to reflect before action. It was in this stagnant silence that Vanna felt more at home and more alive than she had this entire journey. A peculiar thing but it's not like one could control such inclinations. That last second before take off, that last breath before the pitcher began his windup; that was Vanna's comfort zone. That was when everything felt right. In that singular second Vanna heard nothing else. None of the other girls in the room mattered anymore. It was just her and the Void. And then it began. The beast disappeared in a flash, the gap between the two shrank instantly; her opponent did not want Vanna to have any time to contemplate her decisions. All it wanted was the kill: a savage creature through and through. The speed was indeed otherworldly, faster than any human Vanna had faced thus far. But it wasn't quite fast enough. [i][color=#DC143C]The comfort zone[/color][/i]. The shift in gear came naturally to the daughter of Diana, her head swiftly turning away from the beast's outstretched hand. Nevertheless she felt a sharp jolt as her body let her know she too hadn't quite been quick enough. The clawed fingers had found a mark across her left cheek but now wasn't the time to buckle in pain. Diana Khay Vanna would not perish here. [color=#DC143C][i]Could not[/i][/color]. Adrenaline would do its job to make the pain fleeting and so Vanna would do her job and retaliate against the creature. She had scarcely finished her sidestep of the beast's attack before beginning her counter: A quick, singular thrust at the heart of the monster. A strike she had rehearsed for years, albeit never with the leg of a chair, but an actor can't always choose their props. Like a seasoned sniper she knew before contact that her aim was true. The chair leg shattered as she pierced the Void's core forcing Vanna to leap back and let go of her short lived companion. But the damage had been done, the creature was on its knees, convulsing in [color=#DC143C][i]pain?[/i][/color] She wasn't sure if the Void could even feel such a thing. Still the important fact of the matter was that her plan had worked. The desperate action had opened a path for the others to escape, or rather get them out of this particular ordeal, she could only hope that they had found support on the other side. Now she needed to decide upon her own path. The one other girl left in the hallway, Penny Grenoble, had managed to regain her own footing and was looking to Vanna for instruction. [color=39b54a]"I say we finish this thing off, but if you think we can make a break for it, I'm with ya. I think I got one last charge for this ugly fucker, so just say the word."[/color] While she may have drawn complaints with Penny's coarse choice in words, Vanna also couldn't help but agree with the overarching decision. Right now the beast was on its knees, right now it could be hurt and the core would shatter, but there was no telling what might happen if the two girls turned their back on the Void. "[color=#DC143C]Miss[/color]" Vanna winced, the gash across her cheek was deeper than she thought "[color=#DC143C]Grenoble. Save your energy. You may need it. Not sure if... if this will work.[/color]" It hurt to finish the sentence but she pushed forward. Now it was time to put theory into practice. Her weapon was gone and attacking with her barefists seemed suicidal- she needed a new option. [i][color=#DC143C]Dana Noel[/color][/i]. Yes, she was overflowing with Nox, more Aether coursed through her today than it had her entire life, if she couldn't project her Elementum outward today, the way her fellow initiate had so effortlessly, when would she? [color=#DC143C][i]Focus...[/i][/color] Concentrate on the energy within, let it swirl, let it flow, let it breathe, and then guide it... Guide it to her fingers, let it accumulate and condense. Capture it all within the palm of her hand.... And then it went. Out of her hand exploded a blast of energy. The Aether she had been building up for so long surged outwards and towards the Void. It was a pinpoint blast aimed for the core: a hammer to drive in the last remaining piece of wood left in the heart of the beast. [i][color=#DC143C]tired.....[/color][/i] But as the blast of energy left her hand so too did the little strength Vanna still possessed. She had drained her reserves and now she was at the mercy of pain and fatigue. Her vision blurred and the ceiling seemed to fly farther away. No the ceiling wasn't flying she was falling. Ah she'd been here before... Her eyes closed quickly as the Lady of Potentia slumped to the ground. Exhaustion had claimed yet another victim. The other girls could take care of themselves. Now she could rest. But she had won. Again. She had been victorious. [color=#DC143C][i]Right?[/i][/color]