[h3][color=mediumspringgreen]Alexandria Sova[/color][/h3]
AKA [color=mediumspringgreen][b]Andras[/b][/color]

Alexandria tightened her hand into a fist. She had actually done it this time. This was the first time she had really headed out and done something on her own in ages. And she had even won a fight already. '[color=mediumspringgreen]To think I wouldn't have even been able to hold Vera at an arms' length with my gift before all this... And now![/color]' A brief flash of anxiety washed over her body. If she did [b]too[/b] well, her counselor might hear about it. She wasn't supposed to be using her gift for something like this, but there was no way Alexandria - no, Andras was going to have this power and refuse to use it. She grinned to herself. '[color=mediumspringgreen]That's right. Andras did that. The Demon Lady, returned from the Void Dream of Purgatory.[/color]' 

~~

There was snickering and murmurs when she had entered the first round. "Demon lady? Is that even a girl?" "It looks like a stiff breeze could lay her out." "Aren't demons supposed to have red skin?" 

But the murmurs turned to silence when she grasped her cards - abstract squares of light that seemed almost ethereal - and dramatically summoned a new one from nowhere. It was a simple move, and didn't require the theatrics, but of course Andras was going to make a show of it. She knew what the card was the second she grasped it. A simple, yet powerful spell.

"[b]Listen girl, I'm sorry to do this, but you knew what you were getting into with this. You can give up now if you want, but I'm not going to think twice if you don't.[/b]" Her opponent prattled on, not knowing their doom was already sealed.

Andras covered one side of her face with her free hand, giving a low chuckle that rose into a loud laugh. "[b][color=mediumspringgreen]Your fate is already sealed. If anyone should concede now, it is you. Do you know what magic I hold in my grasp?[/color][/b]" She held up the card she had just drawn. 

"[b]Some flashy lights aren't going to scare me. What are you going to do, hit me with those?[/b]" The opponent scoffed.

Andras continued, almost speaking to the audience more than her opponent. "[b][color=mediumspringgreen]This is a piece of the Root of All Magic. It was a divine miracle, codified by the miraculous waves sent by the gods of the oceans to protect those they favored. Akashic sages codified it... and now I hold it in my grasp.[/color][/b]"

"[b]I warned you...[/b]" The opponent sprang forward, closing the gap between the two fighters. Their power flared up, tiny spouts of flames welling from where they stepped.

Andras didn't brace herself for the attack. She merely moved her hand forward, the card held between her two fingers. With a flick of her wrist, the card launched forward. The golden glow of the card seemed to change into a blue arrow, before the entire card seemed to burst into a torrential jet of water. The force of the immense wave of water struck Andras's foe directly in their chest, knocking them clean out of the fighting area and sending them careening into the spectator's area. They groaned from their splayed position, unable to stand back up without the help of nearby spectators. 

"[b][color=mediumspringgreen]The ocean is a cruel mistress. Perhaps another time for you.[/color][/b]" Andras replied, grinning as she turned to the crowd.

~~

It was taking all her nerve to stop from erratically hopping with joy. She had managed to play it cool and even throw in a perfect one-liner. Alexandria was truly, for a moment, the demon Andras in that match. It mixed with a fear of what she might run into next, of course, but her hand of spells was formidable enough. Her cards floated around her as she mulled over their effects in her head. Plenty of possibility, and she still had seven spells left to cast. She was ready for whatever was next. Andras could take on anyone. She had, after all, dragged herself out of much worse and lived to tell the tale.