She'd spent her entire life crafting that armor, and not even realized it. Every worry made it grow harder and more invincible, every doubt sharpened its claws. Fear wrapped it in thorns so it could keep her safe, and envy made it larger so that she could become a titan. It was supposed to make her perfect. In actual fact a god; finally making good on the promise she made in the darkness of the [i]Yakanov[/i]. It was supposed to swallow her, the ultimate monster that every other monster had to run from. It was supposed to crush her into oblivion, until the name Bella vanished from lips across the universe, and even XIII would vanish into the ocean called Artemis. 

It was perfect. She was perfect. Mere minutes away from accession. Tearing herself free was an act of insanity, one that had cost her the power of the gods and the paltry reserves stored inside her own body at the same time. Even now, her lungs burn as if the wet forest air was thick with SP smoke. Even now her legs tremble from the effort of supporting her body. Her spine longs to curl forward and never straighten again, not for all the pride in the universe. Her mutilated fingers tremble uncontrollably: naked lances of fire that scream at the barest kiss of air. The water pouring down is unbearable. 

And yet.

Bella launches herself at Sagakhan, and it feels like she's grown wings. She soars over the sand, now covered with sodden leaves, and her feet barely touch the ground. One, two, three monstrous heads lash out at her as she comes. From above, and from either side. She reaches into the air, not knowing what to expect, and snatches at the sky with her bare hand. She disappears in a blink, reappearing at the top of the canopy of fresh trees, and. Oh. She's grown wings after all. 

She plunges with the seeming of a spear hurtled from heaven. Sagakhan's heads pivot on a pin and snap at her with a series of furious hisses, but none of the fangs sink into her flesh. There's a burst of light, a flash of color she can't afford to notice right now, and unlimited attacks somehow turn into straight on thrusts and snaps that she can counter directly. Bella's whole body burns, but it burns with a rush of elation and a surge of golden power that feels lighter and happier than any sensation she can remember. Even with her sharpest claws removed, even without talons to replace them, the ones she's still got left are sharp and strong enough to carve deep wounds in Sagakhan's armored scales and spill her toxic blood in great hissing splashes that wilt foliage to nothing wherever it falls. 

Bella rises and falls. She cuts circles around her opponent and flashes from corner to corner with a speed, precision, and sense of easy grace she couldn't have hoped to match as XIII. She is the true manifestation of the storm. She is the tool you send to fight the rainforest. She is the spear, the sword, the hammer, raining blows from above and below at the same time. She can be a weapon because she does not need to be a shield. Without the fear, she's lighter. Without the doubt she's stronger. Sharper, more precise, calmer. Free. 

Her name is Bella. Named for her beauty. The Imperial Maid. A Praetor, chosen by no less than Empress Nero herself. She hops lightly out of the way of snapping heads, crushing tail blows, and claws larger than her entire head. She catches one deathblow between her hands, sinking half to her knees before she finally manages to throw it to the side. Suddenly all she can think about is Prion Paula. What a stupid thing to think about, when she's dancing on the edge of death with a monster beyond her power to kill? But she smirks, in spite of herself. Even laughs, in a brief sort of snort. And that feels... nice. Fuck it, then. Chan-barra-chan. 

Ah, she's light. She's so light. What did she ever need that armor for?

Two heads roar in her face and snatch at her with deadly sharp teeth. Her saliva singes the fur on Bella's arms just from being this close. They bite down, and there's no time or space for clever dodging this time. Her shield is occupied elsewhere. All she can do is twist her body so the teeth can't get anything vital. She sacrifices a shoulder and her opposite elbow to keep her body safe. Her skin crawls and burns with the sensation of hot beads being endlessly pushed into it and rolled around by some giant, malicious thumb. She does not scream. She grits her teeth and wrenches her limbs free, and as she wheels around her foot crushes into one of Sagakhan's jaws. She takes the head in both her hands and wrenches it with all of her might, smashing it into the other one over. And over. And over again. 

Until the scales split. Until the teeth shatter against each other. Until the bones grow soft and twin necks slump with the listlessness that hers long to, even now in the middle of her golden song. She stumbles back, and twists her neck to touch her lips to her injured shoulder. Suck, and spit. She wipes her lips clean and repeats the process on her arm. There, you stupid bitch. If cutting heads won't work, she'll crush them instead.

The smirk falls off her face immediately. The rest of Sagakhan's heads rises up and contemplate their fallen companions. The great Master of Assassins roars her displeasure, and crunches down on her own neck. The hydra lashes furiously, biting and tearing again and again and again until her useless, broken heads lie severed on the ground, skin and scale and muscle already dissolving down to misshapen bone. All around her is a graveyard made of herself. She gnaws it with a monster's zeal. New heads grow to replace the ones she ate herself. And she grows larger to accommodate them. Her teeth grow sharper. Spines rise and shiver along her back and at the tip of her tail. 

But she does not grin. She does not laugh or taunt or condescend. She hisses and smashes her new club of a tail through several giant trees in a single catastrophic motion. And somehow, that's the cruelest thing of all.

"You called me your daughter," says Bella with enough venom to rot a hydra skull, "In front of Zeus almighty, you called me your child."

Her hands ball into fists. She rises as straight and tall as her body can manage, and stomps her foot into the ground.

"You disgust me, you worthless piece of shit. How dare you? How dare you! After everything you stole from me, how dare you say that and throw it all away?!

"Kill me if you can, I don't give a fuck. I'll come back, see if I don't. If it takes me three hundred years I'll find you. And I'll drag you with me. I will. [i]Never[/i] forgive you."

Her shoulder burns. Her arm [i]burns.[/i]. Bella squeezes her fingers again to keep from pulling her arms taught against herself. She snarls so she doesn't scream. Her eyes betray her, and wander away from the fight for the first time. Of course they land on Redana. Now her body burns with shame, too.

Sorry, Dany. This is gonna be a pretty short reunion. Whatever, it's not like she had much a future left anyway, after everything that's happened. 

Her heart beats wildly against the thought. She punches her chest and hisses. Shut up, you.

[Keep Them Busy: [b]11[/b]]