[center][h3]Sinmara[/h3][/center]

Finally, today was the big day. After what felt like a lifetime of planning, research, scheduling and rescheduling, allocation of funds, requisition of necessary supplies, and exhaustive efforts to track down suitable candidates, this grand inaugural gala had successfully materialized. It was no mean feat to organize such a large-scale, fancy event in such a high-profile location without any compromising whispers getting out, but thanks to the careful selection of personnel and generous expenditure for silence, it had been achieved. To the average courtier this might have seemed like an impossible miracle, but in truth, it was just another day for the Unity Organization’s illustrious Comité D'événement, for which no act of logistics or coordination, no matter how immense or discreet, was impossible.

For her part, the Chairwoman could not be happier. Not a single magitech bulb flickered or shone too strongly, instead casting down the perfect amount of light to illuminate the rich colors of the Great Hall’s tapestries and sculptures. The vivid, voluminous rugs of exotic make were luxurious enough to make feather beds look like army cots. Some might call her choice of music antiquated, but those crystalline chimes, reverberant strings, and sonorous piano notes carried the gravitas of bygone glory days, giving this affair the atmosphere of grand importance it deserved. The mosaic tile floors, practically works of art in and of themselves were so polished that one could eat off them, though when it came to eating one need look no farther than the immense dining table, laden with pristine cloth and spotless cutlery. Though today its aged wood wouldn’t creak beneath the weight of a decadent feast, given the limited number of attendees, the kitchen staff were still hard at work to make sure the guests wanted for nothing. The Chairwoman had seen to that personally, only just now emerging from the kitchen so that she could stand at the end of the hall, clasp her hands behind her back, and survey her dominion with pride.

It took a lot to satisfy a perfectionist like herself, who ran such a tight ship that even New Anton’s garrison seemed lax in comparison. Of course, her own appearance was no exception. Her vermillion hair, expertly curled and parted to be half across her face and half behind her ear, shone like the setting sun. It perfectly suited her rich burgundy dress, done up as it was with elegant white ruffles and dark purple accents. Even a wealthy noblewoman, she expected, would turn green with envy at the sight of her. Right now everything was perfect, just as one would expect for the long-anticipated commencement of the hunt for the Seven Weapons.

At the height of the Chairwoman’s satisfaction, however, a loud, metallic slam echoed through the hall, followed by the sound of shattering china and a burst of loud, raucous laughter. Though shocked for a moment at the disturbance, her mouth slightly ajar, she quickly composed herself and hurried toward the source of the sound at a dignified yet urgent pace. A cluster of people had gathered about halfway down the dining room table, enough lingering around that the Chairwoman couldn’t immediately see what had transpired. “What happened? What’s going on?” she demanded as she drew near. At her approach the attendants and loitering Unity Organization members shrank back, revealing a scene that left her momentarily dumbfounded once more.

“Sheesh, that’ll teach me to get too comfortable, haha! What’re these made of, aluminum foil?” An unusual woman was just now picking herself up off the floor. Around her lay scattered the partially-crushed remains of her metal chair, the fragments of a plate, and a whole lot of splattered food that must have been stacked high upon it. At the woman’s place sat several more plates, most picked clean, but several featured multiple exquisite dishes piled together into an indiscriminate heap, blending flavors and textures never meant to go together–an affront to the culinarians’ craft! As if that wasn’t enough, her place had been left almost as messy as the floor, with blatant disregard for proper dining etiquette.

Only after being appalled by the woman’s wanton destruction of property and lack of basic manners did the Chairwoman really begin to observe the culprit herself. She looked like some kind of barbarian, an overgrown meathead stuffed into a cheap, ridiculous purple suit barely held together by black straps, its sleeves rolled up and its front left undone in an act of shameless public indecency. Even more bizarre was the musculature in her stomach–was that some sort of condition? Surely it couldn’t be natural. The Chairwoman had seen men with musculature like that, but never a woman. For several seconds she just stared, her mouth agape, until the woman glanced her way. “Hey there. Somethin’ up?”

Her words snapped the Chairwoman out of it, and she met the culprit’s eyes. The other woman had a curious look on her face, one eyebrow raised, as she put her sunglasses back on. Being inside, she put them on her forehead, nestled in her striking black-and-white striped hair that seemed to stretch all the way down to her knees, kept in check by a series of red bands. More unusual, though, were her tall, scarlet horns. Those didn’t look like accessories. Overcoming her shock, the Chairwoman held her arms wide. “W-what is the meaning of this!?”

“Oh, sorry! I just went to put my feet up and tilted over backward, haha.” Flashing her pointed pearly whites, the woman offhandedly shoved the debris under the table with her shoe. 

“You tilted…? Wait, stop, don’t do that, just…” The Chairwoman lurched forward almost drunkenly, her peace of mind shattered by the disaster unfolding before her eyes. It was taking a lot of mental effort to keep her panic suppressed. “L-let’s just start over, shall we? What are you doing here, how’d you get in?”

As she finished brushing away the evidence and dragged out another chair (which gave a startling metallic shriek) to plop down in, the stranger gave the Chairwoman a quizzical look. “Hey, hey, one question at a time, huh? I’ve just, well, been eating and telling everyone stories. Uh, you guys brought me here, didn’t you? To help find the weapons.” A wide smile spread across her face. “I sure hope so, ‘cause I’ve been goin’ wild on all this free food! Great stuff by the way. Could use more protein though, haha! D’you mind getting me another plate of wings? They told me I’m not supposed to eat off the floor.”

Her flustered host blinked in astonishment. “I-I’m not a servant! Don’t you know who I am? I am Alexandrine Beausoleil-Brillant, head of Comité D'événement! This whole event’s my doing!”

Now the guest’s eyebrows went up. “Woof, that’s a name and a half! How about Lexi? You look like a Lexi. My name’s Sinmara!” With a grin Sinmara crossed her arms beneath her chest, leaning perilously far back in her chair again. “Monster hunter extraordinaire, heavyweight champion boxer, and the strongest woman in the world!”

“Do NOT call me that!” Lexi reddened, her lips curling in anger. She tried taking deep breaths, convincing herself that she could handle this. “Urk…so, you’re a monster hunter? We did reach out to your Guild. Never heard of a ‘Sinmara’ though.”

“Well, my legend’s just getting started!” Sinmara cut off a big hunk of steak and stuffed it in her mouth. “I’ve had a bunch of sick-ass fights already. Just ask these guys, I was tellin’ them all about it before you showed up!” She gestured around to the bystanders, who unanimously tried to avoid Lexi’s accusatory gaze. After a moment her irate stare settled on Oliver, her second-in-command. With a glare she took him aside, and Sinmara started up right where she left off. “Uh, where was I? Oh yeah, the hydra! Well, I wasn’t about to let it finish off the town’s livestock, so I followed the trail of blood all the way back to its lair in the swamp. This huge nest of twisted vines and bones. So it came at me, right? That scaly bastard tried to bite my head clean off. So I waited for just the right moment, then WHAM! Decked it with my killer right hook! Knocked it clean out, so I used my chainsaw to return the favor and carve its head off instead! But that wasn’t the halt of it, because the next second [i]two[/i] heads grew right back! They grabbed my legs and pulled me through the mud, until…”

Lexi shut the story out to focus on admonishing Oliver. [i]”How could you let this happen?”[/i] she hissed.

“Well, technically she’s on the list,” the balding fellow replied. “When we contacted the Monster Hunter Guild, nobody showed any interest. Saying that the hunt’s a fool’s errand, and that only an idiot would agree to join. Sinmara’s the only one we got. She may be a bit coarse, but…”

“She’s ruining the party!” Lexi whispered back. “She’s probably just some yarn-spinning oaf who showed up for a free meal, and she’s making a laughingstock of us!”

Oliver furrowed his brow. “Everyone seems to like her. She’s clearly strong, and if even half of what she says is true, she’ll be a worthy addition to the team. And…well, look around, Alexandrine. We didn’t even get half a dozen. We need her.”

He’d been looking back at Sinmara as he spoke, and Lexi followed his gaze. She took in all the people gathered around the monster hunter, hanging on her every word and drowning her in attention. None could take their eyes off her, and after a moment even Lexi realized she was staring again. Jealousy coursed through her. [i]Is THAT really all it takes?[/i] Turning red again, she snapped her fingers in front of Oliver’s eyes. “Hey! Are you sure you need her, or do you just ‘want’ her? Don’t fall for it. People can’t help but stare at car accidents, but that doesn’t mean they should. I’ll handle this.”

She approached Sinmara again just as the huntress was finishing her story. “...with my heart ablaze, my chainspear was burning at full throttle! With it slowed down from all the heads, I landed on its back and went to town ‘em, one at a time! As I cut through the necks, my Heartbreak’s red-hot teeth seared the wounds, meanin’ they couldn’t regrow! I took ‘em down one at a time, until finally the beast was slain! Sinmara thirty, hydra zero!”

“It took you thirty tries to figure out how to stop the heads regrowing, and you just kept doing it?” Lexi questioned, crossing her arms.

Sinmara chuckled as she drained her glass. “That’s right, hahaha! A riddle for the ages. Betcha not even a hundred men coulda solved it! Lucky the townsfolk had me on the case–the smartest woman in the world!”

Genuinely amazed by the monster hunter’s delusions, Lexi shook her head. “Why did you agree to join the search for the weapons, Sinmara?”

“Hm? Oh, ‘cause my mom told me to,” Sinmara replied matter-of-factly.

Lexi hung her head. “It truly is a sorry day that the Unity Organization has resorted to relying on someone like you.”

In the hush that followed, Sinmara only smiled. “Oh yeah?” She stood up, noisily bumping the table as she did, and approached her accuser. Intimidated, the Chairwoman backed up against the table, looking around for help. For now though, none of the onlookers dared interfere. “Don’t think I got what it takes, huh? You wanna piece of me, Lexi? Then let’s fight! Put up your dukes!” Her orange eyes gleamed with excitement. Grinning, she leaned forward and turned her head sideways, exposing the scar on her jaw. “C’mon, first one’s on me! X marks the spot!”

“L-like I’d ever debase myself with such a…a barbaric act!” Red as a beetroot, the Chairwoman slipped to the side to beat a hasty retreat.

After a moment Sinmara turned away with a sigh, shrugging. “Aww. You people are no fun.” With a dejected groan she plopped back down and pulled into her place at the table. “But hey, as long as there’s food, I’m not complainin’!” With the momentary disturbance over and the jovial mood somewhat ruined, the bystanders drifted away, and Sinmara resumed her meal.