[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/BjtZNtv.png[/img][/center]
[color=ed1c24]Location[/color]: Underground complex, Lab area, Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.
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[i]Her opponent was to be praised for her reaction time. Despite being a pure mage and the assassin having the drop on her, she still had something up her sleeve. Veronica's blow was blocked by some form of magical shield, and a crackling ring of lightning thundered into flesh and-[/i]

[color=ed1c24][i]How about not.[/i][/color]

Veronica pulled out of the precognitive vision, as her body entered that familiar, watery-feeling state, internally clicking her tongue in annoyance at her kick being dodged but still committing. Just as her vision predicted, something triggered from her attack. But under her protective magic, she sluiced through it effortlessly, her scythe landing a grievous glow across the redheaded woman's chest. Blood sprayed, and Chigestu greedily slurped it up with its passage.

There was a scream, and Veronica flinched inwardly, as a retaliatory flash of lightning to the face threatened to put spots in her vision. Her protective spell warded her against actual damage, but it wasn't like it did anything for having her vision outright physically obstructed by tongues of lightning blasting her head-on. Veronica's intended follow up attack staggered under the onslaught, briefly blinded by the attack, and her stomach lurched, the scent of fresh blood suddenly flooding into her nostrils to join the chorus of the thick ambiance that she'd been doing her best to ignore all this time.

Veronica shook her head, trying to clear the crimson tint from her senses, the urge to [i]feed[/i] right here and now. It had been sneaking up on her, but she hadn't made a fuss, had powered forward for the mission's sake... But she'd not gotten a full meal in over a week. Even before the scouting team had met back up with Jazdia, she'd been using her magic, and she'd continued to use her magic even more all throughout this mission, her reserves of blood slowly but surely draining. And now, her [i]appetite[/i] was very much whet.

It was for that reason that Veronica almost had to physically bite and tear into her own lip to stop herself from [i]jumping[/i] Widernia while the mage was down, as the tantalizing scent of mana-rich life essence sucker-punched her senses in the face. She had to stop herself from swinging her scythe back around to finish the job, as Widernia's magic unleashed crawling lightning across practically every surface of the prison area. The vampire forced herself to focus her senses on something -[i]anything[/i]- else in that moment, and the act managed to drag her back down to earth.

The sounds of screams and bellows of rage thundered against her eardrums from outside the cell-block, the scent of burning hair and flesh accompanying it. In the corner of her vision, she caught sight of a horrifically familiar creature, secured in a cell with a collection of lines and tubes sticking out of him. The scent of filth and blood that was so old even her vampiric instincts quailed was so rancid that she had to tense her muscles to drown out the fresh wave of unmitigated [i]fury[/i] that swelled inside her towards this piece of shit. And now, the bear's suffering was being further added to by the crawling tongues of lightning that swelled out from Widernia's position to electrocute both the bear and the similarly trapped Varya alike.

Teeth clenching in a snarl that might have cracked something if she bit down harder, Veronica adjusted the grip on her scythe, flipping it around in her grip with a flick of her wrist, and jabbed the opposite end -the spearhead- down at the mage, before another thought made her strike abort before contact. She stood there, frozen in indecision and realization, as her rational mind clawed up from the depths to reassert itself over her vampiric instincts. She looked at the magical ward that was keeping Varya trapped, then back at the injured mage, who was bleeding enough that the vampire knew she likely needed immediate medical care... She mulled over little tidbits she'd observed and her mission objectives, and...

[i]And...[/i]

Gaze refocusing more properly through the haze of [i]hunger[/i], Veronica shoved down the urge to fall upon this [i]extraordinarily acceptable target[/i] in a feeding frenzy, because... she was more than that, right? The was the whole reason she was here and now, serving her King and her country, because she wasn't just a rabid beast, a mad killing dog to be pointed in one direction and set off her leash. She [i]had[/i] to believe that. And because of that... no matter how much she wanted to kill Widernia for what she did to Cedar... [i]no matter how much she wanted to [color=ed1c24][b]drain her dry[/b][/color][/i]...

[color=ed1c24]"One chance,"[/color] the vampire enunciated clearly towards Widernia, her voice a cold whisper, as she stood on the electrified floor untouched by the crawling tongues of lightning. [color=ed1c24]"I heard you use some sort of magical command on that bear. He's a victim, isn't he? You can control him. So..."[/color] Her grip tightened on the shaft of her polearm. [color=ed1c24]"Use that control to make him stand down, agree to free those imprisoned here by your magic, and we'll spare your life. The darkly clad man in the other room, fighting your bear?"[/color] She jerked her head to the side. [color=ed1c24]"He's the best doctor I've ever known, and he'll save you, no matter how badly you're injured." [/color]

Briefly closing her eyes, Veronica sucked in a calming breath and almost flinched at the fresh swell of blood that battered her senses, her body stilling like a statue, before her eyes reopened, reasoning restored... for the time being. [color=ed1c24]"For whatever it means to you, I make this guarantee on my life and honor. You will be treated humanely, according to due process and the law of the land, and I will defend your life to the best of my ability, even from my own comrades, for as long as you remain in my custody."[/color] She let the pause hang long, as she dared to raise her spearpoint slightly upwards, away from the injured mage. [color=ed1c24]"If you are having trouble speaking, a nod will suffice... Deal?"[/color]