((Collab between [@Letter Bee] and [@Digmata].)) [b][i]Mirage Space[/i][/b] Basilia Bernardino faced her sister, her two swords drawn. The longsword on her right had a blue-and-white hilt and gave off a cooler aura, a calmer glow even when its counterpart in the woman’s left hand, a wicked-looking cutlass with a red hilt covered in black reptilian leather, flashed red maliciously. She said, “Every time I thought of giving you a chance, you wave your fortune in my face! I thought you had started to care about me again, but then I saw you with that Prince! Oh, I get it, we both share the same tastes in prematurely gray-haired young men - Stop showing off how successful you are!” Then she swung her first sword, letting loose a horizontal wave of burning white light that cut through the air itself. Cristina looked at the cutlass; that must be the Noble Arm that she gained from the descent. Although for a moment she got distracted, “Wait what? No!” she spoke as she rolled away from the light’s path. “Shinya is a friend, more of a superior to be honest.” She denied her sister's allegation as she blinked on her back and performed a lunge. Basilia thrust her Cutlass, opening a portal, and the portal’s other end was behind her, in the direction of Cristina’s thrust. This meant the Cutlass’ blade blocked Sinagtala as Basilia spoke, “Don’t lie to me! You promised never to lie to me! Or are you breaking that promise too?!” She was twisting everything Cristina did or said in the worst light possible, even when it made no logical sense. What conclusions can be drawn from this? “I did not! Please believe me.” Cristina pleaded as she found herself in a bladelock but both her words and arms wavered at her sister's superior strength and rage. She finds herself being pushed back even as she tries her best to hold on. Basilia paused, her face scrunching, eyes closing as her brain tried to find a way to misconstrue Cristina’s words in the worst possible light. Or was it her [i]brain[/i] that was distorting things? If Cristina did not figure out what was going on in her sister’s head soon, Basilia would open her eyes, but that did not mean she saw anything beyond the overwhelming rage that forced her mouth open to call Cristina a liar. Cristina took the opening for what it is, pushed her blade in, but the attack stopped an inch from her chest. Cristina looked at her sister's eyes filled with tears and resolve. “Please don't make me do this.” she spoke in a low tone as Basilia saw her face. It is no longer the scared face she always saw when she was younger. Cristina's face was more hardened like a woman who was searching for her resolve. She didn't want to do this, but she will if she has to. The red glow from the black-and-red Noble Arm flickered before suddenly turning off. The blue glow shone brighter, but not to the point where it glared. The rage in Basilia’s eyes faded as she scrunched her face, struggling to do… what? It was like someone trying to remember something from long ago, an old grandmother or busy parent trying to remember something they should know. Her next words were calm for the first time since she and Cristina met anew, “You’ve intimidated the [i]Red Soul[/i]. If your friend Henri is nearby, take me to him and have him use his Anti-Magic power. As it is, even now, something - A filter, a loop? - is trying to paint everything you say and do in the worst light even when it makes no sense. Even now…” She sighed, beginning to shake, as though containing something she was struggling to keep sealed inside. “I didn’t want to admit it, but I was not as strong as I thought. I wanted you with me even when it was bad [i]for you[/i]. Even now, it is far easier to believe that you abandoned me, instead of being honest with myself that I wanted you beside me more than, more than, more than…” [i]More than I wanted your happiness,[/i] was the unspoken implication. Basilia Bernardino screamed anew as the red Noble Arm flared brightly with a crimson nimbus, and she began shouting, “NO! NO! NO! NO! [i]You[/i] never wanted my happiness! You should have stayed beside me! [i]I missed you![/i] Why did I have to take the high road and let you go?! Why did my needs never matter?!” “Sister…” Cristina muttered as she listened to her sister. So that's what's happening to her. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw that her sister despite everything is not yet far gone. Which is why when the so-called Red Soul took over once again, she is no longer afraid, instead she is determined to take what made her start this journey in the first place. “Shut the fuck up!” she yelled to the Red Soul possessing her sister. “You are not her, you're just a parasite taking her will and pulling her strings.” She took a few steps back and called upon Sinagtala once again. While she does have an option of removing the influence with her new powers, she opted to not rely on it for now due to the chaos outside the Imaginary Space. Plus she needs to punish this soul for tormenting her sister's mind. “Sorry sis.” she spoke with a steely voice as she took a stance. “This will be a little painful.” she declared as charged to the Red Soul determined to make this sentient Noble Arm pay! The cutlass swung, but the blue-and-white hilted longsword resisted her commands. Basilia’s expression turned calmer, clearer, as she spoke again, this time with tears flowing, “Cristina! Do it! Also, I’m sorry for being a bad sister - What I did say about wanting you beside me more than you being happy, and regretting having taken the high road back then, it’s still true! [i]I hated being alone![/i]” Cristina's strike found its mark at her sister's stomach, it shouldn't immediately kill her but give her time to fall unconscious. “I know.” she said as she kept her grip on the blade. “You can rest now, I’ll have you back. I promise.” Cristina spoke with a comforting voice. Basilia was tossed backwards by Cristina’s strike, but digging into some reserve of strength, she stood up; the blue-white longsword was no longer moving according to her commands - If anything, it had gotten heavier - but the red cutlass was still there. Nevertheless, the older woman’s mind remained clear a while longer, as she said, “Not entirely controlled. Not entirely willing. That’s me, but while the mental filter, Red Soul, trying to make your actions look as bad as possible, has been broken…” She dispelled the blue-white longsword and instead pointed the cutlass alone at Cristina, all but openly challenging her, “I have pride that’s not just Superbia trying to trick me - Only the strongest little sister in the world can save me.” Basilia cut open a portal whose other end was just a few inches away from Cristina’s stomach and punched at it through the rift in space-time with a closed fist, before saying, “Are you that, Cristina?” Cristina was forced to take a few steps back from the blow. This moment, it reminds her of the old times when she was trying to unlock her Noble Arm. She tightened her grip on Sinagtala as she let out a smile. “I will!” She declared, boasted and disappeared for a moment. Before appearing before her sister and letting out a slash. She needs to be aggressive, keep the initiative away from her. This time, Basilia allowed her cutlass to clash with Cristina’s blade, before pressing forward and slashing downwards, almost chopping, at her right shoulder. Her next words were, “Don’t get crippled saving me now.” She was even smiling. Cristina cursed her smaller frame as she found herself slowly pushed back, it was however something she accounted for. “I won’t.” Her body disappeared at the minute, appearing behind her sister as orbs of fire began conjuring on her blade. She rained them down on her, hoping that some would hit. Basilia just cut open an extra-large portal that spat back the orbs at Cristina’s front, emulating one of Angelito Jaime’s famous techniques… Cristina would blink away from the orbs and fire the rest away with her own, resulting in a smokescreen in the sky that she used to fly away and assault her sister from the sky. It would be comparable to the assault of a hawk, dodge or parry one and Cristina will fly away for another assault. If there is one thing she knew she was better, it was holding on. Basilia ducked and weaved the first two times, then cut a portal in front of Cristina on her next dive, a portal whose other end led to just a few inches above the ground. Can she dodge in time or splat? There's no time for Cristina to evade nor brace herself for the dive. She landed badly but managed to roll away. Those portals she needs find a way to get around them. How about this? Cristina flew again charging to her sister, before blinking behind her at the last minute and letting a downward slash. Basilia cut open another portal, but Cristina blinked before she entered it, teleporting behind her sister’s genuine blind spot. She would hit, and her cut would sever several locks of her sister’s hair. “No fair!” Basilia said as she barely managed to turn around to face her younger sibling. “And by that, it’s very fair. You’ll pay for the hair regrowth if you succeed in capturing me, right?” And she resumed her onslaught, trying to cut Cristina with a flurry of four weak but fast strikes, then opening another portal with the fifth, which would open behind Cristina, allowing Basilia to try and sucker punch her with her free fist. “Oh come on, you're the one spamming portals left and right!” she complained as she parried her sister's attack, finding out the fist too late as it landed to her face. Leaving her open for another attack. Basilia wasn’t trying to kill her this time, but she was determined to make sure Cristina earned any victory she had, and so she began another flurry of slashes, aiming to leave several shallow cuts and force her younger sibling to admit defeat. Cristina’s cheek would be cut by the blade and she parries the upcoming ones and teleports herself away from the last one. “What the hell?” she says she touched her bleeding cheek. “You're not taking this seriously are you!?” she accused her sister. Basilia responded bluntly, “If I took this seriously [i]and[/i] I were not getting a mental filter distorting the information I get, you’d be dead.” Cristina will grit her teeth at her sister's flawless logic before speaking again. “The fact of the matter is-” Her voice is cut-off by her suddenly teleporting in front of her sister slashing. The tantrum is a ploy and Cristina made her opening. Basilia barely parried, then took a few steps back before attempting another series of slashes and cuts, stronger this time. And yet those cuts could only reach air as Cristina moved or blinked left to right to keep her sister on their knees. Just as when she is getting a pattern from her movements would Cristina change it up with a flash to blind. Which is then followed by a thrust to her chest. Instinct saved Basilia long enough for her to parry the thrust with her cutlass, staggering back as she said, eyes closed, “You’ve gotten better. Maybe you have what it takes to defeat me after all.” She cut with her cutlass again, tearing a wide portal in front of her, a portal that led to [i]the sea[/i]. Water began glowing throughout the imaginary space… Cristina will strike a few more times as Basilia effortlessly parries her attempts to draw blood. Was it just her or her sister somehow better? The glow gave Cristina the warning she should get away which is why she blinked and flew away. If only she had the power to summon the sun. As Basilia recovered, she closed the portal, realizing that her feet were wet now. She then took a defensive stance and waited for Cristina to attack; without the white-blue sword, she lacked ranged options, and the white-blue sword was not responding right now… Another standoff, one that Cristina used to breathe as her sister closed the portal. So that was a bluff, one that she fell splendidly. She looked at her sister, she looked like someone who barely broke a sweat while burning her reserves quickly. Cristina landed to the ground, took a stance and held her blade with two hands, she cannot afford a battle of attrition. So she attacked, combining aggressive slashes with sudden thrust forgoing defense in favor of dealing damage. Basilia was starting to tire, to break, her reactions a split-second slower than they used to be. Was there going to be an opportunity? Cristina doesn't know so she’ll make her own, she swung harder as flames began igniting her blade. Then she found it. An opening to her guard, a moment to slash her stomach. And she took it. Basilia’s scream as Cristina’s blade cut through under-armor and skin was a signal of victory. “All right, you win, you win!” Basilia admitted. “You managed it!” A moment of silence lasted between the two as Cristina kept her guard up for anything that might spoil her victory. She raised the blade to her sister's neck before speaking. “Your Noble Arm now.” she spoke. Basilia nodded, and passed the scimitar to Cristina. With a soft sigh, Cristina tossed her sister's blade upwards and transformed her blade into a greyish form. In a single swing, the now Noble Arm negating Sinagtala collided to the scimitar, snapping it in half. At the same moment, the siblings now returned to the real world and Cristina pointed her blade once again. “Just needed to be sure.” she spoke. Basilia nodded, then asked, “So, it seems I’m your prisoner now?” There was a moment of silence before Cristina spoke. “I guess that's how things work or whatever the government tells me as due process.” she said before hugging her. “But if they try pull something before us, I’ll make sure they'll regret that decision.” she promised.