Hmm. Remilia's always reading. Wonder what it is she's reading.
You think maybe she's still working on the same book from so long ago? Perhaps, got stuck on a word she didn't know and refused to ask someone to explain it for her? :3
Well, I don't know what else there was to do in a time before electricity.
XD!! Knowing Remilia, that might very well be the case. X3
A large cloud of smoke wakes her from her recollection, slowly disappearing through means of Patchouli waving her hand, the one that isn't holding a handkerchief currently muffling her coughs. Flandre can barely make out the outline of a small, red thing heading towards the wall and zip it's gone.
?Good. Cough?
...Did she just do that?
She tries again, summons a small amount of energy and shoots it through her arm. Woah- It works! Another little red thing appears, and another. And another, and another, and- Patchouli coughs a little, reminding Flandre not to shoot her. Flandre nods and continues to shoot.
It's fun, but it drains her energy. She'll have to eat a large meal if she wants to do this for a long time, she realizes. Suddenly, Patchouli throws herself in front of her, confusing Flandre. What, didn't she tell Flandre not to hit her? Ah, well. She started it.
Miraculously enough, Patchouli manages to dodge her way through Flandre's impenetrable carpet of bullets(Well, they were pretty far apart and more of a broken fishing net than a carpet, but still-) while holding a thick, leatherbound book in her arm. Suddenly, she stops to open the book and moves out of the way just as Flandre fires a bullet towards her, and then stops again to recite a spell.
?Agni Shine!?
Suddenly, a large barrage of red bullets stream from the lavender-clad girl's hand. Flandre has to dodge, but can't and loses her balance because the amount is too great. Oww, her head hurts. Patchouli sighs as she she extends a hand to help her up.
?You have a long way to go, young Skywalker.?
?Skywalker?? Flandre tilts her head. ?My names' Flandre Scarlet.?
?It's a joke of sorts.? Patchouli shrugs as she pulls her student off of the floor. ?I mean, you can't fly yet, can you??
Fly?
Flandre's been able to sorta almost fly once, though that was long ago. She could hop up in the air and flap her wings a little and soar for a short distance, her wings grew tired too quickly. Remilia said it was because she didn't exercise them often enough, pah, easy for her to say. She never flew, either, since people might see her and that would be bad. Very, very, bad.
Remilia could fly, though. She practiced often while in private, and Flandre tried too, though she hadn't the patience to tone her wings enough. Short trips over a small area was enough, and they did grow old after a while. Her wings were tied up all the time, so having them out for longer than a little while started hurting.
She turns to Patchouli with an annoyed look and points at her wings. Patchouli shakes her head, matter-of-factly: ?That's got no effect on the purpose, dear.?, before slowly growing taller- No, she's levitating. Flandre's eyes widen. She's seen her sister do that, but Patchouli has no wings to flap.
?I'll instruct you in the basics, later.? Patchouli nods. ?Right now, I think you have a duel scheduled.?
A duel, huh.
Flandre's a little bit nervous, seeing as she's never dueled before. Well, there was that time when she used a large stick to play ?princess defeats the dragon and gets out herself?, but that hardly counted as an official duel. And with magic, of course! She fidgets a little as Patchouli leads her out and up the stairs, out of the dusty, dark library lit up by magic, explaining how to duel along the way. It's just like they did back there, only more serious, it seems.
Walking through the corridors seems a little different now. She's worried that it won't work out, but swallows and tries to be confident. If she succeeds, she'll get to see these corridors again. If she doesn't, at least she'll be able to see them again anyway. Her heart skips a little as they reach the door, where Sakuya is waiting.
?I'll take is from here, Patchouri.? She bows, and takes Flandre's arm. Ugh. She really hates it when Sakuya does that, but she's not in a position to protest.
The weather is cloudy, but not exactly rainy. She suspects it will clear up soon, which is why they've scheduled the duel for now. Remilia is waiting on the porch, sipping tea as if this were some kind of show. It seems more of a test to Flandre. Sitting across from her is a little green-haired fairy, nervously trying to keep still. She swallows as she sees Flandre, and immediately turns her head down towards the table. Remilia smiles briefly at her sister, easing her mood a little. This will turn out fine, this will turn out fine.. This will hopefully go well, right?
?Jaaoo! Flandre, your opponent awaits!?
Ah, China's walking into view! And, what does she- She's leading that stupid, evil fairy by her shoulders. Rage flares in young Flandre's heart, upon remembering yesterday. She wants to kick that damn Cirno, but Sakuya's grip is too firm. At least Cirno seems to feel the same way, judging from how she's trying to wriggle away.
?Greet your opponent.?
Sakuya's cool voice surprises her. Greet? It's one of the last things she wants to do, but she'd better. OK. She bows, like a musk-eater, and states her name.
?Flandre Scarlet.?
Cirno stops for a moment, face red with exhaustion. She frowns and stares Flandre straight in the eye. ?Cirno. Ice fairy.? And with a hateful glare: ?Eye'm the strongest.?
Oh, yeah!?
Flandre returns the favour, using what she knows is the most powerful word possible about herself while still telling the truth.
?I'm an A-risto-cat.?
None of them say a word in the short silence that follows. Glares are exchanged, and a rivalry seems to be born.
Finally, Sakuya interrupts.
?This will be a closed-field, ground-based spellcard duel. We will use no spellcards, and using elemental or individual powers? she gives both contestants a knowing look, ?Is strictly forbidden, and whoever does so will be disqualified.?
This is it.
Flandre takes a deep breath.
?On the count of three, please release the combatants and run for your lives. One..!?
Meiling giggles a bit at the joke that nearly went over Flandre's head. Huh, so she has a sense of humor, too..
?..Two..?
Cirno stares at her, she stares back. If looks could kill, both of them would have severe pains by now.
?...And three. Charge!?
Sakuya lets go of Flandre's hand and cautiously steps back. Meiling does the same for Cirno, letting the small fairy run free. Or, well, right now she's standing her ground, just like Flandre is.
OK, what no-
Cirno fires a bunch of arrow-like blue spears at her. They're annoying, but Flandre finds she can dodge them rather easily. She remembers her lesson, and fires a blast of red pointed-things. They're just going straight, though- Cirno dodges them like it's nothing, and Flandre gets hit by the annoying bullets again, firing her up. In blind fury, she tries shooting while swinging her arm, and the bullets get shot in a circle around her. Cirno dodges, but to no avail. In a moment, she's hit, and cringes.
?D-do your b-best, Ci-cirno-chan..?
She looks to the side for a moment, and sees the green-haired fairy attempting to cheer her friend on. With a determined ?hmph?, Flandre runs closer, dodging Cirno's small bullets as the get faster and faster, until she's right in front of the fairy. Cirno panics and runs to the left, but Flandre follows, now concentrating her bullets onto Cirno's chest. Cirno laughs and shoots her again, her bullets may not be terribly fast, but they do hurt. Flandre feels a little of her strength to shoot bullets disappear along with being hit, yet she keeps standing, though it hurts. Cirno won't back down, either. What did Patchouli say, now: It's over when someone falls? Her arms hurt and she wants to sit down. If she just reached her hand out and took hold of Cirno's eye, this could end quickly, and she could go sit down. Yeah, sit down for a little while. At least, maybe China would still visit her, and- No, she can't think like that! She has to take Cirno down, dammit! Aoow, she can't stand much longer..
?Go get her, Flandre!? Meilings voice can be heard from the sidelines.
Oh, right. She's got someone cheering for her, so she has to win this. She's not gonna let this get her down! She'll show Remilia what a good girl she is, able to fight without ?kyu?! And then she'll get to eat upstairs and have tea for breakfast again!
?Hyah!?
She aims her arm towards Cirno's legs, catching the fairy off-guard. ?Wait, wha-? There, now let's shoot her feet. The fairy tries dodging, but she can't dodge both of her feet at once, and-
Boff.
The fairy falls face first onto the ground.
