The Spiritguard

There are a few more matches that occur before one I'm interested in comes up - Kavella vs. Lance of all people. I'm the most excited one in the crowd.

"Yeah! Kavella!" I shout at the top of my lungs, cupping my hands to my mouth to make sure she can hear me. I want Lance to hear me, too.

"Beat his ass, Kavella! He ain't got a thing on you! Wooo!"

She's ignoring me. She's trying to focus. But I do see Lance look back at me. I expect him to be grimacing, but he just gives me a sad, flat smile. 

What's wrong with this guy? It's like he wants to play the victim. Like he hadn't bullied Kael and me for our entire lives up until this last year...

"Start!" Mr. Copper calls, and the match begins. 

Kavella twirls a long staff in her hands. It has been her preferred weapon as of late, and she's quite good with it. She adopts a defensive stance and waits for Lance to make the first move. Good idea, Kavella. Let him do something stupid. We both know he will.

Lance is using a sword and shield. I never got much into shields myself, but for combat between humans, its recommended. The Spirits we fight rarely use weapons - mostly we have to worry about their Animus techniques. A long sword is usually enough to keep a Spirit far enough away that we won't have to worry about scratches or bites. 

Lance creeps toward Kavella slowly. He doesn't have any cool long-ranged Animus techniques, so he's going to try and rely on his physical strength to overcome this battle. He's at a bit of a disadvantage against Kavella, though. Not only does she know some crazy techniques, but with her staff, she's got a lot more range than he does. 

He takes a quick step in and does a bit of a test jab at Kavella, and she smacks the sword away from her with an effortless and graceful flourish. As she does, she makes a fist with one hand and begins conjuring an Animus technique.

I can feel the air shift as she builds up her energy. As if she's sucking all the Animus from the area single-handedly into this attack.

Suddenly, a sparking javelin of pink energy is in Kavella's right hand. I've never seen anything like it - a spear made completely of Animus. It's pulsing ominously, and the sky itself seems to darken at its presence. 

"Angonish", she calls out, like she's summoning a devil, and then she throws the spear directly into the air. It rockets into the sky, breaking the sound barrier as it goes. 

Lance looks at her, taking a step back fearfully. "What in the-"

"Surrender!" Kavella shouts at him. "Before it comes back."

"No way!" he roars back. "We're fighting this one out!"

"Stupid boy," she spits. And just as fast as the pink javelin erupted into the sky, it suddenly comes crashing down, directly into Lance. The Animus energy of the spear does not pierce him but rather it flows directly into his body, getting sucked up into his soul.

And the match is over. Lance falls to the ground and begins screaming, writhing in ungodly agony. I can't even make out what he's saying, but he's begging for the pain to stop. Whatever that Animus technique is, it's causing him unthinkable anguish. 

'Angonish', she chanted before using the technique. A play on the words 'angon' and 'anguish'? If so, that makes a lot of sense. It seems Lance is in nothing but pure anguish, after all.

Kavella snaps her fingers, and Lance goes limp. She's dispelled the technique. He's laying on the ground, sobbing and panting. He's got no physical injuries on him, but that doesn't mean this was a fun experience for him. 

"The winner is Kavella," Mr. Copper announces. Lance climbs to his feet, his eyes bloodshot and his body shaking in fear as he looks at Kavella. 

"Don't blame me, I gave you a chance to surrender." Her voice is dispassionate toward him, cold. I'd feel bad if it were anyone but Lance, but he deserves it.

"Kavella! Way to go!" I cheer, jumping up and down and pumping my fist in the air. Am I rubbing the salt in the wound for Lance? Maybe a little bit. Am I the most excited person here? Yes, by a longshot. Most of my classmates don't look happy. They look...sad.

She steps out of the arena and to my surprise, walks straight toward me. "I see you approve," she says, sounding way too cool when she does. Even Kael, standing right next to me, seems a little shaken.

"What was that technique?" Kael asks. "I haven't seen - or heard - of anything like that."

Kavella blinks slowly and looks back to Lance, who's still standing in the center of the arena. He looks mentally scarred from the experience.

"I infuse Animus energy with my own memories of anguish. The worst pain I've ever experienced is shared with whoever is struck by that spear. If he can't handle it, he has no business fighting against me." She pauses for a moment. "A technique taught to me by my father. One that can only be learned by being hit with it yourself. Lance is lucky. Perhaps he'll be able to use the Angonish now."

'Lucky' isn't the word I would use. Does this mean that Kavella's own father struck her with such an awful technique? 

She looks directly at Kael. "As apt as you are with these things, I'll assume you'd rather not learn the technique. Regardless, it only works on humans. No Spirit would be incapacitated by such a thing."

An Animus technique made just to hurt humans? I have never heard of such a thing.

I look at Kavella in awe, Kael looks at her in fear. We both have our own ways of processing such things, I suppose.

It's time for Kael and Marc's match, and the two of them get into the makeshift arena. Kavella stays standing next to me for the bout.

"Are you worried about him?" she questions, not looking at me when she speaks but rather staring blankly ahead.

"Kael? No way. He's the smartest person here." I don't say it out loud, but there's another reason. He's up against Marc. Loathe as I am to admit it, this will be child's play for him.

Kavella closes her eyes. "Marc Olson has grown strong," she remarks quietly. "But perhaps, for someone like yourself, you only see a person's physical strength. Until you must contend with the reality of their true power, of course."

Is she...insulting me?

 As Kael and Marc are about to begin, Kavella looks to me and says something so far out of character I almost vomit in confusion.

"Thanks for cheering me on. I was worried my technique would ostracize me even further from the others, but not from you, it would seem. Would you like to have dinner together, tonight? Just you, and me?"

I look back to my friends who are just beginning to battle. Marc shoots some type of magical missile at Kael, who blocks it deftly with an array of prismatic shields surrounding him. Typical Kael. He's got an answer for everything.

"I'd love to!" I make no effort to hide my excitement, turning to face her directly. This is also probably the best night ever to do this. It'll be awkward eating with Kael and Marc tonight, especially since they had to fight against each other. 

"Great. I'll come find you around six."

On that note, she glides away from me, somewhere into the crowd. I turn back to see how the match is progressing, and I see the results are already in. But it's not what I was expecting at all.

"Marc Olson is the winner of this match!" Mr. Copper announces. I look back with my eyes wide in shock at my best friend, laying face down in the dirt. 

The crowd is cheering, but I am not one of them.