It hurt... Everything hurt. The world soon became clouded, her eyes drooping from the sheer exhaustion which seemed to settle against her form. The dull light wouldn't reflect her form, couldn't make her known. The cold waters simply lapped against her as she slowly dragged herself to the surface of it. With a pained groan, she rolled onto the ground, gasping and groaning as the numerous cuts and bloodied areas of her body made their forms known. Agony shot through her. Her world went dark. A blissful silence. Darkness. Something which was once so foreign to her and something which she didn't want to be near was now something that she adored and treasured.
The screen cut through the air, piercing their souls.
Her eyes cracked open, the darkness around her dispelling like the fog before the afternoon sun.
The phoenix's 'eyes' hardened, staring down at what would only be the one thing he had hope in. But no. Time after time, this one which he raised treated his teachings as if they were nothing; forgetting what he had been taught. Anger burned deep in its eyes, the wings lightly beating in the air to keep it in such a flight-like state.
"I raised you better than this, Sly." He declared, his voice surprisingly accurate despite the creature being made from what would only appear to be clockwork and steel. The wings curled down against its side again, diving down against his former pupil.
"You're nothing but a disappointment!" The voice tore against the winds, shrill and angry in its tone as he brought his claws up, aiming to slice deep into his shoulder.
She stood, the blood from her numerous cuts dripping down her form; the cut over her eye causing that very same lifeblood to curl down her face.
The phoenix beat down its wings, thrusting itself back into the air, only to do a second dive right away, regardless of how Sly would try and react. Its steel plating was incredibly thick; no steel would be able to break through it.
"You lost my estate," Master Horus declared, the claws aiming to slice against Sly's chest. At the same time, its right wing came across, aimed at Sly's abdomen,
"You destroyed my final keepsake that I entrusted to you," the wings threw him back once more, the motion thrusting him around and behind Sly. That was when he twisted into a vicious and surprisingly fast strike against Sly's back with his claws. Anger. Disappointment. The feelings would seem to overflow from the beast, the claws glowing a slight red from his own empowerment upon them. After the strikes, the phoenix would pull itself up and away from Sly, lingering in the air over him for a few moments, before it would dive down once more, the deadly, metallic claws shining in the light as he would aim to gouge out Sly's eyes from his face.
"And you couldn't even save the girl you loved; do you not remember anything I taught you!"But the strike wouldn't connect.
"BACK OFF!"
Out of thin air, her form would appear in front of Sly, her back towards him. He'd see the agonizing black and purple bruises mattered over her form like a horrid paintwork, red from her cuts lacing through them. Tattered clothing barely clinging to her frame over her legs and arms, gashes from the waterfall marking what was responsible for the damage. The air around them came to light, the flaming red arc was already primed, like she had seen this coming a thousand times before. The flickering lance cut through the air; slamming into the phoenix's wing. The jarring in Lexia's shoulder caused her other hand to come over her form; left hand grabbing the fires of her lance to redirect the bird as the right took the blow. With a grand, surprised cry, the blow landed true and sent it off course. The bladed tips sheered into the rock walls over Sly's head and to his left, the creation giving a mechanical shriek as it threw itself back away from the wall with its dangerously sharp claws. A snarl on her face, she would continue her own assault and throw the lance forward, aimed to slam into its wing once more and cripple it further.
Lexia's form turned, her eyes wide as she would try and curl her hand around Sly's wrist and pull him back towards her. If he would let her do this, she would pull him through the spacial fold that she'd created, pulling him to the side and onto her own as she quickly lowered him to the ground to rest against a pillar which would hide him from Horus's sight. Her left, burned hand came up, placing itself lightly against his face.
"Shh, it's me, it's me, I'm alive, it's alright... I... It takes more than water to quench the fires burning in me." She said, her voice betraying her, croaked and exhausted, her magic coming to curl around Sly's wound, healing his sliced skin over his face.
"Just rest, my dear... That bastard is mine." Lexia said, giving him an exhausted smile, but he would see the absolute fury that burned in her eyes, almost to the point of being in turmoil from seeing that former 'master' berating him like he was nothing. He would know there was nothing he could do to stop her as she stepped back through the fold she had made, her smirk wide on her face as the phoenix turned to face her, the fold evening itself out once more.
"I'm not some girl that you should push under the rug. If you want him, you're going to have to go through me, pretty boy. Listen, I can handle you leaving me in the water and leaving me alone. I can handle that, but as soon as you touch him... As soon as you insult him... As soon as his mentor, his MASTER berates him, as soon as you CUT HIM. As soon as you LAY A FINGER ON HIM with the intent to HARM HIM." The tone of her voice became angrier with every word, each one amplifying itself against the last as her eyes narrowed, Destruction answered Lexia's calling; claiming the sentence to finish it off on behalf of them both.
"Your very soul is MINE!"The fury, the sheer intensity of the voice which came from the eternal being caused the room to shake, the anger woven into the voice caused even their skin to slightly change; a blueish hue beginning to over take the natural soft white. Their hand rose, the area in front of it heating up as she began to prepare for her lances and knives once more.. this... This was a challenge the phoenix couldn't afford to shove aside.
Especially when her anger could be considered to rival its own.
-Spacial Distortions used; 6 post cooldown!