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Approximately three hundred miles north of Pinemill
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Emilia cursed loudly as her left foot got stuck in the mud. "Sweet Nevira! This swamp is a
genuine travesty! Beauty in nature? Ha! That's a laugh." The human woman struggled for a few minutes, desperately trying to pull herself free. It was to no avail, and she angrily sat down in the muck, a look of defeat written upon her face.
"Defeat." That was a word Emilia thought about often. Had she been defeated? It would certainly appear so to the average onlooker, but Emilia knew better. After all, defeat had
conditions that needed to be met.
Who had she been defeated
by? Certainly not Aeizith, that wasn't right. He had never truly challenged her and won- even their most recent encounter had ended in a decisive victory for Emilia. More importantly, defeat only came after surrender. With nobody to surrender
to, Emilia's "defeat" was impossible. Victory
would come- so long as Emilia kept fighting, she'd win.
Emilia pulled herself out of the mud, a look of renewed determination on her face. Looking up at the night sky, she outstretched her hand and clenched it, as if she was trying to grasp the stars in the palm of her hand. She slowly brought her fist back to her chest.
"This will all be mine again." the woman said in a barely audible whisper.
"That's who I am, and it's who I'll always be- the one on top."The human resumed walking, a small smirk on her face.
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Pinemill
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Eckhart looked at the food he had made, a sad expression on his face. The cure from
Maladies had worked- they always did- and he flexed his arm absentmindedly. "Do you think she'll come back?"
Belladonna gave Eckhart an incredulous look.
"Why would you want her to? She's nothing but trouble, you know that."Eckhart sighed, and began to put the meat and vegetables in the casserole dish. "I don't think she... understands, really. Like, I don't think she's a bad person..." He paused. "...lizard. A bad lizard." He shook his head, and began to put the potatoes on top of the meat. "I think we just... I dunno, have different perceptions of morality or something."
"I'm pretty sure she's just a bitch, Tuna Fish. You know some people are just bad eggs, right?"Eckhart put the pie in the wood stove and sat down on the counter. "Yeah. You're probably right. She was probably planning on eating me or something, I don't know what her deal is."
"She did save my life though- and she let me keep the earring. That has to mean something, right?"