Rose sank into the steaming water of her bath up to her nose, staring at the wall opposite of her unseeingly. Her cerulean eyes were dull, a shade darker than normal and her eyes slightly bloodshot. Her freckles stood out against the pallor of her skin, her hands were blistered and burned, and every muscles in her body ached.
But, damn, was she making progress. Her manipulation with aether was starting to progress and her reaction times were becoming faster. She could feel it slithering through her veins when she focused enough. It was still difficult as all hell, but she could now bring it forward with more ease and use it to punch faster and kick harder. She and her sparring partners at the Pugilist Guild had all walked away with bruises, scrapes, and bloody wounds...and it had felt good.
She glanced to the chronometer, noting the time and she leaned her head back against the tub. Some of her ebony hair had escaped from where it was pinned atop her head, the strands sticking to the damp skin of her face and neck. She was going to get looks at the meeting tonight; she looked like shit and she knew it. A little make up and her gloves would go a long way.
Well, maybe no gloves, she thought at she looked at her bruised knuckles and blistered palms. She flexed them and cringed, but gave a humorless chuckle.
She settled them in her lap beneath the water once more, eyes closing. The carousel of her mind turned again as her thoughts shifted toward the current predicament: tracking down Saphyra.
Thanks to Murdock and Richart, they had pinned her location down in Limsa Lominsa and the underground fighting rings there. Their next move was to infiltrate, rig the brackets, and get Kayne and Arik to fight against her. Why the little Raen had gone there, it was unknown. Her retainers had lost her there -- but there had been reports of a new Xaela entering the rings. She had a suspicion, but she wasn’t going to make assumptions until she managed to catch sight of this ‘Xaela’, herself.
The more shocking revelation was that of Saphyra’s relations with the beast tribes and her Astrologian stone. The beast tribe portion explained Saphyra’s speech pattern slip-ups and the constant grubbiness she sported; branches, dirt, ruffled hair, and torn clothes...the young woman was certainly working with some fairly interesting friends. It shed a lot of light on some things. The Astrologian Stone...that was something of a mystery. She was quite curious why she entrusted such a stone to the little Sylph and where the Raen had obtained it. Time would only tell.
She would have Emeline and Jun get in earlier, maybe recommend some fighters be removed from the brackets or find a way to get them to throw the fight...or stack the odds in the favor of Kayne or Arik, perhaps both if there were team entries. She would leave the two towering male Xaela to handle Saphyra in the ring.
Rosette continued to formulate the plan in her mind, knowing that she would need Catherina, Mafrea, and C’reiyah in the locker room to find Saphyra’s affects. Said locker room was warded with intricate magics to keep patrons and sponsors from tampering with the fighters’ affects -- the runners of the pit fights wanted equal and fair play. At least, on their terms.
Her retainers were still gathering intelligence on the when, where, and what...but she had a faint idea in mind. Now, it was just the finite details and setting the wheels in motion.
She smirked, “Challenge accepted, Saphyra.”
mentions: @saphyra-tsuki, @oroete, @iname21, @blackmagesol, @creiyah, @healeremeline, @junakagane, @kayneblackfire, @aetherwatchsociety
