Private - The Promised Time of The Fated Ultimate Battle for The Right to Declare what is Justice

"...Is what I'll call this," Captain Cosma decided. She had just giddily finished penning the challenge that she would be sending to a certain someone. The fated meeting, would occur in three days. It was destiny, Cosma knew her opponent would show. Stubby tail wagging, Cosma couldn't help but get excited. She wanted to show her buddy what she could do. "Heh heh... I can't wait...but is three days really enough time to catch up? I'll make it enough time, hmhm~ And then! Yer gonna be speechless!"

With that outburst, a scholarly sort at a nearby table of the Castle Town Library, shot Cosma a dirty look causing her to blush. "Sohhhhreeeee~" She whispered before rising to leave. Exiting the building, she sent the private message, which sealed the deal. Three days was not a lot of time...

Captain Cosma

HAO HAO HAO! BEHOLD! CAPTAIN COSMA HAS ARRIVED!

Meet me in three days at [coordinates] in the Yangsha Fields! I don't know what that place is actually called! But look for the flat ruins of the tower and the setting sun! I'll be there!

It's time to settle things once and for all!

Hao hao hao...

Do you have what it takes?

-Captain Cosma of the Aurora Borealis of the Ethereal Seas

On the steps of the landing of the entrance, Cosma stretched her arms, her shoulders, and then she touched her toes. Bouncing three times on the balls of her feet she took off in a dash towards the wilderness. The race was on, and a mad grind before her. Mountains of experience would be necessary to close the gap with her rival. She hummed The Rocky Theme, as she dashed at full throttle, full speed ahead.



...That was three days ago. And now...



Cosma sat and waited while looking majestic all the while. She was seated upon a boulder which might have had something to do with the foundation of the tower in the days of old. She had a full and gorgeous view of the field around her. All together she didn't wait long, out, far far far out in the distance, a figure walked. She was casting a large shadow and she was heading Cosma's way.

Cosma grinned. "At last..."

The pirate stood, her coat billowing byronically in the wind.

"HAO HAO HAO! SO YOU HAVE COME MY FATED RIVAL-----OR SHOULD I SAY-----MY BOSOM FRIEND!"

Crossing her arms, she cocked her chin while continuing to shout all the while.

"Tell me! What sort of tribute have you brought your Captain! Your Commander! Your precious friend and rival of so many years!"

Placing her hands on her hips, Cosma at last made full eye contact with the figure before her.

"This sea of earth and stone demands my conquest! Submit! And I shall promise you half my treasure and a proportionate amount of the delicious things that I intend to eat! Tarry and we shall settle the score! What say you....MAJOLICA!!!"


The die was cast, the earth shook, ominous Latin filled the air,

...or at the very least, that was how it felt to Cosma.

This was the promised battle that would decide the very fate of the universe.

 

“So it begins… hehe”

Majolica swiped away the message she received on her UI. If this had been a letter or a physical piece of paper, she would have dramatically crumpled it up.

“She’s finally come…”

Grabbing her mug of cocoa, Majolica downed in one gulp, turned, and headed for the door. Getting outside, Majolica bolted took off down the road running at full-speed as the people around her stared. She had to prepare.

“Hehehe! She’s going to wish she had never stepped foot in my world! Now she will learn to fear the power of Grand Witch Majolica! Hehehe! Broom!”

The broom knowingly began floating to her right. Leaping up, the broom slid smoothly under her feet, and The Grand Witch was off. Behind her, a woman shielded her child’s eyes while judgingly shaking her head.

Three days later Majolica finally came upon the ruins. It had been a difficult trek as Majolica was nowhere near the destination, and had set out with barely enough time to make it. But, more than tired she was ready to confront her pirate nemesis. Floating into range atop her broom, Majolica eyed her rival. The ruins made for an excellently articulated setting for a meeting, like something out of a training scene from Kickboxer with Jean Claude Van Damme.

“Hehehe! If it isn’t the Dread Captain Cosma come to meet her doom! Tribute you say! Hehehe, better that you kneel and swear loyalty to the Grand Witch and maybe I’ll eventually give you a ship and a port, in MY country! Hehehe! Maybe I’ll even let you become my privateer and give you authority to plunder the lands of all the other stupid nobles and enemy kingdoms! But first, I think we have a score to settle, pirate!”

Majolica hopped off her broom and struck a pose.

“I’ll send you… TO THE WORLD OF THE STARS, OLD FRIEND! HEHEHE!”

 

"...Kingdoms? ...Countries? Worlds?! HAO HAO HAO~ You understand well! Ask a pirate what those pretty words mean and you'll only get one answer-----PLUNDAARRRRRR!"

Captain Cosma laughed, but holding up a single pointer finger she shook it in a Tsk Tsk.

"But! And ask a pirate what matters most and you will always hear the same thing! FREEDOM! REBELLION! THE OPEN SEASSSSS!"

Nodding to herself as if to confirm that what she said matched what she felt should sound cool, Captain Cosma took a deep breath...

"----WEIGHHHHH! ANCHOOOORRR!"

And leapt from her perch with a sharky grin. Landing with a pompf that sent a shiver up her spine, she tried to hide it as best she could.

"Parlay OVER! No Deal! WARRRRRRRRR! HAO HAO HAO~ And I wouldn't have it any other way! You are the same, yes? PEACE WAS NEVA' A'PARTA THE PROGRAM!!!"

Tail wagging, there was a twinkle in Captain Cosma's eye.

Right?! Right?! This is just the way THINGS SHOULD BE!

Holstered on her hips were two things that looked like ornate flintlock pistols----except they weren't, there were no guns in this world. These were "Arcwands," a Tinkers' apparatus designed for aiming spells. She drew them in a flash and began twirling them in flourishes like a cowgirl in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Her shark-like grin expanded until it almost seemed to occupy her whole face. "SHOW ME YOUR BANKAI, GRAND WITCH! Show me that you can withstand my FREEDOM SPIRIT! And ya betta not disappoint me! Or yer fairy tale dreams'll end-----WITH MY HAPPY ENDING! HAO HAO HAO HAO HAO~!"

The dancing, twirling, Arcwands stopped with them facing the sky as if communicating their Captain's someday-dream to pierce it. Arms cocked so the Arcwands framed her face, Captain Cosma straightened her arms outward until she formed a cross and slowly brought them forward and level at her friend.

"Hmph! I'M GONNA START CHARGING! NOW YA'D BEST MATCH ME MAJOLICA, BECAUSE I'LL HAVE YA KNOW THAT YA PUSHED ME HERE! BUT IT AIN'T ENOUGH! I WANNA GO EVEN FURTHER! THE MOON AWAITS! YOU'LL SHOW ME THE WORLD OF THE STARS HUH?!?! ALLOW ME TO ANSWER IN KIND, I'LL SHOW YOU THE NEW WORLD BEYOND IT!!!!!"

The Arcwands began to charge with considerable Arcane Energy...but Cosma knew that she couldn't match her friend's power. There is no way that three days' time would have been enough to close the gap----Because in those three days' time----Cosma knew that Majolica would only kill herself to widen it.

Cosma smiled a genuine smile. Around the barrels of her weapons, words formed as the mana traced the pair of Arcwands' spell-ring rifling in a rising hum towards their full charge:

-------- "Reveal the World" -------

"ONWARDS AND UPWARDS AND FOREVER FREE! EN GUARD MAJOLICA!"


And when Majolica was ready, Captain Cosma fired.

 

"Hehehe! Big talk for a pirate. You don't even know how big of a mistake you've made hehehe! Meet your power? I'll ram through it! Hehehe! You're going to owe me a lifetime supply of cocoa!"

Majolica hopped off her broom and folded her arms as the broom hovered behind her.

"Radical equals Silly Silly plus Apple, Donut Halloween equals negative six Knickers Jolly Mage Optometrist Licorice!"

Majolica began charging her black magic. Matching the power level of the blast @Captain Cosma was preparing fire Majolica waited then the second Cosma fired so did Majolica. The two blast's charged aggressively at each other. As the blasts met there was no explosion, priori incantatem like with that Potter kid and Ol' No Nose, Majolica's spell simply vanished as if... an illusion!

Spell Disguise

Under Cosma's feet, a cylinder of Majolica's Witch Frost bursted upwards under her.

As Cosma's blast charged toward's the grand witch, Majolica leaped to the side and rolled to dodge. Standing up, Majolica dusted herself off.

"Hehehe! Dummy! You thought I would fight fair? I thought a PIRATE would know better! Hehehe!"

 

"Hwah?!" Captain Cosma barrel rolled to her right and ended that maneuver a skid, "That was a dirty trick!" she laughed as she came to a stop huffing, "----BUT I LIKE IT! NOW EAT THIS!!!"

It was her second shot, her second full charge that she had maintained in her left Arcwand. Knowing the dastardly ways of Majolica The Witch, Captain Cosma had held that one charge in reserve, and It would seem that her good intuition paid off.

The shining beam started at a wide left as it roared off target. Only, as it flew, the dread pirate curved the beam by twirling her left wrist before sweeping her entire arm in a curving downward slope towards where Majolica had just finished her dodge like a massive curved sword.

"YER NOT THE ONLY COMBAT GENIUS! I CAN BE TRICKY TOO!!!"

The arcing beam crashed into the ground with a sonorous blast. It was an awe-inspiring sight, a glowing eulogy, here was God's Whip descending from the heavens to smash the sinful, decrepit Earth.

And don'tcha go lettin' that finish ya!

Slowing her steps and now strafing forward-left toward the aftermath at an angle, Captain Cosma attempted to reign in the beating of her wild heart.

Dual Breath

(Utility, Self)
Not truly a skill but rather a technique that most athletes must come to understand sooner or later.

Properly control one's breathing through a number of techniques such as utilizing the diaphragm, maintaining proper posture, controlling the rate, and steeling the mind to exert mastery over a bodily system in disarray.

In martial arts breathing is akin to a spiritual ritual, a mediation between yin and yang, and is often among the first things taught to new students.

Focus increasing, her ragged breathing slowed. All was calm as she waited for Majolica's next move.

With a hmph, Captain Cosma glanced at her right Arcwand which she had begun charging on the tail end of the finishing blast of her left. With a small strain playing across her face, she began her left's recharge as well...

She was employing a technique akin to a one-girl rifle-line, by staggering her charges and purposefully slowing her rate of fire, she would be able to maintain a constant barrage only...

"Oh ho~?!" Out of the corner of her eye, Captain Cosma saw that shadow-ice was expanding from where Majolica's pillar had risen. "Oyo~that's super nasty~G.W."

A passive effect? A feint? Tch~In the end they serve the same purpose, eh? Hmhmmmm, I'll have to figure its effects in the next bout if I want any chance at victory...

Before she knew it, Captain Cosma was grinning like a shark once more...

Heeeeheeee! So! Much! Fun!

 

"Hehehe! Nice shooting! But which Majolica are you shooting at, I wonder?!" called out Majolica from behind Cosma."

Which Majolica was the real one? Was there a real Majolica even on the battlefield right now?"

"Dirty tricks are the specialty of witches, and I, being The Grand Witch, am full of them! But know this dread pirate, if you can keep pace with me, you can keep pace with anyone! Hehehe! Now you'll learn what it is to fight a master of magic!"

The behind Majolica grabbed her broom and held its bristles upward. From the tips, black smoke began to fume out around Cosma into a circle. The smoke moved quickly, rolling itself out while resembling thick, black cumulous clouds. Every few seconds or saw, an arc of electricity would spark through the growing mass. Majolica's giggling could be heard from within the smoke, and when it finally cleared there were five Majolicas!

"Hehe! Now, what are you going to do, pirate?! How many Majolicas can you really handle! Most people can't even handle one half! How will you do against five?!"

Each Majolica held out her hand and began charging a spell at the now surrounded pirate.

As dramatic winds blew and blasts of magic flew, Majolica realized she was having fun. She had never really had the opportunity to go all out in sparring or training. In the past, she had battled boars, guards, and had small skirmishes, but had never really done anything like a one on one duel. It was good exercise, good for getting out all of her frustrations, but mainly it was nice finally having a teammate. To Majolica, it seemed like most people she came across didn't understand her. It wasn't that she was evil, she just did whatever she wanted and liked, which could at times be construed as evil. Even so, all of those uppity 'no you shouldn't do that types' should probably just realize that they're idiots and bow down at Majolica's feet. What was the point of playing a game if you couldn't have fun? Majolica made her own fun, and if that didn't sit well with others, well, maybe they would have more fun as frogs.

"I hope you're not on your last legs pirate! Becuase The Grand Witch is just getting started! Hehehe!"

@Captain Cosma

 

"Oyo~?"

Mist, Darkness, Clouds, then 5 Majolicas~? This was giving Captain Cosma deja vu of the cup game she'd come across on Day 2 of her Super Cosmic Space Training. I'm pretty sure she hadn't won that one but this time...!

"Now now, yer just gettin' predictable Majolica~!"

She said in her best bad Thor impression.

"If ya keep showin' your hand! I'll figure out ALL the secrets to your ice before long! HAO HAO HAO!"

With a sweep of a finger across her belt----something happened. It wasn't a dramatic blast, it wasn't an explosion, it wasn't a tricky mist, either. It wasn't an attack of any sort at all. It was...

Twinkle Flare

(Utility, Aura)
A bottle containing a Shiny Star, a kind of luminescent flower similar to the dandelions of Earth. Opening the bottle causes the seeds to take to the air and spread over the area showering it in a faint glow.

Has a long effective period of time and will typically light a room of medium size, they also tend to become embedded in clothes and hair which can be both a blessing and a curse.

When the seeds are spent, one must wait for the flower to bloom once more, so carrying multiple instances of this item is advised.

Luminescent seeds sprayed out of the bottle and took to floating upon the wind. Surrounding Cosma in a slowly expanding aura of light. Some, eventually, also came to settle on Majolica's icy darkish clones. It was somewhat subtle, but compared to the play of the light across her own skin, something about the way they set the Majolicas aglow was NOT QUITE RIGHT.

"All Illusions?! Where're ya hidin~!"

With a 'pwoosh,' Captain Cosma's second Arcwand finished its charge.

"---HAO HAO HAO THEN I SHALL JUST 'GO SEEK'!"

Captain Cosma dramatically pointed one of her Arcwands skyward, she looked like she was in Saturday Night Fever, or perhaps, a Gundam being piloted by one Amuro Ray,

And Fired.

The Shot ripped upward like an Aurora Borealis wrongly rotated 90 degrees. It went off like a rocket seeking terminal velocity------and it exploded like The Fourth of July. What followed was a rain of pencil-thick arcane beams, each one none too dangerous, but all together far too voluminous in their number. Like from heavy hail, the soil paffed up around her as the area surrounding her took the brunt of the storm.

And in the eye of that storm, stood Captain Cosma and The Majolica clones. Which, all things considered, would make for a pretty good band name.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cosma just so happened to see the pillar of black ice that Majolica had made a little while ago EXPLODE. It had sustained critical damage so...

With a twitchy smile on her face, Captain Cosma looked at the clones around her once more...

Ah......

Barreling through them, the dread pirate ran at full-tilt and dived for her life away from the many visages of her friend.

 

Hehehe, so she saw through my clones, huh? Hehehe!

Majolica casually strolled out from one of the many piles of rubble around the area where she and Cosma continued their battle. Afterall, the best way for an enemy not being able to guess which clone was actually the real you was to make sure none of them were actually you. You can't get hit in the face if your face isn't there in the first place right? Hehehe...

The exploded ice clones had littered frozen shards and fragments like spears all over the ground while some lodged into walls. The battlefield was looking quite epic at this point. Looking dramatically towards the sky as if watching a bird in flight, Majolica spoke softly.

"This battlefield... is shining..."

Dropping the facade as quickly as she had brought it up, Majolica giggled to herself.

"I always wanted to say that! Hehehe! That's some fancy dust you found lying around pack-rat pirate! Hehehe! I'll commend you for not giving up yet, you rum-soaked scallywag, but illusions aren't the only tricks Grand Witch Majolica has at her disposal!"

Majolica hopped on her broom and floated toward Cosma stopping about fifteen yards from her.

Majolica cleared her throat.

"DOUBLE DOUBLE BOIL AND BUBBLE...! Hehehe, just kidding!"

Ahh! That's a good idea! I should name my spell after that. Maybe something with a cauldron type attack or something hmmm.... oh! The fight! Hehe!

"Broomstick Doomstick!"

Broom Control

Like writhing snakes, the broomstick's bristles came to life.

"Hehehe! No witch is really a witch unless they have a magic broom! You can't just be a witch by having dark magic or a hat! The hat has to be specifically designed as a witch hat and must be cute, functional, and appropriately witchy.. hehehe! If you see any other people calling themselves witches then you better let me know! If they call themselves a witch without being a real witch, I'm going to have to have words with them... hehehe. What was I saying? Hehe?"

Holding out her broom, the bristles grew into large thick bristle-tentacles.

"Oh! As the genuine witch article, my broomstick is super special! Whether for attacking, defending, gripping, floating, or anything, Majolica's super cool Witch's Broomstick will not lose to anyone!"

Majolica allowed the broom's bristles-turned-tentacles to wrap around her arm. She petted the broom while facing Cosma.

"Does it remind you of The Kraken, pirate? Hehehe! Now, let's see how you deal with this!"

The tentacles unwrapped themselves around Majolica and returned to attack position.

"Get her, Broom!"

In a flash, the broomstick's tentacles flew out from multiple angles like a claw attempting to wrap around and capture Cosma.

Does Cosma have the dexterity to dodge all of this, I wonder?! Hehehe! With this, I'll surely claim victory!