Leo was up before dawn the next morning. She hadn't slept well and she was agitated by the lingering pain in her shoulder.
She approached the pub, kicking through the cold ashes of the fire from the night before, and walked to the other side of the hill behind the Boar's Hat.
She studied the view for awhile, and when the sun's rays finally began to light up the valley, she walked back around to the front of the pub.
Diane was up and waved to her as she came up. "Good morning, Leo."
She lifted her chin in response, not feeling like exchanging pleasantries, and glanced over as Ban came banging out through the door of the Boar's Hat. She felt her irritation rise as he walked past her without so much as a glance, but decided to try and keep things as normal as possible. She didn't want to fight with him today.
"Foxy. Wanna spar for a bit?" She said as she came up to him where he had plopped down beside the fire.
He glanced up at her with sarcastic sneer on his face. "Where's your faithful Holy Knight? Doesn't he want to practice with you?"
Leo felt her ire rise as he stood up and walked away from her. She had had enough of this little fit he was throwing. It was going to end now.
Diane saw the look that came over Leo's face and she took a step back from her. "Uh oh, this isn't going to go well." She murmured under her breath.
Leo snapped her fingers and a torrent of roots erupted from the ground around Ban's feet, stopping his stride. He let out a sound of surprise as the roots twined around his legs and over his chest, immobilizing his arms at his sides.
She walked around in front of him, a smirk on her lips, and met his glare with one of her own. "That'll teach you to walk away from me, Foxy. Now come off it. Stop being an ass."
He spit on the ground at her feet and struggled against the roots. "I'm not being an ass. You're the one who's never trusted Holy Knights. And now you're suddenly best friends with one. I think you're the one who needs to take a step back here."
Leo met his intense gaze, anger dancing in his red pupils, and clenched her fists to keep herself under control. "We're not best friends. That's your job, Foxy." She straightened. "Or it was, until you started being an ass all the time."
Ban let out a low growl of rage and broke one of his arms free from the roots. "You want to fight about this? Then let's fight fair and square, L. Or do you have to restrain me to have a chance of winning?"
Leo released him from the remaining roots, and they snaked back underground, out of sight. She would not let him egg her into a rage. She pulled Megil out from her sheath and pointed the thin blade at him. "Fine. Let's fight fair and square then."
Ban threw a wave of energy at her and she dodged to the side, instantly summoning a wave of daggers to fly toward him. He ducked and rolled out of the way, the daggers flying harmlessly past him. She let out a noise of frustration and snapped her fingers, the daggers disappearing into smoke.
Instantly, Ban was back on his feet and lunged toward her. She knew he was going to try and snatch her energy for his own. She waited until he was close enough and then leapt upward, using his broad shoulder to propel herself into the air. She flipped over his head and landed lightly behind him. He whirled to face her, his hand outstretched, anger distorting his face, and snatched Megil from her grasp.
The rapier flew to his hand and he held it in front of him triumphantly. She stood still for a moment, trying to come to terms with what he had just done, sweat dripping down her temple, and then she said in a deadly low voice. "Ban. You know Relics are off limits. If you don't return Megil to me, I'll be forced to kill you."
He met her ice cold gaze with a heated one of his own as he held the sword out to her. "I'd love to see you try, L. Why don't you come and take your precious Relic from me?"
"Ban. This has gone too far. Stop!"
Leo heard Diane call down to them, but she didn't remove her gaze from the man in front of her. She had remained in control until this point, but seeing her Relic in his hands had forced her over the edge. Her anger bubbled over, and all she could see was white hot rage.
Without thinking, she summoned a root beneath her, leaping upward into the air. She aimed her leap to come down on top of Ban, calling forth a dagger between her fingers as she fell.
He was ready for her. Her rage wasn't letting her think clearly. Before she crashed into him, he raised up an arm and swiped her to the side, sending her tumbling to the ground. She rolled, coming to her feet in one fluid motion, and whipped around to face him, ready to throw her dagger, but before she could do anything, he whipped Megil across her cheekbone, leaving a long, read scratch.
They both stopped, completely frozen, and the anger left Ban's eyes as he realized what he had just done. He dropped Megil and took a step back from her. "L.....I'm so sorry. I lost control...."
Leo raised her head and wiped the back of her hand across her cheek, her knuckles coming away smeared with her blood. Her eyes were dark with rage, but her voice was icy calm as she said, "We're done, Ban."
She stepped forward and picked up the fallen rapier, sheathing it across her back. Then she pushed past him, headed back toward the camp, leaving him in silence.