From on top of the brewery, where the balcony was, a white-haired girl with a ponytail and a sailor uniform stood tall. Her figure burned in the sun. She had a green vest and red ribbon around her collar that flapped in the wind. The rest of her outfit was pure white besides the golden buttons on her sailor shirt.
She was short in stature but stood tall on the building. What made me most curious about her was the number of bandages she had wrapped around her arms and legs. The fearless girl pointed to the group of winos below.
"Evildoers, be afraid!"
She roared in a mighty tone.
Her shadow cast in the sunlight over the group of drunken men. The short girl had one arm across her chest and the other hand on her hip. If she had a cape on, she would look like those superheroes found in comic books.
Like a bunny, she hopped wildly off the roof. After two or three flips, she landed on the ground. Flawlessly, she stood upright and faced the group in a battle-ready stance.
"You are disturbing the peace and serenity of this land. Cease your mindless brawl before I have to lay down the law upon you."
Her presence was oppressive. Like the sun, she shined. Her uniform looked like that pink-haired girl's that I saw yesterday too. Needless to say, I was taken away by the aura she captured.
"Leave this man alone! He is a veteran and deserves respect!"
She barked heroically.
"Oh, shaddap missy!"
"Eh? I'm here to defend you, Ol' Man Yorks!"
Her charisma broke when the one she came to protect turned on her though. But as fast as she went out of character, she firmed up again and turned to the rough younger boys.
"Evildoers, leave now, else I'll have no choice but to immobilize you!"
"You're not a knight little girl, screw off! Our beef is with this old-timer."
One of the two thugs bit back at her. She cut her foot forward, causing her white ponytail to dance in the wind.
"I am Vivian Heart! As an associate to the Radiant Kingdom, I have every right to assert my authority here!"
I turned to Jade, who seemed unfazed by all this commotion.
"Ah, aren't you a knight? Shouldn't you step in instead?"
"Yeah, I should. But I want Vivian to take charge this time."
Jade glared at the short girl. I wasn't sure what she was thinking, so instead, I watched everything unfold.
Vivian's hands began to shine with holy spectrum. My body reflectively shook at the sight of it. There was no doubt about it, she was a user of the holy spectrum. She might even be a rare holy vessel.
"Screw this chick! Let's take her down then get what we're owed from Yorks."
The pair of thugs jeered a chant of battle and pulled out their weapons. One sported a large hammer as the other readied up with their fists.
The white bunny pushed out her leg, gaining a battle stance. Despite her confidence, I could see openings in her posture.
Training with Maxwell, I had to learn how to spot all kinds of openings.
The wind blew around her, and her body began to glow all the brighter. It was getting harder to look directly at her. She reminded me of an angel from a story that ascended down to the mortal realm.
"You have been warned."
Vivian sped forward so fast that I didn't see her body move.
"Haa!"
Her punch connected with one of the thug's stomachs. His body went flying and ragged on the street. No doubt, he was out for the count.
"Wow."
I whispered.
I was surprised by how fast that all happened. My mind had to register it as my eyes couldn't perceive her light speed.
"Are you going to be as foolish as your friend, or will you accept your fate, wrongdoer?"
The second and last thug was shaken to the core, but he still brought back his hammer in response.
"Fool!"
Vivian stood there as he brought down his judgment on her head. His weapon stopped as a bright barrier protected her.
"What the?!"
The ground shook and cracked, showing that his strike was nothing to scoff at, but the petite holy user stood strong.
"I have warned you, and you made this decision. It is black and white that you are evil! I do not feel for your demise!"
Vivian's eyes shined as she brought back her fist. Spectrum flowed from her body as the world around us got brighter. I shielded my eyes as I heard her scream.
"Let this light be your judgment!"
She punched him in the face, and like his friend, he rolled on the ground for quite some way before being stopped by a street pole.
It bent and the top of the light flew off and hit the man in the head. Now unconscious, (hopefully), Vivian's power died down. She calmed her body by breathing in and out before a smile came on her face.
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, she turned to Jade and gave her the brightest smile I've ever seen in a while. She looked like a puppy as her ponytail wagged about.
"I won, Ms. Jade! I won-"
Vivian's victory was short-lived as the wino named Yorks finally got into the fight and sucker-punched her in her stomach.
"Uhhgg!"
Her body rolled like a tumbleweed until she was stopped by one of the brewery's outdoor tables. With a crash, her body lied there motionlessly.
"I'll shue yer not to mess with me!"
The old man, around thirteen tonics deep, boisterously said.
"H-hey!"
I shouted.
Jade kept her calm look as she watched everything unfold. She didn't even bat an eye.
"A-Are you going to step in, Jade?"
Concerned, I asked.
"I have no intentions to. Vivian knew that Ol' Man Yorks was hostile, but she let her brief victory get to her."
Coldly, she analyzed the situation. But the drunkard wasn't done as he approached her with his wooden table in hand. The countless shots of gin tonic glasses fell to the ground next to him, breaking to pieces. He had every intention to beat the passed-out girl with it.
"You got to be kidding me…"
Everything in me didn't want to make a scene, but this was going too far. Nobody was going to make the effort to step in. My anxiety was starting to rise, but I approached slowly.
"St-stop! Can't you see she's had enough?!"
I raced over.
"Mess with mhe, will ya?!"
Yorks swung his table towards me.
I ducked and moved out of the way, towards Vivian.
The crazed old man, enraged, took the table and held it over his head. Instead of using it again on me, he snapped it in half like a twig. The pieces scattered and fell to the ground around us.
"You're a monster!"
I shouted at the old man as he drunkenly stumbled towards us.
Jade called him a former hero and that strength was a testament to it. Barehanded, the brute approached me as I ran over and shielded Vivian.
"Okay, I shouldn't try taking him on while protecting her…"
I wanted to protect this girl first. That was my priority.
When I looked around, the canopy of the brewery was my best option. But taking someone with me as I shadow-walked was more strenuous than it sounded.
"Rwrrrraaaaa…"
The old man growled like a beast.
His eyes turned bright red, the color of a fire spectrum. He stomped closer.
"Come here!"
I took the petite girl in my arms and readied for his attack.
"Arrrrrgggaaaaaaa!"
He screamed, causing my body to shake. I could feel his spectrum levels far exceed anyone I've met so far.
I took the passed-out girl in my arms, jumped to the side, and vanished into the shadow of the outdoor table.
When I appeared in the nearby shade next to Jade, a hurricane of fire ascended in the spot I was just in.
"Arrraaaaa!"
Yorks roared like a dragon.
In terror, I watched such a devastating spell destroy the ground nearby. Out of his wrinkled hands, blazing fire chaotically destroyed the ground.
"He has to be strong in fire spectrum."
In awe and fear, I watched the demon destroy the area. The heat was outrageous to the point that I had to sit down because it zapped all the energy from me. I clenched Vivian tighter, more out of fear than anything.
"Why is he so violent, Jade?!"
I screamed at the stoic Radiant.
All Jade did was cross her arms and stare at the scene unbothered. The fire erupted so chaotically I was afraid the nearby stores would also catch his rage. Yorks was screaming as the spectrum poured out of his hand.
"Okay, that's enough, Yorks."
That creepy girl's voice resonated in my ear.
From behind the old man, the dark blue-haired woman who interrogated me the day before pointed her gun to the ground next to him.
"Take a break, old man."
After channeling what seemed to be a water spectrum spell, she shot her gun off at the cement. Bubbles rose from the ground around the crazed wino. After a brief moment, he calmed down.
"What's happening?"
I questioned.
His eyes closed as he fell flat on his face. He seemed to be asleep. As fast as it happened it was over.
"Thank you, Eve!"
Jade shouted.
Here I still had the girl named Vivian in my arms as I watched this entire scenario go down. The front of the brewery was in ruins. Knights rushed in to clean up the scene.
They took the thugs away but left Yorks where he slept. Even the knights knew not to mess with him.
I couldn't imagine how much it would cost to rebuild from all this damage. Despite all the chaos, people were still coming and going like it was normal.
And that worried me.
"Is this city always like this, Jade?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Jade scorned.
Playfully, the psycho woman, Eve, skipped over to us.
"Sorry, I'm late."
She looked down at me, still holding Vivian in my arms.
"Oh, what happened to the eager Vivian?"
Eve asked.
"She was being careless, and Yorks gave her a wake-up call."
Jade chastised while shaking her head.
Eve reached out her hand, her body began to glow the color of the ocean. The blood on Vivian's face melted away as a light mist echoed around her.
"W-what happened?"
The short girl was still in my arms as our eyes met. They were bright, like looking at an opal gem. Unconsciously, I squeezed her small body.
My face warmed up. The last time I touched someone was that barklight the other day. It's been a while since I was this close to someone.
"Oh, ah. Hi?"
I pushed out.
Vivian ruffled her body in my arms. Her small shoulders nuzzled deeper in my grasp as a slightly higher pitched voice came from her thin lips.
"Oh. H-hi."
"Ah, is it okay for me to set you down?"
Timidly, I asked.
"Ah, I-I think"
Awkwardly, I set her down.
Vivian stood up instantly and turned away from me, towards Jade.
"Sorry, you get failing marks for that one, Vivian."
Shamefully, she turned to the side.
"I was being careless, Ms. Jade. I figured Yorks would see me as an ally and not attack me."
Eve chuckled as she walked about. She saw a broken piece of wood and stepped on it, crushing it further.
"You are a fool. He can barely speak coherently. Do you think his judgment is on par?"
Scornfully, Eve mocked her.
"I think she did fine. But it's easy to see she does lack training."
I added.
Trying to lessen her chastising. The woman named Eve turned to me and paced around me. With her hands on her hips, she pushed her body forwards with that creepy smile.
"And who the hell are you?"
"You don't remember me?"
Annoyed, I tapped my finger on my blade.
"I was the person you kicked in the face the other day!"
She energetically laughed as she backed up slightly. With her gun in her hand, she paced around then turned her head back at me.
"Oh? If we did that then we'd, eh, I mean I would have remembered that!"
Eve waved her gun around like a toy as she mocked me.
"I never met you in my life, redhead. Probably some other girl with a big gun toyed with you."
"No, it was you!"
I squared up to her. Eve coldly put her large, barreled gun under my chin.
"Listen, redhead. I'll blow your brains right out if you start something with me."