It was rare for Toma to leave its office during the day, but today was quite different as there was quite a stir in the air. Magic was dripping all over like the morning dew on thirsty leaves, and soaking it all, it felt quite bubbly. However, refrained from letting its guard down as there were plenty of strangers in the tower today.
To its surprise, however, it wasn't a stranger that crossed its path but someone it had already seen.
"Jill Losso, if I remember correctly," it said, pointing at the girl.
Nodding her head, the maid lifted the right side of her skirt and took out what seemed like a knife carved out of a crystal. Keeping an eye on the blade, Toma curiously hummed to itself.
"I knew your sister didn't have the heart to kill you." Wearing a smile, it looked at the girl in her dark and hollow eyes. "So what is this? Revenge for making her do it? Or did she never even try but still managed to hurt your feelings?"
Lowering herself a little, Jill turned the knife around in her hand with the hilt pressed against her chest and the blade pointing at Toma. Not a word escaped her still; she was focused on only one thing: the sage's heart.
"Revenge it is then," lifting its hand beside itself, the sage's arm burned like an inferno with pure white flames. "Go on, do it. I want to end this quickly."
Not intimidated in the least, Toma stood its ground. And so did Jill by not moving an inch or giving way for the sage to move further through the corridor. A moment passed in silence as the two found themselves in a standstill, but then, standing up straight, Jill slipped the knife back into the edge of her pantyhose.
"I hate you," she said, though her eyes remained hollow as ever.
Waving her hand to put the flame away, Toma scoffed at her remark and shot right back.
"Little sister, little sister, angry because your big sis tried to kill you?" As soon as those words escaped her mouth, Jill came inching from Toma's neck with her knife back in hand. Noticing the shift in the air first, the sage simply moved aside to avoid the first slash, and as the maid's hand went lax, it stretched its palm forward. "White flame!"
A blast of white flame split the two apart. Yet even through the smoke and the deafening sound of the attack echoing in the corridor, Toma sensed Jill's body moving after the blow. Glancing around, it tried to find where she was and, just in the nick of time, noticed a glint in the knife's edge as it was headed for its throat.
"Transposition!" In the blink of an eye, the two changed positions. Jill's attack had missed again, and Toma was now standing with its back turned to the girl. Quickly turning around to avoid a quick retort, it tried to outsmart her again, but this time she made no use of her weapon. "AGHH!"
A raw punch to the gut knocked the air out of the sage's lungs. The hurt coursed through its body and brain, with its back now hunched over. Through gritted teeth, Toma quickly glanced up at the maid, and to its further surprise, her right leg was raised high, right above its head.
"E-enough!" An ear-piercing screech that followed the sage's voice forced the maid to step back and cover her ears. The smoke drifted clear to the sheer pressure of the scream, and this time, as Jill tried to get herself straight, it was the sage who'd taken a step ahead of her. "SUBJUGATION: KNEEL!"
The very floor rumbled to its voice, and at once Jill's body fell to the ground with her head pressed to the tiles. Struggling against the magical hold, the girl twisted her body on the ground, but as Toma placed her feet on top of her head, it got near impossible for her to move at all.
"Don't make me kill you, I've been holding back, but I won't if you keep playing these stupid games!" For once, the anger in the sage's voice was as direct as it could've been. Usually, it preferred to be more passive in its threat, but after a punch to the gut, Jill had lost the privilege of such courtesy. "Did you really think I wouldn't know that Cill didn't even try to kill you?"
Digging her heel in the back of Jill's head, Toma expected her to squeal, but she kept silently struggling against her hold and nothing else.
"I never wanted her to kill you, but only wanted her to know that I can ask for anything. Don't be anything, you little girl…" Lifting her feet, Toma was about to lift the hold on Jill when the girl shattered out of her invisible bind and got back to her feet on her own. Quickly masking the look of surprise behind its poker face, Toma instead wore a scornful look full of utter disdain. "I hate you too."
"Likewise." Putting the knife away, Jill turned around and started walking.
Watching her wander off, Toma couldn't help but wonder about her intentions for the fight. There was no way for Jill to win if she went against the sage while it wasn't holding back, and even if she did kill it, what would be her course of action after?
'A frustrated little girl with no respect for authority…' As its brows narrowed and its eyes bore into the retreating maid's back, Toma came to the realization that no matter what… 'She has to die once this mess is over.'
Even a single person standing so brazenly against the sage's authority could topple the whole structure of power. It never ends with just one rebel after all, and it's only a matter of the first breaking the silence that gives the rest the courage to speak up.
"Hmm?" Noticing students coming out of their room, Toma looked around and realized that only a few seconds had passed since the start of her interaction with Jill. And now, if it hangs around too long, rumors will start floating. "Back to your rooms!"
With a snap and its authority, it sent them right back. Not a soul would know what had happened in a few minutes, as the servants of the Mediora would clear everything to the finest dust. As for Toma itself, its meeting with the Majora sage had just gotten a little longer.
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