Rising Shards

Ovie clanged her bloodsaber against Chumbler. That she was fighting such a bizarre figure was humiliating enough on its own. But she was also stuck in a inane mock casino, and her opponent had somehow stolen the Sharai Daggers from her. She didn’t know a great deal about Chumbler, mostly from hearsay while she was still enrolled at Rising Shards. Nothing particularly good or even interesting. She was what she and her close friends Chellsi and Mikeila-Keila deemed a “gimmick student,” which was fairly common at Rising Shards. They had one thing, and that was it. At first, she thought Zeta was a gimmick student. Her being annoying about Raina Starlight was her gimmick. But then Ovie learned the truth about her past with Jeans, and learned that she had a lot more to her, a lot more things to dislike.

Chumbler was absolutely a “gimmick student,” though. She had one thing on her mind, and the casino she’d somehow lucked into was indicative of that. Fortunately, that one obsession didn’t lend herself to fighting well. Chumbler couldn’t juggle whatever effort it took to shapeshift into what Ovie assumed the intent was some kind of erotic form with swordplay and holding onto a priceless artifact. Combine that with whatever hypnotic effect she was under given the blatant swirls floating in front of her eyes, it only took a few slashes of Ovie’s bloodsaber to fell the gambling disaster. Ovie held the point of her bloodsaber near Chumbler’s neck.

“Drop them,” Ovie commanded. Chumbler obeyed, dropping the Sharai Daggers. Ovie didn’t dare let them fall to the ground and caught them in midair.

She took a moment (making sure to stomp on Chumbler’s exposed stomach to make sure she didn’t try anything) to breathe and confirm the daggers were back in her possession. Shortly after that, she felt a wave of something move past her to the surrounding area. Ovie’s brow furrowed as sounds of confusion rang out all around her.

“Wait…what is this?” Chumbler asked. “How did I get here? Wait is this…?”

Ovie stomped harder to get Chumbler to shut up. The hypnotic spell had clearly left. The Sharai retention sprites, a sea of soldiers in front of her, were all frantic and angry. Left to their own ends, they could tear this whole place apart. But if they had a leader, they could accomplish everything Ovie wanted them to.

Ovie approached the end of the stage and held the Sharai Daggers up to the swarm in front of her. A few of the Sharai soldiers noticed them immediately, tapping others near them. Soon, the entire group recognized what Ovie held before them and waited for her word.

“Do as I command.” Ovie bellowed, her voice echoing and cutting through the silence surrounding her.

Almost immediately, the Sharai knelt before her. She grinned, as the rest of her mission was now clear.

This army was going to bring her where she belonged.

Back to Jeans.