Amidst the Ruins of a Past that Never Was

The puffing of humidity as air rushed through her lungs and the leather-on-stone tapping seemed all but deafening. She hadn't stopped running for who knows how long; bag strung over her shoulders half-hazardly, an old sack she'd swiped from the streets to rapidly pack, Rosaline knew not just where she was going.

All she knew wast that she needed to get away, and that she couldn't return "home."

Of course, she wasn't even sure where home was anymore. Flashes of fragmented memory consumed her mind, muddling the senses that she so desperately needed to escape as she fought to outrun the guards that she knew persued her. One did not merely escape the kingdom, especially not a Wielder, not a lieutenant. They would have her head for this. Of course, they didn't seem to realize just how well she had taken to their training, and that would soon come to her advantage.

Ghosts were the rumors that spread from this town, ghosts of a city long since fallen, of the first victims of the Third Crusade some twenty years ago. Whether she dared or not enter this place, Rose was unsure, but her choices were few and far between. To get to the Wastes, she'd need to pass through the ruins; from all this, she could reach refuge. Nowhere.

Rosaline's escape had not slipped through the ears of the kingdom. The order was passed down from above that she was to be retrieved. Alive. The Royal Guard was dispatched, though most of them knew who would find her. Leila Scarlet, heralded among the ranks of the Eunoian Army as the Keyhunter.

The Ruins of Mydar were vast in size. Old dwellings and buildings, columns stretching high into the air to show where the buildings they had once supported stood. Every so often, down a side alley or in the remains of a building, there would be a flicker of movement. The Ghosts of Mydar, going about the lives they had had before Euno had destroyed them.

Leila found herself on the outskirts of this dead city. Certain her mount would cause more commotion than she would on foot, she swung down from the saddle, tying it to a nearby tree and continuing into the ruins on foot.

The approaching hooves were what had propelled her into the city, and she quickly sought shelter among the ruins, grateful that she had somehow managed to find a dark enough, and also large enough, whole to occupy while still hiding her massive gown. Eyes like silver traced the outlines of every spirit that passed, seeking refuge while praying that they would hold the captain at bay.

Leila readied her gunblade, allowing the weapon to shift into its sword form. She moved slowly through the ruins, her armor clanking softly with each step she took. A ghost moved through a large pile of rubble to her left, causing her to pause. The spirit, however, continued on its path, turning slowly and heading away from her.

A spirit appeared from behind Rosaline, stopping as it caught sight of her. It began to speak in a mournful, ethereal tone. "Oh child, the spirit of Mydar rests inside you. Lo that you may not know your people, for the Butcher took us from you!"

Her head tilted as she looked back at the figure, the sharp whip of a command at the tip of her tongue. "My people?" She whispered back, her voice harsh and unyielding yet clearly confused. "What do you mean 'my people?'"

Leila continued to move slowly through the ruins, checking several holes and growing slowly closer to where Rosaline was hiding.

The Spirit pointed to her heart, nodding. "You are of Mydar, child... We were you people until the Eunoians grew restless once more."

A slight hiss accompanied her inhaled breath as she watched the ghost, staring at it contemplatively. "How do you recognize me?" Her hand itched at her side, flexing as her instincts begged her to quit her chatting and summon her blade.

Leila slowed to stop outside another hole, hearing a voice coming from within. She tightened the grip on her weapon and raised her shield to the ready.

The ghost wandered forward, pressing its hand against her chest, spreading a frigid cold through her body "Your heart... Your spirit burns bright with the soul of our people..."

She gasped instantly, yet strangely almost suddenly at the contact, the red wood of her violin forming slowly in her hand as she jerked to her feet. "How can you know-?!" The words were all but demanded, but the keyblade had formed, and she held it by the neck, guarded fingers carefully avoiding its strings. By now, her pursuers would have at least entered the old city. She could waste no more time.

Leila peered around a corner, catching sight of Rosaline, and of the spirit who held her attention. She slid back, taking a breath as she prepared to face her prey.

The spirit lost interest in Rosaline, looking towards the entrance to the hole and growling angrily. "Eunoian..." It hissed out, ethereal skin vanishing to show ghostly bone and sinew. As the spirit began to change, it dropped from the air, landing on the ground. A blade of ghostly blue fire formed in its hands, and it began to march angrily down the hall, towards the captain.

Rose whirled around as the soldier entered, holding Heart Strings carefully with both hands, eyes narrowed at the woman. "They sent the Keyhunter after me, did they?" She said, and the words were bitter venom on a viper's fangs.

Leila held her weapon with both hands, eyes flicking between the spirit and Rosaline. "You assumed they would send anyone else? My orders are to bring you in alive. They won't care if I have to rough you up to do so."

The spirit took a slow step towards her, its form wavering and shaking as it did. It hissed again, moving closer. "Eunoian..."

"That is under the assumption that you can lay a hand on me." She said back, stepping back slowly and holding her weapon like the instrument it was. "I think it's time for you to dance though, and my new friend doesn't appear to think too kindly of you, either." A smirk began to cross her face as she brought bow to strings, and as she began to glide out the first, haunting note, she shouted just one word: "Eunoian."

The spirit broke into a run, raising its sword to bring it down on Leila's head. The captain raised her shield in response, catching the blade and slicing her own through the spirit, dispelling it. She took a step towards Rosaline, only for the spirit to reconstitute and swing its blade down on her.

The assassin's eyes flashed as she looked to her, shaking her head and switching the tune to one she'd painstakingly written two years previous. The overall effect of the melody had a way of chilling enemies to the bone, and eerie, haunting resignation that gripped the heart and soul and froze them over with fear in an almost painful way. As she played, the air around her picked up and spun, whirling and blanketing her in the eye of an artificial storm.

Leila jumped back from her engagement with the sprit, her gunblade starting to shift into its firearm form. She took aim, pulling on the trigger and watching as a barrage of bullets flew through the air. Once again, the ghost was dispelled, though her bullets were lost in Rose's storm. From down the street, more ghosts marched towards her, weapons at the ready, repeating in a hollow tone: "Eunoian.... Eunoian." The captain gritted her teeth, her weapon shifting back into a blade as she prepared.

From within the almost tornado-like storm, Rosaline smirked at her, watching with a surprising clarity. "You should have known better than to pursue me. Am I not known for using my surroundings to my advantage?" She shook her head, changing the tone to a rallying cry, reciting an old bardic song from Mydar's glory days.

Leila looked first to Rosaline, and then to her challengers. "I'm finishing this." It began around her forearms, a great blazing fire. Slowly it blazed down her arms, surrounding her shield and her blade. She pointed the tip at the spirits. "You're dead and gone. Allow me to remind you of that fact and burn you in the fires of Hell!" The firestorm spread outwards, engulfing the spirits. Ethereal flesh and bone began to burn into nothingness, leaving behind only small whisps of blue fire.

As the last spirit fell, she switched her tune, slowly moving out of the close quarters and to the open, destroyed streets. Her eyes seemed almost smoky, and though the speed of the wind picked up like a protective barrier, she was far easier to see, now. "You want to fight me, take me on one-on-one, captain. No bullets. No magic."

Leila turned her attention towards Rosaline once more, eyes narrowed. "And you expect me to believe that you'll play fair? You act like I've no idea who you are." She flourished her blade, turning her left shoulder, and her buckler, were facing towards the Keyblade wielder.

She ended the song and the storm slowly dwindled. With her bow in her right hand and the blade in the left, she stared her down, watching carefully. "I can fight without playing or using my magic. The question is whether or not you have faith enough in your own skills to stay your trigger finger."

Leila raised her blade, lowering and spreading her stance. "I've more practice with the blade than the gun, lieutenant. As you're about to find out."

"And I am more than well trained with my own keyblade, captain." She smirked slightly, readjusting her footing, holding the bow slightly closer to her, the strings of it and the instrument facing outward.

Leila grunted softly in response, bringing her left hand to hold the hilt of her sword, waiting patiently for her opponent to make the first move.

They remained in a stalemate for a long while, the more rogue-like fighter completely unwilling to make the first strike in close combat. Patience was her game, and she would wait until the stillness frustrated the warrior into hitting first.