Fate's Intervention

Seeing as the magic hadn't seemed to slow the beast thus far, Signy began to put more focus into simply cutting it down, aiming for the backs of the same appendages her forced partner was trying to cut through.

The war machine seemed to finally acknowledge them, taking a thundering step backwards as it tried to crush them beneath it's falling hand, or at least capture one of them. Leila found herself jumping onto the monster's other leg, starting to climb it as best she could.

Signy, meanwhile, opted to play bait, mocking the creature with her continued assaults on it's appendages. Even still, she all but danced beneath it's feet, dodging as she hacked and slashed.

The beast let out a series of clicking sounds, trying to go after Leila as she climbed it's outer shell. The red-haired guardsman quickly leapt from one foothold to the next, continuing her climb.

Grunting, Sign started firing bolts into the holes left behind by their keyblades, trying to draw more of the mech's attention down to her.

Leila found herself on top of the behemoth, at the junction between its head and its body. "Signy! How high can you jump?" She asked, digging her keyblade into the machine and anchoring herself as it tried swatting at her.

"Not on top of it!" She cried back, rolling beneath the creature and stabbing towards the rear of it, eventually leaping and anchoring her blade like a spike.

Leila cursed to herself, starting to channel more and more power into her keyblade, the weapon starting to glow and melt the robot beneath it. She then leapt forward, letting gravity carry her downward as she slowly cut through wire, steel, and circuitry, taking the beast's head off and then starting an uncontrolled fall down the remaining 30 or so feet with the giant's head.

Signy groaned loudly when Leila started moving without her, dislodging her blade and darting to meet up with her partner before the ground.

Leila felt herself get caught, and couldn't help but curse inwardly at having to be rescued in such a manner. They would both land in safety as the war machine toppled backwards with a thud. The lights came back on inside the arena, and in the center a set of doors opened, something starting to come up from the darkness.

Signy set the woman down before she had time to make a quip about the incident, focusing on her blade as she watched and waited.

The platform rising up to meet them stopped, and on it was a young woman, chained and gagged, searching around desperately before settling on the two guardsmen. An intercom crackled, before Lord Commander Carte's voice echoed across the Pit. "Guardsman Scarlet. This slave was caught trying to poison the food of a nobleman and his family. You have grown accustomed to the feel of your weapon, but it has yet to be tempered in human blood. You know the punishment that needs to be handed out." Leila looked down at her keyblade, then over at the woman, starting to approach her slowly.

Signy growled, her own sense of morality bickering vicious with itself. She narrowed her eyes; were they TRYING to make her lash at? By now, it was a wonder they had not cut her tongue out. In silence, she desummoned her blade and looked away.

Leila approached the slave, who looked up at her with fear and, deep inside those eyes, hope. She raised her blade, her hand shaking. She knew it had to be done. She knew that if she didn't, someone would. And, most importantly, as the ten most recent stings on her back reminded her, there would be punishment if she didn't. She closed her eyes, and let her blade drop. There were two thuds after that, but Leila had already turned away and vanished her blade, walking for the now opening exit. A pair of guards awaited the both of them, guiding them to a private locker room where the could clean themselves off.

Signy's eyes had held the slave's for as long as they could, a pity on them even as she swallowed hard and refused to allow herself to intervene. Still, she had pivoted herself the second the doors had begun to open, not even hesitating to undress when they hit the lockers. Even with the other woman's heavier armor, Signy had more to remove.

Leila removed hers as quickly as she could, making her way into the small communal showers and sliding against a wall as hot water poured down over her. Her hands cupped her eyes, hiding them from sight as she did her best to hold her shoulders firm to hide her tears.

After several moments, Signy finally joined her, rubbing tenderly at her sides and breasts from where she'd bound them too tightly. The guard didn't say a word, a few spaces down as she tilted her head back and let the water crash over her. She wasn't shy and had never cared if anyone saw her, her body, her thoughts her heart. Still, she didn't say a word, a deadly venom at the back of her eyes, her unrest towards the order she'd dedicated her life to hitting a tipping point. Left alone, it would simmer out. It always did.

Leila couldn't help the quick sob that broke from her lips, quickly clamping her jaw shut afterward and returning the shower room to silence. Signy was brought into the Order as a Keyblade bearer, and there was a stark division between her and who Leila had used to be. She was undoubtedly treated better, fewer whippings, or at least a healer to make sure the scars weren't as noticeable. Leila's back was a patchwork of inch-thin scars, up and down her back, ten of them still scabbed over from her recent failure and punishment.

Signy was in no mood for any further upset, and as such kept to herself throughout the whole ordeal. She wasn't one for heat as Leila surely was, and thus didn't revel in it. Instead, she stuck to the business of cleaning herself off, scrubbing her skin as though the action may wipe her sins away.

Leila stayed like that long after Signy had finished washing herself, trapped in a never ending spiral of self-loathing and self-pity. It was lucky that she was constantly doused by water, or else she was sure she would've burned the Armory from the inside out by now. The guards outside made no effort to rush the either of them, giving them plenty of time. The Lord Commander had expected some level of trepidation.

With no time limit and no need to move from the captain, Signy soon set about leaning against the wall of the shower, letting the water drip down her naked body where she hadn't quite turned her faucet off. She was still trapped in her own mind, slowly crawling out of it.

Leila fumbled to her feet after long enough, starting to make her way over to Signy for whatever reason.

The woman didn't move until the other one was right by her, popping a lid open and tilting her head so that her eyes met Leila's. She cooked a brow, remaining where she was. One knew was pulled almost to her chest, her elbow rested on it, and the other leg was sprawled out in front of her, hand idle in the water.

Leila slid down beside Signy, looking her in the eyes. Her own were big and puffy, from her tears. Slowly, tentatively and with a level of caution unfathomable from the normally stoic Captain, Leila tried to seek out Signy's other hand, and thread her own through it, seeking some manner of human contact.

The woman's green eye closed and she relaxed the tension she didn't realize she'd built up, parting her fingers before squeezing them around the other woman's. "You alright there, cap?"