As Kat was nodding in acceptance, Nixilei and Kat heard a knock at the door. They shared a quick look, before Nixilei stood quickly and strode towards the door.
On the other side was the old butler of Gareth. *Um… Maxwell? I think his name was.*
"Greeting. Young Master Gareth has called for your presence in the training hall" said the old butler.
"Understood. I will guide Kat there myself" said Nixilei gesturing for Kat to follow behind.
Nixilei began by leading Kat deeper into the mansion, heading in the general direction Kat knew the training hall to be. "You know I could probably find my way there Nixilei. If your busy you can return" said Kat
Nixilei grinned, though Kat couldn't see this. "And miss your confrontation with Kress? You'd have to chain me to the dungeon walls before you could stop me. And even then, I might manage to escape in time. I would not be willing to miss such a… fascinating confrontation"
Nixilei wasted no time as she twisted and turned through the corridors. She strode with purpose, as only someone who instinctively understood her location could. *Which is strange because based on everything I know Nixilei hasn't actually lived here that long. Though I guess this means her memorization speed is exceptional.*
*I wonder if it's better than mine? I have to actually look through my memories to find the right one, and only because I can use demonic energy to speed my thought process can I do it in a timely manner, but Nixilei doesn't seem to have any such issues.*
Nixilei stopped. Kat had arrived just before the door to the training room. Nixilei glanced once more at Kat before pushing open the door feigning a lack of hesitation. As the doors opened up, Kat wasn't sure what she expected to see, but it felt appropriate nonetheless.
Gareth was off to the side with Green seemingly asleep on his arm. Though Kat suspected the girl was ready to jump into action soon. She'd likely had her rest and was waiting to see what happened. Nixilei had taken a sharp left so that she stood beside Kat when she followed behind.
*A subtle bit of politics standing by my side? Or simply a habit of leading Green into important functions.* And last, and certainly least was Kress. Arms cross and eyes glaring angrily at the doorway.
Intentionally ignoring the clearly antagonistic swordsman Kat turned her gaze to Gareth and said "So, are we here to discuss my services for the rest of the tournament?"
"Fuck you" said Kress
Kat slowed her turn to a crawl. Eeking out the seconds as her gaze found Kress. "I beg your pardon Kress?" said Kat
"You heard me. Fuck you. We've just met back up and you're already trying to gauge us out of more money" said Kress
Kat took a step forward and looked down at him despite their similar height. "I do not believe I so much as mentioned payment did I? Plus, I'm not the one acting in bad faith" said Kat
"Bad faith? You're getting payed more than enough already and then you go and take the grand prize for the solo contestant. Where do you get off asking us for more?" said Kress starting to go a bit red.
"I won this through my own efforts Kress" said Kat holding up the gem in question. "What do you actually expect me to do"
"Why don't you hand it over? You work for us. Your prize should belong to US" said Kress.
Kat looked to Nixilei with a grin, before enhancing her eyes. The fey gave just the slightest nod, so small that if Kat hadn't improved her sight, she'd have missed it. *You know Kress. I'm not really mad at you. But, I've lived with children for many years, and I know when someone needs to be scolded.*
Turning her gaze to Kress, Kat started to channel her demonic energy for some extra intimidation. *Hopefully this gives me the right effect.* Kat spread her wings wide and pushed a good chunk of her energy into her vocal cords.
"Well Kress" said Kat. But the voice that left her mouth was not the clear confident, but slightly soft sound Kat normally had. Now it was a distorted gravely thing. It sounded like Kat had been smoking for half a century and only recently stopped to inhale rocks instead.
"I don't really see what right you have to demand anything of me. Your team looks away as you throw your petty tantrum. You have no right to take my prize. You lack the justification. The army. Or even the personal strength to impose your own will. Heck, you aren't even the one I have a contract with. So what makes you think you can get me to do anything"
Kress looked suitably shaken but he was too angry to stop now. "Right? I have every right. You're just some demon spawn we hired for a quick job. Why the hell do you think you deserve anything at all? You really think you can defeat me?"
Kat stood as straight as she could. Keeping her energy in her voice box for her voice Kat also started to add a few other effects. She started running her energy through her wings, specifically trying to focus on the veins giving her wings a pulsating purple look with a faint glow.
Kat placed the faintest trace of demonic fire just below her eyes. Too small to see but present enough to cast deep shadows, and ready to leap up as soon as she started to speak, to punctuate her sentences. Finally, Kat hid another batch behind her teeth. So that as she spoke, she seemed to leak just a small amount of fire.
"Defeat you? Of course I can. I already defeated you. I beat not only you, but the rest of Skye's team with only minor help from Grace." Growled Kat
Kress started to speak up, but Kat used the large amount of energy she was circulating to dash forward and put her hand on his shoulder, pushing down light. Enough to hurt but not enough to do any real damage.
"Ah, ah, ahh. I've had enough of your nonsense Kress. I've just as much right to be on the team as you do, if not more. I won both the final round, but the one other I participated in. Why now are you acting like a petulant child?"
Kat could see Nixilei, who had moved next to Gareth and Green, smiling with a wicked grin. Gareth looked unimpressed but, who he was displeased with was unclear. Green seemed to still be sleeping but Kat could see one of her eyes were cracked open.
Kress' composure was cracking at this point. His anger was fading, and the depth of his mistake seemed to be dawning on him… except it seemed he enjoyed the taste of feet. "You're just a greedy bitch trying to wring us dry. If you actually have some honour why even, ask for further payment"
*Well, Nixilei is a healer…* Kat used her grip to throw Kress into the wall. He sailed in a short arc before crashing into it just above the floor. He slid down slightly after the impact and Kat strode after him, tail snaking around her side like a viper searching for prey.
"Do you have any idea how this even works you poor fool? You think all those ingredients and mana just get funnelled straight to me? You think that travelling between realms is easy?" *Because it sure seems that way sometimes *"You think all I care about is money?" said Kat
Apparently, the wall hadn't been enough of a warning. Kress quickly got to his feet and started Kat down once again. "Well, what are you going to do? Why not attack me properly. Come on, you know you want to!"
*Ah… this is his bait to get me in trouble.* Kat tilted her head back and to the side, making it look like she was contemplating his offer, while she was actually trying to get Nixilei in eyesight.
Once she managed it, the healer gave another imperceptible nod, somehow able to tell once Kat could see her. Striding up to Kress she grabbed him on the sides digging her short nails in just a bit, easily cutting through the leather.
*Well, I was never much of a wrestling fan, but… as long as I'm putting on a show.* Kat then hurled Kress back, letting herself bend over backwards, carrying his weight along before slamming his head into the training room floor.
A loud cracking rang out from that, as Kat snaked her form to the side and looked down at the now unconscious fighter.. *Now… if only I could remember what the move was called I could say something witty.* Kat then raised her gaze to look over towards the other three…