Her Place (Emma POV)

Emma’s eyes widened as she beheld the sight of Olivia and the angelwitch fighting. Was this what real abyssal combat was? Brutality, speed and strength the likes of which she could never hope to compare to? Emma had seen Olivia fight with the others and even in a dungeon or two, when the others allowed her to tag along.

She knew how powerful Olivia was, how far beyond her meagre strength the lady of beasts was. Yet this thing, this angelwitch, knocked her aside with ease, blasting her through the wall of the church like it was paper. The speed at which it happened was such that she could barely keep up with what was happening.

One minute, Olivia was sneaking up quietly and quickly behind the monster. The next, she was nowhere to be seen, and there was a giant hole through the church wall, with the creature running out of it. Gemma and Ivy jogged forward, not to intervene in the fight, but to keep eyes on Olivia. She hurried to catch them.

Emma needed to sprint to even try to keep up with the two of them, and even then, she wasn’t very successful. Her life had been a series of awakenings the past month or so, and each one had threatened to send her into an existential crisis. She was so much more limited than she had ever realised.

Standing next to Gemma, Olivia, Skylar and the others, she almost felt like a child. It was a very odd dichotomy. The age gap between her and her guild’s leader couldn’t and probably never would be eroded entirely. She was still ten years Gemma’s senior, and had more life experience than her by a long shot.

But while Emma had been doing casework, helping “troubled” teens (almost all of whom were experiencing some form of parental neglect or ****), and helping others get their lives together from bad situations, her guildmates had been training and battling for their lives. Her own girlfriend had been doing the same.

She knew very well the best ways to manage a team, to connect with kids who believed themselves beyond saving, to mediate conflicts and support others who needed it, but those were all very soft skills that were hard to measure. And what help were they in a fight against near gods who could travel a hundred metres in the blink of an eye or toss around boulders like it was nothing?

In the mundane world, she was an incredibly reliable, independent woman who others turned to for support. She knew who she was and what her place was in the world, how to navigate it, how to help others and when to ask for help herself. That’s why it was so difficult on some level to come to grips with this entire new world she had been thrust into: she suddenly found herself a lot more powerless than she was used to.

She was able to hide most of it underneath her flamboyant attitude, an attitude which had especially helped her connect with queer and neurodivergent kids who had felt like outcasts in a society that did nothing to help them at best, and outright rejected them at worst.

But witty remarks, flamboyance and emotional intelligence couldn’t stop a wave of fire hurtling directly towards her face, and that scared her a little. That was why the combat style she’d been leaning more towards in her lessons was what Gemma called a frontline melee fighter. She almost felt like she needed to prove to herself that she was still a reliable person, even when she’d been thrust into such an alien world.

Standing next to her love, holding hands, she watched as the two monsters exchanged blows. She could barely keep up with what was happening, but Olivia was absolutely ferocious, that much was for certain. A green light suddenly enveloped the woman, and in a flash, it was gone, replaced by the crystal body of another one of her transformations. Petro-something? Emma wasn’t entirely sure.

Olivia began deflecting the near blinding blasts of light, and for a moment Emma was afraid they’d be caught in them. Olivia knew exactly what she was doing though, and never once did anything look close to harming them. The others were on standby to create shields if anything did happen anyway.

Olivia got closer and closer to the monster, and just as it turned to flee, it became clear that something rooted it to the ground. Emma completely missed what happened next, she must have blinked or something. A lightning fast series of blows, and the angelwitch ended up on the ground, bound by more crystals.

Another green light, signalling Olivia transforming once more, then a blinding flash that left her seeing stars for a moment as light exploded outwards from the scene. Immediately, a thin, dark barrier spread over the entire guild as shards of crystals rained down on them lightly. Skylar’s reactions were too quick for anything to hurt them.

By the time Emma's eyes cleared from the flash of light, the two monsters were already on each other again. Olivia screamed as she rained down blows on the angelwitch, and Emma began to feel something in her gut. In the blink of an eye, Olivia had her fist around the creature's neck. It took Emma a few seconds to realise that she was shaking.

More flashes of light, blows exchanged, shrieks and screams and Emma looked down at her trembling hands. She looked back up at the fight just in time to see Olivia rip the beast's arms clean off, blood spurting from the wounds. She tried to swallow and realised her mouth was dry. It was then that she realised what she was feeling.

Fear.

She had never before seen such a ruthlessly savage fight. She knew somewhere that it was Olivia under that exterior of a monster, and that made it even worse somehow. Olivia, the woman who had gently helped her start to learn magical martial arts. Olivia, who was so dignified, poised, graceful, academic and formal.

Olivia, who would seem more at home in an upper class ballroom than a battlefield. Now a raging, bloodthirsty monster who fought with ferocity every bit equal to the brutish creature she sought to slay. Emma heard a cough and saw blood pouring from both of them, and she couldn't watch anymore.

She turned to Lena and cuddled against her. Her ears began to ring as she heard bones cracking, disgusting noises of gore. She closed her eyes and pressed her face into her girlfriend's neck and shoulder. Lena rubbed her back gently, cooing softly to her. Her partner guided her down to the ground and they sat together, cuddling.

There was a brief pause in the sounds of gore and Emma dared to hope it was over. A vicious thud sound rang out, the sound of a heavy foot stomping down. Along with it, the mutilation of flesh and the splatter of blood. Olivia screamed, a savage inhuman howl of victory. And then, relievedly for Emma, it was over. She felt a single tear run down her cheek.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't know why she felt like this. All she knew was that she was terrified. She heard the soft voice of Ivy, and felt another hand on her back. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked. Emma managed to swallow and answer. "I think so. I just need a minute." She found herself responding.

"I understand how difficult this can be to start with. Take your time. There is no shame in not being accustomed to ****." Ivy said sympathetically. She nodded and sniffed, wiping her face on her sleeve. "I just....didn't expect it to be so....raw. And I could barely keep up, if Olivia wanted to, she could break me with her little finger! Is this how the abyss is?" She asked, looking up at the healer.

Ivy nodded sadly. "Yes. It's a sad fact of this world. We are working to make it a safer place, but people will always exist who can trample over everyone and everything in their path." She replied. Emma shook her head. "That's not terrifying at all." She managed to make an attempt at a joke. Lena patted her back. "You'll get used to it love. I'm here." She reassured. Emma nodded somberly.