The Imperial Tour

[Sarah Tintagyl]

She was unprepared for the sudden assault as Kang jumped across the ground and within seconds connected with her body. Theresia made a weak attempt at a parry, her blade falling back as she tripped over the ground then his second strike hit her left hand as the pistol went flying into the air, landing a few meters away. Stumbling back, the Empress tried to regain composure as Kang attacked again, this time she was ready and caught his blade as he went to stab her through the stomach. "No, I'm not going to die that quickly." She grunted and with all her might threw him back off of her sword.

Now with room between the fighters, Theresia's steps rotated, her eyes steady on her opponent. "You aren't killing anyone. I am home and I have experience." She jumped forward, still guarding any potential attack before thrusting forward like a fencer trying to impale the madman through the stomach. But she had to be fast, not only to stab him, but also for the chance that he parried, to back up and catch his own attack. Her mind raced and her feet danced. He was right, he had more experience then her, that was for sure, but did he have the same passion? The same drive? Whatever happened, she had to stay focused.

[Triyun]

Jia's blinked, grimacing, not wanting to see his wife slash to bits before his eyes, but instead he found her parrying the blow, and countering. [i]Heh...[/i] Jia thought to himself. He'd fought Kang in sparing as a teenager, and had never been able to win a close quarters fight with him till he was much older.

Theresia's blade struck into his armor slicing into his abdomen, but not penetrating to vital organs. He yelled angrily as he stepped back forcing the blade out of the way by bringing his own left one in and out, knocking hers to the side. "You will pay, you little !@#$%*." he yelled out.

Despite Kang's experience, he was also a man of immense anger. He felt it build within him as, he could feel the sharp sting across his stomach. How dare she wound him. He lunged forward. His movements were slightly on the careless side buck they were powerful and fast. He brought up a side kick to hit her in the chest. Even though Theresia had armor on, so did he, and it would have considerable force behind it.

He then spun around on one leg building off the momentum of the kick, before stepping forward and using momentum to bring his daggers down in an 'x' patterned slash hoping to use the speed and power to smash through and finish her.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Watching him rip the blade from his abdomen, Theresia froze, her hand suspended in the air as the bottom of his foot hit into her stomach. She groaned, staggering back, trying to catch her breath, coughing and dropping the sword to the ground in front of her as she turned away from Kang. It was her biggest mistake and greatest stroke of luck at the same time. Trying to catch her breath, the next feeling Theresia felt was the 'x' slash across her back. The pain was intense as she felt her back running with blood. The wound had destroyed what was left of her suit's defense mechanism and she could feel it powering down and with it any strength she had left to continue the fight as she dropped to her knees.

She leaned forward, trying to keep her eyes open, trying to keep from crying as the numbness in her back began to set in. The crunching of footsteps trickled into her ears, Kang was inches away. Theresia could hear his breathing, she could hear his laughter as he let his blade rest on the side of her neck. In front of her was her sword, close to her fingers, close enough that she could almost reach it. He mumbled something in her ear and the Empress thought she could see her life pass before her eyes, but with what little energy and strength she had left, Theresia grabbed his arm, holding it idle as she spun away from his grasp and picked back up her sword. Her body flowed like water as she thrust the point through his chest, holding him by the shoulder until blood began to pour out of the man's mouth.

Coughing herself, she glared at the madman, but said nothing until his body hung lifeless over her blade. Then after he dropped to the ground, Theresia staggered over towards Jia's body and collapsed to the ground next to him. "I...want...to...go ho-"

Then the world went black.

[Triyun]

The Imperial Couple would fade in and out of consciousness as helicopters carrying a PLA Special Forces team arrived on the scene. Jia wouldn't wake up till the next morning. He found Theresia in a bed next to him. A large thing of gausse was attached to her back.

He looked out the side of the window to see the ocean splashing against the tropical shores of Thailand. "Ugh..." he said as he tried to get up. He felt a dulled pain in his ribs still from the morphine. "Oh !@#$." he said to himself.

"You shouldn't swear daddy!" a voice suddenly said. Jia turned to see Leopold sitting out on the side of the room.

"Hey kiddo!" he said still slightly grimacing from the pain.

"Daddy, are you an idiot?" he asked in a way only a little kid could.

"Am I a what?" Jia said taken back.

"Aunt Xuehua says that you're the world's biggest idiot... and you dragged mommy into something stupid, is that true?" Leopold said concerned.

"Eheh... well..." Jia said unable to answer the question. He turned to clasp Theresia's hand. "Hey Theresia are you alright?" he asked.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Theresia's eyes fluttered open for a moment as she felt the room around her. The cool breeze from the beaches outside, the concerned voice of Leopold talking to her husband and the hand that clasped her own. When she felt that, she clenched down hard on his fingers, hard enough so that it was painful as painful as how her back felt. She didn't turn towards him, content with closing her eyes again, letting the medication transport her to another world. "I'll let you answer that, Jia." The Empress said half mumbling. The warm wind however made her smile. "I just don't think I'll be moving for awhile. It's nice here. I like it." And slowly she drifted off to sleep once again.

However, her hand lovingly tightened on his grip. They had made it out alive and Kang was dead. No matter how bad it had been, Jia had been right all along. She was different front the others and that was enough for her dreams.