Sovereign Stance

Raven and Adrianna returned after two hours, back to see the kitchen table destroyed. Moon was bouncing on her toes, doing an elegant ballet dance in her pyjamas, while cooking a large stack of bacon. They looked at each puzzled. "Uh...Moon. What happened here?" "RAVEN! I made some bacon, you want some?" She said with a glowing and radiating smile, underneath her messy hair. Raven quickly left the kitchen, walking into Zeke's room, finding him naked and dead asleep on his bed, with a trail of drool. She smirked walking back into the kitchen. "You dog. You finally did it." "Did what?" Adrianna asked. "Did Zeke." "Oh. I was under the impression that you two did not have that kind of relationship." "Relatively new thing." She said smiling. "I'm guessing he did a good job." Raven said, looking at Moon continuing to bounce up and down with joy. She nodded taking a seat, using another chair as a makeshift table, with Red joining her. She nuzzled Red, feeding her pieces of bacon.

"Well, your father has paid for the entire year of accommodation. Feel free to leave when they do." "Thank you Headmaster." Eliza entered into the kitchen, taking a few sniffs. "Why does it smell like bacon and fucking in here?" They pointed to Moon. "Ah, see that twig, finally gave you his splinter. Now where is he?" "Last I checked, he looked drained and dead." Raven said. "Tsk, not enough protein in his diet." She said stomping to Zeke's room. "No...think someone drained him of it." Raven said looking at Moon. "AH! Get out!" Zeke shouted. "Get up!" The four of them kept their ears open. "I'm naked! Get out!" "Oh relax! Besides you're one of the larger ones I've seen." Raven and Adrianna looked to Moon, nodding in agreement. "Hey! Let go! AH!" "Hurry up! You're late!" "At least let me get dressed!" Zeke screamed clinging to the door frame, with only a blanket on him. "You get thirty seconds." She sighed, throwing Zeke inside. "Sword Master Pendragon. Can I train with you today?" Moon asked eagerly. "After class, like we've been doing."

Zeke stumbled out, wearing jeans and a baggy shirt. "Christ! You could have given me a warn...ing..." He trailed off seeing everyone smirk at him. He blushed, walking outside without saying a word. "Still shy about it huh?" Raven asked. "Yeah, he's never been good around women." "That being said. You're also late for class Miss Kim." Adrianna said. Moon leapt to her feet rushing off to get changed. "Never seen her so excited for class before." Raven said stunned.

Zeke and Eliza stood on the beach, with a straw dummy set up, approximately ten metres away from them. "What are we learning today?" "Well, now that you can turn on your Demon's Blood." "I actually can't-" He stopped seeing her glare at him. "I'll be teaching you the Nine Sovereignty stances." "That sounds cool as shit! What are they?" Eliza rolled her eyes. "It is an exclusive fighting stance, to us Demon Hunters. Mastering them is the key to becoming the strongest." "Wait, so Alistair and Kenji know how to do these as well?" "No. Those animals have only ever relied on their power and strength. They find weapons beneath them." "Oh...well I look forward to learning." He said bowing to her. "Good. Let's start with understanding it." "Should I be taking notes?" She let out an exasperated sigh. "Just try and remember them." He nodded.

"When you activate your Demon's Blood, you release a surge of Mana, that causes the air to become frigid." She placed her hand onto the hilt of her sword. "That happens, because you aren't controlling the release of Mana, and it sprays out into every direction." She lowered herself, grabbing the hilt. "But if you learn to control it." Zeke watched as her hair floated, and a stream of icy cloud exuded from the corner of her mouth. She took a step forward, drawing her sword simultaneously in one swift motion. He watched in complete awe as a sharp wave of air flew through the air, leaving a small frozen trail, cutting the dummy apart. "HOLY FUCK! That was the most fucking anime thing ever! Are you telling me I can do that!?" "Eventually, but first we will practice the motions." "So, I have to ask. Why is this called the Nine Sovereignty stances?" "Mastering each stance, will give you complete control of a space. A sovereign if you will." "Ah. So which stance was that?" "One." "And you've mastered all of them?" "....Yes." "Can't help but noticed you hesitated there."

He looked at her with suspicion. "No one has ever learnt this with you before have they?" She sucked on her teeth. "I'm sure you're aware of how Demon Hunters grow in power?" "Something about finding strong opponents and taking their power?" "Close enough. Why would you work hard for something, if you can just do that." "That is true, but I definitely want to be able to do that. Is there like a book or something you read this from?" "Yes, but it's written in old Enochian." "The implication being there is a new Enochian?" "Kind of. It's a translation with very slang and short hand." "So a lazy Enochian." "Precisely. Now we're going to practice diligently. I don't want to hear any complaints. Got it?" He threw his hands up. "No Ma'am. You know this is kind of like breathing techniques and domain expansions-" Eliza took her necklace, wrapping it over her fist and drove it into his testicles. He let out a high pitched squeak falling to the ground, curling into a foetal position. "Why?" He whimpered. "No weeb shit either! Just practicing." "I think you broke something." He squeaked. "

With the sun starting to set, Adrianna sat with Eliza, watching Zeke diligently practice the exact same motion. Stepping forward and drawing Shadow. "How's he doing?" Adrianna asked. "Other than the fact, he has no idea how to turn his Demon's Blood on. He's the first Demon Hunter, willing to learn it." "Do I hear an actual hint of admiration from Elizabeth Pendragon?" "Shut it." She snapped. "Think he'll master any of them?" She shrugged. "Who knows. Took me five years to master the first one." "Without any guidance. He has yours." "Hmmmmm..." "When the pupil is ready the teacher will arrive." Eliza snickered. "What?" "With more wrinkles comes wisdom." "I hate you." Adrianna said walking away in a huff. Zeke stopped his practice taking a seat on the sand. Eliza watched him press Shadow against his forehead, going into deep thought.

'I have to control the flow of Mana, from turning on my Demon's Blood. Which requires me to turn it on. Which...I don't know how to do...ARGH!' He rubbed his face frustrated, before taking a deep breath. 'No wait. Being calm is the enemy! I've been transforming from rage!' He leapt to his feet. Entering into the first Sovereign stance. He took a deep breath holding it in. 'Focus. What pisses you off beyond anything? Soggy chips!' He thought drawing Shadow and taking a step forward. 'Alright that's annoying, but not enraging. Let's try that again.' Eliza watched on intrigued without realizing Moon approaching her with an ear to ear grin, and wielding Soul-Taker. 'StarWars sequel trilogy!' He thought drawing Shadow. 'Alright, being bitter and salty doesn't turn it on either. I probably need to dig deeper.' Zeke took the stance once more. 'Dig. Dig, find every repressed memory. What pisses you off more than anything?'

Moon quietly crept onto Eliza watching Zeke intensely. She held her breath squatting down to try and flick Eliza's ear. 'Come on Zeke! Something has to trigger you!' "Got-" Eliza leant her body to the side, dodging Moon's flick, and punched her shin. Her eyes teared up immediately, lightning shock ran up her body, and she let out a squeal. Her screams reached Zeke. He snarled clenching Shadow with all his might. "Why did you!-" Eliza clasped Moon's mouth shut, pulling her down to look at Zeke. His hair shot into the air turning snow white. The Spectre appeared hovering over him, with its version of shadow, and mimicked Zeke's stance. His step froze the water in the sand, creating a frozen base nearly two metres in diameter. Drawing Shadow with one quick motion, the Spectre did the same. Zeke unleashed a giant azure projectile slash, with the Spectre unleashing a larger black one that lingered behind. Zeke's slash split the dummy in half, the Spectre's split the sandbank apart.

Moon fell to her knees speechless, with Eliza watching on with a proud smile. 'He actually fucking did it.' Zeke returned to normal with the Spectre disappearing. He looked over to Moon and Eliza, before collapsing backwards exhausted. 'Hmm, seems he's having Mana issues. Something that can be fixed with time.' "WHAT WAS THAT!?" Moon shrieked. "Demon Hunter technique. Not for you." She barked. "Go take him back to the dormitory, and then we'll begin our lessons." "But-" Eliza raised her hand up. Moon quickly scurried away, bracing for a hit.

Returning after dropping Zeke off, she raced back to find Eliza impatiently waiting on the beach. "Did you squeeze in a quickie or something? What took you so long?" "I didn't want to just throw him on the ground." "Why not? Your boy toy is durable." "He's not...well I guess...not important." She shook her head. Moon took the stance Eliza had taught her. "Not going to throw your weapon away again?" "No Ma'am!" "Good, now let's work on your fundamentals again." "Actually, I wanted to ask." Eliza rolled her eyes. "Of course." "Is there a sword style, that would let me use this and my powers?" "And you can't use your powers, while holding the sword, why again?" "Well, I have to keep my palms clear, otherwise I'll blow my fingers off." "Fine, if you have enough dexterity for it. I'll teach you a different style of swordsmanship. What do each of your hands do?" "Left makes a barrier, right makes a shockwave."

"Grab the sword with only your left hand. We'll be treating that sword as a one handed weapon. From now on, you will treat it as both sword and shield. Follow me exactly." Eliza took the en garde fencing stance, raising her wooden sword to her face. She begun doing basic attacks. Slashes, thrusts, and parries. Moon copied feeling Soul-Taker's weight starting to grow. The motions felt unnatural to do in her off hand. "Shouldn't I do this in my right hand? It's my stronger hand." "What happened when you hit the shield during the Hunter Games?" "It...bounced off. Which is weird, because I've seen this thing cut through Tanks before." "Do you know the two reasons it did that?" She shook her head. "Firstly, you tried to rely on its cutting power, and thought you didn't need to hold it properly. Which lead to it spinning and glinting on impact. Secondly, your swings are weak, compared to a Tank. Swing with your left, and follow with your right." Moon nodded. The two practiced the basics till late into the night.

Moon retired drenched in sweat with bruises and welts all over her body. She found Raven and Red sitting around a new table. "Where's Zeke?" "Sleeping." "Still!?" "Well he woke up then showered and ate, before falling asleep. Guess using that Demon's Blood for him is no joke." "Well, I'm gonna go check up on him and-" "Moon let the man sleep." "But!" "Let him sleep, it will be better if he has energy." "Fine." Moon pouted. She spotted the tablet Alistair gave them locked onto a set of armour. "Did you pick something?" "I didn't touch the thing. It was there when I came out." Moon sat down opening the tablet, finding a set of armour had been locked onto the account. A black suit of lean layered plate armour. The armour was accented with several golden draconic features, with the most notable being the pauldrons designed to resemble a Dragon's head. She sat down reading the description of the armour. "Did Zeke, pick you out something?" Raven asked, holding Red. "I think so...,but I can't tell why he picked this one. The description of it is in a language I've never seen before."

Raven peered over. "Huh...what is that? Hieroglyphics?" "No...there's not enough birds." "Quenderin?" She shook her head. "I can read Quenderin." "You can?" "I have no idea what language this is." "It looks like gibberish to me. Like someone wrote over it. Oooh wait, try the translate button." Moon looked at Raven annoyed. "Why would that ever work?" Red leaned over tapping the translate button. 'Translate Enochian to English?' The tablet asked. A smug smile slowly stretched across Raven's face. "You got lucky." She frowned. "What's it say?" "Dragon of Calamities....the rest can't be translated." "Well, that's ominous. I can see why Zeke was eyeing the armour. Anything that dangerous sounding must be strong." "Well if he's interested in it. I'll take it. He hasn't failed me yet." Moon said double clicking the item. "Maybe you should have discussed it with him first." "I don't need his permission. He's not my dad." "I'm sure you still call him daddy though." "You have five seconds to run." Raven scurried off.

Alistair sat on his yacht, surrounded by naked super models, staring at the night sky. His phone buzzed with Moon's request. He looked at the requested confused and then shrugged. "Eh, her funeral." He said, shrugging. Alistair closed his eyes thinking back to his fight with Zeke. His skin bumped with excitement. 'Get strong...your heart will make a fine meal.'