Vesper just finished donning his armour. He had purchased a set of scale mail as it seemed to allow him freedom of movement, and if he was honest reminded him of fish scales. He did miss his former friends at the aquarius dorm, but he found he missed them less and less the more time he spent with Freed, and Mai, and Celine, and Eva.
"Stop it Vesper. You've got other things to focus on, like dealing with Aurora for tossing you aside. He made certain he didn't show it to the others, but he had been harboring a grudge against his ex for leaving him to suffer through his transformation alone without even looking back. His long tail twitched in his rising anger. The hardest part of donning the armour was the wings definitely. He doubted they would be much use here as he couldn't get lift with them due to the bulk of his lower body, but they might be able to slow a decent. Seeing Neisha and Jack's fight had given him an idea. He just wished he had more practice to test it before now.
He slithered into the arena, temporarily blinded by the afternoon sun. From across the field he saw his ex Aurora strutting from her end, wide hips swaying with each step. Much to his surprise, when he saw her, it was longing rather than anger he felt. This however was then drowned out by the memory of her flying away. He sped up to cover the last few feet and raised himself higher up on his tail, towering over the harpy by a foot. He slammed the handle of the trident he had brought from his dorm into the sand, but it was what was in his other hand that Aurora stared at. The fishing net he had brought paired with the trident made him resemble a gladiator.
"Vesper I-," she began.
"You had plenty of time to apologize before today. Weeks," he spat. "I don't want to hear it."
She looked down sadly, then when she met his gaze again her eyes had hardened. She seemed to almost say something but the horn sounded and Vesper stabbed at her with the trident. She flapped her wings frantically as she jumped backwards to gain some distance between them. Vesper slithered forward, wanting to capitalize on her unbalanced position.
She gained altitude slowly, firing her bow frantically trying to slow his advance. While most were deflected off the armour 2 pierced it and stuck in his left shoulder and lower right side. He grunted and slowed slightly, giving Aurora just enough time to get far enough away. From her vantage point she could fire as many arrows as she wanted and he would be helpless. That is if it wasn't for Vesper being a good mage student. He stabbed the trident into the ground and began to work the mana with one hand, still clutching the net in the other. He then let a bolt of lightning flying into the air toward Aurora. She dove to one side narrowly avoiding the primary bolt, however a small bolt branched off due to her close proximity and made contact with the tip of her wing. This shock caused her muscles to tense up momentarily, causing her to lose a bit of altitude. She flapped her wings quickly to try to regain her loss. Vesper sent another blast of lightning at her, this shot hitting her full on the chest. Her whole body seized up and she lost most of her altitude before she regained control of her body. Vesper smiled and, with a little magic, threw the net. With a satisfying thud, Aurora hit the ground, tangled up in the net. He picked up his trident and slithered forward. The struggling harpy met his eyes and he could see the absolute terror in them. He encircled her with his tail and when he was certain he had her, pulled off the net.
"Vesper please wait."
"Wait for what? For you to explain why you left me writhing in pain? For you to never come to me with an apology?" He was unwittingly tightening his coils with each question.
"Please, I can't breathe."
"That's the idea. Yield."
"I-I-I yield."
The horn sounded, and Vesper loosened his grip on her, leaving her on the ground gasping for breath. Vesper retrieved his net and trident and left, feeling unsatisfied.
"Hey good job Vesper, you won," congratulated Freed. "What's wrong?"
The 2 had met up to help Vesper get out of his armour.
"She hurt me Freed. I thought that if I got some kind of revenge I would feel better. But I still feel the same."
"You really liked her didn't you?"
"Yes."
"It seems like all you did was hurt someone you cared for."
They continued to remove his armour in silence.