"Ugnh!" Miranda grunted as she turned to face the last of her assailants, catching his axe in the gut a moment before she struck him down too. Neither of them were looking very good, but as another rivulet of blood trickled down her thigh under her skirt and her head began to feel woozy, she dropped to her knees with a clatter, staring up at her enemy with a distant look of suprise and anger. About a second later, her torso flopped forward with a unceremonious 'thud' as her face planted in the painfully solid brick floor, her rear rather embarassingly facing skyward. Maribelle might've flinched at how painful it sounded if she wasn't panicking.<br/><br/>Miranda however, faded out of conciousness~<br/><br/>--------<br/><br/>And found herself standing in a white, featureless space, apparrently uninjured. Looking around in suprise, she yelped in terror. "Oh no, I must've died! ... How terribly embarassing. ;_;"<br/><br/>"Silly child!" A gruff man's voice boomed from behind her, and Miranda felt a powerful smack on her face as an armored gauntlet backhanded her to face the source of the hallucination. It was her mentor and teacher, General Madeen, the craziest, surliest axe-general in Aurelia's palace guard. He was a warrior born and second only to her own father in personal combat prowess for a man his size.<br/><br/>"G-general!"<br/><br/>"You're suffering from a near-death experience. How could you lose, girl?! My technique is invincible!"<br/><br/>"M-my axe wasn't big enough, sir... ;_;" Miranda pouted, the tiny hatchet in her hand looking dwarfed indeed by both figure's impressive musculature.<br/><br/>"Bah!" Madeen guffawed in response, snatching the weapon from her. "No weapon is a substitute for zeal! Remember that!"<br/><br/>Tears streamed down her face as she wordlessly nodded.<br/><br/>Madeen's face softened, and he narrowed his eyes, closing them and crossing his arms sagely. "You just haven't learned what it means to be a fighter yet. Even a girl your size is invincible if her spirit can crush the enemy's own!"<br/><br/>And so, Miranda and her own blood-loss induced hallucinations began to debate the merit of their tactics. Clearly, her heart needed to be larger!