EBF Our story isn't over yet: Chapter 1 The Sacrifice
"Godcat's down, we did it, we got rid of her" Lance gazed in awe at the wreckage of the massive Creator and Destroyer that she had had left behind.
"Ok so that's four times me and Natzs have saved the world, two times for lance and one for Anna" Matt mused, leaning on Heaven's gate, the very blade that moments ago slew the Destroyer with an incredibly powerful (and lucky) five crit Cleave finish.
"This fight took a lot longer then all the other times though…" Natalie puffed weakly, kneeling down as she did so.
"I did it, the jewels are safe and our world hasn't ended!" sobbed Anna crumpling in a heap on the ground.
The four each took a while to catch their breath and for the next few minutes no words were spoken, no words needed to be spoken, they had won and that was all that they needed.
An hour later
"Are you kidding me? You're going to leave just like that?" chorused Natalie and Matt while Lance stood silently with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
"Well I think I've overstayed my welcome already, I mean I was never meant to be in the party right? You were just helping me because I forced you too at bow point and…" Anna never got to finish because Natalie started hugging her so tight she was physically unable to breathe.
"You idiot, we're your friends! We helped you because we wanted to, not because we were forced" Natalie cried into Anna's shoulder.
Well we kind of were forced… Matt thought to himself.
"She's right you may have shot me in the head at the beginning but we're friends Anna, in fact we're more than friends we're a team remember" Matt said as he flashed his trademark idiotic grin at the archer.
"I-I...may have been wrong about the little girl remark" Lance finally spoke awkwardly "you're...you're one us" Lance said, giving a genuine smile for once. Matt brought Lance in and the embraced the two girls while Lance awkwardly slung his arms around them, making sure not to put any weight onto the girls as if afraid of hurting them. They stayed there for a while just enjoying each other's presence.
"Why would you guys want me? I mean all I did was shoot you and boss you around and…" once again Anna gets cut off:
"First of all you didn't shoot us nearly as much as what I did to those two when I first met them" Lance chuckled gesturing to Matt and Natalie "Wasn't just bullets too, I fired tank shells, napalm, ran them over and even launched nukes and Ion cannoned them! Not to mention that how I tried to create a new world by destroying the old one, trust me when it comes to being an asshole you don't even come close" Lance smirked. "I almost succeeded too but after I met these two they destroyed my beautiful Valkyrie and that's when I finally managed to realise that perhaps I was being a little too extreme. We became friends after that. We're more than friends now we're practically family and Anna you're a part of us now whether you like it or not" Lance's voice slowly softened until it was barely a whisper.
"Come on Anna we just beat Godcat, now's the time for celebration not stupid comments, leave the stupidity for the guys" Natalie finally pulled away and her tears stopped flowing. Her sad frown was replaced by a lovely radiant smile, seeming to light up the entire temple. Natalie, the Light/Queen of the party shows itself.
"You know, I'm hungry let's get some pizza, we could do with some complete health and mana regeneration" Matt decreed, beckoning the party to follow him to the king slime bunny. Matt the Meatshield/Glutton sprinted forth.
"Ok let's go back to Greenwood then" Anna said starting to return to her normal assertive self and quickly trudged in front of Matt, picking up flowers and cuddling bushes along the way. Anna the Nature Girl/Minority giggled.
"Stop staring at my boobs Lance let's go" Natalie teased.
"Say what now? Uhm, uh you know we're just going to get attacked again right?" Lance looked up from his Dark Blaster which he was examining for damage. Lance the Pessimist/Socially Awkward With Women blushed.
"Nothing come on", Natalie giggled and pulled them both towards the waiting slime bunny.
Lance was surprised, Natalie had never acted so warmly to him before, maybe that holy beam from the Creator damaged her mentally?
"Back home then" said Anna wistfully.
"Sure, there's bound to be food there and we can maybe buy some swords"
"Or we could get some civilised weaponry like some guns"
"We can go shopping for more clothes there Anna!"
The green haired ranger smiled, yes this was where she belonged, finally letting go of her insecurities, she reached over to the slime bunny and said:
"Greenwood Village" and the four teleported away, leaving the ancient ruins behind.
"Oh man this is some good pizza" Matt mumbled with a full mouth.
The other three rolled their eyes and thought about how much the mountain of pizza was worth. Considering each slice was around 10,000 gold it wasn't a small number but then they had saved the world so why not?
Each of them sat there silently (except for sounds of eating) just enjoying each others company. Lance for the first time since the battle observed his teammates:
Matt still had Heaven's Gate equipped from the final Cleave against the Destroyer, he was wearing his trademark pirate hat and a black ninja suit. Natalie had the Seraphim staff, both wings slightly burnt but still shining. She also had the Pope's dress and the Pope's hat on. Anna was wearing her black Dark gown which she paired with her Black widow bow and Cat Ears on her head. All three looked battle worn but content and then Lance stared down into a shard of ice which was lying on the floor showing his reflection. He had his black officers hat and jacket on, swastikas having being taken off and replaced with iron crosses and God's Hand slung on his back. For once he was smiling like the others. It felt good as he sat there contemplating, lost in his own world thinking about the future but it wasn't long before his teammates came up with a plan of action.
"Come on Lance!" Anna yelled in his ear and dragged him towards the waiting slime cat. Before he could respond the party had appeared in Battle Mountain.
"Ok we're going left" Matt decreed and the others followed. The first thing the party saw was what looked like their friend the Mighty Oak except it was loaded with armour and had a hand cannon. Its whole body and head was just a big metal cube with a slit for his green eyes shining through and a mouth with metal teeth fitting together like those of a skull do. Its right had a metal ram on it which looked lethal and the moment it saw them it moved to engage, obviously hostile. Natalie on reflex released a scanbot to analyse the new enemy.
"Armoured Oak and its weak to Earth, Poison and Dark damage" Natalie called out to the rest of the party.
"Alright let's do this!" Matt charged ahead changing his sword to the Gash Club and hit the ground, causing the giant sword of Cataclysm to appear under and impale the Oak.
Lance followed suit except he didn't bother changing his Shadow Blaster since it was dark element and fired antimatter at the giant tree. Natalie opted to defend the party and casted barrier while Anna thought it was a good time to use reflex, giving them a better chance to dodge the oncoming attacks.
The Oak's right arm shot out on a chain and hit Matt in the chest knocking him backward and quickly followed up with a cannon blast from its left, hitting Matt again, knocking his hp down to around 20% and staggering him. Matt of course only used this to fuel his anger and he raised his club to the air in preparation for his signature move: 'Cleaver'. The club flashed and Matt ran forth swinging his sword in overhead arc which quickly transitioned into his five hit combo making the air where his sword had been flash red with power with each of the strikes causing the Armoured Oak to lose about 5% of its hp. Lance fired on the Armoured Oak with a full six round Unload barrage causing his gun to overheat and become less effective temporarily. Natalie took the chance to heal Matt back up and Anna just snapped a triple shot off into the mockery of her friend. The battle went on for another five minutes with pretty much the same thing happening: Matt swinging wildly, Natalie healing the party, Anna supporting the party with Reflex and Guardian while sneaking in Combo Shots and Gaia Blossoms and Lance going all out with Antimatter, Unload and the occasional poison gas. They had reduced the Oak to about 40% of its health when Lance suddenly stopped and defended instead of continuing his all out offensive, he had a feeling something was wrong.
"Guy's brace yourselves, something big is going to happen" Lance told the others, his red eyes narrowing.
"Lance look low he is, I ain't defending!" Matt continued to slash away.
"I agree with you but I have to heal the party Lance" Natalie said as she used Heal More to heal the whole party.
"Can't be that bad" Anna smirked and snapped off another triple shot.
Famous last words. The Amoured Oak this time instead of hitting them physically, opened its metal mouth where ten giant silver cannons jutted out, all of them pointing at them as they started glowing orange.
"Oh shii-" Matt fell after being struck by three shells.
"Eeee!" squealed Natalie as she too crumbled under the onslaught.
"For the love of-" the same fate befell Anna.
Lance, since he had defended only took half as much damage as what the other three did but even so he was almost killed too. His Limit Break bar was only about half full and he knew he was screwed. They were going to die to an overgrown tree after they had 'defeated' Godcat herself. How humiliating. Looking at his fallen friends, his eyes lingered on Natalie and pain filled his heart. He knew that if she died a part of him would die with her, a world without the red haired mage was a world where they where the party dissipated because it lost the only thing holding it together but more importantly a world where his outside image of being a socially awkward idiot would no longer be put on, it would become a reality. She was the one that had given him hope for the broken world and somewhere along the line grew his heart until she was no longer just a friend. His eyes moved to Matt, the stupid swordsman that warmed his previously cold heart and restored his humanity. They had grown close through their laughter and joking and he would be sorely missed. Lance's eyes then drifted to Anna, she was abusive, disagreeing and violent but even so he still cared for her deeply, facing god together would do that to you.
Despite the situation he laughed a little to himself, these weren't just anyone. They were the family that he had never known, and he would never forgive those that harmed his family. With that thought as if by divine intervention, a symbol appeared floating in front of him. It was the symbol of sacrifice which he wasn't meant to be able ever have access to. Something told him that this was his last chance. This powerful sigil that required his death to activate. The only chance to save those lying on the ground.
"You harmed them. Now you'll pay" he gritted his teeth as he grabbed the symbol and loaded it into his Gunblade. A black swirling vortex formed around him and the sky itself turned to black. Pointing the pulsing rifle at the Oak and donning his scanner he took one last look at Natalie before diving underneath the Oak, aiming upwards and pulling the trigger. A huge beam of darkness scythed straight through the Oak, bisecting it with a horrific creak. As the two halves of the Oak started to fall the most horrendous pain imaginable shot through his body like getting run through by ten Blades of Hell. He was dying. Every inch of his body was straining and burning up. Lance in his final moments of coherent thought threw a coffee onto Natalie and with this accomplished he collapsed, Natalie's shocked face filling his vision as it went dark.
Natalie
Damn it I knew I shouldn't have followed Matt's example blindly, dying always sucks and this time it sucks even more because I know the chances of us winning the fight are virtually zero. Lance was the only one who had the sense to defend so he's probably the one that's just resurrected me. I wonder where he found a turn to do that? I mean surely the Oak would just kill us both on the next turn right? Well nothing for it, I've returned to my body now. Time to open my eyes.
It's bright, so freaking bright just like every other time I've died. It only lasts a few seconds though and I quickly regain my vision. Oh god, what the hell happened? The Armoured Oak is lying in a destroyed heap, bisected down the middle by, assuming from the chunk missing, something that was about a metre wide. While I know Lance is an extremely capable magic and physical damage dealer I still find it hard to believe he did that. Getting onto my feet, I notice him finally. His red eyes giving one last relieved look before flickering and fading as his body topples over. His Gunblade is emitting a hellish light and his body looks like it went through ten rounds with both Godcats. The only way such wounds could ever be achieved would be Sacrifice which shouldn't be possible because it's not a skill that Lance can learn.
Even if he could why would Lance go to those lengths to save us? Sacrifice is the most painful way to die and I never thought anyone would willingly go through with it. All of those thoughts flash through my head in less then a second and I explode into action. Picking up Seraphim I put my hands to my chest in a prayer and cast Genesis to revive the whole party. The giant holy cross with wings appears and it grows, grows until it's visible from the space and then it explodes in holy energy.
"Ugh I almost made it to the light at the end of the tunnel that time" Matt groaned.
"Did you miss me?" Anna chirped. Lance hasn't made a sound. Cold ice fills my heart and I can feel my head start to swim. This couldn't be how our fight ends, with the ACTUAL death of a comrade who just saved our lives. That isn't how the story goes, the story is that everyone is ok and the whole party continues on to the next fight refreshed, not this. No. I refuse. Normally I can only cast Genesis after taking a large amount of damage because using it multiple times would likely burn me out. I don't care his time. This time it's different. Lance's life is on the line because of me and like hell I'm going to let it go. The cross of Genesis appears again except this time it's focused only on Lance and it's bigger than it's ever been.
"Natz what are you doing?" Matt stared.
"That skill is induced by pain, did you drink our last chilly bottle?" Anna asked.
I don't answer either question and just continue focusing my energy into the cross. Slowly the dark magic starts to recede and Lance's breathing returns fast, ragged and somewhat painfully but it returns. I finally let go of the breath I was holding and my heart starts to warm up again. I pop a heal on Lance and it seemed to do the trick, his breathing is normal now appears to just be asleep. He's safe. Seeing Lance's complexion return to normal flushes the adrenaline out of my body and my energy expenditure catches up to me. The world starts fazing out around me and the last thing I know is that I'm falling over...
"Looks like Lance sacrificed himself for us" Anna whispered to Matt.
"Yeah" Matt looked down with an undecipherable expression on his face.
"We should let them have some rest, they deserve that at least" Anna said walking away.
Matt for once looked like he was deep in thought and after a minute he followed Anna into the bushes, leaving Natalie and Lance lying side by side. Unconsciously Lance placed his arm around Natalie's still body on top of him clutching her closer as the night began to fall.