August 31, 2015
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Dust II: Elysian Kingdom
Chapter 9 — Oil and Water
As if on queue, Dust made the first move, pouncing forward and upwards to land on the stage and slash Ahrah at Mirage, but she quickly parried the strike with her own blade, much to Dust's surprise. She pushed back with great strength, causing Dust to slightly slide off his footing and bounce away from her, landing on the floor below the stage again.
"Dust," Ahrah spoke up. "That dagger is without a doubt one of the other Blades of Elysium. But her consciousness seems to be lying dormant; I can't communicate with her."
"Wait, are you saying that every Blade of Elysium can talk just like you?"
"Indeed. The Blades are like my brothers and sisters, and we share a kind of bond that I have to protect."
"I understand," Dust confirmed as he took an aggressive stance yet again. "Mirage, I don't want to hurt you, but I will fight you if you won't give up willingly."
The dancer glared at him and laughed. "Give up? Willingly? Where would be the fun in that?!"
Mirage suddenly propelled forward off the stage, her arms held parallel in front of her and holding her weapon back, with small streams of water trailing behind her. Dust attempted to block her strike as she slashed her arms open and made contact with Ahrah with her own blade, but it hooked onto Ahrah's edge and pulled Dust sideways off of his balance, and off his guard. He bounced backwards away from Mirage immediately after in order to avoid getting hit by her body's eventual impact. She touched down on the floor, shaking off her failed attack by spinning around gracefully, the streams of water following her movement.
Setting her sights back on Dust, Mirage lunged forward again, but this time the water rushed violently and her blade was held right in front of her, preparing a different method of attack. Dust defended yet again, but she changed her stance at the last second, stabbing the dagger forward into Ahrah which commanded the torrents of water to gain momentum, bend around the sentient sword, and slam into Dust's chest, knocking him backwards several feet into the wall. He slid down to the floor right after, exhausted. Dust gritted his teeth and looked up, seeing Mirage just staring him down from across the room. The dark aura emanating from her weapon flared up more than before.
"Ugh.. What is going on with me?"
"Concentrate, Dust. Your skills may be a little rusty from your regeneration," Ahrah observed. "Remember our confrontations with Lady Tethys and Baron Kane? Just as we were able to quell their inner darkness and anger, I should be able to do the same with Mirage as I make contact with her weapon or herself."
Dust slowly got up from the floor, slightly leaning against the wall. "Sounds like a plan.. It's just the problem is that damn water; how is she controlling it like that?"
"..Of course," Ahrah realized. "That dagger must be the Blade of Evah. She is known to grant her wielder power over water, just as I give you power over wind. Each Blade of Elysium grants its bearer an element."
"That sounds juuust great," Dust responded sarcastically. Regaining more strength, he stood straight up as he held Ahrah firmly in front of him. "Alright, better fight water with wind."
Mirage finally broke her silence. "Aw c'mon, is that all the mighty Sen-Mithrarin has to showcase?"
He readied his next attack, which Mirage sensed and prepared her own to counteract his. He held Ahrah back on his side, and she leapt towards him just as she did before but with even more rushing streams of water and a more violent aura around Evah's blade. However, Dust was confident. "You haven't seen anything."
Before Mirage could land a strike on him, Dust moved Ahrah stylishly in a rush of slashes, sending multiple gusts of wind out in Mirage's direction, both disbanding the water strands and stopping Mirage mid-air, sending her backwards and down to the floor, sliding across it until she nearly hit the base of the stage.
"Ha.. h-haha, that's more like it," the dancer whispered while lifting herself up, straining her body as she leaned over sideways and got up. But when she looked back in Dust's direction, he was already dashing towards her for another encounter. She hastily lifted Evah in front of her to block his attack, and he struck directly with Ahrah just as she expected. The blow brushed away and dissipated a chunk of Evah's dark aura, calming it a bit, just as Ahrah said.
Dust pushed backwards off of Mirage's guard and landed in front of her. "Defending won't do you any good, Mirage. I'm not trying to kill you, I'm trying to save you."
"Save me..? From what? You just keep saying all these weird things, stop it!"
Ignoring her command, Dust's look became stern. "Mirage.. You're being corrupted by some unknown force. Don't you see that aura around your dagger? That's one of the Blades of Elysium, Evah. I need to know where and how you got it; it's a very important artifact."
"I.. I don't believe you!" Mirage yelled. "This dagger has been passed down in my family for generations.. a-and.. I won't let you take it from me!"
"What?" Ahrah began, surprised. "That's not possible; the remaining four Blades of Elysium have been lost before even your parents were-"
Mirage then loudly interrupted, "Don't you dare talk about my parents!"
For some reason, that comment ignited a fire inside Mirage's soul, causing her following actions to become fueled by that sudden rage. She lunged at Dust with Evah pointed straight forward at the end of her extended arm. He defended once again, as Evah came in contact with Ahrah, but Mirage then shifted her attack into a series of reckless slashes against Ahrah, catching Dust off guard. He clenched his fists tightly around Ahrah and gritted his teeth in reaction to Mirage's surprising burst of aggression, sparks flying right in front of him.
Dust became more annoyed and exhausted. "Why won't you listen to me, Mirage?!"
"Why should I?!" She screamed over him and her own strikes. "Everything was fine until you and your weird talking sword showed up! And I thought I could have a chance with you.. J-Just get out!"
As her onslaught continued, Dust felt himself reaching his breaking point, and he knew Ahrah probably wasn't taking her hits well either. His frustration rising, he analyzed Mirage's movements for a moment, then, all in quick succession, he moved his body back just slightly to be out of hit range, flipped Ahrah in a downwards arc, and swiped the blade through an opening in Mirage's flurry of attacks, hitting her directly in the abdomen while tearing into her clothing. The blow catapulted her across the room for the last time, her screams resonating through the hall as she painfully landed on the floor near the back corner of the room, visibly defeated. A final cloud of dark aura flowed out of her Blade of Elysium and gradually disappeared as it lifted up to the ceiling.
Staring and shaking in awe at what he had just done, Dust immediately became concerned, his Jin half coming through in full force. "..Mirage!"
He released Ahrah from his grip and ran over to her as fast as he could. She was just laying there with her eyes closed, breathing heavily. Evah was on the ground a few feet away, without any aura surrounding her. Dust noticed that Mirage had no wound from where he struck her; the strange energy must've shielded any intentional physical attack inflicted on her body. He kneeled down and held her head in his hands.
"Mirage.. Can you hear me?"
"..That's not my name," she said quietly a few moments later, as she strained to open her eyes and look up at Dust. He looked into them, both relieved and confused.
"It's not? Then what's your real name? And why do you call yourself that?"
She turned her head back down to the side. "Nadia is my birth name.. Mirage is just a stage name. I became the manager and lead dancer here, after.."
"..A-After," she stuttered, covering her face with her hands. She made a faint sniffing sound, and when she slowly removed her hands, Dust noticed she had tears welling up in her eyes.
"What happened, Nadia?" Dust asked compassionately.
The dancer nervously looked back at him. "After my parents passed away a few years ago. M-My father was killed in a Warmblood-Moonblood battle that came through this village.. and.. my mom d-died not long after that," she explained, trailing off at the end which transitioned into loud sobbing. Dust was taken by surprise, but he held her closer and she turned her head towards his chest, tears flowing down her face.
"Shh," Dust whispered, comforting her as he rubbed her head softly. "It's okay, I understand how you're feeling."
Nadia sniffed and looked back up at him, wiping away some of the tears. "..You do?"
"Sort of," Dust began. "I.. know someone whose parents were killed-"
"Jin?"
He was shocked she had heard the name, though he was thinking of Ginger. "You know about him?"
"Of course," she responded. "He's part of your legend; it's widely known."
Pondering for a minute, Dust sat down, still holding the girl's head. "Can I ask you some important questions, Nadia?"
"Sure, it's.. the least I could to do say sorry for everything," she said as she finally got up, sitting across from Dust.
"Thank you. First off, where did you get that dagger? It's one of the Blades of Elysium that belongs to the Moonbloods and has been lost for over 200 years.."
"I.. I can't remember. As long as I can think back, I've had it since I became manager of the hotel. It's just been in my family from when my parents were alive," Nadia answered, scratching her head.
Dust shook his head, confused. "That makes no sense.. Something's not right. Ahrah, do you have any ideas?"
"I'm not completely sure, but I have a theory," Ahrah began, Nadia looking on in awe as the sword spoke. "Nadia not remembering events, what we know and what she's saying not lining up; it's possible that the strange aura that came from Evah causes memory loss, and perhaps even.. memory alteration."
Something in Dust's mind clicked. "That's it! Remember when Nadia said she drained the negative energy out from the guests and released it into Aura? That would explain why that angry villager or the door attendant didn't recognize me; that energy must've caused their memories of me to be erased or altered, as well as Nadia's memories related to Evah's origins. But it doesn't explain where that dark aura even came from. Maybe Evah was corrupted somehow, which is why you couldn't communicate with her?"
"Can't communicate," the sentient blade corrected. "I'm failing to make contact with her presence even now."
Dust and Nadia looked over at the dagger that was lying not too far away. Dust walked over to it and picked it up, feeling no energy reacting to his touch.
Ahrah observed, "Her consciousness must still be dormant. Perhaps the Elder knows how to reawaken her."
"I sure hope so." Turning to Nadia again, Dust questioned, "Do you.. remember how you learned to take the negative energy out of people? That's quite a skill."
The girl seemed puzzled again as she got up and walked towards Dust. "It just came naturally.. It was as if that's what I was meant to do. Even though now I feel really bad about it."
"Is it possible you were being mind-controlled..? This whole thing is really crazy."
She thought for a second. "Maybe, I-I just wish I could remember.."
"It's alright, you've been through a lot," Dust said as he hugged her tight. After letting go, he held up Evah, asking politely, "Um, you don't mind if we take this with us, do you?"
"Not at all, if what you're saying is true, then it really belongs to you," the dancer answered. "Sorry I'm not much help, but I'll send a message over to you guys in Aurora if I do end up remembering anything important."
Dust looked at her and smiled. "Thanks a lot, Nadia. Hopefully everything here goes back to normal soon."
The girl smiled back at him, and shyly kissed him on the cheek.
"..Thanks for saving me."
It was past midnight, almost into the early morning. Back upstairs in the hotel room, Dust nudged at the Nimbat as she was still sound asleep in her bed.
"Fidget? Fidget.."
She mumbled quietly, "N-No, Dust.. that doll's freakin' creepy.."
Dust chuckled to himself, before quickly lifting the covers up from the bed, causing Fidget to roll off onto the floor.
"What who where?!"
"Fidget, it's just me, calm down," Dust answered, trying not to laugh over his words.
She seemed playfully angry. "Why did you wake me up? These beds are like heaven!"
"It's a long story-"
The Nimbat gasped. "Was there a FIGHT? ..And I missed it?!"
"Yes, and yes. C'mon, I'll tell you on the way back to Aurora. We should be able to make it there before noon."
"Do we have to go noooooow? It's so early.."
"Yeeees, Fidget. We have important information and evidence for the Elder," Dust explained, presenting Evah to her.
Fidget's eyes lit up as she stared at the dagger. "Woah! It looks just like Ahrah!"
"Exactly," Dust began. "She's another one of the Blades of Elysium, Evah."
"Wow.." Fidget said in awe, poking the dagger's surface with her tiny paw. "Um, isn't it supposed to talk like Ahrah too?"
Dust lifted Evah back up. "Yeah, we think her consciousness is somehow lying dormant. Now let's get back to the palace."
"Alriiiight," Fidget agreed lazily, before flying up and landing on top of Dust's head. "But I'm laying up here until we get there, I need my beauty rest."
"Oh, of course," Dust responded sarcastically, as he stepped out of the room.
Walking down the stairs to the front of the foyer and opening the front doors, he finally checked out of Hotel Clarity.
[MAN. Finally got this chapter done. I think the reason it took so long was, there was a lot of details and plot-related things that I knew I had to put in this chapter, and it was kinda hard to think about which points I had to reveal and which I still had to keep secret (and I still think I might be forgetting some LOL). Also fight scenes are harder to write than I thought pfff. BUT I am pretty satisfied with how this one came out regardless, hopefully the next one gets done quicker c:]
