A/N: As you can see by the scroll-bar, this is a long chapter but a lot happens here and this is where the plot hits its turning point and starts kicking into high-gear. I have line breaks inside the chapter if you hit a point where you have to pause before finishing.
On fire with the maple trees,
On my knees with these leaves on these Boston streets
Praying to a God a godforsaken summer night stole
One night, one fight, one family swallowed whole.
Some things just fall apart
Some families stand like November trees: barren and stark.
Some things just fall apart
Some memories continue breaking this cold heart
…
Highways home become oceans that I just can't swim
And the rusty gates of Eden lock to never let me in.
Have Heart - Hard Bark on the Family Tree
Chapter 9 - By a Thread
A few days later:
Bathory and Negati were sitting on the couch, looking down at a collection of drawings that were covering the short table in front of them. They were rough sketches outlining and detailing what looked to be a cannon of some type. On several drawings, certain parts of the shape were circled or highlighted, and these parts were what the two mages were focusing on. After some conversation, Bathory gathered the sheets into a pile and rolled them up under his arm. He and Negati got up to leave when Arin opened the front door from the other side, coming back from whatever errands he was running.
"Oh, Arin, hey," said Bathory. The other man stepped into the house and paused, looking at the other two.
"Were you both waiting for me?" he asked.
"Oh, no, no, we were heading out," said Negati.
"Where?"
"Oh, just one of those internal TSAB sessions," said Bathory. "There's some equipment to test, and also in case there are any new upgrades or spells someone wants to try out."
"What Bathory is implying," said Negati, "is that he's got something new we're going to show off."
Bathory held the device form of Aphelion in his hand and looked down at it. Arin also followed his gaze to the dark green gem.
"Are you expecting to engage in combat soon?" he asked.
"No," said Bathory. "I mean, this is something that's just been on my mind recently, and Aphelion and I want to see if it's possible."
Arin remained in place, though he looked back up at the other two.
"Who will be in attendance?"
"Umm…" said Negati, "Well, this isn't really a public event but you're invited, if that's what you're asking."
"Administrative personnel," clarified Arin. "What of them?"
Bathory was a bit confused. Arin was being fairly forward about this.
"Probably some groups, you know, from a couple divisions. A few supervisors, obviously-"
"What about the Captain?" asked Arin, interrupting Bathory.
Negati also was a bit hesitant to speak, her eyes darting back and forth between Bathory's and Arin's a few times.
"Y…yeah, maybe. Maybe for a part of it. Why? You wanna talk to her again?"
This answer seemed to satisfy Arin. He stepped out of the way, responding as he did.
"I would not have any updates for her at the moment."
He took his shoes off, and the other two took this as a sign that he was staying home. As Bathory opened the door to head through, he paused and looked back at his friend.
"Well, if you change your mind, like we said, you're invited. Otherwise, see you later."
He and Negati walked outside and he shut the door. To the muffled sound of footsteps heading off the porch, Arin sat down and put his hands together. He began to think, first silently and then out loud, detailing his thoughts to his device.
"The Captain may be there, as well as a representation of officers. As I stated, conversations with her will go nowhere as I have not made further progress on monitoring Izah Lumiere, and Izah has not made further public appearances past our initial meeting. From the records held by the TSAB, Izah appears delayed in her reintegration, and the Captain expressed an interest in seeing her."
Arin reached in his pocket and pulled the grey gem out, holding his device and looking down at it.
"Retrigal, what if I made that happen?"
The gem pulsed with dim lights as it spoke.
[YOU ARE IMAGINING THE BENEFITS OF TAKING ACTION AT THIS INSTANCE]
"Yes, I am. If I do nothing, then nothing will get done. If I wait, I may not have such an opportunity in the near future. I will bring Izah to the Captain and accelerate her reintegration myself. Surely that will be worth something in the Captain's eyes."
Arin stood up, motivated to put his plan into effect immediately. However, Retrigal began to pulse again, and its master paused to listen.
[YOU ARE MAKING THE ASSUMPTION THAT SHE WILL AGREE TO ACCOMPANY YOU – WHAT WILL YOU DO IF SHE DOES NOT]
Arin stared at the gem for a couple seconds and then squeezed his hand around it.
"She will agree to it. I know she will."
Without further discussion, Arin prepared to leave and then headed out, taking the second car. He remembered the location of the Lumiere household and soon he was taking the familiar route. It was daytime, and the activity on the sidewalks and front lawns contrasted with his drive from several nights ago. Though, like with that trip, he eventually headed away from the busier elements of the city until the shops turned to houses and the houses became more distant from each other. He knew the landmarks from before and he followed the familiar roads until he was driving up to the Lumiere house and parking next to the beaten-up white van that didn't seem like it had even been moved since last time he was here.
He got out of the car, shut the door, and walked up to the front door. There was no pause, no time spent thinking about what to say or how to say it. It was obvious to him.
He knocked on the door and waited. After a couple seconds, he heard activity on the other side and the door opened slightly, just enough for someone to poke their head through.
Arin's eyes drifted downwards as the younger brother of Izah was on the other side of the entryway. They immediately were locked in a staring match. Vaele obviously wasn't freaking out just upon glancing at Arin but he wasn't giving the warmest reception either. Finally, the boy responded.
"…oh. What do you want?"
"I am here to speak with Izah. Will you let me in?"
Vaele broke eye contact and looked over to the side.
"Um…Asana?" he asked. "Is…is Izah-"
He was cut off by another voice and what sounded like mad dashing across the floor.
"It's him, isn't it!"
Asana slid into view in her human form, standing behind Vaele and leaning slightly over him to address the visitor. She didn't seem happy. Her ears were perked back and she glared at the man.
"You! Are you just going to show up whenever you feel like it?"
"I am here to discuss a matter with your master."
"I don't think you should get to see Miss Izah after the last time you were here."
Further back in the house, there was the sound of a door opening up and someone walking across the carpeted floor.
"I'm up, I'm up," muttered Izah. "Who is it?"
She stopped behind Asana, her head peeking over her familiar's, and she grabbed the door, pulling it open more for their guest. She paused, though, when she saw who it was, and then she slowly pushed the door partly shut again. She wasn't as angry as Asana was, but she definitely wasn't happy about seeing the unexpected guest either.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"The TSAB is currently holding an exercise. I believe it would be in our best interests if you made an appearance."
Izah sighed.
"Whatever. I'll think about it. Bye."
She went to shut the door but Arin stuck his foot in the doorway, blocking her attempt. He never broke eye contact with the air mage. When she resumed glaring at him, he continued.
"You can travel with me to the event, where you will make various small talk with our commanding officer before returning to your home."
"Or?" asked Izah.
"We both know plainly what will happen otherwise. I will voice my concerns about your behavior and that more is going on behind what you showed to us. Instead of a conversation you may be able to prepare for, more Bureau officers will be knocking unexpectedly on your door, as I am doing now. For your sake as well as mine, Izah, open the door."
They continued staring at each other. Asana also glared daggers at the tall mage while Vaele looked up at his sister, confused. He didn't know what Arin was talking about – he wasn't there when Arin revealed his original leverage. Soon, Izah began to shake, and she shut her eyes tightly. Then, she backed off and opened the door.
"Very well. G...give me a minute."
She walked off to go to her room and clean up. She looked like a mess and she knew she would probably continue looking like one, but she would have to try and hide that as much as she could.
Arin took a step into the house, watching Izah head to her room. When she shut her bedroom door behind her, Arin's gaze drifted over to the other two, who had moved to the side to let him in. Asana still looked unhappy, and she bared her teeth in defiance. Again, Vaele seemed confused.
"Asana," he asked telepathically, "what's wrong? Why did he say that? Why are you and Izah like that?"
"Because," replied Asana telepathically as well, "he knows. He knows something about Miss Izah's condition."
"What? How? How much?"
"I don't know. Miss Izah doesn't know. But it's enough."
Vaele understood, and he also got angry. He shot back to face Arin.
"Whatever you're making her do, I'm going with."
Arin looked down at the younger boy.
"This matter only concerns your sister – you do not need to get involved."
"I don't care. I'm coming with."
"We both are," said Asana. "We won't let you lay a finger on Miss Izah."
Arin shrugged.
"Very well."
In Izah's room, she picked up clothes from the scattered mess on her floor that would work better for a public appearance. She placed the standby form of her device in her pocket and put on a light jacket over her shirt. After changing, she went to leave her room, but she practically froze in place as a thought came to her mind. She was fine now, but depending on her stress levels and depending on the time this would take, she might start to hurt. The effects of going too long without her medication might appear. It would be awful for that to happen while in company – especially with how much she needed to hide it. No one could figure out her dependency.
Her eyes darted down to the unlabeled medicine bottle by her bed, sloppily hidden by the corner of a blanket. It hit her suddenly that she was going to be in a much more uncomfortable situation than she'd so far had to face on this planet. A bunch of thoughts started running through her head, like a floodgate had been opened. Did she need her pills? Did she need to bring them? How many did she need? Why couldn't she just stop? How obvious would it be? How well could she deal with them? How would she possibly deal without them?
Rapidly, she rushed to the bed and dropped to the floor, reaching for the bottle. She grabbed it and twisted off the cap then poured the contents into her hand. Due to the frantic nature of her actions, a couple pills dropped from her palm down to the floor, but she didn't pay attention. She looked at the gathering that was in her hand. Even though she only needed one at a time, just seeing her supply made her feel more relieved. And even in her current, more lucid state, if she was that nervous at the thought of separating from the pills and this relieved at just knowing they were there, she knew she had to bring them with her.
Letting out a deep sigh, Izah turned her hand and dropped the pills back into the bottle. She put a cotton ball in the bottle as well to reduce the noise, then reached for the cap and closed it tightly again. She stood up, placing the small bottle in her pocket where she hoped no one would notice it. She finally left the room, with a few small pills still laying on the floor where she had dropped them.
She walked back to the front door and stood in front of Arin. With a resigned sigh and one last quick run of her hand through her hair, she spoke to the man.
"Alright then. Let's get going."
Arin nodded, and stepped back through the door, turning to walk toward the car. Asana and Vaele looked up at Izah.
"Don't worry, Miss Izah, we'll be with you," said her familiar.
"Yeah," said Vaele, "if he tries to do anything stupid, I've got your back."
Izah smiled.
"Well, it sounds like we might just have to fake it for a little bit. But still, Asana, Vaele, thank you."
The two returned her smile, and the pleasant mood lasted for a few steps as they left the house. But as they got closer to Arin and his car, their smiles faded and they simply responded with reserved silence. Izah got in the front passenger seat, and Asana and Vaele got in the back seat. Silent as well, Arin started the car and turned it around, heading out the way he came. Izah, Asana, and Vaele all looked out their respective windows, too uncomfortable to say anything. It was a strange feeling, being basically kidnapped to do as this strange emotionless man wills them to do. Even though they got to sit freely rather than lay tied up in the trunk, it was still a very disturbing, uncomfortable, even scary feeling.
Arin pulled out Retrigal and spoke.
"Retrigal, contact Bathory."
[CONTACTING]
A screen appeared, facing towards Arin from the side. None of the other passengers in the car were visible. After a few seconds, Bathory's face filled up the screen as he answered.
"Hey, Arin, what's up?"
"Have you confirmed the Captain's presence at your event?"
"Yeah, yeah, Eratarka's here. You want me to bring this over to her?"
"No. I will be there myself shortly. Though, let her know that I will have somebody of interest along with me."
Bathory smiled lightly at the strange statement.
"Alright. Uhh, see you in a bit."
Arin nodded and ended the call.
After a nearly-silent drive that seemed to take much longer than it actually did, Arin arrived at the Nemelendelle Bureau headquarters and parked near the entrance to the training area. He got out, and he stood sternly as his passengers did the same and grouped back together. Izah and Asana looked away from everyone else, a crestfallen look on their faces. The parking lot and Bureau building reminded Vaele of what happened here several days ago and he also seemed hesitant and buried in his own head.
Arin looked at Izah.
"I have prepared you with what you needed to know for the current situation. Please try to appear as if you are excited to be here. I do not wish to appear the arbitrator here, as if I am a prison guard."
Izah chuckled harshly, spitting out her response.
"You'd make a pretty good one."
"Insult taken. We shall get moving now."
Arin led the way, pressing off toward the building while the other three hesitantly followed behind him. As Izah continued staring mostly at the ground, Asana reached over and put her arm around Izah's, holding it tightly.
"Don't worry Miss Izah, Vaele and I won't let anything happen to you."
Izah's hand gripped her device tightly in her pocket.
"And what if I end up blasting this guy into next week?" she asked through clenched teeth.
Asana laughed softly, though her eyebrows furrowed and her response sounded more resigned than she intended it to be.
"It wouldn't be nice to cause a scene, Miss Izah…"
They reached the building, and the automatic doors opened up into the large room. On the other side of the room, there was collection of mages gathered together near the open side of the constructible arena. Most of the people were participants in whatever activity was going on and as such wore basic attire – shirts, shorts, athletic shoes – instead of their official uniforms. There were a few who were in uniform, though, including a woman near the foreground of the group with purple hair, tied high in a single ponytail that fell in several thick, wavy sections down to her back. She was currently engaged in a conversation with two others that Izah remembered from the Bureau visit that Arin was a part of. They were the other two in that party – Bathory and Negati, if she remembered right.
As Arin led the group closer to the action, the three mages in front of them noticed the group and looked over. Bathory had been speaking to Eratarka, but when he recognized who was alongside Arin, he stopped, almost mid-word, and turned to face the group.
"Wow," he said smiling, "I did not think that they would be the surprise you mentioned."
As the new arrivals got close, Eratarka stepped forward, her eyes focused on Izah. Arin stepped to the side and Eratarka held out her hand.
"Izah Lumiere," she said, "I don't believe we have spoken yet."
Izah finally released her grip on her device and put on her façade of pleasantry. She smiled as well, completing the handshake and speaking lightly.
"No, we haven't, um…"
"Captain Eratarka, current acting Captain of the Nemelendelle Bureau. I have heard so much about you, and I was wondering when we would finally meet."
Izah laughed softly.
"Yes, I, uhh, I've heard about that when I spoke to the group here."
To the side of the conversation, Bathory walked up next to Arin and lightly tapped him on the arm a couple times with the side of a fist.
"Look at you, man – getting those brownie points. Good stuff."
Izah expected the private conversation to last longer, but Eratarka grabbed Izah's arm and turned around, pulling the air mage forward and addressing the rest of the group at the session.
"Attention!" she yelled. "Everyone, I have an announcement."
The group, which had been somewhat scattered into several pockets all conversing within their own bobbles, all went silent and turned to face the Captain. With her audience now attentive, Eratarka addressed them again.
"Well, it looks like we have a special guest joining us today. She may look unfamiliar to a lot of you – or maybe all of you – but she has been working quietly since she arrived here to come back to the Bureau and help us out here on Nemelendelle."
Eratarka turned to face Izah.
"Do you want to introduce yourself? If needed, I think I could do it well enough."
Izah sighed and stepped forward. She wasn't expecting to give a speech or anything and she nervously brushed some of her light orange hair off the side of her face with her hand.
"Umm, hi everyone, my name is Izah Lumiere. I…uh, I'm from the planet Amber, if you know that world, but I'm here, right now, on this planet, obviously."
Asana rushed up to stand alongside her master. Again, she wrapped her arms around one of Izah's, gripping it tightly. Her ears twitched as well as her tail, and she sounded genuinely excited.
"And I'm Asana!" she cried happily. "Good to meet you."
Izah coughed nervously and looked at the fox girl.
"Yeah, and this is my familiar, Asana."
Eratarka nodded, but soon she took over again.
"But there is something very special about Ms. Lumiere, and that is why we are very excited to get her help. Izah, you are…?"
Izah faced Eratarka again. The Captain looked on with an anticipating expression, obviously expecting Izah to finish the sentence herself. Izah knew exactly what the crowd was wanting to hear, and with another sigh, she obliged.
"I'm…I'm a Triple-A air mage."
There were murmurs among the crowd, excited but subdued at the same time. Izah looked away nervously from the group, staring out at the wall to her side. It was crazy, she thought. Before her injury, she would have reveled in the attention, absolutely loved it, but now she was almost embarrassed. They'd all get ideas. Questions. Expectations. Things she knew she couldn't answer or meet, and didn't want to in the first place.
Dammit, why didn't she just stand her ground and remove that bullish freak from her door earlier? Why did she give in to this and follow along with his wishes like a slave?
A firm hand slamming down on her shoulder tore her back to the present and almost made her shudder. It was Eratarka's hand, and the Captain finished addressing the crowd.
"So, I think soon we will be seeing more of Izah and her family around these parts. Be nice, be friendly, and yeah, I think we're all excited to see what she can do when she returns."
There was more acknowledgment and cheering from the crowd, and Izah forced another smile.
"Now, back to the matter at hand" said Eratarka. "Who's next? Who's got something to show now?"
Behind her, Bathory stepped forward.
"Well, Captain, I was waiting for Arin to show up and see what he was bringing, so since we're all here now…"
"Are you volunteering, Master Sergeant?"
"Sure, why not. Negati, you ready?"
Negati also stepped up from behind.
"Sure. Give 'em the speech."
Bathory laughed.
"The speech…uhh, well, I don't have a speech or anything, just, if you've worked with me, you've seen my device, Aphelion…"
Bathory held up his right hand with the green gem hanging from the tips of his fingers.
"…and you've probably seen the basics of what it can do. Aphelion, Standard Form, go!"
[TRANSFORMING]
The gem began to glow and it transformed into the familiar weapon around Bathory's right wrist, with a smaller gauntlet around his left. Bathory twisted his arm around, showing Aphelion off to crowd.
"And then you also might know it's got a little something extra if I need to go real-close-up, like hand to hand. Aphelion, Razor Form!"
Out of the groove on the side of the main part of the weapon, several large, curved, green blades of energy formed. Bathory showed this off from several angles as well.
"So these are the regular forms I use and probably all you've seen or really needed to see. But, there's something extra that Aphelion and I can do, something I designed a while back, back when I was on Siba and a member of one of their Breach Teams, along with Arin."
He quickly pointed his arm back at his friend and former teammate.
"And recently, I've made some modifications to it that I'm here to try out. So, if you're ready…"
Bathory shifted, putting his rear foot behind him and shifting his weight onto it. He had his right elbow cocked back with his palm facing forward, like if he were setting up for strike arts, and his left hand low.
"Aphelion, Breach Form! Go!"
[TRANSFORMING]
His device glowed brightly again to until it was impossible to see details, only a silhouette of its form. Soon, the shape began to expand forwards, building itself in front of Bathory's right arm in the shape of a thick cannon as well as forming mass below Bathory's lower arm. Whereas before, Aphelion has wrapped itself entirely around Bathory's lower arm, now the right arm was attached to the very top of the weapon by several grey bands and his hand wrapped around a vertical handle that jutted up from the top. As the front barrel of the device continued extending forward, Bathory reached over with his left hand to grab onto another handle that formed on the left side of the weapon.
Finally, the weapon had formed and the glow receded, revealing a metallic weapon with dark green covers over part of the thicker base and over the entirety of the long barrel as well as the top. Bathory stood there, looking around at the other mages. From the reactions of the crowd and the whispered conversations that started up, it was quite the surprise to see.
After posing for a bit longer, he let go of the horizontal handle and lowered his right arm. The cannon drifted downwards, still solidly attached to its user by the bands around the right arm. It wasn't extremely heavy, and Bathory could tense his arm and keep it supported without having to drag it along the ground.
"I guess that kinda was a speech" said Bathory, laughing. "My bad."
Eratarka walked up to Bathory, checking the weapon out.
"So…" she said, "I presume you use this form for separate purposes than your device's regular ones?"
"Exactly," said Bathory. "As you can tell, I'm trading a lot of my mobility for just, well, all-out power. I don't expect to rush in close with this, or even switch back and forth from this very often."
He raised the weapon back up and held on with his left hand again. Unlike in the standard form, there was only one large firing port, but it still started up and spun around quickly.
"This form is designed to channel my attacks to hit as hard as they can, and it's built to better recirculate some of the airborne mana leftover at the end of a fight as well. Basically, when you know exactly where the enemy is, and you know that they're not going to move, and you need to send them to the floor, that is where Breach Form comes in."
Getting his advertisement out of the way, he spoke more cordially and subdued.
"Obviously it got more use on the front lines of Siba than it does here. But I have it, and I had an idea for how to push it even further. So, without further ado, Negati and I are going to try this out. Speaking of, Negati, can I have some cartridges?"
Bathory held his left hand out and the redhead obliged, placing some charged cartridges into her partner's open palm. Then, Bathory called for his device to load the cartridges, and a slot opened on the side where the mage slid the shells in. The slot closed again, and a green pulse of light spread through the device confirming that they were loaded and ready for use. After that, Bathory looked back at the audience.
"Now, who wants to volunteer to block this?"
He paused, waiting for someone to step up and be the barrier he would test his device on. There were more murmurs among the other offices but nobody was stepping up. Everyone was waiting for someone else to take the offer.
"Come on, people," said Eratarka, "we all gotta help each other out."
Bathory sighed and looked over at the Captain.
"It's fine. I'll make Arin do it. We'd do this to each other back on our team all the time. I'd be his test dummy and then he'd be mine. Or, wait…"
Slowly, Bathory turned to look behind him and Eratarka at the group that had just recently arrived. His eyes settled on a quiet air mage who seemed to be oblivious to the current situation.
"Izah!" he said.
Izah snapped back to reality again.
"Oh, uh, what?"
"I know you probably weren't expecting this, but would be okay with helping me out?"
Izah stared forward, nervously looking out at everyone else.
"Umm…I…well…"
"We saw you could fight, and you looked pretty confident. I presume you can defend as well?"
Izah felt a few beads of sweat on the top of her forehead. Use her magic, here, in front of a whole crowd? It was a big risk the last time she showed off and it would be a bigger risk this time. She started trying to come up with the best way to say no when she heard the sound of footsteps coming up closer behind her and the voice of the strange, emotionless man in her head.
"You don't want to let the people down, do you?"
She froze. She could feel Arin's eyes staring at her, burning themselves into the back of her head. Without turning her head, she looked over as much as she could, barely seeing the man behind her and to the side from the corner of her vision. She gritted her teeth and responded.
"How far are you going to push me? How long is this going to last?"
"Everyone expects a satisfying ending, do they not? You have made your grand arrival, and now you must make a good impression. You don't want to disappoint."
A tear threatened to form and fall from Izah's eye. Again, there came a threat, hidden as some vapid, worthless form of encouragement. It was a threat, though, and Izah couldn't defy it. With a deep breath, Izah forced the tear to stay hidden. Quickly, she lashed out in the one way available to her.
"You bastard!"
The tall man cocked his head to the side and responded unfazed.
"Again, insult taken."
With that, Izah put on another fake smile and answered the request.
"Yeah, okay, I can try."
Bathory responded happily along with the rest of the room. He turned and ran over to the entrance of the arena. Izah started heading over as well along with Negati. The redhead quickly got Izah's attention.
"In case you want them, you can take some cartridges too."
She held a few more cartridge shells in her and offered them to Izah. The air mage looked down at the offering.
"Oh…well thank you."
She took the cartridges from Negati, and while Negati stopped next to her partner, Izah continued walking past them until she took her place around ten or so meters away. The crowd reformed behind Bathory and Negati. Asana shoved her way to the front of the group, dragging Vaele along by the arm to get both of them front-row seats. Eratarka stood at the back of the group. Arin had positioned himself next to her and looked over at the Captain.
"I presume this meets the standards you have made for me, Captain."
Eratarka looked over at Arin.
"Hmm?"
"You did seem very pleased to meet Izah, and I have advanced her recovery greatly with our visit today. How will you respond to the actions I have taken?"
Eratarka sighed and looked forward again.
"Talk to me afterwards. We can go back over your service then."
Izah stood, holding the dark blue gem form of her device in one hand and the cartridges in another.
"Greater Call, come out!"
[ACTIVATING]
The gem began to glow, and it soon transformed into the dark blue pistol again. Izah held the weapon down so it was almost sideways. Part of the side of the weapon retracted to provide an opening that Izah loaded the cartridges into. When the side closed back up, the neon band that ran round the outline of the weapon on its sides glowed brightly for a moment to signify that the cartridges were accepted. She lowered her arm and looked forward then.
Bathory stood in his stance again, bracing himself and aiming the cannon forward.
"Alright. Let's get a couple shots as a base – just me, nothing extra. You ready?"
Izah nodded and held her other hand up.
"Protection."
A half-circle of magic appeared in front of her, shielding her from Bathory's attack. Bathory also nodded, and a sound began to radiate from Aphelion as it started charging. The inside of the barrel spun, and a green light formed deep inside the barrel.
"Alright, then," he said. "Fire!"
Aphelion launched out a fast-moving ball of energy that rushed towards Izah and slammed into her barrier. It exploded, and the force sent a small shockwave through the barrier and then through Izah. She tensed up as a pulse of more concentrated mana usage shot from her linker core through her body, like a muscle tensing up before releasing again. The explosion had faded, and Aphelion was already charged with another shot.
"And another one," said Bathory. "Fire."
His device shot another ball forward at the barrier, and it impacted with the same results – another small explosion and another light shockwave as Izah's barrier pushed back, standing firm. Aphelion began to wind down and Bathory lowered his weapon again. A screen appeared in front of him, generated by his device and showing what seemed like results or measurements from the shots Bathory had just fired. He looked at the screen, reading the data provided and nodding. The screen disappeared again and Bathory began speaking.
"Alright. Like I said, that was the base power. That was me on my own. But now, we're going to bring out what I wanted to test. See, from the very beginning, when my device was handed down to me and I could begin to develop my abilities, I have learned that it's best to fight as a team. Since then, I have done so, first to defend the peace and then…well, just to survive, but it's always been to do what I could not do alone."
He looked at Negati out of the corner of his eye. She smiled, and he smiled as well before looking forward again.
"So, when I need to fight as hard as I can, and I'm relying on others as they are with me, I hope to get the direct support needed to turn the tides. Aphelion, prepare for dual support."
[UNDERSTOOD]
The top of the device began transforming and changing once again. It wasn't another big change that involved the entire device, but on the top of the cannon, slightly in front of where Bathory held onto the side of it with his left hand, a slot formed with a horizontal handle running across it, proving room on all sides for a hand to wrap around it. The material that was moved to create a space built up in front of the slot to act as a front guard for it.
Behind him, several of the other officers tried craning their necks to look around and see the new addition. Those on the fringe got to see more of the show, and they were locked onto the device, watching it intently, maybe whispering or conversing quietly again among their peers.
Negati took a step forward and stood next to Bathory on the right side of the cannon. Bathory turned his head slightly again and spoke in a confident voice.
"You ready?"
Negati tightened the muscles in her right arm, and the red lines began to form and glow up her arm from the base at her wrist. They flowed brightly as Negati channeled her mana.
"Yeah," she said. "Let's give it a shot."
She turned so her body was facing the weapon and she grabbed onto the new handle with her right hand. The handle began to glow too, and as Negati grabbed on as well to the back of the weapon, and as Bathory also started to channel his energy, the weapon hummed again with the magic it was preparing to release.
Izah looked on from in front of them. Through her mostly-transparent barrier, she had been watching the events as well. But as Aphelion began to hum louder, and the light inside of it began to glow again, Izah braced herself for another attack on her barrier. Several seconds went by, and the shot only built up more energy, before it was finally time.
"Alright, Aphelion!" yelled its master. "Fire!"
Aphelion launched out another attack, though this one had so much buildup that instead of being one solid ball of energy, it was more like a short beam. Izah's eyes shot open and she clenched her teeth before the attack hit and braced herself. The attack crashed into the barrier, but it wasn't just one quick jolt now – it was an initial force and then a constant pressure on her body for the entire duration. As short as the attack was, overall – just a second or so in duration – it shook Izah more than just absorbing one quick impact would. It was like holding a stretch, rather than just the effort of getting there.
The attack died out, and Izah looked back at the other two. Just like before, the light was already building up again in the barrel of the weapon.
"And another one," Bathory shouted. "Fire!"
The weapon fired, and the same events happened once again. Izah's barrier held up, but she had to shut her eyes and look away in her attempt to keep the attack at bay. Again, after the last of the short beam burnt itself out, there was relative silence, and Izah looked back with one eye open. Negati and Bathory stood side by side, holding onto the weapon, but Bathory began to lower it again and Negati released her hold.
"Alright, alright, take a short break, time to evaluate," said Bathory.
Another screen appeared automatically in front of him while Negati dug around in her pocket for her personal storage device.
"Okay," she said, getting it out, "and how am I doing?"
She made the device project a screen that showed a different, more basic version of her body's statistics – her heart rate, her linker core usage, and other vital signs. The screen from Aphelion had all the stats from the actual attack itself and projected various metrics such as the successful conversion rate of the supporting magic and the percent of energy released versus the total required
Izah was panting somewhat, and she released her barrier. As the other two compared the effectiveness of their own work, Izah stood there without any clue of what to do herself. She scanned the audience again, who were again sticking to themselves and conversing in hushed tones aside from a single fox-girl at the front of the audience who was cheering loudly for her master. Izah smiled quickly at Asana's encouragement, but with the short rest came time to think and time to begin to worry. She had the obvious power advantage here, but the attacks were making a noticeable impact when they hit and she was also somewhat frail by this point after all the time spent keeping her magic inside her. And with all that, there was another feeling that was beginning to crop up in the bottom her chest…
It had reared its ugly head last time Izah used this much of her magic, and it was beginning to rear itself again. The activity had come so rapidly this time that the feeling was sure to be following shortly. Perhaps it was time to cut this little event off.
She had just started to try and get the other two mages' attention when Bathory and Negati closed their screens and looked back at Izah.
"Alright, Izah, we got a couple results and things look good, so, if we can, can I try one attack, as powerful as I can make it?"
Whatever actions the air mage was about to take were lost, and she just hunched over slightly with an exasperated look.
"Wh…what do you mean?"
"I just want to do one last shot, putting all we can into it, just to see what that is. Izah, you're Triple A, you're probably the best chance I've got for trying this without putting a big hole in the wall. I've got some cartridges loaded, but so do you, right? You can handle it."
Izah thought about the offer, and she felt her face go pure white. This was not a good idea. Nobody else knew that, however. She scanned the faces of the crowd again. They all looked on, facing her and adding to the uncomfortable feeling. Though Vaele also looked a bit worried, Asana looked excited, and then finally Izah looked up at the people in the back of that crowd. There was the Captain she had been dragged here to meet, and next to her, rising above the top of the other mages, was Arin. He stared at her, completely plain but definitely implying something. He didn't even need to say it at all – not even telepathically. His words from before echoed in her head well enough.
You don't want to let the people down, do you? You don't want to disappoint.
Izah shut her eyes and tried to convince herself that it would work out. 'You do this one extra thing and then you'll be done,' she said to herself. 'You can do this. You have your pills. You'll get through it.'
She opened her eyes.
"Okay. One shot. You get one."
Bathory smiled brightly and raised Aphelion excitedly.
"Alright! I knew you'd come through. Then get ready, everyone!"
Bathory lifted Aphelion's Breach Form up once again, and Negati took her position as well. The lines began glowing on her arm again, and she wrapped her hand tightly around the handle on the top. Along with that, Bathory called out again to his device.
"Aphelion, load cartridge!"
The weapon hummed forcefully, pulling the magic built up in the cartridges into the next attack and then spitting the two empty shells out with bursts of steam, one at a time. Across from the two, Izah held her weapon out to the side.
"Greater Call, load cartridge."
The pistol also absorbed the energy within the shells and then spat them out. Izah held her left arm forward again and called out another spell.
"Multiple Defenser."
A large, flat shield formed right in front of her as a light orange Midchildan magic circle. Then, a smaller circle also formed in front of the first, and a smaller one in front of the second, as multiple layers of protection blocked whatever magic would be incoming.
As the shields formed, Izah felt a quick jolt of pain. It went away as soon as it had appeared, but it wasn't a good sign for the air mage to process. She clenched her teeth tightly again and she began to worry, scared about how she'd do and what would happen. In front of her, Bathory and Negati continued charging their attack. Spurred on by the extra boost from the cartridges, the attack blossomed to well above their previous efforts, and the glow became so bright and strong that it began to spill out from the front of the weapon to where the two operators were almost hidden by the brightness emanating from it. To them, Izah was basically hidden as well, and they had to squint since they were right there along with the light.
Almost unknowingly, Izah pushed harder into the defensive spell. Her worry and unease put her into a cycle of pushing harder and harder, scared of not pushing enough. The patterns on her barriers solidified themselves more and more to where the shields were almost completely opaque, solid circles of color. All of that came to a head, and Izah felt a horrible jolt down in her chest.
She gasped and practically doubled over. Though her feet stayed on the ground and her legs remained upright, her chest fell down until she propped her hands on her knees, finally stopping the descent. She lost all focus on what she was doing and her mind blanked from the sudden surprise.
Her barrier quickly faded out.
On the sidelines, Asana's eyes went wide. Even she felt that jolt, as Izah's condition and magic ability dropped sharply in that fraction of a second. But worse than that, above all the noise generated from the ground mage's device, was a single word cried out to the heavens but lost on the distracted air mage.
"FIRE!"
Another beam shot out, and Asana screamed.
"MISS IZAH!"
Maybe her voice cut through the rest of the noise, or maybe it was something else. But Izah reacted to something, and she looked up just in time to see a brightly glowing wall of energy charging at her and filling up her whole view. In a panicked instant, the air mage thrust her hand forward again and another barrier appeared right in front of the beam. This barrier wasn't anywhere near strong enough, though. As the energy slammed into it, the barrier began to crack almost immediately. Izah had just enough time to stand back up and take one or two steps back, her face completely frozen in a terrified expression, before the barrier shattered and the attack hit her dead-center.
She cried out and was blown back off her feet. The attack was like a solid wave, pounding into her and swallowing her in it while carrying her backwards. Without being rooted in place by any bindings, she was free to move along with whatever forces acted upon her, and soon gravity had pulled her down and out of the attack. She hit the floor and rolled several times, her scream of pain turning to winded grunts by the time she came to a stop.
The attack finally died out, and the blinding glow receded. Bathory and Negati looked on, partly anxious to see the damage they had done to Izah's defenses. The sight they actually saw was far different than what they expected. Their expressions faded, and they could do little more than just stare at the fallen mage. They were shocked, concerned, and also guilty. In the audience, they also looked on with shocked, silent expressions. One boy in the front row, Izah's younger brother, finally got something out of his throat.
"I…Izah?" he asked weakly.
Next to him, Asana's shock crumbled in one swift moment and she darted forward. She cried out her master's name as she stumbled to a knee, trying to rush over to the woman as fast as she could. This brought the others out of their trance, and Eratarka pushed through the group on her way over while Negati and Bathory finally found their feet too. Negati got over quickly while Bathory had to speak to his device.
"Aphelion, we're done." He said rapidly. "Go to standby."
The entire weapon, cannon barrel, base, and all quickly glowed again and dematerialized until it was just a dark green gem hanging by the cord wrapped around Bathory's lower arm.
Izah was conscious. Things were hazy, but she was conscious. She put her hand on the ground, trying to push herself up as Asana got to her.
"Miss Izah, please, you shouldn't move."
Izah ignored the request and kept getting back to her feet. There was a dark feeling in her body that seemed to neutralize the pain from the attack. There was a need from deep within that didn't care about her defeat – in fact, it seemed to come on even stronger now.
"I have to get rid of this," she whispered harshly. "I have to stop it."
She struggled to her feet. Bathory stood close, arm halfway reached out, unsure if Izah needed help.
"Hey, I – I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you. Do – um, do you-"
She looked up, directly at the group that was quickly forming in close to her, but she was staring past everybody to the nearby door that lead to the halls of the Bureau building. With a jolt, she sprung forward, brushing past Bathory and pushing her way through the layers of the crowd. Several people, including her familiar and her brother called her name out but they were ignored. She sprinted, leaning into it so much she threatened to fall over at any time, tunnel vision blocking anything except her exit strategy.
There was one person who hadn't gone to meet Izah in the arena. One man, with a firm, unchanging expression on his face. He stepped in front of Izah, putting himself between her and the door.
"Surely you don't intend to-"
He was met with the air mage's shoulder as she rammed into his upper body, tossing him to the floor. He landed and remained where he was as the doors were shoved open and the sound of more frantic running was heard drifting down the hallway on the other side of the doors. Wasting no time, the woman's familiar pushed through the crowd as well and ran past Arin out to the hallway in pursuit.
"Miss Izah, stop! Miss Izah!"
Out in the hallway, there was a bathroom not far from the training area and Izah went towards it, shoving the door open. With a small stroke of luck after everything else that had just happened, the bathroom was empty. She sprinted in, over to the faucets where a mirror stood behind them and reflected the room. Izah's hands operated as fast as they could, though they were now shaking. She reached in her pocket and got out the small, nondescript medicine bottle, frantically panting as her hands tried to open the cap through their violent tremors. Finally, she got a grip on it and twisted, pulling so hard that the bottle slipped out of her grasp and tumbled over, spilling the contents out onto the floor.
Izah cursed and fell to her knees, reaching down and trying to gather up the medicine again while still dealing with her hands shaking. Her name was called out from the hallway, and Asana pushed into the room as well. She dropped her knees as well, reaching down to assist her master in her task.
"Miss Izah, you can't do this here. You have to hold on – you have to."
Izah continued grabbing at the pellets, though in her current condition, that was extremely difficult.
"You think I wanted to do this? You think I want them to see me like this?"
"But please, Miss Izah, they don't want to hurt you. Maybe they can help us! Maybe they will-"
Asana was interrupted as the door to the bathroom was kicked open violently. The two women froze and they shot their gaze over at the sudden noise. There, in the entryway, was Arin.
He stepped forward, and the door swung shut behind him. He stared down at the other two, eyes narrowed. Asana and Izah both looked up with wide-eyed, scared expressions. Neither of them were able to say anything to the man who had discovered them.
Arin paused, letting the silence linger for a few seconds. He took in the sight, including the pills scattered along the ground and the small overturned bottle along with them.
"So," he began, "the truth has finally revealed itself."
The other two remained almost frozen. Izah's jaw twitched as she took in rapid, shuddered breaths. Tears began to fall from her eyes. Next to her, Asana tried to speak.
"P…please…" she said, weakly. "Please help us…"
Arin continued staring down at the two.
"The Bureau shall decide how it will proceed with you. However, first you must be detained. Retrigal?"
Arin twisted his hand around to show that he'd been holding his device the whole time. The grey gem glowed and quickly transformed into the bladed weapon. At the sight of this, Asana gasped and wrapped her arms tightly around Izah. The familiar buried her head into her master's shoulder and shut her eyes tightly. The sudden turn also pushed Izah to respond, and she quickly pulled her arms up which was holding onto Greater Call and it transformed as well. She pointed the gun at Arin, glaring at him. Her arm shook wildly as she tried keeping her aim on the man.
"Don't come any closer!" she yelled. "Don't take another step."
Outside the bathroom, the group stood further down the hall, rooted in place and just watching the door. Bathory stood in the front of the pack. Arin had said that he would handle the issue, but Bathory, along with everyone else, was still on high alert from the previous events. He fidgeted nervously and took another half-step forward before retracting it.
Vaele pushed his way to the front of the group and walked up to Bathory.
"We need to do something," he said. "I don't like this."
"What do you mean?" asked Bathory.
"That man, I…she isn't safe with him there."
Bathory didn't know what Vaele knew. To Bathory, Arin had worked to bring Izah here in the first place, so surely he was working to calm her down. Without trying to brush the boy off, Bathory just spoke what he was thinking, mainly due to the tension.
"I mean, Arin knows what he's doing. He's logical, he knows what to say. He'll do a good jo-"
The door of the bathroom suddenly blasted back off its hinges as Arin was launched into it with a loud explosion. The tall man flew back, slamming into the opposite wall. He crumpled to the floor and his device fell from his grip. Then, Izah ran out into the hallway, holding onto her weapon as smoke rose from the tip of the barrel. She stopped, looking wildly in all directions, then laid eyes on Bathory and the others and aimed her device in their direction.
Instinctively, the others recoiled and tried to talk Izah down. The air mage glared at them, both hands holding on tightly to her weapon. A sound from the other direction made her spin around and aim at a couple other mages who were drawn over by the activity. They too backed off and tried not to draw any ire.
"Izah," said Negati, "we don't want to fight. What's going on? Can you talk to us?"
Asana ran out of the bathroom, lunging and grabbing onto the air mage's body.
"No!" she cried. "Miss Izah, stop!"
Her master ignored her pleas and rapidly turned to aim at one group before aiming back at the other. This happened a couple times before Izah faced the group opposite of Bathory and the participants of the testing session. She lingered on that part of the hallway, looking past the mages standing there and all the way to the very end of the hall, where it curved to the side at the corner of the building and a row of glass lined the wall as a large window.
She nodded, and a bright orange magic circle formed on the ground below her.
"We have to get out of here. Come on Asana."
The familiar saw Izah's intentions and fought back, trying to pull her back toward Vaele and the group.
"No, Miss Izah, you can't! We have to stay here."
Izah got sick of Asana's actions and grabbed her, pulling her in and holding an arm around Asana's waist tightly.
"Enough, Asana! Stop fighting me."
Izah focused on the link between herself and her familiar, and Asana cried out as her whole body glowed before transforming from a human to her original form as a fox. With Izah pinning her in tightly, the animal could try and thrash but otherwise was helpless to do anything. Then, Izah stood like she was about to rush forward, and she did so, jumping nearly horizontally into the air and flying down the hall. The other people in that direction ducked and twisted out of the way as Izah jetted past them, racing towards the window. They shielded their eyes from the gust of wind created and the force sent some of the people stumbling back. With her free hand, Izah aimed Greater Call forward and shot the window, cracking the glass into small pieces that Izah just flew straight through and out into the blue sky.
Vaele reached out as if he could grab her and ran toward the window.
"Izah! Izah!"
He called for her several times, but it was fruitless. He reached the window and looked out at his sister as she flew away. Bathory and the others joined him, and they all watched as a small speck on the horizon grew smaller and smaller.
