Chapter 10: Resonance

Prince cursed under his breath.

The obvious time delays, the swift attack layout to create confusion, the quicker than expected withdraw… it was in preparation for this! An area attack—it had to be!

"Kenshin, Leif!" Prince shouted out, he had to warn everybody of the danger, but they were too spread out. It wasn't any good—nor would it be in time.

Without trying to waste another moment, his eyes looked to Angel, just as her lips parted with a whisper.

"Lightning Crown."

At first Prince's hand flew to his head, but realizing that it couldn't be that literal he instead turned his immediate attention to the sky above. Like clockwork, the various clouds released their energies in crackling arcs of golden electricity across the sky, intertwining with one another, connecting in a great circle of lightning high in the sky above, probably much larger than their immediate area, continuing to build until there were sections of the circle that reached high above the clouds as peaks. A formation that resembled a crown… a crown of lightning. And in the center of that formation there was nothing, as all the clouds within had vaporized from the heat and created a clear view into the atmosphere beyond.

With a panicked expression he looked for potential shelter but saw none. He was just going to have to weather through it and hope for the best. Only could he? He wasn't sure to expect, but knew it was coming!

And just like that, it did.

A split second after the crown's 'peaks' began to deteriorate, bolts of lightning struck the plateau in rapid succession, ripping through their number instantly. What's more, a large number of strikes were falling just outside the outer edge of the exterior ring that held the place aloft. It wasn't long until the sky was a mix of bolt the brilliant bolts of energy coming down and the flashes of players-converted-to-light flying off to be reborn.

And then, just like that… it was over… and even more miraculously—Prince had survived. Survived and lying on his back, relatively unharmed save for a good number of cuts from flying bits of rock and brick. Also, though many had died, there were still at least fifty people left, though he wasn't sure how many were of any use now that they were half-charred and beaten. But if they could hold out just until…

Prince's eyes widened as he saw more streaks of light flying through the air, but from far on the other side of the ring?

"D-damn…" a still alive Leif uttered not far from Prince, also on the ground, "…the other team…"

No way… Prince thought. Then the lightning that went outside was aimed at the approaching team? She had calculated that far ahead, that annoying woman with the skimpy outfit?

She had that much power?

"Oops," he heard that elf, called Renegade, beside her say. "Looks like you used too much energy this time. Not only are some still alive, looks like your concealment is dissipating as well."

"Ah, looks like it." Angel said calmly as the golden cylindrical staff in her hands seemed to gain previously hidden sharp ends, like that of a javelin. "I bet my outfit's not long for this world either, not that I particularly cared for it."

"Don't say it like that," Renegade joked as Angel stuck the javelin into the ground, "a change of pace is good from time to time. Besides, I thought it looked interesting enough."

"Perhaps." Angel said as she pulled a hair tie from her outfit and started confining her sweeping hair to a ponytail. "But it's good to drop the 'ditz-girl is a princess' façade and go back to normal. Besides, sitting with my legs pressed together like that is really annoying…"

"Haha… it would be at that, wouldn't it?" Her teammate agreed.

Getting to a knee, Prince could just barely make them out, but was that really the same person from before? It sounded like two good friends talking as equals, not like one was any higher than the other, which is how it seemed before. It was like how he talks with Kenshin. They were friends—of course—if they were teammates it would only make sense. Then why—?

"Well then, let's clean house, shall we?" Angel said casually as she finished tying her hair. Almost at the same time, whatever concealment had been in place began to dissolve around her, as cloth and armor not previously seen seemed to magically flow into existence. Her armor at the chest area was actually completely covering, with scale like cloth-metal creeping down her rib cage, around her shoulder blades, and across her shoulders before a thicker and more durable metal glazing appeared as two molded plates gracefully sweeping across her chest, with segmented ones appearing across her upper back. Her mid section was left bare, and her upper arms gained pocketed bands that appeared just above the elbow, with a number of some kind of metal bar-like things protruding from each pocket, with three or four pockets on each. Although the annoying mini-skirt like thing stayed the same length, a similar cloth structure extruded itself part-way down her thighs, stopped, and then bands similar to her arms appeared around her lower thighs. What looked to be a simple belt before, expanded outward and gained several pouches that was common of higher level players, while her less-than-useful footwear became fully enclosed, and extended up her lower leg as a type of light armor, before ending with a knee guard. Lastly, a gold and black patterned amulet appeared as a decorative band around her neck, with a matching tiara across her forehead and patterned rings forming over several fingers. Her forearm guards remained unchanged, but went really well with her otherwise entirely black, form-fitting outfit.

As she moved forward, she plucked her golden javelin from the ground and held it at her side, allowing it to sway naturally with her stride. In her wake, her teammates had scattered once again and into the midst of the survivors, but Prince couldn't worry about them for now. Instead, his eyes were glued fully to the anomaly before him.

Just what was she? She was definitely a mage, that much was certain… but he had never seen a mage carry a javelin-type weapon, nor had he seen the armor choice like she boasted now. Also, why was it that she moved like a solitary predatory animal when mages were usually the ones never left alone? Wasn't she exposed like this? Wasn't she worried?

And why was it… no… where was it, that Prince had felt this familiar level of fear? This dangerous presence…

He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear the hesitation. Wasn't he wanting to face tough opponents? And here in front of him… wasn't it a strong one? Not a frail girl as he thought at first, but a real opponent? So why was he shaking in apprehension??

Forcing trivial thought aside, Prince opened his eyes and rose to his feet. But the act did nothing to shake the opponent before him who calmly walked forward. Rather, she didn't even seem to register the presence of anyone else… just him alone. Why?

Suddenly there was a brief tide in the battle as one of the random fighters on her side broke off from the ensuing fights around them to turn his blade on the one responsible for so many deaths around them. With his sword drawn high, and a look of desperation in his eyes he charged forward with a cry of rage—and before he could register an action—was impaled upon the golden spike now protruding from his upper back. In less than a heartbeat later, he had disappeared into a beam of light. Angel's face hadn't changed, but there was now the other player's blood streaked across her.

It was a haunting image.

Without pausing to re-evaluate things, Angel's left hand drew two metal bolts from her right arm band, and flicked her hand to the side. At once, the two electric charged bolts streaked into two other players that had attempted a combined rush forward. Much like the guy before them, they too, transformed into a beam of light that streaked into the distance.

It was unreal. She was a natural… completely horrifying. And the memory of black with blood across it—the primal fear and anticipation was overwhelming, but what did it mean? Yet even still, he wanted to fight her—to the point where his blade rattled in his grip—but why was he instinctively frozen before her. And why was it that she was already standing before him, and locked in the gaze of her eyes!?

However, instead of trying to kill him outright, she stowed her javelin diagonally behind her back and placed her left hand upon his blade while her right hand went slowly to his chin. Without applying much pressure, she eased his blade down and pushed his chin up so she could get a good look at his eyes. And then she smiled.

"So…" she started slyly, "though the doe and wolf have exchanged places, it is the wolf that shakes?"

"Eh?" Prince uttered. Where had he heard that before?

"The eyes can't lie…" Angel stated as she removed his broken mask and cast it aside. "Though I knew it before, I had to confirm it with my own eyes." She cupped his face in her hands and brought it closer. "Prince—is it? Or was it—Feng Xiao Xiao?"

"AH!?" Prince cried out in surprise as he recoiled from her touch. "You—!?"

"Heh," Angel laughed lightly. "Though I'm glad you came back with the eyes of determination, you as a fighter are only half ready. And my reason for not losing is much stronger than your desire to win."

Prince's mind began to spin in his head as several revelations began to assault him at once, not sure which to respond to first. While distracted from the raw emotion, he didn't register the extraction of Angel's weapon from its holding.

"Prince."

"Eh—" he started at his name's mention, just before a heavy sensation of foreign substance permeated his abdomen, while the metallic taste of blood splashed over the entirety of his tongue. Together with a growing sense of worldly abandonment, he was dimly aware of the heated feeling of electricity coursing through his body, noting that Angel's hand rested at the point just below his ribcage. The javelin that had been seemed to exist as parallel shafts that jutted through him. All the while his blade continued to shake violently in his hand.

"I'm sorry." Angel said flatly as she extracted her weapon—which was the javelin though bent forward at right angles to her hand—that still arched with electrical flow in the free space between. "But there are too many questions to ask, and this isn't the place to ask them."

"Gah…" Prince said in pain as he slumped to the ground clutching his bleeding wound. He numbly stared at his still shaking hand. Somewhere in the far off distance he thought he heard someone calling his name.

"To think… in fear…" Prince mumbled.

"It's not out of fear, but resonance." Angel reassured him.

"R-resonance?" Prince slurred, his blood running from the corner of his mouth. "W-what…"

"Because we are like beings." Angel answered. "What that means to you and whether or not you can claim ownership of your own will is up to you."

"I… don't… understand…" Prince said drearily, his eyes getting heavy.

"Then face me again—fight me with the determination you found as the answer that led you to your current state. In violence there is truth for the current affairs." Angel turned away as Prince fell on his side. "I'll be waiting."

Unable to stay conscious longer, Prince's eyes glazed over as the darkness claimed him, and he slipped into silent oblivion.

*****

-The Real World-

Feng Lan opened her eyes and removed the game device from her head and laid it on the night stand beside her bed. Though it was still early in the morning, after she had returned to the rebirth point she didn't feel like playing any longer. It had been a long time since she had felt such defeat.

That girl, Angel, had been saying some complicated things towards the end. But even though she was saying so many familiar things and knew of Prince's identity, Feng Lan still had no idea who she was. What's more, the missions were still locked, and it was doubtful that another team would be able to break Menace on their own.

That much she was sure of.

What could she do? She had no idea. She didn't even really find out how Kenshin managed without her.

Ah… if only she knew how to get a hold of LoliDragon. She really wanted some inside info. Or even… just a person to talk to would be fine.

Anyone would be fine, really.

Of course! Zhuo-gege! If anybody was there, surely he would understand the situation.

Now the only thing to do was wait until he woke from the game client, and then she'd give him a call. Until that time, she might as well retire to the kitchen. After all, whether handling the saber in battle or the knife in the kitchen—it all amounted to training in one way or another!

With that she ran off already in better spirits, and hopeful that when next she encountered Menace, she could make them experience a similar fate!