I will try to keep you entertained through my work, here goes nothing!
(End A/N)
Chapter 9: Battle of the Rose and the Fire
It didn't seem possible that she could weather this new power, her eyes shut halfway as she felt overwhelmed for the moment, what had this temple done to her? There as she felt the waves shifting through her body did Amy stumble to the side. Lyndia grinned at this and threw the boys back; just like that did she push off the Ultimate Life form, the Guardian of the Master Emerald, the Blue blur and her brother at once.
"Move aside boys, this is no longer about what you want. This is about what needs to be covered." this said while Lyndia focused on Amy Rose, the boys were of little consequence now.
Wushan threw himself at his sister, he couldn't let this happen now, even if Amy had gained new strength there was no way that he could let this go on; he was determined not to allow her to do so. And yet his desires didn't matter, as Lyndia moved with a greater speed, her claw wrapped around his face as she pushed him into the floor of the cave harshly.
"Stay down little brother, she has chosen you and now she must prove she's worthy." her tone cold for the moment he'd tried to resist was he then already breaking their most sacred rules and she would not have it.
Lyndia's left claw rose and without a word had erected a wall of fire closing off the entrance of the cave and cutting off the others from Amy, they would not be disturbed now. She knew that even if one of them used Chaos control it would not pass for this barrier reflected the essence of anything the user had not wanted.
Amy had but two moments to look up and spot the smiling Lyndia walking towards her, her body shivered with fear as even though this new power surged through her; certainly she could not beat someone who'd just toppled those who were the planet's strongest? She was nothing...she couldn't possibly defend herself against such a violent power could she?
'No doubts, no fears, those who invoke the Sacred Point energy are not to be so weak!' the voice that was in her mind suddenly commanded, her body straightened up and erected a firm stance for the pink hedgehog.
Her eyes focused and resigned for the fight ahead suddenly, as if taking a backseat in her own body, Amy gazed out at the focused form of her body. The surge of radiance around her body seemed to increase as her body gained mass, it was within her consciousness to become modest and to try and cover up what little her dress was now as her body walked forward.
'You will not fear, worry not about your appearance, none will see this battle, now take the helm or shall thee...the force of the Sacred show you what battle is?' the voice optioned her to take control or let it fight. Though there was no second moment of her thought.
Lyndia made the first move and was upon Amy within an instant, her fist planted directly in the diaphragm of the girl, she was going to test her theory, she surmised that the temple granted her the power and was likely even facing her this very moment. Her suspicions proved correct almost immediately.
After she'd hit Amy, she found a powerful right leg slamming across her face and sending her into the cave wall to the right. Lyndia grinned since it had been some time since she faced off with the temple's guardian powers, she figured on having some fun before stopping the charade; she would not take this seriously.
Amy watched from her inner-consciousness while the Sacred Point guardian faced off with Lyndia. She was dazzled by the flexibility that she appeared to have. Was she really able to perform these acts? She knew that it had to be possible...she felt the impact of the first blow and was winded, though her body moved without slowing; she felt the stretches of her body dropping into a side split and avoiding a punch before sweeping her left foot around to sweep Lyndia, while her head slammed into the ribs of the Drakehedge.
Lyndia blocked the next punch and pushed the pink hedgehog's body back to the floor before she flipped up backwards. Once she landed on her feet she raced forward in a low tackle, immediately grabbing Amy's waist and trying to break her balance; however as she predicted the Sacred Point guardian stopped her charge and slammed the left elbow into her back, then followed up with a right elbow and a knee to chest. All of which made Lyndia smirk more, the guardian was just as good as it had always been; but the charade was at an end. She grabbed the next punch and knocked the kick back down effortlessly.
"Enough Guardian, you can stop pretending." Lyndia's voice held amusement; did this mere guardian believe it could stop her?
"You have crossed the line Lyndia, using this power to re-awaken your mother. This is not how it was meant to happen." the voice spoke, in a dual-tone voice. It was her voice and that of an ethereal second tone beneath it.
"Let's get one thing clear Sacred Point Guardian, you are to protect these temples from our enemies, not to question when my mother was supposed to awaken. You have knowledge, so you'd better share it with this girl." she said finally letting go of Amy's fist.
"..." the guardian stopped fighting and looked her in the eyes, through Amy's gentle gaze which hazed over with exhaustion.
To this end Lyndia laughed softly and lowered the firewall. This amusement had come to an end, the girl's body was not built to handle such a thing and that was the end of the need for the struggle to continue when the soft pink hedgehog could not handle battle that she was looking for.
"Listen and listen good Sacred Point Guardian, Wushan my brother, and his allies." she directed this all towards them.
"I will be after the Second temple, halt my advances if you can." Lyndia said before she left, withdrawing from the area, leaving the dazed warriors and Amy to only the sounds of rushing water; which were generally attributed to Hydro City.
As Amy collapsed from the use of powers far beyond her understanding, Wushan caught her and lifted her gently into his arms. While Knuckles suggested they go back to the Master Emerald shrine where Tails had remained, Shadow left on his own through Chaos control; very simply he would get after this foolish woman and put an end to all of her plans, simply for defying him. Wushan's thoughts remained somewhat puzzled as he walked beside Sonic and behind Knuckles, how had Amy accessed such power? It wasn't like the Sacred Point Temple responded to just anyone...
-At the Master Emerald Shrine-
As it proved to be nothing but a bluff, the Master Emerald was still safe at the shrine and resting in its proper place, while Tails had informed Sonic and the others that with the energy surge from the temple he had since then worked out of the 'junk' in the storage compartment of the Tornado III that he worked out an energy trace device; something to help identify such energy sources like that of the Sacred Point Temple.
"With this we should be able to find the other two Temples; at least we should be able to slow her if we knew where they were before she did." Tails sounded hopeful at that.
Wushan gave a soft laugh; it was more of an ironic kind of laugh.
"Sorry Tails leave us not forget that she was around when they were built, she knows their locations, and she'll wait for us to make the move first possibly. Or provoke us into action, either way we have to try and get ready; somehow we have to be ready to stop her." Wushan elected.
Though he hadn't sounded all that enthusiastic about it, he knew that she had to be stopped and that with Sonic and his friends, certainly anything was possible. Even the potential of stopping his sister, one of the most unstoppable people he'd ever known in his adolescent life. Perhaps he could not stop her alone, but with friends he could stop his sister's crusade before it grew dangerous...truly dangerous.
What could be done about her all together? He was hardly sure anymore since she would not take him seriously. His sister was already disappointed in him and so many thoughts were swirling to the surface what was it that he was supposed to do about all of this? He was lost in the moment, lost in thought about what to do. Even with the help of so many could he do nothing about the situation? He could not fall into said despair now and yet he almost felt there was nothing more or less that he was to be expected to do.
'She will re-awaken and the world will be reduced to ashes if you do not react quickly.'
The voice of the Sacred Point Guardian spoke and in annoyance Wushan responded.
'Yeah...yeah she will but I got it alright?' He gave the only answer he could. Somehow they would pull through this of that the Sacred Point Guardian could be sure.
The plan of action was something he couldn't put into any words since he was hardly sure. Yet despite the turmoil Sonic felt at some ease that there was hope at all, with this fact alone in mind he put a hand on Wushan's shoulder and gave him a thumb's up; since all they needed was hope.
"Hey Wushan, stop thinking so hard, its in the bag right? Look at it this way, your sister knows we're going to come after her and she seems to be enjoying the combat we give her. She will likely wait for us to come and face her before activating the energy right? Even if she only waits for a little, we have time to make plans on the way to her location right? Stop worrying we heroes always save the day." Sonic gave him a thumbs up and another light pat, he needed to loosen up in order for them to make a real difference.
Wushan laughed at Sonic's words, well he wasn't wrong and there was no need to mope on further. Likely Lyndia would await them since he noticed she longed for her family. He could feel it each time he opposed her and the fact she held back meant that she was there. She wanted to be purged of the darkness and to be with those she loved again, he could feel the weight of her sins when he came into contact with her. She burdened so much and at the very least he felt that he owed his sister this much; a new plan was being born from this day.
"Well said Sonic, but we have a new goal here. My sister may have tried everything in the older days to be rid of her dark powers but I say there is a way. With all of this technology and supposed advanced life we live, who's to say that we don't have an alternate to her problem. She is possessed by powerful ancient Overlander magic, the worst of the Arcane and its pushing her to purge herself of it before it kills her. She doesn't want to die... my sister was originally a hero guys. Her heart is good and in the right place, in truth she is no different than any damsel you've every saved before: she wants to be saved. She needs her kid brother and his friends to save the day...what do you say?" Wushan's renewed vigor seemed very strong; he was going to save her not stop her.
It was with a renewed vigor that a new goal had been set, so what if this wasn't what she wanted? It was what she was going to get as it was his fondest wish, he did not want to harm his elder sister. The guardian angel of the Drakehedge Clan's finest, it was a mistake to believe that it would be allowed to end in bloodshed between siblings. Taking hold of the chain wrapped around his waist he ignited it in Soul Fire and looked up to Sonic and then to Tails, it was about time he gave them a little present to make them more fit to face his sister.
"Hey you two, come a little closer. I'm gonna give you a temporary gift, as sanctioned by the Agency as their best hunter and agent, it is within my rights to bestow any number of beings I see fit with a temporary gift of access to the Soul Flame arts. I can't tell you how to use it but when the time comes the gift will open itself to you and you may learn it. Given that the flame will curb to your natures, you should have no problems accessing it, it is basically with the words that I choose 'Do what you do best' and the flame will come out for you. Use it well gentlemen." that last part was more of a joke, but still something to more or less seal the deal.
It wasn't much of an option for them, since the flames jumped off of the chain and a little bit of each leapt onto first Sonic and then to Tails.
"Whoa, my head is spinning..." Tails wobbled and fell to the ground lightly, he felt his body growing very hot and his head was unsteady as he tried to regain focus. It was enough to say that it was working pretty quickly on him.
For Sonic, he took it with a grin and the flames melded into his body without a little singe, he had shown no fear of the flames and thus it entered him with little trouble.
"Hey, is he gonna be alright?" Sonic was worried for his best bud and looked at the two-tailed fox with a little concern. But Wushan chuckled and this brought him some ease.
"He feared it, like fire which can be expected for some. He'll be alright in a couple of minutes, it heats the body up if you are afraid of it; it acts like real fire while entering the soul. But it calms down after a little." he ruffled Tails' hair and grinned, because like magic it was gone and he noted that Tails was calming down.
While the group went underway, Lyndia was tending to her duties of the warriors that had begun to awaken; she stopped to greet them before she went on as it was right for her to do. She hoped that they wouldn't engage her, but chances were low of that once they sensed the arcane within her.
-With Lyndia, at Tibea Fortress-
As she stood outside she could still smell the smoldering human ashes that were still fresh upon the air, the day that her sister took the fort from the supposedly unstoppable humans here. With their warriors wounded and Lyndia herself fighting on another battlefront, the passive Lana showed just how brutal she could be to those enemies of the Drakehedge clan. She would never have guessed that her sweet twin who danced and sang, could ever harm a living soul the way she had done that day...she could still see the claw markings given in her sister's distress after having harmed so many. She was in many ways Lyndia's equal and in others her superior, a soul so sweet that she wept for the lives that she took in her rage; something that Lyndia herself never did for those fallen.
"Bitter worms, how could my twin shed a single tear over something so trivial? This is why I call you our sweet angel of sympathy. You who will awaken next, Lana of Tibea." she said with a soft sigh, could she face her sister as she awakened?
Lana had fought with the vigor of 50 Drakehedges and yet could not best her battle-hardened sister and yet she kept on for the safety of their people and most of all their pride and joy, Wushan.
She wanted to see was her sister going to try and stop her as she explained her plight? She almost hoped she would since it would put her mind at some ease to have someone try to stop her. Her sister's sweetness would be the undoing of her will to fight and this was something Lyndia knew. She would have to ease her sister into this battle if she were not willing to help Wushan immediately.
"Just forgive me first Lana, that's all I ask..." she said as she moved into the Tibea fortress, awakening her sister from her resting place might take a little challenge since she didn't want to awaken the other Drakehedges: at times their people were too brave.
As she moved to the moss coated statue, she smiled at the likeness of her sister and led her fingers to stroke the pedestal that read, 'Here stands in the wake of her great battle, Lana of Tibea, may her likeness protect this land from all evil.'; how right the pedestal was...and as soon as Lyndia had stopped reliving an older time her hands came to rest on the pedestal while she channeled her magicks through the focal point and into her sister's body.
She knew well that her sister had slept here since it was so peaceful, she had never wanted to fight Lyndia and this was something that she herself knew well and hoped that she would not mind doing so again. Even as the stone cracked, Lyndia prepared herself for a difficult time; both mentally and physically.
The stone cracked deeply up the dead-center and then spread suddenly under the flair of light generated by Lana's body. The time of her rest was over and yet, Lyndia noticed that even as she awakened, her sister maintained looking so peaceful. From the second that Lana's eyes had opened did her expression of dismay show. Lyndia embraced her closely and nuzzled into her shoulder while holding her twin in a tight embrace.
There was an awkward moment between the two of them as Lyndia held onto her tightly and let her eyes flood with long unshed tears as she clutched her twin, in a way that was most unlike her.
"...Why the tears?" she said softly, her arm curling around her twin's back to hold her close. Lana tried to sound neutral, though she was trying to understand why she was awakened...and by Lyndia of all people?
"Must you ask something you know the answer to? I missed you." Lyndia's response was holding no lost emotion back, from the day that she'd fought her mother and sister; she held onto nothing but that shame and most of all the regret.
Lana didn't answer at first. She used her other claw to draw her sister's chin up so she could see her eyes, and once again she was taken aback by the visible pain, regret, guilt, and full array of emotions of her twin sister. She nuzzled her cheek gently and sighed as she gave her a real hug; though to Lana's credit she well knew that Lyndia was here for one of two reasons...she was betting it was the very same that she'd needed so must rest from the first time...
The embrace lasted for a little over 5 minutes, and to be truthful Lana was impressed by Lyndia's ability to keep that arcane held back within her. That had been the source of her problems the first time; her being blinded by what was within. Yet now her sister appeared to have at least subdued it.
"...Alright Lyndia, I missed you...a lot, I can't stop loving my sister even if she did nearly kill me...but truly; why have you come? You awakened me from my slumber and with a reason. If anything Lyn my dear sister...you are most practical, there is never something done without a reason." the younger twin knew her sister all too well.
Lyndia nodded and despite being in tears had reluctantly let her sister go, stepping back a few feet so that she could speak.
"I intend to activate all Sacred Temple points to awaken our mother...I have already activated one point and Lil 'Shan failed to stop me. I have no one else I can count on more than you Lana." she made it very clear; her visit was out of her respect and belief in Lana.
Lana blinked at the words, Lil 'Shan was her nickname for their kid brother.
"Wushan...is awake?" she asked her. The answer was a simple nod and a big smile.
Lana was going to have to find out how their little brother awakened without their mother or someone there to awaken him from the slumber he'd been set into. But she looked at Lyndia's face and gave a soft sigh, she had been right all along...she was here to fight in the end.
"You and I both know that I cannot win Lyndia...I have just awakened and my powers are still dormant." she was being logical, if her sister could awaken her then she knew this better than anyone else.
"I know...I know...I want you to find Wushan, let him awaken your powers. He knows our magicks very well, I could tell during our encounter he has improved over three-fold since the last time either of us saw him. He'd trained hard and yet...sadly to say I know he could not stop me alone. I could still best him with just our family magicks, yet I have this damnable yoke around my neck." she said this bitterly, speaking in some hatred for those she had long destroyed.
Lana frowned at the venom she heard, but she knew that Lyndia had her rights to be angry...she had never asked for such a burden. Deep down she was much like herself, she wanted simply to live peacefully with her family and protect what was rightfully their own. That sanctifying will to live continued burning within her, for this she knew her twin had not given up on it.
"Why awaken mother? You know well as I do that she cannot purge you of that power...goddess knows that she tried when you first arrived. She was worried about you more than anything else; still I can sense she dreams of seeing you free...can that be why you wish to awaken her?" Lana frowned harder, might their mother be a wildcard in this? Would she possibly side with Lyndia at this time?
Lyndia shook her head but smiled softly.
"And don't think like that, mom would never side with me even if she desires to, it is not the right thing to do. I...am awakening her since with all of these powers at their peaks: Technology, supernatural, arcane, and chaos will meet their rise within the next two weeks dear sister. The arcane...it will seek the greater powers and I can be free." she said it in a hopeful tone. She desperately wanted this even though it was the wrong thing...and she knew it.
Lana shook her head softly; this was why she was awakened to stop her sister? Why...did she have to go through this pain again?
It was enough to be said that she had a lot going through her mind and that fighting her sister was one of the last things that she ever wanted to do again and yet...fate seemed to have it in for her; she had to go against her own wishes.
"And you want us to stop you..?" she said it flatly.
"Exactly...stop me; as I can't stop the desire myself. As Arcane works, I have come to understand that I must direct it towards a goal. It is not for it to be evil, but its overbearing and requires direction...it seeks out either more power or greater control. The humans knew I had great control, please sister...you must stop me. Help Lil 'Shan and stop me at the second temple alright..? I think...mother might even awaken after just two temples. She is toiling in her dreams; I can feel it as well as you." Lyndia said this with a neutral look on her face.
"..." Lana gave no answer.
Lyndia smiled softly, she knew that she'd do the right thing no matter how much it hurt.
"Thank you sis, I'm leaving this in your hands alright? Guide Wushan, you know where to." she said as she drew back, there was no pre-battle; just a final destiny.
As she left her sister to her thoughts, Lyndia felt better...she was at least getting to see her family one last time. Since she knew that her road carried her towards oblivion and this would be her fate, even if ill deserved she would have no choice she found. She begged one last time of the Cosmos...the goddess...and all she knew to have been in her beliefs.
"Give me one last chance to purge this impurity from my body, I don't want...to die." she whispered as she flew off towards the second sacred point temple. Unknowing of her own future, but she willingly banked it on those heroes before her.
(End Chapter)
As you see things are hardly clear with Lyndia, as her aim to bring her mother back to consciousness is her key goal; what can be seen of it does not sound good. Pain and darkness cloud the future ahead.
Is there light ahead or will this bring only ruin? Wait and see in the next chapter!
Till then adieu
-Quentix