Okay, so RKamelot had to kick my butt back into gear. (Thanks, BTW.) Firefox went and screwed with my settings and whatnot...

Anyway, here's the update that was due on Friday. Hopefully I won't be running late this week.

"I'm guessing he and the miasma don't go well together." -Kairi

Chapter 4.3 - Creeping Shadows
Part 25

I really, really, really was starting to hate these apparitions.

Mist-Selenia sent another Comet Strike my way, and I rolled away from it, just barely. Then I sent another two dark Demon Fangs her way.

It didn't do me much good, because the next thing I knew, I was ducking away from a Spread.

Mist-Selenia could cast damn fast.

Okay, let's recap.

I used Guardian Field against the Sword Dancer, except it turned into Guardian's Pain. Then the first apparition, taking the general outline of Cantabile, appeared. I defeated that one by sword-slash. The second one, Natalia, was defeated by a miasma version of Demon Fang. Then Seth was taken down by a miasma-Demon Fang-Guardian's Pain combo. Mist-Tear had been defeated with a miasma-DelQues...

Which left me to run in circles and try to figure out how the hell I was supposed to...

Oh.

Of course.

I raced in toward mist-Selenia and jumped up for a Havoc Strike.

This time, it didn't move fast enough to avoid the strike, and dissolved.

I stayed right there, waiting.

The next one would likely be either Dark, Reighn, or...

Mist-Flick formed up and immediately lashed out for a Reaper's Toll, but I was used to Sync starting spars like that, so ducking and letting loose a miasma-tainted Raging Blast was easy.

Mist-Flick was the fastest defeat to date.

Unfortunately, my next opponent would be a mist-Reighn.

A mist-Reighn who was intelligent enough to jump away the moment he saw me... and by this point, aside from what looked like a faint maroon haze, most of the colors were coming through perfectly clear.

These apparitions were becoming more and more life-like...

I swallowed, rolled away from the Crackle mist-Reighn unleashed, and then raced in toward him. He didn't like being a melee fighter, but he could and would use his scythe when he needed to.

I didn't want him to have a chance to summon the blade...

It bothered me for a second that I was no longer seeing the apparitions as 'its', but then I had to duck an attack, and I was a bit too preoccupied to truly care.

Reighn was strong. Had to be to swing his scythe around with any sort of speed. And I knew that if I gave him too much space, he'd start casting. Like with mist-Selenia, mist-Reighn would probably be a very fast caster.

I really didn't want him to have that time.

Unfortunately, the battle was starting to take its toll on me. I had cuts from Tear's knives, and a couple from an arrow or two of mist-Natalia's that I hadn't managed to dodge. Mist-Seth had managed a cut or two himself before being dispelled, and added to that, there was the miasma still floating around the cavern.

Asch was going to be so pissed when I got out of this.

And Shadow was going to find out what it felt like to die by decapitation.

That lovely mental image firmly in the forefront of my mind, I charged at Reighn again, and he ducked back, trying to avoid my sword strike.

I'd known this was going to be a difficult battle, but then, I also knew Reighn well enough to know that if I twisted like this...

The mist-Reighn reacted just as I'd expected it to, enabling me to pull out a Guardian's Pain.

But rather than dissipating immediately, mist-Reighn got in one last blow that sent the Vorpal Blade flying.

I hissed, found a corner, and pulled out my wing pack, glancing at it.

Amazingly, I found I could actually get into it this time... albeit, only into the weapons section.

So. He wanted me to use my bow now.

I pulled it out and slung the quiver into place just in time for the mist to form up into my next enemy—a gun-toting, dusty-looking Dark.

He immediately aimed at me, and I ran, rolled and came up with an arrow pointed at him.

An arrow he dodged, much to my irritation.

I was really getting sick of these imitations of my friends.

I ran in toward Dark, and noticed his confusion. It faded quickly when mist-Dark realized I was within range for a Raging Blast, and Dark was gone just before I could hit him. Another arrow shot through the air.

This one found a new home in the apparition's back, and it scattered.

Then it formed up again, and I felt my heart drop into my stomach, because this time it was Sync.

And it wasn't just the boy who'd fought against the Sword Dancer with me.

Dull, pupil-less brown eyes told me more than enough. I was looking at the very same Gnome-controlled Sync that had nearly killed Dark.

I nocked another arrow, then had to roll away from a Shadow Daggers. I knew the poison on those weapons, but I wasn't sure I dared let them hit me, even if they were made out of pure miasma just like everything else.

I fired a few arrows, and suddenly realized something.

The Sword Dancer and Reighn had fallen to Guardian's Pain. Reighn had gotten in the last hurrah by knocking my weapon out of my hands.

Cantabile and Dark had gone down from a melee attack.

Flick had been defeated with a dark Raging Blast. Natalia a dark Demon Fang. Seth a Demon Fang-Guardian's Pain combo. Tear a miasma-fueled DelQues. Selenia a dark Havoc Strike.

I narrowed my eyes and slipped into the correct stance for a Blast Edge.

What came out was, as predictable, a miasma version of it.

And it not only hit Sync, it made him dissipate.

Which was when Asch formed.

I swallowed, because this... this was too life-like. No longer was there any indication that my opponent was actually made out of miasma-mist. It just looked like... Asch. Exactly the same as he'd looked the last time I'd seen him.

I took a few steps back. The only strike arte I had left was Silver Shot, but...

Asch ran at me, and so many hours of sparring paid off as I moved automatically, dodging, ducking, and managing to avoid gaining a single scratch from my opponent.

:Finish it...:

I recoiled, and mist-Asch managed to open a gash across my stomach.

:Finish him!:

I growled, jumping back away from the apparition that looked so much like the man I loved, and shook my head.

"No."

The apparition smirked, an evil expression that I knew didn't belong on my love's face, and a vague image appeared in my mind.

Asch, on the ground, paler than usual and sweating. Natalia and Jade bent over him, both of them looking panicked.

:No?: the Sword Dancer echoed.

I glanced at the miasma-copy, and then snarled something that would have had most ligers cringing.

Then I charged again, racing back in toward the false Asch.

Whatever was going on, whatever had been done... This illusion was hurting the real Asch. The man I loved...

Pure darkness gathered around my hand, even though I moved through the familiar motions of Reaper's Toll.

This was not Reaper's Toll. This... was so much darker. I knew this wasn't what it was supposed to be, but I didn't have a choice but to use it now.

The mist-Asch dissipated, and I glanced around.

No more illusions of allies...

Ah. So that's where the Sword Dancer disappeared to.

He then charged at me, apparently done allowing his illusory friends to attack me, and I scowled and ran at him myself. Somehow, I was going to win this. Because he'd summoned up the misty illusions, he'd done whatever he'd done to Asch.

I ducked under a sword slash and came up, shoving an arrow into his leg. I spotted the Vorpal Blade off to one side of the cavern, and slipped my bow around my torso, racing for the sword that would serve me so much better in these close quarters.

I was pissed.

And the steady stream of melee attacks and chained strike artes was the proof of that.

I paid little attention to the condition my own body was in, but somehow, even as the Sword Dancer finally fell to one knee, I managed to come out mostly unharmed. A few of the wounds I'd gained from fighting the miasma illusions, and a new cut or two...

I took a deep breath, and noted idly that I couldn't smell the miasma anymore.

Even though it was thicker than it had been previously.

The Sword Dancer returned to the lotus position he'd been in when I'd arrived, and I watched him carefully.

:You are, indeed, powerful. Come. It has been two thousand years since last I made a contract.:

I frowned. "Contract?"

:I am a powerful spirit, but a spirit nonetheless.:

"A summon contract," I realized. The Sword Dancer nodded.

:Indeed. You have already fulfilled the majority of your side of the bargain. Now... I have only one thing to ask of you. What will you do with the power at your fingertips, agent of the miasma?:

I stared for a long few moments, uncomprehending, before little things finally started clicking.

The mysterious 'agent of the miasma' that Lorelei had started mentioning.

Guardian's Pain.

The way I'd twisted Twilight's Requiem into a miasma-tainted version.

And even now...

I pulled partially out of my body and checked. Despite standing here, despite the massive dump from Twilight's Requiem, despite everything... Yes, there was a lot of miasma in my body.

But not a lick more damage than there'd been when I'd landed in northern Padamiya.

And with influxes that large, there should have been damage. It should have undone some of my efforts to heal myself.

It hadn't. The miasma, quite simply, no longer affected me.

I took a deep breath. Because the Sword Dancer had asked me a question. A question I would answer as honestly as I could.

"What will I do with it? I don't know. I don't know when I'll find myself backed against the wall. Don't know who or what I'll have to face to keep my friends and family safe. Don't know how long it'll be before I'm pushed to my limits." I clenched my jaw. "But I'll be damned if I let any of my family, my friends, die because I hesitated to use a weapon at my disposal."

I got the impression that the Sword Dancer was smirking at me.

:Excellent.:

A large amount of miasma suddenly shot toward me, wrapping around me until I could barely see anything.

Then the fire started, that oh-so-familiar fire...

Asch was going to be so pissed, damage or no damage.

I didn't really care right at that moment.

As the fire faded, I realized three things. First, I could feel the miasma. Not just the massive amount in my own body, but also the mist-miasma that was still floating around the cavern, and the small amounts far, far away from me. I couldn't have told you how far away the small amounts of miasma were, nor could I really tell you which direction, but I could feel them on the edge of my perception.

Second, I wasn't wearing my uniform anymore.

I smirked when I realized I was wearing the War Witch outfit Peony had made for me. The outfit I'd been wearing when I'd been sacrificed to destroy the Monolith of Syal. An outfit I'd feared forever lost. Its familiar silver, black, and violet was a welcome sight to my eyes.

The last thing, though...

I held out my left arm, and the sword that materialized there was not the Vorpal Blade that had been there.

Silver Clematis, in all its silver, teal, green, and magenta glory, appeared in a familiar silver flash of displaced fonons.

I grinned. "About damn time."

The Sword Dancer chuckled. :Go. Shadow will return you to your friends. Gather the six monolith shards. They will teach you to summon. What they teach, applies also to me.:

I nodded. "Thank you."

:And my name... is Kade.:

He then disappeared, vanishing in a mass of black mist. I turned and headed up out of the cavern, following the tunnels at my own pace.

Shadow was waiting for me, leaning against the wall of the first cavern and looking bored out of his mind. I snickered at him.

Red eyes glanced at me, looked away, then shot back to me. Shock took over his features. "You... You beat him?"

I put a hand on my hip and tilted my head to the side. "You didn't think I would?" I asked. He stared for a moment longer before smiling.

"I guess... We have a chance after all. Just try not to touch Lorelei too much now, okay?"

I hummed. "I'm guessing he and the miasma don't go well together."

Shadow shook his head. "Understatement of the millennium." He pushed away from the wall and walked over to me. "Come on. I'm sure Asch is probably wondering where the hell I dragged you off to... Oh. Oh boy."

Shadow stopped and got that look that I knew Asch got when he was talking to Luke. "Uh... What did Kade do to him?"

"Created illusory versions of him and everyone else who ever helped me fight him," I said. "I... Hesitated to kill the false Asch."

Shadow winced. "You're going to want to go flush the miasma out of everyone on that list, then. And Asch is pissed. And confused, according to Jade."

I winced and held out a hand. "If he's pissed now, you'd better drop me and run unless you really want to see just how angry that man can get."

The shadows around the cavern condensed and formed up around the two of us as Shadow grabbed my hand.

Sure enough, we landed right where we'd left from, and I glanced around. Asch, Jade, Saphir, Natalia, Dark, Reighn, Solace...

"Kairi?"

I looked down at Asch and nodded. He stood from where he'd been sitting an immediately frowned. "Where the hell did he just..."

When he cut off, I knew. He'd seen the miasma.

"Kairi..."

"It's a bit of a long story," I said. "No damage, though."

That didn't seem to relax Asch at all. "But, that much..."

I sighed. "I'm basically immune to it now."

"Hey, you got your present from Peony back," Solace pointed out, pointedly changing the subject. I giggled.

"Yup. Clothes, and..." I held up my hand, letting Silver Clematis appear. Solace grinned, and even Jade had to smile at my enthusiasm.

But to be totally honest, I was still a bit disappointed, though Asch would have had my head if he'd known why.

I'd gotten my clothing back, yes.

I'd earned Silver Clematis again, and was absolutely thrilled over that one, though I wasn't sure what had happened to the Vorpal Blade.

But that still left me missing one thing, the one thing I wanted back the most.

The promise ring Asch had given me.

Fun Fact: Reading back on this from about ten parts in the future, I've realized... Where the frick did the Vorpal Blade go?! Then again, we don't actually see Guy in action again for about ten parts... Huh. I guess Kairi just took her time giving it back to him? (She does still have it, by the way, Kade put her bow, quiver, and the Vorpal Blade away in her wing pack for her.) Except... Eh, looks like Tea and I have some editing to do. (Gotta love minor plot holes that twist your brain in all sorts of knots, right?)