Alright, I'm sure a lot of people were waiting for this to happen.

Chapter 25: Reality

Verse 1

By the time morning came, they were already well underway north, making sure to not be noticed by the Nation. The darkness managed to hide them both, considering the coloring of them both. Still, just that was no reason to get sloppy. They'd still have to be careful to not fly into any of the Nation's airships. That was the last thing they needed at that point

Most people had still been asleep when they'd decided to leave with only a few exceptions, like the baker, and a few others who wanted freshly baked bread for breakfast. But other than those few people, it was fairly easy for them not to be seen.

They preferred it that way…

So, any ideas on where to go next? Morcion asked simply, not showing too much interest.

Not really. I don't know the exact location of the Goddess, but she should be up north…

Morcion snorted, but Lynn just ignored it. She wasn't really in the mood for another argument. They'd argued through most of the night, before they had both fallen asleep in the end. Well, she had. She wasn't sure about Morcion, since dragons didn't need that much rest like humans.

Lynn was just glad she could walk properly, since she hadn't gotten all that much sleep because of that argument. She didn't even remember what it was about. But she did remember mumbling something about them acting like husband and wife, or something…

Reaching up and adjusting her ribbon, she took a moment to stretch, before asking: "Was wondering… just how old are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know…"

Lynn merely rolled her eyes. Somehow, she wasn't really all that surprised he responded like that.

Verse 2

The further north they came, the colder it became. Lynn had been wise enough to buy a different cloak, which was included with a hood, and had also purchased some gloves. She also had warmer clothing with her, but it was a bit hard to change on the back of a dragon. At the end of the second day, she had indeed changed into those clothes. She might not be able to feel the cold, but that didn't mean she couldn't get sick because of it.

Also, she was definitely NOT a fan of the color white.

All the snow was making her eyes hurt, and she couldn't wait to be back down further south. She couldn't remember the last time it had ever snowed this much when she was a child. Then again, there was little she COULD remember from her childhood.

Hmph. This weather is almost not normal… Morcion grumbled. Clearly, the snow was limiting his flying a bit.

Well, if you want to hoof it…

Like hell!

She smirked a little. If there was one thing she had learned very quickly about her partner, it was that he had a bit of a mouth on him, for a dragon. Lynn couldn't be sure of other dragons, but she doubted most of them were this badmouthed.

Oh great…

Huh?

Look ahead of you…

As soon as she did, she understood what he meant. It seemed the Nation's army had beaten them to this place. The skies were literally littered with both airships and zeppelins. Not to mention several airplanes, which would definitely provide problems for them.

Great… well. We came all the way out here… We may as well have some fun, right?

She could feel Morcion grinning through their link. Now you're talking! Let's blow these fools to hell!

Verse 3

The zeppelins were easy to handle. The airships were a little harder. And the airplanes were just plain annoying. They just moved too fast at points for Morcion to follow, forcing the black dragon to spin around so that they wouldn't be shot from behind.

Dammit! How'm I supposed to hit those hellish contraptions!

Lynn snarled, keeping an eye on one of the planes while thinking up some way to do this. She had never understood planes that much. They had wings that didn't need to flap in order to keep them up in the air, made a god awful lot of noise, and fired way too many shots at once. Even so, what kept those things in the air?

She probably blinked once, but it was enough. Morcion! That thing on the plane's nose! Shoot that!

Eh? What's that gonna do!

Just shut up and do it!

Okay, okay!

Not questioning his partner any further, Morcion spun around and rushed straight for one of the planes. He could tell its rider was both surprised and shocked at what he was doing, but the dragon couldn't really care. Instead, he took careful aim on the circle-like object on the front of the plane, before firing a homing shot at it.

The plane tried to avoid it, of course, but there was no avoiding it, and the blast of fire slammed right into it. Morcion yowled a little as the blast blew the circle off of the plane and nearly into his wings, but then he laughed when he saw the smoke coming from the plane even as it lost altitude. Lynn whooped, laughing as they easily dodged the next plane.

Heheh… shall we?

Thought you'd never ask!

And with that thought, Morcion spun around and fried several more zeppelins, and the last battleship, before focusing his attention solely on the airplanes. Now that they had figured out how to do this, this had become a whole lot easier.

However…

Morcion! Left!

Eh? WAH!

The dragon instantly flapped his wings to avoid the blasts of fire aimed for his wing. However, the force of his propulsion accidentally sent him into a barrel roll, which his partner had not expected. And as such…

"GYAAH!"

"SHIT!"

Morcion quickly evaded the shot aimed for his head, before folding his wings against his body quickly and diving after his partner.

Lynn hadn't expected Morcion to barrel roll like that, and hadn't been able to latch onto him in time. So yeah, she hadn't been overly surprised that she fell, but that didn't mean she wasn't fricking scared out of her mind. She knew all too well that a fall from that altitude would surely kill her, even with the pact price she had paid.

And seeing as she didn't want to die, panic gripped her mind far stronger than anything else and she, as such, found herself unable to move, or even scream. Shutting her eyes tightly, Lynn didn't want to see what was about to happen.

But when nothing happened, she dared to look out, and was more than a little surprised to find herself trapped in one of Morcion's claws.

Damn it! Why are you ALWAYS such a bother!

Lynn growled. "It's not like I fell on PURPOSE, you bastard!"

"Oh, like it was my fault you didn't hold on!"

Their argument continued even as Morcion continued frying every airplane that came at them.

Verse 4

As the skies calmed down, the duo found themselves within a nearby forest, taking a small break to gather their wits after their small near-death experience. Not that either voiced that they needed it. In fact, the only thing they voiced were the constant arguments.

And those continued on for a long time even when the fighting ended. Lynn wasn't even thinking about what she was saying as she assessed the few injuries Morcion had sustained during the fight. They still kept blaming each other for the small stunt from a while back, even though they both knew it was a combination of both. They were just too stubborn to admit it.

Suddenly she paused as she felt a ripple through her mind. …did you…?

Morcion snarled. Another with a pact… close by…

Lynn said nothing, before she stood slowly, bringing out her wave swords. I'll check it out…

Be careful…

She nodded once, before she started moving further into the forest, not even looking into the change in demeanor with either of them. This was normal, after all.

Verse 5

Being a former mercenary, it was easy enough to sneak around without being spotted. Not that it would matter. If she could sense that person with a pact, said person would be able to sense her as well. Still, it was necessary, in case there were Nation's soldiers around.

No sooner had that thought registered did screams ring out through the forest. Wincing a little at the sound, Lynn began to run toward it, more than a little curious. She wondered if she was dealing with the Nation or with the Union. But whichever it was, she had no intention of joining either one.

But before she could think of anything else, she stopped dead, mouth dropping open in horror.

The scene before her was nothing short of a bloody mess. The once pristine snow was stained a blood red, some sections a dark black, and at least 20 Nation soldiers lay sprawled around, while several more had remained standing. Not that that lasted long, because even as several bursts of fire slammed into them, which did very little, as a broadsword lashed out and savagely ripped them in half in a single hit.

Blood splattered everywhere even as the remaining soldiers hit the ground, staining the snow even further. Only a single figure remained standing, gripping the massive sword in a single hand as if it was nothing, a heavy cloak hiding their features almost completely. There was no way Lynn could not sense the malice that was literally oozing from this person, the sheer hatred and anger pouring off of them in waves.

And then the figure raised their head and Lynn gulped. Um… Morcion?

What!

Did… the Nation say anything about some guy with a broadsword to be wary of?

Eh? Uh… no. Not really. But I do remember some rumors about the Union's "Demon".

Ah.

Why are you asking?

…I think I found that Demon…

WHAT?

But Lynn wasn't even given the chance to respond as she yowled and dived to the side to avoid several bursts of fire. 'Damn! That guy's got magic too! Great!'

Snarling softly, she brought up her swords and ran for this so-called 'demon' easily jumping over the first swing before lashing out with her own swords. The guy instantly dashed to the side, altering the swipe of his sword, though Lynn just barely managed to block it with one sword. Because this guy was definitely stronger than most.

It took a bit to realize that this was the guy with the pact she'd picked up earlier. That would at least explain some of the guy's power, but not all of it.

Snarling, Lynn lashed out with her other sword, but the guy just stepped back quickly to avoid the swipe, and lashed out upward, making Lynn arch her back until she had to somersault away. There was no denying that this guy was fast, and very experienced. She'd expected as much, but still, she was not about to give in so easily.

The guy surprised her by chuckling softly, before he roared out and rushed straight for her. Lynn would've called him mad, if she hadn't experienced his strength first hand. Blocking the first hit with both blades, she finally went on the offensive, giving it her all to, hopefully, survive this battle.

Every time their blades clashed, the ringing of metal striking metal echoed through the forest and her ears, as she tried to get at least one hit in before she could be hit. Not that she'd notice, but she still had no intention of getting herself cut up.

Then she noticed something as they locked blades again. The guy was… grinning. And that grin nearly scared her.

It was almost the same as the solar demon's grin, which indeed gave this impression like this guy was a demon himself. She shuddered for merely a second, but that one second was more than enough. Lynn could only just jump back from the massive sideways slash, while she aimed a slash uppercut at the guy.

Neither seemed to care at the sound of ripping cloth, before Lynn yowled and tripped over a body she had overlooked. She could only just roll out of the way as the guy slashed down at where she had been moments before, before she leapt up and lashed out with one blade at the same time as he thrust forward with his blade.

Verse 6

Silence fell over the forest once more, the snow stained red with Nation soldiers' blood. The multiple bodies would've made anyone sick, if the smell hadn't already. And yet two figures remained standing, almost as if they had been frozen in time. Both had similar looks of shock and surprise on their faces, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

One of them was a woman with shoulder length, curled, dark red, almost black hair and poisonous green eyes, a scar on her face only just missing her hairline and chin, wielding a set of pronged wave swords, of which one was mere millimeters away from the other figure's throat, threatening to break through the skin if the other even dared to swallow.

The second was a woman with chin length, straight, fire red hair with two bright orange/yellow strakes running through it and eyes the color of the deepest ocean, a massive bloodstained broadsword clutched in both hands, aimed right at the first's chest, barely an inch away from her chest, daring her to breathe too hard and allow the tip to pierce through the skin.

Both females couldn't bring themselves to make that final motion. The one slice or stab that would end this fight. Neither could bring themselves to move, eyes not once straying from the other's face, as if even moving their eyes would prove to be fatal.

For the longest time, neither moved, and barely seemed to be breathing except for the short pants for breath from their 'little scuffle', small puffs of white coming from them both.

Slowly, their mouths began to move, but no sounds came out. Neither could manage to say a single thing, but they both knew very well what they attempted to say, because they both wished for it to be true and not some kind of illusion or dream.

"…Angelina?"

"…Madelynn?"

Okay, I'm curious… If any of you feel up to this; write a small story about what would happen if one of the two (or both) actually moved those two inches or more to kill the other. You don't have to if you don't want to, but I'm curious to see what others think would happen.