...Thank God you guys don't know where I live.

Angelic:

I really am sorry! D:

And yep. Crazy. And not all that I can think of. Be careful, shippers, or the crazy crack pairings will come and get you.

I did have Raven call it a Fake (once) but in pretty much every other game series I can think of they're called mimics, or I don't remember their names at all. And Dedecchi kept one as a pet *shakes head*.

The Smurfette Principle:

All better now! *Coughs for a minute* ...That was coincidence. And you pretty much summed up two of the biggest issues right now, the third being just how the heck Letha can break the news to the others about being an alien. Fun! (Being concerned on all accounts is very justified.)

x x x

Chapter 52: Children Of The Earth

x x x

Belius lowered her head slightly, bringing us closer to eye level. "My form does not surprise you. You spoke the truth when you said you knew what I am. Tell me what you will, Child of Another World."

I could only very briefly note that I had passed some sort of first impression test before that last part sunk in. "Child of a-how did you know?"

She rumbled a soft laugh from deep inside her chest. "Aer is present in all things of this world, and we Entelexeia can sense its movements. Your body was not born to contain and channel aer, and so the aer rebels within you."

The Duce's long, yellow-orange furred arm reached out until the long black fingers stopped just shy of touching my chest. "Now that you live with aer, absorbing it with each breath you take, it continues to build up and move restlessly inside you." Her finger traced a motion in the air before me not unlike the infinity symbol, the large gold bracelet she wore jangling softly. "With no way to store it as the Entelexeia do, or to process and expel it as the humans and krityans do, the aer collects where it can and forces your body to either adapt or destroy itself." By this point the purple flames had dissapated, their light replaced by the steady radiance of torches and a more blastia like glow from behind her.

Well now, wasn't that a fascinating tidbit of unlooked for information. Which definitely bore looking into at a later date. "But how can you tell from that that I'm from another world? I could be a genetic mutation or something."

The furless black hand (the skin looked a lot like the paw pad of a dog's foot) withdrew from my personal space. "Only once have I met a being with the same restless reserves of aer. A woman with white hair and wings, who came asking after a lost treasure." Sybelle Bianca leaves yet another calling card. What will I learn, I wonder, if I follow this bread crumb trail? Belius had hesitated for a moment before speaking in an undertone I took as her speaking her own thoughts aloud. "Although, I suspected this woman had her own method of restoring her internal balance... But this is not what you came to speak of." Her attention returned to me and I shook my own head to clear the new possibilities. Not the time for them.

"No, it isn't. Though it may make this easier." I took another steadying breath and plowed ahead. "Even though I'm not from this world, I know about the Entelexeia, the Children of the Full Moon, and what the Children's power can do to this world. The calamity it can unleash."

I hesitated again before speaking all in a rush, "Belius, the Child of the Full Moon is-Estelle really is a good person! But even good people with good intentions make mistakes!"

"Calm yourself," Belius soothed me. "You have no need to defend your friend from me. Unlike my brother, Phaeroh, I have not yet come to the conclusion that killing the Child of the Full Moon is the only recourse."

"It isn't," I was quick to agree, "but Belius, that wasn't what I meant..." Biting my lower lip, I wondered how I could explain so that it made sense. "I should have said that because I'm from another world, I know this. You're going to die tonight!"

The Duce didn't really react to my declaration, at least not in an overtly visible manner. But I had the impression of a wild creature suddenly on the alert, straining its senses for the baying of the hounds on its tail. Still, she sounded composed and authoritative when she demanded, "And how exactly do you 'know' this with such certainty?"

For some reason a strange sense of shame descended on me, causing me to look away as I answered, "I know this story. On Earth, we know about Terca Lumireis because it's part of a series of popular stories. But no one would even imagine it was a real world with real people." Well, fanfiction aside. "But I'm here, I'm living it, and so is everyone I've met! You're all real, and I can't just stand by when I know what comes next!"

"And you see fit to play as a God would? Choosing who is to live and who is to die?" I looked up, a protest on my lips, and found myself caught in the bottomless pools of Belius' eyes. It was like the wisdom of an entire age had focused itself on me, holding me in place and judging me.

"No," I breathed, voice shaking, "I don't want to be a god. I just...wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't try to help. I don't want to hate myself," the last part was a near inaudible whisper.

Belius continued to stare into my eyes. I could feel a trickle of sweat running down the back of my neck and longed to break eye contact. I didn't dare.

Finally, she spoke, "You are a strange sort of hero, Child of Earth, to make even selfless acts sound as selfish desires."

I flushed and stammered, "I'm not-I'm nothing like a hero!"

"Oh?" the Duce remarked lightly. "You are trying to save my life, are you not? Most would call that the act of a hero."

"This is nothing to joke about!"

"We've come to speak with Belius." Like a specter, Yuri's voice filtered in from nowhere.

"You're..." surprised, I looked around and followed the sound of Natz's voice, "Oh, weren't you the emissary sent by Don Whitehorse?" My confusion lifted when I found a pipe that stuck into the room barely a few feet from where Belius stood. It brought to mind similar contraptions I was given to understand some older ships used for communication.

"Huh, convenient," I murmured. Then I gave Belius a wry look, "I've always wondered how you could hear what was happening outside a door a whole corridor away." From my new position beside Belius, I could see that behind her (and thus very unnoticeable when you're focused on the Duce) was a set of windows with dark iron grilles overlooking the arena of the coliseum. It was lit by the ambient light of the barrier blastia.

While vulpine expressions weren't my area of expertise, Belius seemed amused. "It does serve to give those seeking an audience a rather awed impression, besides its intended uses."

"-wouldn't mind lettin' me through," Raven finished asking Natz.

"Those are my friends out there," I told Belius, "Estelle is with them. And only two of them know I'm not from Terca Lumireis..." Or three? I'm wondering how much Judith might have learned from Ba'ul, who as an Entlexeia might have noticed the 'restless aer' thing...

"You may enter..." Natz's voice drifted to us, "However I must ask the rest of you to withdraw."

"What?" Karol's voice pierced through about half an octave too high, "But why?"

"Belius," I said pleadingly, "Please talk to Estelle. Tell her what she needs to know!"

"If it is so important, why have you said nothing to her?" Belius asked in turn. I hung my head.

"I...I'm afraid of what will happen if anyone finds out how I know all this."

There was silence in Belius' chamber, with Rita's piped in voice asking, "Are you trying to say we can't be trusted or something?"

"NATZ," Belius didn't exactly bellow, but the sheer volume of her powerful voice had me smacking at one of my ears lightly since I'd been standing right next to her. Wow, seemed that pipe thing was only necessary one way.

"Duce, please reconsider-" I don't think Natz liked sending in even more people while he knew I was with the Duce.

"I HAVE SPOKEN." (Covered my ears just in time for that one.)

"...Yes, Duce."

We didn't hear anymore after that. I looked sidelong at Belius, and she correctly interpreted the question in my glance. "Natz only opens the connection when I am sought out for an audience. Otherwise, it remains closed to maintain confidentiality." Good, would hate it if someone heard my Earth and Stories speech without me knowing it.

"He worries about you."

"Like a mother worries over her brood," she sighed. And then the lights in the room abruptly went out.

"...Do you really do that every time someone comes to talk with you?"

Her laugh rumbled quietly from the shadows, "Only for the first meeting. I have found that it lessens the chances that they will break down my door with weapons in hand. Though not by all that much." I smiled. I never really expected to like Belius. Not like I thought I'd hate her, but she's pretty cool with a sense of humor to boot.

There was a metallic creak of the door hinges followed by the shuffling of many different pairs of feet trying to feel their way in the darkness. "H-hey!" Karol complained at the darkness, "What's going on?"

"Everybody still here?" Yuri asked and the others sounded off roll call and Repede barked. I couldn't resist tossing my own, "Here!" into the mix.

I was rewarded when Raven asked "...Aren' we comin' up one extra?" which made Karol and Rita squeak. And then Belius' purple foxfire (more appropriate term in this case, I'd think) flared to life and revealed her in all her glory. Extra points for style!

Karol stumbled back at the sight. "A-a monster...!"

"And here I had secret hopes we'd get a gourmet meal out of this," Yuri's blase tone was grimly underscored by him flipping his sword over in his left hand, ready to fling the scabbard out of the way. "Wasn't expecting a trap."

Judith stopped him with a hand on his arm, "This isn't a trap. She is..."

Estelle took a hesitant step forward. "Belius?"

"The very same," she confirmed. "I am Belius, Duce of Nordopolica and founder of Palestralle."

"Didn't see this comin'," Raven muttered.

I looked up at Belius from where I stood to her left side. "First meetings, eh? You totally just do this for fun." Her black lips parted in a show of white fangs. Huh, amused smile or sign of agression? ...Probably a smile, but let's not push it.

"Letha? You're here too?" Estelle finally noticed me. To be fair, I was a lot less noticeable then Belius. There'd be something wrong with you if she didn't monopolize your attention, or most of it, when appearing like that.

"Hey," the Ace sounded hurt, "why'd you come here without us? We were waiting for you!" The rest of the group was giving me looks that ranged from annoyed (particularly Rita) to questioning (especially Yuri). Judith had a particularly enigmatic expression, and I could think of too many reasons why to even begin figuring out what it meant.

I winced apologetically, fiddling a bit with the end of my braid, "Yeah, sorry 'bout that..."

"Do not be angry with your friend," Belius admonished him gently, "She acts with good intentions at heart."

"I bet she does," Yuri said cryptically. 'We'll talk about this later' was the vibes I was getting from him, but I could only sigh a little sadly. Why have I let this go on for so long? All our time would have been much better spent worrying about something else. "So, you can talk just like Phaeroh, huh? Meaning you're an Entelexeia too?"

His overly familiar tone with Nordoplica's Duce had Karol and me wincing (though considering my most recent attitude and comments I probably had no right to judge). She merely inclined her head, "That is so."

Karol's eyes shot open wide and he started looking around us with fresh amazement. "Th-then the ancient race that built this city was..."

"My brethren and I."

Raven sighed and grumbled something uncomplimentary about the Don under his breath. The Duce fixed her dark eyes on him. "And who might you be?"

"A humble servant of Don Whitehorse," the archer sketched a bow that managed to look both halfhearted and clownish (probably because he hardly bent from the waist at all, but made a lot of unnecessary flourishes with one hand). "I've got a letter for you from him." He sauntered over to Belius' other side while fishing the letter (enveloped a bit mangled from the rigors of travel...whoops) out of an interior pocket of his purple coat.

He continued chattering away as he held out the letter to Belius and she took it delicately in her larger hands. "I've known that old badger too long ta be surprised by who he knows, but just how're you connected?"

"I am indebted to him," she responded as her eyes quickly scanned across the page, "for his assistance during the Great War." Finished reading already, Belius lowered the letter again in order to look Raven in the eye as she spoke.

"The Great War...!" Karol gasped, still overly hyped about the entire situation in general. "So the rumors that you were one of the masterminds behind it are true?"

"Don't be so hasty when you don't have all the facts," I had to say, crossing my arms and making a Rita-like snort of impatience. "Just because Belius was involved does not mean she was responsible for the war itself."

A brief, bark like laugh, "All who participate in war are in part responsible." I fidgeted a little, wondering how I'd been made to feel like a chastised child. "However, I never exceeded that which my duty as an Entelexeia required. I was not a mastermind of anything."

"The Great War was fought against the Entelexeia," the Ace said slowly, unsure if he might be crossing the bounds of respect for the Duce, but reluctant to let go of the matter. I fidgeted more, restless at how the conversation was still following the game and not leading towards Estelle learning anything important. Eying all the others, I noted that pretty much each of them were being pretty attentive, even Judith considering she probably knew most of it already.

"At any rate," Belius spoke in a conclusive tone, "my acquaintance with the Don dates from those times. I have long lamented that a man of his talent was not born instead as one of my race."

Woah, wait, I blinked, did she...imply she has a thing for Whitehorse? The Duce of Palestralle and Nordopolica is carrying a torch for the Don of Altosk and Dahngrest? Totally had gone over my head before, probably due to all the other plot development the game threw in here. ...Damn, the plot's gonna come rolling back in soon.

"That's the first I'd heard the old man had anything to do with the Great War," Raven commented somewhat petulantly. Well, I guess if you had both the benefits of a Knight Captain and a high ranking guild member, it would be irksome to find out that such a gem of info about a key world figure had slipped through your information netweork.

"It is a subject he takes little pleasure in discussing," and Belius sounded like she didn't want to talk about it much either, but did out of courtesy to us. "The Don has requested my mediation in the current trouble with Phaeroh."

"Belius," I murmured, a hint of pleading slipping into my tone.

The Duce arched her neck so that she was looking down on me at her side. "I shall offer my assistance to the Don for the time being. His request can not lightly be brushed aside. Much as your earlier words can not be easily disregarded." My words? The ones about her dying, or when I asked her to talk to Estelle?

And the princess was looking curiously at me. "Letha? You never said before that there was something you wanted to talk about Belius with." Yuri started a bit, almost unnoticeable, and then it was as if he was trying to bore holes in my head with the way he was staring at me.

"Yeah, you still haven't told us what you were doing here!" Karol remembered.

"Nothing impor-" I stopped, mouth snapping shut. Not only was that a really flimsy, transparent lie (who would get an audience with the DUCE about "nothing important?"), but if I didn't stop running soon then Yuri would drag me into it kicking and screaming. I shook my head and sighed once again, "It can wait a little longer. Right now, Estelle, isn't there something more important you should be thinking about?"

"Oh!" the princess realized. With Raven's business done it was her chance to learn about why Entelexeia like Phaeroh wanted her out of the picture. She stepped out to the front of the group and very politely introduced herself. "My name is Estellise, and I was hoping you could tell me about the Children of the Full Moon.

"Phaeroh called me..." Estelle's eyes fell at the unpleasant memory as she raised her clasped hands before her, "He called me an 'insipid poison'." Her voice trembled just a little at the last word. Aww, she needs a hug. I very nearly ran over to give her one, but a glomp in the current circumstances seemed a tad inappropriate. I vowed to do so later.

Belius' long arm reached out once more, strange fingers gently cupping Estelle's chin and raising her head. "I am sorry that the words of my brother have troubled you so. I can not but think the knowledge you seek will only cause you further grief, but the Child of the Earth," -and didn't that make Yuri (and probably Raven) snap to attention?- "is of the belief that you should learn the truth."

"Child of the Earth? What is that?" Karol asked the room in general. I can feel Yuri's eyes burning holes agaaaain... How Raven took it, I couldn't really tell since Belius was mostly between us. Judith had a speculative look, but since it was her she could very well be considering some shipperish new pairing. Though I doubt even she'd be thinking of something so off topic...

"Estelle, do you know anything?" Rita questioned the well read princess.

"I don't think so..." she answered uncertainly. In turn she asked Belius, "Does the 'Child of the Earth' have something to do with the Child of the Full Moon?" They haven't made the connection yet... You know, they're all (besides Yuri and Raven) probably thinking of the soil kind of Earth. Never thought I'd actually be grateful for how mundanely our planet is named.

"Perhaps," Belius allowed. From my position I could see her tails seemed to be...wagging, for lack of a more dignified term. So glad to see you're having fun at my expense, centaurian fox woman. I did not appreciate the time being wasted this way. How long until the Hunting Blades came? "The Child of the Full Moon is a being who's power affects the very balance of this world. The aer-"

From the hall we'd come from rang out the clash of metal on metal, the door shuddering suddenly with a dull bang as if something had been thrown against it. "No..." I groaned, "Not yet!" Unhappily I pulled both daggers from their places on one of my belts.

"What the hell's all that racket?" Raven complained.

The Duce knew as well as I that this was serious; Natz hadn't opened that communication device thing so that she could hear about any newcomers. And given my reason for being here on top of my dread filled reaction she could make a very educated guess. "Perhaps my death has come knocking upon my door."

"Belius!" Judith objected.

The door shuddered again. Relaxing my too tight grip on both Geminis took conscious effort as I expected Clint and Tison to enter-the door was flung into the room itself with Chase coming in back first. His claymore buried itself tip first into the stone floor and cut a furrow several feet long until he stopped, one knee dropping to the ground and hands white knuckled from clinging to the sword hilt.

"Chase?" I said dumbly. "...Chase?" I did not put my weapons away. Oh-hohoo, no I did not. And Yuri definitely remembered the last meeting with my fellow Earthling well enough; his own katana was out and ready again.

He raised his head, shaking the loose sandy hair out of his eyes. "Um, yeah. Hi." Then he shrugged sheepishly at Belius. "Sorry, I sorta broke your door." He glanced down at the long slice he'd put into the stone, "And your floor..."

"CHASE?"

"At last we've found you, Entelexeia!" That was Tison, as he and Clint made their 'we're so bad we pwn this place' entrance. "Leader of monsters! Origin of evil!"

Karol was thunderstruck. "Tison! Boss!"

Normally I'd make a scoffing retort about how there was so much wrong about his grand opening statement, but instead, "Chase, what in GOD'S NAME are you doing here?

He stood up, pulling his sword from the stone and giving it a quick swipe through the air to shake off the dust and bits of rock still clinging to it. "Plan A was a bust, because Verte is a bitch, so it's plan B."

"Hey!" Tison snarled, "We're talking here!"

"So am I!" I roared back at him. But then Belius' hand firmly squeezed my shoulder and I remembered why I couldn't afford to lose my cool head.

"You've got some twisted tastes, hanging out with freaks like this," Tison sneered at us all, mainly focusing on the Fox Centaur Duce, but seeming to include us all in general under the label of "freak". Which hardly seem fair to me, since he wore that hood thing that covered his eyes and sounded like a halfhearted attempt at a surfer's dialect. I always hated it when he opened his mouth to say something, and it never helped that I hated all the idiotic crap he spewed about monsters = eeeval!

Not to say I liked Clint any better. "Keeping monsters to use in your coliseum?" his voice grated out. "You're an enemy of humanity, and now you die!" Seriously, what the eff is with their logic? Because humans think it's exciting to watch someone else fight, monsters are kept here for their entertainment. How the Flippin' CRAP does that make someone an enemy of humanity? If you were talking about Romans setting lions and such on innocent and defenseless people, that would be one thing, but everything I'd heard was that Palestralle ran a pretty tight ship and only let experienced fighters take risks they could handle. Last time was a Zagi caused fluke.

I wanted very much to shout all that back in Clint's face, but that would be pointless. The Hunting Blades were on a crusade. An ignorant unbeliever like me could scream myself blue in the face and never change their minds.

Karol was casting furtive glances behind them, "Wh-where's Nan...?"

"Curious, huh?" the would be surfer was...less sarcastic than I'd have thought. Oookay... "She should be leading the raid on the remaining monsters in the coliseum about now." Oookaaaay...in game land, him divulging this information so easily was solely so the player knew what was going on and what they'd be expected to do. Realistically...I blinked, Realistically, he probably wouldn't have told us anything. Except maybe to mock us. But it didn't sound much like it.

...

He began cracking his knuckles with an eager grin. "We Hunting Blades give no quarter to any who would obstruct the justice we mete out, humans or no." Okay, phony surfer is just another fighting addict who's clinging to an excuse to start brawling with something or someone. Wouldn't be the first time someone supported a cause just because it happened to allow some of the pasttimes they liked.

"Justice?" I repeated scornfully, despite my earlier resolution not to get into a pointless shouting match that no one could win. "Just slapping the word 'justice' on something doesn't give you automatic authority or the right to be judge, jury, and executioner. It works both ways!" Of course it wasn't until I got to the 'executioner' part that I remembered about the Vigilante in our group. Dammit, why do I keep doing that?

"Y-yeah!" I was surprised to hear our Ace chiming in with me. "That's not justice at all!"

"What would you know about justice?" Tison shot back, "You're just a coward who got kicked out!" Karol bit his lip, shoulders shaking as he couldn't find the confidence to stand up against he past 'failure'.

"Enough," Clint growled, reaching behind his back to unhook and swing forward the huge...huuuge...God, could something that size still be classified as a sword? "If you won't attack, then I'll make the first move, beast!"

With a roar he charged forward, sword high above his head and telegraphing his first attack like a neon sign. Not that that made it any easier to stop him than, say, a charging Rhino or truck. That guy was bigger than I remembered!

Tison was a nimble little bugger, easily overtaking his boss and eagerly lunging forward for the first strike. And getting thrown back when he met Yuri's fist in his face. I'd like to say Yuri only beat me to it because he was standing closer to the door.

Judith darted into Clint's path, reaching for the halberd she wore across her own back (I never mentioned, it divided into two pieces so she could carry it more easily), but before she could bring it to bear he bashed her aside with one beefy arm and barreled forward unchecked. The krityan grunted in pain, arm wrapped around her ribs as she tried to get back up.

I couldn't help but cringe back when Clint, practically in my face since I was still standing next to Belius, swung his massive sword down on the Duce.

Clang!

...In game, Belius catches the blade on the back of her freaking forearm. I remember that quite clearly because, really, didn't that hurt? I opened my eyes, which had squinted shut in sympathetic pain, but that was not what I saw.

Chase was standing in front of Belius and me, claymore up in a guard position with the flat of his blade braced in the palm of his off hand. He grimaced under the strain of holding back the force of Clint's attack. Rocking forward on his feet, he slowly pushed until with a final shove he forced Clint to back off a few steps.

"Chase?" I asked, confused.

He shrugged, panting from the effort the standoff had cost him. "Plan B." And then he grunted as he quickly made a vertical guard with his sword before Clint's next horizontal swing could chop him in half. He was successful in protecting himself, but was pushed aside and out of Clint's way.

The Hunting Blade boss then tried to swing his sword back around at Belius with a yell, but the Entelexeia caught the blade in her hand. "It seems these men will not be stayed lest I take arms against them." She looked over Clint's head (he was big, but she was still much bigger) to look at Yuri and the others, "It is asking much of you, but please, help Natz."

"What about you?" Yuri was still standing over Tison, who was (presumably) glaring up at him with a bloody nose, with his sword under the surfer accent man's chin. Estelle, meanwhile, had moved to Judith's side and was just finishing healing the krityan's damaged ribs. Karol just looked overall bewildered, Rita had whipped out her scroll but chose to watch the situation before casting anything (we did have the guys outnumbered), and Raven didn't seem overly bothered.

Belius made a contemptuous noise as she looked at the sword in her hand, hardly strained by holding it back, "I am not to be outdone by mere humans."

"Gotcha," Yuri grinned, katana leaving Tison's neck and resting on our vigilante's shoulder instead. He glanced at Karol, who was too wrapped up in anguish over Nan and his former guild to take charge of Brave Vesperia, so Yuri took the job. "Let's get outta here!"

Repede, Raven and Rita immediately made for the door, ready to go where they could do some good instead of hanging on the sidelines on the off chance they'd get an opening. Estelle hesitated, sharing a look of reluctance with Judith, but the krityan shook her head and they both ran after the swordsman. Karol followed obediently but dragging his feet in a very hangdog way, which made sense since he probably didn't want to have to fight with Nan.

I ran about halfway across the room before spinning on the ball of my foot and slashing Gemini Right through the air. "Bend! Water Whip!" Yes, I am familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was one of the factors that inspired me to try experimenting with this.

Without the threat of Yuri's sword, Tison was back on his feet and had been rushing at Belius again to help his boss gain the upper hand. But my new arte gathered a quantity of water element aer, building it up around the base of my dagger's blade and weaving into a long and flexible shape that snapped out at the Hunting Blade. Tison saw the incoming attack from his peripheral (somehow...despite that hood) and jumped back just in time to dodge. The tip of my watery whip flicked through the air just inches from his chest.

"I thought I told you to leave me," Belius said. She'd thrown Clint back with ease much like how the Hunting Blade Boss had knocked away Chase. But the big man tirelessly charged at her again, only to have Chase and his claymore get in the way once more.

"You think you can take me on? I won't hold back on you, ally of monsters!" Tison spat at me.

I ignored his taunt. It took a lot of concentration to keep the water from falling apart after that initial strike. "Yeah, Belius, and I told you I'm not gonna let you die."

Chase laughed, "Looks like you're stuck with us bodyguards. Pleasure working with you, Duce!"

Water whip worked mainly thanks to something I remembered from chemistry lessons about how strong hydrogen bonds were and water molecules' natural tendency to try and stick together. All I was really fighting against was gravity and physics trying to force the water down to puddle on the ground. But I'd discovered a temporary way around those problems with aer while fooling around earlier (the walk from the Weasand to Nordoplica was a long one).

I coaxed the aer I'd woven into the whip to keep moving, making the water undulate and flow through the air as I drew it back and then snapped it forward again with circular motions from my arm and wrist. Tison jumped to the side as my whip snapped down from above and slapped the ground he'd just been standing on. He grinned viciously, "Have it your way!" and darted towards me before I could bring the whip in to ready another strike.

Or so he must have thought. I snapped my wrist from side to side, creating a waving sine curve with the whip that snaked out in front of his feet and tripped him up.

Or so I thought. Bastard tripped, but caught himself on one hand before crashing to the ground and turned the fall into more of a flip forward.

"Show off," I muttered before falling back to avoid the palm trying to smash into my face (I got a very good look at lizard skin gloves and his purple nails. Purple nails, Tison? Seriously?). Tison laughed harshly while unleashing a flurry of punches that made me lose control of my whip when I threw up my arms to guard my face and chest. He was fast, moving in flashes that I couldn't react to quick enough to counter with my rudimentary aikido. Stumbling back, I tried to stay calm, out of his reach, and watch his movements for an opening.

He kicked out, sweeping my feet from under me with a spinning lash from his leg, so that I fell hard to the floor and grunted at the whoosh of air leaving me. Dazed, I thought for a moment that I could hear someone: I think your way is better, because what I learned to do next would be to follow up with a hit while they're still down. And then I'd go right into...

-The kick from my feet. I scissored my legs up through the air and back down, building the momentum that would roll me back onto my feet with little effort. And, as it would happen, kicked my foot into Tison's jaw so that he staggered back. I took the brief pause to shake my head clear as Surfer Accent Man checked that his jaw still worked and glared hatefully at me. "That's why you don't kick a man when he's down," I said, "He'll kick you first."

While we were taking our breather, I dared to sneak a peek at how the other three were doing at the other end of the room. From the looks of it, Chase was doing a pretty good job at keeping himself between the two larger (and muuuch larger) fighters. It effectively kept Belius from getting much involved, and thereby prevented her from getting any serious injuries.

I didn't for a minute think that the Duce couldn't handle herself, quite the contrary, but the main issue to be avoided was her getting wounded to the point where Estelle might try to heal her. I imagined that point was reached (in the game, behind the scenes) by Clint and his frontal attacks taking the brunt of Belius' own attacks, while Tison made hit and run tactical strikes to weaken her gradually.

Not that we'd let that work now.

"Raaah!" I snapped my attention back to Tison just as he used a burst of aer to boost his already annoying agility and close the gap between us, slamming into me hard. Before I could recover my wits his foot slammed into me beneath my ribs, lifting me off the ground and upwards into the air. I gasped as the air was forced out of me a second time, both Gemini slipping from my weakened grip to clatter against stone somewhere. The foot slammed into me again, sending me up higher.

Shit! I mentally cursed, I don't like my feet being off the ground! I can't fight! I caught a glimpse of a fist aiming for me. The sense of danger and my desperation to be grounded and stable again made me react instinctively, flailing my arms out and snarling like a cornered animal. Tison landed his punch, but my hands latched onto his arm and shoulder in a vice grip and pulled.

"What the-? Let go!" The Hunting Blade was pulled forward off his center of balance by my unexpected move and the sudden addition of my weight. Sheer stubborn will made him react fast enough to try countering by throwing his weight and balance backwards so I wouldn't knock him over, but then I was coming down with gravity on my side. And, still all desperate to not be airborne anymore, I basically clung to him like a baby possum to its mother.

The resultant confused tangle of limbs took a moment of sorting, not made any easier by the fact that he was trying to punch me, I was clawing at his face and white hair (have we got another albino here? Couldn't see his eyes) like a cat trying to get out of a full bathtub, and both of us were cursing at each other. When a bit of sense finally returned to me, I stopped the pansy clawing (I'm sure it hurt, but the hood kept me from getting at his eyes so at most I was a nuisance) and tried to get a few actual punches to his face in. It hurt. Me. But at least I knew enough so that I didn't break my own hand on his face, and he groaned painfully as I got him in the nose. Where Yuri had punched him earlier and there was some blood dried on his upper lip still.

With him preoccupied with how much that sucked, I finally disentangled myself and stood back up jerkily. My body did not want to cooperate as it ached and throbbed everywhere he'd managed to kick or punch me. I had to breathe shallowly to minimize the pain. God, I'm probably a patchwork of bruises now.

Fumbling at my belts I found Oberon's hilt and drew it, the metal rasping as it left the sheath. Tison was already trying to scramble back up so I sent a Star Stroke at him to buy a little more time.

What do we do? I can't chase them away if I don't attack more seriously, like, aim to kill serious. But even then they're too stubborn to stop even if I half killed them. But either way, I don't want to go that far! A quick glance at a battered and bloody Clint showed me that while neither Chase or Belius were pulling their punches (hell, I caught a flash of light and a zapping noise a few times from that direction that hinted at lightning moves!), they weren't trying to kill the guy either. They can't, it would cause an incident between the guilds. And Chase didn't look much better off than Clint, despite having a partner to tag team with, because Clint had no qualms about killing the monster or the monster's allies.

Tison tried that move that gave him a burst of speed again, but it backfired when I cut Burning Afterimage in front of me and he ran into the fiery aftertrail. He snarled while trying to beat small flames out of his green and brown overcoat and I tried to think of an effective move that wouldn't be too dangerous.

A woman's voice, throaty and cold, came from the direction of the door made me whip around with Oberon raised defensively. "Struggling with these children? I was expecting better from you and yours, Clint." Stepping in through the door...was a hunched over old lady wrapped in a tattered brown shawl and carrying a basket of flowers that hung from her elbow.

Huh? I tried to look past the crone to see if there was someone else behind her, but no. It couldn't have been her voice, could it? That was the voice of a younger woman! But even as I watched the bent old woman straightened and disdainfully plucked the shawl from her shoulders, letting it drop from her fingers. Her wrinkles smoothed, hair darkened and thickened from wisps of white to the green of budding leaves, and the simple homespun clothes turned into a short jacket with mandarin collar and billowing sleeves, leggings, and a sash-skirt-cape thingy that looked like it had been adapted from a ballroom gown the way it trailed behind her. All in shades of green. And her appearance had transformed so completely in the seconds it took the old shawl to pile in a small heap on the floor.

"One meeting with a being from another world in my entire lifetime," Belius intoned seriously as she studied the new woman, "and now three within the span of a day."

...I'm in trouble, aren't I?

Clint seemed to recognize the woman, and growled as he struggled to stand up tall and proud, "You said you wanted...to join this hunt to rid the world of the evil... But I don't see you being any great help..."

"Verte!" Chase exclaimed angrily. Verte? The one he called a bitch before? "What the hell are you doing?"

"Why, but I am. Helping, that is," Verte's expression didn't change at all as she ignored Chase and answered Clint. It remained cool and detached from the fighting her entrance had interrupted. Lifting a single rose from her basket, she held it in front of her, turning it this way and that as she spoke. "I'm ensuring that the show does go on, and that the actors will receive their proper cues." Verte closed her hand around the blossom, crushing the red petals and thorns in her fist.

"Verte!" Chase shouted again, "Don't-"

I gasped when I felt a surge of...of something in the air. It wasn't the feeling of aer, it didn't bring the painful pressure of aer sickness and it was too wild for me to hope to gather it like Rita had shown me. I realized, though, that I'd drawn my left hand in close to my chest in a protective manner.

The surge concentrated on the green woman's hand, focusing there for a moment before it suddenly burst out again. It had gained a tangible shape in the form of thorn covered vines wrapping around each other and speeding straight for Belius. The Entelexeia had barely the time to lift her hands before her before she was impaled through the stomach. "Urgh!"

"No!" I shrieked, lunging forward and chopping down on the vines with Oberon clutched in both hands. The vines began to steam and smoke where the dao bit into them, but I failed to cut all the way through. With a lurch the spear like vegetation surged forward again, ripping the dao from my grip and sending Belius crashing through the window, grille and all, to fall into the arena below.

"What the hell are you doing?" Chase raged at the woman, grabbing the collar of her jacket and getting blood smeared on it.

Verte looked up at him, unfazed. "More than Bianca and her sycophant Alastor have done, and that being the steps to ensure this world follows its plotted course smoothly." She opened her clenched hand, crushed petals and smoking vines falling to the stone ground where they smoldered unnoticed.

"You...you!" I seethed, scooping up Oberon, "How the hell can you justify killing her that way?" I was stalking towards them with the intent to harm on full blast. Chase held up an arm that blocked me before I got within reach of her, but his fist on her collar had tightened further and looked to be ready to smash her against a wall.

Verte had dismissed him, though, and had turned her neutral expression on me. "Ah, and here we have the pawn Nevys has been playing with." A hint of a not so pleasant smile crossed her face, "I hope you're giving the lying thief hell." And then, with absolutely no warning beforehand, she disappeared and Chase was holding nothing.

"'Lying thief'?" I repeated, "What did she mean?" He swore in a low voice and stooped over to pick up his claymore from the ground, slinging it over his back. "Chase? What did she mean?"

When Chase turned back to me his expression was grim. "I swear, Letha, I want to tell you, but it will only make things worse right now. And first," he grabbed me around the shoulders with one arm and swept my legs up under the knees with the other as I squawked a protest, "we've got to get to Belius fast. I think she's still alive, but not much longer."

"Estelle," I gasped, remembering that in the game an injured Belius fell into the arena after the gang finished fighting the Hunting Blades in there. And then Estelle, being the way she was, tried to... "Tell me you have a plan C."

"Making it up as I go," he turned to face the broken window-

"Oh no, please, you're not really-"

-and took a flying leap outside.

"SHHHHIIIIIIIIIII-"

I clutched at Chase as he landed on the roof of some outcropping of the coliseum, a covered front row seat or something, and barely before I felt the jolt of our landing he leaped again to the bleachers where the majority of the viewers enjoyed the fights, up onto the low railing that kept that audience from falling in, and then one final jump down to the sandy pit of the arena proper. He landed, knees bending and legs flexing to absorb the shock. For a moment we stayed like that, me frozen in shock and him...

"Ow..." his teeth were clenched tight.

"How are your legs not broken?" was all I could think to ask.

"I cheated." He let go of my legs and I let go of his neck (I probably nearly strangled him, which I do not regret) so I could stand. It was a miracle I hadn't cut one of us with my dao on the way down. Chase fell back heavily so that he was sitting on the ground. "Shoot, I don't think I can manage anything else for awhile." He looked up at me through his sandy bangs. "Sorry, I'm not much help. Go save Belius."

I nodded, "We're going to talk more later." It was a promise and a threat. He sighed and waved me off. Turning away, I scanned the arena and quickly located the injured Duce not too far away. She was sprawled across the ground, blood seeping into the sand, but trying to push herself back up onto her four legs. And further off I could see the others gathered around Natz, a sizeable group of Hunting Blades and Palestralle members alike strewn around the ground in various states of injury and unconsciousness. Natz had, of course, seen his Duce's less than graceful entrance and was leading the rush to her side.

With everything I had, ignoring the aches and the protesting of my ribs and lungs, I sprinted all out for Belius to get to her first.

"Child of the Earth," she greeted me with a soft voice when I stumbled to a stop next to her. I fell to my knees, I couldn't help myself. "Still trying to protect me? I have had worse than this, I assure you, and lived."

"Not what..." I panted, "...was supposed...to kill you."

"And the others from your Earth? Were they in your predictions?" I shook my head, trying to spare my own breath. She opened her mouth to add something more, but then looked up sharply. "You would yet challenge me, humans?" she bellowed. I spared one look over my shoulder to see that Clint and Tison had showed up again, having apparently found their own shortcut and probably rushed down the moment she'd gone through that window.

"...Your kind..." Clint forced out despite his own sorry state, "is the root...of all evil..." The Boss of the Hunting Blades lifted his sword again, ready for yet another round.

Yuri and the others had reached us by then, and I immediately placed myself between them and the Duce. "The root of evil? Belius?" Yuri was shaking his head in disbelief at Clint, not noticing anything wrong about my actions. "You've got it all wrong. Just...look!" the swordsman waved a hand at the injured Entelexeia, and the group of humans that had been willing to give their all and even die for her. Profound, but lost on the Hunting Blades.

"All monsters serve evil...!" the bigger man insisted, "They must be hunted down... It...it is up to us...to the Hunting Blades...!" During his speech the point of his sword sagged closer and closer to the ground, though at his reaffirmation of his Guild's Purpose he hoisted it up high again. For one proud moment before he fell over on his face.

Tison reached out towards the fallen Clint, but then clenched his hands into fists and threw his head back. "You...you monsters are all alike...!" he screamed up to the night sky and the barrier. Snapping his head back down to fix his intent stare hatefully on Belius, he charged forward again.

"Blow wind, blow!" I shouted, snatching wind elemental aer to me and weaving it into the formula needed as the gathered aer whipped my hair into a frenzy around my shoulders. "WIND BLADE!" The resulting gust of wind shot towards Tison in a crescent shaped arc, capable as any blade of cutting my enemy. And when Tison guarded that, taking a cut across his muscled forearms, he discovered Judith and her halberd had closed in for close combat.

The ground trembled, and I spun to find Belius had one hand pressing against her deeply wounded side (the vines apparently hadn't hit as dead on as I'd thought) and the other on the ground in a failing attempt to keep her up.

"Duce!" Natz cried in concern. And Estelle was hurrying towards Belius. I was standing between the two.

I will not allow Belius to die.

Light from the barrier gleamed along Oberon's blade as it raised up slowly before me. I held it, like I'd learned in fencing so long ago, so that the point was on level with my opponent's eyes.

Estelle's shocked eyes met mine.

x x x

*Sylph, watching playthrough videos while writing the chapter: "Okay, Clint and Tison rush Belius...beatdown on Tison by Yuri...wait." Backs the video up three seconds. "...Seriously, Judith? You just stood there as Clint runs right at you and smacks you across the room? It doesn't even look like he hit you! You just randomly fly off to the side!" Watches scene again. And again. "Heheheheh, kinda funny to watch..."*

This chapter Letha gains the title... Non Frequent Flyer: You just prefer your feet on the ground, thank you very much. Enemies that knock her into the air better be prepared to take damage from her panicked reaction.

I think, gamewise, Clint and Tison got knocked down into the arena with Belius. It looked like they were getting up again after a nasty fall. Buuuuut...I don't think that's something you could survive, at least not without nasty injuries (Chase doesn't count, nyeh), and Verte's little trick didn't give them a fast way down either. So they found a secret passageway or something.